NCLA and Glamour Mag

Got this awesome release in my email - super happy for NCLA!  Their wraps have been making the rounds in Hollywood, and here's just another example!  Do you get/read Glamour magazine?




Designers’ Resort 2013 Prints Featured on Limited Edition NCLA Nail Wraps
To be Sold Exclusively at Barneys Co-op and shopncla.com

NEW YORK, NY – Glamour has unveiled its latest designer collaboration for Fashion Gives Back—a project that gives designers the chance to create special bags, shoes, or tees to support causes they care about every year. This year’s charitable product is the new must-have accessory—eye catching nails: Glamour paired four designers—all known for their distinctive patterns—with nail gurus NCLA to create runway-inspired nail wraps. Signature prints featured in the Resort 2013 collections of 10 Crosby Derek Lam, Bibhu Mohapatra, L’Wren Scott and Peter Som, are transformed into limited-edition nail decals exclusively for Glamour. The nail art and original looksthat served as the inspiration from the designers’ collections are featured Glamour’s January issue, which hits newsstands nationwide on December 11.

All four versions of the limited-edition nail wrap kits will be sold exclusively at select Barneys Co-op stores and shopncla.com starting December 4. Easy to apply at home, each $16 kit contains enough wraps for three to four manicures. Five dollars of every kit sold goes to Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that helps young women pursue careers in technology and engineering.

About Glamour
Glamour magazine and glamour.com reach more than 17 million readers each month. Glamour was the first women’s magazine on the iPad and has launched popular special editions, apps and books—including two New York Times best-sellers—and received a record number of National Magazine Awards, including Magazine of the Year, honoring print and digitalexcellence.

About NCLA
Los Angeles based NCLA launched in 2011 with a collection ofbright bold easy-to-apply runway and street style inspired nail wraps. A line of vibrant long-lasting 5-free cruelty-free made in LA nail lacquers soon followed. NCLA has been releasing new collections of eye-popping solid, metallic, and glitter shades and fashion forward nail wraps each season since.  Nail Wraps + Nail Lacquer retail for $16.00 USD and are available worldwide in over 200 fine retailers including: Harvey Nichols, Kitson, Nordstrom, and ShopNCLA.com. They wish they all could be California girls. Now they can be with NCLA.

About Girls Who Code
Launched in Spring 2012, Girls Who Code is working to educate, inspire, and equip high school girls with the skills and resources to pursue careers in engineering and technology and become more engaged and empowered citizens. Together with leading educators, engineers, and entrepreneurs, Girls Who Code has developed a new model for computer science education, pairing intensive instruction in robotics, web design, and mobile development with high-touch mentorship led by the industry's top female developers and entrepreneurs. In its inaugural program, Girls Who Code empowered young women from New York City and will launch programs in cities across the country in 2013.



Pretty Serious Christmas Without Snow

I still haven't taken the Pretty Serious plunge (mostly because I'm working on cleaning out my stash as it is) but I have to say, she is bringing out some awfully cute collections!  Australia is on my list of places to visit before I die, and I think it would be kind of neat to go during the winter. Granted, it's not like I'm not used to Christmas without snow... All images courtesy of Pretty Serious.

Christmas without snow? What a preposterous notion! For the rest of the world, maybe. But down here in Australia, we love to crack out the beer and boardshorts and soak up the sun at this very special time of year. We wanted to capture the spirit of an Aussie Christmas with our very first seasonal collection consisting of six amazing new nail shades to help you celebrate Christmas the Aussie way!

BLUE GUMS ON BOXING DAY
This rich green shines with a mesmerizing blue shimmer! Perfect for those post Christmas celebrations!

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS
Shining stars sparkle in the velvet sky. This inky blue jelly with silver micro glitter is a nightscape on your nails!

PARTY BY THE POOL
Splash about in this gorgeous peacock jelly, swimming with flecks of green and blue!

SANTA'S SUNBURN
It seems that Santa's Sunburn is the best type of sunburn! This jolly red foil sparkles with tiny flecks of silver.

SEASONAL SUNSET 
Seasonal Sunset's rusty jelly base is packed to bursting with bright golden and copper microglitter particles and the result is simply breathtaking. It's a Christmas sunset on your nails!

TWINKLING LIGHTS
Like stars that sparkle in the sky, or Christmas lights twinkling in the night, Twinkling Lights will add something special to every manicure!

And to make things even cooler, our Christmas polishes will come in cute Christmas themed red holographic boxes with new artwork by our one and only Leigh Young! The perfect stocking stuffer! You won't even need to wrap them!

RRP is $9.95, with a 10% discount for buying all six shades! Pretty Serious Cosmetics also ships worldwide. Check out our site for more details.

Bottle volume is 11ml/0.37 fl.oz. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free.

NCLA Rock Solid

NCLA is one of those brands that while I love it to death, these caps are going to be the death of me.  It's a false square cap that is supposed to be able to be removed to show a smaller round cap, but sometimes I can't get the square cap off and then my bottles don't line up perfectly, and THEN I RAGE. So if anyone knows how to get the fake square caps off without breaking anything, please do let me know in the comments.

Today I'm showcasing the finale of the Going Out in LA 2012 collection with Rock Solid. This is a fancy little grey that has a gritty glitter in it.  Talk about some extra texture! I used a base of Poshe, 2 coats of polish and a top of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I'm still hunting for my perfect grey, and this kind of comes close! The gritty glitter is definitely unique to any of my other greys, but if you don't want the sandpaper feeling, I suggest you add more thin coats of top coat.

