Mid-November Displays

As I was reviewing photos for this post, I realized I'd never made a concious decision to not do the pink for Breast Cancer post I was considering as a followup to my last display post. Probably just as well, since "pinkwashing" makes me cranky and this blog is one of my happy places. I went ahead and deleted those photos (as well as one of a Claw Polish display I saw well after Halloween—oddly, it was the best stocked one I saw this year, with all six colors present and accounted for; I was glad to see there weren't any shades I hadn't seen before at some time). Not to worry, I have plenty more to share, of course.

Let's start with a couple new display variations for a collection we've seen before, Cover Girl Hunger Games. The first two types of displays for this collection showed up around here at Walgreens and Meijer in time for my mid-September display post. A couple weeks later, I swatched all nine of the Hunger Games Glosstinis. By mid-October, another display style showed up at CVS and a slight variation at Bed Bath & Beyond. Oh, and I did a giveaway for a set of the Hunger Games colors; that was won by Claudia from Romania, which I'm pretty sure I never announced (I did send the polishes, though, so that's good). In the last few weeks, as the movie premiere date draws closer, a couple different free standing floor units have appeared in stores. The one I've seen in a few Walgreens stores is four-sided, with all nine nail polish colors on one side, plus two designs of gold and clear nail stickers I hadn't seen anywhere before (some stores had these hung on a side of the display other than the one with the Glosstinis but all stores had them somewhere). The sticker design called Seared Bronze has a diagonal band of thin gold lines, while Flamed Out has an overall pattern of thick and thin gold wavy lines.





At CVS, I've seen a wide single-sided Cover Hunger Games display. Unlike the Walgreens one, this only has four of the polish colors, but it does have both of the same sticker designs that the Walgreens display does. So basically, for the smaller displays that arrived first, Walgreens got four of the Glosstinis colors and CVS got all nine, then for these bigger displays that are out now, it was reversed.





At the time I swatched OPI Miss Universe I hadn't seen the display; it since popped up at Ulta.



It was the same situation with Zoya Zenith, but that's not surprising, as the store displays usually lags behind online availability for Zoya colors.



At the time of my last display post, I was on the lookout for the Maybelline Gilded in Gold display that had the eight Brocade polishes that weren't in the display with the other makeup in the collection (that one I'd seen at Bed Bath & Beyond). Meijer and Rite Aid both came through. Joining Crushed Crimson and Silver Swank from the other display, the shades in this one are (left to right): Gilded Rose, Amethyst Couture, Black 'n' Mirrors, Lavishly Lilac, Beaming Blue, Embellished Blues, Emerald Elegance, and
Ruby Refined.



Meijer also had something else new from Maybelline—limited edition Color Show Nail Falsies. These are eight designs of fake nails or "flex nail extensions" as the display text says: Bright as White (white bordered in silver), Emerald Ombre (dark green and black gradient), French Revolution (peachy pink with gold tips), Plum Sunset (arcs in three shades of purple), Foil Fusion (white with silver streaks at the base), Block Party (bright blue with green squares), The Silver Lining (black bordered in silver), and Keep it Red (red with white tips).



Another thing I was keeping an eye out for was the Julie G Frosted Gumdrops Holiday Collection, and they did appear at Rite Aid about the same time as the Maybelline Gilded in Gold polishes. Six textured glitters here: Mistletoe, Silver Bells, Sleigh Ride, Gift of Gold, Ho Ho Ho, and Sugar Plum Fairy.



I was also looking for the Sinful Crystal Crushes, and again Rite Aid came through. These are Sinful's entry into the textured arena. There are eight colors: Blue Persuasion, Got a Blush on You, Emerald Envy, Treasure Chest, Ruby Mine, Face the Facets, Purple Gleam, and Orange Crush.



The Crystal Crushes are fancy Sinfuls, with the silvery grey cap and the $2.99 price tag. There are plenty of new regular $1.99 Sinfuls, too. Not content to just put out the Glitz & Glittered and Naughty or Nice displays that I had last time, Sinful has more polishes for the winter holidays in two Decorate Decadently displays that are now showing up at Walgreens. The first one I ran into was the shelftop version. It's got slots for eight colors; I've seen a variety of shade mixes in those slots but the one below is fairly typical: Blue Steel (new), Gold Medal (new), Silver Rainbows (new), Decadent (new, also appears in Glitz & Glittered display), Silver Rainbows (again), Silver Belle (new, also in Glitz & Glittered), Gilded (ditto), Pine Away (new).



