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Colbert and Brokelyn review Walgreens’ dirt-cheap beer

Colbert: Not drunk enough to enjoy this yet

Last night, Stephen Colbert gave a laudatory Tip of the Hat  to the new dirt cheap beer on the block: Big Flats, the $3.99 Walgreen’s six pack that recently hit New York (see the full video below). He says the “cheaper than gum beer” is exactly what America needs in tough times. We’re no strangers to budget beer, so Big Flats landed in our carts as soon as it hit the shelves. While the sixer costs $1 more in New York than elsewhere, it’s still half the cost of a beer in a bar. Colbert likes it, but as members of the “blogos-beer,” does it pass our standards? Read the rest of this entry »

Scan it: Walgreens vs. Duane Reade

TrojanscropBy now you’ve heard that Illinois-based Walgreens is buying out local rival Duane Reade. Maybe you’re shedding a tear at the news, but before you go out and buy tissues, which store is likely to have a better price on them?

Good news, New Yorkers: Walgreens prices beat Duane Reade (slightly) in our check of 15 essential (and some not-so-essential) items, and the overall price for our trip to Walgreens was about $30 cheaper. The companies said Duane Reade’s 257 stores will keep operating under their name after the buyout, but consolidation is inevitable.

Our undercover price scoping took us behind the automatic doors at the Williamsburg Duane Reade on North 5th and the Walgreens on Union Ave. While the price differences were often minor, Walgreens offers a wider variety of generic products, a noisier store, and a security-protected deodorant case to ward off obsessive-compulsive (and sweaty) kleptomaniacs. And while Duane Reade is unarguably the more aesthetically appealing of the two stores, it fails to have such necessities as the Inspire Waterproof Rubber Sheet Protector and the famed “As Seen on TV” and celebrity perfume aisles (Walgreens graces its floors with FOUR different varieties of Celine Dion fragrances). Check out the results of the study after the jump, with each round’s winner in blue. Read the rest of this entry »

Drugstore makeup: is it summer-proof?

Photos by Daniel Delaney.

When you’ve only got pocket change to spend on lipstick, which one should you buy? The game glamouristas of Brokelyn set out to put an end to budget makeup confusion by putting five bargain brands through their summer paces. Faces painted with the cheapest concoctions of wax and pigment money can buy, they drank 40 ouncers, snarfed pizza and stuck their faces in an NYC fire hydrant. Read on to find out what we discovered about venerable cosmetic brands Jordana, Wet ‘n’ Wild, NIcka K, NYX and NYC. Here, Alison’s Wet ‘n’ Wild makeup lives up to its name. Mascara ($3.49), liquid liner ($2.89), and lipstick ($0.99), all from Walgreens. Read the rest of this entry »

Colbert and Brokelyn review Walgreens’ dirt-cheap beer

Colbert: Not drunk enough to enjoy this yet

Last night, Stephen Colbert gave a laudatory Tip of the Hat  to the new dirt cheap beer on the block: Big Flats, the $3.99 Walgreen’s six pack that recently hit New York (see the full video below). He says the “cheaper than gum beer” is exactly what America needs in tough times. We’re no strangers to budget beer, so Big Flats landed in our carts as soon as it hit the shelves. While the sixer costs $1 more in New York than elsewhere, it’s still half the cost of a beer in a bar. Colbert likes it, but as members of the “blogos-beer,” does it pass our standards? Read the rest of this entry »

Scan it: Walgreens vs. Duane Reade

TrojanscropBy now you’ve heard that Illinois-based Walgreens is buying out local rival Duane Reade. Maybe you’re shedding a tear at the news, but before you go out and buy tissues, which store is likely to have a better price on them?

Good news, New Yorkers: Walgreens prices beat Duane Reade (slightly) in our check of 15 essential (and some not-so-essential) items, and the overall price for our trip to Walgreens was about $30 cheaper. The companies said Duane Reade’s 257 stores will keep operating under their name after the buyout, but consolidation is inevitable.

Our undercover price scoping took us behind the automatic doors at the Williamsburg Duane Reade on North 5th and the Walgreens on Union Ave. While the price differences were often minor, Walgreens offers a wider variety of generic products, a noisier store, and a security-protected deodorant case to ward off obsessive-compulsive (and sweaty) kleptomaniacs. And while Duane Reade is unarguably the more aesthetically appealing of the two stores, it fails to have such necessities as the Inspire Waterproof Rubber Sheet Protector and the famed “As Seen on TV” and celebrity perfume aisles (Walgreens graces its floors with FOUR different varieties of Celine Dion fragrances). Check out the results of the study after the jump, with each round’s winner in blue. Read the rest of this entry »