Swatches: LCN - Destination Paradise Summer 2011

The new Summer Collection - Destination Paradise

Also if Spring here this year is very sunny and warm, a little daydream makes happy, isn't it? As I saw the first time the adverts of the new, bright LCN Summer collection, I was excited and curious about, because with LCN the textures of the shades for the warm seasons are different from the ones of Fall and Winter - and: I was not disappointed, but see yourself:

LCN - Nail Polish # 221 Pink Parrot

I love Pink Nail Polish for the Summer - is there another shade which is both so happy and feminine? Not for me! Pink Parrot provides high density, is creamy without Glitz or Shimmer. By definition its a cool shade, which means it has not only White, but also Blue in. New is, that the whole collection during application feels so smooth like a gel. It seems it is a complete new texture, because its dense, but much more easier to polish than classic cream nail polish!

LCN - Nail Polish # 237 Maldivian Sea

A while ago LCN has had already a Turquoise with this color #, its name was Tropique Turquoise, maybe do you remember? I was very sad as it was discontinued, of two reasons: first, I liked the color and second, customers were amazed. But with this new formula LCN makes me very happy again - great to apply it reminds me on the for me most beautiful area of the world: the beaches of Florida on the Gulf coast and the new name Maldivian Sea makes me dreaming also on rainy days...

LCN - Nail Polish # 223 Sundown Over The Ocean

Orange is a color people discuss about: either you love it or you hate it! For me it is beside Yellow the color of joy, optimism, warmth and radiance. Not as strong as red, but a powerful color anyway! This shade Sundown Over The Ocean is radiant, bright, fruity, fresh and makes me smiling!

Resumee: I like the look not only because of the colors - the new amazing texture is worth a try! I am curious who will give it a try and tell here about?

Swatches: LCN - Trendlook *I Love LCN* Spring/Summer 2011

It's a confession: the four trendy nail polish colours from the I Love LCN collection shows up with shades perfect for a Jeans and Tee look:

LCN - Nail Polish # 310 Sweet Serenade

Sweet Serenade is my personal favourite: a shimmering, medium Blue with Pink Shimmer particles. The colour is dense and perfect for a casual day. The Pink in combination with the Blue is very modern and anything else than boring!

LCN - Nail Polish # 311 Love Me - Love My Nail Polish!

This polish Love Me - Love My Nail Polish! is a cool, frosty, pale Pastel Blue and is perfect opaque. Just keep in your mind: intense frosty shades like this are always best to apply with a light hand, which means don't press the brush too much and hard on the surface: it left some kind of imprint on or, (I don't know which is more bad) removes the layers underneath and left a visible hole!

LCN - Nail Polish # 312 - Lovers Lullaby

I like Lovers Lullaby - a warm Ivory, almost a White Gold with visible Gold Duochrome effect - it is easy to apply and much more flattering than a pure White nail polish! Also for polish lovers, who normally not care about Gold or know its not matching the own skin colour, it is a flattering shade. Please note: Lovers Lullaby dries matte, so for a high-shine finish you need definitely a Top Coat!

LCN - Nail Polish # 312 I Love LCN

I Love LCN, the centerpiece of the collection, convinces with an immaculate White Shimmer and is a clean look for all purist. Like Lovers Lullaby it also dries matte, please seal with  Top Coat as LCN - Wet Look!

Gift: LCN Designer nail file I Love LCN

Be a fan and get as a free gift with the purchase of the complete set with all 4 nail polish colours this two-sided (fine/medium), foamy Designer nail file for free! (as long as stock lasts!)







Resumee - for all, who feels most relaxed and confident in Jeans and a Tee, is I Love LCN best for! The quality convinces, only the size of the nail polish brush could be a bit more broad, so it needs a bit practice to apply the shimmering colours. But working with a *light hand* is here the key to success!

Swatches: LCN - Trendlook *Summer In The City* Spring/Summer 2011

Also LCN starts with two new trendlooks into the season 2011 - the first one, *Summer In The City* comes with 4 creamy nail polish colours, please see here:

LCN - Nail Polish # 306 Picnic In The Park

There are not many brands, who offer creamy, warm Green shades, but LCN is one of it. Picnic In The Park is a beautiful, warm Green, not too bright, not too olive. Maybe Military?

