New Year, New Displays

I haven't done a whole lot of shopping since my last display post, what with the travel and the holidays, but I have done some. Of course I have.

Just when I thought I'd spotted every variation on the Fergie Wet 'n' Wild display, I saw this one at a Jewel in Illinois near where my mom lives. (She's doing really well lately, considering, for which I am grateful.)



On that particular day, I just couldn't cope with the colors being all jumbled and the way some of the bottles were turned back to front, so I had to rearrange it and take another photo. None of these are new shades. Left to right: New Year's Kiss, Take the Stage, Going Platinum, Rock 'n' Roll, Heels of Steel, Gold Album, Glamorous, Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night. (Looking at it now, I wonder if I should have put all the silver/black ones on one side and the gold and purple on the other. It's sometimes hard being a recovering perfectionist.)



I had a coupon, so I bravely went to Kohl's a few days before Christmas to see about getting some of the Elle polishes to try. The Elle ones were still there, so I did grab a few, and also spotted these from Candies. Colors left to right: Strawberry Field, Oh-My-Melon, Peek-a-Boo, Orange Pop, Go Bananas, Mighty Mint, My Kinda Teal (times 2), Peri-twinkle (x2, not actually twinkly), Aqua Denim (x2), La-la-li-lac (x2), Royal Navy, Concrete Jungle (x2), Back to Black, White Noise (x2), Gimme Gold (x2), Dream Pink (x2), Mega Metal (x2), Galactic Dust (x2), Over the Rainbow (x2), Disco Chic (x2). I got a few of these to try, too.



I had a chuckle at this display at a CVS; it had cotton squares and acetone in it with the tag line "Skip the salon and save. Remove stubborn polish at home." Are people really going to get their nails done just because they can't get their polish off? If CVS really wanted to be helpful, they would have put foil and/or finger condoms in the display, too, and some instructions on using all the products together. They did position this right next to a display of cheap wine—that could make polish removal more pleasant, if not more efficient.




Revlon has a few new displays around. I saw a spinny one at Walgreens with Moon Candy duos, strips, polishes from all three lines, and files. At first, I thought some of these might be new, but on closer inspection, they looked familiar, even the Top Speed colors labeled "new shades". They were in a tabletop display I saw at CVS as far back as last July.



There were some genuinely new new shades from Revlon at the bottom of a big Nearly Naked/Photo Ready display I saw on an endcap at CVS. On the left, there seven classic line colors, all of which also appear in the Bubble Gum Days/Urban Nights display spotted at Rite Aid in December: Optimistic, Enchanting, Bubbly, Eclectic, Trendy, Urban (two slots), and Ritzy (sold out already here). The Top Speed colors on the right side, though—those I hadn't all seen before: Crystal Glow, Superstitious, Essence, Charmed, Black Magic (was also in the Sweetly Sinister display last Halloween), Spirit, Celestial FX, and Hearts of Gold FX.



At a different CVS, it appeared they hadn't been able to find room to setup the whole display, so put out the parts separately.



At a Walgreens, they had a display with just those new Top Speed colors, called Spellbound.



At yet another CVS from the two mentioned previously, I saw a Revlon nail art duo tower. The Moon Candy and Neon ones looked familiar, but the Expressionist ones in the top section were news to me.



Top to bottom, the Expressionist ones are: Night & Degas, Monet Monet, Ulterior Motif, Jackson Polish, Silhouette, Pinkasso, Pastel Punk, Pop Art, Vincent Van Gold, and Post Modern.



I saw a tabletop Revlon nail art duo display at both a CVS and a Walgreens. Compared to the tower, this had more neon colors but fewer Expressionist and Moon Candy ones. (On this day, I was able to cope with colors being in the wrong slot and oriented incorrectly, mostly because I was in a hurry to get home and eat dinner with Mr. Karen.)



While I was on holiday, I ventured into a WalMart out west to look for the Pure Ice limited edition ones that never made it to the store near me in Michigan. I didn't find that display, but I did find yet another Revlon nail art duo configuaration, with all the Expressionists, more neons than the tower but fewer than the tabletop, but no Moon Candy.



Also at that WalMart, there was an endcap with the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure relaunch colors in a different configuration than I'd seen them before. Most of these looked familiar from displays I've seen other places but I haven't taken the time to double check and make a master list of all the shades I've spotted so far. For the record, starting at top row on the left, the shades here are: Wedding Glitters (x2), Gilty Party (x2), Snow Globe (x2), Hi Ho Silver (x2), Shoot the Moon, Clear'd for Takeoff (x2), Debut-tint (x2), Shell We Dance (x2), Mudslide (x2), Sheer Ectasy, Arm Candy, Pink Pong, Pat on the Black, Trouble Maker, So Much Fawn, Raisin the Bar, Plum's the Word, Ruby Do, Commander in Chic, Greige, Earl Gray, Almost Almond, Gray-t Escape, Back to the Fuchsia, Rosy Outlook, All Fired Up, Red My Lips, Wine Not.



