The second Ardell display had another two things I hadn't seen in fake nails before. The Sun Kissed sets are like solar polishes, changing color in the sun. The Eco Mani sets are made from recycled plastic.
The last display had sets similar to ones I'd seen from other brands but they were still pretty. These are called Velvet. At first I thought that meant a physical texture, but it's meant to evoke the visual texture of velvet fabric that shimmers and shifts. Similar to some magnetic polishes.
There was a China Glaze collection for Pride (I assume, what with the rainbow colors and Love Is Love tagline) at Fred Meyer. A bold/neon twist on traditional Pride flag colors. Left to right: Flame-boyant, In the Lime Light (not yellow-leaning enough to be lime in my book but ok), Tropic Like It's Hot, Summer Reign, Orange Knockout, Crushin' on Blue.
This Dashing Diva display at Ulta caught my eye. The top shelf has semi-cured gel strips, both pedicure and manicure versions, with an emphasis on the glazed donut look for the latter. The middle shelf has the no-light/no curing needed strips like the ones I used back in March,
A Walgreens had what I assume is the Essie summer collection, Push Play. Bold colors with neutral accents here. Left to right: Grass Never Greener, Press Play, Sunshine Be Mine, Start Signs Only, Climbing High, and In My Sandbox.
Ulta had the Push Play collection, too, though in a slightly different display (not pictured as it wasn't that different from the one above). They also had the Essie Vintage Vanity collection, which was tagged "New + Only Here". In front, left to right: Born to Adorn, Vintage Vanity, Pretty in Pearls, and Unhidden Gem. In back: Primp & Powder, Not So Naturale.
At a Fred Meyer store in Washington, I saw a display of the Hip Chic semi-cured gel strips that, unlike the ones at the Idaho store I go to most often, weren't on clearance. These were all designs I hadn't seen at my store, so maybe it was just old sets that were being clearanced and there's a display like this I missed there? In addition to the strips, this display had cuticle oil and something called "fresh serum", which I guess a treatment.
The OPI sections of the big nail unit at the Ulta I was in were poorly stocked and of course poorly lit for photos. I guess the summer collection is called Summer Make the Rules.
When I was on my road trip last month, I stopped in a Five Below and saw this display for Pretty Woman Stardust collection. Some of these were really tempting, but I told myself I have similar polishes at home. Left to right: Intergalatic (deep blue shimmer with purple flash), Eternity (burgundy shimmer with gold flash), Break the Silence (deep teal shimmer), Stardust (gold glitter topper), Black Shadow (deep charcoal shimmer), and Looks Can Kill (rosy red shimmer with peach flash).
My old friend Sally Hansen has slowed down some, but she's still putting out limited edition collections, like this year's Pride offering, which I saw at Fred Meyer. It's called Pride & Shine, though that's hard to see since come cretins painted over that part. Mischievous kids or bigots? In north Idaho, it's hard to know who did it. I did have to rearrange bottles to get the front row stocked with the main rainbow colors, plus two of the trans ones. Left to right: Cherry-ish You, Healing Feeling, Sunshine Shimmers, Petal Dance, Blue Serenity, Berry Spirited, Someone Like Blue, and Pinky Please. There are a few more that didn't fit into the front row: Pearl Treasure (white), Espresso Yourself (brown), and Bold Rush (black).
I later saw a Pride & Shine display at Ulta, which only had a box set of the trans colors: Someone Like Blue, Pinky Please, and Pearl Treasure. There were prices listed for two other sets, a duo and a six-pack, but those appeared to be sold out. The display card had circles with twelve different colors, all the ones I'd seen at Fred Meyer plus one I hadn't noticed that appeared to be a glitter topper.
So I'm a bit bummed about the nearly empty display then round the corner and find the missing two sets just sitting on top of the big nail polish unit. The duo has the mysterious glitter in it, Get GLAAD, and Pearl Treasure. The six-pack is a ROYGBV (no indigo) rainbow. No idea where the black and brown came into Ulta's display; they're in those color circles on the card but doesn't seem there was a place for them in the display. Odd. Also odd is that I failed to notice the glitter was in the Fred Meyer display, three bottles of it in the back. I guess I saw the Peeps white also thrown in there and figured it was an old polish from another collection. I'm slipping.
Sally Hansen has another collection out now in the Miracle Gel line. This is a collaboration with the Keith Haring foundation/estate and has cremes in it. Left to right: Go Figures, Sketched in Stone, Red-iant Baby, Writing on the Walls, Colour Instinct, Contempor-airy, Blanc Canvas. There were also top coats in the display. Looking at this photo, I might have to see if I can find Go Figures to buy; it's a fairly unusual shade and I like that they changed the color of the Miracle Gel logo on the bottle for this one (and the black and the white, but I sure have enough of those creme shades in my stash).
This past weekend, I saw a display for the W7 brand at Fred Meyer. I didn't take the time to document the names, as I was in bit of a rush getting to a party (not so much of one I didn't swing through the beauty aisles, obviously). These looked to be cremes, and the shade range was mostly "safe" colors with a few pops of blue and yellow, but I'm all for more mainstream polish, so I did stop and look. Plus they're priced at only $2.99 so yay for a more afforadable option.
I wonder if there will be another resurgence of mainstream/drugstore brands. Or has the business landscape changed too much and we'll never get back to the number of brands and collections there were before. I still plan to be the lady in the assisted living home with wild nails, but I have enough polish in my collection to make that happen regardless of what's in stores decades from now.
