SPOTTED: Drug Store Fall Displays Bellingham, WA (Labour Day Weekend)

So I, along with thousands of others decided to take a little shopping trip over the boarder this past weekend. I didn't go very far just to Bellingham which from Vancouver is about 45 minutes. I really just wanted a few new tops for work and to check out the new fall nail polish... so heres what I saw. Above it the new Revlon polishes from The Expressionist collection. I've done a post on it here. As you can see in the post I bought all of them, from left to right, Starry Pink, Blue Mosaic, Facets of Fuchsia, and Smoky Canvas. This display was in Target. They were $3.74 US each.

Also in Target was this Sonia Kashuk display, which I believe is a Target exclusive brand. They are $4.89 US each. This is her Fall/Winter 2011 Collection. I didn't buy any of them, I did buy her Limited Edition pink blending sponge and a few of her makeup brushes. Below is my favourite from the collection, it's called Blank Slate. I'm kinda regretting not buy it now, but it really looks like China Glaze's Concrete Catwalk. 

This was from Rite-Aid. It was 7 polishes from Maybelline and their Express Finish line. I bought the one the very right called Cool Couture. It's the only Maybelline in my entire collection, the bottles are very unattractive to me. The colour looks so pretty in person, I just had to have it. There was one more Maybelline display beside this one with nail polish on it.. 

I loooove shopping over the boarder. I go about once a month, this time it was just a quick trip just to Bellingham. Bellingham is about 20 minutes from the actual boarder, if you looking for nail polish, they have a Sally Beauty Supply, Target, and Wal-mart. If your trying to reach a Ulta from Vancouver the closest one is Lynnwood, while your in Lynnwood you can check out Nordstroms too, which carries Butter London, MAC, and Deborah Lippmann. 

My two other favourite things about the states are: EOS lip balm and Pink Rockstar :) both I can never find here in Vancouver. 

Time Capsule: My Top 5 Summer 2011 Nail Polishes

I wanted to do a quick post on some of my favourite nail polishes that came out this Summer. Just for something to look back on. I know in 2010 I was a mint addict, it looks like this year I've diversified. I thought it would be fun to make a little post to remember the polishes that I most frequently wore this season now that it's slowly coming to an end.

It was honestly a tough choice. But here are my top 5 of Summer 2011 (pictured below from left to right):

• Chanel - Mimosa (Les Fleurs d'été Collection, 2011)

• Deborah Lippmann - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Summer 2011)

• OPI - Mermaid's Tears (Pirates of the Caribbean Collection, 2011)

• American Apparel - Neon Red (LE Neon Collection, 2011)

• China Glaze - Below Deck (Anchors Away Collection, 2011)

Let me know what your favourite polish of Summer 2011 was!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumpkin Spice (Halloween 2011)

I don't know about you, but here in Vancouver it feels like Summer just started. It's September 4 and it's the first day my apartment was too hot to handle. Hence, I made my way to the air-conditioned mall to grab a cool drink and take a look around. Now Pumkin Spice I've seen around for almost a month now and just never picked up, but for some reason today I had to have it. I kept telling myself it was too much like China Glaze's Ick-A-Bod-Y from last years Awakening Halloween collection to justify me buying it... but I still bought it. No will power.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumkin Spice (three coats)

After I swatched it I thought it was terribly ugly. Like really really fug. So I played around with it a bit and compared it to last year China Glaze's Ick-A-Bod-Y. And I'm glad I didn't just give up on it, over black I think I like it better then Ick-A-Bod-Y.

Left to Right

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumkin Spice (three coats)

China Glaze - Ick-A-Bod-Y (three coats)

OPI - Black Onyx (two coats) & Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumkin Spice (one coat)

OPI - Black Onyx (two coats) & China Glaze Ick-A-Body (one coat)

As you can see both polished look much better over Black. They both have a clear black base that takes many coats to build up something more opque. They both have the same orange glitter but China Glaze's has much more. I think I might like Pumpkin Spice more... I'm a little torn, it all depends on how much sparkle you like I guess. 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear retails for $3.50 CND (and about the same in US). It can be found many places, this particular bottle is from London Drugs, I haven't seen the displays with Pumpkin Spice out anywhere else yet. London Drugs usually has the Limited Edition displays out first. 

China Glaze is a little harder to find in Canada. It' retails for about $7 CND. Ick-A-Bod-Y was a limited edition colour from last Halloween collection only sold at Sally Beauty Supply. In the lower mainland there are two in Surrey and one in Abbotsford and one in Bellingham (if your a cross boarder shopper). China Glaze is also sold at many salons.

I'd love to read our comments on the two! Thanks!

Are you a lacquer connoisseur?

    con-nois-seaur (noun) 

1. Expert; especially: one who understands details, techniques, or principles of an art that competent to act as a critical judge

2. one who enjoys the discrimination and appreciation of subtleties 

I had a bit of wake up when I did my comparison posts on Revlon Facets of Fuchsia vs. Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance (read here) and the comparison post for Revlon Smoky Canvas vs. Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas (read here). I realized I'm not as big of a nail polish connoisseur then I thought I was! I've been loving high-end brands like Chanel, Dior or Deborah Lippmann for a while and I thought I would be able to tell the difference between the copies that lower end brands put out. After doing my comparisons I would know NOW how to tell the difference up close, but honestly while I was writing the posts I was still a bit confused and would have to cross reference which file I pulled the picture out. Just like you don't have to be a wine connoisseur to be a wine lover. I might not be a lacquer connoisseur, but that most defiantly still a lacquer lover!


For more about Revlon's Expressionist Collection (click here)

Are you a lacquer connoisseur?

Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas & Revlon Smoky Canvas Comparison

In my post about the new Revlon fall collection called The Expressionist (click here) I mentioned that my favourite was the polish called Smoky Canvas. Smoky Canvas right away reminded me of Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas. Just like Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia comparison to Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance (click here), I'm going to give you another quick comparison. 

Deborah Lippmann - Waking Up in Vegas (two coats)

Revlon - Smoky Canvas (two coats)

This one is a lot easier to compare. Both applied amazingly well. Both were smooth and opaque in two coats. You can see the tone of them are slightly different though. Revlon's Smoky Canvas had a very slightly more brown undertone while Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas had a slightly more grey undertone to it. While not exact "dupes" they are very close. Again just like the other comparison from a distance they both look the same. You could be wearing a different one on either hand and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

Top: Revlon - Smoky Canvas

Bottom: Deborah Lippmann - Waking Up in Vegas

Final verdict?

Defiantly "dupe" realm. Not exact, but so close. Honestly you could be wearing Smoky Canvas and tell me that you have Waking Up in Vegas on and I would have no reason to doubt you, they are just that close. So again the only question is would you like to spend $5 or $22? For more on where to get these brands and the prices click here.

Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now, 

thats what you get for waking up in vegas!

I'm just starting to blog, and I'm loving watching the stats go up and seeing people from other counties are reading my posts. Thats so exciting for me! Please don't be shy to ask questions or tell me what you you think in the comments :) Thanks