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Thursday, July 28, 2016

What Happened to NYC New York Color?


It's no secret that NYC New York Color (owned by Coty) has a smaller presence in retail locations than it did a few years ago. In early 2015, NYC exited Rite Aid, and I know that some CVS locations no longer carry the brand (some still do, though--it depends on your region). In my area, you can still find NYC at CVS, Target, Walmart, and Kmart, although I know that's not the case for many of you.

At any rate, their presence has been shrinking over the past few years. And today, I received a tip from reader Laurie letting me know that ALL of NYC's social media channels have been deleted. You can check that for yourself by clicking these links:

Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Pinterest

As you can see, all of those channels no longer exist. As of the time of publication, their website is still active.

So what does this mean? I have absolutely no idea, but it doesn't look good, does it? I also want to mention that a few months ago, some of you kindly sent me pics of new Demi Lovato palettes (NOT the original palette here, but OTHER Demi Lovato palettes in the same style as that palette, just with different shades). Those readers found these new palettes at discounters like Burlington Coat Factory, which I found kind of odd since, to my knowledge, those palettes never released in stores like CVS, Walmart, and Target. Now I'm wondering if those palettes were part of a project that never took off, so NYC just decided to sell them to discounters? I have NO idea if that's true--it's only a guess.

As a longtime fan of many products from NYC, my inner hoarder is telling me that I need to stock up on my favorites. To be clear, I am in no way saying that I think NYC is going under. They could just be revamping or changing the name/image/direction of the brand, or something else entirely could be happening. I really don't know.

But what I DO know is that if you love NYC and you're worried that you may not be able to find your favorite products soon, you should probably go to your local Dollar Tree and/or Big Lots and see what you can find (those two retailers always seem to have lots of NYC in stock). Also go to your local retailers that still carry the brand (the retailers I listed above). And if you're still having trouble finding your favorites, try online at one of the following retailers (as of the time of publication, these retailers all still carry various NYC products):

Walmart (largest online selection)
Target
Drugstore.com

Thanks again, Laurie, for the tip this morning. I really appreciate it. 
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88 comments

  1. This is terrifying news! I know they recently changed up their label designs, so it would be weird if they were folding or redesigning after that, no? I'll have to stock up on my favorite quick-dry topcoat before it all vanishes!

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    1. Yep, the whole thing has me perplexed! With the Demi Lovato partnership, and all of their recent new product lines (lipsticks, face products, etc.) I really don't know what's happening. The In a New York Minute clear polish is my holy grail top coat (I reviewed it long ago here on the blog) so you can sure that I'm going to start the hoarding process, just in case!

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    2. I hope none of our home areas overlap, or we're all gonna be fighting to stock up on it, from the looks of things! haha

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    3. I found about that top coat here and love it! I and am in the same area as you, G. No worries though my health issues prevent me from shopping in person these days. Good luck hunting and lets hope they're not completley gone.

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  2. I thought that it was weird I hadn't been able to find the iconic eye liner (with brush). I need to find them and buy like 3

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    1. Check my Walmart link in this post--I THINK I saw it on their site!

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  3. GRAND CENTRAL STATION!!! I'm going to hoard!

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    1. I miss these items. I'd grown so accustomed to them. This was my go-to brand. Feel like I had the carpet pulled out from under. Frustrating.

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  4. Hollar added some NYC products a couple days ago. I have to go stock up on my favorite liquid eye liner now!

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    1. I can't blame you. I feel the need to stock up on all of favorites as well!

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  5. Nooo! This would be devastating! Their face powder is the only one I use! Funny, I've been out of it for a few days and I've been too lazy to go get some. Looks like I better go!

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    1. Definitely time to stock up. Also, if you're talking about the loose powder, I know that's an extremely popular product for the brand so if the worst happens and NYC does go under, I would not be surprised to see a similar formulation pop up in another Coty-owned brand, like Rimmel, for instance. Here's hoping!

