Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Wheel X8: Glitters from Sephora

Nail Wheel Wednesday today features glitters from various brands sold at Sephora at various points in time.



(all have topcoat in addition to coats noted below)

1. Sephora + Pantone Universe Blanc de Blanc (3 coats over black base)
2. Sephora + Pantone Universe Silver (2 over black)
3. Sephora + Pantone Universe Rich Gold (2 over black)
4. Sephora + Pantone Universe Jaffa Orange (2)
5. Sephora + Pantone Universe Honeysuckle (2)
6. Sephora Formula X Glory (2)
7. Sephora Formula X Oh Zone (2 over black)
8. Sephora Formula X Serendipity (2)
9. Sephora Formula X Boiling Point (2)
10. Sephora Formula X Explosive (2)
11. Sephora Formula X Firecracker (2)
12. Sephora Formula X Mind Blowing (2)
13. Sephora Formula X Maniacal (2)
14. Sephora Formula X Crash (2)
15. Sephora Formula X Boom (2)
16. Sephora Formula X TNT (2)
17. Sephora Formula X Meteoric (2)
18. Sephora Formula X Chaotic (2)
19. Sephora Formula X Blast Off (2)
20. Sephora by OPI Looks Like Rain, Dear (2)


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 16:



17 through 20:





















Monday, December 26, 2016

Red and Black Plaid Inspiration

Even though I'm in Idaho now, I haven't left the Michigan Nail Girls and Guys group on Facebook, figuring I do still get back there for visits (though not as often as I'd like), so I saw a fun collaboration going on where several ladies used a manicure by Tracey Loves Lacquer as inspiration to do their own versions.

Here is Tracey's pic of her original skittlette manicure:



And here's my version:



I looked through all my stamping plates and didn't have anything really close to the buffalo plaid design Tracey used, but I did have some Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips in an old design called Plaidical, which seemed to fit the bill. I put those on my index and middle finger, then topped with two coats of Gelous to beef them up, so to speak, to better match up with the textured polishes on my remaining digits. My ring finger has OPI Liquid Sand Emotions with a dot of SinfulColors Crystal Crushes Ruby Mine, while my pinky has the reverse, Ruby Mine with a dot of Emotions.



Tracey did a collage of the first wave of ladies who did their own versions (it was these ladies' postings in the Facebook group that inspired me):



This was fun; I hope the group does more of these collaborations—and that they let me keep being a part of the group!

Friday, December 23, 2016

Last Minute Gifts from LA Colors

For your last minute Christmas holiday virtual shopping pleasure, today I have some gift sets from LA Colors that I've seen at Walgreens and Rite Aid, plus a pleasant surprise from Dollar Tree.

Let's start with the Dollar Tree sighting; they don't usually have displays, and haven't really had any polish that's excited me in a while, but it is one of the few places to get polish in the small town closest to me, so I stopped in and, to my surprise, saw this display of LA Colors Nail Duet sets, which are a base color and a glitter packaged so the two small bottles share a cap (fortunately in a way that the bottles rest on their bases, not like those dual ended wand dealies that frustrate me so). Left to right: Fire & Ice (red base with white glitter), Yin & Yang (black with gold), PB&J (tan with gold), Peace & Quiet (pale turquoise with silver), Love & Hate (white with red), Give & Take (hot pink with blue).



The Nail Duets don't seem particularly aimed at holiday shoppers, but they would make nice stocking stuffers. The gift sets coming up definitely seem meant for gift giving. Walgreens had an endcap shelf filled with the different varieties: three nail art sets, three smaller sets of polish and nail decor, and an 18 bottle set of polish.



The nail art kits—Nailstalgia, Bling Things, and Bowtiful:



The Polished Up polish and nail decor sets and the 18-bottle Polishtopia set:



Rite Aid (and also Fred Meyer, though the photo below is from a Rite Aid) had a slightly different but very similar assortment of gift sets. Left to right: Polishtopia set, lip gloss set, Bling Things, Bowtiful, and Retro Speck nail art kits, and Mani-fest.



This version of the Polishtopia set has not just the 18 polishes but also stickers, stencils, and nail art pamphlet.



Bling Things:



Bowtiful:



Retro Speck:



Mani-fest has a nail dryer, four polishes, a base/top coat, nail beads, three loose glitters, a nail file, nail stickers, and a tray and brush for the beads and glitter.



Rite Aid/Fred Meyer also had their version of the Polished Up kits; theirs were called Fab 5 and had four polishes and loose glitter.



One Rite Aid also had two sets with rectangular bottles: Fiesta Four and Coastal Carnival.



I would have been excited to get any of these when I was a kid unwrapping presents under the tree. I'd play with them now, too. I did get some of the Nail Duets from Dollar Tree but resisted the other shinies; perhaps I'll get to swatching the duets at some point.

