Favourite Polishes of 2014

Now that 2014 is over I think it is a good time for me to reflect on which products I loved most in 2014. Today I will tell you about my favourite polishes and tomorrow I will go over nail art and care items.

I’ll start with my favourite mainstream brand which is China Glaze. They are cruelty free and all colours are vegan. Out of all the mainstream brands, they make the most unique cremes. Some collections have formula issues but the colours are worth the extra attention on application. My favourite collections include Autumn Nights from 2013 as I use the Silver (Gossip Over Gimlets) and Gold (Goldie but Goodie) all the time. For brights, I love the Sunsational cremes, the formula issues are worth it in the end, and this year’s Off Shore Collection. If you are looking for some basic cremes, you can’t go past the Up And Away Collection from 2010 and if you love glitters and Christmas themes then I highly recommend the recently released Twinkle Collection. They aren’t easy to come by in Aus, but I get mine from Discount Beauty Boutique or HB Beauty Bar. The second mainstream brand I love is Zoya. They are vegan and cruelty free which I love. I don’t own any of their cremes but I adore their textured polishes. Unfortunately they have decided to discontinue all of their Pixie Dust collections so go buy them now if you want them.

Birthday Nails using Sunsational cremes

Now onto the indie polish. It is no secret that my favourite indie brand this year has been Powder Perfect. Jacinta makes amazing micro glitters and creme glitter polishes. The Christmas polish Prettiest Sight To See is one of my favourite polishes of the year. For Christmas I got the Mei Mei Signatures Velvet Night Duo which I am so in love with. I can’t wait to wear it in 2015. Some other favourites include Decorate A Palm Tree, Crinoline and my go to nail art base, Aquitaine.

Powder Perfect Decorate A Palm Tree

Other Indie brands that I have loved this year include Femme Fatale Cosmetics (they make the best glitter crelly polishes) Emily de Molly (beautiful creme and crelly glitter polishes), Lilypad Lacquer (the best holographic polishes around) and Glam Polish (consistently good formulas). Emily de Molly make one of the first Indie polishes that I bought called Bo Peep and I am still in love with it today. I am also loving the Glam Polish duo called Life Of Pi, which was exclusive to Mei Mei’s Signatures – stay tuned for a look at them on here soon. Glam Polish bought out a lot of other wonderful collections this year with my faves being the Cast A Spell Collection (Bewitched should be in everyone’s stash), Mid-Winter’s Dream and the new collection Hairspray looks like it will be a winner in my book too. Femme Fatale Cosmetics made so many pretty polishes this year, it’s hard to name just a few that I like but I think Sookie, Wickerman Embers, Eversong and Vortex Remnants top the list.

Bo Peep when I first got it – look how far my skills have come

2014 had a large influx of new Aussie Indie makers, but not all of them will make it as that’s just the way it is. The new brands that I am going to keep and eye on in 2015 are Grace-full Nail Polish, Two Birds Lacquer and Fox and Owl Polish.

Fox and Owl She’s A Princess

Australia isn’t the only country producing amazing indie polishes, there are lots of awesome international brands too. My favourites would have to be Cirque Colors, KB Shimmer and Polish Me Silly. I can’t wait to use these two brands more in 2015 and I hope to try more brands from international makers. While I’m on the topic of international indies, my favourite top coat of the year is by Glisten and Glow and is called HK Girl. It is fast drying and long wearing, I don’t use any other top coats now.

KB Shimmer Holly Back Girl

One of my favourite polish trends in 2014 was flakies, not just the ordinary ones though. Lots of brands have bought out Multichrome flakies but from all of the swatch posts, ILNP seem to be the best. I got 4 of them for Christmas and the colour shifting is amazing in real life. The other flakies I am really in love with are the real Silver flakies. I have two bottles, one from Celestial Cosmetics (LE December 2014) and one from Pretty Serious Cosmetics (Glitz & Glam) and there is also the Limited Edition Cirque Colors Ultimate Luxe Gift Set that includes a real gold top coat (AU) and real silver flakie polish (Mirror Mirror) – they both look amazing in swatches. Below (left to right) is Pretty Serious Glitz & Glam, Celestial Cosmetics LE December 2014, ILNP Neon Rosebud, ILNP Luna, ILNP Supernova and ILNP Open Fields. My iphone camera wasn’t able to catch a whole lot of the shift but believe me they are amazing in person. I did three coats of each polish but if you want to use less coats, use a makeup sponge to apply them as it soaks up the suspension liquid and so you just get flakies on your nails.

Silver and multichrome flakies

What do you think about my 2014 nail polish favourites? Do you think there is something I have missed and must try in 2015? Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for my nail art and care favourites.