Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Wheel I9: Water Polishes

It's Wednesday, and since I'm back now, that means a nail wheel. Today it's water finish polishes, the sheerer siblings of jelly polishes. Some of the ones on this wheel are classics, like the Maybelline Express Finish bottles from the gold cap era, while some are recent, like the Essie 3D Pop Tints.




1. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Vitamin D-Light (3 coats)
2. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Water Melon (3)
3. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Jell-ous (3)
4. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Grape Jelly (3)
5. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Ice Tint (3)
6. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Sea Through (3)
7. Maybelline Express Finish Clear Seas (3)
8. Maybelline Express Finish Emerald Water (3)
9. Maybelline Express Finish Blue Water (3)
10. Maybelline Express Finish Violet Water (3)
11. Maybelline Express Finish Plum Water (3)
12. Maybelline Express Finish Berry Water (3)
13. Maybelline Express Finish Orange Water (3)
14. Maybelline Express Finish Lemon Water (3)
15. Wet 'n' Wild The Nail Zone Berry Crush (4) [I sure hope this had more pigment when it was new, as it's barely tinted now; I think I got this in a swap or blog sale, so didn't have it when it was fresh]
16. Essie Burgundy Syrup (4)
17. Essie Grape Crush (4) [this one and the one above are part of the Glaze Her's collection; there are four others I've never run across—Apricot Fizz, Cherry Pop, Night Cap, and Raspberry Seltzer]
18. Essie Gel Setter 3D Pop Tints 01 (3)
19. Essie Gel Setter 3D Pop Tints 03 (3)
20. Essie Gel Setter 3D Pop Tints 02 (3)


Bottles 1 through 6:



7 through 10:


11 through 14:



15 through 20:


















Monday, March 27, 2017

SinfulColors Stoned Crystal Shimmer Shades

Hi. Yes, I disappeared again for a while. I didn't mean to, I just overestimated my ability to post while away from home for three weeks. I did okay at the beginning of the trip, then got tired, possibly because I'd set an ambitious schedule for the non-blogging parts of my trip: driving from Michigan to Illinois to Wisconsin and then the reverse, visiting friends and family and taking care of some stuff at my mom's house and attending a long weekend conference along the way. Then I finally got home, the same day as a houseguest arrived, and I hadn't quite factored being a half-decent hostess into my blogging plans. Now the guest is gone, and I've mostly settled back into my usual routine (there are still a few things I need to finish unpacking and put away), so here I am, with four of this season's new SinfulColors shades. These are the four Stoned Crystal Shimmer colors that were in the Spring Trippin' display at my Walgreens in Idaho. There are more colors with this finish, but I didn't see them until I was on my trip (in a Spring Fever sidekick at a Walgreens), and my luggage was already flirting with being overweight on my flight out so I didn't want to buy a lot while I was traveling.

Left to right: Just Deserts, Thera-pewter, Desert Reign, Tealing Power.



All of these have small silvery/pearly white flaky shimmer in them; at times I thought I caught a glimpse of something warmer in Desert Reign's flakes, though that might just have been the effect of the warmer and deeper base color in that one. All of these were two coats as well, which was quite nice, especially for the lighter shades, which I thought might need three before I tried them.

Just Deserts is a light tan. It's definitely a nice neutral, a touch pale and not quite rosy enough to be mannequin hands on me but not clashing with my skintone either.







Thera-pewter is a pale cool grey.







Desert Reign in a purpley pink, what some might call mauve.







Tealing Power is a turquoise blue. This is the only one of the four that I wouldn't wear in a conservative office enviroment.







I like these; the finish is interesting and the formula is good. I hope to track down the other shades soon, though there's one I've yet to see anywhere, and I hit quite a lot of stores in my travels. Fingers crossed I get lucky at some place soon.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Wheel H9: Dark Brown Shimmers

Today for Nail Wheel Wednesday I have a group of polishes that are much more suited to autumn than spring: rich brown shimmers. As happens with shimmer wheels, some of these are very subtle shimmers.




