Ross sightings

It's been a long time since I've done a Ross, Marshalls or T.J. Maxx sighting, but when I was at a local Ross recently I spotted some goodies that I wanted to pass along. I realize that not all locations carry the exact same beauty products at the exact same time, but at least I can give you an idea of what to look out for, and HOPEFULLY you'll spot at least a few of these in your town (fingers crossed).

I spotted one of the Wet n Wild LE holiday kits for $4.99.

Spotted at Dollar Tree, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross

If you've been reading my blog for the past week, you know that I've been working furiously to compile this list. The most important thing I'd like you to take away from reading this is that there are TONS of great beauty products currently surfacing at dollar stores and discount stores right now, so get out there and see what you can find!

I've compiled information and "sightings" submitted to me via comments, emails and tweets, and I want to apologize if I've forgotten to give anyone the credit they deserve. Sometimes multiple people submit similar info to me and it's hard to keep track. If you gave me the heads-up on anything in this post and I did not credit you, PLEASE leave a comment and let me know. I always love to give credit where credit is due!

If I have not included a sighting credit, it means that I spotted these products myself.

Let's start with DOLLAR TREE

(NOTE: all items mentioned below retail for $1)

e.l.f.

nail polishes
lipglosses
Therapeutic Conditioning Lip Balms
concealers
Shimmer Whips
(concealers and Shimmer Whips sighting courtesy of SillyLilacs)

NYC

Lip Sliders
lipsticks
mascaras
liquid foundation
eyeshadows (duos, trios, quads and 8-pan palettes; click here for pics)
Glossies nail polishes, including the much-coveted Molten Metal (click here for pics)
Foil polishes
(sighting courtesy of multiple readers and I also spotted these myself)

Sally Hansen

I mentioned in this post that a lot of people (the first I heard from was my lovely reader Donna) have been spotting the Sally Hansen Nail Prism polishes lately, both the old bottle and the REALLY old bottle. When I went to a second Dollar Tree location in my area recently, I caved and bought some of the really old style Nail Prisms (the round, squat bottles) and I also found an older-style Xtreme Wear polish in Chocolate Nut:

A little tip: these two-packs are $1 each, so even though I only plan to wear one of the shades in some of the 2-packs I purchased, the second shade (see the pink Hard as Nails shades in two of these packs) is not going to go to waste! I am saving these to send in to Zoya the next time they run one of their Polish Exchanges, where you send in your old polishes and they send you bright, shiny new Zoya polishes. So just remember that if you plan to buy any of these 2-packs and you only want one of the colors in the pack!

And courtesy, again, of my lovely reader Donna, these Sally Hansen polishes have also recently been spotted at Dollar Tree:

Maximum Growths

Fire/Star Opals

No Chip 10 Day Nail Colors

Salon Nail Lacquers

Love's

Moisturizing Body Splash (10 oz--this is a spray bottle), Moisturizing Body Lotion (12 oz), and Moisturizing Body Wash (12 oz) in Love's Baby Soft, Berry Sweet and Sugar Kiss fragrances

(this sighting courtesy of Donna)

Olay

Various Body Washes 6.8 oz

(this sighting courtesy of Donna)

Revlon

Matte eyeshadow singles (multiple shades)

(this sighting courtesy of Donna and others)

Softsoap

Honeysuckle and Orange Peel body wash

Pomegranate body wash

Shea Butter body wash
(this sighting courtesy of ashlygoesrawr)

Maybelline

Various eyeshadow singles and duos

(this sighting courtesy of Donna and others)

Mineral Power Blushes in ALL shades including Gentle Pink, True Peach, Simply Coral, and Sunset Bronze

(this sighting courtesy of Donna)

Miraclear 12

Acne Cream

Spot Treatment

Face Wash

(this sighting courtesy of Donna)

Softlips

lip balms in several flavors

(this sighting courtesy of Donna)

Next up, MARSHALLS:

OPI

Nail Polish 2-packs $7.99

I purchased the following 2-pack recently:

Left: Brand New Skates, Right: Mod Hatter

Nicole by OPI

Nail Polish 2-packs $6.99 (Black to the Future and Bah Plum Bug)

e.l.f.

