Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Wheel S8: Mo' Magnetics

Nail Wheel Wednesday rolls along with still more magnetics.



(all are two quick coats before the magnet, with the usual caveat that it's hard to get the magnet close to the tips on these wheels)

1. Wet 'n' Wild Magnetic A Force to Be Reckoned With
2. Wet 'n' Wild Magnetic Igniting the Spark
3. Wet 'n' Wild Magnetic Don't Break the Circuit
4. Wet 'n' Wild Magnetic No Gas Electrically Charged
5. Wet 'n' Wild Magnetic Bad for Credit Cards
6. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Ion-ically Yours [couldn't use the Pure Ice magnets on the wheel at all due to their geometry, so I used ones from other brands that I could get close to the wheel]
7. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Totally Amp
8. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Electra Fly Me
9. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Power Me Up [love this color]
10. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Super Charged [love this color, too]
11. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction High Voltage
12. Pure Ice Magnetic Attraction Power Trip [oh, and also love this color, such a rich purple]
13. Magnetique unnamed green
14. Magnetique unnamed purple
15. Magnetique unnamed red
16. Magnetique unnamed grey
17. SinfulColors Sinfully Magnetic Polar Opposites [the blue shimmer in this is so great]
18. SinfulColors Sinfully Magnetic Snake It Out
19. SinfulColors Sinfully Magnetic Stuck on You
20. SinfulColors Sinfully Magnetic Captivate Me [weirdly gritty for a metallic; maybe SinfulColors invented textured magnetic polish and just forgot to market it]


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 12:


13 through 16:



17 through 20 (wearing their magnet rings):


















Destash notes: I'd have to look at these and compare to all my other magnetics. Ones that are unique shades and ones that are flecked finish rather than brushstrokey get preference.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Funky Fingers Summer Beach Colors

In addition to the four solar shades that Funky Fingers released in time for this summer that I shared last time, they also put out four regular shades (3 for $5 vs. the 2 for $5 that the solars are): Beach Please, Aloha Beaches, Set Sails, and Salty Kisses. I don't know if this collection had an official name, as I never saw any signage, but the names definitely have a beach or "by the water" theme.



Though I am definitely getting my blogging mojo back, I seem to have lost my desire to do full hand swatches of a single color, so I combined these Funky Fingers into pairs. First up, Beach Please, a light warm pink shimmer, and Aloha Beaches, a hot pink shimmer. On my ring and middle fingers, I did a French tip with Aloha Beaches then added two coats of Beach Please, which as you can see is somewhat sheer. My ring finger is three coats of Aloha Beaches alone; this more subtle shimmer than Beach Please but it is visible. On my pinky, I topped Aloha Beaches with one coat of Beach Please, which amped up the shimmer and lightened the color a bit.





In direct light, as expected, the shimmer pops more, especially for Beach Please, which shows a slight blue flash:



For the remaining two shades, I did an accent nail of Set Sails, a blue shimmer, with Salty Kisses, a blue green shimmer, on the other nails. I used two coats of both of these. Salty Kisses has a more frosty look to it than Set Sails, with a bit of brushstrokiness.





Glowing in direct light:



I still had the Funky Fingers solars out when I swatched these, so I had bit more fun and layered Beach Please over them. Top to bottom: Burning Melon plus Beach Please, Punkrock Pink plus Beach Please (Punkrock Pink in indoor mode is very similar to Aloha Beaches), Vibe with Me plus Beach Please (loved this combination!), Free Spirit with French tip of Salty Kisses topped with Aloha Beaches.



Because I like to layer, Beach Please is my favorite of these four, and a bargain at $2 each (3 for $5). Set Sails is my second choice; I like the vibrant color and the finish is nice, too. I feel like Funky Fingers has done a lot of shades similar to both Aloha Beaches and Salty Kisses, but I'm still in the long process of getting my stash organized in its new home so wasn't able to quickly lay my hands on other shades for comparison.



