A Guide to Buying Polishes in the United States

Monday, August 20, 2012

from memegenerator, based on Hyperbole and a Half's work

Recently, I was chatting someone about buying polishes in the United States and it occurred to me that if you're an international visitor, you might not be familiar with what stores carry what polish. So I thought I'd put together a list of stores and what they carry as well as some additional thoughts.

Note: some chains of stores vary their selections of brands by region. I am not very familiar with the stores in the south or Pacific Northwest, so if you fantastic readers can help contribute- I'd be very grateful! As awesome as mom'n'pop stores are or independent beauty supply stores, this list is for large, region chain stores only so that it can help those who are over here on vacation buy their polish goods!

Also, this list is for non-sale items only. If you have a coupon or there are great sales, all bets are off as to where the cheapest products are! This is just more of a guideline.

Red = cheapest place to buy that brand
Green = only place to buy that brand

UPDATE: As soon as I get a chance I'll be reworking this list. (As soon as I get back from vacation!)

Bartell Drugs,
Sinful Colors, Color Club (occasionally), Cosmetic Arts, Revlon, Maybelline, Wet 'n Wild, L'oreal, Sally Hansen

CVS
Nicole by OPI (Kardashian CVS Exclusives Collection of Nicole by OPI), limited Orly, limited OPI, limited Nailtiques, Seche (some locations), Poshe (some locations), Wet'n'Wild, Milani, Essie, Sally Hansen, Rimmel, Spoiled (by Wet'n'Wild)

Dollar Tree
Sally Hansen (older selection, random), LA Color (limited, depends on location), NYC (older stock, depends on location)

Duane Reade
Essie,

Five Below
Funky Fingers, Sally Hansen (limited, random selection), ArtClub, occasionally Nicole by OPI (limited), occasionally LA Girl

Fred Meyer
Essence, Wet'n'Wild, Essie, OPI, Sinful Colors,Maybelline, Sally Hansen, Revlon, L'oreal

Kmart
Milani, Jordana, Wet'n'Wild, Revlon, Maybelline, L'oreal, Sally Hansen

Marshalls/TJMaxx
Occasional sightings of LA Girl sets, Essie, Jessica sets, Nicole by OPI sets, OPI sets

Rite Aid
Sinful Colors, limited Color Club, Wet'n'Wild, limited LA Color, limited LA Girl, Sally Hansen, L'oreal, Maybelline, Revlon, NYC, Nicole by OPI (including Kardashian colors, but not the CVS exclusives), Petites, CQ, Chameleon, Jesse's Girl

Ross
Cosmetic Arts (a division of Forsythe. Limited quantity, depends on location), Color Club sets

Sally Beauty Supply
Finger Paints, Gelous (by American Classics), Nina Ultra Pro, China Glaze, Orly, Sally Girl, Seche, Poshe, limited Color Club,

Sears
Maybelline, Revlon, L'oreal, Sally Hansen, Nicole by OPI,

Sephora
Julep, SpaRitual, Sephora by OPI, Sephora house brand, Dior, Illamasqua (not all locations), butter London, Nails Inc

Target
Sinful Colors, L'oreal, Revlon, Sally Hansen, Maybelline (Maybelline Color Show are cheaper here than at CVS or Walgreens but sometimes limited stock), Essie, OPI (limited), NYC, Nicole by OPI (Target exclusives), Rimmel

Ulta
Layla, China Glaze, Zoya, Orly, Piggy Polish, OPI, Essie, Essence, Maybelline, Wet'n'Wild, L'oreal, LA Splash (some locations), butter London

Walgreens
Sinful Colors, Maybelline, L'oreal, Sally Hansen, Nicole by OPI, Borghese, Revlon, Essie, Wet'n'Wild, limited Nabi, limited Del Sol at some locations

Walmart
Pure Ice, Sally Hansen, Nicole by OPI, Essie, Revlon, L'oreal, Maybelline, Wet'n'Wild, Bon bons, Hard Candy, Sinful Colors (some locations)

Wegmans
Wet'n'Wild, Sally Hansen, limited OPI, limited Sinful Colors, L'oreal, Maybelline, Revlon

Whole Foods
Zoya (core)- limited stores, other stores have smaller displays

Once again, things really vary by region. I also want to add that certain shades can be exclusive to certain stores- for instance Target doesn't carry all the Sinful Colors shades (like UFO which can be found at Rite Aid).

This is a work in progress! I would really appreciate your help in refining it- leave me a comment about what is missing! When I get a chance, I'll put things in alphabetical order and what not. Also, when I get a chance, I'll start to add middle and high end polish. Thanks!