Various makeup kits $5.99

Clinique

Various large sets, kits and palettes, all for around $29.99

Tend Skin

4 oz bottles $10

Ped Egg

Pink Ped Eggs $7.99

DDF

Various skincare products, various prices

Kiehls

Hair Gel $7

Clarins

Lip Balms $9.99

Hercut

Various shampoos, conditioners and styling products for $5.99 each

(NOTE: these products retail for $22-$28 at Sephora!)

Tweezerman

Various tools $5.99

Next up, TJ MAXX:

NARS

Various cosmetics

Shiseido

Various cosmetics

e.l.f.

Various cosmetics

(all TJ Maxx sightings courtesy of Donna)

Next up, ROSS:

Color Club

Various nail polish sets

Nail Pens

Wet n Wild

various nail polish sets

various makeup sets

Tropez (This is the beloved Markwins brand that was recently discontinued!)

various nail polish sets, 6 bottles for $2.99(!)

Tres Risk

various nail polish sets

Physicians Formula

makeup sets containing powder, eyeliner and blush

(All Ross sightings courtesy of virginiaisforluvrs)

Whew! I told you, it's crazy out there right now! A HUMONGOUS thanks to all of you wonderful ladies for taking the time to let us know about these great discoveries. I cannot thank you enough for this--it helps so much to know what's out there.

Have you spotted any of these goodies at your local dollar stores or discount stores lately? Or have you spotted OTHER great beauty products that are NOT on this list? If so, please leave a comment and let us know what you've seen!

Crazy drugstore report (limited edition NYC, Borghese, WnW, clearances, etc.)

Before I begin, I just want to take a second to thank you all for allowing me to pull my most successful April Fool's joke to date! I have never had such success in executing an April Fool's prank EVER, and I owe it all to you. I'm very grateful that you all had such a good sense of humor about it, and just to reiterate, I am NOT changing the theme of Nouveau Cheap now, or anytime in the future. I love my budget-beauty, it's a part of who I am, and I couldn't change that even if I wanted to (but believe me, I don't want to!).

That said, on to the drugstore report! This report is jam-packed full of info, so please be sure to read the entire post. I wouldn't want you to miss anything because there are some real gems here!

First, let's talk about the explosion of Limited Edition collections that have just hit my local Rite Aid:

(click any image to enlarge, and if you see a magnifying glass, you can enlarge even futher)

Borghese Limited Edition Tutti Gelati Collection (retail: $8 each)

Ooooh! Ahhh! I tried to memorize the shades in this collection so here we go (starting from top left): Maraschino, Tutti Gelati, Berry-something (sorry, I forgot the second word in the title), Mentha, Pistachio and Limoncello.

What immediately caught my eye in this collection was the three lovelies in the second row. Mentha is a gorgeous shimmery teal, Pistachio is a stunning kelly green shimmer, and Limoncello is a buttery-soft yellow shimmer. I want! I neeeed!

Next up, we have this Limited Edition collection from NYC:

NYC Limited Edition Shock Value Collection (retail: $1.99-$3.99)

My mind is officially blown. I really wish my camera could have captured the true neon goodness that is this collection. The Limited Edition Extreme Lip Gliders (click here for my review of the regular collection) are soooo much prettier in real life. In person, these three shades are GORGEOUS. They range from an intense purple to a hot pink to a bright maraschino cherry red. Love 'em all! And the two nail colors (Orange Creamsicle and...I think the other one is named Magenta) are beautiful, bright cremes. And oooh, those blush sticks! Why would NYC make these shades Limited Edition? I had to have them both (so much for my no-buy) because the shades are just unbelieveably gorgeous in person (hot pink and bright orange). Check back soon because I'll defintely review those. Oh, and how could I forget to mention the liquid eyeliners? They come in a vivid royal blue and a bright purple. And last but not least, three new eyeshadow duos in gorgeous, bright shades of lime, teal, green, blue, yellow and purple. Everything in this display is absolutely screaming "Springtime!" to me, and the best part is that, at the bottom of the display, there are coupons good toward $1 off ANY NYC purchase of $1.99 or higher. Ladies, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest drugstore and search for this display. I am willing to bet that there is at least one product in this collection that you will find utterly irresistible.

