Entries for Thursday June 30

OPI’s Canadian collection

• Manufacturer: OPI
• Availability: beginning fall/winter 2004 through salons, retailers, and some etailers
• Contains: 12 nail colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$9 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes

When I started buying OPI polishes, I was drawn to Mauving to Manitoba. I liked the mauve-rose color, and the metallic shimmer was a bonus. I didn’t realize that it was part of an entire collection. (I know. Hopelessly naive. That changed in a hurry…) The colors in this were definitely a mix: neutrals, semisheers, reds, some off-beat shades like Quebec and Call’s bronzed green; and of course, blue and purple.

BareMinerals’ Safari Chic kit

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: beginning April 2008; debuted on QVC; soon available through the webstore and all channel partners
• Contains: 3 eyeshadows
• Cost/Amount: USD$25.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

Yet another of the three-color kits from QVC (there seem to be quite a lot of those.) Some of these are fairly good, others are just…kind of sad (sheer colors, all browns, no new colors…something.) This palette was more muted than most of the ones that initially catch my eye, but I liked all of the shades. Grass, in particular, looks really good with my coloring. Even though all of these were new colors, and there was only one brown, this kit didn’t initially sell very quickly.

Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails (Spring 2011) collection

• Manufacturer: Sally Hansen
• Availability: beginning spring 2011 through drugstores (Walgreen's, Fred Meyer, CVS, Rite-Aid, et cetera)
• Contains: 24 nail colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$1.99 for 13.3 ml / .45 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes

Originally I wasn’t going to bother with a write-up for this collection because I’d only gotten two polishes. And then I got three more. And then, well, there was this one that I just had to have. And those two look pretty too. And hey, while I’ve got this many, let’s try that rich-looking burgundy red…and thus, another write-up was born.

The displays for these polishes started appearing at my local Walgreen’s in April, when I was on the hunt for the Mermaid’s Cove polishes from Wet n Wild. I initially picked up one color, because it looked like a nice rose-mauve shimmer, and another because I didn’t have too many brighter greens that look good with my skintone. I tried finding information on this collection, but it doesn’t really seem to be that forthcoming. I don’t know if this is limited edition, if these are permanent, or if they’ll all be marketed and the best-selling shades will be added to the regular lineup. These polishes are inexpensive, they apply well, they last well, and the color range is excellent - there are even two “effects” topcoats.