LTHP's Favorite Nail Polishes of 2012! Honorable Mentions- Mainstream

Hi loves!! 

  I hope everyone celebrating yesterday had a wonderful Holiday, lots of great food and presents! My Holiday got off to a rough start as I had a Crohn's flareup on Christmas Eve and had to go to the hospital :(. Thankfully I was released the same day and was able to spend Christmas with the Family. I really had a wonderful Christmas Day! 

  Today I am starting my "Yearly Faves" posts. I had to break it down to several categories because 2012 was a pretty eventful year in terms on nail polish and I ended up with MANY picks. The categories will be as follows: Hon. Mentions for Mainstream and Handmade. Followed by my Top 20 "big brand" picks, top 10 "Lab indie" (i.e: Cult Nails, Pomegranate, Chick NP, Lime Crime), top 10 Handmade polishes and my top 10 international picks. Finally, I will be closing out my "faves post" with a little feature on the brand that most blew me away this year!

This post will showcase Five "mainstream" polishes that missed my Top 20 by a hair.

Zoya Daul 

Zoya Daul. Still to this day, I find myself mesmerized by the beauty of this polish. The way the Golden shimmer seems to float over the surface of the nail is really something magical. There is something delicate, yet striking about Daul and for that I love her!

O.P.I Don't Pretzel my Buttons 

 O.P.I's Don't Pretzel my Buttons really surprised me. 1. I was not expecting it to look good against my skin tone at all. 2. A yellowy nude for Fall? Haha! Well, job well done O.P.I! Not only was this shade flattering and unique for the season, it also has a wonderful formula. 

Zoya Arizona 

 Zoya's Arizona had me at hello. This pretty, radioactive shade of creamsicle Orange is just to die for!

China Glaze Gothic Lolita

 Gothic Lolita *swoooon*. This pretty shade of Orchid Purple, with it's sneaky Blue-ish shimmer is really just beautiful. Back in Spring of 2012, many companies go busy releasing deeper, red toned Purples laced with Golden shimmer. While everyone was busy duping each other, China Glaze blew them all out of the water with the unique beauty that is Gothic Lolita. 

**EDIT** Whoops!!! As I was going through my folders I forgot to pull out my Fifth photo! My 5th Honorable Mention pick is Orly Monster Mash. 

Monster Mash won me over with it's amazing Blend of Prismatic Emeral hexes, bars and micro glitter. Orly really did a fantastic job on the Flash Glam FX Glitters! 

 And that will do it for my Five Honorable mentions in the mainstream category. This year was HELL tying to narrow down my faves. I ended up with about Four pages of notes and lists and I couldn't even tell you how many polishes made my (not so) short-list. But that is a good thing right? 2012 has been a fantastic year for nail polish! 

  How was your Christmas? And are you excited for the new year charging right at us?! I am!!