Archive for September, 2008
Have You Entered Yet?
Today is the last day to enter the Summer Is NOT Over essie Neon Giveaway. Don’t miss out on your chance to win one of two sets of the essie Neon Collection.
The New York Times features CND at NYFW
Well it looks like the Times and I are on the same wavelength today. They have a great video up about CND called The Unsung Heroes of Fashion Week. Included in the slide show is a pic of Selena Robinson and Kristina Baume in the production suite and a voiceover by NYT journalist Natasha Singer, working undercover as a nail artist. Check out the nail art boards and behind the scenes footage. Definitely a must see!
image: The New York Times
The Nail Files – Behind the Scenes at NYFW with CND
In this installment of the Nail Files, I’ll be taking you on a three part journey behind the scenes of the craziness that is New York Fashion Week. Each season CND dominates the backstage nail scene, collaborating with some of the biggest fashion designers in the business to bring their nail vision to the fashion world. Spearheaded by Co-Founder and Style Director Jan Arnold, CND has been a presence at Fashion Week for almost ten years now.
Every season the CND team creates nail concepts for Fashion Weeks across the globe. And with each passing year, their client roster continues to grow. In New York alone, they work on over sixty shows. Can you imagine what goes into planning that kind of operation? Well, last February I was at NWFW and had the chance to find out first hand.
Three days before Fashion Week begins, Shelena and Kristina arrive in New York to begin production, working non-stop throughout the week. Often sleep deprived from all-nighters or eighteen hour workdays, I met them mid-FW insanity and they were so charming and friendly. Though it’s not all work and no play, they do have some downtime to watch a movie and relax. I learned that in the beginning CND did all their production in advance, out of state. But due to a shipping error a few years back, the tips for Baby Phat, Heatherette and L.A.M.B.’s first FW show didn’t arrive. So after scrambling to NYC nail supply stores and pulling an all-nighter to replace the tips, they wisely moved production onsite.
For Fall 2008, Jan Arnold and the CND team dubbed their color concept “Neutrals of the Night†with two sides of the story, Techno Chic and Savage Chic. Techno Chic is futuristic and cool toned. Consisting of gray, black, gunmetal, silver, leather-like texture and stone looking adornments. Savage Chic is warmer and earthier with more natural tones. Gold, copper, feathers and pearls. Texture is a big trend they’re seeing for fall with a lot of designers wanting a matte finish. At the moment, CND doesn’t make a matte top coat but I hear it’s in the works. Tip: use the gray side of their girlfriend buffer on a dry top coat to give a matte look. I had such a great time chatting with Kristina and Shelena. They are artists in the truest sense of the word. And meeting all the backstage team members was fantastic. The entire CND team was so accommodating, making my first FW experience a memorable one. In the next part of The Nail Files series we’ll be looking at the custom tip process and all the amazing concepts Kristina & Shelena come up with.
In addition to going backstage and seeing the artists at work, I had the opportunity to meet with CND Education Ambassadors Kristina Baune and Shelena Robinson. Kristina and Shelena work in the CND production suite at a hotel near Bryant Park where they create all the custom tips and colors used at the shows.
To cover all the shows, CND puts together three or four backstage teams armed with 6 bottles each of their current collection, the “popular†core collection colors, including nude favorites Serenity and Negliee, and their upcoming line in addition to any custom colors the designer may have requested. They have to be prepared for any last minute color changes. And even though there are designers that don’t want any polish on the nails, CND artists are still on the scene providing manicures/pedicures and nail treatments.
Now you all have heard me raving about the amazing dove gray in CND’s fall collection. Let’s get real, I’ve been raving about light gray in general. But what spawned that love was seeing the CND version on a member of their PR team. Unfortunately that collection is one we’ll never see but don’t despair because I will show you how to recreate it yourself so stay tuned.
NY Fashion Week Nail Watch – Tracy Reese Spring 2009
Tracy Reese and Sally Hansen have done it again. Season after season, they continue to wow me. This is her sixth collaboration with Sally Hansen, the fourth for the Salon line of polishes.
For Fall 2008 Tracy’s weather and nature themed collection brought us great earthy, dusty, vampy shades. For Spring 2009 she is looking at nature from a floral perspective, pulling together vibrant tones and sweet, watercolor pastels to create a unique and colorful palette. I just know this release will cause nail fanatic hysteria. I see drugstore stalking in the future for many of us when these pretties hit shelves next year.
Continuing the warm metallic trend we’re seeing at Fashion Week, Tracy chose Tassel, a honey gold, to compliment her designs. On each model’s nails the Sally Hansen team applied a coat of Age Correct Strength to provide a smooth even base, one coat of color and a layer of Speed Shine 10 Day Top Coat for the perfect glossy finish.
Thank you to my friends and fellow bloggers Jamie from The Beauty of Life and Janice from Specktra Beauty News for granting All Lacquered Up exclusive use of their backstage images and info.
additional images: Style.com
NY Fashion Week Nail Watch – Toni Maticevski
 At Toni Maticevski’s Spring 2009 show, the dominant color palette consisted of black, white and champagne with just a few splashes of color thrown in. To compliment his decadent evening wear, Maticevski tapped Zoya to be the official nail care products for his show.
The polish of choice, Indigo, a navy blue shimmer peppered with multi-colored glitter. And while it’s not necessarily a shade I would pair with black, it is definitely an elegant nighttime color. It’s funny, whenever I see Indigo, I think of Annie from Blogdorf Goodman. Both times I’ve seen her in the past year, she’s been wearing it on either her tips or toes. |
To celebrate being selected for Toni Mateceski’s show, Zoya is offering a Fashion Week promo. Receive a FREE bottle of Indigo with any online purchase of $20 or more at Zoya.com or Qtica.com. Enter code FASHION at checkout.
Offer valid thru Friday, September 12 (midnight, EST). Offer not valid in conjunction with other discounts. Limit one per order.
images: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
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