Beautopia Nails

More CND Shellac Nail Art...

beautopia — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:04:19 EDT

Here's another batch of CND Shellac manicures I've done over the past few weeks at the salon. Click to see them all and read about what products I used ...

Some Clients' Nail Art Looks with CND Shellac

beautopia — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:56:40 EDT

I've had a lot of fun over the last few weeks with clients. A lot of them are really embracing more adventurous nails, and while I still do my most obnoxious and involved stuff on myself, I'm slowly seeing a lot of my clients venture towards that end of the spectrum and I'm so excited. Below I'll show you six clients' nails and tell you what I used.

Click to see the looks...

Fluoro Pink and Cobalt Color Blocking Nail Art

beautopia — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:41:21 EDT

This month's Nail It! magazine had a really cool spread about this color combo; fluorescent pink, cobalt and white, and I was immediately a fan. The pink isn't just any neon pink, it's that light, bright neon Pepto pink that seems pretty hard to find. I used Essie Punchy Pink, which is one of my favorite neons, though between us, it chips like Hell. I used it along with Zoya Purity and Ulta Whatever Floats Your Moat, a cobalt I recently acquired. You could also use something similar like Revlon Royal, OPI Eurso Euro or even a more vibrant shade like Essie Butler Please. Either way, color blocking with these colors just makes it even more eye-catching. I painted the nails white, then added a pink triangle to the moons, then did an angular, exaggerated french with the blue, then one it was pretty dry, I added a white stripe down the center. Pretty simple, but if you're hand-painting maybe a little time consuming. If I did it again, I'd go find those utterly brilliant chevron-shaped french nail guides and use those. Why do these things always occur to me once they're no longer useful? Sigh...

Click to see the inspiration for this manicure...

Lazerz - with Color Club Beyond, Over The Moon and Illamasqua Cameo

beautopia — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:59:37 EDT

If you follow me on any of my other social media accounts, you've probably already seen this. But I wanted to share it here because I really love all three of these polishes, and I wore this design for like, a week. That's pretty rare for me. What's even more rare is that it lasted that long without chipping. Holos! Yup.

Color Club Over the Moon was the base color here, and it is pretty insane. I've never used a holo with such a great formula, and like most of you, I've tried plenty. It's not thick, per se, but it's not the anemic, imperfection-magnifying formula holo lovers are used to. It applies and wears like a regular, AWESOME, polish. I wore it alone also, for a few days, and I honestly sort of want to wear it again soon. Again, RARE. The color is a clear-toned blue, and the holo is pretty strong.

Color Club Beyond is a charcoal holo, and while the holo isn't as strong as in OTM, it's better than a lot of charcoal holos out there. The real point that needs made here is, again, the formula. Just excellent.

Illamasqua Cameo. This thing is good. The color is simply unique. There are lots of periwinkles out there, from China Glaze's new Fade Into Hue to China Glaze's old(er) Secret Periwinkle (these two are benchmarks to me) but Cameo just has a clarity and eye-catching purity to it's tone. It's bright, but not. It's one of those. And it's my new jam.

CND Shellac Nail Art - Mermaid Chic, Two Ways

beautopia — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:23:31 EDT

Recently, CND released five new Shellac shades for Spring, one of which was Limeade. I used it, along with Hotski to Tchotchke, nail foils, additives, and studs to make these two very related Spring Break nail looks.

For the one above, I used Limeade, nail art foil in Lime Glitter and Capri Blue metal studs from dollarnailart.com on the green nails, Hotski to Tchotchke and Pacific Blue foil on the teal nails.

Below I used the same combinations with the addition of a third type of nail. For the tie-dye effect nails I used CND Shellac Cream Puff plus Blue and Yellow additives.

I was really pleased with both of these, they looked very mermaid-y, and they wore super well. The above ones are actually my nails, and I wore them for nearly two weeks on vacation. The suncreen, sand and salt water would have destroyed my nails and any regular polish, but the Shellac was still shiny when I got home. It was kind of crazy.

Floral Nail Art with OPI Euro Centrale

beautopia — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:06:06 EST

Today I did a quick and dirty floral using several of the new OPI Euro Centrale colors plus a couple "special guests." I used Oy - Another Polish Joke, My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours, Can't Find My Czechbook, You're Such a Budapest, and My Vampire is Buff. I also used Essie Play Date and Nails Inc Belgrave Place

Valentine's Day Nail Art with CND Shellac

beautopia — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 09:33:19 EST

Kelsey got some V-Day Shellac yesterday, using Cream Puff, Wildfire, and pink Additives pure pigment powder.

Prismatic Purples with CND Shellac

beautopia — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:30:27 EST

I did this look a couple weeks ago for my trip to NYC! I used CND Shellac in Purple Purple and some violet holographic transfer foils and the end result was a very color-saturated and multi-dimensional look.

Sephora X Chaotic

beautopia — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:26:48 EST

I recently picked up the new Sephora X Chaotic. This is two thin coats over RGB Minty, and I'm pretty happy with it. It covers well in one coat but two is my favorite. Every time my nails caught my eye, they reminded me of a Jackson Pollock painting. Very cool polish, and I recommend it!

Gradient Zebra Nail Art

beautopia — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 13:26:26 EST

This is a mani I did on myself recently. I used a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and I painted on the stripes using Color Club Puccilicious, China Glaze Aquadelic, and Essie Punchy Pink.