As you may have seen on Facebook already, I got an early Christmas gift when this blog was included on a list of the Top 50 Nail Polish Blogs by Feedspot Blog Reader. I'm in some great company there, for sure.



Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating this weekend!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Wheel W8 v2: Silver Holo Microglitters over Black

You may remember last week when I was thinking I should have painted my silver holo microglitter topper wheel over black; well, I went ahead and did that for this week. It's the same 20 polishes in the same order, just over a black creme base so the sparkles show up better (and the ones that aren't really toppers stand out, too).




(1 coats of each over black, except for #1, which is two coats over black; topcoat on numbers 2 through 19)

1. Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat
2. Etos Effect Nails 01
3. Sephora by OPI unlabelled [I think this is Celibacy Club; it's definitely not Meet Me at the Disco]
4. Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Dasher
5. Glitter Gal Disco Darling
6. Kleancolor Mr. Right
7. Maybelline Colorama Ice Princess
8. L'Oreal Bijou Crystals B. Shocking
9. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Showtime
10. Piggy Polish Sunshine on Snowflakes
11. ma.nish.ma Space Silver
12. Mary Kate and Ashley Duo Glitz
13. Essence Nail Art Special Effect Topper Hello Holo
14. Cover Girl Boundless Color City Lights
15. Nox Twilight Disco Darling
16. Confetti Tinsel
17. Naturistics Super Shine Gleam
18. Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff Meteorite
19. China Glaze Fairy Dust
20. China Glaze Wireless Holographic Top Coat


Bottle shots are in last week's post.
















Monday, December 19, 2016

End of 2016 Displays

I didn't do any nail polish display hunting while I was the long trip that followed my previous display post, and since I've been back, I've been mostly staying up on the mountain with periodic forays into town, which as you may recall, has few polish shopping venues. Still, I have made a few trips down to the city and saw some things there in the land of Ulta, Sally, Walgreens, Fred Meyer, NW Beauty, and Rite Aid.

There was a Bonita holiday set called Oh What Fun at Rite Aid. This had four polishes in what I think of as "sugarplum colors" along with some decals in a more traditional red/green/white color scheme.



Ulta had two Butter London gift sets, which surprised me a little as it feels like they haven't had anything new from that brand in a while. The first set, Cheerfull, has six skinny mini bottles; I don't think I've seen this shape from them before. Top: Swinging London, Beezer, Wine Gums. Bottom: Hot Totty, Come to Bed Red, Figgy Pudding. All but Come to Bed Red are limited edition.



The second set, Eventfull, has six "fashion size" colors of Patent Shine 10X: Royal Appointment, Mum's the Word, Scrumptious, Warm Fuzzies, Keep Calm, and Cool Britannia.



So far, I've only spotted the China Glaze holiday collection, Seas & Greetings, at Sally Beauty. I've seenn it at two different stores, and each had a somewhat different assortment of colors, so I'm not sure what's supposed to be in here. I could look it up, but I'm not that motivated. If China Glaze really wanted me to know, they'd label the display with names where I could see them.



Seas & Greetings was nowhere to be seen at my Ulta, but they did have a China Glaze Mini Bar, with bins of mini polishes and gift boxes so you could make your own assortment. Shades here: Ugly Sweater Party, Give Me the Green Light, Bring on the Bubbly, Peonies & Park Ave, Meet Me in the Mirage, Salsa, Icicle, Better Not Pout, Frostbite, Passion, You're Too Sweet, and Peppermint to Be. Not new colors as far as I could tell, but a fun idea for gifts.



I've only seen the Essie Winter 2016 collection, Getting Groovy, at mass market stores (neither Ulta nor NW Beauty had it the last time I was in the city). Fred Meyer had the display below. Left to right in the bottom row: Getting Groovy, Satin Sister, Go with the Flowy, Party on a Platform, Ready to Boa, Oh Behave (slot occupied by a random color).



Walgreens had a four-shade display; this lacks Ready to Boa and Oh Behave.



Rite Aid had the collection tucked into the end of the nail bar. Oh Behave is on the far right of the top row; it's a peachy color.



At Sally Beauty, they had some FingerPaints shades with iridescent white handles. The three that were left by the time I saw the display were Of Quartz You Can (white shimmer), Metal Mastermind (charcoal metallic), and Metal Medium (siler holo glitter). Near as I can tell from researching, there were three other shades with these handles: Heart of Gold (gold glitter), Cubism Crimson (core shade), and Piece de Resistance (core shade).



Fred Meyer had a Christmas display from Look. Polish colors here: Black, Evergreen, Crimson, Gold, White (love the straightforward names). There's also Gel-Like Top Coat and a nail art kit with topcoat, a nail wheel, dotting tools, and brushes.



