Beautiful and well-groomed nails have always been an adornment for any girl. Since ancient times, girls have done manicures using natural products at hand and taken care of their nails. Nowadays, the variety of techniques and materials for manicure design is amazing, which is why we try to choose the most interesting manicure design possible and diversify our image in this way. The procedures for performing manicures with shellac and gel polish are not too different from each other, but the composition of these materials is fundamentally different. Shellac does not harm the surface of the nail plate, can be removed at home, has a wide variety of shades, and also lasts a long time on the nails and does not require a special primer as a base.
Shellac manicure for short nails
Short nails are always beautiful and relevant. Short nail lengths are also very practical; we advise you to take a closer look at them if you cannot afford long nails due to the nature of your profession, a lot of housework, or caring for a small child. Considering the colors in which designs for this length can be made, it can be noted that any shades look good, but nude, delicate shades will add special femininity and sophistication to your hands. Shapes can be very different: semicircular, square or rounded square. When choosing the shape of your nails, take a closer look at the shape of the base of the nail; the ideal option would be to repeat it in a mirror.
Open Road
As conceived by the creators of the cnd shellac brand, this palette of nail colors includes five quite creative, but nevertheless muted and dim shades. The most popular of them is the color of pink coral, as well as a creamy shade that has no analogues in any other line. There is also an interesting powdery color and a dark satin shade.
The most interesting colors of the line can be called a cloudy mint shade and a muted blue-green. They bear little resemblance to the classical idea of these colors. Both shades seem to be diluted with gray. Due to this, they look appropriate and not too flashy even in the office, nevertheless attracting everyone's attention.
Shellac manicure for long nails
Long nails are a bright addition to a girl’s look and decoration. The variety of nail shapes for this length of nails is amazing: you can choose almond-shaped, square, stiletto, oval or ballerina. All of the above forms are relevant, you just need to choose the form that will sympathize with you more than the others. The shades for manicure designs on long nails are also varied. If a few years ago a bright manicure on long nails was not welcomed, now the beauty industry is moving forward, and sophisticated consumers are demanding more and more new and stylish designs, introducing bright colors into fashion.
Homemade shellac yourself
Shellac is a coating that can be used at home if the girl copes well with painting her nails with regular varnish.
To create a manicure at home you will need the following list of tools and materials:
- Cleanser for degreasing the nail surface.
- Primer for long lasting manicure. Shellac nails at home must be carefully prepared before applying a colored coating. The primer prevents the coating from peeling off.
- Base is a layer between the nail surface and varnish.
- Several colors of shellac (the color scheme is selected to suit your taste, but it is necessary to take into account the compatibility of individual shades).
- The top completes the manicure, allowing all layers to adhere to each other. The top coat protects the colored varnish from chipping and early fading.
- Files of varying degrees of abrasiveness are necessary to give the plate the desired shape and sharpen the nails.
- Buff, smooth wipes are also essential when creating shellac.
- Decorating brushes will be required if you plan to create fancy patterns. Sparkles, sequins and other decorative elements remain at the discretion of the artist.
- An ultraviolet lamp is a decisive element of manicure. Without thorough drying of the layers, shellac is simply unthinkable.
Delicate shellac manicure
A gentle manicure is perfect for wearing on a regular basis, and will also be an elegant addition to your everyday look. To give your nails lightness, freshness and airiness, use calm nude shades. A delicate manicure will be perfectly complemented by new design techniques, for example, French manicure or the “color block” technique. The latter can be considered in a little more detail, because such a stylish technique as “color block” will introduce interesting geometric shapes into nail design. This technique involves drawing a variety of figures with a free, monochromatic space between them. This manicure can also be varied with rhinestones, bouillons, designs with natural motifs or a classic soft gradient.
Seasonal preferences of stylish women
Fashion - the young lady is not only capricious, but also fickle, preferring to present surprises. Trends change dramatically every season, and manicure is no exception. The CND shellac color palette is constantly updated with new products that are relevant at different times of the year.
Shellac palette CND
The manicurist does not always have to impose his point of view and paint the client’s nails in a purely “trend” tone. It is important that the woman herself likes the chosen shellac tone, and she would be happy to show off her hands to others. So, in the spring-summer 2016 season, the following CND shellac colors on the palette are most in demand:
peach,
pink,
coffee,
blue,
red,
green,
grey-violet.
Each of them can be used as a monocoating without additional patterns in other shades. This is the prerogative of business women, for whom not only the magnificent appearance of their nails is important, but also compliance with a strict dress code.
