LTHP's Brand Crush of 2012!! Miss Pro Nail- Sation

Hello and happy new year's eve!!! 

  I'm kinda depressed about this year ending :(... For some reason I feel so unfulfilled for 2012... Like I got nothing done :(. I will tell you who got something done this year though, the AMAZING people over at Sation! This brand totally blindsided me this year. Sation is an old brand but in the past year they went through a MAJOR revamping. They re-designed the bottles, the brush and the formulation of their polishes. I love many brands but Sation has a special place in my heart and I will go on about that through out the entire post. 

  I pretty much fell in love with the new Sation the second I received my first batch of polishes for review. They were all so bright, the names were so quirky and unique. The girls at Sation are a pleasure to work with and I have nothing but praise for their treatment of me, and I'm sure all their customers.  To put it in plain and simple terms I just love Sation's vibe and their colors make me so very happy! 

To see a little re-cap of "LTHP's Year in Sation" just keep on reading! 

 My introduction to the brand was a bright one! The firts batch of polishes I saw were from their California Gleamin' Collection (Summer 2012). I was smitten with the amazingly formulated neons and the incredible shimmers that left me utterly speechless.  

  Sation's neons are deliciously jelly-like in texture, but they build up to opacity like a creme. I've yet to come accross a Sation polish that had/has a problem formula. Some of my favorite colors of the year were in this collection...

 Starting with this AMAZING shade of bright NEON Yellow. This baby is Let's make Lemonade.  I couldn't believe the formula on this shade!! It is just perfect!

 How about Oh my Oceania? Remember this baby?! I've never had so many people ask me about a color before in my life. I think this might be my most favorite color of 2012 overall! And that is a big claim to make but just look at this beauty!!!

 Ahhh Miss Mc Teal. Another stunning shimmer by Sation!

 The Summer brightness was followed by a set of Six classic and beautiul cremes for the Little Horse on the Prairie Collection, Fall 2012. Have I told you guys about how much I love Sation's polish names? The girls really put a lot of time and thought into the naming process and it really shows. They also put out some of the most cohesive collections of the year. I am a sucker for a collection that has a flow thrhough all the colors.

 Weed out the Wimps was a fast favorite for me. I love the simple beauty of this flattering Sage green creme.

 And then there was Rock a Guy Blue. This shade is rugged yet sexy and the formula on this shade is just !!!! ♥.

The muted Fall was followed by a super fun collection called Class of Sation. This group of color is probably one of my favorites ever. All these shades were really "young". Meaning, brights, glitters and shimmers. Oh and the names!! The names in this collection were hilariously clever and so fitting to each shade. It was like the girls at Sation got together and made a collection just for me!

Loudest Color did me in the second I slapped it on!

 But the real star for me was Miss Emo Shun All. This deep shade of Indigo Purple creme is like nothing I had seen before! Still to this day I am in awe of this shade!

Later on the released a "totally groovy" collection inspired by Woodstock. The Nailstock collection was made up of Earthy tones and classically awesome shades!

 And then came the Glitter 1 series!! It was SO refreshing to see a "big company" take on quirky glitters. I love how the girls at Sation took notice of what the nail community was asking for: MORE GLITTER!! I loved the indie vibe of these amazingly unique toppers.

  Sation went all out with shard glitters, black particles and neon glitters!! These babies have great formulas and they are just amazing! Brava Sation for taking risks!!!

 Tall Dark and Has Some is definitelly a must have for anyone who loves Blue and glitter! And then there was Ego Friendlly and it's amazing mix of "toxic waste" shardy goodnes! I can't.. these are just too good!!!!!

 Sation colors also inspired some of my favorite nail art looks of 2012!!

 And with this post I bring my favorites of 2012 to a close! I hope 2013 is as amazing in nail polish as 2012 was. I hope Sation continues to be awesome and I am so very excited to see what the girls have up their sleeves for us in the coming year! 

Sation polishes are available from misspn.com and they retail for $5-$7. 

 Which brand(s) blew you away this year?

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LTHP's Favorite Polishes of 2012! Top Ten "Indie" Picks

Good Afternoon!!

  This is my final "top of 2012" post. In our wonderful world of nail polish we have many big companies. i.e Zoya, O.P.I, China Glaze, Color Club.. etc. Then we have the handmade nail polishes, countless brands. AND THENNN there is this group of companies that are kind of in the middle. They are not hand made, but they are not uber major. These are the "inbetweeners". The ones that I really see taking off/ took off this year. I have very high expectations of these smaller brands in 2013! I really love these brands because they are not so influenced by the "mainstream mentality". These brands dare to take risks and create quirky collection. 

