I'm blue... but in a good way!

I'm constantly broke.

There, I said it. Like most of you my age, I don't have a whole lot of money to be throwing around at trendy beauty products. Not that I don't want to, and not that I don't do it regardless from time to time, but I have to make up for it by eating lots of peanut butter and honey sandwiches (which are delicious, just so you know). So when I come across a bargain, I get really excited. And then, if you're lucky, I share my finds with you!

Navy nail polish was a huge trend on the spring runway. Now, you're thinking to yourself, "Nailpolish? Shit, even I can pay for nailpolish." Really, smarty pants? Let me show you the "it" nail polish/beauty product for Spring '08:

 That's right, it says Chanel on the bottle. That should have been your first hint that this way probably way too expensive. This is Chanel's Blue Satin polish. I found a bottle for sale on Nordstroms for $19.... that's right, almost twenty bucks for nail polish. And while Nordstroms (seems to) still have some for sale, it's selling like meth all over the country. It's already hit Ebay and is selling for almost $40. Now, who out there thinks that forty dollars for a bottle of nailpolish is reasonable. Not I!

Usually we can count on good old OPI to give us the trendy polish colors for the season at a less expensive price. They didn't let us down this season with their Russian Collection (which comes out on Feb. 6th). Here's Russian Navy:

It looks a little bit more purple than the Chanel polish, but OPI is usually pretty good being true to color. OPI polish tends to run about $8 for a bottle, which, at more than half the price of the Blue Satin, is a steal.

I thought I was going to have to fork over the eight dollars for a bottle of Russian Navy, and then fate intervened - I ran to the local Kroger at about ten thirty at night two weeks ago to grab the new US Weekly and ginger ale (yes, I make impulsive late night decisions like that). I was walking past the organics section when a display of nail polish caught my eye. "Organic nailpolish?" I thought to myself, "I must investigate!" So it turns out that it wasn't organic nailpolish, but I discovered this instead (sorry I couldn't find a better pic):

If you're a slave to things being "this season", I'm afraid that this won't be the polish for you - it's a Sally Hansen polish from Fall '07. If you're like me and you could give a damn, then this shade is perfect for you. It's called Navy Venom, and you can buy it at Walgreens/CVS/ Walgreens for $6. That's right, six bucks! Plus, Sally Hansen's Salon line is great - two coats give you plenty of coverage, it's hard to chip (and this is coming from somebody who usually fucks up a manicure within two hours of getting it), and it's free of all the bad stuff (toluene, DBP, and formaldehyde). 

So what's the moral of the story? Make impulsive beauty buys late at night at the grocery store, and save yourself from paying designer prices!