CND Shellac Giveaway

I am officially back home in Texas (even went to work today), and while I'm sorting through the twenty pounds of press material I have in suitcase, I have something pretty awesome to share with you from NailPolishCanada.  Please note that this giveaway is not affiliate with CND or PolishGalore, and is open to everyone in the US and Canada.

WIN SHELLAC FOR LIFE ($1266 value) 

NAILPOLISHCANADA.COM TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

“To be fair, it’s actually only a 25 year supply, so we can only hope the winner dies early to keep me an honest woman” - Nikki Smith, VP of Glitter, Nail Polish Canada.

CND Shellac is a cross between nail polish and gel which is cured under a UV lamp and lasts up to 14 days without chipping.

Chipped nails are an important issue that affect lives in many ways. “We’ve invented substantial research and the reason women slap or bite in a catfight is fear of chipping their nails. Hopefully, together, we can build a world where a woman can throw a punch at the bitch who kissed her boyfriend without worrying about chips” said Ms. Smith

The prize will go to whomever can show that their life will be most impacted by winning Shellac for life.

Be it better, or worse.

Maybe it stops your polish addiction long enough that you can save money, go to school, become a doctor, go to Africa and start saving lives. Did we say that this contest saves lives? Now we did.

Or maybe you’re just looking for a little understanding, “My husband will finally understand that other people take polish as seriously as me...” - Sarah P.”

Or perhaps the result won’t be as positive, “I’ll probably spend all my time painting my nails, not go to work, get fired, now I’m homeless, damn you NPC.” - Beth C”

If you or a loved one is still stuck in a world of chips, smudges and wasting countless hours re-doing nails we urge you to take a stand.

Enter here to win a Lifetime Supply of CND Shellac 

Grand prize will go to the best description of how winning a lifetime supply of Shellac will change their life.

Winner selected August 7, 2012.

Prize Details & Entry

Grand Prize (Value $1266): 33 Bottles of CND Shellac + 36 Watt UV Lamp + 5 Topcoat + 5 Basecoat + Scrub Fresh.

How much Shellac do I need to last 25 years?

1300 (weeks in 25 years) / 2 (weeks application lasts) / 20 (applications per bottle) = 33 bottles of Shellac color

Open to Canadian and United States residents only.

See full rules on entry page.

For further info please contact rachael@nailpolishcanada.com

Trademark Disclaimer: This contest is not sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Creative Nail Design Inc. Product names and other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

Creative Professional

Yesterday before we left for the day, I was able to sit down with Creative Professional, a large line of brushes, combs, hair care and accessories line that has been around for 25 years.  This family owned business even has the daughter's best friend working along side to help market their hundreds of products to salons, professionals and consumers.  Currently you can purchase their brushes online or in Ricky's in NYC.  In fact, their brushes are the #1 brand of brush sold in Ricky's - even outselling Ricky's own line!  All brushes are manufactured in Korea by the same location since the beginning of the company.

One of their most popular brushes in the Pro Triangle Brush with it's T-curve design to give the user more control.  Hair is captured in the brush to reduce the twisting of the hand, saving your wrists from pain.  A silver ceramic barrel works to heat up quick and cool down equally fast while the nylon and reinforced boar bristles glide through the hair.  This brush is perfect for creating straight hairstyles and at around $20, you won't break your bank.

Another extremely popular brush for CP is the Detangler Wet/Dry brush.  Wet/dry brushes are extremely popular right now because you can use them either right after the shower or hours later.  The soft flexible bristles remove tangles without snagging.  They cost around $14.

As I stated before, you can purchase online or in salons like Ricky's.  If you are a hair care professional, you may open an account with CP for deep discounts and flat rate shipping regardless of how large your order may be.

One product that they did not have, but looks extremely interesting is a flat iron made with ceramic plates that can either work like a normal flat iron or with give you lush beach waves.  I kid you not.  Check it out.

Creative Professional is still working on cultivating their social media, so their Facebook and Twitter accounts are currently inactive, but I will add them in once they are valid.