To see closeups of these pretties just keep on reading!

Lime Crime Pastelchio

Pastelchio is an amazing shade of pastel Lime creme. The thing with all the Lime Crime polishes is that they are, what I like to call, "pastel neons". There is a brightness to these shades that is just amazing and so playful. The formula on this color is just incredible!! The whole Les Desserts D' Antoinette collection was really fun!

Pomegranate Lacquers Curator

Curator is such an amazing shade of Black jelly. The consistency of the jelly base is just perfect. This polish did not need underwear and yet somehow it allows the glitter to sparkle through. I just simply love this!

Chick Nail Polish Punk Chick 

Punk Chick is just so FUN!! I really had a thing for Oranges this year and this one made me with for Summer pretty much immediately!

Chick Nail Polish Hipster Chick

Yeah... I.JUST.LOVE.THIS!!!!!!!!! It's a pretty green, it is squishy and sparkly. It meets all my reqs for an amazing polish, therefore it must be on this list!

Cult Nails Coveted

This needs to explanation does it? Perfection in a bottle. 

Pomegranate Lacquers Enchanted Lagoon

GREEN!!!! Apparently I really like Green and this uniquely beautiful shade won me over the second I put it on. I could not believe the formula and how amazing self-leveling this shade is!

Cult Nails I got Distracted 

 Maria's youngest daughter created this color for her very own collection (which was amazing). I got Distracted was another amazingly executed, Black based glitter. 

Lime Crime Milky Ways

 This polish graced my nails many times since I received it. I loved it SO much that the girls at LC ended up sending me backup bottles. This is another case of simple beauty is sometimes best. 

Cult Nails Flushed 

This beauty needs no explanations. Just enjoy its shimmery, burning beauty....

Cult Nails Doppelganger

Ok, so I kept going back and forth between Charlatan and Doppelganger. At the end I went with Doppelganger because I loveeeeed the fine micro shimmer and how entirely versatile this beautiful layering polish is.

  I am so excited to see what all these brands have in store for us in 2013. Cult Nails really blew me away this year. They consistently put out some of the most beautiful and unique collections throughout the year. Pomegranate really surprised me with their shades as well as Lime Crime, who are new comers to the nail polish world. I wish these brands much success this coming year!! Keep being awesome and keep doing you!!!

I will be back tomorrow with a little feature on my "breakout brand of 2012"!! Good night my loves!

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LTHP's Favorite Polishes of 2012! Top Ten Handmade Nail Polishes

Good morning and happy Sunday! 

  2013 is coming at us hard and FAST! But before the year is over I have a few more picks to show you for my top polishes of 2012. Today's category is my Top Ten Handmade nail polishes of 2012. As I said in yesterday's post, 2012 was the year of the handmade indie polish. These are the Ten handmade polishes that I hunted down like prey. These are the ten handmade polishes I lost sleep over, got angry at when I got "cart jacked" and cried tears of joy when I finally was able to buy them. Or given the privilege/ opportunity to review them. 

To see closeups and find out a little more just keep on Reading ♥. 

Glitter Daze My White Lighter

 I love the delicate beauty of this creamy glitter blend. I also loved the insanely intense Blue, glow-in-the-dark effect. I really love the candy like look of this glitter. It like looks like glaze. #nomnomnom

KBShimmer All Decked Out

 I knew this polish was a favorite for 2012 the second I saw it. IDK what kind of magic is in this polish. I love the fact that it is a deep, Hunter Green base and you can still see the different glitter colors and the sparkle through it. My favorite thing about all my KBShimmers is that they do not need underwear. They are all like a jelly sammich in a bottle.

Dollish Polish What's This?What's This? over O.P.I Candlelight

Let's see.. A polish named after my favorite song, from one of my favorite movies. It is a chunky glitter, unique color blend and fantastic formula. Yeah... It had to be in this list! I like fun polishes. It is plain and simple, this baby is a party in a bottle. 

Cirque Nail Polish in XX over A England Dorian Grey

 I can't properly put into words how much I love these Two polishes together. I was dreading taking these off.. XX is just so different, so thought out. There are so many different shapes, colors and prisms.

Lac Attack Felix Felicis over Bettina Gabrielle

This polish is everything I wanted Deborah Lippmann's Boom Boom Pow to be. Now I really love BBP but the textures in Felix Felicis are (no pun intended) quite magical. The base is packed of delicate Gold flakes and then there are those beautiful, bright Gold squares and hexes. This polish is everything right now!