At a Walgreens back here in Michigan, I spotted a corner display of the Complete Salon Manicure that had some of the same colors I'd seen before but also some I hadn't seen (or hadn't seen for a while—seems the relaunch includes some of the colors that were previously limited edition). Starting at top row on the left (there are two slots for each color): Golden Rule, Sheer Bliss, Royal Blush, I Lilac You, Peach of Cake, Punch Drunk, Sweet Talker, Get Juiced, Tickle Me Pink, Barracuda, Firey Island, Clear'd for Takeoff, Kook a Mango, Copper Penny, Pink a Card, Shell We Dance, Commander in Chic.



That same Walgreens had some other new stuff, too. There was a Sinful display called Haute Rebel. Colors here: Mesmerize, Inkwell, Smokin, Ardoise, Cool Gray, Mauve (whitest mauve I've ever seen), Beau Khaki, and Rain Storm. I know I've seen some of those before (I own Mesmerize, Inkwell, and Rain Storm); some might be new.



There was a display with five new designs of Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips. It didn't say "limited edition" on here, so I'm assuming these will fill the slots of the ones from the core display that I've seen on clearance recently. Left to right: Heart Breaker, The Bold Rush, Sweet Marble Floret (this was a LE for Spring 2012; wish they'd brought back my favorite Good Morning Glory instead), Out of Line, and Mane Event.



There were strips from Essie, too, on an endcap between the magnetics and treatments/bases/toppers/a few core colors. They're called Sleek Sticks and there are twelve designs: Steel the Show, Sneek-e, Oh My Gold, Over the Moon, Glam It On, So Haute, Embrace the Lace, Love to Love Me, Stickers and Stones, Croc'n Chic, Don't Cheetah on Me, and A to Zebra.





Walgreens also had the L'Oreal spring Trendsetter collection: Royalty Reinvented, New Money, Orange You Jealous, Crazy for Chic, Not a Cloud in Sight, and Members Only.



With the end of holiday candy season, CVS has reclaimed that space for makeup displays (thank goodness; I didn't get fat from buying cosmetics). I saw the L'Oreal polishes in an endcap:



That CVS also had the Selena Gomez glitters from Nicole by OPI. There are seven shades here: Heavenly Angel, Confetti Fun, Kissed at Midnight, Stars at Night, Sweet Dreams, Mi Fantasía (not to be confused with the Disney movie, Fantasia), and Inner Sparkle.



The CVS that has the Nail HQ had reconfigured one of the ends since my last visit. They'd replaced the top section which had been Kardashian Kolor with the Nicole by OPI Modern Family collection. In the section below, they'd condensed the CVS exclusives to one slot per color instead of two, used the space thus opened up for some of the Kardashians, and added Revlon magnetics, which flowed down into the section below. I wonder if I could get a part time job at CVS just reconfiguring and straightening up the Nail HQ. Not that I have time for that, but it's nice to daydream about.



Here's a closer look at the Modern Family colors: Am I Making Myself Claire, I Do De-Claire, She's Lily Something, A Like-Haley Story, Haley Good Lookin', Basking in Gloria, Back in My Gloria Days, Alex by the Books, Candid Cameron, Stand by Your Manny, What's the Mitch-uation, My Jay or the Highway, A Phil's Paradise, and Luke of the Draw.



And a closer look at the CVS exclusives, which I don't believe I gave the proper attention when I first saw them because I was too busy hyperventilating over the whole Nail HQ experience. Left to right: Don't Overpink It, A Pinker Shade of Pale, Personally Speaking, Marooned in Paradise, Always a Silver Lining, I Sea You and Raise You, Feeling Grapeful.



Huh. I thought I hadn't done that much shopping, yet this has turned into a rather long post anyway. I've got just one more thing to share today, and delicate souls may want to click away now because it's not pretty. Here's the reason I don't like to go to WalMart for polish: too often, the aisles are a mess, way worse than any other store I frequent. Apparently they attract a demographic with many people who don't know how to behave and the store is too short staffed to police them or clean up after them. Some cretin took the time to stand in the polish aisle and paint the words "Your a loser" on the shelf. If I could talk that person, I'd say "No, YOU'RE the loser. You need to learn how to spell and be a member of polite society before you've earned the right to pretty things like nail polish."



I have a big weekend of swatching planned, including some of the polishes in these displays. Here's hoping I don't get too distracted by something else, like sleeping.