Here are my the top twelve indie polishes. In determining what is 'indie' and what is 'commercial' I based it on whether it is hand made or whether it is made in a lab. Therefore brands like aEngland, Cult Nails, Pretty Serious and Picture Polish are commercial for me.
There are no surprises to me that four Lynnderella polishes make my top 12.
Lynnderella - Ghost of a Chance - This was such a huge surprise for me, I had no idea that I would love this as much as I did when I put it on. Those pastel matte and satin finish glitters are just so delicate in this.
Lynnderella - Salad Days - Truly an inspired polish! Its green and sparkly and it contains tomatoes, carrots and purple cabbage :)
Lynnderella - Golden Rules - clearly no surprises here for anyone that knows I love gold like Goldmember! I swear she made this just for me!
Lynnderella - The stars in her eyes. The 'galaxy nails in a bottle' polish. I seriously stared at my nails all day when I wore this one. What the photos don't capture are the holographic colour reflections. The iridescent blue together with those teeny tiny stars is just perfection.
Smitten Polish -Adeste Fedelis. I only just got this one on Christmas Eve, so I don't know whether its just because I wore it so recently that it stuck in my mind. Then again, I could easily have chosen many Smitten polishes to be in this spot. I want it now, Pure Imagination, You're turning violet, Violet and Confection were all stand outs for me!
Emily de Molly - When Planets Collide. Yay for Aussie indies, I have three of them in my top 12. The inky blue jelly base with the perfect balance of glitter won me over with this one.
Enchanted Polish - Hey Jude. Enchanted polish knocked it out of the park with their holo/multichrome polishes. The whole Beatles collection was awesome and I just might stab someone to get a bottle of Austin Powers.
Contrary Polish - Purple Smoke. The whole Contrary polish collection is just stunning. I fell in love with the dusty and smokey polishes with their gorgeous and complex shimmers. Purple Smoke is one of those classic Contrary shades, it's so beautiful!
Glimmer by Erica - Ethereal. Other than Lynnderella polishes, my Glimmer by Erica shades were the very first indies polishes I tried, some of the earlier shades had some reflective curling and a bit of partial bleeding. Ethereal was from a new range and it totally blew me away. A gorgeous colour combo of glitters, perfectly matched here with Picture Polish Marine.
Gloss 'n Sparkle - Edge of the World. Do I even need to say anything else about this one? Teal green jelly with green and aqua glitters. Stunning.
Femme Fatale - Ghoulish Glee. From her halloween trio, this one was just awesome. My photos of it really didn't do it justice, my nails were short and stumpy and light reflections washed out the colour. This was jam packed with glitter but it wasn't dry and it was easy to apply - even with those bar glitters.
Crows Toes - Absolum your potions master. Yep it's ultra thick formula almost makes you think your polish has dried out, but hell yeah, Laurie knows how to make a beautiful polish. There are a number of her polishes that could be listed here, but sadly I only own two of her shades. My pictures of this are shitty, but I can easily see why this one made the MUA top indie polishes.
So there you have it. I'd love you to tell me some of your top indie polishes in the comments below (especially from brands I don't own - so I know what to keep a lookout for)
Vivid Lacquer - either Fairy Bread, Waltraud or Memoirs of Xcaret.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/listing/107121376/fairy-bread-nail-polish-full-size
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/88510355
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/92637022
Thanks for the links Lauren - I'm not to familiar with Vivid Lacquer, but I just ordered some stamping pages from her site.
DeleteGreat top 12!! I agree with and own most of your picks!!! Love :)
ReplyDeleteI highly suggest dipping your toes into Pahlish. She is discontinuing LOTS of gorgeous shades that you simply must own! On top of that list, Combustible Lemon!! As a fellow gold lover, I think you'll be mesmerized! Shannon knows her jellies! The only bittersweet part is that they look so much better in real life than they are usually photographed!! Dang, SO PRETTY!
It's a shame that you don't own KB Shimmer polishes. They are some of my favorites, I own most of them.
ReplyDeleteI also love Erica as well as Emily de Molly and was devastated when she quit selling out of Aussie land.
I have several indies, but only from a few brands. Not everyone makes stuff that's my cup of tea, but I absolutely love most of the ones I have. That being said, you *definitely* need to get some KB Shimmers! I have several of hers - pretty much all the blues, greens, and purples. They all have such a smooth, easy to apply formula and are SO pretty! Pahlish Train Underwater is a must have. Girly Bits has lots of great stuff too. Daddy's Little Girl is probably my fave. I recently discovered Hit Polish, and she has some really nice glitter combos, although the formulas are a little thick.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I am so freakin' excited that Llarowe carries Femme Fatale now! I remember drooling over all of your swatches and being so jealous that I couldn't get them. I bought 5 of them when they launched at Llarowe and I can't wait to try them!
Woww I love that glitters!!
ReplyDeleteGreat choices!!
ReplyDeleteCan I just say that I am thrilled that you mentioned my brand in the list of brands that you do not have yet?
Thrilled because 1) to be listed among those amazing brands is awesome, and 2) that perhaps you would like to own some.. =)
I adore your blog, and have often refereed here when looking for certain swatches. I would be happy to send you some Girly Bits for review.
Ooh there are so many goodies here! Lots of lemmings ;)
ReplyDeleteWow, I am humbled to be chosen in your top 12!! Thank you so much! You do such an amazing job with all of my polishes, I am always blown away by your swatches! I am super excited for 2013 and possibly more amazing collaborations in the future! Thank you again, so much!
ReplyDeleteErica
~Glimmer By Erica~
So my wallet may just send you a hate mail one day. I see your amazing swatches and my heart dies a little each time, and then I make it my mission to go hunting for each of these :(( so so difficult.
ReplyDeletebtw, do you know how i can get my paws on some of the Lynndrella polishes? I live in India and none of the sites with worldwide shipping sell her stuff. So unfair
This is an amazing list (and swatches of course!) I'm DYING at your pictures of Hey Jude. I must go home and put this own now (if it isn't going to rain tomorrow). I just got this recently and I didn't even know it was that amazing!! Also...crossing my fingers for you on getting your hands on Austin Powers. I was very fortunate to snag one at the last Llarowe restock. Also...I'm about to empty my wallet on a Femme Fatale mega purchase...so excited!!
ReplyDeleteI recommend that you check out Hit Polish. I just got their Strawberrific, Retro Chic, Mr. Bubbles, Patina, It's Electric, Punked Up Kicks, Fight Night, and Pink Lemonade. I'm also a fan of the brands Daring Digits and Neener Neener Nails. I am dying to try the brands Pretty and Polished, Jindie Nails, Painted Sabotage, Glitzology, My Ten Friends, and LynBDesigns.
ReplyDeleterougerequired.blogspot.com