Top of 2012: Brown

I will admit that I rarely wear brown polish. And as summer passed by and I started contemplating my favorite shades of the year, I didn't have a single favorite brown.

Then fall rolled around and gave me not one, but two.

Nailtini Sidecar looks like I dipped my nails in caramel. Just looking at it makes my sweet tooth ache for candy! It was the first brown of the year I really loved.

And then came Dakota, a reddish-copper metallic with teal and red sparkle. Do I love it because it shares a name with my dog? Yeah. But what other brown have you seen pack this much wallop? Loved it!

What's your go-to brown?

Top of 2012: Black

Plain and simple, there was only ONE black this year that blew me away. If I could only wear this shade for the rest of my life, I'd be perfectly happy.

Is there a better black than Zoya Storm? I say, no. This black scattered holographic polish is clearly the Queen of them all. The application? Fabulous. The sparkle? Mindblowing.

No other shade of black should even bother trying. Honestly.

Do you agree?

Top of 2012: Orange

Now, I'm not really an orange person. So it's rare for me to find any that I like. But there were three in 2012 that really caught my attention.

The big brand trophy goes to China Glaze Desert Sun, a dusty mandarin creme. It was just orange enough to make a statement, but subdued enough that I can rock it any day of the week.

The indie crown, without a doubt, goes to SoFlaJo Pendragon. You can wear it as a dainty peach shimmer or layer it over black for a smoldering orange-bronze sparkle. Either way you choose, it's still awesome.

And the best bargain brand orange, weighing in at a steal at $.99 a bottle, is Essence Wake Up! It's a little more tangerine in person, but it was bright and summery and GREAT to wear if you have a sports team with orange as a color. (I have both the Mets and the Knicks... score!)

Orange you glad you checked this one out? (Cue: rim shot.)

Top of 2012: Blue

Whether it's the ocean of St. Maarten, where I'm posting from today, the Doctor's TARDIS, or my favorite color M&M, I'm always on board with blue. And to be clear, I'm not posting while IN the ocean. That'd be a sad way for my Macbook to meet its demise. Rather, I'm posting from above the ocean on a cruise ship. Just in case you thought I was inhaling too many polish fumes.

So here are my top FOUR blues for 2012!

Essie Where's My Chauffeur was the biggest surprise for ME of the year, mainly because I never go for pastel cremes. But once this was actually in my hands and on my nails, I was a goner! It's a bit streaky with two coats, but evens out at three.

When it comes to blues, I always have faith in Zoya. In fact, I own more blues (13 in all) than any other color from the company. Nothing else is even close.

Zoya Song is a true royal blue glass fleck shimmer that didn't even come close to staining. I. Love. It. So. Much. I. Can't. Take. It.

Nailtini Admiral Perry is the PERFECT navy creme. It's got such a brightness to it, though it is rather vampy, and I'm just obsessed.

The coolest blue has got to be Seuss from Whimsical by Pam. It's a milky turquoise blue base with small red hex glitter and larger silver hex glitter. Am I slightly biased because I call my dogs Thing 1 and Thing 2? Uh, probably. But it doesn't make this any less awesome!

What's the blue YOU can't live without?