There's also a sidekick version of Decorate Decadently that has way more colors.



Top row (Mirror Metallics subcollection, all new shades): Purple Heart (x2), Triple Platinum (x2), Gold Medal, Pine Away, Blue Steel, Red Eye.

Second row (Glitzed and Glittered subcollection; why not Glitz & Glittered like on the shelf top display that has these same colors at Rite Aid I do not know): Charmed, Ice Dream, Decadent (new), Silver Belle (new), Unwrap Me (new), Holiday Rebel (new), Full Spectrum (new), Unwrap Me (again; this slot should be occupied by Gilded, another new shade).

Third row (Tinsel n' Ice subcollection, all new shades): Silver Rainbows (x2; this is not the same Silver Rainbows as in the shelftop; that one is silver and holo, while this one is pink, purple, and green), Tinsel & Shine, Pink Icicles, Gold Tinsel, Tinsel Town, Cold as Ice, Spiked Ice.

Fourth row (Sheer Luster Topcoats subcollection; all new shades): Top Me Off (x2), Diamonds Are Forever (x2), Sapphired Up, Girl's Best Friend, 24 Karat, Glittery in Pink.

Bottom row (Based in Style subcollection; all core/repromotes): Fig, Enchanted, Secret Admirer, Daddy's Girl, Sugar Sugar, Ruby Ruby, Snow Me White.

As excited as I was when the Nail HQ went into my CVS, I have since realized there is a downside in that it's sometimes hard to spot new stuff because they just slip it into the Nail HQ in place of the old stuff. For instance, this Nicole by OPI section has a matte topcoat I didn't know about (yes, I bought it immediately and it will appear in a comparison post as soon as I can manage), five new shades under the Modern Family umbrella, and a Gumdrops shade that definitely wasn't in the original assortment. The Modern Family ones (top row, starting in the middle) are Who Red My Journal, You're My Treasure, Spark the Conversation, Aren't Families Grape, and Late Blu-mer. The new to me Gumdrops shade is the teal in the left middle of the bottom row; it's called That's What I Mint and a bit of research tells me it was a Canada exclusive this past spring/summer. (No sign here of the other Canada exclusive, a bright yellow called Lemon Lolly, but perhaps the yellow Sinful Crystal Crush can fill that gap for me.)



Despite having an Ulta by my office and an Ulta by my house and and Ulta in between, I didn't get to one for a few weeks, so when I did, there were many new things to see. The new Butter London colors were tucked into the top shelf above the core display, but I know to look there so it wasn't as surprising as the new NOPIs at CVS. The Illusionist collection has three cremes and three shimmery/glittery toppers. The toppers are in the front row (all are new): Stratford Honey, Petrol, Stardust. They're paired with cremes in the back row: Come to Bed Red (core), Bramble (new), and Union Jack Black (core).



Piggy Polish has two Christmas displays. Be Beautiful Inside and Out has Lametta, The True Green-ing of Christmas, and Merry Me. Lametta, a red/gold/green/blue glitter, didn't look familiar to me. The other two might be renamed colors from other collections though this time there weren't any other stickers under the names unlike with some other collections.



There is No-El in Christmas has Wreath for the Stars, Tinsel Toes, and It's Because I'm Green Isn't It.



Essie has two glittery offerings for Holiday 2013. The first is Belugaria, also known as Encrusted Treasures (if you read Essie press releases anyway; it's not on the display), which has Essie's take on the texture trend with two of the shades and glitters a little more adventurous than we usually see from Essie the other four. Top row: Peak of Chic (bar glitter), Lots of Lux (textured), On a Silver Platter (gold/blue glitter). Bottom row: Belugaria (textured), Hors D'Oeuvres (silver/gold glitter), and Ignite the Night (pewter glitter).