Friday, September 16, 2016

Funky Fingers Summer 2016 Solars

Today I have the solar polishes that Funky Fingers released for this past summer. I don't feel too bad about waiting this long to swatch them because they are still in stores and also appear on the list of polishes Five Below is now selling online. There are four colors in this collection: Burning Melon, Punkrock Pink, Vibe with Me, and Free Spirit.





For efficiency's sake (have I shared how surprisingly busy being retired is?), I did Skittles swatches of these. Top to bottom: Burning Melon (3 coats), Punkrock Pink (3, but 2 thicker ones would probably also have worked), Vibe with Me (2), and Free Spirit (2, but 3 might have been better as I see some nail line showing in certain lights). The pink is the only one with visible shimmer and even that sometimes hides.





The late in the day sun coming in through my window was too weak to make these change very much (okay, yes, I should have thought about that before I started swatching them), though you can see the shimmer in the pink much better in this natural light shot:



On a different day, I put these on a wheel and took them out in the midday sun. That's better. Top to bottom, Burning Melon turned into a dusty rose, Punkrunk Pink became red violet, Vibe with Me went darker and a touch more blue, while Free Spirit got just a little darker and perhaps a touch greyed out.



The pink and purple come closest to matching the change shown on the top of their bottles; the melon is not as brown as shown and the blue is more subtle. Still, they do change, which is the point of solars, so for the price, I think they're worth it.

I'm going to Florida for a vacation this fall; that might be a good time to wear one of these, as I'm rarely outside in strong sun here in northern Idaho at this time of year.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Wheel R8: Mostly Magnetix Magnetics

Three Nail Wheel Wednesdays in a row? It's crazy around here again, I tell you what. Today I have a wheel full of magnetic polishes, which were were impossible to find for ages, then they were everywhere, and now they're nowhere to be found in stores. I filled this wheel with Pretty Woman Magnetix colors, which were at Rite Aid back in the day, China Glaze Magnetix, and a couple stragglers from other brands.



(all are two quick coats then the magnet applied, which is hard to do in the confines of the wheel)

1. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed plum
2. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed rose
3. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed purple
4. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed charcoal
5. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed brown
6. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed gold [I like the antiqued look of this, and the sparkly flecks]
7. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed green
8. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed blue
9. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed silver [great microglitter finish]
10. Pretty Woman Magnetix unnamed pewter [also great microglitter; this and flecked are my favorite magnetic finishes]
11. China Glaze Magnetix Drawn to You
12. China Glaze Magnetix Instant Chemistry
13. China Glaze Magnetix You Move Me
14. China Glaze Magnetix Cling On
15. China Glaze Magnetix Con-fused [no idea why this didn't get in a bottle shot]
16. China Glaze Magnetix Sparks Will Fly
17. China Glaze Magnetix Pull Me Close
18. China Glaze Magnetix Attraction
19. Nails Inc. Soho [too brushstrokey for me]
20. Essence Spell Bound


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 14:



16 through 18:



19 and 20:


















Destash notes: There's definitely some overlap between the China Glaze and Pretty Woman colors (and other brands not on this wheel). I'll likely keep the Pretty Woman for the sake of uniqueness; I don't have any other bottles like this. I'd ditch the Nails Inc. (19) except I like the magnet, which looks better done on a free nail than a tip on a wheel.

Friday, September 9, 2016

All the Displays Fit to Print


I had been doing better at keeping up with posting my display photos, but you all know I've had other priorities this summer so I am once again behind. I did take a number of photos, some here in Idaho, others in places I traveled to or through like Washington, Michigan, and Illinois over the two and half months since my last display post. Some of the displays I'll share today are older but still in stores, some are gone by now from most places, and some are practically brand new. I have definitely noticed fewer new things from drugstore brands, with the exception of SinfulColors. That's too bad.

