Blogger Frustration and Local Polish Finds

This isn't the actual post I had planned for today. But Blogger won't let me upload any more pix as it says I've reached my 1 GB capacity. Which is fine. I accept that as I know I tend to upload and post a lot of pix.   But for some strange reason, it won't let me upgrade to larger capacity even if I have to pay for it. Everything goes fine and when I hit Continue to Checkout and it ends.  Nothing!! I've tried for several days now. And did you know if you call Google, they have no live customer support to help? WTH? I called the local office in Toronto as well as their headquarters.  Maybe when I get those Google telemarketing calls that I've been spammed with at home and work with lately, I should stay on the line and ask if there's someone who can help me versus my usual hang up.   I've researched this enough that I know I can upload my pix to Photobucket and then copy them to blogger with a HTML code, but its more uploading plus more time....which I don't have a lot of to begin with...or I'd be posting more! Plus I seem to think PB has upload limits....so I've posted on one of those Google forums to try to get some answers but until then, or I figure out how to resolve, I'll be posting whatever I have loaded in drafts. *end rant*

In the meanwhile, if anyone has had to upgrade their pix capacity and done it successfully, please let me know how!!!

Anyhoooooo, over the last two weekends, I've visited a few Winners in my area.  OK, maybe more than a few and maybe more than those in my area! Winners has awesome selection of polishes this time of year and usually up until around Christmas based upon the last couple years of shopping there; then it dwindles down around the new year and is pretty much a drought until the next holiday season. But I did manage to snag some cool polishes during the past couple weeks.

Winners has Butter London?  Who knew?  I seen BL at several stores at $12.99 and passed even though that's around $5 lower than The Bay and Holt Renfrew who sell BL in our area.  There were only a couple colours and this one, which I didn't even jot down, just seemed too familiar to others I already had.

But when I came across one location that had it priced at $5.99, it was too good of a deal to pass up!

Sation.  Not a brand too readily available in my local area.  Jessica's on Orfus Road is now selling Sation but for around $7 if memory serves me right.  These were $3.99.

I was really surprised to find this sought after Calvin Klein polish at one location.  I only seen the one bottle; if I had have seen more I could have picked it up for a few gals who are on the look for it!  (I've already done a mani with it and it's gorgeous!  If only I could upload the pix.....)

The Zoya Gloss collex that I had originally passed on when they were first released.  Zoya retails for around $8.99 here and I didn't think I'd use them enough to justify the money.  But when the box set of 3 was found at one location for $16.99, it was like buy 2, get 1 free so I couldn't resist!  Funny enough, these were the only Zoya's I seen during my travels and only at the one location.

A few more Nubars.  These two colours scream Christmas to me!

A couple more Calvin Klein topcoats.

I actually thought I had OPI Black Cherry Chutney so passed when I originally came across it.  But I went home and checked my stash and turns out, I didn't have it so went back to the store the next day and picked it up.  This again was only found at one location in my travels and I only seen the one bottle. 

A few random Jessica's. Not quite sure why I bought these in hindsight as I'm sure I already have something like them in my stash.....

I've also seen a lot of the Color Club boxes sets at almost every location I visited...but no Halo Hues!  I wonder if they will ever be available in the box sets?  Other finds that I didn't get for one reason or another were the China Glaze Joy Collection, a few random Orly's, the newish Ruby Wing colour changing polishes, a few random Essie's, and quite a few different Barielle boxed sets including the holiday one (I seem to recall that I did pick up a few different boxed sets of these too!).  That's the thing about Winners; it's usually random what they have in stock and selection varies from one location to the other; which is why I visited quite a few stores......in more than my general area!

Thanks for looking! 

My Cross Border Shopping Haul!

You may have seen those Cheeky image plates available on Amazon....try as I may....and despite the seller saying they should be available for shipping to Canada...I couldn't check out my order with a Canadian shipping address....even called Amazon to try to troubleshoot my order. Anyway, when the listing said they were down to their last 15 in stock, I couldn't delay any longer as I didn't want to miss out, so I placed my order and had it delivered to a UPS Store in Niagara Falls USA which offers this type of mail acceptance service......which necessitated a 276 km round trip to the States on Friday to pick up my order!



While I was there, I couldn't resist a few side stops so Big K, Walmart, Rite Aid, and Walgreens while I was there....and I may have a picked up a few polishes....