There's also a Luxeffects display with a couple new shades and some core/repromotes. Left to right: Jazzy Jubilant (new), Sparkle on Top (new), A Cut Above, Pure Pearlfection, Sparkle on Top, Jazzy Jubilant. I'd understood from a press release I found online that As Gold As It Gets, Set In Stones, and Stroke of Brilliance were also supposed to be here but I've yet to see them displayed with the two new colors.



I wasn't at all surprised to see the Essies at Ulta, but when I spotted this next brand my eyes got wider and I snapped to attention: apparently my Ulta stores have Sparitual now. I've never ever seen them in the wild before, just online. The wooden base is a unique touch for sure. This collection is called Illuminate and has six colors: Imagination, Intuition, Intention, Intellect, Invention, and Improvisation. These are all shimmers "infused with recycled glass", which intrigues me. I am definitely going to be trying some of these.



The excitement at Ulta continued when I spotted a shelf top Seche display with colored polishes. I knew Seche made colors because I read a lot of naili blogs, but I'd never seen these in the wild before, either. Judging from the presents, I'm guessing Gracious and Kind is their holiday collection. Six shades here: Collected Moments, Gracious & Kind, Nostalgic, All Lit Up, Warm Hearted, and Sparkle Kiss Clink.



Of course Ulta had even more stuff from brands I'm used to seeing there. Orly Secret Society looks more like fall/Halloween to me than winter holiday, but it wasn't around in fall. I suppose the orange and neutral palette accented with blue and gold does make it stand out from more expected winter colors. The six shades are: Macabre Masquerade (that sounds like a Halloween name to me), Lavish Bash, Voyeuristic Adventure, What's the Password, Masked Ceremony, and Risque Encounter.



China Glaze has a typically large seasonal collection of 12 polishes called Happy Holiglaze. Colors here: So Blue Without You (turquoise-leaning blue), Bells Will Be Blinging (blue/silver), Mingle With Kringle (red), Your Present Required (white/multi), Tree-mendous (green), All Wrapped Up (blue violet), Elfin' Around (red), Just Be-Claws (red), Be Merry Be Bright (red/purple), There's Snow One Like You (white), Santa Red My List (red), and Put a Bow On It (magenta).



Next to the Happy Holiglaze display was a bin labelled "Holiday Travels" with a shimmery white called Travel in Colour. Apparently twelve polishes for the holidays wasn't enough for China Glaze so there's also this bonus one.



Not to be outdone, OPI has released a whopping 18 colors for the holidays, all under the Mariah Carey banner. I've mostly seen these in shelf top displays which have six colors each. The first subset is mostly reds. Bottom row: Underneath the Mistletoe, My Favorite Ornament, Cute Little Vixen. Top row: All I Want for Christmas Is OPI, In My Santa Suit, Visions of Love.



The second subset is a bit more adventurous, with some bigger glitters (but still has a red, I guess in case none of the five from the first display hit the spot). Bottom row: Wonderous Star, Warm Me Up, All Sparkly and Gold. Top row: Ski Slope Sweetie, I Snow You Love Me, Sleigh Ride for Two.



The last subset has the Liquid Sand shades. I've yet to see a full display of this at any of my Ulta stores, but my Kroger grocery surprised me my having them. Bottom row: It's Frosty Outside, Emotions, Kiss Me at Midnight. Top row: Silent Stars Go By, Baby Please Come Home, Make Him Mine.



Sally Beauty (which a sales associate told me is going to be carrying OPI starting next month) had the Finger Paints Enchanted Winter collection. All of these are textured glitters, but you wouldn't know it from the display (thanks be to the internet to tell me stuff). Six shades: Winter Chill (charcoal), Enchanted Winter (dusty rose), Sparkle in the Sky (navy), Snow Crystals (silver), Midas Touch (gold), and Spell Binding (red).



I'm fortunate to have two Bed Bath & Beyond stores with a beauty section in easy reach, and they often get stuff before other stores. Case in point: the L'Oreal Gold Dust collection of textured polishes. Nine colors here: Diamond in the Rough, Pop the Bubbles, Hidden Gems, The Reign of Studs, Too Dimensional, The Statement Piece, I Like It Chunky, Sexy in Sequins, and Rough Around the Edges.