LCN - Nail Polish # 307 City Cruising

The Hibiscus Pink covers perfect, is radiant and fresh and makes City Cruising to the perfect step into the hopefully soon coming seasons.

LCN - Nail Polish # 308 Come To The Café

The name offers a seat in a street cafe and invites you to sit in the sun and drink a delicious Latte Macchiato or Espresso: Come To The Café...

LCN - Nail Polish # 309 Summer In The City

Summer In The City is a cool Sand, opaque and perfect for your Manequin Manicure!

 

Free Gift - by purchasing all 4 nail polish colours of the trendlook you get this designer nail file (two-sided: fine/medium coarse) for free (while stocks last)

At the end I want you to seduce with the original, one and only *Summer In The City*:

Part 1 - Crackle Nail Polish: technique and tips

Crackle nail polishes are a kind of polish, which makes your coloured polish looking *vintage*, for example you can see it on old furniture. As a layer over a coloured polish it cracks when its drying and so you can see the colour layer underneath. Crackle is nothing new, but HOT! For years it was very difficult to research and find a brand to buy it from, but since nearly one year there come more and more brands with crackle polish on the market.

There are a bunch of quality differences. Two years ago I tried some different brands to find a good one, but the results were disillusioning. Some of them show off NO crackle effect, or they were not opaque and dense enough to cover the colour underneath, and worst result was - they still fall off: without top coat anyway and also the lightweight application of it smudges and peel them! So because of this I decided at this point to add no crackle coat into my shop.


But now there comes the good news: LCN added a range of 7 professional quality colours into the product line: White John (White), Black Jack (Black), Yellow Kim (Bright Yellow), Red Cheyenne (Fiery Red), Green Paul (Cool Green) and Blue Linda (Royal Blue). I swatched them all and you will see them in part 2 of this blog posting, but first I want to give you some additional informations and tips to handle crackle polish:

You can wear crackle either alone for everybody who dont want to have strong contrast or over EVERY coloured nail polish. Wear your regular polish in two coats to get an even, dense layer underneath.

Some tips for application:

* make sure you have enough polish on the brush and work from one side to another. Don't polish like normal tip - middle - side - side!

* don't press too strong and polish with a light hand.

* Leave both side free of coloured polish, but polish over also this part with the crackle polish - crackle shrinks when its drying and if you don't apply it on the sides the effect is concentrated in the middle, which looks a bit ridiculous, when the sides have too much free space without crackle!


* The colour polish must be completely dry when you apply the crackle!

* Work and apply the crackle polish quick - if not, the solvents will also soften the colour underneath and smudge it, especially on combinations of dark polish and bright crackle!

* Base Coat - I tried different brands and kinds: without, with normal Base Coat and with Ridgefiller, my result: I like the one with Ridgefiller the most, in my eyes it provides the most even and flawless surface! But maybe you have different experiences, so then I appreciate your comments!

The crackle effect is visible in milliseconds - you can watch it shrinking and crackle the pattern! When its dried it is matte and almost chalky.

Normally you apply just one coat, most of the times a second looks not sooo pretty. Please choose by application of this two kinds of crackle: a thin application causes fine lines and hair cracks, a saturated, thicker coat will show bigger cracks:

Crackle polish on Ridgefiller - left/ring finger: thicker, right/middle finger: thin application

Finally you can seal your art work with Top Coat. Choose depending on your taste matte or shiny. Personal I like also to leave it like it is: a shiny coloured polish underneath and the chalky crackle polish on top. Interesting because the reflections are different, but with one disadvantage: it won't last so long as with Top Coat!

The colour combinations - the strongest ones are with cold / warm or bright / dark colours. For myself I like also the matching shades of brighter pairs, its also an everyday-look. Or maybe you want to try this: a French Crackle Manicure:

Black Crackle for the *Smile Line*, French Polish: ORLY - Je T'aime

OK, this was enough theory - see and follow to part 2 now the colours...

