When I first started this blog, I thought I’d just be chronicling my nail polish addiction and that was that. But this blog has led me to meet some great people who I can now proudly call my friends.
Kitty is one of them.
Kitty, a US-based nail polish blogger and bag collector, was actually born and raised in the Philippines. She’s super super thoughtful and sweet. We’ve been exchanging e-mails for months now. Lucky for me, she came home for a surprise visit to her parents. I grabbed the chance to have a nail polish date with her.
We spent the weeks before her trip hunting for bottles for each other.
Our big plan? Have lunch, shop for polish and swap. Our swap turned into a massive one – but I’m getting ahead of myself.
I met Kitty on a humid Monday. We started our day with lunch at Via Mare in Greenbelt 3. While eating we talked about polish (of course), blogging and our lives and I enjoyed talking to her so much that I hardly tasted the food. We talked about frankens, Helmers and Melmers, Ulta and Sally’s, MUA and more.
Then we began our Great Walk of Polish. If you are going polish shopping, I highly recommend the path we took. It’s great not just for polish fanatics from abroad who want to stock up on Asian brands but for local polish addicts who want to see what’s readily available in the malls.
We started at Watsons in Greenbelt 5, which carried a mix of local brands like Bobbie, Caress, Caronia and U.S. brands like Revlon, Orly, Wet N Wild and Sally Hansen. Then we dropped by First Aid in Greenbelt 3 where we found mostly US brands – Revlon, Orly, Wet N Wild, Sally Hansen. Our next stop was The Face Shop’s new store in Greenbelt 3. I think they’re still in the process of setting up – the place still looked unfinished and they had fans instead of air conditioners.
We then walked to Landmark which, I swear to God, is a treasure trove for polish fans. Not only did they have a really extensive selection of local brands (and, according to Kitty, their prices were cheaper than in other department stores), they have the most complete selection of Orly I’ve seen in any store here. Landmark also carries Sally Hansen, Cover Girl, Revlon and other U.S. brands along with some brands from Hong Kong and Taiwan (yes, they had Elena’s crackle shades). There were also nail art supplies – from stampers and fauxnad wheels (which were crazy cheap – just P149.75 for a set!) to glitter, nail stickers and sliced fimo pieces (which I bought).
Kitty stocked up on a lot of pretty glittery shades while I obsessed over the fimo pieces.
From Landmark we went to Glorietta and we headed straight to The Face Shop. The store was bigger than the one in Greenbelt and they had a lot more polish too which was awesome.
From The Face Shop we went to Skin Food where Kitty bought more bottles. After Skin Food, she was all shopped out but I insisted that we walk to SM Makati just so she could see what they had at the Etude House and Tony Moly counters there. Sadly, the Tony Moly store in SM Makati only had a few bottles (and no glitter!) so we left SM empty-handed. We decided to skip Rustan’s since most of the brands sold there are easily available in the US.
Kitty and I said our goodbyes in Greenbelt. I couldn’t believe her trip went by so fast (she’s leaving in two days!). I’m sad that she’s leaving but I was happy that I got the chance to spend time with her. Our afternoon of polish was so much fun and I can’t wait for the next one. And I know there will be one.
And in the meantime, we have a lot to remember each other by. Because Kitty and I swapped packages over lunch. It was a massive massive swap. She gave me A TON of polish. A TON. I’m not even kidding.
See?
She gave me a lot of China Glaze. And they’re all so pretty.
Mega Bite
Blue Paradise
Bogie
Midnight Mission
Jitterbug
Emerald Fitzgerald
Laser Lime
Gamer Glam
First Class Ticket
Life Preserver
Blue Iguana
Mistletoe Kisses
Jolly Holly
Free Love
Zombie Zest
And even the Peppermint Cuticle Oil I’ve been dying to get my hands on since it came out. I’m a sucker for anything that smells like peppermint.
Kitty gave me OPIs too, including the shatter colors I missed out on two months ago because they came out after I returned to Manila. She’s super thoughtful.
White Shatter
Red Shatter
Navy Shatter
Bronzed To Perfection
Cuckoo For This Color
Kitty gave me sexy Essie shades too.
This duo of Bordeaux and A-List is hot hot hot.
Material Girl is gorgeous.
And I love the shimmer in It’s Genius.
Kitty also gave me this awesome Color Club set – Alter Ego: Keep It Under Cover.
Look at all those crazy purples.
Then there was the Goldie Nail Polish Trio.
Goldie is a nail polish brand sold at Bath and Body Works. I’ve never seen it in stores so I’m so glad Kitty gave me the chance to try this.
And because Kitty witnessed how excited I got over Aldo’s nail polish collection, she got me these bottles from Payless.
Again, pretty pretty pretty.
Kitty also wants me to try Mattese Elite.
She got me Texas Red.
Explosive Sensation
and Intense Pleasure.
Kitty also got me this awesome shade from NYC Color.
I’ve been going crazy over orangey reds lately and this is perfect.
And Kitty also gave me cuticle oil from Sally’s which I can’t wait to try. I’ve never used cuticle oil before – I’ve been too reliant on my Lush Lemony Flutter.
I can’t wait to try all these goodies.
Kitty didn’t just give me polish – she gave me a rainbow.
I told Kitty she made it feel like Christmas – and not just because of the massive swap.
It was awesome to be able to spend hours with someone who didn’t just understand my obsession but is as mad about polish as I am.
Thank you, Kitty, for the awesome day, the crazy goodies, the fun time. I can’t wait to do it again.