Case in point number two: BB&B also had a display with two new types of Revlon Nail Art duos, Shiny Matte and Sun Candy. The Shiny Matte ones have a matte paired with a shimmer; the Sun Candy have a creme with a sheer shimmer topcoat. There are five Shiny Matte combinations (starting in back of left hand side): Leather & Lace, Emerald Suede, Pinstripe, Khaki Satin, and Tortoiseshell. There are ten Sun Candy duos (staring top of right hand side): Shimmering Sunset, Northern Lights, Fiery Sky, Sun Burst, White Hot, Sun Shower, Pink Dawn, Solar Flare, Celestial Shine, Lava Flame.



We'll finish our shopping trip today at Meijer, but I warn you ... they had a lot of stuff. Let's begin with the ginormous 32-slot Studio M Sparkle & Shine display for the holidays. If there were 32 new colors here, my brain might be melting down, but there are not. As per usual, there are repromotes and core shades liberally mixed in, and not every slot holds a different color, either.



Top row: Firecracker, Sexy Siren, Funfetti, Sparks Fly (x2), Poparazzi, Glitterati, Kaleidescope.

Second row: Look Book, Berry and Bright (new), Slammin Red, Holiday Splendor, Red-cial Gypsy, Drama Queen, Gel-ous, Ho-Ho-Holly (new).

Third row: Wish Upon a Rockstar, Glitter Wonderland (new), Gift of Sparkle (new), Holiday Splendor, Blue Funk, Jingle Jangle, Lust, Magnetism.

Bottom row: Gingerbread, Antiquated, Nouveau Vintage, Winter Affair (new), Hip Hop, Purple Medallion, Slammin Red, Sex Symbol.

You know who really seems to want my head to explode? Sally Hansen. In the last few weeks, five new displays from them have popped up at Meijer. There's this one, with eight colors of Insta Dri: Sand Storm, Go for Gold, Chartreuse Chase, Grease Lightening, Grape Shifter, In Prompt Blue, I-rush Luck, and Jade Jump. I don't see "limited edition" on this display, but I do see "new". I'm a bit skeptical on some of these shades, as I do have a couple from this line called Chartreuse Chase and Jade Jump in my stash already. Maybe there's some statute of limitations after which a reissued shade can be called "new".



Then there's Xtreme Wear Xtreme Color with ten new shades: Pink Punk, Hot Tamale, Pucker Up, Pep-Plum, Jazzy Jade, Sea-ing Stars, Bold Gold, Pixel Perfect, Shine On, and Blue Boom. These might actually all be new; I don't have any with these names in my stash already at any rate.



The Bling in the New Year collection display of Complete Salon Manicure colors has some core shades plus some limited edition glitters. Left to right: Twinkle Toes-ty (LE), Fa-la-la-lavender (LE), 3 2 1derland (LE), Midnight Glitz (LE), Gilty Party, Snow Globe, Hi Ho Silver, Red My Lips, Trouble Maker, Pat on the Black, Jungle Gem, and Black and Blue.



As if those new glitters weren't plenty, there's the Signed Sealed and Sequined display with seven Complete Salon Manicure overcoats; these have black caps with a white ring to set them apart from the regular CSM bottles. Left to right: Blush Over Hue, Crown Jewels, Over the Rainblue, Glare Necessities, Strawberry Shields, Open Mica Night, and Cherry on Top.



Then, before I'd even tried any of the other new things, this Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art display showed up at Meijer, with not just new colors of stuff but entirely new products. There are neons in little bottles of a style I've not seen from Sally Hansen before, and nail art stripers, and nail art kits, and nail art pens, and a Big Shiny top coat, and ... a Big Matte topcoat. A matte topcoat? You bet I bought one of those!



In back, there are the bead kits, studs kit, fringe kit (seems to be bar glitter), glitter kit, and a kit with a dotting tool and nail art brushes. The fine point nail art pens (back right) come in red, pink, blue, silver, black, magenta, turquoise, white, and white pearl. The neons (front right) are called Pretty in Hot Pink, Vibrant Violet, Sunny Side Up, Blueberry Burst, and Hot Wasabi. The stripers are Hot Pink, White, Purple, Silver, and Black.

If you made it this far, congratulations! You have true stamina!