Top 20 for 2014

Like last year, here I am sneaking in my Top 20 list for last year when this year is just about one month gone. These are my favorites of the polishes that I put on my nails and posted in 2014, though not all of them were released in 2014.

I hope holos never disappear from the nail polish world again. A few made my list this year, starting with Beautifully Disney Wish Come True, which is a sky blue holo that I didn't realize was holo when I bought it at Walt Disney World.



MI-NY Holographic Touch Violet (third from top in photo below) makes the list because it is purple-y, super holo, and reminds me of my friend The Holo Queen, without whom I wouldn't have gotten this polish at all.



And then there's Starlight Polish Starlight, a holo topper that makes rainbows on any color.



Wet Paint Nails Voice of Raisin is the plainest polish on my list. It's just so nicely squishy, wearable on its own or layered in jelly sandwiches, and in a subdued color that's not typically seen in this type of formula.



Finger Paints Winter Chill is a brown texture with pops of color that I like wearing shiny, shiny, shiny with topcoat.



OPI Green on the Runway was my favorite from the Coca Cola collection. Such a nice shift from brown to green.



Smitten Figgy Pudding is a squishy purple with shimmer and subtle color-shifting flakies.



Pahlish Sugar Plum Marshmallow is another pretty purple indie, this one a very greyed lilac with flakies and holo shimmer.



The rest of my list is all glitter. So much glitter. So much pretty.

Revlon Nude Graffiti made the list to acknowledge that mainstream brands are stepping up their game. I like that there's a lot going on here shape and size wise but the restrained color palette makes it less intimidating to people who might be scared away by something more flashy. If everyone is comfortable wearing glitter, more glitter will be in stores, making it easier for me to feed my appetite for sparklies.



I'm as surprised as anyone that a gold made my list, but Nicole by OPI Lips Are Dripping Honey has so much holo in the glitter it's really more rainbow colored than gold.



Wet 'n'n Wild Breakfast in Tinsel Town is similar to Lips Are Dripping Honey in that there's a fair bit of holo in the glitter. It stood out for me because it's green, which isn't that common a shade to see in mainstream glitter polishes. And it doesn't look Christmasy, either, which can be an issue with green mixes.



Glitter that reminds me of snow? Yes, please. China Glaze The Outer Edge scratches that itch.



Continuing the snow theme, Funky Fingers Elsa has actual snowflake glitters in quiet color palette that matches the quiet of a winter landscape.



I was tempted to put the whole Zoya Bubbly collection on this list, as I turned to them so many times, but if I have to pick just one, it'll be Muse.



Deborah Lippmann A Hard Day's Night was the best of the anniversary music box set, transforming other colors into something beautiful and mysterious.



Polish Revolution Fire Sermon looks good on its own and layered. It's packed with a lot of shapes and sizes and colors but the combination works so well, it's not just thrown together and messy.



Love Thy Polish Royalty is special because it's pretty and was a gift from my friend Trish.



Kit Celebration reminds me of a fun day spent with polish loving friends.



Relouis Glitter Collection 01 reminds me of my time in Minsk. For about two minutes yesterday it looked like I might be going back but my boss and I decided it didn't really make sense from a business perspective.



Penelope Luz Luxury reminds me of my sweet Brazilian swap buddy Lucy.



So there you have it. On another day, I might have come up with a different list. I had twice as many on my short list, so I could have done a different list on this day, too, for that matter. It's nice to look back and remember all the different colors I tried. There's so much gorgeousness out there now; we are very lucky to be painting our nails in this era of many options.

Some of the polishes shown in this entry were provided free for review purposes (you can see which ones by following the links to the individual entries). The content of this entry was not dictated by the providers.