Try this: Orange Shellac
Turn up summer’s most requested color a notch by applying a dusting of Yellow CND Additives over two coats of cured Tropix Shellac. Topcoat for a brilliant persimmon orange that looks cream but retains a beautiful sheen. 
Working with Pigments: CND’s new Additives and Shellac
A little while ago I mentioned CND Additives – a range of high grade pigments that will rock your nail world by allowing you to mix, blend, cover and just all out create with color. The distribution date is still a ways off (target: July), but I’ve been getting so many questions on how to use them I thought I’d start posting suggestions. CND Additives are perfect for Shellac, Brisa Gel and Liquid & Powders, so I’ll do a different post for each product type to get your minds working on to incorporate the product to your line using Shellac. Today’s post is covering one of the easiest ways to use these pigments, and that is as a layer:
1. Create new colors through layering
Easily increase your color line with a simple wash of pigments. Longing for summer pastels? You can have them with Shellac and Additives.
How to create Lavender/Lilac nails
- Create a base color using one coat of Purple Purple (cure) and one coat of Moonlight & Roses (cure).
- Brush a thin, even coat of CND Additives Violet Pearl Pigment
- For a lavender look, one coat is fine. You can see in the photo below how just one layer drastically changes the base color.
For a lilac look, use two or more coats. The more coats, the lighter your look will get.
Float your topcoat over and cure for the finish.
You like?
This is the first in a series. Check back for more ways on how to use the new CND Additives.
CND Shellac Polish – Fall 2011 Swatches & Packaging Info
Hi Everyone, I know you’ve been patiently waiting for Shellac swatches and I want to say Thank You. I have been swamped at work but started them thanks to a little help from friends (Hi Ingrid!). Look for back on this post in the next few days. In the meantime, here is a bit of a teaser:
Studio White: This soft white makes for the most natural French ever! It is also very easy to work with compared to Cream Puff. I just got it in and have done 5 french so far. Very pretty.
Zillionaire (over pinky nail): glitter with red, blue and gold flecks.
Asphalt: Just like the CND Asphalt polish. I recommend stocking up on retail if you are a nail tech, because your clients can buy a bottle for toes or for extending wear. This is a hothothot color for fall/winter!
Hotski to Tschoske*: Oy, I think I spelled that wrong. But it is a very bright teal. *hotski to tchotchke
Moonlight & Roses: This is like Beau on steroids. Same white frost bits but with red/pink sheen. It really makes a glow to the nails and looks fab with studio white (see above too).
Purple Purple: Photographed blue here, but a gorgeous dark purple. I liked it much more than I thought I would.
Check back for swatches.
First Asphalt! 8/24
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There are changes to the packaging front & one side this fall 2011.
FRONT CND SHELLAC
I always tell my clients that the term Shellac is now used for a 2 week manicure in the way Kleenex is to tissues or Xerox is to copying. It’s treated as a catchall! If it isn’t CND, it isn’t the patent pending Shellac. Looky what’s on the cover of the boxes now!
The miniscule color identifier is on the bottom of the front. The sales clerk and I didn’t realize it was there.
SIDE CND SHELLAC
The other change is to the side of the box. They’ve removed the fantastic large print stating the color. It was so easy to confirm you had picked up the right color, and it was probably easier to stock. Life goes on.
CND: Shellac Layering: Hot Chilis
NEW! The header tab at top of the page contains swatches
Not sure if a combo is a do or do not? I’ve layered and swatched all 24 colors of Shellac to make visualization a breeze.
Looking for options? CND’s Shellac can be layered to create a near infinite number of color combinations, just like the Colours & Effects line. Keep checking back for updates. It’s taking a while to sort and crop but I hope you’ll find it worth the wait.
Hot Chilis over the darker colors create beautiful eggplant. Today was actually too bright for the best photography, but you can see the range Hot Chilis adds when layering.
Hot Chilis over Fedora
Hot Chilis over Black Pool
Hot Chilis over Masquerade
Hot Chilis over Tutti Fruitti
Hot Chilis over Tropix
Hot Chilis over Strawberry Smoothie
Hot Chilis over Rose Bud
Hot Chilis over rock Royalty
Hot Chilis over Red Baroness
Hot Chilis over Hot Pop Pink
Hot Chilis over Gotcha
CND Shellac Layering: Iced Coral
NEW! The header tab at top of the page contains swatches
Sorry for inundating with swatches. I’d normally spread things out but I’m trying to take advantage of the holiday/down time to catch up on all of the editing.
Iced Coral is one of the prettiest Shellac colors for spring/summer and a great layering shade. It gives a bit of a peachy frost with a tinge of green. It usually softens and lightens any color you put it over, and smooths out the appearance (for example, over Iced Cappuccino). Over the different pinks and reds you get what I call sunshiney shades, and a good mix of peaches.