In the extensive palette of CND shellac, young girls can choose gray, purple shades, the fashionable color “mint” this season, which, according to stylists, will be popular not only in the warm season, but also in the coming fall.
Bright shellac manicure
A bright manicure can make you stand out from the crowd and is suitable for both everyday wear and for a festive event or going to a party. This manicure is full of variety: you can use a variety of designs and shades in them. Yellow, orange, red, blue - all these colors will look equally beautiful, the main condition is only the right choice of design. We advise you not to use a large amount of glitter or rhinestones; maintain an already bright manicure, in which case you risk becoming cluttered and inappropriate. A variety of techniques can be used when performing a bright manicure: abstraction, “negative space”, stamping, geometric patterns and polka dots, all will look aesthetically pleasing and beautiful.
CND Shellac shades
The CND Shellac palette is represented by a huge number of shades. Among them there are bright, delicate pastel, classic colors, transparent and translucent, with sparkles.
Summer Splash
This line features 4 summer colors: bright blue, cool fuchsia, bright purple and coral-reddish. All colors look catchy and bright. These colors are most often chosen by young girls who love bright colors in everything.
Forbidden
This line includes dark colors: black, dark steel and dark graphite. In addition, the line includes dark blue with a slight shade of sea wave, brown with a hint of milk chocolate, as well as a cool plum-cherry color.
intimates
There are 4 shades in this series. They are great for creating French manicures and nude nail designs. Plum brown and cool pink will look good on tanned women's hands. The other 2 peach shades are very close in tone - one is more pinkish and the other is closer to orange.
Open Road
This line includes 5 muted and soft colors. The most polar among them is the pink coral shade, as well as the creamy shade. Powdery and dark satin colors look beautiful on nails. The most interesting color of the collection is cloudy mint, as well as muted blue-green. Both of them seem to be diluted with gray color. They look not flashy and beautiful.
Paradise
The colors from this series look catchy and bright. Therefore, most often this collection is used by young girls. The line includes 6 colors: yellow, light green, orange, blue, bright purple and bright lilac.
Modern Folklore
The brand released this line for respectable and confident women. It has 7 fashionable colors, each of which seems to be diluted with crimson. One of them is pure crimson color. Black and blue with warm reddish notes look interesting. Orange-coral and cherry contain raspberry-colored particles. Grayish-cream with a raspberry tint looks good.
Flora & Fauna
This palette includes 6 natural shades. These are shimmering gray, light blue, light pink, satin brown, coral pink, beige. Using colors from this series you can create a classic French jacket.
Photo: advertising banner for the Flora & Fauna line.
Shiny shellac manicure
An interesting shiny manicure can be done on nails of any shape and color, the only condition is not to overdo it! You can dilute a monochromatic manicure with a shiny coating by applying this varnish to only one or two nails, thereby making them an accent detail. Glitter can complement a delicate ombre or matte manicure. You can also create a sparkly minimalist manicure by not using a wide variety of shades as a base and applying a few beads or stones to some nails, leaving the rest plain. You can experiment with different materials: kamifubuki, aluminum flakes and others.
CND gel polish collection
A series of unsuccessful visits to a nail salon led me to meet the CND brand. The excellent quality and wide color palette suit me so much that I don't want to try other options.
In the post I will show 10 shades of CND Shellac, 3 shades from the new line of CND Creative play gel polishes and 4 top CND coatings with effects: glossy, matte, pearl and glitter.
For me, CND products are the best, as they have a number of advantages:
- No formaldehyde in the composition (i.e. these varnishes are non-toxic)
- The ability to combine bases, tops, gel polishes from different lines of the same brand (i.e. you can use shellac base, shellac gel polish, creative play top and vice versa, and also apply one shade of gel polish to another to get a new color )
- Easy removal by dissolving within 15 minutes
And also durability up to 14 days, non-fading color and a comfortable brush (Shellac is thinner, Creative play is wider).
I always use CND Shellac Base Coat, 7.3 ml. Polymerization time in a UV lamp is 10 seconds. And recently I tried the top glossy coating CND Creative play, volume 15 ml. Polymerization time in a UV lamp is 2 minutes. Unlike the glossy Shellac topcoat, it is more liquid and reacts very much to sunlight; it can harden right on the brush if you wait too long to apply it to the nails. But its glossy shine is more “wet”, and the coating is more durable.
