Happy (belated) Labour Day weekend!
Like many of the ladies here, I too returned to school quite recently. (As of yesterday, in fact.)
I will admit that I had some apprehension about it as I've been out of school for several months and, having finished a Masters degree, the "allure" of grad school has worn off somewhat. (By this I mean I know how much work it's going to be!) In spite of my concerns, I have been having a good time getting things organized with my advisor over the past couple of weeks and by the time I'd finished meeting all of the people in my new cohort yesterday (and catching up with my friends from the old cohort) most of my fears were allayed. Already things are shaping up quite nicely!
TransDesign
Anyway, because the universe loves balance, yesterday happened to be one of those days where everything just "worked". Among yesterday's "things that are awesome" was my order from TransDesign, an e-tailer I ran to after I'd heard that Head2Toe was no longer shipping China Glaze (Gena, ProLinc, Seche etc.) to Canada. (I like Head2Toe well enough, but I don't really order much besides polish so if you can't supply China Glaze well then...what's a girl to do?) If you e-mail Head2Toe they'll tell you that they're complying with an order from AII, China Glaze's parent company, but AII hasn't confirmed this for me and none of the other e-tailers have made mention of this so...I'm still waiting on further details.
In the meantime, I will say that my first order from TransDesign went off without a hitch. All in all, I think their costs are about on par with Head2Toe. Their price per bottle is a little less than H2T ($2.60 vs $2.99USD for a standard bottle/collection), but their shipping is a tad more expensive. (For everything I list below, I was charged $22USD for shipping.)
With a generous conversion rate this works out to less than $5CND/bottle and while this isn't "great" (you can score deals if you're anywhere near a Sallys with a coupon at the right time of year), it has the added benefit of giving you access to older collections and a greater polish selection that Sallys does not. Plus, compared to Head2Toe, shipping was fast! I ordered on the 2nd, received a postal notice on the 8th and picked up my package on the 9th. Not bad considering it was a long weekend and the fact that Canada's postal service doesn't work on Saturdays!
In addition to hauling some supplies (two empty spritzer bottles, a buffing block, nail polish wipes and striping tape), I grabbed six polishes from ChG's Retro Diva collection, eight more polishes from past collections and (I'm excited to say!) Essie's Matte About You. Of this haul I was most looking forward to Cords. (I think this is going to look awesome with Konad and/or with a matte topcoat). In retrospect however, I should have re-thought Japanese Koi and Atelier Tulle. :p
China Glaze: Retro Diva (not new, but "new" to me). (Sorry, I doubt I'll ever be so trendy that I'll have next season's polishes a season early.) :P
-mKat
What I'm wearing: China Glaze's Calypso Blue
What I'm waiting for: ManGlaze Death Tar & Fuggen Ugly; Stargazer Chrome Silver
What I'm lemming: A Gelaskin for my netbook! :P (I hate fingerprints).
Like many of the ladies here, I too returned to school quite recently. (As of yesterday, in fact.)
I will admit that I had some apprehension about it as I've been out of school for several months and, having finished a Masters degree, the "allure" of grad school has worn off somewhat. (By this I mean I know how much work it's going to be!) In spite of my concerns, I have been having a good time getting things organized with my advisor over the past couple of weeks and by the time I'd finished meeting all of the people in my new cohort yesterday (and catching up with my friends from the old cohort) most of my fears were allayed. Already things are shaping up quite nicely!
TransDesign
Anyway, because the universe loves balance, yesterday happened to be one of those days where everything just "worked". Among yesterday's "things that are awesome" was my order from TransDesign, an e-tailer I ran to after I'd heard that Head2Toe was no longer shipping China Glaze (Gena, ProLinc, Seche etc.) to Canada. (I like Head2Toe well enough, but I don't really order much besides polish so if you can't supply China Glaze well then...what's a girl to do?) If you e-mail Head2Toe they'll tell you that they're complying with an order from AII, China Glaze's parent company, but AII hasn't confirmed this for me and none of the other e-tailers have made mention of this so...I'm still waiting on further details.
In the meantime, I will say that my first order from TransDesign went off without a hitch. All in all, I think their costs are about on par with Head2Toe. Their price per bottle is a little less than H2T ($2.60 vs $2.99USD for a standard bottle/collection), but their shipping is a tad more expensive. (For everything I list below, I was charged $22USD for shipping.)
With a generous conversion rate this works out to less than $5CND/bottle and while this isn't "great" (you can score deals if you're anywhere near a Sallys with a coupon at the right time of year), it has the added benefit of giving you access to older collections and a greater polish selection that Sallys does not. Plus, compared to Head2Toe, shipping was fast! I ordered on the 2nd, received a postal notice on the 8th and picked up my package on the 9th. Not bad considering it was a long weekend and the fact that Canada's postal service doesn't work on Saturdays!
In addition to hauling some supplies (two empty spritzer bottles, a buffing block, nail polish wipes and striping tape), I grabbed six polishes from ChG's Retro Diva collection, eight more polishes from past collections and (I'm excited to say!) Essie's Matte About You. Of this haul I was most looking forward to Cords. (I think this is going to look awesome with Konad and/or with a matte topcoat). In retrospect however, I should have re-thought Japanese Koi and Atelier Tulle. :p
China Glaze: Retro Diva (not new, but "new" to me). (Sorry, I doubt I'll ever be so trendy that I'll have next season's polishes a season early.) :P
L-R: Cords, Thunderbird, Let's Groove, Stella, Free Love and Short & Sassy.
Other fun stuff:
L-R: Liquid Leather, Awaken, IX, Japanese Koi, Atelier Tulle, VIII, Sexy in the City and Adore.-mKat
What I'm wearing: China Glaze's Calypso Blue
What I'm waiting for: ManGlaze Death Tar & Fuggen Ugly; Stargazer Chrome Silver
What I'm lemming: A Gelaskin for my netbook! :P (I hate fingerprints).
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8 comments:
lovely picks!!! I'm expecting a small haul soon to get over going back to school too :)
Very lovely selections you picked here. Thunderbird and Let's Groove look amazing. I'm sure you'll love ManGlaze's polishes, they are really wicked.
Great haul! Stella and Let's Groove look particularly lush
Thanks guys! I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into some of those rich purples and ruby coloured fall polishes. They remind me of very ripe fruit. :)
Japanese Koi looked great in swatches but in person I think I'm kind of scared. LOL We'll see if I have the guts to brave this traffic-cone orange before summer is truly out the door. :P
Retro Diva looks to be a beautiful collection. You really selected some fantastic polishes. Japanese Koi will be gorgeous. I think you can putt it off for Fall. Even a Halloween manicure would be an interesting look. Nice collection.
Thanks Lucy!
Japanese Koi is shockingly bright...but I know there will be that "one time" that I really wished I had day-glo orange polish...and it will come to my rescue. :)
(I'm kidding. As soon as school gets into a nice schedule I'll put on my creative hat and see what fun things JK turns out.) :)
I happened to find a few Retro Diva at Sally's (but not all). I want to get a few bottles from old collections too and have the exact same question. Just hate to pay high shipping to Canada, but it's probably the only option. I jumped on the China Glaze wagon too late :-(
It's not that... it's just that there isn't much China Glaze in Canada to begin with. Even if you were there right at the start of a new collection, Sally's (unfortunately) doesn't carry very many of them.
I think shipping makes sense if you find a good balance; when you're buying the right amount of polish to make it worth it...
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