Iced Coral over Tropix
Iced Coral over Tutti Frutti
Iced Coral over Hot Pop Pink
Iced Coral over Gotcha
Iced Coral over Rose Bud
Iced Coral over Cappuccino
Iced Coral over Cocoa
Iced Coral over Romantique
Iced Coral over Strawberry Smoothie
Iced Coral over Black Pool
Putting Iced Coral over Rock Royalty or Fedora will have similar results. There is a slight color difference, but almost negligible.
CND Shellac Layering: Negligee
NEW! The header tab at top of the page contains swatches
Negligee over any Shellac color is an easy way to add a bit of dimension, smooth out imperfections and create a bit of opalescense. It doesn’t fully come through in the photos, but in many of the colors, especially pink reds, they look a bit like Jolly Ranchers. Very pretty and summery. If you are looking for a deep Shellac Blue, the Negligee over Black Pool will give you that color.
Negligee over Black Pool
Negligee over RoseBud
Negligee over Hot Pop Pink
Negligee over Gotcha
Negligee over Decadence
Negligee over Wildfire
Negligee over Masquerade
Negligee over Rock Royalty
Negligee over Cocoa
Negligee over Hollywood
Hollywood is essentially Wildfire with beautiful silver microflakes. Negligee over either looks the same.
I Minx’d a Boy (and I Liked It) – IBS Las Vegas
My partner in Advanced Level 1 Certification at IBS Las Vegas
I had a chance to cover the International Beauty Show Las Vegas (IBS) last weekend and had a blast! Along with the many exhibitors, IBS also hosted the Nail Pro Competition, ran alongside the Esthetician tradeshow and hosted a ton of workshops on hair, nail, beauty, business. Most were offered at no additional charge with price of admission, but a few also extended out to more-indepth training.
One class I couldn’t pass up was a Minx Nails workshop with Naja. She was the first manicurist to apply the patterned, full nail covering called Minx that offers the only true metallic for nails. Naja now does Minx for Fergie, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, the list goes on. She knows her stuff.
She also released her own line of Minx at the show – behold the board that was pretty much sold out by the time I came back.
She gave a great talk on a mix of the business, then application side of Minx and mentioned she was giving a certification class that evening. A chance to get hands-on training with The Naja? I did not plan for this at all, but I just had to attend. Had to attend. Especially since the new lace styles and more are ideal for layering over Shellac. It’s a complimentary match made in heaven. 
The training room was decked out. I was so sad my pinkie was not already done so I could flash it when eating my cucumber sandwich.
Hey everyone – it’s Lucien from @MinxNailsDotCom
Although I’d had a lot of foreplay with Minx (I’ve even got a little hoarder stash of patterns I’ve purchased in the past), this was the first time I’d gone all the way. I was totally hooked.
Not only was Naja there, but Lisa Logan (Beyonce’s Minxacurist) also co-trained. Check out her line of Minx patterns and see Bey on the cover of W this month with a fab set.
Naja, Lisa – in fact it seemed like the entire crew was there, including founders.
It was 3 good hours and I am really glad I did it. I was right back to work the next day and two clients BEGGED for what they saw on my hand. I caved on the second and gave her a Minx pedicure. She’s wearing it with a gold and silver dress for Saturday. I have to say it looked pretty amaze.
Minx is available in around 240 patterns, and I’ve been Minxing away. Education is crucial for any product, and you can’t go wrong taking a session or two with Minx. Check out the site and have fun.
Thanks to Nokia & Elle (style correspondent event), I was able to capture many of the conference photos on the gorgeous new Nokia N8 in this spectacular pink. Much love to Southwest Airlines & Journal-Sentinel for getting me there and back.
Sneak Peek: Shellac Fall 2011
NEW! The header tab at top of the page contains swatches
For more details, check this post on the new fall CND Shellac colors
Zillionaire, Studio White, Moonlight & Roses, Purple Purple, Asphalt, Hotski to Tchotchke
Bonus! Artwork by CND Ambassador Heather Reynosa Davis (I was trailing her team all over NYFW). Check out her Zebra Asphalt with center shimmer stripe.
Shellac Layering: Mother of Pearl
NEW! The header tab at top of the page contains swatches
Not sure if a combo is a do or do not? I’ve layered and swatched all 24 colors of Shellac to make visualization a breeze.
Looking for options? CND’s Shellac can be layered to create a near infinite number of color combinations, just like the Colours & Effects line. I’ll be posting them in color order, starting with the glitter mix, Mother of Pearl. Notice that this bottle contains much more glitter than the original swatch I did on first release. Although I often custom mix, I really like this concentrated glitter effect.
