Spotted at Walgreens (new products, clearance sale info and more)

I am finally getting back to my old self again after recovering from a nasty head cold, so what is the first thing I do? Head out to Walgreens yesterday afternoon to see what's going on with their beauty clearance sale, of course! As I mentioned earlier, the Walgreens sale isn't really a sale like the widespread, deep discounts we're seeing at CVS right now, but they ARE clearancing several new products every week so you really have to keep checking back to get the best deals (more on that later).

First I want to talk about some dupes of everyone's favorite mushroom grey-brown nail polish, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. As the lovely Magic Maid already perfectly illustrated in this post, Rimmel's new Steel Grey is a twin for Sally Hansen's new Commander in Chic. And, from what I can tell, both shades are a great drugstore alternative to Sephora by OPI Metro Chic (and possibly a great alternative to the uber-pricey new Chanel Particulière which, as All Lacquered Up reported, was probably worn by Sandra Bullock at the Golden Globes last night).

So finally, I found a Walgreens that carries both the new Sally Hansen collection and the new Rimmel collection, so I had to see for my own eyes how these shades compare, bottle to bottle (excuse the blurry Blackberry phone pics):

Sally Hansen Commander in Chic (left), Rimmel Steel Grey (right)

I'm sold! Also, the SH shade retails for around $7.99 while the Rimmel retails for around $4.50. So if you're looking for the most affordable dupe, I'd say Rimmel Steel Gray is the way to go.

Here's a better pic from my original Sally Hansen Commander in Chic review in case you missed it:

Whew! OK, moving on from nail polish for a while, I wanted to show you three new face products by Neutrogena (I spotted their new blush/bronzer duos a while back):

New Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Loose Powder Foundation

OUCH! Did you see that price tag? And I'm not excited by the limited selection of shades, but I am curious about the coverage. This is one of those compacts where the loose powder is on top while the bottom portion houses the little half-moon brush. I was scared that this might make the compact really big and bulky but it's actually not too bad. I would definitely wait for a sale or a good coupon before making a purchase, but I am impressed that this product is SPF 20 and is designed for sensitive skin, so if I can get a good deal, I'll check it out and report back.

Also new from Neutrogena:

Neutrogena Skin Clearing Mineral Powder and Blemish Concealer

Yikes and yikes on the prices! But let's talk about these for a second before we judge. The Skin Clearing Mineral Powder looks like a basic pressed powder to the naked eye, but it's got this magical (ha!) little sponge applicator that is dual-sided. One side is for those who want sheer application, while the other side is for those who want fuller coverage. I guess that's kind of cool, right? As for the new Blemish Concealer, it comes in a click-pen delivery system, which is nice, but I really hope they plan to roll out more than four shades for these products, because that would be just plain ridiculous. Again, if you're interested in either one of these, wait for a BOGO or until you get a good coupon.

OK, now I want to talk to you about some other things I saw at my local Walgreens. First of all, have you heard of the brand Vitamin Shampoo? I've seen it in various drugstores but for some reason I never really paid it much attention because I was a little turned off by the sort of cheap-looking packaging. I wrote this line off as gimmicky and never paid it a second though. BUT, then I noticed that the entire line is currently on clearance at Walgreens, and instead of paying $7.49 a bottle (no way), I was enticed by the fact that these are now just $1.89 a bottle (13 oz).

What made me really stop and consider purchasing some of these is the fact that all Vitamin Shampoo products are SLS and paraben free. Nice! And each formula contains natural super fruit extracts (goji berry, noni berry, acai berry, mangosteen, blueberry, pomegranate, you get the idea). But then of course what REALLY sold me was the fragrance of these products. In one word: YUM!

So I talked to my helpful Walgreens employee yesterday (she happened to be clearancing new items in the haircare aisle when I was there) and she told me that she was super surprised that more people weren't taking advantage of this deal. She said that this line has received tons of good press on Oprah and Wendy Williams, as well as People and Woman's Day. She said that just the other day, a woman came in and purchased ten bottles each of the Hydrating Noni Berry and Lemongrass formula because she said she was about to leave on a trip to Africa and didn't want to be without it.

So naturally, I purchased one bottle each of the Hydrating Noni Berry and Lemongrass shampoo and conditioner, as well as the Smoothing Mangosteen and Yogurt shampoo and conditioner to try out ($8 total for four huge bottles of shampoo and conditioner? Yes!!). If you'd like to wait for my review , I should have it up by next week. But if you don't want to wait, I suggest picking some of these up for $1.89 while you can because, according to my friendly Walgreens employee, they'll be at this clearance price until they're all sold out (which, with my luck, means someone will come in and buy them all off the shelves before I get a chance to try the other formulas). And let me just tell you, the Mangosteen and Yogurt formula smells so amazing I'm tempted to pop the top and start drinking it!

And really, what's the worst that can happen? If you buy the shampoo for $1.89 and it doesn't work out for you, you can always pour it into a cute soap dispenser and use it as hand soap! It smells amazing and the fact that it's sulfate and paraben free means it will be nice and gentle on hands. And as most of you know, conditioners can double as shaving cream in a pinch, so if the conditioner doesn't work on your hair, you can still make it work in other ways. :)

OK, that's about it for this report, but I did want to mention that Maybelline eye and nail products are all 40% off this week at Walgreens, and my local Walgreens had the new Eye Studio displays! Once again, my friendly Walgreens employee told me that they also have $1 coupons available in the cosmetics department, so you can snag one of the new eyeshadows for around $4 (retail: $7.99) if you get in there this week. And by the way, I'm still working on my review of the new Eye Studio shadows and cream liner, so check back this week if you're curious.

Oh and one more thing! Wet n Wild is BOGO 50% off this week, so now is your chance to stock up on all the WnW products that will soon be going bye-bye!

So...are you going to head out to your local Walgreens this week to check out the clearance deals? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!