Top Fall Nail Polish Favorites AKA The Silent Assassins

I finally got around to compiling a list like this! I've been wanting to start a Top 10 series, so I thought it would be good to start with Fall. Basically, I pulled all fall-like polishes out of my collection and whittled them down to 10 or 11, I think. 

Brock even had to help me. We had a tournament of champions with a lot of discussions and coin flipping. It actually was a lot of fun! If we ever have to do it again, I will definitely post about the process.

Let's get started, shall we? The polishes are just listed in the order that I swatched them; I didn't rank them or anything.

First is China Glaze Midtown Magic. This is from the Fall 2011 Metro Collection. I just love how dynamic yet subtle it is. The base is almost brown in some lights, and in others it definitely looks more burgundy. The gold glitter is subtle, giving it a more elegant, classy look. I bought this when I first started collecting polish and I remember how in love with it I was. I still am! It's still one of my favorites. I remember even wanting this to be my car color lol.

Formula is decent. It does tend to get a little goopy after a couple of uses, probably due to the amount of glitter crammed in the polish.

This is a pic of the swatch in indoor lighting.

This is shot in natural lighting, which brings out more of the purple-y burgundy base.

Next is butter LONDON British Racing Green. This is a shimmery, deep forest green. Not quite light enough to call it emerald. 

This is super glossy and super pigmented, as you can probably tell from my stained cuticles. I am a sucker for a good green, and this reminds me of the pine trees here in town. I also feel like this is a good spin on a traditional green fall polish with the shimmer thrown in there. The formula is smooth and opaque in two coats.

Next is China Glaze Rest in Pieces from the 2014 Apocalypse of Color Halloween collection. This glitter is soooo good, it doesn't matter what time of year you use it. It has gold and holographic bar glitter and micro hex glitter with matte black hex glittee in a clear base. 

This is two coats over butter LONDON British Racing Green. Formula is good and glitter payoff is awesome. 

Next is definitely a standout and probably my favorite out of this whole group. Bare with me, because it is a textured polish, but it is amazingggg.

This is Finger Paints Hammered Terra Cotta. It's a coppery rose gold texture polish. The below photo is one coat. One. Coat. And it dries kind of fine, not gritty or rough. It looks exactly like a copper pot or something! I'm just continually impressed by this polish and I'm glad I picked it up!



Polish #5 is Orly What's the Password? from Orly Secret Society Holiday 2013 collection. This is a super shimmery orange with tiny hints of gold. Formula is pretty good, but it is a little thin. You can still see my nail line in the swatch after two coats. I think the shimmer kind of averts the eye though. This is only two coats, so it could be opaque in three or with a darker base.

Next is Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ from OPI's Chicago Collection. I went to google what collection this was from and I was horrified to find out that this is a reference to a legend of the Great Chicago fire. Holy shit. I totally thought this was from like some country-ish collection and a reference to an outdoor cookout. WTF. Story here: http://stupidnailpolishnames.blogspot.com/2009/07/mrs-olearys-bbq.html

Anyway, as gruesome as the name is, this is still an amazing berry-ish creme with a slight hint of brown. It does kind of look like BBQ sauce too. Haha. I had been looking for this polish for a long time and was finally lucky enough to pick it up a year or so ago. Below is two creamy coats.

Next is Jesse's Girl Cauldron, a deep wine color with gold and red shimmer. This is part of their very impressive Satin Finish collection.

Again, this is another deep color with subtle shimmer I just can't get enough of these days. Formula is thick, but doesn't get goopy or clumpy. Pictured is two coats. 

Here is a shot of it with a shiny topcoat over the top. This looks just as amazing and brings out the golden shimmer that's barely visible in the satin version.

Next is the stunning Color Club Beyond. The holo in this is out of this world, as I'm sure everyone knows. Out of all the Color Club holos, I chose this one because the base is a nice gumetal color. In an office setting, it just looks like a normal neutral color, but given the right light, it will come alive! Again, I think the theme of this post is super obvious.

This is two coats with indoor lighting.

This is the swatch taken with flash.

Next up is Deborah Lippmann Dream Weaver. I picked this up for my birthday back in August, and I still find myself reaching for it just to see the colors change. What a weirdo.

This is a blue to purple duochrome, but there are also flashes of gold, pink, and teal.

Very oil slick-esque if you ask me. The color is beautiful, but the formula is painfully thin. Having the thin-ass brush doesn't help matters either. BUT if you are willing, and have no life like me, you can slowly and painfully apply four coats to get what you see in the pictures below. It's worth it to me, because sometimes you need to be distracted by your nails several times a day to get you through the work week. It's also very difficult to photograph the shift on the nail. -.-

We're i the home stretch here with Nine Zero Lacquer S'more Holo. This is part of my first indie polish purchase from Jessface90. This is an amazing taupe holographic. The formula is smooth and opaque. Below is two coats. Again, this is another of what I'll call the silent assassin polishes. Work appropriate, yet still exciting to wear. I've been wearing it on my toes, and it still draws attention in the sunlight! 

With flash. I didn't get a chance to get a shot in natural light, but the holo is a lot stronger than what the pictures show.

And lastly, I had to throw in a wild card due to the BBQ thing. (Not really, but it felt like a good excuse.)

This is China Glaze  Lug Your Designer Baggage, a nod to the always glamorous Louis Vuitton from Fall 2014 All Aboard collection. It is a medium brown base with gold flecks thrown in. 

This is two coats. Not gonna lie, it did get a little trcky to apply, but it may just be because it's sat for a while. It did seem a little thin though. This is a super chic and subtle color for fall and is worth the trouble!

Hope you enjoyed my first compilation of the Silent Assassin polishes. I guess that's really something I look for in polishes, especially during the Fall and Winter. Sometimes you need that brightness to come out in your nail color without being super loud. I think all of these polishes captures that really well.