Showing posts with label Creative Nail Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creative Nail Design. Show all posts

Maybelline Poptimistic: Exu-Blue-Rant & Grape Times (with CND Limelight)

Above & Below: Exu-Blue-Rant shown in 2 coats, outdoors with no flash.

Above & Below: Grape Times shown with 3 coats, outdoors with no flash.
Below: Grape Times with 2 coats of CND's Limelight.

Here are the last 2 shades, both cremes, from Maybelline's recently released Winter Trend Poptimistic collection. I posted the other 4 colors over the last couple of days, so scroll down if you're interested in checking them out. Exu-Blue-Rant is a deep Cadet blue creme that covered very nicely in 2 coats. Indoors, it seems to have a slight dark teal hue, while outdoors and under brighter lighting it shows more of a Cadet blue color. It dried to a high gloss shine and the application of the formula was very nice. Grape Times, although a lovely Royal purple shade, took 3 coats to get even coverage. The color builds quite a bit darker with each coat and it dried to an almost jelly-type finish, which I love. I added 2 coats of Creative Nail Design's Limelight over it, and it reminds me of an Nfu-Oh polish with the glowing flakies. While I'm a big fan of CND's new Color & Effects line, I still treasure all of my older CND's.


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Playing With CND's Effects

Above: These are not good pictures, and I apologize because the difference is rather interesting to see, but we have heavy cloud cover today. Click to enlarge. On the left are the colors I used (listed below). On the right are the same colors topped with the Effects that I have. The 3 white shades on the wheel that have no number are the Effects. The one at the top is Crimson Sparkle, the one on the right side is Ice Blue Shimmer and the one on the left side is Copper Shimmer. The 'nails' that follow each one without a number are topped it that Effect. All number 1's are the same color, just different Effects, all number 2's are the same, and so on. My favorite has got to be the transformation of number 6 on the left.
Above: A quick manicure using CND Raisin in the Sun (a very deep chocolate brown creme) topped with CND's Effects in Ice Blue Shimmer. Quite a change from the dark chocolate shade.
Above & Below: These are the colors I used and they correspond to the numbers on the color wheel. 1-CND Raisin in the Sun, 2-CND Relay Red, 3-CND Marshmallow Rose, 4-Finger Paints Plum Crazy, 5-Misa Push Upon It, China Glaze Gussied Up Green. Below are the 3 Effects I used, L-R: Crimson Sparkle (top of wheel), Ice Blue Shimmer (right side of wheel), Copper Shimmer (left side of wheel).
Yesterday I talked about CND's new Colour Effects line that recently came out, and today I did a little swatching to see how the Effects performed over various base colors. I had a little too much fun doing this, but that's always a plus when a polish gives us a some entertainment value too! There are 3 types of Effects according to CND's website: "Pearls—the finest opalescence. Shimmers—more dramatic. And Sparkle Effects—the blingest!" I only have one Sparkle and two Shimmers, but am very tempted to get a Pearl after this layering experiment I did this morning. The Sparkle doesn't change the base color as dramatically as the Shimmers do, except over the darkest shade I used, which was a very dark chocolate brown creme (CND's Raisin in the Sun). It does however, add a very fine coating of glitter or sparkle to any base, and obviously, different base colors give you different glitter or sparkle colors. The Shimmers not only add a fine shimmer effect, but completely transform the base color, especially on the darker shades. I found myself anticipating and guessing what each base color would turn into once I layered the Effects over it, and I don't think I was disappointed in any of them.


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CND Colour Effects: Relay Red & Crimson Sparkle

Above & Below: CND Relay Red from the Colour & Effects line is a beautiful coral red creme the applied very nicely in 2 coats. The color is vibrant and the finish is smooth and glossy. Application was beyond perfection with their new formula.


Below: Relay Red with 2 coats of Effects in Crimson Sparkle. In the bottle, Crimson Sparkle is a milky white iridescent shade with golden pink glitter. On the nail it is a subtle show of tiny multi-colored sparkle that is primarily pink and gold, at least over this Colour shade.



Creative Nail Design recently launched the Colour Effects line which includes 50 Colours (cremes) and 15 Effects (Pearls, Shimmers and Sparkles). I have been a longtime fan of CND polishes, so I was thrilled when I learned that they were finally coming out with some new shades. Not only are the shades new, but the bottle shape is new and more ergonomic, the handle is new (rubberized), the brush is new (wider and flat) and the formula has been enhanced to alleviate any drying time issues that were sometimes quite bothersome. The formula is 3-Free now and according to CND, designed for using just 2 coats in the application. I had never had too many drying issues with CND in the past, although I know many others who have. I will tell you that their new formula is fantastic and everything formula-wise that CND has advertised about it...the ease of application with the newly designed brush, the opacity in 2 coats...it's all true, at least with this first set that I've tried.


The Colours come in a wide range of shades and if you click here you can view them along side of the Effects, as well as "try on" the shades and combinations by using the link at the start of this post. I believe this line is replacing the original Creative Nail Design polishes because I've seen them priced ridiculously low at many beauty supply stores and if you click on the page I just linked above, under the Effects color chart there's a link that takes you to a page that says something like "If you loved these (followed by a list of old CND polishes and SKU #'s), You'll love these (followed by a list of the new Colours and Effects and SKU #'s). This saddens me because they had some fabulous shades, but I'll keep the faith that there are some more fabulous shades included in this initial launch and perhaps they'll continue to add to the Colour Effects palette.