The Bliss matte topcoat I shared earlier this week came from this display at Kohls, which I first noticed back in June. Most of the slots are filled with colors of Bliss Genius Polish, which is "five free" and $12 for each 15ml bottle. Top row: Mull It Over Berry, The Lady is a Vamp, Cheers to You Cherry Wine, All I Want for Crimson (x2), Cherry Pickin' Paradise, Strawberry Fields, Show YOur True Corals, Raspberry Hurray, Fuchsia and Far Between, Water the Melon Missy, Bubble Gum Beauty, Cotton Candy Caravan, That Pinking Feeling, Ballerina Baby. Second row: Beat Around the Blush, Antique Rose Show, Weak in the Tawnies, Sand Do Attitude, Putty in Your Hands, Cafe Ohhh Lait, Here Today Fawn Tomorrow, Sweet Nothings, Speed Date Quick Dry Top Coat, In This Day and Beige, Tutu and From. Third row: Violet Femmes, Grape Minds Think Alike, I Lilac You a Lot, I Go Indigo, Fade Into the Blue, Wheel and Teal, Jade to Order, Take a Mint, That Aqua Moment, Pack a Punch, Coral Me Baby (sold out), You're the Man-darin, Peach for the Sky, Melon Out, Meringue-ing Around. Bottom row: 2 Peacocks in a Pod, Stone Coal Fox, Be Steel My Heart, What Do You Mink?, Go Fog Wild, Little White Lie (sold out), In This Day and Beige, Tutu and From, Cuticles Ain't Cute (cuticle remover), Prepare the Way (base coat), You're the Tops (topcoat), Strength in Digits (treatment), Speed Date, One Gel Swoop (gel-like topcoat), Go to the Matte (matte topcoat which is really satin as we learned Tuesday).



Between the first time I saw the Bliss display and when I got around to doing this post, Kohls had put the Fall in Love collection in the center slot in row two. Shades here: Well Red Woman, Show Me a Gold Time, Twilight the Way, Old Money Honey, Night in Shining Armor.



I saw the Bonita Good Lookin' Out display at Rite Aid; this had the little Bonita by Royal Essence bottles in summery shades. Left to right: Booty Shaker, Caitlyn's Kisses, Flaming Juan, You Mint a Lot to Me, Good Lookin' Out, Samba Queen.



Rite Aid also had a display with the square Bonita Salon polishes, Be in the Moment. Left to right: Da Vinci Code (which might be a reissue; a similar shade was in the Colorful Palette display in fall of 2014; I didn't realize they did reissues), Creme de la Creme, Mint to Be, Cruise Control, Bows & Kisses, Busted Flats.



Bonita also wins the award for First Far Too Early Halloween Polish I've Seen, with the Nail-o-ween box set, with has four glow int he dark polishes and nail stickers. This was also at Rite Aid. In mid-July.



Sally Beauty and Ulta both had the China Glaze fall display, Rebel. Neither one I saw appeared to have all the colors in it, and I couldn't motivate myself to document the shades that were there because these displays are so hard for me to figure out how to describe in logical order. Top step, hidden in back left? No thanks.



Fred Meyer had an Essence Fall Crush display with four new shades (not limited edition) of The Gel polish: Feels Like Birthday, Dreaming of Love, So What, Jeans On.



The new Essie Gel Couture line—in the twisted bottles, never thought I'd see Essie do a non-square bottle—is all over the place: Ulta, Meijer, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens, Rite Aid. This is Essie's foray into the gel without a light approach, with a special topcoat paired with the polish. There are a lot of shades in this new line. I first saw them at Meijer, where they had three different displays, one with mostly subdued shades, one with brighter, one with duos of colors and topcoat. There were labels for even more colors in the core section, though that wasn't yet stocked when I was there.

The mostly lighter and subdued shades below. Top row: Sheer Fantasy (x2), Spool Me Over (x2), Fairy Tailor (x2), Stitch by Stitch, Top Coat (x3). Middle row: Take Me to Thread (x2), Twill Seeker (x2), First View (x2), Pre-show Jitters, Top Coat (x3). Bottom row: Couture Curator (x2), Haute to Trot (x2), Zip Me Up (x2), Beauty Nap, Top Coat (x3).