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  6. I've heard so much about their liquid liner. I haven't tried it. I better go get my hands on at least one. My local target carries them still. Thanks G, for all you do.

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    1. Definitely try it while you still can! And you're so welcome, girlie. I always try to keep my peeps well-informed! xo

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  7. I hope they're not going anywhere because NYC makes my all time favorite holy grail eyebrow pencil!!!!

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    1. As someone who lives under the constant threat of one day seeing me holy grail brow pencil disappear (I'm looking at you, Maybelline Define A Brow!) I feel your pain! Let the hoarding commence, girl! Lol.

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  8. My sister and I were just talking about this. We absolutely love their liquid eyeliner. Looks like I will have to start the hunting and hoarding process soon!

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    1. Hope you find everything you want, girlie!!

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  9. Shocking news! I hope they're not going anywhere! :( I love the NYC Smooth skin loose face powder to set my concealer :(

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    1. I really hope they aren't either, Elena. Fingers crossed!

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  10. I'm hoping they're just completely rebranding/renaming. It would be odd if they placed all their hope into the Demi Lovato line, and now decided to close. If the site is up but the social media isn't, then hopefully it's just a major rebranding. Their new products, while good, have been lacking in quality from some of their holygrail products/releases.

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    1. The thing that's so strange is that they deleted their social media. I've seen companies rebrand, change names, and take their products in a totally different direction before, but usually they just change the name of their handle on social media--not completely delete the account. I've followed beauty accounts that were going by one name and then BAM. The next day they had a different name. I'm not in PR but I would imagine that the goal is to retain all of your social media followers, no matter what. That's what is so shocking and confusing about all this. I'm totally in the dark here and scratching my head over this one!

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    2. Yes that makes sense and isneven more strange. I personally haven't seen NYC anywhere anymore. I really wonder what's up?

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  11. Hey G...at least in the midwest here, Meijer grocery stores still carry a pretty big assortment of NYC makeup. The last new things we have gotten were some lip balms, lipsticks and the Demi Lovato collex.

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    1. Thanks so much, girlie. That's great to hear!!

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  12. That's so weird.Looks like I need to buy back-ups of the Demi Lovato Eyeshadow palette.That is a very beautiful palette with great pigmentation and quality.

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    1. I never did buy it but I saw it at my local Target the other night and now I feel like I need to get it. Lol.

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  13. I tried the NYC Matte BB Cream on a whim last winter, and it's quickly become my favorite. I think it is a nice and much cheaper dupe for the Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream. I will definitely be on the lookout for NYC BB cream to hoard!

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    1. I'm so glad it worked so well for you, Brooke. But I guess, if this all goes south, you'll at least have the Maybelline one, right? :)

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  14. OMG the top coat is my holy grail becuase of you G. I refuse to pay $10+ on other brands. Ahhh! I'm calling out sick tomorrow to look for my eyeliners ans top coat. Lol

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    1. I'm so happy to hear you love it as much as I do, Yvette. But I'm so sad for both of us if it goes away!! :(

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  15. Hey G,

    I'm in the Northern NJ/NYC areas and my Duane Reades around here (both in NJ and New York City) still have fully stocked displays, including the new Demi Lovato stuff.

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    1. Great to hear, Courtney! Thanks so much for letting us know!! :)

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  16. Oh no, my top coat! I need to get to Wal Mart and restock just to be safe while I start the hunt for a new one that's as good.

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  17. O boy. Thanks girl!
    Looks like I need to get thee to my rounds & see what I can scope here in FL.
    Dang it all & I just just found a good dupe for my fave foundation stick in their brand!
    Argh! Isn't that always the way?
    This prob happened bc I ACTUALLY found something I had been searching for, lol!
    Great sleuthing from you & the community as always!
    1<3!

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  18. I'm definitely going to stock up on their translucent pressed and loose powder! It's the best for the price for me!