Next up, I want to show you a display that I have had more than few readers email me about recently (and I want to thank the several of you who actually snapped photos of this display at your local drugstores and took the time to email them to me. I am very behind on my email at the moment so I just wanted to take a second to thank you here, in case I don't get back to you via email in the near future. You have no idea how wonderful it is for me to get pics from you!! I love that and I am so grateful!):

Wet n Wild Limited Edition Color Icon Soiree Eyeshadow Quads (retail: $4.99 each)

When I first saw these a few months ago on some other beauty blogs, I immediately knew where WnW was going with these quads. They are the exact same concept as last year's Limited Edition WnW collection, Starry Eye Slicks (click here for my review of those). There are three powder eyeshadows in each quad, along with one glitter cream. But what sets the Soiree collection apart from the Starry Eye Slicks collection is that, unlike Starry Eye Slicks, these shadows don't appear to be all mattes (the mattes in the Starry Eye Slicks were not my favorites--they were a bit chalky and hard to work with). Also, instead of just silver glitter, the Soiree collection offers glitter cream in gorgeous shades of midnight blue, bronze, etc. The Soiree collection is a HUGE improvement over last year's LE collection to me, just on looks alone. Have you tried any of these? I'd love to know what you think of them!

Here's some not-so-good news that I discovered at my local Rite Aid. Remember the other day when I told you that Tropez Cosmetics is being discontinued? Well, next to the wiped out display at my Rite Aid, there is the Black Radiance display. Now I am NOT saying that Black Radiance has also been discontinued because I currently do not know if that is the case. BUT, several times now have 75% off stickers attached to them. Not EVERYTHING, but here's the list of what I could remember: All eyeliner and lipliner pencils, all pressed powders (not pressed blushes though!), all cream stick foundations, select shades of eyeshadow duos and quads, and ALL nail polishes. If you are familiar with Black Radiance, then you know that there are still A LOT of items that I did not mention. So that's the good news. If the entire display was on clearance I would be very scared. But since it's just select products at this point, I'm hoping and praying that they are just getting rid of old stock to make room for new products. Fingers crossed!

And while I was there, you know I can't resist a good 75% off sale, so I picked up these two lovelies:

Black Radiance Bold & Sexy Salon Lacquer in Seductive (retail: $3.99, sale price: 99 cents) and Black Radiance Dynamic Duo Eye Shadow Duo in Vintage/Retro (retail: $$2.99, sale price: 74 cents)

With prices like this, who can resist? So a HUGE heads-up to fans of Black Radiance fans. If you have a Rite Aid that sells BR, get over there ASAP and see if you find these goodies.

Moving on to CVS, I finally, FINALLY spotted this display!

Maybelline Limited Edition Colossal Diamonds Mascara

Luckily, I was at CVS returning my Milani concealer, so I was able to exchange that for one of these and not spend a dime. Yay! And yes, a review is coming...very soon as I just tested this product yesterday.

Here are a few other new things I spotted at CVS:

For all you Physicians Formula Healthy Wear fans, there's a new display that has TWO products for the price of one! On the left-hand side, we have the fabulous new powder foundation (click here for my review--if you are a powder foundation girl, I think you'll love this one) and inside the same box is a full-size pressed powder bronzer! On the right side of the display, you get two tinted moisturizers in one box, for the price of one! That's a heck of a deal since just one of these products at CVS will set you back $14.99. (Now if PF would only offer two-fers on their Gel Cream Eyeliners I think we'd all be squealing in delight!)

And finally, for all of you Essence of Beauty fans, I spotted this new addition to their bath and body line:

EoB now has an anti-bac collection! Looks like someone is competing with BBW! They come in both minis and full size bottles, and CVS is currently running a 3/$10 sale.

That's it for this report, but as always, I welcome your comments! What do you think of this Limited Edition frenzy at our drugstores lately? Are you as excited as I am about all these new goodies? Anything you're planning to pick up?

Bye bye, Tropez...

Some very sad news for all you Tropez lovers out there (myself included).  I have it on good authority that Tropez Cosmetics will be discontinued by end of year.  Waaaah!!

So when I saw that this line was on 75% off clearance at my local Rite Aid, I didn't hesitate for a minute to snatch up the last bottle of Blossom nail color. And boy am I glad I did. 