Shellac base and glossy top Creative play
Three top coats of CND Shellac:
- Glitter Top Coat with red, blue and green glitter
- Matte Top Coat matte
- Pearl Top Coat with pearl effect
Volume 7.3 ml
CND Shellac gel polishes in shades: Moonlight & Roses, Negligee, Strawberry Smoothie, Nude Knickers
volume 7.3 ml
Moonlight & Roses
- translucent shade with light pink pearl
Negligee
— translucent pink with blue micropearl
Strawberry Smoothie
— soft pink pearlescent
Nude Knickers
— glossy, delicate beige-pink nude
Moonlight & Roses, Negligee, Strawberry Smoothie, Nude Knickers
I really liked how the shade Negligee combined with gold leaf.
This is the simplest possible design: after applying 2 layers of Negligee color coating, dried in a UV lamp for 1 minute. each, pieces of gold foil are applied with tweezers and secured with a top coat in 2 layers (dry for 1-2 minutes each layer).
CND Shellac gel polish
in the shade Cream Puff
CND Shellac Cream Puff and Pearl Top Coat
Cream Puff
bright white, dense glossy. Often used for French
Cream Puff + gold foil secured with a glossy top coat / Cream Puff + pearl top coat
The Pearl Top Coat is difficult to capture in the photo. But of all the options, it looks brightest on white and dark shades of gel polishes. I think it gives it a slight matte finish. And adds a bluish pearlescent glow.
Cream Puff + pearl top coat
CND Shellac gel polish in the shade
Mint Convertible
Mint Convertible, volume 7.3 ml
Mint Convertible -
dense mint green without pearl or glitter
Mint Convertible with Gloss Top and Gold Foil
I think the shade itself is very flat and simple. I like to layer it with Moonlight & Roses translucent pink. It turns out a very beautiful “mermaid” color.
Gel polish CND Shellac in the shade
Beckoning begonia
Beckoning begonia 7.3 ml
Beckoning begonia
— dense soft lilac with micro-sparkles.
Beautiful, bright shade. Very summery. Looks good with a tan.
CND Shellac gel polish in
Blushing Topaz
Blushing Topaz, 7.3 ml + matte top coat and glossy
Blushing Topaz -
transparent with pink glitter.
A very interesting effect is obtained if you apply a matte top coat to the glitter. They become less bright and look more casual.
CND Shellac gel polish in the shade
Patina Buckle
Patina Buckle, volume 7.3 ml
Patina Buckle -
burgundy chameleon with turquoise pearl and sparkles, opaque, very cool color.
Daylight photo with flash
CND Shellac gel polish in the shade
Hollywood
Hollywood, volume 7.3 ml
Hollywood
dense bright red with microglitters, with a warm undertone.
Gel polish CND
Creative Play in shades: Apricot In The Act, Orange You Curious
Creative Play Apricot In The Act, Orange You Curious, 15 ml
Creative Play Apricot In The Act -
orange-yellow, without shimmer or glitter.
Orange You Curious
- bright orange with gold shimmer.
Apricot In The Act, Orange You Curious
Unlike Shellac, these gel polishes, after polymerization, acquire a harder structure and last longer. Shellac feels more flexible to me. Polymerization time in a UV lamp is 2 minutes.
Gel polish CND
Creative Play in the shade Navy Brat
Navy Brat, volume 15 ml
Creative Play Navy Brat -
deep dark blue glossy.
Creative Play Navy Brat + broken glass design with matte and glossy effect, Creative Play Navy Brat + pearl top and glitter top
CND gel polish
Creative Play Navy Brat + CND Shellac Glitter Top Coat /Pearl Top Coat
A layer of Shellac Pearl Top Coat is applied to the tip of the tip.
The second tip is top coated with CND Shellac Glitter Top Coat
Broken glass design using holographic foil. And two effects: glossy, using CND Creative Play Gel Top Coat; matte using CND Shellac Matte Top Coat.
How I do this design:
- Base, 2 layers of color coating. Everything is as usual. Dry each layer for 1-2 minutes depending on the type of lamp you have.
- Apply a thin layer of glossy top, dry for 30 seconds
- I lay out pieces of foil with tweezers or a brush, apply another layer of glossy top, dry for 1 minute
- I remove the sticky layer, cover the entire surface with a buffer (so that the corners of the foil do not stick out)
- Apply a new layer of top (glossy or matte), dry in a lamp for 1 minute
- I remove the sticky layer. All is ready
