Happy New Year! My Top 11 of 2011

2011 has been a pretty good year for nail polish!

Hype that disappointed, hype that didn't disappoint and surprise sleepers that knocked it out of the park...yep, it's been a pretty big year in the world of nail polish. Is it me, or is it even more popular now than in previous years? Maybe the economy is forcing more people to do their own nails? More companies getting into the swing of social media? Competition?

Well regardless, we nail polish lovers have reaped the benefits.

I thought I'd end the year with my Top 11 Picks of 2011. I was able to get away with only 11 because some of the polishes I got just this year that I adore so much weren't actually released this year.  I'll recap a few of those at the end of the post.

Let's get started! In no particular order, here are my top 11 releases of 2011.

Zoya Petra

a-England Lady of the Lake

I might have included Tristam in this list if it had arrived in time. It's on back order. *pout*


Cult Nails In A Trance 

Orly Sapphire Silk

Dior Camel

Zoya Yara

China Glaze Westside Warrior

Zoya Neeka

Butter London Wallis

Dior Exquis

  Those are my Top 11! There were many more awesome releases, of course. Lots of them I see on others and they look FAB. These are just the ones I picked for me. As you can see by the list, I'm pretty partial to greens. ♥

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HONORABLE MENTIONS: 



Dior Apparat

Revlon Foxy

Butter London Dosh

Revlon Ignite

Chanel Graphite

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

HITS No Olimpo Apolo

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And now for those favorites I got this year but weren't really released this year...

Zoya Zsa Zsa

Orly Plum Noir

Chanel Dragon

Orly Royal Navy

Chanel Khaki Collection (Vert Rose, Vert Brun and Vert Rose)

(sorry in advance for the blurry Khaki Vert pic - but you have to admit, I'm getting better!)

China Glaze Wagon Trail

Wow, lots of cremes in there! Well, that about does it for 2011! I haven't decided which polish I'll wear for New Year's Eve yet. Mainly because I haven't decided what dress I'm wearing. =)

Stay safe and remember, Don't Drink and Drive!

Many many ♥♥♥ from me, Murphy and Twinkie.  All the best for 2012!

Twinks

Murph

Zoya Petra

Zoya Petra has been sitting on my shelf for a while and thanks to insomnia last night, I'm finally wearing it!  Can't imagine what took me so long!

Zoya Petra is part of the Smoke part of their 2011 Fall Smoke and Mirrors Collection. Zoya's website describes it as a "smokey eggplant mauve creme." That's pretty accurate. I would probably describe it as a greyed out aubergine creme. About the same thing.  You'd think, since I am such a green-lover, that Dree would be my favorite of this collection since it's an olive creme, but I'm surprised to find out that while I LOVE Dree, this Petra is just such a unique color that it's my favorite. It's not purple, it's not grey, it's not mauve, it's just...unique!

Application was smooth and creamy. Photos show two coats and a Seche Vite top coat (which caused shrinkage, so I'll probably go back to Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat for this one) but because of my 3 am application, I could probably do a third coat to even things out.

As with most colors, different lighting brings out different looks. This one is no exception.

Please keep in mind it was 3 am when I did this mani...it's quite obvious from the photos that I did no clean up. Sorry.

Zoya Petra

Zoya Petra

Zoya Petra

And finally, the close up - best color capture in this one (below) I think, but it does read quite a bit darker on me in most lighting than it appears in the bottle.

Zoya Petra

I think it's probably going to be my go-to color for travel because it doesn't clash with anything - replacing Rimmel London Steel Grey for that.

What do you think? It is too plain/boring for you? Or is it unique and interesting?

Dior Camel Swatches and Review

Dior Camel

Dior Camel is part of a duo of Limited Edition polishes called The Mitzah Collection 2011 (Mitzah Bricard - Christian Dior loved and thus surrounded himself with women. When he arrived in Paris, he met the woman who would later become both his muse and advisor: Mitzah Bricard, an extremely sensual woman, with a divinely chic allure and captivating presence ...From the Dior website)

Camel #622 will be shown here and the other part of the duo is Ebony #912, which I don't have yet. It's aptly named as it's a camel color - a light tan that leans more gold than the mustardy look I feared. A straight up highly pigmented creme that has an easy, two-light-coats application. It's darker and much more opaque than Dior Safari Beige, which was part of the Fall Blue Tie Collection.

Unfortunately, it's not the best color for my pasty white skin tone, but do I care? Not Really. I'll wear it anyway!

Dior Camel

Dior Camel

Isn't it yummy?

Dior Camel

It's a Sephora Exclusive ($22.00) for now. Since there's not a Sephora near me, I just had to close my eyes and click the buy button sight unseen. It turned out okay. Whew.

It's a neutral that still stands out on the hands just enough.  What do you think?

Chanel Rouge Carat - Holiday 2011

From the Les Scintillances de Chanel Collection comes this gorgeous red...Rouge Carat. Picked this baby up at my local Chanel counter last week and I'm finally getting around to wearing it. Mainly because I didn't have much time to change polishes and I know and trust Chanel's formula. And this one does not disappoint. All photos are shown with ONE coat. And because the formula is so smooth and easy, no clean up! That's worth two thumbs up from me all by its own self!

Chanel Rouge Carat #587

It definitely has that luminous or "lit-from-within" look.

Chanel Rouge Carat #587

Candy apple red with fuchsia shimmer.

Chanel Rouge Carat #587

Chanel Rouge Carat #587

If I'm being honest, since I'm finding out how much of a plain creme finish girl I really am lately, I prefer Chanel Dragon. While I certainly appreciate other finishes, especially the luminous, shimmery ones like this, I'm somehow always drawn first to plain cremes. #gofigure (or it could just be a phase?)

Will you be getting this one? Or is it just too similar to other reds in your collection?

YSL The Black Collection Nail Polishes for 2011

YSL The Blacks Collection 2011

Yves St. Laurent has just released a new Limited Edition trio of shimmery, blackened polishes for Fall/Winter 2011 and of course I had to have them! Black Lapis (purple) Black Indigo (blue) and Black Bronze.

The application on all three polishes was the same - superb. They are opaque in one medium-thick coat or two thin coats but they dry slightly dull, so a topcoat is definitely advised to bring out all of the shimmery goodness. The brush is good and all photos are shown without cleanup.

YSL The Black Collection 2011

YSL Black Lapis

YSL Black Lapis

YSL Black Lapis

YSL Black Indigo

YSL Black Indigo

YSL Black Indigo

YSL Black Bronze

YSL Black Bronze

YSL Black Bronze

These polishes can be ordered from Nordstrom for $45.00 for the trio. Be advised while the site says they are "regular $20 each" and the $20 regular bottles are normally .33 oz., these are just .2 ozs. each. Of course Nordie's customer service was excellent, as usual.

Do you have these yet?  Planning on getting them?

Which is your favorite?