The mostly darker and brighter shades below. Top row: Dress Call (x2), Style in Excess (x2), On the List (x2), Model Citizen, Top Coat (x3). Middle row: Looks to Thrill (x2), Rock the Runway (x2), Sit Me in the Front Row (x2), Turn 'n' Pose, Top Coat (x3). Bottom row: Find Me a Man-nequin (x2), Gala-vanting (x2), Model Clicks (x2), Surrounded by Studs, Top Coat (x3).



The duo sets:



Target had a shelftop display which combines shades from each of the shelf top displays above plus some of the duo kits.



There's a standing display three shades wide (plus topcoat) that also combines shades from the first two displays but has no duo sets.



There are other standalone displays with different shade assortments; my Ulta had these two:



The biggest single display I saw was this one at Walgreens. Top row: Sheer Fantasy (with a different color in the slot), Spool Me Over, Sew Me, Fairy Tailor, Stitch by Stitch, Pinned Up. Second row: Take Me to Thread, TWill Seeker, Make the Cut, Pearls of Wisdom, Touch Up, First View. Third row: Pre-Show Jitters, Couture Curator, Haute to Trot, Zip Me Up, Beauty Nap, Dress Coat. Fourth row: Style in Excess, Labels Only, On the List (again with a different color shoved in), Signature Smile, Model Citizen, Take a Walk. Fifth row: Looks to Thrill, Flashed, Rock the Runway, Beauty Marked, Sit Me in the Front Row, The It-Factor. Sixth row: Turn 'n' Pose, Find Me a Man-nequin, Drop the Gown, Bubbles Only, Gala-vanting, Spiked with Style. Bottom row: Model Clicks, Off-Duty Style, Surrounded by Studs, Caviar Bar, Hang Up the Heels, Wrap Party.



Essie isn't ignoring the regular line; there is a neon collection called Off the Wall. I saw the retail version of the display at Walgreens. Left to right: Prime & Pop (base coat, x2), Off the Wall, Gallery Gal, The Fuchsia of Art, In It to Wyn It, Mark on Miami, Stencil Me In.



The salon version of the display I saw at Northwest Beauty only had the colors, not the Prime & Pop base, even though the display text referred to it.



The regular Essie fall collection is also out; the only place I've seen it so far is Kohls. Left to right: Maki Me Happy (x2), Kimono-over (x2), Now and Zen (x2), Playing Koi (x2), Udon Know Me, Go Go Geisha.



I feel like there haven't been new FingerPaints colors at Sally Beauty for a while, but this most recent visit, they did have a display with FingerPaints Fast Dry. Left to right: Fast Dry top coat, FingerPaints base coat, Champagne Gold, Cool Coral, Pronto Purple, Fathom Blue.



Of course any time I'm in the land of Five Below, I have to stop; this last time, I saw three new Funky Fingers thermals under a "What's Your Mood" banner: The Moody Blues (blue), In the Mood (pink), and Mellow Mood (purple). According to the caps, these change to darker or lighter shades of the hue depending on temperature.



I also saw a few new regular Funky Fingers, but I suspect there are more I didn't see, as they usually come out in groups of more than three. The ones I saw were all shimmers, left to right: Hey Bae Bae, Mama Mia, Purrfect.



Oh, one other new development: Five Below is now selling stuff online. The nail polish lineup is a fraction of what's in stores, but at least it's something.

I saw an interesting display at Kmart, a movie tie-in with Ice Age: Collision Course. This had six shimmery metallic shades which looked pretty but not pretty enough to make me want to pay $6.99 for the smallish bottles (I think they were around 6ml). Left to right: Acorns & Aliens (pink), When Scrat Attacks (lilac), Diego-a-go-go (blue), Collision Course (sky blue), Beam Me Up Buck (silver), Alpha-Sid-Touri (gold).



Remember when Rite Aid used to have limited edition Julie G collections? Apparently those days are gone. For summer, they had a Tropical Treats display with three core colors—White Orchid, Oh Em Gee (pink), and Tropical (light teal)—and topcoat. Oddly, the color in the photo on the display was not in the display, unless that's a very blue rendering of Tropical.