I also stopped by Dollar Tree, Marshalls and Big Lots but didn't find anything terribly exciting there. My biggest haul was at Big K (I'm not sure if its called Big K or K-Mart); they had Jordana and Milani glitters, Sally Hansen Gem Crush, new L'Oreal colours and some Maybelline's that I haven't seen in my area. Picked up a few Pure Ice's at Walmart...I was hoping that the new Nicole by OPI Spring Kardashian colours would have been there, but they weren't.

On my way home, I missed the street I was to turn on to head back to Canada....I hadn't been there in about a year and a half and even then, I'm usually a passenger, not the driver so wasn't terribly familiar with where I was going....but thank goodness I did, because I found Rite Aid and Walgreens across from one another. Both had different Sinful Colors displays...and I lucked out and found Borghese on sale at Rite Aid...75% off...so was able to snag Stellar Noir for $2!

These were some of my most interesting (to me!) finds:



Top row, l - r: Jordana Sequins, Jordana Cosmic, Jordana Gemstones, Sinful Unicorn.
Bottom row, l-r: Borghese Euro Green, SH Gem Crush Glitz Gal, Milani Teal, Milani Hot Pink, Borghese Stellare Notte.

I've been lemming Sinful Unicorn since I seen it on Lynderella's blog under Happy Holo-Daze....was thrilled to find it!

I had the funniest experiences both times crossing the border...when I was entering the US, the border guard asks for my passport, where I'm from, who does my vehicle belong to and then says, "How long will you-WHAT is on your nails?" Seriously, it was too funny! So out goes my hands out my vehicle window to show the young fellow my Flintstones mani...I'm guessing the bright colours caught his attention....the people in the car behind me where probably wondering what this lady was doing flinging her hands out her car window to the border guard! Then I explain to him that I'm heading to the UPS Store in Niagara Falls to pick up nail art. On my trip back into Canada, something very similar happened, only this time, it was a lady...who couldn't quite comprehend what a gal who doesn't own a business was doing buying all these nail polishes, but she too complimented me on my cool nails....however, it didn't stop her from sending me over to pay duty on my polish purchases though....small price to pay though for all those pretties I wouldn't have otherwise been able to get!

To top my weekend off, I went to my local beauty supply place and low and behold, found these:



OPI Holland Collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just picked these up today and haven't quite figured out which one I want to wear first (heck, who am I kidding....I know which one I'll be wearing first!) but haven't figured out how it will be turned into a Valentine's Day mani....yet. With any luck, I'll be using some of the images from my new plates!


Thanks for looking!

Edit: While I'd usually provide the link to where these plates could be purchased, they are currently sold out at this time.

Hey Canucks...Have You Been By Winners Lately?

Since maybe October or so, Winners has really stepped up their game and started carrying some brands that are harder to find for us Canadians...at least in my neck of the woods! Barielle, Color Club, Duri, Cosmetic Arts, just to name a few. Some gals reported seeing Nubars at their local store, but when I went looking for them, I wasn't able to find any (not recently...seen random bottles maybe a year ago or so).

Here's a few of the things I've bought in the last month or so...not all the same time and not all the same location.

The only tip I have is if you want it, pick it up the first time you see it. Don't be like me...I seen one of the Art Club sets at one store on on December 23rd and passed-they had three of them and I wasn't sure if I reallllyyyy wanted them. I ultimately decided I did; went back on December 26th and they were all gone! I was able to find them at another location after. The crazy thing about Winners is that not every location carries all the products (which was a plus on the other hand because I found some sets at one location and others at another...I guess they spread the love around) and quantities are usually limited! And they do add new stock every couple weeks, so I try to visit at least one store on a regular basis to see if there's anything new and exciting...if I do find something, then I go check out a couple more stores if I have time.

I only hope this continues...I remember seeing lots of polish last October but quantities dribbled down after Christmas...I do hope they keep their stocks up all year round!

Edit: I was wondering if there's any interest in these type of posts?

While this is more of an FYI Canadians; look what you can get type of post, I do remember that when I did my birthday giveaway questionnaire, there was a few responses that had requested seeing hauls and the like. I've always avoided these type of posts (mainly too embarrassed to admit freely to the world the amount of polish I buy!) but I don't mind sharing if there's interest. And if not, that's OK too...not like I'm going to stopping doing my nails any time soon...or hope I'm not!

Please let me know your thoughts!