A Little Later Than Mid-February Displays

For a change, it hasn't been way too long since my last display post, at least not judging by the number of photos piled up in my folder to be posted. Maybe it's just a slow time for new polish.

Butter London gets us kicked off with their Spring 2015 collection, High Tea, which I saw at Ulta, in the now usual spot down the aisle instead of on the top shelf above the core polish display on the endcap where they used to be and where I was more likely to see them. The confusing thing here is that while I expected six polishes based on the press release, and there are six polishes here, they aren't all the same colors as promised in the press release. Instead of Cheers, a yellow creme, this display has Doily, a milky pastel pink with white glitter topper that was part of the Sweet Somethings collection for Bridal 2014. And it's not a mistake in shelving, since Doily is on the printed card attached to the shelf. The other colors are Tiddly, Ruby Murray, Kip, High Tea, and Sloane Ranger. Sloane Ranger is not new, either, but the others I don't recall seeing before. There's a tutorial on the display showing how to doan ombre mani (by which they mean gradient) using something called the Butter London Ombre Brush, which seems to be a really fat, flat brush. I actually think I might have one of those; I should look.



One of the things keeping me busy this month was a trip to Idaho, during which I both skied and worked yet still managed to make some time to hunt for displays. Fred Meyer had the Essence Like an Unforgettable Kiss display, with four polishes amongst the other makeup: Always on My Mint, Pink Me, Nothing But Lovestoned, You Let my Heart Skip a Beat.



As of my last display post, I was on the hunt for a proper Essie Cashmere Matte display, and I did find one, at a Walgreens a little outside my normal shopping grounds. The bottles weren't arranged properly but I did not have time to fix them (I was on my way out of town for a girls' weekend). As as aside, when I am queen of the universe, there will be a zero tolerance policy for testing colors on a display. I don't care what the excuse is, do this in my world and you'll be banned from retail stores until you prove you can behave yourself, and that will be a high bar to get over.



Here's how that display should have been arranged, as seen a couple weeks later at a Bed Bath & Beyond:



I also saw Cashmere Matte in the salon bottles at Ulta.



The Ulta display had a card next to it with a nail art idea:



Ulta also had the Essie resort collection, Suite Retreat. Four colors here: Suite Retreat, Stones 'n' Roses, Time for Me Time, and Cocoa Karma.



There were three nail art ideas for this collection:



I ventured into Walmart, not expecting much since new displays have been scarce there in recent months, but found a relatively unmolested endcap with Nail'd It Nail Lacquer colors from Flower in it. These seemed to be a mix of new colors as well as some that were in the original line launch (you can see those displays in this 2013 display post). Top row: Quick Dry Top Coat, Rose Gold Top Coat, Gold Top Coat, Make My Daylily, Pansy Shmansy. Second row: Thistle or That (old), Good Bud-dy (old), Aster Place, First Bloom (old), Budding Romance (old). (Remaining rows were repeats of the first two).



At a Walgreens in Idaho, I saw something I'd never seen before: an Incoco Nail Polish Applique display. This was called Love Story and by the time I got there, had four designs left: Sweet Surprise, Hello Sweetheart, Love is in the Air, and First Crush. (The missing ones, based on the photos on the display, were Love Spell and Sealed with a Kiss.) These were smaller packages with fewer strips than the ones I've tried via review samples and online ordering and had a lower price. Now that I'm looking at this photo again, I'm wishing I'd bought more than the one set I grabbed.



I swung by Bed Bath & Beyond and saw a new L'Oreal display, Haute Florals, which looks very spring-like. It's got six base shades and a floral glitter topper. Left to right: Wispy Clouds, Spring Showers, Hint of Lavender, Violette, Rose Symphony, Sweet Nectar, and Garden Bouquet (times 2).



Here's a closer look at Garden Bouquet:



Maybelline Rebel Bloom showed up at Bed Bath & Beyond. The first display had polishes and something I hadn't seen from the brand before: nail art stripers called "Nail Laser Liner". The stripers in front: Custom Coral, Purple Play, and Onyx Improv. The polishes in back: Beach Blossom and Rose Candy. The polish bottles have a pretty floral design printed on them, too.



The bigger Maybelline Rebel Bloom display has eye and lip cosmetics and an expanded selection of polishes: Beach Blossom, Rose Candy, Fiery Tulip, and Purple Madness.



The OPI Hawaii collection has popped up at Ulta. Twelve shades here, starting at top left, skipping over topcoats and basecoats: That's Hula-rious, My Gecko Does Tricks, This Color's Making Waves, Pineapples Have Peelings Too, Do You Take Lei Away, Is Mai Tai Crooked, Aloha from OPI, Go with the Lava Flow, Suzi Shops & Island Hops, Just Lanai-ing Around, Hellow Hawaii Ya, Lost My Bikini in Molokini.



Sally Beauty had a much smaller OPI Hawaii display.



Rimmel has a Rita Ora collection display out with size polishes as wel as some lipcolor. The polishes: Blindfold Me Blue, Rita Rouge, Let's Get Nude, Pillow Talk, Pop Art Top Coat, Oragasm, and Raw as Night. I saw this at Fred Meyer in Idaho and at Kmart here in Michigan.



Sally Hansen keeps pumping out new colors. The Colors That Soar display has eight limited edition Xtreme Wear shades: Social Butterfly, Sweet Nectar, Fan Appeal, Cuteapillar, Fly By, Wing It, Painted Lady, and Monarch-y. I saw this first at Fred Meyer on my travels and later back here at home in Michigan at a CVS.



When I posted the SinfulColors Kiss My I'm Stylish St. Patrick's Day display last time, I remarked that there was no Irish Green in it. Well, I found the display at another store (Walgreens instead of KMart) where there was Irish Green included. Lineup here was two slots for Green Ocean (looking like they were slightly different dye lots or something), Irish Green, 2 slots for Shamrockin', two slots for Snow Me White, and then the red Sugar Sugar, which seemed an odd choice for this theme but I suppose it does coordinate with the model's lips.



As if two different assortments of polishes for this same display weren't enough, there's also a variant in which the Shamrockin' glitter is different. All the displays I've seen in Michigan have the version I swatched, with green metallic glitter in the mix. Well, out in Idaho I saw both that version and the lighter, no green metallic glitter, one in different stores. I don't get it. Why release two versions at the same time with the same name? I'd given up on seeing the light version and begged a friend to buy me a bottle before I left for Idaho, which I think made this version appear in my path finally.



Back home in Michigan, I found the SinfulColors About Blooming Time display, which has three Bloomblast milky glitters and some repromotes: Petal Be the Day (Bloomblast), Tempest, Flower Power (Bloomblast), Sail La Vie, Engergetic Red, Cream Pink, Cloud 9, and Standing Bloom Only (Bloomblast).



Ulta had the Zoya Naturel Satins (for 2015 Transitional, which I guess is a season now; not sure if it comes before or after Resort season—or maybe Essie just takes off for a resort to avoid being around for transitional). Sorry, I got distracted there. Six shades here are Tove, Brittany, Ana, Leah, Rowan, and Sage.



I was hoping to see Orly spring by now but Sally Beauty didn't have it yet, and Ulta has not gotten any new Orly in a while. Not that I am hurting for new polish to play with, of course.