Achromatic Favorites

Let's talk about my polish collection, shall we?  It has quadrupled in the past year, which means that I bought A LOT of polish this year.  I thought I could do a top 13 polishes of 2013, then I started narrowing it down.....nope!  Maybe a top 20?  Too many would miss the love!  I finally decided to a top 5 of each color.  Here is what is coming soon:

TOP 5

• Achromatics - White, cream and greys
• Light pinks
• Dark pinks
• Red
• Orange, yellow and corals
• Light green
• Dark green
• Light blue
• Dark blue
• Light purple
• Dark purple
• Metallics
• Blacks
• Glitters

Whew!  Yes, that is 14 posts and 70(ish) swatches over the next few weeks!  I fully expect that this list will be much smaller next year as I have become a bit more selective.  I try my best to avoid dupes now a days.  Something has to be pretty unique for me to shell out my hard earned money.  Maybe that means that every polish I purchase in 2014 will be on my favorites list!  I guess we will see in 11 months!

I am starting today with the top 5 achromatic colors....excluding black, which will have its own day in the sun.  This includes whites, creams and grays.  In no particular order, I present the top 5 achromatics!

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Artificial Light

LVX Fantom - 2 coats
This entire year I have been on the hunt for the perfect white polish.  I asked opinions and bought way to many bottles.  Really, who needs 5 bottles of white?  Nothing was meeting my exacting standards.  I was looking for a white that was opaque with no streakiness in two coats (or less).  I just was not finding it!  Then I purchased some LVX from one of the short sale discount sites I use (HauteLook affiliate link).  They have polish at really good prices every once in a while.  For example, LVX retails for $16.  I purchased them for $5 through HauteLook.  I purchased a few from their Fall 2013 collection and threw Fantom into my cart at the same time.  I figured at $5 I could see if this met my requirements.  After all, LVX is a master at cremes, so I thought I had a decent chanced of it succeeding.  I was right!  Fantom is fully opaque at two coats.  The first was streaky, like every white I have ever tried, but with its excellent self leveling formula, was completely smooth and stark at coat two.  I expect that this will show up often as a base for nail art in the coming year!

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Artificial Light

OPI My Vampire is Buff - 3 thin coats
Oh lovely vampire!  Isn't this one of the most perfect polish names?  I saw this on many favorite lists, and it fully deserves all the love it is getting in the polish world.  This could be good in  2 coats if you are careful and aren't going to be taking macro pics.  You have probably heard all the descriptions.  Suffice it to say that it is my favorite base for nail art, better than white with its delicate cream color.  Here are a couple of posts that feature MVIB:  Nails in Denial and Skulls. In addition, this is my go to base for every water marble mani as it creates a clean slate without being too stark.

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Barry M Lychee - 2 coats
Love this creme for a couple of reasons.  It has a good formula and can be a one coater if you are careful, but more importantly, it stamps well.  I haven't actually posted any stamping with it yet, but I did test it.  No pics though.  In addition, it is a cool leaning cream color, which is somewhat hard to find.  Just a good well rounded cool tan.

 

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Contrary Polish Better Together - 2 coats
Although this looks like a dusty dark blue in this pic, it is just an optical illusion.  It is actually a dark grey with a teal shimmer.  You know I love me a good shimmer!  You will be seeing more Contrary Polish soon!

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Artificial Light

Dandy Nails Bound to Fall - 2 coats
Please forgive the horrible cuticles!  This was before I perfected my cuticle care.  This takes first place in the achromatics.  Bound to Fall is a lovely grey filled with flecks and flakies.  In fact, it would be in my top 5 of 2013.....if I had to create one!  There is just something about the simple complexity that appeals to me.  It is unlike anything else in my stash and calls to mind wool socks, warm scarfs and cuddly sweaters.  Oh, and the formula is fantastic!  Here are a couple of manis that feature this lovely:  Wool coat elegance and Halloween's dusty flames.

There you have it, my first top 5 faves post!  What do you think?  Got any of these in your stash?  Looking forward to seeing the pinks?  Let me know!

Tina