Now Let's Go to CVS then Back to Walgreens

Following up on last week's display post, today I'm taking you to various CVS stores around the Detroit metro area as well as back to Walgreens, which put out a couple more things I just spotted.

First, old business. When I returned to the CVS where I'd seen the nearly empty Spoiled display at the end of January, lots more of the slots were full. The section at the bottom where the remover bottles go wasn't stocked yet, but the shelf tag was there so I feel comfortable saying no more polish colors are coming in this round of this brand.



Last time we saw the four-shade display for the Essie Navigate Her collection at Walgreens. At CVS, I saw all six shades in their own alcove tucked into the core collection display. Left to right: A Crewed Interest, Orange It's Obvious, Olé Caliente, Tour de Finance, To Buy or Not to Buy, and Navigate Her.



In other Essie news, a different CVS had a tower which paired Luxeffects shades with some different colors than I'd seen the last time I saw them matched up. Since most of the new partners were from Go Overboard, I'm wondering if we'll see this sort of this with more upcoming collections from them. Partner here, top to bottom: As Gold As It Gets with Armed and Ready, Set in Stones and Smokin' Hot, A Cut Above and Sand Tropez, Shine of the Times and Go Overboard, Pure Pearlfaction and Play Date, As Gold As It Gets and Sew Psyched, Set in Stones and Merino Cool, Shine of the Times and Eternal Optimist.



You've heard me nattering on about the new Milani glitters for a while now, and now you're going to hear more, because I finally saw a standalone display for them. Well, not all the new ones; this has Jewel FX in Red (new), Gold (not new), and Silver (not new) as well as One Coat in Red Sparkle (old name, new formula), Gold Glitz (not new), and Silver Dazzle (not new, and not really silver). The display says "Award Winning Colors" but doesn't elaborate on which awards these were. I'd like to know—that might be an awards show I'd watch.



There was another new Milani display, too: Color Play. This has six colors: Tip Toe Pink, Orchidia, Mint Candy, Beach Front, Silver Stilettos, and Sail Away. I've seen slots for at four of these in the new core displays at Meijer, so I think those aren't limited edition, but I'm not sure about Mint Candy and Beach Front. Just to be safe, I bought those two, plus Orchidia and Sail Away.



Sally Hansen has some new limited edition Salon Effects designs for spring. Left to right: Not a Peep (cute little chicks), All a Flutter (butterflies in pink, yellow, and lime), Mad for Plaid (madras-esque), Checker Out (lime gingham), and Pink-a-Dot (big pink dots).



At the same store, just a few steps away, I saw the same designs in a freestanding tower, with some of the more spring-y core designs included as well.



Delighted as I was to see the new strips, I was very disappointed to see something else from Sally Hansen at that store. It looks like the Gem Crush line is getting a new handle shape, similar to those on the HD line (which seems to be going away if the clearance prices I'm seeing are any indication). Why, Sally, why? I already have eleventy hundred different styles of bottles from you, why must you change this one? It's not like Gem Crush has been around for ages and is due for a makeover. I think you're just messing with me, Sally.



A few weeks back, I started hearing about CVS-exclusive Nicole by OPI shades, which confused me because I'd never seen any NOPI at my CVS stores. A few of them sometimes have OPI but never NOPI. And then, voila, there they were, popping up at more than one store in a very short span of time. I saw them in a tall section next to the Essie in one CVS. I saw them in a freestanding tower in another. I saw a smaller selection snuggled up next to the Orly in yet another. There appear to be seven CVS-exclusive colors: Paparazzi Don't Preach (peach), Ladies in the Limelight (acid yellow), One Big Happy Fame-ily (lilac), Our Fuchsia's Lookin' Bright (bright plum), Strike a Pose (red), Smile for the Glam-era (deep plum), and Back to Reality TV (perwinkle). I continue to be deeply conflicted about this collection. On the one hand: wonky bottle, celebrities I don't like. One the other: pretty, pretty exclusive purples. I think purple is going to win that battle.







I thought I was done with Walgreens for a little while, but no; yesterday when I stopped in on my way to work (as one does), I saw two things that were not there last week. First, a Revlon display with crackle duos. These pair a base color with coordinating crack shade. There are eight combinations: Steamy Affair (light taupe base with orange crack), Heart Break (rose glitter with orange red), Love Hurts (lime with silver), Cruel Intentions (gold with black), Star Crossed (bright purple with blue), Ice Queen (frosty blue with white), Killer Instincts (orange with copper), Fatal Attraction (rose with red). Much as I love crack and am curious to see how Revlon's compares to other brands, I don't plan to get any of these. First, they're $7.99 for .26 oz./7.7 ml, which I'm pretty sure is the most expensive Revlon per ounce I've ever seen. Second, duos like this bother me because they don't fit neatly in my drawers and no matter what orientation I store them in, I'm risking polish leaking on some of the threads.



The other new thing was a Sinful Colors display called Cast Away. Colors here, left to right: Zeus, Be Happy, Olympia, Greek Isles, Pandora, Grecian Sun, Neptune, and Athens. I don't recognize these names (though Be Happy doesn't seem to fit the Greek theme of the other ones) so figured they might be new colors. Some might be old colors with new names; a couple of the greens remind me of ones from the pirate-themed OPI ripoff/homage collection from last summer. I know for sure that trying to keep track of what Sinful is up makes my brain hurt.



Another new Sinful display (with old colors, but plussed with beaded rings on the bottles) is out, but I haven't seen that one yet. Nouveau Cheap has a photo of that one. What I haven't seen in ages is anything new from Borghese; I wonder what's up with that.