A closer look at the nail art on the Look display:



The OPI holiday collection, Breakfast at Tiffany's, is everywhere—NW Beauty, Ulta, Fred Meyer, Sally. AS is often the case, my NW Beauty had the best stocked displays.

Top row: Meet My "Decorator", Got the Mean Reds, Fire Escape Rendevous, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sunrise...Bedtime, Can't Read Without My Lipstick. Bottom row: I Believe in Manicures, Champagne for Breakfast, Black Dress Not Optional, Apartment for Two, Five-and-Ten, Rich & Brazilian.



NW Beauty also had two more decorative displays for Breakfast at Tiffany's, one for each half of the collection.





Ulta had a bigger display that was really picked over (on the same day, just up the road from the NW Beauty); the difference, and the reason I'm including it in this sorry state, is the top row had OPI Infinite Shine Colors, most of which weren't in the regular polish collection: I Believe in Manicures (two slots), Girls Love Pearls (out of stock), Can't Tame a Wild Thing, Ring the Buzzer Again (two slots), Party at Holly's, and I'll Have a Manhattan.



As of my previous display post, I'd only seen Orly Breathable at Ulta, and that display was picked over. Recently, I saw a mostly full display at Walgreens. Left to right: Barely There, Rehab, Nourishing Nude, Light as a Feather, Pamper Me, Happy & Healthy, Nail Superfood, Beauty Essential, Love My Nails, Stronger than Ever, The Antidote, TLC, Give Me A Break, Pick Me Up, Feeling Free, Just Breathe, Fresh Start, Power Packed.



In my previous display post, I said that Sally Hansen's contribution to Halloween was a display with core colors of Xtreme Wear. Apparently, there was also a display with core colors of Insta Dri called Halloween Hues. I saw that for the first time in December, at an out of the way Rite Aid. Shades here: Orange Zest, Show Steel-er, Grease Lightening, Black to Black, Cinna-snap, Rapid Red.



I guess I haven't been paying close enough attention to the nail world because I was surprised to see a new line from Sally Hansen, Color Therapy. This is evidently formulated with oils and works as treatment and color in one. I first saw it at Fred Meyer. Front row: Well Well Well, Make My Clay, Therapewter, Steely Serene, Haute Stone, Mud Mask, Glow with the Flow, Soak at Sunset, Shea Dream, Cool Cucumber, Bamboost, Slicks and Stones, Exotic Acai, Indiglow, Soothing Sapphire, Jacoozy, Teal Good, Reflection Pool, Good as Blue. Back row: Chai on Life, Re-nude, Powder Room, Sheer Nirvana, Blushed Petal, Couple's Massage, Rosy Quartz, Primrose and Proper, Mauve Mantra, Berry Smooth, Robes and Rose, Rosy Glow, Pampered in Pink, Auran't You Relaxed, Red-iance, Haute Springs, Red-y to Glow, Ohm My Magenta, Unwine'd. Tucked in the corner behind the back row, there's top coat and cuticle oil.



I've since seen this line at Rite Aid and Walgreens, too, in a variety of display configurations, some with only a subset of the full line.









Walgreens had SinfulColors Un-Bow-Lievable for holiday 2016.



KMart had a Sinful Shine display with the same name, but of course different shades.



Rather than type out the shades that were in these by the time I got to them, I'm going to recommend you go look at fivezero, who has a clear writeup of what colors are new and which are repromotes.

This next display I went on a genuine hunt for: Wet 'n' Wild Sequins & Stardust. The first few times I saw it, at Kmart and two different Rite Aids, it was missing one or more of the polish shades, so the next time I went into the big city, I went to Rite Aid after Rite Aid, going to parts of town I'd never been to before. Finally, at something like the sixth location, I found a mostly full display. Colors here: Ninja Lovelace, I Dream of Jean Genie, Studio Glitter & Gold, and R-U-Free-2 Dance. All are limited edition.



I'd heard that Ulta had gotten some stamping stuff other than the little Essence Stampy kits, and sure enough, there was the Young Nails Caption display. This has two plates (which they call "art screens") packaged with a stamper, Party Squad (sold out) and It Girl, base coat, top coat, and six polish colors: Look Don't Touch, Eat My Dust, Heaven Help Me, Hurt So Good, Zigged When I Shoulda Zagged, and Bite Your Tongue.



My Ulta only had half of the Zoya Urban Grunge collection, the metallics. Front row: Finley, Britta, Ash. Back row: Alicia, Troy, Merida.



They did have a swatch plate with the creme side of the collection; not sure where the polishes or the display for those went.



That's all for this installment. I wonder how much more I'd have to share if I were still in metro Detroit. Maybe not a lot, as drugstore brands just don't seem to be putting out new displays as much as they used to. That's probably just as well for my budget.