1. Pahlish El Topo Petit (3 coats)
2. Bari Fast Dry Sable (2)
3. Cover Girl NailSlicks Chocolate Mint (3)
4. Orly Buried Alive (3)
5. Nails Inc Maple Street (2)
6. Maybelline Express Finish Coffee Glaze (2)
7. Sally Hansen New Lengths Leather or Not (4)
8. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Tough Frost (2)
9. Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Ninga Lovelace (2)
10. Joe Espresso (2)
11. MAC Rich Dark Delicious (2)
12. Orly Talk Dirty (2)
13. Sally Hansen Salon The Good Earth (2)
14. Revlon Top Speed Espresso (2)
15. Sally Hansen New Lengths Fantasy Frost (3)
16. CND Cuppa Joe (2)
17. Sally Hansen New Lengths Espresso Brown (2)
18. Borghese Espresso Brown (2)
19. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Coco A-Go-Go (2)
20. SinfulColors I Klove U (1)


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 15:



16 through 20:






















Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Almost Spring Displays

I've been on the road again, so I've got displays not just from northern Idaho and eastern Washington this time but also from some of the Great Lakes states.

I noticed a section in the Bliss display at Kohls with Spring Fling colors: Little White Lie, Wheel & Teal, Strawberry Fields, Tutu & From, Show You a Gold Time.



At Ulta, I saw the Butter London + Pantone Color of the Year collection. These polishes are all "fashion size". Front: Calypso Coral, Bodacious, Caramel Cafe. Back: Rich Gold, Greenery (color of the year), Buttercream.



At another Ulta, these colors were tucked into a space in the core display, with coordinating lip glosses as well.



Sally Beauty had the China Glaze Spring Fling display, but as per usual with China Glaze displays, I have no idea what colors were supposed to be there. I guess that's what the internet is for.



I was very surprised to see a Color Club Nailmoji display at Fred Meyer recently, since I haven't seen anything from them there (or anywhere) in ages, and I thought Nailmoji came out last year, yet here was a pretty much untouched display in 2017. I think these are the Nailmoji neons, though the display doesn't say that. Left to right: Yassss, OMG, SMH, JK, 100, Chill, Squad.



There are no CVS stores in my new home region, so I was happy to see them when I was on the road. The most interesting thing I saw at any of the CVS stores I popped into were two CND Vinylux displays. This first one, with the blonde model, I also saw at Walgreens. Left side, starting at top left and going row by row: Cream Puff, Skin Tease, Romantique, Pink Pursuit, Be Demure, Negligee, Hot Pop Pink, Cake Pop, Mauve Maverick, Lavender Lace, Pink Bikini, Tutti Frutti, Butterfly Queen, Desert Poppy, Tropix. Right side: Lobster Roll, Wildfire, Rose Brocade, Bloodline, Decadence, Fedora, Couture Covet, Asphalt, Mint Convertible, Black Pool, Rubble, Field Fox, Married to Mauve, Rock Royalty, Brass Button. In the center there are boxes with the Weekly Top Coat.



The second Vinylux display, which I've only seen at CVS, has a brunette model and a different assortment of shades. Left side: Studio White, Naked Naivete, Lavishly Loved, Blush Teddy, Strawberry Smoothie, Beau, Grapefruit Sparkle, Salmon Run, Gotcha, Irreverent Rose, Hollywood, Rogue Red, Red Baroness, Dark Love, Dark Dahlia, Beckoning Begonia, Lilac Longing, Wisteria Haze, Date Night, Aqua-intance, Denim Patch, Creekside, Cityscape, Thistle Thicket, Safety Pin, Tinted Love, Sultry Sunset, Leather Satchel, Untitled Bronze, Nordic Lights. This also has Weekly Top Coat in the center section, just not boxed like in the other display.



Of course I made a beeline to Five Below as soon as I was in range. I found a gem on the nail supplies rack: liquid latex in the forms of Cutiful Manicure Masking Fluid.



Essie's spring collection showed up at Walgreens. Left to right: B'aha Moment, All the Wave, Excuse Me Sur, Designated DJ, Backseat Besties, On the Roadie, Gel Setter Top Coat.



I also saw a slightly different display of these at Fred Meyer.



One Walgreens had a tall floor display with the Essie spring colors.



Last display post, I shared a four-shade Essie display (all repromotes) related to their Nail Art Awards. That was at Fred Meyer in Idaho; in the midwest at Meijer, I saw a six-shade version with After School Boy Blazer, In the Cab-ana, Blanc, Guilty Pleasures, Bahama Mama, Forever Yummy (and Gel Setter Top Coat).



Five Below had a Fresh Paint The Golden Girls-themed collection, but I only saw three of the girls: Rose, Blanche, and Dorothy. Where is Sophia?