At Walgreens, I saw a display for a new-to-me brand called LuxePop; the Electrix display is packed with bright neon and near neon shades with fun striped and dotted caps and is labelled "limited edition". Left to right: Base Coat (white), Fuchsia Fuse, Coral Volt, Charged Lime, Electric Kale, Celestial Cyan, Shocking Sunshine, Energized Torch, Power Poppy, Blue Dazzle, Currant Current, Top Coat.



At Ulta, I saw the OPI Tru Neon collection. Top row: Pants on Fire (x2), Precisely Pinkish (x2), No Doubt About It (x2). Bottom row: Correctamundo (x2), No Faux Yellow, Green Come True, Put a Coat On (base), Top Coat.



Ulta also had OPI's fall offering, the Washington DC collection, as did Sally Beauty and Northwest Beauty. Top row: CIA or Color Is Awesome, Stay Off the Lawn, Suzi—The First Lady of Color, Never a Dulles Moment, Pale to the Chief, Yank My Doodle. Bottom row: Freedom of Peach, Squaker of the House, Shh It's Top Secret, Madam President, OPI by Popular Vote, We the Female.



The display above from Northwest Beauty doesn't have the three shades developed and named by Kerry Washington: Inside the ISABELLEtway (tan), Kerry Blossom (plum), Liv in the Gray (gray). Ulta had those, both in full size (below) and a mini set with all three.



Ulta also has two exclusive colors to go with the Washington DC collection, Politically Polished and Front Runner.



The Sally Beauty display was already missing a few colors when I saw it:



I saw a big endcap Sally Hansen display at Walgreens and was momentarily excited until I realized the colors and treatments all appeared to be from the core line, nothing new to see here. Very much slanted toward "normal" shades, too, pinks and reds dominating. I saw a slightly more colorful shelf top display for Insta Dri (paired with Airbrush Legs makeup) but those were all core shades, too.



SinfulColors continues to put out new stuff, as per usual mixing it with old stuff in the same displays. Stand Down to Stand Out, which I saw at Walgreens first then at Kmart, has four new camoflage themed glitters paired with core and reissued base shades. Left to right: Under Cover (new), Gold n' Roses, Army Brat (new), Beaches and Cream, Good Company (new), Moss Have, Cute Cadet (new), Rise & Shine.



Kmart was the first and so far only place I've seen the SinfulColors Polished from Head to Toe display. Left to right: Easy Going, Clear Coat, Poisonberry, Clad in Plaid (new), Cool Credit (new), Wonder Mint, Rock the Bow (new), Gossip Boss (new).



There is also a sidekick display for Stand Down to Stand Out, which combines shades from the shelf top display of the same name plus shades from Polished from Head to Toe plus some random core and reissues. Top row: Army Brat (x2), Hazard, Good Company (x2), Gossip Boss (x3). Second row: Energetic Red, Gogo Girl, Navy I Do, Tempest, Starfish, Skylark, Clad in Plaid (x2). Third row: Rise & Shine (x2), Gold n' Roses (x2), Poisonberry (x2), Rock the Bow (x2). Fourth row: Ruby Ruby, Vacation Time, Feel the Vibe, Cool Credit (x2), Dream On, Black on Black, Mint Apple. Fifth row: Easy Going, Beaches and Cream, Moss Have, Cute Cadet, Under Cover, Rose Dust, Mist-erious. Bottom row: Mint2bcool (x2), Snow Me White (x2), Clear Coat (x2), Pink Forever (x2).



The SinfulColors Pride display showed up early this summer, but it wasn't until weeks later that I saw the cute polish case at Walgreens that had all the colors from the display in it: Resilient, Sugar Pumpkin, Bye Felicia, Envious, Gogo Boy, Love Thy Self, Call Me Violetta, Pride.



Walgreens recently got SinfulColors Faceted Illusions, which has eight new "limited time iridescent color" shades: Chromatic Fanatic, Opal Essence, Liquid Iris, Flash Dance, Set the Dua-tone, Mars Attracts, Shell Out, Flash Back. These have the SinfulColors on the display and the bottles, but they have the silver caps like SinfulShine and the price at my Walgreens was 2.99, like SinfulShine.