If you have easy access to Tropez products in your area, and you love them as much as I do, RUN don't walk and get over there ASAP to purchase all of your faves while you still can.  Time is ticking...

Quick Rite Aid update!

I was at my local Rite Aid last night fulfilling my Thirfty brand ice cream craving (anyone else love their ice cream? And while I'm at it, anyone else remember the actual Thrifty drugstores from back in the day? I miss Thrifty so much, but I'm glad that after Rite Aid acquired Thrifty back in the '90s they kept the best thing about that chain: the ice cream!).

Whoa, sorry for the tangent. Anyway, so when I was at Rite Aid last night, I obviously took a stroll through the beauty aisle and discovered that the entire Tropez display is now 75% off. Whaaaaa? I do not know if this means that Tropez as a brand is going under, or if just this particular Rite Aid is getting rid of the brand, but I am going to try and find out the scoop from my contact at Markwins and I'll let you know what I hear.

So of course I spent some time at the Tropez display frantically seeing if any of my favorite products were still available (it was pretty picked over by the time I got there). I was able to snag the LAST bottle of my favorite Tropez nail polish (Blossom--click here for swatches) and it set me back a whopping 24 CENTS (regular price: 99 cents). I love any and all nail polishes that I can buy for a quarter, and I'm sure you do too. So if you have a Rite Aid in your town that sells Tropez, I strongly suggest taking a trip ASAP to see if your Rite Aid is getting rid of the brand as well (hopefully it isn't, because I'd be really sad to see Tropez become more difficult to find. But if it's going to go, at least we can enjoy these prices for a little while).

Here are a few other interesting things I spotted during this Rite Aid trip:

I spotted these Chameleon polishes by Scherer in the same display that contains the CQ and Petites polishes. I know these little duo-chromes have been out for a while (I've seen them on various blogs) but I just don't think I've seen them in person until yesterday. Maybe they've always been there but I just now noticed them? Who knows. Anyone tried these? I'm wondering if they're worth a shot (especially the darker blue shade) but I think I remember reading that these chip like crazy? If you own any, I'd love to hear your feedback.

Also, I spotted this odd little display with no information, no price tag, nothing:

These are little compacts by Giovi, and they're roughly about the size of a small pancake in person. Each compact has five small baked shadows (with pretty veining!) and one larger baked shadow, which looks like it could be used as a highlighter. There are two different color palettes and I was immediately drawn to the one that has a pretty golden olive shade in it (on the left in the following photo):

I've mentioned before that I love how Rite Aid is introducing some fun, lesser-known, cheapie brands of makeup into their usual inventory (click here for my Princessa palette review, which I purchased at Rite Aid). Have you tried anything by Giovi before? I'd love to hear from you if you have!

That's it for now, but I'll be back soon with some reviews!

The prettiest pastel lilac shade in my nail polish collection...

So I normally don't do back-to-back nail posts, but after removing my Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink last night, I rummaged around in my stash for another pretty Valentine's Day-inspired color to use and I came across a beauty that I had somehow forgotten about. And I have to share it with you.

If you haven't heard of the brand Tropez, it's a super-affordable drugstore brand geared toward Latina women and it's owned by Markwins (the makers of Wet and Wild and Black Radiance). I am lucky enough to have a full display of Tropez cosmetics at my local Rite Aid, and I looooove their polishes because the colors are vibrant, unique and well, they're as inexpensive as the polishes from Wet n Wild and Black Radiance! [Update: thanks to my wonderful reader, I can now confirm that Tropez Nail Enamel retails for 99 cents per bottle, which is what I paid for this bottle. Their other line of polishes, Tropez Super Pearl Nail Enamel, retails for $1.99 a bottle.]

Tropez Nail Enamel in Blossom

At first glance you might be thinking, "Eh. It's a standard pastel lilac with some shimmer." But no no no. Once you put it on, look what happens:

Do you see all of that gold shimmer that magically appears? THIS is what sets Blossom part from your average pastel lilac shade. It is 100x more gorgeous in person, I tell ya! The baby-fine gold shimmer running through this gives off almost a holographic dual-toned effect that makes this color look like it's glowing from within. It's got this delicate, ethereal quality to it that makes it, BY FAR, my most favorite lilac I have ever seen. I just cannot think of even one other shade in my collection that comes close to this (from the drugstore at least--perhaps there is a high-end color that I'm not aware of that is similar but I'm not a high-end nail gal so I have no clue).