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  19. I feel that they were always the forgotten cheap drugstore brand to begin with overshadowed by Wet n Wild. When ELF, NYX, and Wet n Wild caught the social media train at the right time a few years ago and NYC kinda missed out. The other three found their market and kept churning out affordable dupes of more expensive products monthly or even weekly to keep Instagram buzzing while everyone more or less ignored anything NYC makes.

    Now I feel bad that I don't really find myself buying NYC products much aside from Grand Central Station (I go through a bottle every month).

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    1. Woah I just looked at Drugstore.com's selection. Only 6 products? I remember they used to carry a lot more.

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    2. I think you're right about them being forgotten. I used to buy from them regularly until Coty bought them out.

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  20. This is so sad if NYC were to go!! My mom would be devastated because she loves the foundation. I was so upset when NYC was out from Rite-Aid. Here's to hoping they still stay, stay, stay. :(

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  21. Many Walmarts have been remodeling and if NYC is going out of business it may not make it to the wall.

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  22. AHHHHHH, my topcoat! I was soooooo upset when Rite Aid stopped carrying NYC, because no one else around for about 80 miles carries them! I've ordered some Grand Central Station from Target since then, but I hate not being able to just go to the store and pick it up. D: I also loved some of the polishes they used to do for LE collections.

    BTW thank you so much again for the tip on the Cottonelle Target box - I got mine basically just for the full size Skinfix hand cream and lip treatment, and it was so worth it. It's an awesome large, sturdy box too!

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  23. Their translucent powder was sent to us from God. I hope they are just revamping.

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  24. My very first makeup purchase ever was a sky blue NYC eyeshadow pot when I was 12 years old. (It was the 90s, and I was awesome with my solid blue lids, okay? Haha.) I still purchase NYC eyeshadow today. I'm going to be so bummed if they end their business. Fingers crossed it's just rebranding or even a cruel way to get us all to start talking about NYC again.

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  25. well I now plan to go to both w as Walmart and Kmart tomorrow and buy all the Grand Central Stations. I only have 6 in my stash and that won't last forever. Also now I'm curious about this liner that's been mentioned. Can someone tell me the name?

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  26. I just wanted to add that the Targets in my area do carry the Demi Lovato palettes. I don't know if they're the only Target locations that do (that would be odd, lol), but I know for a fact they're there, as I've considered purchasing them on multiple occasions.

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  27. They must be pulling out of just the US or just rebranding in the US because their UK, Italy, etc. Facebook pages are still up and running.
    https://www.facebook.com/NYCNewYorkColor/?fref=nf
    https://www.facebook.com/NewYorkColorCanada/?fref=ts
    https://www.facebook.com/NYCNederland/?fref=ts

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  28. My Walmart quit carrying NYC about 4 months ago. It was replaced with all ELF products.

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  29. Strange! The Demi Lovato eye shadow palette is quite good... The Kmart closest to me still has a fairly big NYC display. The Targets have some too but it's a much smaller selection (I'm in Eastern PA).

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  30. It's odd that they wouldn't try to sell it instead of letting it go at a loss. If Coty is doing away with NYC I still have hope that Max Factor can come back more than it is now, but since Coty acquired Bourjois it hasn't hit shelves either in the US. This bothers me a lot because I was really hoping it would be by now.

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  31. I noticed that too. None of my Walmarts around my area sell it anymore. CVS here never had it. The only place i still see it is at Target and Meijer, but not a very big section either. Guess I'm gonna check out big lots and the Dollar tree. They just came out with a bunch of new Lippies in the Spring. Wonder what happened

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  32. Their customer service was great too. I bought some eyeshadow sticks and the entire stick came out of the tube and they replaced both with coupons worth more than I paid. I love that topcoat too( thanks to you). I used to see NYC coupons all the time, but now that you mention them I have not see any,

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  33. I bought a few basic liquid eyeliners off a reputable site on Amazon and they were both very well wrapped, still in original cardboard! This is the only one Chrissspy wears! After using it, I l see why!

