This is going to be a long, picture heavy post, so grab a snack and let’s look at 2018 Indie Polishes! 

Let’s go over some hot trends in indie nail polish first- the ones I noticed were magnetics, thermals and unicorn pee! 

It seems like lots of indie brands came out with magnetics this year. I have magnetic polish from Tonic, Quixotic, Illyrian, Delush, KB Shimmer, just to name a few. As long as you use a neodymium magnet (try this one from Amazon if you don’t have one), you can get some cool effects!)

Thermal polishes were big this year, now I’m seeing “trithermal” polishes that can show 3 different colors (I just got one from Turtle Tootsie from December Polish Pickup I can’t wait to try).  Vapid, Colores de Carol, 1850 Artisan and JReine all came out with thermals, as well as others. 

And the last trend was Unicorn Pee! Henceforth known in this post as UP. That special red/green shifting pigment that is hard to find and that makes polish more expensive! I got ones from Bee’s Knees, Colors by Llaroe, Ethereal and BaronessX and several other brands. 

Now let’s get to my favorites! And I had a LOT of them, lol. I didn’t set out to get a particular number, these were polishes that when I wore, I went, WOW, I LOVE THIS POLISH, lol. I also did a Mainstream Polish Favorite post, you can find that post here if you’re interested.

So I’m going to leave my most favorite to last, but other than that, these are in no particular order! First up is Femme Fatale’s Love Bug. I have a “type,” and this is it! Hot pinky purple. This was from Hella Holo Customs (before it became Hella Handmade Creations). You might be able to find it in a destash.

Next is Chaotic Glitz Remember Me. This was from Polish Pickup in August, the Musicals theme. It’s a thermal, and I loved it because it is so unique in my collection! I loved the colors, and the glitter. Chaotic Glitz is on Etsy, don’t forget your Ebates!

Pahlish The Nightman Cometh was also an August Polish Pickup polish. Pahlish just does these colors and formulas so well, and I love hot pink!!

Moonshine Mani has a couple ones I loved this year, first is In the Pacific from her Wayfinder collection from 2017. It’s supposed to be a dupe (or at least close to) the iconic Sally Hansen Pacific Blue. I don’t have that, so I don’t know for sure, but In the Pacific is GORGEOUS! And an easy to work with cream!

Colores de Carol had a Valentine’s Day duo this year, and I fell in love with Free Love. It was my first polish from Colores de Carol, and it was a crelly which I sometimes struggle with, but I loved this one!!

Also another first polish I tried from a brand polish is Painted Polish Paving Rainbows. And another crelly! But their crellies, wow, they’re superior. They don’t look craggy or chunky or uneven. And I loved the neutral base with the colorful glitters! This polish was from their Shades of Taupe collection from early 2018.

Ethereal Lacquer was a new brand to me in 2018, and I’ve gotten several. One I really loved in 2018 is Amethyst of Fire, a pinky purple with iridescent flakies. Kind of a thick formula, but not unmanageable!

Next is another new brand to me, Dam Polish. She did a Holo-maniacs Facebook Group custom polish in February, and it was gorgeous! It’s called Sul-tree Smile, a lighter peachy pink with holo and some glitters. So pretty!

Girly Bits is a brand that was new to me- I had bought a couple from destashes, one I bought just for the name (More Cowbell!!), but this was the year I actually tried one! I have 2 Girly Bits in this post, the first one I want to mention the Fantasmic Flakies Facebook Group custom called Winter Whispers. It’s a light icy blue polish with tons of flakies! Girly Bits is a Canadian company, but they often participate in Polish Pickup, and if you join their FB group, Girly Bits Polish Lovers, you can do the group buy for the US.

Glam Polish has to be one of my most favorite polish brands, and the one that I narrowed it down to to put in this post is Glitter Menace. It’s a gorgeous blurple glitter. I could probably add in every Glam Polish I own, but in the interest of space I didn’t, lol.

Here’s a thermal! From a new to me brand! It’s another Polish Pickup polish from Night Owl Lacquer, from It’s a bright purple (cold) to pink (warm) thermal with flakies. It transitioned super easily, and as soon as I put it on it went on my list for this post! It was a December 2017 polish, the theme was Holidays Around the World, and Night Owl chose Women’s Day. I really love this polish!