In the shade, not much different - the glitter shows a bit more in the bottle, but I'm thinking of changing how I take pictures and show more nail than anything else. I'm working on revamping my self, you could say.

And finally in indirect light. The grittiness didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, but I did catch it lightly on things. The formula was nice and smooth (yes, smooth!) with no patchiness and quite opaque. I think this would be better suited to my nubbins that I have now than on longer nails.  Cleanup was normal - just a bit more scrubbing to get off the grit.

NCLA [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Tumblr] is available on the website for $16.00 a bottle and in a variety of stores.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

New Study Finds UV Nail Lamps Do Not Cause Cancer

Hooray for UV Lamps!  There has been much controversy over this in the past few years, and now, according to the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, you don't need to fret any longer.  Please enjoy the following from the Professional Beauty Association.


New Study Finds UV Nail Lamps Do Not Cause Cancer
Further Conclusions Made by Previous UV Research  

Phoenix, AZ (January 4, 2013) - UV lamps commonly used for drying nail polish are safe and do not increase one's risk of getting skin cancer according to a new study conducted by The Journal of Investigative Dermatology. This study disproves recent misleading Internet stories and media coverage suggesting such lamps may be unsafe and a direct cause of keratinocyte carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.

As part of its study, The Journal of Investigative Dermatology compared the UV rays emitted from three popular brands of nail lamps to low-risk phototherapy devices used in dermatology treatments (each dermatology treatment consists of 15-30 sessions). Researchers found that a salon client would need approximately 250 years of weekly manicures that involve the use of UV nail lights to develop the same risk of exposure as just one round of phototherapy sessions used to treat various skin conditions. Based on these results, researchers concluded that nail lamps do not significantly increase the risk of getting skin cancer.  

Lighting Sciences, a research company based in Phoenix, Arizona, conducted a similar study in 2010. The study was authored by Co-chair of PBA's Nail Manufacturers Council on Safety, Doug Schoon, Dr. Paul Bryson and Jim McConnell, and addressed a   potential cause-and-effect relationship between nail lamps and skin cancer. In trying to connect nail lamp use to carcinogenic lesions, the study compared UV rays from sunlight to the UV rays from nail lamps. This comparison, according to the study from The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, was not the most reliable as they believe UV rays emitted from nail lamps and those from the sun do not have the same kind of UV emission, and thus should not be compared in the same fashion.

"Comparing UV nail lamps to sunlight isn't comparing apples to apples, because sunlight is more dangerous than UV nail lamps. The reason we made this comparison was so that people could better understand the very low risks associated with the use of UV nail lamps," stated Schoon. Even so, both studies concluded that UV nail lamps do not significantly increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

Further investigation into a possible connection between nail lamps and cancer has been conducted by the world's leading photobiologist and creator of the SPF system, Dr. Robert Sayre. In numerous interviews and his soon-to-be-published research, Dr. Sayre has similarly stated that the use of UV nail lamps does not contribute to the risk of getting skin cancer and that the emissions from UV nail lamps are safer than that of natural sunlight.
     
For complete coverage of the latest nail lamp study, please visit:  http://www.probeauty.org/nmc/.

China Glaze Tranzitions

This is another collection from China Glaze where I felt like I needed the whole set!  I had some sent as press samples, and the rest I bought because I feel like there is some instant glam in being able to create nail art with just one bottle of nail polish.  Plus it's super helpful for someone like me!  Please enjoy the following release - all images courtesy of A.I.I.



COLOR + TOP COAT = ENDLESS CREATIVITY

China Glaze® Introduces Tranzitions Color Changing Collection

Los Angeles, CA – (December 2012): There’s nail art and then there’s China Glaze® nail couture.  Reverse French manicure, half moons, ombre, basket weave, dots or racing stripes: nail designs are intricate and multi-colored.  China Glaze® introduces a new way to get multi-color, unique nail art with fewer bottles of polish with the new color-changing Tranzitions collection!

China Glaze® Tranzitions’ revolutionary new nail lacquer reacts when a clear top coat is applied, changing the color from one shade to another for a stunning effect.  Wear any of the six beautiful, color-shifting shades alone, or allow your creativity to run wild and create intricate nail designs by applying a top coat in specific places.  Try different looks using nail art brushes, free-hand designs or nail guides.  Because each shade changes color, you get two lacquers in one, creating an entirely new look with just one swipe.

The China Glaze® Tranzitions collection features six shades, though with the color transition, you get 12 unique shades including:

Split Perso-NAIL-ity
Dusty pink shifts to fuchsia

Duplicityy
Mint green shifts to vibrant teal

Modify Me
Periwinkle blue shifts to indigo blue

Altered Reality
Teal blue shifts to turquoise

Metallic Metamorphosis
Silvery grey shifts to bluish-charcoal grey

Shape Shifter
Smokey violet shifts to dark purple

How It Works:
Step 1: Apply a base coat.
Step 2: Apply two coats of China Glaze® Tranzitions shade of choice.  Allow to completely dry.
Step 3: Lastly, apply one coat of clear top coat such as China Glaze® Fast Forward and watch the color change right before your eyes.

For more nail design ideas, click here to view the China Glaze® Tranzitions video.

The China Glaze® Tranzitions collection will be available in January 2013 at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde, and is never tested on animals.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, please visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook (@ChinaGlazeOfficial), Twitter (@ChinaGlaze) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/chinaglaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries
For 42 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women.  Our product lines include Andrea, Ardell, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, It’s So Easy, Jeris-Lustray, LASH BeLONG, Nail Tek, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Poshe, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com