Fedora, Bittersweet & Sequin Scandal from the Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Fall 2010 Collection

Finally, after weeks and weeks of whining and complaining, I FINALLY found the limited edition Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Fall 2010 Collection at my local Rite Aid. And boy was it worth the wait! I think this may be my favorite drugstore limited edition nail polish collection...ever.

Limited Edition Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Fall 2010 Collection

(retail: $7.99 each)

I deliberately left the above two pics HUGE so that you can supersize them for a closer look

Where do I even begin with this collection? First let me point out the dupe-ish colors. The plum in the top row on the far right, Trouble Maker, looks a lot like the core collection shade, Plum Luck, in the bottle. And the sparkly silver on the bottom row, far left, Starry Starry Flight, reminds me of Silver Lining, which was in the previous limited edition Tracy Reese collection from this spring (you know, the one with Hidden Treasure?). And of course the beautiful Downtown Rubies (top row, third from the left) is in the same vein as the famous China Glaze Ruby Slippers.

Now let me give you my take on the rest of the collection (of course this is just personal opinion and you might have a completely different reaction when you see these in person). Rockstar Candy (top row, third from the right) is one of those blink-and-you-might-miss it sort of shades. At first glance, I think it looks like a ho-hum reddish-magenta shimmer. But looking at it up close, I noticed what MAY be a very slight duochrome quality to this color. The more I stared at it, the more I wanted it.

If you are a dark purple fan, you MUST--I repeat--MUST look closely at the very last shade on the bottom row, far right of this display, Problem Child. Because of its odd placement in this display (the very last polish in a line of browns) you may think it's another dark brown. BUT NO! Check out the lovely Jen at the Polish-Aholic's swatches here. It's stunning!

I basically wanted the entire bottom row of this display. I had the hardest time selecting two shades to purchase that the people at my Rite Aid must have thought I was a freak. I kept holding them up to my hands, debating, putting them down, picking them back up again. Argh it was a mess! Rite Aid currently has BOGO1/2OFF on Sally Hansen (through Saturday) so that helped a TINY bit with cutting the cost.

Let me just say that I couldn't think of a single color on that bottom row that even mildly resembled a shade I already own (granted, my polish stash is primarily filled with drugstore polishes so keep that in mind). These lovely browns are such a departure from the zillion and one greiges/grays/taupes I own--each one is prettier and more unique than the next!

I have to give it to Tracy Reese for creating such beautiful shades and to Sally Hansen for bringing them to the drugstore level. It's so wonderful to have on-trend, super chic and interesting colors so easily available to us.

Whew! So after hours (and I do mean hours) of debating, here are the three shades I purchased (yep, I couldn't stop at two, no matter how hard I tried):

Sally Hansen Fedora (retail: $7.59)

Oooh Fedora, how I love thee! Anything that gives me an excuse to run a picture of Don Draper in a fedora on this blog has my undying love and affection for all time.

"Gianna, your polish matches my hat. Come home with me. Now."

Oh sorry, let me wake up from my daydream and get back to this lovely shade. Fedora reminds me of the color of my Starbucks iced venti Americanos after I've dumped a sufficient amount of half and half into them. But then it's been kicked up a notch with the addition of that subtle, baby-fine shimmer. What's there not to love about this shade, really? Oh, and Fedora required two coats for full opacity, but it was pretty darn opaque with just one.

Sally Hansen Bittersweet (retail: $7.59)

Bittersweet is the perfect name for this polish. The color and consistency make me feel like I'm brushing smooth, melted, bittersweet dark chocolate on my nails. Love it! This is a vampy brown creme and really requires just one coat for complete opacity (but of course I used two).

Sally Hansen Sequin Scandal (retail: $7.59)

Even though it was a cloudy day when I swatched this polish, I had to try taking some pics outside to truly capture the richness of Sequin Scandal. I'm horrible at trying to describe polishes like this, but to me, it's a rich, dark olive-army green with gold shimmer and larger gold flecks sparsely scattered throughout. I definitely don't have a single polish that even comes close to this, and I'm absolutely in love with it. I catch myself staring at it because it really looks so different depending on the lighting. By the way, this required three coats for opacity but I think you could skate by with two if you're in a hurry.

I hope this helps some of you to decide which shades you think you "need" from this collection before you see it in your local drugstores. Because I'd hate for you to be like me and stand at the display completely indecisive for hours when you see it!

Have you already seen the new Tracy Reese collection at your local drugstores? If so, have you picked up any shades? I'd love to hear from you!