CND
CND Monday – Anchor Blue Colour with Emerald Shimmer Effect
 Welcome to CND Monday, a new feature here on ALU. Each week I’ll be sharing a new layering combination from CND Colour & Effects to show you the versatility and creativity of the line.
Last week I got a Head2Toe order in with some additional Effects from the CND line and I couldn’t wait to play with them. Until now I’ve only shown you Sparkles and a Pearl but now I have some Shimmers to experiment with. Being that blues and greens are two of my fave color families, I thought it would be fun to combine them and see what happens. Check out how dramatically Emerald Shimmer changes Anchor Blue after the jump! |
CND Monday Desert Suede Colour & Gold Pearl Effect
 Welcome to CND Monday, a new feature here on ALU. Each week I’ll be sharing a new layering combination from CND Colour & Effects to show you the versatility and creativity of the line.
Nude hued nails were all over the Fashion Week runways for spring. “Mannequin Hands” was in full effect. When I say Mannequin Hands I refer that elongated, neutral, extension-of-the-fingers look you get by painting a flesh toned or slightly darker polish on your nails. I decided to try the look out with one of the CND Colours that I kept seeing backstage, Desert Suede, and to transform it I added a layer of Gold Pearl Effect over top. Take a peek after the jump! |
CND Colour & Effects… What’s Next?
 I’m the type of person who asks too many questions. I’ve always been an inquisitive soul and rather than shut my trap and take the info that’s given to me, I ask any and every question my brain can drum up. So that’s why when I was backstage with CND at NYFW, the first thing I wanted to know about is…. What’s next??
How does a brand follow up a line that is introduced as the ultimate nail color wardrobe? What do you do to stay on-trend without overwhelming the consumer? I’ve got those answers and more after the jump! |
Each Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter season, CND will come out with “The Look,” their color concept for the season. The Look will introduce a new, limited edition Colour and Effect that reflects the current nail trends. In addition to The Look, CND will release seasonal color stories incorporating the core Colour and Effects shades.
For Spring/Summer 2010 the look is Candy Store. It’s based on 50′s and 60′s Americana with a whimsical, sugary color combo. The new Colour is still unnamed but CND’s Angi Wingle put it best when she described the hue as an “energized pastel” not neon fluorescent but not your typical soft, spring pink.
The accompanying Effect, named Sugar Sparkle, is a white sparkle with more texture than the current Effects. It gives a crystallized look to the nail. According to the CND team, layering Sugar Sparkle over Inkwell should satisfy your hunger for the hard-to-find, discontinued CND Blue Blood.
Other Spring trends from the CND team include Sand Dunes and Dark and Stormy.
Sand Dunes plays off clothing details like sculpted shoulders, soft draped silhouettes, decayed fabrics with bits of silica sparkle and texture worn on a medium-to-long sleek, almond shaped nail. As you can see, CND is embracing the lace/fabric overlay look, adding a Copper Chrome tip (2nd from right).
Get the look: Studio White, Desert Suede, Blueberry Whip, Copper Chrome
Dark and Stormy is all about texture. Weathered, oxidized, dark colors. Stray fabric strands and eroded hardware.
Get the look: Layer Gold Sparkle or Silver Chrome over Inkwell or Oilslick. Sponge Silver Chrome over Brilliant White.
CND Colour and Effects can be purchased at salons and spas nationwide or online at our fave e-tailers including GoIndulge.com.
So Fanatics, what do you think of CND’s color stories for Spring? Do you like their concept of The Look? Are you as excited to try Sugar Sparkle as I am?
CND Monday – Asphalt Colour & Sapphire Sparkle Effect
Welcome to CND Monday, a new feature here on ALU. Each week I’ll be sharing a new layering combination from CND Colour & Effects to show you the versatility and creativity of the line.
With a launch this large, an entire brand revamp, it would be a very time consuming project to show you all 50 Colours and 15 Effects. So instead, you’ll be getting your CND fix in bite-size portions. First I’ll show you the Colour and then the layered look with an Effect. I’ll also be highlighting Colour layering ideas and styles from behind the scenes at NYFW.
First up, a combination I meant to wear during my NYFW NOTD Challenge. I packed these two polishes, intending to wear them near the end of my trip. As you learned in my Wrap-Up, things didn’t go exactly as planned. Check out CND Asphalt and Sapphire Sparkle after the jump!
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CND Green Scene Colour and Gold Sparkle Effect
 Today I bring you two more colors from the upcoming CND Colour & Effects line. To recap, CND is revamping their brand by introducing 50 Colours and 15 Effects that can be layered to create over 800 different nail shades.
The Colours include a range of cremes from white to black, vivid primary and secondary hues and three chrome metallics. The Effects include pearls, shimmers and sparkles in various shades like violet, copper and emerald. I’ve been playing with some of the Colours and Effects I brought home with me from Cosmoprof and today I’m sharing my latest combo Green Scene and Gold Sparkle. Take a peek after the jump! |
A green lover like me couldn’t resist the lure of Green Scene. I swear it was calling me from across the room at the CND launch party. It’s like I could hear it saying, “You know you want me. Get over here and play!” And play I did. When it came time to swatch the new colors, I had a ball testing different Effects over Green Scene and my fave of them all is Gold Sparkle.
Green Scene is very vibrant with a slight bluish undertone. The formula is smooth and well pigmented only requiring two coats. As I mentioned in my last CND post, the brush is flat but not too wide with triangular bristles that make application a breeze.
Adding a layer of Gold Sparkle totally blinged out the look. Gold Sparkle is a clear base filled with multiple sizes of gold glitter. There are some large flecks dispersed among the micro-glitter giving a gilded finish.
The CND Colour & Effects line will launch in the Fall at salons and spas in the US. Colours will retail for $9, Effects for $11. CND is carried in over 90 countries and you can find a salon or spa near you using the Salon Locator on the CND website.
Also, I wanted to address your comments and tweets regarding the pricing. We all have our own points of view regarding price and what is expensive to one person may be justifiably affordable to another. With that in mind, I try to review polishes without regard to cost but so many of you have been vocal about the price jump with CND. While the Colour price is not that much higher, the bottle is smaller. And if you want to recreate the look I’ve shown you, it will cost $20. Then again a bottle of Chanel is $23 and it’s just one look. It’s all in the eye of the shopper.
Now I’m not going to comment personally on the pricing but I will throw out my theory regarding the increase. The concept behind this line is that you’re compiling a nail wardrobe. That these are the only colors you need to create 800+ nail colors. In essence, once you buy their entire line, you’re done. So perhaps they feel this price is appropriate for the amount of color combinations you’re getting. That’s up to you to decide. Again, this is just my explanation and not coming from CND.
So with all that out of the way… what do you think of Green Scene? Don’t you just love how well Gold Sparkle compliments it?
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
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