Tuesday, August 17, 2010

It's Gray-T

I stopped at a Walgreens on the way home from work on Friday—after I'd stopped at a mall to get some polish from Claire's for a swap and happened upon a 70% off shoe sale, at which I bought these completely impractical but extremely happy-making wedge sandals.

OPI
Toes wearing OPI Lunch at the Delhi.


Anyway, at the Walgreens, I spotted a new to me Maybelline display with fall makeup in it, including two polishes, a deep red creme called Divine Wine and a grey subtle shimmer called Gray-T Glamour, which I'm sure they meant to be pronounced "great glamour" but in my head is "gray-tee", like Model T.

Maybelline

Having just been through the stash re-org that showed me I have more than enough reds, including dark ones, I let the wine polish be but grabbed the gray and one of the $1 off coupons from the display. Except the coupon wouldn't ring up and the cashier didn't feel she could override the computer on that because the coupon said something like "on pictured products" and there was no nail polish in the picture on the front of the coupon. Sigh. There was a line of people behind me, and I was tired and ready to get home, so I didn't argue or ask for a manager, I just paid full retail. I sure hope Maybelline didn't set up the coupon to not work for nail polish; that would just be wrong to put it in the display right next to the polish and then not honor it for that. Maybe on a day when I'm feeling more energetic I'll try it again, get another gray to swap.

I was a tiny bit hesitant to try the gray. While most of my newer Express Finish polishes are just fine, a few of them have been awful to apply—not just thick but oddly clumpy, almost like they had sand in them. This one was okay, though; a tiny bit thick, so I only needed two coats, but no grittiness or clumping. Maybe it's the slight shimmer in the formula that helped with that; the ones I've had trouble with have all been cremes. I didn't use topcoat for these swatches, but definitely would for a mani; this polish isn't as shiny on its own as some are and even though I didn't have application issues I think I see a few surface imperfections in the photos that a topcoat would smooth out.

Maybelline

Maybelline

Of course I couldn't resist doing a comparison, even though I couldn't find any greys in my stash with quite the same subtly shimmery finish. (I still haven't decided if it should be grey with an e or gray with an a, so I use both spellings.) For the comp, from my newly populated white/black/grey Helmer drawer, I chose Pure Ice Kiss Me Here (a name I don't get—kiss me here on my grey part?), Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Tailored Creme (from the Dollar Tree), and Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy.

Maybelline

Maybelline
Top to bottom: Gray-T Glamour, Kiss Me Here (3 coats), Tailored Creme (4), Stormy (2).


No dupes here, though Kiss Me Here and Tailored Creme are not so different from each other that one needs to hunt throughout the land in order to get both. I'm quite liking the Maybelline, with its shimmer and cool-toned base color. There was a report at MakeupAlley that there's a nail polish only display for fall as well, which makes sense since there were ones for spring and summer this year, but I haven't run across that one yet.

14 comments:

  1. I LOVE THOSE WEDGES :D awesome awesome!!!!!!
    and the grey comparisons are just as awesome :D
    sorry, i am lacking in my vocab lol.
    ps thank you for the award once again!

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  2. I haven't had new shoes since forever.........Loving those wedges.

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  3. i have never noticed shoes at claire's! i zoom right in on the np! i like this grey, but I have alot of greys... so i am not going to hunt for it... which means i will run into it. le sigh.

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  4. jbrobeck, sorry--I wasn't clear, the shoes were at the mall in another store, not at Claire's!

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  5. Grey is another portion of my collection that is lacking...I have one or two shimmery gun metal greys but I don't like them. I need a grey creme!

    I've considered the Pure Ice one before..I might as well get it, its cheap so even if I don't like it I won't be out much.

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  6. I like these gray colors..mainly because it doesn't have all of the glitter in them like I normally wear...btw, those wedges are really cute! =)

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  7. i love those wedgies!!! And yay for a new gre(a?)y polish but boo for the coupon not working!

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  8. The wedges are nice! I love wedges! :)

    I still don't have a gray shade in my stash of nail polishes. Hmm ... I better look for a good one. I like the Maybeline shade! ;)

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  9. Interesting to see a grey with a shimmer in it.

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  10. Your toes look pretty. I don't do my toenails because they're freaky. They grow up instead of out,except for my big toe. I have to keep them short,especially in winter.

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  11. that grey is wonderful and your shoes are hotness!

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  12. great shoes! next week i'm finished work, so i might just have to do some shopping! i also like that gray polish i feel like we don't have that collection here!

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  13. Cute shoes!
    I like the polish as well, and your comparison is great as always.

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Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.