Top 20 of 2011, Part 4

Oh, the Glitter Division. How I struggled to choose just a handful of polishes for this group. I ended up keeping three from last year: Borghese Purple Confetti, OPI Mad as a Hatter, and Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe.

Purple Confetti is on the list because despite the vast quantities of glitter in my stash, the only other polish I have that's remotely similar to this one is its sibling from the same collection, Mediterraneo Sea. I don't know how Borghese managed to have the glitter not get covered up by the deep opaque base color, but I'm glad they did. Without top coat, it dries matte, which I find very interesting.





With topcoat, it still holds my gaze.





Mad as a Hatter is just a wonderful jumble of colors that I love looking at it whenever I'm wearing it.





It's even gorgeous when it's blurry:



Unlike the first two glitters, Across the Universe has a very controlled color palette, just blue and green, but the balance of hues and values in it means it's not boring.



I love layering Across the Universe over blues and greens; here it is on (top to bottom) China Glaze Towel Boy Toy, Zoya Charla, OPI Jade is the New Black, and Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby.



Butter London No More Waity Katie made the list because it combines three of my favorite things: glitter, purple, and purple-taupe. I know some people had problems with the formula of this one, but I found it pretty well behaved. On its own, it builds to a nice depth, with the glitter floating at different levels in the taupe base.





One coat over a taupe base (here it's Nina Ultra Pro Never Glum Plum) gives a similar look with fewer coats required.



And finally, Locavore. Of course this had to be on here. I wanted it so much for so long, and when it got here it did not disappoint. It looks good alone; it looks good layered. Given that I tend to prefer silver over gold, I'm a tiny bit surprised I love this as much as I do.





Top to bottom in the photos above and below, that's Locavore by itself, then over Revlon Gold Coin, over Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Anemone of Mine, and over Sinful Last Chance.



There are so many other glitters I would have liked to put on this list. Maybe someday I'll do a Top 20 Glitters list. Or Top 50. China Glaze did a collection of 50 glitters, why not me?

Tomorrow my Top 20 of 2011 series concludes with the Special Effects Division.