Keep checking back for updates. It’s taking a while to sort and crop but I hope you’ll find it worth the wait 🙂
Mother of Pearl over Rock Royalty
Mother of Pearl over Iced Coral
Mother of Pearl over Iced Cappucino
Mother of Pearl over Fedora
Mother of Pearl over Black Pool
Mother of Pearl over Cream Puff
Mother of Pearl over Strawberry Smoothie
Mother of Pearl over Rose Bud
Mother of Pearl over Gotcha
Mother of Pearl over Hot Pop Pink
Mother of Pearl over Tutti Frutti
Mother of Pearl over Hot Chilis
Mother of Pearl over Tropix
Mother of Pearl over Hollywood
Mother of Pearl over Wildfire
Mother of Pearl over Red Baroness
Mother of Pearl over Decadence
Mother of Pearl over Cocoa
Hot trend: CND Sunshine at Your Fingertips
Looking for a little sunshine? Oranges are one of the hottest colors of the season! Even if we don’t have a lot of warmth in the skies just yet, you can get little rays of lights on your nails. Try this gorgeous combination in CND’s color range with the layering technique:
- Prep nail, use basecoat (I love CND Stickey)
- Add two layers of CND Colours & Effects in Electric Orange
- Add thin, even layer of CND Colours & Effects in Gold Pearl
- Finish with Top Coat
The result is a soft, shimmery, tangerine-ish glow that is complimentary and a wide range of skin tones. It makes you look tan, it looks radiant and rich, and it tones down a full-blown orange for those a little too timid to make a full step into the trend.
You can also recreate this in CND Shellac using two coats of Tropix and one thin coat of Iced Coral for a look that will last at least two weeks. Enjoy!
Don’t Sweat the Technique: Glitter Nails using Shellac
Note: This post was written for publication 3/29 but then I got too busy preparing to leave town. A couple of days ago, a photo of a glitter toe I posted on Facebook 4/20/2010 – one year ago – suddenly got attention and I was asked how it was done. I had previously entertained doing a toe video but you should get the idea with the video I made for this post. If you don’t, let me know. And to go back to my intro on toes with glitter, it is here.
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Ah, glitter. Yesterday we looked at a beautiful layered design on Kimberley using Shellac. As a stylist and image consultant, she pretty much has free reign to go bold. What happens when you need a little discretion? Is it a life of nudes for you?
Not necessarily. Depending on your profession, you may need to resort to closing your office doors and kicking off your heels to get feel a little freedom with toes that glitter. Or, maybe you can push the border with a little fingernail bling. You don’t need much to add a bit of excitement to your nail regimen – let me show you:
How to Glitter with Discretion
I had a chance to show off my glitter nails and technique during NY fashion week this year. Glitter doesn’t have to be all about really loud nails – sometimes it’s just enough to switch things up a bit to keep from getting bored. Enjoy the trend using Shellac, which doesn’t require an e-file to apply or remove. It’s fun to glitter with discretion. The most mild form of this is using CND Shellac Strawberry Smoothie (as shown in the video) or Negligee. I use just a bit of glitter at the tip and drag down only slightly. Do not encapsulate the entire nail. The choosen glitter must be fine and highly compliment. Think monochromatic shades or with lights, keep translucent:
As you can see, this works from pale to hot pinks, taupes to bold Rock Royalty. The key is in a small amount of glitter and making a right match with color.
One of my booties noticed my glitter toe from exactly a year ago today posted on my Facebook wall and asked about it. Use the same technique, but place the glitter all over the nail. Seal with topcoat.
As always, you cannot go wrong with Shellac because it doesn’t require an e-file for application or removal, and this should hold for up to 6 weeks. I’ve been doing it for a year, switching over to Shellac as soon as it came out and my clients have gone all over the world with pretty glitter hands and toes.
I had the chance to show off my glitter nails technique during NY Fashion Week, where I had a chance to work the subtle on Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference founder Jennine Tamm (The Coveted), a medium on HolierThanNow and full blown bling ahead on Lucky Magazine panel speaker Karla Sugar. It works for all kind of women!
FADING COLORS
If you want to try a color fade, simply start your chosen color at the bottom and go as far up as you desire. Fill in with second color.
Glitter Toes – These are very popular in my salon
Wow! Shellac Service Failure!
Don’t try this in your salon!
This client was getting Shellac manicures at another salon – no cuticle work ever done, no removal, just layer after layer and all peeling from the back and front. She thought because some of it was staying on well past the polish point, that was the point. 
Sort of shiny, but not very pretty is it? She cleaned up nicely with a ton of cuticle work, beautiful new coat of Rosebud and layer of Negligee over it and left smiling all the way. Remember, PEP is critical (Perform manicure, Eliminate surface contaminates, Purify nail plate). Shellac should look smooth and shiny and even toned from the moment applied until removed. Only the tell-tale growout should be the issue.
As a comparison, here is a properly applied Shellac (ayup, with glitter) that was on 6 weeks (client could not get in due to travel and sick):
CND Shellac Layering: Northshore Nude
After doing *every single CND Shellac today*, and most of this week, in Cocoa with Beau layered over, I have dubbed this combo #NorthshoreNude. Cocoa on right is beautiful as is, but Beau over it adds a layer of (as one client put it) glamour. What’s hot in your salon?
To book your CND Shellac manicure in Milwaukee,
Updated to show, I have two Northshore Nudes, depending on skin type:
Beau over Cocoa
Iced Coral over Cocoa:
