Pointless Cafe's Best 12 of 2012 - Part 1 - Mainstream Brands

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WOW this was much harder than I expected...hard narrowing it down to just 12! I don't know if it was the economy or what, but polish brands really stepped up their games this year. More people doing their own nails? Less people getting the fake nails? More people foregoing other "luxuries" and sticking with the very affordable beauty pick-me-up: nails? Whatever the reason, I have been swimming in polish all year long and what a refreshing swim it's been!

I finally got the list narrowed to 12 and set about putting them in order. Well that was a fail. So these are MY top 12 choices in no particular order! I based it off of color, formula, ease of application and as you can see, I'm not a "label whore" - I like $1.99 polishes as well as $26.00 polishes. If they're pretty, they appeal to me and the formula is good, I'll buy them! You will notice some glaring gaps, color-wise. I apologize for that, but these are the ones I love and wear. and you'll find much more variety in my top indies posts. ;)

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Kiko Grey Holo #400 - The holo is awesome and the grey is dark enough on my skin, unlike the gorgeous silver holos that hate me. I've used 3/4 of a bottle already and yes, thankfully due to a great UK buddy, I have backups!

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Illamasqua Stance - This is one of my favorite colors - I must have 30 or 40 bottles just in THIS color family.

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Chanel Vertigo - This one is so simple yet so complicated. I LOVE how it looks 99% of the time (first photo) because it seems to contrast well against my skin and it's as close to black as I can go without looking dead. But I also love that hidden sexy side she shows the other 1% of the time (second photo.)

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Dior Trench - are you seeing a pattern yet? I can't help it. I love me some neutrals that are dark enough not to wash me out completely. Perfect creme. Perfect formula.

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Zoya Myrta - I don't know why exactly I fell head-over-heels for this one. I used to HATE orange. But this one has SOOOO much depth and character and vivid color that it won my heart.

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Nails Inc. Holland Park ROAD (not to be confused with Holland Park Avenue which is a gorgeous nude or Holland Park Neon with is this color in a sheer jelly) Best. Color. EVER.

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Dior Dune - Yes, another one! I can't help it - I love this color! Formula perfection.

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Zoya Carly - Same as Myrta but purple/berry/plum. Such depth and character. Stunning.

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butter LONDON Tee Total - there's that mushroomy neutral I love so much -  making another appearance. The formula was like buttah. It was certainly hard - nearly impossible - to narrow down from all of the fantastic offerings butter LONDON put out this year - I was on butter LONDON OVERLOAD! The really did a spectacular job this year.

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La Femme Unica - NUBS! But even with nubs, I still fell for this one - a darker green tightly scattered strong holo. The application was SO GOOD I can't even think of a proper word. This is a must have in any collection IMO.

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Sinful Colors Fusion Neon - a neon that didn't need underwear to POP! I'm lazy so naturally I LOVED IT! It was SO bright and so neon. My guy hates it but I still can't resist wearing it. One of my favorites for sure. And at $1.99, you can't beat it!

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Chanel Malice - last but definitely not least, one that I was SURE I didn't need. I ended up having to eat my words and now this is one of the few Chanels I really think I need a backup of. It's a STUNNER and it's my guy's favorite polish of mine.

I am laughing my head off at my nails - long short medium, too long, too short, perfect length, too long, too short - roller coaster!

So that's it! My top 12 of 2012. Stay tuned for my top picks for hand-poured indies and for "private label" indies. Oh! And for my favorite manis I've done this year as well as my goals for 2013. ♥

Thanks so much to all of you for sticking with me this year. ♥



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