LVX Summer and Fall 2012

Before I head off to Day 2 of Cosmoprof North America, I wanted to tell you a little about a company that I met with yesterday in the Discover Beauty Spotlights section of the convention.  LVX (Latin for "light") is a brother-sister duo who just launched their first line of nail polishes a few weeks ago, completely inspired by the fashion trends of Summer 2012.  Branka Tomic has a passion for fashion and wanted to provide women with meticulously selected top colors based on the color palettes coming out of Fashion Shows across the world.  Branka is deeply committed to producing luxury polishes that mean something to her, instead of mass producing 6 piece collections to sell.

Their website offers in depth color stories and includes the photos from Fashion Week that inspired that color.  All LVX polishes are $16 for .57 oz (slightly larger than a bottle of OPI), are long lasting and chip resistant, cruelty free, have a smooth finish-high shine, are chemical free & non toxic and are big 5 free, to include formaldehyde resin and camphor.  The bottle design is much like a NARS bottle, including false square top that can be pulled off for a smaller brush.

Currently LVX is only sold on their website, but hopefully after this week, you might start seeing LVX in stores and salons across the USA.

 The Summer Collection consists of (left to right) Primrose, Avireo, Ecru, Livid, Callais and Vermillion.

The Fall Collection is shown below.  I was not able to get the names but I will see if I can possibly get them today.

I asked what kind of base and top coat work well with these products, and Branka let me in on a little secret that they are creating an all-in-one base and top coat to be released in the coming months.

LVX are also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (username: shoplvx).  Be sure to like and follow them for more information on upcoming products, specials, giveaways and where to find their product!

ORLY Fall-Winter 2012

I was given the opportunity to talk to ORLY's brand manager today and she was telling me about some pretty cool new ORLY products.  While I do have the full press releases to post, I may wait on those and instead, just give you some tidbits from each one (depends on what you, the reader, wants!)

For the DIYer, ORLY has come out with a few "French Manicure" sets.  I had no idea that Jeff Pink, ORLY Founder, CEO, President actually developed the Originally French Manicure® back in the mid-1970s.   I know it's a bit long but seriously, this is nail history.

Developed by Jeff Pink in the mid-1970’s, the Original French Manicure® has prevailed as the ultimate in nail chic. This versatile nail look first gained attention in Hollywood and soon after, became an instant classic on the runways of Paris. “The idea of the French manicure look came to me while I was starting ORLY back in 1975. Movie and television directors wanted a versatile nail style to compliment a Hollywood star’s entire onset wardrobe. They were looking for a singular look that would coordinate with the numerous wardrobe changes actresses had to make in one day. Prior to the French Manicure, the manicurists were often changing the polish several times a day to match their onset wardrobe changes. As you can imagine this took up too much time. Once I started having the movie star stylists paint the nails with a white tip and a sheer, the celebrities loved it! I realized the most elegant, universal nail look is a natural nail look”. Jeff Pink – ORLY Founder, CEO, President

Jeff took his look, at the time dubbed the “The Natural Nail Look”, to the runways of Paris where the models and designers loved this sophisticated nail design. Once he got back to the US, Jeff decided to rename his creation French Manicure. And the rest, as you say, is history.
 

ORLY International continues to refine the French Manicure with two recent product innovations. Pointe Blanche Nail Lacquer for French tips is infused with rubberized basecoat for long-lasting adhesion and comes with a precision brush for easy and clean application. Magnifique French Manicure Topcoat contains optical brighteners for a luminous finish, and UV protection to help prevent French Manicures from yellowing. Trends may come and go, but the Original French Manicure® remains the most popular look for nails today.

You may have seen these in stores already.  Each kit comes with the polishes shown and a picture guide of how to create each look.

Next up was the ORLY minis.  They are one of the few companies that offer all their colors as Mini bottles.  I love mini bottles - they just make me happy.

For Breast Cancer Awareness, ORLY is pulling 2 colors from their Flash Glam FX line (Be Brave and Embrace) and adding a 3rd (You Are Not Alone) for the Pretty In Pink collection.  20% of the proceeds will be donated to Cancer Schmancer, the charity founded by Fran Drescher.  This line will be available in October during Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Retail price is $10.00 each.

Halloween will be a Spellbound-ingly good time with their 4-piece collection.  From left to right, Liquid Vinyl (core collection), and Monster Mash, Right Amount of Evil and R.I.P. are all apart of the Flash Glam FX collection.