Twee & Honey Hallow

Why a plain White? Because I.LOVE.White nails. T&H's Hallow is just so pretty, squishy and that pretty subtle shimmer. I had many , far flashier, "Twees" on my list but I kept going back Hallow and getting those warm fuzzy feelings. Sometimes less is more. 

Dollish Polish Random Dancing over Color Club ??

 Random Dancing... I remember the day I finally snatched this... I stalked Dolly's site, my heart was RACING and my hands were sweating and when I finally got the confirmation of purchase.... My poor husband... Anyways, this is another polish that falls under the category of "I freaking love this because it's just FUN". Every nail always ends up looking totally different and it is just awesome.

Nail-Venturous Floam over Zoya Wednesday

I actually have a lovely reader to thank for this one. We ended up doing a swap as she was indifferent towards Floam. For me Floam had to be my BIGGEST lemming of the year. This polish brought joy and rage to many gals hahaha! Remember Etsy "cart jackings" and staying up late to stalk shop openings? I'm not even really sure who manufactures this polish now as Amy stepped out of the game (and I don't blame her lol, we were a little... "ravenous"?) I think Ninja Polish might still be producing Floam. 

Aphrodite Lacquers Don't Copy Me 

Don't Copy Me is another polish I love for its simplicity. This polish is just beautiful and almost like a new classic. I love the delicate shimmer in the base and the perfect touches of Black hexes and squares. Don;t Copy Me did not need undies as well! 

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sinful Colors Unicorn 

Jellybean is another polish that I had to spend hours stalking to finally be able to purchase. Just look at it! It's so pretty I'm gonna dieeeeee!!!! Picking from my Candeos was no easy task. I own Dolce, Orchid and Jellybean. At the end I went with Jellybean because it is just preciously unique. 

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LTHP's Favorite Nail Polishes of 2012! Handmade Nail Polish: Honorable Mentions

Good afternoon my loves and happy Saturday! 

  Today I have my Five honorable mentions in the Handmade nail polish category. 2012 was the year of the Handmade polishes. There was a true BOOM in this market and at one point even a saturation. Many started out selling on Etsy and many later transitioned to shops due to their success. It seems like EVERYONE has/had their own polish line. Some ladies really blew us away and some not so much. It.Was.Crazy! I picked my top Ten for 2012 and then I realized that 10 was not going to cut it. So, I went ahead with Five "honorable mentions", like I did with my mainstream polishes. 

 To see closeups of my Honorable Mentions just continue reading. 

Dollish Polish Spectral Pup (Over Barielle Allie's Lace)

Not only was this entire collection themed after one of my all time favorite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, the polishes were just beautifully executed. I just loved the delicate look of this glow-in-the-dark glitter topper.

Maya Tranquilis

 I know I have not covered Maya on the blog yet and I feel pretty crappy about that because there are some serious stunners in the batch I was sent for review. Among these stunners was Tranquilis. Just look at this polish!!! A deep, navy jelly packed full of fine multi-chromatic shimmer. I love the beautiful darkened edges and how the Copper, Gold, Green Blue shimmer seems to be floating on the Blue surface.

KBShimmer Hex Appeal

 Yeah, this was just FUN!!! And I loved the fact that it is a very chunky glitter in a colored base AND that it applied like a dream. Honestly all of my KBShimmer's were on my (not so) short list. These polishes are really something outstanding.

Cirque Au over Cirque Lapis   

 Now, Lapis is a beautiful glitter but the feature here is on the amazingness that is Cirque's very own Gold flake Au. I can only compare this to Zoya's Gilty and I can say that Au is slightly more packed with beautiful Gold flakes. I really just love where Cirque is going as a brand. They are so very professional. Their packaging is beautiful and they do amazing collaborations with great shops and people. It is hard to believe that they are hand-made! 

Happy Hands Motherboy over NOPI ?? (I'll have to get back to you :)

Happy Hands came onto the scene later in the year but they really came out with a bang! Every single color I received from Kristi is entirely unique and PACKED with beautiful chunky glitter. Kristi's blends are very different from everything else I've seen and I love that she has a range of layering polishes as well as polishes that can be worn alone. Motherboy really stood out to me because of the perfect blend of Pastel colors, textures and shapes, it is a Monet in a bottle. 

 I will see you guys tomorrow with my Top Ten Handmade Nail polish picks! Which handmade brands blew you away this year? 

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