There was also a Funky Fingers Game of Thrones-themed collection at Five Below: Winter Is Coming, The Night is Dark, Mother of Dragons, Red Wedding.



Finally at Five below there was a new to me line called Gel Paint by Color Club: Gel Yourself (topcoat, I think), Gel Me Maybe, Gel'n Like a Melon, Gello It's Me, PB & Gelly Time.



I stopped in a Walmart in Wisconsin and found a fairly intact display of Incoco Coconut nail art strips with Valentine's Day designs. I was happy to see these, as not only have there been no new designs of Sally Hansen Salon Effects, they're being clearanced out at all the stores where I used to buy them, so I see more trips to Walmart in my future when I run low on strips. Top row: Total Flirt (gone), So Sweet, Sweet Nothings, Feel the Love. Second row: Change of Heart, Modern Love, Happy Hearts, Fancy That. Third row: I'm Yours, Puppy Love, Love Always, Dearly Beloved. Fourth row: Tie the Knot, Hello Darling, Vintage Romance, Dress Up. Fifth row: Love Blooms, Hopeless Romantic, Just for You, Feeling Floral. Bottom row: Girly Drinks, Dreaming Away, Gingham Girl, Sweet Tooth.



Some Ulta stores have the Morgan Taylor Beauty and the Beast display. I never found one that was fully stocked; the one shown below has five of the seven shades: The Last Petal (berry), Gaston and On and On (light blue), Potts of Tea (light grey), Plumette with Excitement (pink), and Enchanted Patina (sheer bronze). Missing from this display are Be Our Guest (coral pink) and Days in the Sun (light yellow).



Some stores have a swatch card with the six base colors; Enchanted Patina is a color-changing top coat. There is also a mini set with The Last Petal, Plumette with Excitement, Potts of Tea, and Enchanted Patina (not pictured).



OPI's latest seasonal collection is Fiji, and it has shown up at Ulta, NW Beauty, and Sally Beauty. Ulta had the biggest display, with both regular polishes and Infinite Shine. Front: Base Coat, Top Coat, I Can Never Hut Up, Coconuts Over OPI, Suzi Without a Paddle, Is That a Spear In Your Pocket, Do You Sea What I Sea. Second row: Super Trop-i-cal-i-fiji-istic, Polly Want a Lacquer, Getting Nadi on My Honeymoon, Two-timing the Zones, Living On the Bula-vard, No Tan Lines, Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet. Back two rows are the same, just in the Infinite Shine line.



There are also three Ulta exclusives in a separate display: Hand Me My Sunglasses, Tropi-call Me On My Cell, Nails of Paradise.



NW Beauty had mini sets and a small display with one of each color.



My Sally store had a display with just the Infinite Shine versions of the shades.



Orly has an entry into the color plus treatment category: BB Creme. I saw this display at Sally Beauty, with four shades—Barely Blush, Barely Nude, Barely Taupe, and Barely Blanc.



I shared a couple Revlon makeup displays with new shades of ColorStay Gel Envy tucked into them in my previous display post; at Rite Aid in the midwest, I saw a polish-only display with the same shades, which made me happy that polish was getting the spotlight. Metallics on top: What Happens in Vegas, Try Your Luck, Win Big, Smoke and Mirrors, Diamond Top Coat. Pastels below: Lucky in Love, Cha-Ching, Roll the Dice, To the Chapel, Diamond Top Coat.



I did a happy dance when I saw that Sally Beauty was once again carrying Salon Sciences products; I'd hoarded the old style bottles of Instant Artificials and Starting Over After Artificials when they'd clearanced them out some time ago, and stopped looking for them a while after that, but happened to notice these new style bottles in boxes on the shelf. Yay, now I don't have to save my stash of these for special occasions.



More of the Kandee Johnson SinfulColors showed up at my local Walgreens. Front: Flip Tease, Kiss Goodnight, Digital Dreams, Blueberry Hot Rod, Mermaid Tail. Back: Spoon Full of Sugar, Pinksicle, Heart of Gold, Dripping in Pearls, Urban Magic.



SinfulColors also has a bunch of other spring colors coming out. The website shows three collections: Desert Divas, Chic Chicas, and Bayou Babes. This Spring Trippin' display appears to include some of the shades from Desert Divas and some from Chic Chicas as well as some repromotes. Left to right: Just Deserts (new), Let's Playa (new), Apeasing, Thera-pewter (new), Desert Reign (new), Tempest, Tealing Power (new), Bitten.