For fall, ORLY is bringing out Fired Up, inspired by the inner workings of the human body.  Colors from left to right are Glow, Flare, Flicker, Ignite, Smolder and Rapture.  This launches in September and retails for $8.50 each.

Winter 2012 is called Naughty or Nice and is all about passion being set on fire and then cooled down.  Left to right: Devil May Care, Miss Conduct, Halo, Unlawful, Angel Eyes and Torrid.  Three different trio gift sets will also be available.  Halo, Devil May Care and Torrid come with a pair of black lace gloves.  A lace clutch is included in a gift set with Halo, Devil May Care and Torrid, while a satin sleep mask is included in a gift set with Unlawful, Devil May Care and Miss Conduct.  This line launches in November for $8.50 each.  Gift sets will be available for $25.50.

Finally is ORLY's 2012 Special FX Collection - Flash Glam FX.  These things are PRETTY.  It is intended to be used as a layering polish, either over black, white, or a color of your choosing.  ORLY recommends 3-4 coats for full opacity alone.  This is a line of 22 "prismatic" polishes with chunky glitter.  This line launched in June 2012 for $10 each.

With that, I'm off to bed for a few hours!  I have many more companies to talk about, so stay tuned!

Please do not take my pictures without expressed permission.  Sharing is caring - stealing is not.

China Glaze Fall 2012 through Summer 2013

Hello from Vegas! It has been a great first day here at Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas and while I have tons to show you, first I'm going to start with the brand that started ME off - China Glaze!

China Glaze had their display of On Safari, the fall 2012 collection up first.  However, I will be posting the official press release and my own swatches of that in the coming weeks.

Next was the Bohemian Collection, which you may have see the press release on other blogs.  These will be launching in August 2012 and yes, you do see a dupe to Chanel Peridot!  This was really a metallic duochrome collection, which I can see being something I'd love to wear during the fall and into the winter months.

China Glaze has also decided to bring out another round magnetic polish called Magnetix II launching in September 2012.  Along with the new colors is a new magnet that can great a bullseye, 3 parallel lines or a "Bingo grid" as I'm calling it.

For the Halloween season, we have Wicked, a 6 piece launching in October.  Also for you fans of glow-in-the-dark, Gholish Glow will be sold in the 4 pack only.  The green glitter is a bit like last year's but less dark.  The grey has beautiful blue microglitter.  The blue has this awesome vampy purple tone to it.  The glitter is fantastic!  Orange with micro-rainbow-glitter.  The red is a bit orange based.  The final glitter is a lot like the Capitol Colours Luxe and Lush except instead of flakies/shards of glitter, it's all glitter.

The Holiday Joy collection is a 12 piece launching in November/December which includes 13 new gift sets.  Five of the polishes will be going into the core line but I can't tell you which ones.  I was asked not to photograph those yet, so they are not available for PolishGalore at this time.

2013

Coming out in Spring 2013 is Avant Garden, a pretty 12 piece collection that is both sweet and slightly pastel.

It's broken down into two 6-pieces sets: Blooming Brights and Pastel Petals.

Also launching as a Sally Beauty Supply Exclusive are real nail polish strips.  Just like others that are out on the market, they are easy to apply and remove with normal nail polish remover.  I did get a couple of sets to take home so I can try them out myself.

And now, what you have ALL been waiting for.  So, back in the day was China Glaze OMG (Holographic) collection.  It consisted of strong linear holographics with great wear time.  Then the actual holographic particles was removed from the US market and polish lovers cried.  China Glaze attempted with Tronica to bring back this beloved product, but it just wasn't quite there.  Well, China Glaze loves you as much as you love China Glaze, and they were able to get their hands on actual holographic material for nail polish.  This stuff is not cheap.  There will be a price increase on this collection.  Launching in Summer 2013 - it's Hologlam!!!!

Yes, 12 colors.  The formula, from what I'm told, is even better than the original.  Drool away.

There were four other collections that China Glaze is coming out with that unfortunately, I'm not able to photograph or talk about but I think I can say that China Glaze has definitely been listening to their fans.  They are really stepping up the level of creativity in their line, and I, as always, am SUPER happy about it.

Please do not take my pictures without expressed permission.  Sharing is caring - stealing is not.