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  34. I am not a big fan of NYC because may be it is just my luck that every time I decided to try a product from it, it ended up not working for me. Though, I did acquired a few of their lip products, and it was good to use. However, I do hope that they continue to stay in business. I just hate to see a drugstore brand go out of business since I just love brands that provide good quality product at such a cheap price.

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  35. After reading your post I went to the one store in my area that still has NYC stuff and went crazy. Another loose powder, two more Demi Lovato palettes, four eyeliners, two grand central stations. They didn't have my shade in the BB cream but oh well. If the brand was discontinued I would be so sad to lose those items.

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  36. In my neck of the woods (B.C.) My Walmart's been clearing out the Flower Beauty section while the NYC one is as normal as ever. My flyer this week has ELF products featured for the first time, but they've yet to make it to my store. This just adds another layer of confusion to the whole thing.

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  37. Very strange. I did a Google search of NYC just now to see if there was any other information. It popped up with a NYC Canada Facebook page which I checked. It is still up and running with posts as recent as July 27.

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  38. Macy's Backstage had the whole line but it was slim pickins. It definitely looked as if it wasn't going to be restocked.

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  39. In Northern Michigan, we still have NYC displays in Meijer (and probably Walmart, but I haven't been in awhile) and Rite Aid.

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  40. I love the Grand Central Station as a topcoat. It is inexpensive and does such a great job (much better than other more expensive topcoats, for me). I hate the idea it will no longer be available.

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  41. G. YOU ARE SUCH A BADASS WITH YOUR WEBSITE. I am the chick who wrote you the novel long thank you on insta. My goal for today is to head outside the house to a store and check my top NYC spots! I'm in north TX, so I will update you here. Usually I can find it everywhere! PS- I read someone comment about Flower in their Walmart... is Flower going under also? Thanks for ALL YOU DO!

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  42. Well this is a bummer. I love NYC - their lip products in particular - and they are one of my favorite "I need a makeup pick-me-up but don't want to spend a ton of cash" brands. I will say ditto to the above Meijer comment -- my local Meijer has a really great NYC section and the last time I checked (which, okay, was a couple of weeks ago), it was fully stocked. Hmmmm. Might be time to head over there and check it out.

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  43. I absolutely LOVE their eye shadows and gave quite a few of them. They are gorgeous colors and they LAST on the eye. I regularly use a 4 color palette and I get compliments all the time on my eye makeup. I have tried to find dupes of the colors in case they discontinue it but can't - even with all the colors MAC has. I will be devastated if they fold up as the eye shadows are not the only thing that I purchase from that line (runs out in a panic to buy more!).

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  44. I can't even find the Demi Lovato stuff, now I probably won't ever find it. Bummer, they have a lot of good staple items I will miss.

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  45. I just saw their newer stuff at Meijer, including a lot of the Demi Lovato tie-ins, so this is a surprise. I can't say I'm a huge fan of their cosmetics, but I do like the quick-dry nail polish top coat along with the glitter nail polish base and the gold flake top coat. I hope they don't discontinue those. But frankly I haven't been that into trying any of their new items. The crayon eyeshadows never worked well for me and the lipsticks are too fragranced. I like the color and feel but always would toss them after a while because there were other brands I liked better.

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  46. I popped into a Central NY Walmart today and saw very well stocked NYC section. By the look of it with new merchandise I didn't look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. Same at Target. That being said I bought all the Grand Central Station there was. #sorrynotsorry

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  47. Wow I'm getting scared and learning a lot. I had to go to my camera photos because I took a pic of an NYC lip stick called Nlue Rose and Beautiful pink color. I need to go look for that ASAP maybe a cpl. Always see the powder and liner on you tube videos. And forgot about the top coat. I knew there was one I was suppose to look for and probably made a note in my notes of notes. Lol. I haven't tried very much from the line but have wanted to. I don't get to get out and shop a lot especially with out a male breathing down my neck asking if I really need more makeup. Lately my sons. Newly single after 30yrs. Don't have a running vehicle. I got the left broken down one which really looks the best. But it's ok as long as he left town and didn't come back bothering or my boys. Makes it easier to stay with decision he made originally. I have given all I can. Anyway. I hate to see a drug store brand go out too. Affordable one. I haven't got buy a lot because he didn't work and still doesn't. But my boys r helping me and we have it all worked out and they r happy and I'm happy. That's all that matters. R lives r better. And makeup purchases. Very small but nice.