Seriously, if you're a purple nail fan, or a gold nail fan, or a pastel nail fan, or even just a fan of feminine, delicate shades, you owe it to yourself to try and find this little lovely. It will knock your socks off. Pinky swear!

In the above pics I used 1 coat of Orly Bonder Base Coat, 2 coats of Blossom and 1 coat of Sally Hansen DiamondShine Top Coat.

Tropez nail colors are toluene and formaldehyde-free and are available wherever Tropez products are sold.

Do you own any products from Tropez? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

New Tropez Sunrise to Sunset eyeshadow palettes (tons o' pics)

[UPDATE: Someone just emailed me and asked me if I photoshop the pics of my eyes. WTH? Are you serious? First of all, photoshopping a Blackberry camera phone pic is like putting icing on a cardboard box. Why would I try to improve something that is so awful it's almost funny? Second, if I were to photoshop my eyes, don't you think I'd wipe away those under-eye wrinkles and bags? Puuuuuh-lease. So to answer your question, NO, I do not photoshop my pics. And by asking me this question, you'd first have to assume that I even know how to use photoshop. Now THAT'S funny.]

I'm sure glad I decided to take some pics of these at my Rite-Aid because I can't find any product info online, even at the Tropez website.

For those not familiar, Tropez is a super inexpensive line of cosmetics sold at many drugstores. Tropez is owned by Markwins, which also makes Wet n Wild and Black Radiance. All three of of these lines have fantastic hits (and a few misses) and even though I haven't been pleased with the Tropez eyeshadows I've tried in the past, these new palettes called out to me (especially since they're $3.99 a piece). I love Tropez nail polish and lipsticks so I figured I'd give their eyeshadow one more try.

Well I'll be darned if this "Olive Oasis" palette isn't the prettiest collection of greens and browns that I've ever seen in a drugstore! You get 6 different shades (in generously sized pans) and on the left side the shadows are more matte (although some of them still have some shimmer) and on the right side there are the more shimmery shades.

Of course the ONE color I love the most (on the bottom right side) didn't really show up in the swatch, but it's a stunning shade of light olive that is more like a buttery yellow mixed with olive. It's so gorgeous and unique that I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if there's even a high-end counterpart to this color. Also, the color above it on the right side is a deep olive shimmer that is a dead ringer for one of my FAVE olive green shimmer eyeshadows, Stila Irma La Douce.

Now if that's not crazy enough for you, I have to say that the cream-white shade is so awesome that it seriously rivals MAC Shroom. It's definitely whiter than Shroom, but it totally reminds me of Shroom in the way that it applies, the way it's so highly pigmented, and the ease of how it blends. This universal highlight color is worth the price of the entire palette. I'm really in awe of how much it compares to a high-end shadow.

In the pics of my eye, I am wearing the light olive as a wash with the cream-white on my brow bone and the deep olive in the crease. Oh and I also added a touch of medium green (the middle color on the left) to my lid. I lined with my fave Prestige liner.

In terms of staying power, before I applied these shadows I used my Revlon ColorStay concealer under my eyes and applied a tiny bit to my lids. Then I applied my Prestige Multi-Task Wet/Dry Powder Foundation all over my face (including eye area) and then I used my Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Fast Fix eyeshadow base and let that set for a minute. The results? This eyeshadow didn't crease and it looked fresh all day long until about 10PM.

Final Analysis: All in all, these palettes are worth their weight in gold and I HIGHLY recommend them. I can't think of another set of drugstore eyeshadows that I'm more in love with at the moment. Usually when I see a new drugstore eyeshadow, I look at the color and think "Oh that looks just like [insert name here] which I already own." Not the case here! Some of these colors are so unique that I honestly can't think of a high-end version to match them. The only downside is that there is a bit of fallout with the shimmer (you can see it underneath my eye in one of the pics) so next time I use them I will definitely not put as much product on my brush and be more careful when I'm blending. I cannot wait to try the browns in my palette next.