Summer Vacation Displays

Yes, it's been a month since I last posted. I was overly optimistic about what I could get done between my long trip and the shorter one I got back from earlier this week. But now I've managed to get through all the display photos I took on the long trip. I didn't document the shade names for these as I was limited in the time I could spend browsing in stores. Speaking of stores, I only went to ones I came across, so it was all Boots and Superdrug locations in London, Birmingham, and Southampton.

I'd never seen a Barry M display in person before this one. It was mostly filled with Gelly shades, but there were treatments in the upper left and lower right. The bottom row had a few Hi Vis shades.

 

The same store had a little section with six Gelly shades, at least one of which was in the bigger section shown above, so I'm not sure what this was about ... seasonal collection of repromotes maybe. I did note the shade names here: All in One Basecoat Topcoat and Nail Hardener, Espresso, Chai Latte, Raspberry Ripple, Grape Soda, Pistachio, Pineapple Punch.

 

A Superdrug in Southampton had a wider selection of Barry M. This display had In a Flash quick dry colors on the left side, with Hi Viz neon color on the top right, with Velvet matte shades, Gelly Rose Tinted collection, and some glitters below that in the right hand side.

 

That same Superdrug also had a big display with Gelly colors and top/base/treatments. It was so big I didn't get it all in the frame of the photo ... ooops.

 

There were six more Gelly shades featured in that Superdrug in a separate display section. These weren't the same six as in the Boots in London, so not sure what's going on there.

 

 

I admit I was sorely tempted by the Boots brand fake nails, but resisted as I knew I had lots of sets of other brands at home.

 

I'd never heard of the Collection brand before, and only ran into one display for it. The top two rows were Spotlight Shine colors and the bottom two were Gel Effect.
Like the Boots fake nails, I was also tempted by the Elegant Touch ones, as I can't get that brand at home, but again, even though fakes are easier to use up than polish, I really need to use what I already have. (I was not tempted by the Kiss nails, as I have easy access to those.)

 

Essie isn't hard to find at home but it was still interesting to see the displays in England. This one at Superdrug had mini bottles, a line called Love by Essie that I don't recall seeing before (it's plant based), a bunch of shades in the regular line, a smaller selection of Gel Couture, and top/base/treatments.

 

At Boots, the display was similar, but had more shades and instead of the Love line, had an Expressie section.

 

A different Boots had a trending shades section above their main Essie display. This had Ballet Slippers, Birthday Girl (sold out), Cute as a Button, Lilacism, Salt Water Happy, and Mint Candy Apple.

 

I only saw a Kiko display once, at what I thought of as the fancy Boots (it was at least twice as big as any of the others I went into). This had removers, top/base/treatments, and shades from the Power Pro and Smart lines.

 

The only Makeup Academy polishes I saw were in this standing display with neon makeup for summmer.

 

I miss the days when Maybelline had lots of polish releases, so many with interesting colors and finishes. I saw two lines from them in England, both with a fairly tame selection of shades. Here's the Super Stay:

 

And the Fast Gel:

 

I have a soft spot for Max Factor as it was a brand my mom used. Their presence in the US seems to have faded a lot since then but it seems going strong in England. This display had three lines of nail polish: Nailfinity (longwear gel-like colour without a UV lamp), Miracle Pure Nail (plant-based and 100% vegan), and Masterpiece Xpress Quick Dry (60 seconds high shine rich colour).

 

A different store had this arrangement of Nailfinity and Masterpiece Xpress:

 

That store's stock of Miracle Pure Nail appeared to be a limited edition collection from Priyanka Chopra Jonas, with her name printed on the labels. I did get these shade names. Top row: Sparkling Light, Sunrise Glow, Radiant Rose, Vanilla Spice. Bottom: Winter Sunset, Daring Cherry, Bold Rosewood, Starry Night.

 

Like Collection, I hadn't heard of the My Mood brand before I saw the display. This was arranged by groups: Need a Top Up (glitters), Nude Mood (a range of skintone cremes), Nail the Dream (shimmery pastels), Next Level Neon (neons plus a white base), On the Brightside (seems a few pastels snuck into this part), Cult Classics (surprised the blue was here and not with brights), Treatments (bases, topcoat, oil), and Power Couples (pairs of compatible shades).

 

A closer look at the glitters, which almost made me break my no buying polish rule for this trip:

 

The Nails Inc display I saw had two rows of Plant Power shades (vegan and halal-friendly) on top with the traditional line below (neons, nudes, pastels, pinks, glitters, top/base/treatments) along with a row of the 45 Seconds Speedy Gloss shades.

 

The polish in the Revolution display at Superdrug had neons in round bottles and high gloss shades in squar ones.

 

At Boots, the Revolution polishes were not showcased as well but they had more varieties: Express Nails, Neon/Candy Nails, Gel Effect, and Nail Care.

 

This Rimmel display had Super Gel colors in the top rows and 60 Seconds Super Shine below with a few Glitter Bomb shades as well.

 

At another store they had a Rimmel Nail Bar section with a wider range of shades, including a couple glitter top coats. These were mostly 60 Seconds Super Shine with four rows of Super Gel in the upper right.

 

My old friend Sally Hansen had some represention over the pond. At Superdrug, they had a selection of Good Kind Pure, Miracle Gel, Insta Dri, and treatments.

 

At a Boots, they had a similar assortment of Sally Hansen.