The Spring Fever display appears to have some shades from Chic Chicas as well as some repromotes. Left to right: Besos for Pesos (new), Yolo Yellow, Havana Great Time (new), Apeasing, Clear Coat, Let's Playa (new), Mist-erious, Tempest.



Continuing the spring releases, I saw SinfulShine Bayou Babes at a different Walgreens. Front: Most Sinful, Blue Bayou (new), My Kryptonite, Nola Way (new), Top Coat. Back: Shine Annie, Bayou Bae (new), I Ain't Jambalayin (new), Flambeaux Pink (new), Top Coat.



At a Walgreens in Wisconsin, I saw a SinfulColors Spring Fever sidekick display that I at first only gave a cursory glance to, as I figured it was just the colors from the shelf top display with some core shades mixed in, and also I was in the midst of a hectic weekend at a conference and so somewhat rushed, but I happened to spy a bottle with a sticker on the handle like the Desert Divas shades that were in the Spring Trippin' display but that wasn't a color I rememebered seeing before. That led me to look at all the bottles here and I found not only four Desert Divas shades I hadn't before but also some from Chic Chicas and a few from Kandee Johnson that were new to me. Whether they should have been in this display or had been moved from a different one, I've got no idea. Top row: Endless Blue, Clay Me (new), Vibrant Vida (new), Fool for Azul (new), Soul Mate, Pink Smart, Mint Apple, Snow Me White. Second row: Mint Sugar (new), Gold n' Roses, Thera-pewter (new), Strawberry Milk (new), Rise & Shine, You Just Wait, Energetic Red, Namaste the Night (new). Third row: Let's Playa (new), Berry Charm, Tealing Power (new), Besos for Pesos (new), Starfish, Mist-erious, Black on Black, Just Deserts (new). Fourth row: Desert Reign (new), Cherry on Top (new), Yolo Yellow, Clay Me (new), Jam Out (new), Folly, Namaste the Night (new), So Daupe (new). Fifth row: Pink Sugar (new), Gotta Terra Cotta (new), Vacation Time, Deep End (new), Better Sedona-ed (new), Bitten (new), Tempest, Tempest. Bottom row: Clear Coat, Clear Coat, Havana Great Time (new), Licorice (new), Easy Going, Mint2BCool, Apeasing, Apeasing.



As soon as I could in my travels, I got myself to a Meijer store. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Studio M brand had been refreshed. No more rectangular bottles with gold caps; those had survived the rebranding from Massini to Studio M some years back but now are no more, replaced by round bottles with black caps. Except some have silver caps; this is apparently a new line called Studio M Pro, which sells for $4.99, two dollars more per bottle than the regular line. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Well, I am; I feel annoyed but also like I shouldn't be annoyed. Top row are the Studio M Pro colors: Bright White, Chrome, Pastel Blue, Champagne Shimmer, Lavender Pearl, Soft Pink, Cream, Frosted Mint. Rest of the rows are what I assume is the newly refreshed core collection; I was relieved to see that Slammin Red and Purple Medallion made the transition.



One Meijer store had a sidekick display with additional colors of the Studio M Pro line; I'm not sure if the ones that weren't in the regular aisle display section se were limited edition or what. Top row: Soft Pink, Lavender Pearl, Vibrant Purple, Deep Pink, Classic Red, Ruby Glitter, Midnight Purple, Merlot. Second row: Violet, Pastel Blue, Cobalt, Teal, Hunter Green, Aqua, Frosted Mint, Bright White. Third row: Cream, Putty, Gold Glitter, Champagne Shimmer, Chrome, Silver Glitter, Slate, Black. The display touts these as letting you "achieve super-shiny gel-like results with just one coat. No top or base coat needed!" I don't know that I want to pay $2 extra for that.



Because I flew on this trip, and my suitcase was right up against the weight limit on the way here, I am trying to not buy too many polishes, but still have had to get some. Of course I have. And not just from brands I can't get in Idaho, since I don't trust my stores will get all the SinfulColors I've seen here in the Great Lakes, or if they do, they'll be sold out by the time I get home next week. I might end up shipping myself a box, in which case, I need to do a bit more shopping.