Look: LCN - Winter Wonderland 2010

Today I show you the very new trendlook for winter from LCN, named: Winter Wonderland. To this look belong three nail polishes - two metallics in silver and pale blue and a glitzy one in ice blue with tons of Glitz, but see yourself:

Silver Ice Cube - a high opaque silver with finest pigment size and almost like a mirror. This are two layers + Seche Top Coat. Like all metallic polishes also this is a bit tricky to appy - soon I will post again an instruction, how you can apply them on the best way without getting streaky. The only thin I wish is here and also the next colour a more broad brush...

Frozen Sea - also metallic, also high opaque and my favourite - a beautiful ice blue. I have to say - I look always on my nails! Do you remember the fairy tale *The Snow Queen*? I am sure she wore a colour like this on her frosty nails! These are also two layers with top coat!

Winter Wonderland - is the Star Colour of this look! The Glitz is perfect sized and can be applied without any issues. Both layers were dry within 10 minutes. To wear it allone it looks nice, but on top on coloured polish it looks just GREAT! Please see for this one of my next postings: Nail Art - Snowy Winter...

RESUMEE - a nice look for cold days and whoever like metallic nail polish will love this trend - best of this is, they are drying really speedy!

Schokoladenfarbene Nagellacke/Chocolate coloured Nail Polish

Hello, you all - after a longer break I report back with one of my absolute favorite subjects: chocolate-coloured nail polish! Ordinarily I am not the fan of brown, but quite exactly 3 years ago I had the idea for my nail polish shop and at the same time an absolute strange habit on really chocolate-coloured nail polish - of course there are many different kinds: from softly melting milk chocolate up to those with 70%th cocoa - they all differ in their colours! At that time I have searched the perfect chocolate brown and - found it several times! Enjoy here with me these chocolate-coloured darlings,which are guaranteed free of calories...

 

These are the treasures I want you to show today, from left to right: Mavala - Caracas, AKZENT direct - Chocolate, Mavala - Makoré, LCN - Death by Chocolate und Creative Nail Design - Fedora. Caracas and Chocolate are the more brighter ones, the other three are darker Chocolate. On the nails left: Index finger Mavala - Caracas, Middle finger AKZENT direct - Chocolate. Right: Index finger Mavala - Makoré, Middle finger LCN - Death by Chocolate, Ring finger Creative - Fedora, Pinky finger Dessange.

  

Caracas is a limited edition and a brighter, cool, creamy Chocolate Brown - like the Cocoa you can make a drink of! Its application is easy and it looks almost perfect after the first coat, coverage is First Class, two layers are definitely enough!

Chocolate is also a brighter shade, but warmer than Caracas, it looks a bit more like Caramel. After the first coat it is just - ugly! It has a bit watery and thin texture, so you need always minimum another layer or two, but now it is beatiful! Akzent Nail Polishes are quick drying and provide a broader brush, which allows you to work really quick!

 

Makoré is a dark, really rich Chocolate with a hint of dark and bloody red, which you can see best after the first layer. Easy to apply a beautiful option for a more vampy Chocolate...

Death by Chocolate is THE ONE - the colour, which comes very close to the definition of a chocolate-coloured Nail Polish - neutral, not too warm or cold, not too light or too dark - a colour which dresses you always perfect and remembers me on a bar of soft melting chocolate! LCN has in every colour a very high coverage, so if you are in a hurry, one layer can be enough. But a Quick Dryer is a good tool to shorten the drying time, because the amount of pigments inside it dries a bit slowly than the others!

Fedora shows its charakter in his name - Fedora is a very popular and excellent chocolate brand! Close to Makoré from Mavala, but less red, it is really dark, easy to apply and also without Top Coat high-shine! The brush in all Creative Nail Polishes is more broad and for everyone with not so much practice easy to handle. But watch out - Creative changed not long ago their Nail Polish range and it will not be available for so long...

 

At least I show you an absolute highlight and one of my favourite, private treasures: a colour of Dessange, which was in the fall/winter look two years ago! This colour is intense creamy, intense dark - almost black! - and intense cool, depending on the light it looks greyish brown. Do you know the colour of a chocolate bar, which layed longer in your closet? Exactly this is it!

So, now - wrote me: which is your favourite colour? Do you have any experience? If yes, with which ones? I love to read your comments!