At the same time as Faceted Illusions showed up, Walgreens also got SinfulColors Fashion Flash, with eight new glitters ("limited time luxe fragments" per the stickers on the caps): Piece Out Pink, Tear It Up, Silver Slivers, Couture for Sure, Strike a Pose, Don't Flake, Walk the Walk, Gold a La Mode.



Kmart had the SinfulColors Halloween display, Guise and Ghouls. It wasn't full, so I'm not sure what I missed, but expect I will find out when this shows up other places like Walgreens. Left to right: Got a Bat Attitude (new, with black bat glitter in glow in the dark base), Glow in the Dark, Courtney Orange, Ruby Ruby, Dead On (new, glow in the dark), Let's Talk, Nice Guise (new, "limited time chameleon color").



I looked at many Meijer stores in Michigan and Illinois in July but never found a full display of the Studio M summer display, Brighter Than the Sun. Fortunately, they print the color names on the display, so I know what was supposed to be there. The first two rows were mostly new colors as far as I could tell, with the exception of Cantelope and Fresh Grass. The others were all reissues as far as I could tell. Top row (labeled "Neon Chalk Shades Dry Matte"): Hopscotch, Sidewalk Chalk, You're a Peach, Mint Julep, Sunny Side Up, Sailor's Delight, Blue Skies, Hopscotch. Second row (labeled "Pastel Neons"): Cantelope, Summer Vacation (peach; I saw it later), Bubblegum (pink; ditto), Morning Glory, Fresh Grass, Meringue, White Hot. Third row: Power Pink, Neon Pink, All That Razz, Purple Crush, Frenzy, Blue Lagoon, Lightening Blue, Blue Funk. Fourth row: Total Wow, Energy Star, Blue-ming, Jade, Neon Greenlight, Neon Caution, Paradise, Orange Hot. Fifth row: Volcanic, Orange Sunset, East Austin, Girl's Night Out, Neon Pink, Neon Glow, Vintage Vamp, Wicker Park. Sixth row: Punked, Power Pack, Wicker Park, Frenzy, Blue Lagoon, Blue Funk, Lightening Blue, Total Wow. Seventh row: Energy Star, Neon Greenlight, Neon Caution, Paradise, Orange Hot, Volcanic, Infusion, Neon Pink. Eighth row: Girl's Night Out, Power Pink, All That Razz, Purple Crush, Frenzy, Blue Lagoon, Lightening Blue, Total Wow. Bottom row: Blue-ming, Energy Star, Neon Greenlight, Neon Caution, East Austin, Girl's Night Out, Neon Pink, Neon Glow.



I saw a small Wet 'n' Wild Pop Back to School display at Walgreens; it appeared to have the same product assortment as the big one I shared back in June, just fewer of each product.



At one Rite Aid, and only that one, I saw a Wet 'n' Wild Summer Nail Sizzle display, which was rather picked over by the time I got to it. It had slots for 18 Megalast shades and was labelled as limited edition. I don't know what colors were gone, but did note the names of the ones that were left. Top row: My Butter Half, You're a Cutie, Cali Sunshine, Sunset Blvd., My Little Peony, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Skipping Stones, Where's My Wingwoman, Mermaid Tears, Champagne Bubbles. Bottom row: Fast and Fuchsia, Pretty Woman, Split Pea Soup, Lettuce Be Friends, Green with Envy. I really wish I'd seen this when it was full. Maybe just as well I didn't, as I might have been tempted to get one of each; since I couldn't, I was able to leave these in the store.



I hoped you've enjoyed this mega-shopping trip with me. Next time I expect we'll see many more Halloween displays. Other than that, I'm not sure. Orly is overdue for new stuff, I think, and maybe Sally Hansen will have some limited editions again, but I'm not hopeful. That's okay, I have some old ones I never swatched I can pretend are new.