 

I am still amazed that I managed to not buy any nail polish on my trip. Whenever I got tempted, I'd remind myself of the many many many beautiful untrieds waiting for me at home. I did buy three concealers and a foundation (and sunscreen and a few other things I used on the trip), and have bought a few polishes since I've been home, so as always I'm a work in progress.

Wheel Z15: Maybelline Color Show Glitters

Today's Nail Wheel Wednesday showcases twenty glitter polishes from the Maybelline Color Show line. Though I think Sally Hansen holds the crown, Maybelline has had a lot of different nail polish lines over the years: Colorama, Express Finish, Forever Strong, Great Finish, Long Wearing, Revitalizing Color, Salon Expert, Salon Finish, Ultimate Wear, Wet Shine, to name a few I have in my collection. The Color Show line was introduced in spring/summer of 2012 as far as I can tell from my display posts. The line extensions started not too long after that. All ten of the Color Show Brocades from the Gilded in Gold collection from Holiday 2013 are here; I swatched those in January 2014. There's some question about whether these are textures or just glitters that need a lot of topcoat. This collection was involved in the great box crash in Michigan and one broke. I was able to replace it, but never worked up the energy to properly clean the bottles that got spilled on (I tried doing a couple but the gold band on the cap didn't hold up so I just left the rest alone). The entire eight shade Color Show Sequins release from Holiday 2012 is here too.

 

(all have clear topcoat in addition to glitter coats noted below)

1. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Silver Swank (3 coats)
2. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Gilded Rose (3)
3. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Lavishly Lilac (3)
4. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Ruby Refined (3)
5. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Crushed Crimson (2)
6. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Amethyst Couture (2)
7. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Embellished Blues (2)
8. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Black n Mirrors (2)
9. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Emerald Elegance (2)
10. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Beaming Blue (3)
11. Maybelline Color Show Emerald City (3)
12. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Sea-quins (3)
13. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Lavender Sparks (3)
14. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Sapphire Masquerade (3)
15. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Ruby Rhinestones (2)
16. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Cocktail Dress (3)
17. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Rose Bling (3)
18. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Gold's Night Out (2)
19. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Silver Gleam (2)
20. Maybelline Color Show Gold Ignite (3)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nails of 2021

Nails of 2021 I looked back at the writing I did here this year and see only a few nails of the day posts. I wasn't suprised; my photo folders are stuffed with pictures I've taken but not posted, and most of those are NOTD looks. Between polish swatching/play sessions, I've almost always been wearing fake nails or nail strips from my stash because those are so easy (and the fakes are so protective). To kick off this year, I thought I'd share some of last year's NOTD, lest all those photos go to waste. Back in the day, when Meijer carried MOB (Ministry of Beauty) fake nails for a short time, I scooped up multiple sets when they went on clearance and wore several of those in 2021, including these blue Ultra-Reflect ones, sibling of the orchid ones I wore in 2015 and reviewed .

 

I wore several different sets of Maybelline Nail Falsies (most of those grabbed on clearance, too), including the Keep It Red reverse french set. I first wore this brand of fakes back in 2013.

 

Not all of my looks came from stash, though. I bought a set of the imPress Color nails that I first saw at Walgreens early last year. I tried a shimmery shade called Peanut Pink when my nails were in a shorties stage that these imPress would cover. These have the adhesive already applied to the nail which is easier than having to use separate tabs. I got good wear from them, too. I liked them so well, I bought and wore a couple more sets over the course of the year (Paralyzed Pink and Taupe Prize). They're good basics if the length works for you.

 

I wore L'Oreal Colour Riche Press-On Nails for the first time last year. I bought them in Canada back when going to Canada was still a thing that was possible (I think it is again, with proof of vaccination and a PCR test, but testing is such a mess right now I don't need to burden that system so I can go see what nail polish is a Shoppers Drug Mart). These fit my nails well though the length was on the short side so had to wait until I had a break that made me cut down my natural nails. The adhesive tabs were good and I got about 10 days of wear from this set.

 

I wore these Kiss Gel Fantasy medium length ones at Easter time because the colors reminded me of a bowl of candy, those pastel mints specifically.

 

I liked the wear I got from the one set of SinfulColors Claws I wore last year, these beige with slightly see through red tips, though this shape left the corners of my natural nails exposed so that wasn't great from a protection angle.

 

I tried Clutch Nails for the first time last year, having bought them at Target on impulse when I was there looking for something else. I got the Natural Nude set, and immediately after putting them on, cut them shorter so they felt more natural. These are glue ons, and I had a lot of trouble with nails just popping off and having to be reglued. That can happen with adhesive tabs, too, though those often get loose first so I have a warning.

 

My Halloween look was a pink and black set with spiders from Magic Press.

 

One issue I had with fake nails this year was some of the plastics would change color from my hair dye (it's been blue for a while now). I use semi-permanent dye, and when it's fresh, there's a fair bit of excess dye that comes off. Look how the pink and taupe (from another set I wore) went grey just from me having my fingers in my hair to braid it. This doesn't happen with all sets and fortunately the color change is even rather than streaky when it does happen.

 

I did a couple different sets of Fing'rs Prints nail when my own were short enough. I wore the plaid and black Rock Rebel ones around Thanksgiving.

 

I finished out the year in a couple Christmas sets, including this red and green glitter from Kiss.

 

At the moment, my nails just have a treatment base on them, as I couldn't decide what I wanted for the new year. Happy 2022 everyone! May we all have more joy this year.