CPNALV 2013: NCLA Fall 2013

My first stop at Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas 2013 was purely by accident. I was going to meet with NCLA later that day but their booth was conveniently located next to my first appointment so I decided to stop in and say hi! First off, it's NCLA, all caps. That part made me happy to know I've been (sometimes) writing it properly.

First off, how cute is this retail display for NCLA? While they are looking to tweak the design a little, I was pretty obsessed with it - even asking what the cost was because I thought "How cool would this look in my home?"

Seriously, I think I need to just buy one and display. The only problem is that they sit 3 deep and I'd rather all my pretty polishes showed through so maybe I need to just keep expanding on this idea.

This fall, NCLA is coming out with a new 4 piece collection titled North of Sunset, which is another tribute to living in LA.

• Dead End Gorgeous - a vampy navy with purple and blue microglitter
• Lauren Canyon Lolita - I have no idea what color this is because while it looks light purple in that bottle, my paper swatch was more mauve. You'll just have to wait for the official press release on this one!
• My Dad Invented That! - mind you, I was disappointed when I was told that Elin's dad didn't invent this polish. But it's a beautiful multiglitter in a gunmetal grey base.
• My Spa Comes To Me - a khaki creme.

More information including shipping should be available at the end of August.

NCLA has also been known for their nail wraps. They have many successful lines and partnerships, including one that was awesome but I wasn't allowed to photograph (or talk about).

One that I can talk about is the Clueless inspired wraps!

The first plays homage to Cher's closet and the matchmaking tool. The second is based loosely off Cher and Dee's outfit. The third is a cute play on the scene where Cher gets her driver's license. Finally, the fourth wrap you see is a first for NCLA - it's the first all words based wrap! There are many cute sayings like "As If" and "Whatever". These will be available in September.

On the bottom rack, we have the new Transparent Nail Wraps, also launching in September. You can wear them alone or over a colored polish. They have quirky designs like naught and nice, hair, and faces.

Finally, when I get home, I'm going to an official wear test for their new Flawless top coat. I have it at home - I just need to test out the NCLA system - Gloss It, color and Flawless. NCLA says they get an easy 7 day wear with no chips, dents, tip wear. So I will give it the old college try.

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

CPNALV 2013: Indie & Blogger Dinner

Press Sample

To kick off Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas 2013, the ninjas at Ninja Polish set up a nice dinner for indie polish makers and bloggers Saturday night. Despite oversleeping and missing my flight, I was able to make it and boy, am I glad I did!  We had so many wonderful bloggers, e-tailers and nail polish creators and it was fantastic putting faces to names. I'm waiting for someone to post group photos so I can share but until then I have something equally fantastic.

So the ninjas really went ALL out this year in giving us gift bags. And I'm not kidding - we're talking little tote bags with a pocket that have the brand logo on the front. I will seriously be using this bag over and over again and not just for nail polish stuff!

This was all inside my "blogger survival kit"

I snuck away with a shirt too (I'm part ninja) but the bags included some amazing essentials like nail polish remover and candy (seriously, thank you so much) but also lip gloss for the dry Vegas heat, face wipes, REJUVACOTE AND SECHE VITE (since I forgot ALL my nail polish stuff at home this was a Godsend), and some amazing pretties from various brands!

From Dandy Nails [Etsy | Facebook] I received Bound to Fall from the Valentine's Day collection. While this polish is currently out of stock for international buyers, you can sign up for the "in stock emails" on the Ninja Polish website here. If you live domestically in the US, you can buy Bound to Fall directly from Dandy Nail's Etsy page here. [Thanks Sandy!]

Red Dog Designs [Big Cartel | Ninja Polish | Facebook] is a new brand to Ninja Polish and she included a wheel of her Neon Summer Sands collection. I originally received Sunny Shores, which you may have seen on Instagram.

 But I was sitting next Romy Raves and she was eying my bottle (we thought it was more green in the light we were in), so we swapped because Romy is a green fiend.  So now I have Coral Beach, which is a pretty orange.

Also included in the bag was a bottle of Serum No. 5 in Day Glow. This is a super bright yellow glow that you may have seen on the lovely Chalkboard Nails. I'm excited to try this out when I get home.

Finally in the Ninja Polish bags were five freaking amazing Ninja Polishes.  First, from the Enigma collection is Shillelagh, a color shifting green with golden shimmer.

From the upcoming Gemstone collection is Rubellite Dreams - a cherry red with red microglitter that just makes it look like a gorgeous ruby.

From the Spectrum collection, I received the amazing Glamorous, which is a rival to OPI DS Glamour (which I don't own but love).

And I also received Passion Shift - soon to be released. (Spectrum collection)

That's what I'm wearing on my top two nails in the photo - it's a crazy duochrome holographic.

