My (late) 2011 Top 10-part 1

So I'm pretty new to the nail polish world, and most of my nail polishes have been acquired in the last year. Despite this, when I saw all the "top 10" lists, it made me sit down and think about what my favorite colors have been that were released in the last year.  I don't have much time or patience to do a manicure for each, so I swatched them all on a nail wheel instead.  Here are the first 6 colors:

From left, Essie Shine of the Times, OPI I Lily Love You and  OPI Rainbow Connection

From left, Wet n Wild Cost is No Issue, OPI Honk If You Love OPI and Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors  

What's my reasoning on these choices? Join me after the jump for an explanation!

These choices are in no particular order, BTW.  

1) Essie Shine of the Times is the first of the flakies that we saw this year, and it totally won me over. I've stated that I'm a bit underwhelmed by the Finger Paints Special Effect polishes, and it may be because SotT knocked my socks off. I love the flakie shimmer effect of SotT so much!  It looks great over so many colors- I actually still have the nail wheel where I swatched it because it's just too beautiful for me to part with.   I layered it over Wet n Wild Black Creme in the swatch.

2) OPI I Lily Love You-It's really unusual for me to love a pink, but this lovely topcoat is so much more. It's got a wonderful jelly finish and irregular sized flakies and glitter.  I've worn it over a shimmery white, a pastel pink and a dark pink and have always been mesmerized by the outcome! I layered it over Revlon Lilac Pastelle in the pic.

3) OPI Rainbow Connection- I know, I know, rainbow topcoats were about as prevalent as crackles this year. That doesn't mean they aren't amazing! They just add such a festive look to your nails, and they go with almost any color! OPI made it onto my list as opposed to the other brands simply because it's the one I have, and comes close to hitting that holy grail of rainbow glitters, the original Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.  I layered it over China Glaze For Audrey in the swatch.

4) Wet n Wild-Believe Me, It's Real-Wet n Wild really hit it out of the park with their Ice Baby collection. The hunt through various Walgreens was totally worth it as I finally tracked down this baby along with 4 of its companions.  I chose this color in particular because turqoise blue is my absolutely favorite color, and purple is another favorite in terms of nail polish. When a polish combines your favorite colors and is a glitter, there's no way not to love it! I layered it over Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune in the pic, and will include more pics in tomorrow's post. 

5) OPI Honk if You Love OPI- You may be a bit confused by this one. It's not a glitter or a flakie, it's a plain dark purple creme.  Sure it's vampy and sophisticated, but why is it special?  Here's why. I was at Dr. Frankenpolish's website and found a recipe that featured Sinful Colors Dream On, clear and black. I liked the color so much that I bought the ingredients and stirred up my own bottle of it. As soon as I swatched it on the nail wheel, it looked eerily familiar. I compared it to my swatch of HiYLO and saw that they were exactly alike. In a fit of denial, I alternated the two colors for an actual manicure in hopes that my mixture would at least have a different finish. It didn't, and I ended up giving away my franken. But I figure if I love a color enough that I mixed up a perfect dupe for myself, it's got to be a great color!  I did 2 coats for the swatch.

6) Wet N Wild Behind Closed Doors- You may have figured out that I have a thing for glitter, jellies and Lippmann dupes. This polish joins all those elements by duping Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance. It's a perfect darkened grey jelly with red mini and hex glitters. I cannot explain how much I adore this one, the jelly finish makes the glitter look like it's floating in the polish and gives it such lovely depth. It's just a great polish, and at $1.99, was probably one of the best values of the year! I did 3 coats for the swatch.

Join me tomorrow as I reveal the rest of my list and show Believe Me, It's Real layered a few different ways.