I'll be trying out the combinations using the 3 Colours and 3 Effects that I have, but according to CND, this entire set of 65 pieces will allow you to come up with 800 different shade combinations. I haven't done the math on it, but I'll trust them on that fact. The Effects polishes are nice as well, although the idea of a layering polish to change the effect is certainly nothing new to most of us. If I'm understanding the literature I've read on the Effects, the Sparkles are the most amplified, but I personally think the look it gave me over Relay Red is more on the subtle side. I'll have to experiment some more with the Effects before I can pass a fair judgement on them. I'll likely pick up a couple more of the Effects and many more of the Colours, simply because I love CND and I love their new formula. These retail for $9.00 for the Colours and $11.00 for the Effects, but I bought mine from Head2Toe Beauty for half that price.


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Essie Yes We Can, Pink! Also our Winner & CND Colours & Effects


Above & Below: Essie's Yes We Can, Pink! Not unlike many of their sheer pinks, but all for a good cause.Below: Creative Nail Design's new Colour & Effects. The Colours are Relay Red (red coral creme), Raisin in the Sun (brown creme) and Marshmallow Rose (very light pink creme). The Effects are Ice Blue Shimmer (next to the red), Copper Shimmer (next to the brown), and Crimson Sparkle (next to the pale pink).
Below: Close-up of Crimson Sparkle.
Below: All 3 of the sparkles I got. Top to bottom: Ice Blue Shimmer, Copper Shimmer, Crimson Sparkle.
Our winner in the $50.00 Victoria Nail Supply/Color Club Treatments giveaway was Heather. She does not have a blog but is a fellow nail polish lover and is planning on getting some of the new China Glaze Glitters with her gift certificate. Congratulations to Heather and a big thank you to Yen and VNS for partnering with me on this fantastic contest. VNS is having a special Japanese Glitter made just for them by Color Club and I'll have more information about that tomorrow.

Today's NOTD is Essie's Limited Edition release aimed at bringing awareness to breast cancer, especially during the month of October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Their release states: ESSIE Yes We Can, Pink! is a soft, sheer pink polish specially formulated to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 10% of the proceeds from this limited edition polish will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer in a collaborative effort to raise interest, awareness and funds for the fight against breast cancer.

In doing what Essie does best, sheer pinks, this is a delicate shade of pink done in a creme, that applied nicely in 3 coats. The coverage wasn't perfect, but sheer cremes seldom are, at least for me. I'm not a big fan of sheer pinks, although they are nice to wear once in a while. I love the extreme high shine of this polish and I love that it's for a good cause.

Creative Nail Design recently launched their new Colour & Effects line and mine just arrived, so I have no nail pictures. But I do have bottle pictures. I'm curious to try these out, especially the Effects. They are designed to use as a top coat over the Colour polishes, but I imagine they'll work over other brands as well. I'll try them out soon and post pictures and my thoughts on this line.

I had quite a time removing OPI Ink Suede this morning! It was almost as bad as China Glaze's new glitters. I didn't have that problem with YDKJ Suede, but I didn't wear it that long either. One interesting thing I noticed when removing Ink...after the first swipe of acetone, my nail was still perfectly polished, only the color was a bright silver finish, not quite a shimmer and not quite a chrome.


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CND: Some Favorites From The Old Line

Above & Below: Those of you who know my color preferences have got to realize that Okey Dokey Artichokie is one of my favorites from CND's old line of polishes. A stunning Olive green shimmer with a slight pink duo chrome and gold and pink shimmer...need I say more?
Below: Vitality is a perfect coral creme.
Below: Hotski To Tchotchke, another favorite of mine. This bright turquoise shade is a metallic frost.
Below: I've always loved the creme formula of CND, and cremes have never been among my favorites, simply because I have trouble with them from an application standpoint. CND's cremes, both the old and the new formula, apply like a dream for me. Regal Revenge is a vivid fuchsia shade.
Below: Rock Royalty is a true purple shade with very fine shimmer. In some lighting, it looks more like a creme, but brighter lighting brings out the shimmer.
Below: As much as I love the old polishes from CND, as you can see below, their new line is nothing to be disappointed about. This is one coat of Ice Blue Shimmer over Rock Royalty.
As most of you know, CND (formerly known as Creative Nail Design) is no longer producing their older line of polishes, choosing instead to introduce and focus on their newly formulated Colour & Effects line. Not that there's anything wrong with their new line. In fact, I named it among my Top 10 nail polishes in my year end post last week. If you click here, you can see more of the Colour & Effects that I've posted about, as well as a few more of the older polishes. I have always loved this line, both the new and the old, and thought it might be a good idea to show you some more of the old ones, in case you'd like to hunt some down before they're all gone. I used 2 coats on all of the polishes pictured, and although I've heard complaints from others that they tend to have a slow drying time, I personally have never experienced this. They made some fabulous shades and I'm happy to have quite a few of them in my collection. I'll be keeping my eye out for more of the older ones, because part of the fun in this nail polish hobby of ours, is finding those treasured shades that are no longer readily available.


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