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer stole my heart a little this year! I had heard that the maker, Dave, had stopped making polish, so I found a couple in a destash and had to put this one, Stoneheart, on right away! It was from their Game of Thrones trio from early 2017. And I also found out that Dave is making polish, you can buy it when he posts about it on The Octosquad, the Facebook fan group! This polish was easy to work with and GORGEOUS!

I have long loved Supernatural Lacquer, and their Polish Pickup polish from October 2017, Como se Llamacorn?, was one I had to have. The theme was Monsters and Mythical Creatures. It’s a blurple with amazing flakies!

Anchor and Heart Polish’s polish for the May 2018 Polish Pickup (theme was the 90s) is called Isn’t it Ironic. I’m more of an 80s girl, and I like Alannis but didn’t own Jagged Little Pill but I loved this polish! It’s orange, with amazing flakies! Also the first Anchor and Heart polish I had tried!

Vapid Hostile was another favorite! I had tried lots of Vapid Lacquer polishes, so I was pretty sure I’d love it! Again, my type of color!

KB Shimmer’s Polish Hubbl’d Together is such a gorgeous polish! It was an April 2018 Polish Pickup polish, the theme was Across The Universe- this polish also glows in the dark! I love the light greenish/teal color and of course I love the flakies!

Can you stand another Polish Pickup polish? This one is from Great Lakes Lacquer Glass on Fire, (the first one I’d tried from them! I love that about Polish Pickup, you can try so many new brands!). This polish….it is pretty much tied for my favorite this year. It’s beautiful!

JReine Hiya Georgie was a surprise for me! This was a Polish Pickup polish that I actually won in a contest from JReine. It’s a thermal that goes from red to yellow. It’s so not a usual “type” for me, but it was just so unusual that I loved it! It transitioned like a dream, and the formula was amazing! She also does a lot with UP, and I have purchased several that I will be trying in 2019!

1850 Artisan Polish was another new brand to me I think in 2017, and she did a GORGEOUS thermal called Regenerate in her Dr. Who collection for the new 14th Doctor! This is such a beautiful shimmery glowy polish, I need it in all the colors. It’s truly beautiful. I guess 3 way tie for my faves! LOL. Let’s face it, it doesn’t make the list if it isn’t a fave!

Here’s a polish that I loved that is not my usual pinky/purple with a splash of blue or orange thrown it- it’s GREEN! Different Dimension Alexandria. I saw this in their website last year, it came out in their winter 2017 collection. I just think it’s absolutely gorgeous! See? I can branch out!

The other Moon Shine Mani polish I have is Waiting for Love, part of her Avicii trio. It’s a pink neon with iridescent glitters, and I love it! I have yet to try the rest of the trio, but I know I will love them!

The other Girly Bits polish is a Polish Pickup polish from February 2018’s Sugar Rush themed month! It’s called I Licked it So It’s Mine (sentiment I totally agree with!). It’s a gorgeous polish, and the name just sealed the deal! A lighter pink polish with amazing flakies in it!

I also tried my first Nvr Enuff polish, from a Fandom Flakies box where the Fandom was the TV show Supernatural (TEAM DEAN)- and this polish is for Dean, called Where’s the Pie (he loves pie. I love Dean. And pie.) So I bought it because of the fandom, but was super wowed by this polish! The color is great, obviously my type, and the formula was great.

And last but not least is my favorite polish of 2018, Tonic Polish Hot to Trot. A hot pink shimmery polish, that wears like iron! I wore this to the beach with my family and even with sand and saltwater it didn’t even chip! And it’s HOT PINK SHIMMER!!!

So there are my top nail polishes for 2018! I noticed while I had a couple thermals in here, I didn’t have any magnetics or UP polishes. I did try out a lot of polish (I tried more than 200 indie polishes this year!), including UP and magnetics, but these were the ones I put on and said, WOW, I LOVE this polish!

Live your life with love in your heart and glitter on your nails!