Finally from the upcoming Dragon collection, I received Enter The Dragon which is this ridiculous glitter bomb with color-shifting glitter in a clear base.

But that's not all! KBShimmer was also on hand and gave us little gift bags that included two upcoming fall release polishes, scrubs and lip balm. I will be able to talk about them next month as they are currently embargoed.

Sea Lore Polish was also there and I purchased two of her polishes from the Spring Seas collection - 

That's Popping Parrotfish on the left and Springing Seahorse on the right.

And finally, Girly Bits Cosmetics brought two adorable minis. Pam, the owner, lives in the same city I do - except we're in different countries. This may not be cool to you but I am fascinated by it every time. Our cities even did like a sister-city program which is cute. We had never met before Saturday, so it was fun to say hi.

At press time, What Happens in Vegas .... Ends up on Facebook is only available in mini form for the ladies at the dinner but who knows!

Look at that beauty!

The other bottle is Visions of Sugar Plums, which is available in full size here for $10.00.

Whew. So I have my work cut out for me to show you lots of beautiful indies. I am very thankful for the opportunity to meet these ladies and grateful that they gave me gift bags. I also got to meet Llarowe and keep missing Harlow and Co but we're here together in spirit.

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

Live from Cosmoprof North America 2013!

So after missing my flight, being rerouted 5 hours out of my way, and showing up 7 hours late, having my laptop wireless card go southside, my iPad not charge and a migraine the size of Texas, I am in Las Vegas for the Cosmoprof North America show!

Yesterday I met with a large diverse group of brands - NCLA (yes, it's in all caps!), China Glaze (Gelaze anyone?!), OPI (item coming this fall that I am jumping up and DOWN for!), Barielle (great story line behind each collection), Seche (much more pigment and boldness!), ORLY (flakie IN matte top coat!), Jessica (glow in the dark snowman ornaments anyone?), nubar (where have they been), and much more.

Tonight I have more meetings set with brands like essie, and CND plus something extra special that I hope I can talk about. Unlike last year, more items are embargoed this year... some I can't talk about until December! Some I couldn't photograph. But despite that, just know that this is the place to learn about new nail trends ... when I can talk about them!

Be prepared, tell your friends. 

Cosmoprof posts are coming!

Happy polishing!

NCLA United States of Glitter

Nothing To Disclose

Happy 4th of July! I'm spending this day working on PolishGalore because I'm packing my husband and son up to fly to Maine for three weeks.  PAAAARTY!  Meanwhile, I will be heading to Vegas next weekend for Cosmoprof North America and I'll get to see the lovely girls of NCLA again and I will finally figure out again HOW to spell their name when you write it out. I will then fix all my posts. (I'm not OCD, just precise.)

So for today's holiday, I thought I'd do it up with United States of Glitter, a red, silver and blue hexagonal glitter in a clear base. The glitter is reflective on its self like taco glitter but it doesn't curve up at all. I layered one coat of United States of Glitter over 1 coat of Cult Nails Tempest. My base coat was Cult Nails Get It On and I topped it with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

The glitter behaved really well. I didn't dab it on, instead I brushed the nail two or three times lightly.

Love! I really debated on a base color but ended up going with white. I almost thought about a holographic top coat underneath but I think that would have been a little much. I am really appreciatively that the glitter laid flat and you didn't have to worry about it curling up or catching on your hair.

In the shade, the glitter still catches any light it can find and just dances around.

Love. I'm really glad I bought this when it went on sale. It was shipped out quickly and was here in plenty of time for Independence Day.

Have fun and be safe!

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

PolishGalore on Nail It!: Trend Report - White Nail Polish

Sponsored Post

Howdy howdy!  I have another article on Nail It! online up today! This one is about white nail polish being the newest trend to hit the fashion world. The featured China Glaze polish was seen on the hands of models at the Tadashi Shoji Fall/Winter 2013.

Photo used with permission from Gotham Polish

Check out the article here and while you're looking, here's a little more information on the polishes.

Salon Perfect “Sugar Cube” – 2 coats, available for $3.98 in WalMart stores

JulieG “White Orchid” – 2 coats, available for $3.99 at Rite Aid stores or jessesgirlcosmetics.com

Sally Hansen “Sheer Bliss” – 4 coats, available for $7.99 at chain drug stores and mass retailers nationwide

China Glaze “Dandy Lyin’ Around” – 2 coats, available for $7 at salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide.

LVX “Fantom” – 2 coats, available for $16 at shoplvx.com

Cult Nails “Tempest” – 1 coat, available for $12 at cultnails.com 

essie “Marshmallow” – 3 coats, available for $8 chain drug stores nationwide
OPI “Solitaire” – (liquid sand) 2 coats, available for $9 at professional salons.