Nail Art Fun with CND Shellac

Erin and I have written about CND quite in a bit in the past, so by now you're probably familiar with the long lasting Power Polish manicures.  I recently had the pleasure of attending CND Shellac SpaSanctunary and preview event, where I got to check out the new fall colors and learn about all the fun nail art that can be done with Shellac.

My favorites from the fall collection - Midnight Swim, Sugared Spice & Vexed Violette.

CND (Creative Nail Design) is a professional nail polish and a partner for many runway shows like The Blonds, Nicole Miller, Behnaz Sarafpour, and Rachel Antonoff.

CND nails at Rachel Antonoff Fall 2012

Founder Jan Arnold's Comme des Garçons inspired nails

CND Shellac collection has grown over the past couple of years, and with additives (pigment powders, shimmer, glitter, foils, etc) the possibilities really are endless.  For my last manicure, AstroWifey created the custom orange for me with CND's pigment powders.  The nail art details like glitter or painted designs go on right before the last top coat.

At the event, I choose a teal colored polish as a base and asked the nail tech to create an ombre effect with red and dark silver glitter.  The glitter manicure was already cool enough, but lucky me, AstroWifey was working the event and she added mini records to my nails.

I used to rarely treat myself to manicures because they felt like a waste of money with how quickly they would chip, but my last few experiences with CND have really changed my mind.  Two consecutive Shellac manicures and CND's SolarOil have done wonders for my cuticles and nails.  My nails are the longest they've ever been, and they look so healthy!  I've now made it a part of my evening routine to apply SolarOil.


For more information or to find a salon with CND products, visit cnd.com.

Nail Artist: AstroWifey

Photo courtesy of AstroWifey

Last week I was in the Dominican Republic for a wedding.  The Sunday before my trip, I ventured to Jefferson Park to visit manicurist and nail artist AstroWifey for festive "no chip" manicure.

I came to AstroWifey with a few ideas in mind, and I could not be more pleased with how she brought the "his & her" theme to life.  It may be a bit hard to tell from these pictures, but she even drew different style eyeglasses.  Yes, she hand painted each of those designs!  Amazing right?

This manicure has been one of the best manicures of my life.  It's been 10 days and I literally have just one chip, and this is after a hell of a lot of activity - traveling, carrying DJ equipment, swimming, playing in sand, zip lining, horseback riding, and biking.  AstroWifey uses CND Shellac.  You may remember Erin's writeup about it awhile back.  The shine really does hold up!  And CND has some new powders, so your manicurist can custom make colors like this bright orange by AstroWifey.

I had such a great experience and her prices are very reasonable.  I highly recommend it!  It can be a bit of a trek from the east side, but if you live off the blue line, it's actually super easy to get there.  To view her price list and book an appointment, visit her page on StyleSeat.

CND Shellac–18 Days of Near Flawless Nails

I first tried CND Shellac last year and loved the long lasting, super shiny formula that was ready to go the instant it's completed with no additional dry time required upon exiting the UV lamp.  I had a chance to get a complimentary manicure at a press event recently and was loving all the new colors that had been introduced.  During my first round there were only 12 colors in predominantly classic shades.  The collection now consists of 30 colors and is available in new fashion forward shades.  With the ability to layer and build color through layering the color possibilities are are endless. Shellac is 3-Free with no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP.

I previously tried the super sophisticated and deep color Fedora.  This time around, I decided to have fun by layering 2 layers of the pearlescent mermaid green tone Hotski to Tchotchke with 1 layer of the subtle holographic glitter shade Mother of Pearl.

The photos speak for themselves, can you believe my nails were done 18 days ago? Aside from minor chopping on my right index finger and ever so slight edge wear you can only tell by how far my nail has grown from the nail bed in 2.5 weeks.  Perhaps because it is a lighter color and pearlescent instead of matter there are no signs of even surface scratches or dulling.  I even was painting furniture and I found a leaky bottle of nail polish during this time that I had to clean up during this time.  Nothing except time ruined my polish.

After spending the weekend out of town, I need to hit up a salon to get the polish removed using special nail wraps.

Shellac manicures are great if you don’t have time to do your nails often and want to get the maximum look for minimal salon effort.  It’s also great if you’re headed on vacation and won’t have access to a salon.  Use the Salon Locator to find a Salon near you.