Early Summer Displays

Today I've got the new displays that have shown up in my usual haunts in the past few weeks. When I did my last big display post, I had only seen the new limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure shades at Target, where they didn't have all of the ones I was expecting to see based on the promo stuff that I'd read. Since then, the full collection has shown up at Walgreens and a bit after that at Rite Aid as well. Top row, left to right: Summer Plum, Delphinium, Eel Skin, Paparazzi, Strike a Pose, Barracuda, Model Behavior. Bottom row: Runway Red-y, Coral Fever, Casting Call, First Kiss, Camelia, Without a Stitch, Malt.



I heard about the new Sally Hansen Hard as Nails colors long before I saw them. I got impatient when they started to show up in other areas of the country so swapped for the ones I wanted most. Of course, that act seemed to make the display magically appear at my stores, again both at Walgreens and Rite Aid. This one doesn't say "limited edition" and stores have been clearancing the existing colors, so I think this may be a line reboot. If so, I approve. There are some "normal" colors here, the light pinks and peaches and pearls that I wore pretty much exclusively for several years, and classic red and wine, but there are also bolder choices: glitters, blues, greens, and even a yellow. There are so many colors here I didn't take the time to get all their names or even count them. A lot of the names I did notice tied in with the "hard" idea, incorporating words like rock and stone and steel and such: Rock Bottom, Set in Stone, Rock Candy, Love Rocks, No Hard Feelings, Brownstone, Limestone, Tough Luck, Frozen Solid, On the Rocks, Tough Chick, Rock 'n' Roll (good on you, Sally, for getting those apostrophes in the right place), Firm Fig, Tough Love, Rockin' Hard, Unbreakable Heart, Teal Steel, Sturdy Sapphire, Rock Bottom, Pumping Iron.



CVS hasn't been that great for new stuff recently, but I did spot this Milani marbling display at one store. I'm not sure if this is a recent release or if it was something they pulled out of the back room. The colors aren't new—they're neons that have been around quite a while (Fresh Teal, Pink Rocks, Awesome Orange)—but it grabbed my attention because each bottle had a hangtag with instructions on doing drop and drag marbling plus a big golden paperclip to use as a tool. Nice way to encourage people to try something new, and there was no upcharge for it.





A different CVS had the Milani Fashion Editorial Nails display. Like the marbling one, the colors weren't new and I'm not sure if the display was either, but there was an extra available, in this case, a tear off sheet with instructions on how to do the four featured nail art designs (Cheetah, Zipper, Bow Tie, Swirl).



Ulta had the Essie resort collection. Four colors here: Fair Game (greyed blue frosty shimmer), Your Hut or Mine (coral-leaning rosy pink subtle shimmer), Lion Around (warm pink subtle shimmer), and Da Bush (sage-y green creme).



Ulta also had OPI crack, but once again, I got there the day after they put out the display and that was too late to see it anywhere near full. This had slots for top coat and Black Shatter (that came out with the Katy Perry collection), Red Shatter and White Shatter (from the Serena Williams duos), plus the new Blue Shatter, Turquoise Shatter, and Navy Shatter. Silver Shatter (which came out with Pirates of the Caribbean) had no slot.



I usually ignore the animated sign outside Walgreens since if I'm that close to the store, I've already decided to stop in, but this caught my eye:



Inside, there were multiple displays of Pure Ice crackles. Despite the sign outside, I was surprised since this store doesn't carry the regular Pure Ice line (though I have seen it at Walgreens in other states). No matter, I was happy to see them, since I try to avoid going to Wal*Mart. Pure Ice evidently decided to outdo the other brands by offering a wide variety of crack. There are eleven colors: Strobe Light (black), Lightning Strikes (silver), Jetsetter (blue), All Shooked Up (purple), Show Stopper (red), Catwalk (yellow), Shattered (lime), Crushed (orange), Strike a Pose (turquoise), Hot Couture (coral-y pink), and Flash (white).



They'd also restocked their Sally Hansen crackle display and added a sign to it saying "Please Do Not Use Product Prior to Purchase". Good luck with that, Walgreens.



Rite Aid has Sinful's latest OPI ripoff/homage: Adventure Island. This has some cremes that are oddly similar to several shades in OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection. The display had eight colors: Easy Going, Beautiful Girl, Verbena, Seaweed, Star Fish, Adventure Island, Rise and Shine (hidden behind an Open Seas in photo), Open Seas. Rise and Shine is a re-promote. I'm not sure about the others; I don't recognize the names, but Adventure Island reminds me of Innocent which came out a few months ago.



Rite Aid also had some L.A. Colors mini sets. There were two bright sets and two mini sets.





When I was taking photos at Rite Aid for this entry, I came as close as I ever have to being told to stop. The way the shelves for the cosmetics displays are set up at that store, the cashier has a great view of most of them from behind the register, but they usually aren't paying attention. This visit, though, I happened to glance over at the register after I finished snapping the Sinfuls and the cashier, a young woman I didn't recognize, made eye contact with me and then immediately paged the manager to come up front. I was close enough to overhear just enough of the conversation when the manager arrived shortly thereafter to get the drift that she was reporting me for taking pictures. Which I'd kept doing the whole time, since I figured if she had paged the manager about me and not because she needed change or a bathroom break, then putting away my camera was a good way to look like I was doing something I shouldn't have been. I'd moved around to another shelf by that time, though, so the manager had to walk over toward me to get a good look. When he did, he walked right back to the register (not saying anything to me) and told her I was okay (he and I have talked before, usually when sale prices aren't ringing up correctly). Hee! I kept eavesdropping so got to hear her telling him about another incident when someone was in there taking pictures and then left without buying anything. What? Who's in my Rite Aid taking pictures besides me? I'd be very curious to know—I've never run into anyone else with their camera out in the beauty aisle. Perhaps I have a kindred spirit nearby and don't even know it.