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  48. This is bad news! I hope they continue making products! I love their Liquid Lipshine and plumping lip glosses and if they do rebrand it and stuff, I hope their lip glosses are the same formula. I also love their lipstick in mahogany. It's the cheapest vampy lip color I've ever bought.

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  49. Hi G, I'm a long time reader and first time commenter. I just saw that the website is back up, but all of the social media links on it lead to New York Color Canada. I was in a local Target today and I bought the Demi Lovato palatte, Grand Central Station and another top coat. The display was half-empty so I'm not sure if they plan on restocking anytime soon. I'm going to try Walmart and Target tomorrow, I would love to try some of the other products you and other readers have mentioned.

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  50. Oh man. Of course as soon as I find a holy-grail loose powder (literally 2 bucks and amazing!) there's speculation of the line being discontinued...I'm not going to make any rash decisions until the word is final, but I really hope we're being bamboozled and it was a sick, cruel prank.

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  51. Maybe they are revamping their social media??? Just seems odd bc they released a bunch of new products. The get it all lipsticks are some of the best I've used.

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  52. the Plaza Pink Blushable Cream Stick that came out about 3 years ago is my HG blush - though it's been discontinued for some time now. It's lasts forever and I do have a backup at least. I always keep a look out for it to come back.

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  53. Has anyone figured this out? Someone posted in instagram yesterday that all the nyc stuff was being clearances from their walmart. This is so weird. I've never seen a brand just disappear without a trace.

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  54. Oh lord. Now all I'm going to the about, until it gets done, is trekking to Kmart to purchase the one lip gloss from the line all named for areas of New York that I don't have...

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  55. My bf went to Walmart for me last night asked for the Milani display, a worker pointed at a NYC section that was completely bare and told him that the Milani display would be placed there since NYC went "kaput". I'm hoping she has been misinformed otherwise I'll be upset. My nieces are just getting into makeup and I wanted to introduce them NYC first. Now I have to go stock up while there are still products on the shelf at my local Target.

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  56. In my Walmart in Central Florida, the NYC display is gone... 😕. I just ordered another blush and 2 of each of the pressed and loose powders at Walmart.com! Stocking up!

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  57. just so y'all canadian peeps know, shoppers carries NYC

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  58. Im devastated im 53 and im allergic to a lot of products excerpt NYC cover stick concealer. I cant find it anywhere..

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  59. Im Mass. I asked where is the NYC .in Wal-Mart. Thy said we dont carry it anymore. Then i see NYX dont know .

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  60. I think that they are redoing this image. Only because I've gone to both Walmart and Target and shelves were empty, however I've spotted a few items like at walmart a new lip crayon with the top opaque not sheer. and at target a BB cream with completely different packaging.

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  61. Good thing I have like 50 grand central stations in my closet. I'm standing in Target and there is no NYC nail polish, or any NYC products. My CVS and RITE AIDS no longer sell. Luckily there is still a KMART near me that still has ut, I think...

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  62. I work at walmart in Kansas and current still have NYC but is nearly empty, pretty positive it is being replaced by Kokie cosmetics at my location

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  63. My local Walmart got rid of their NYC display and is replacing it with Kokie cosmetics as well. My local Target did a reset of their entire cosmetics department about a month ago and there is no NYC to be found. My beloved Grand Central Station is gone I fear.

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  64. I want this brand back. Miss it so much. This was my go-to brand. What happened? I feel like I had the rug pulled out. Frustrating.

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