Fashion week is over…10 days flew by in a flash and as I fly back home to San Diego, I summarize the highlights of the week in my head:

1. Overall trends:

A softer shade of pale.

Soft colors and a new minimalism have returned to fashion and nails follow suit with a new palette of beautiful, light and mystical colors…..after how many seasons of a dark nail?  A lighter nail has a certain cleanness about it…naked, yet done and pretty.  An opaque pale nail looks modern.  Our new Spring/Summer Look: ‘Perfectly Bare Colour’ is flattering on absolutely everyone…the peach tint in a warm ivory base works like tinted foundation.  Lighten it up with ‘Perfectly Bare Shimmer’ (Diego Binetti) and it’s priceless porcelain.  Mute it out with Super Matte (Jason Wu toes) and it’s the back side of a satin ribbon…or even dilute it by half with Super Matte (Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Hervé Leger) and it’s weathered and worn but…effortlessly done.  Other options in pale will continue to feature off-beat, slightly murky, quirky pale shades in limestone, mushroom, greige and beige (note: grab CND’s ‘Jason Wu Collection’ out next Spring for the best of these!).

‘Effects’ step into the light! 

Shimmer is BIG!  Very important designers insisted on shimmery nails…at the top of the list was Carolina Herrera, who chose 2 coats of ‘Scarlet Shimmer’ to compliment her Asian inspired collection; Phillip Lim chose ‘Asphalt’ with ‘Copper Shimmer’ for “elegance with street cred”; Monique Lhuillier chose ‘Putty’ and ‘Perfectly Bare Shimmer’ for a luminescent glow.  Choose your favorite flash and add it to every mani or pedi to be in stride with the hottest designers on the runway!

Peek-a-boo nail finishes.

Opaque coverage has been the favored look for many seasons, but peeking out from behind the wall of color are healthy, well-cared-for nails and cuticles.  Get ready to lighten things up and shed some layers next season.

Twilight Darks.

Dark colors become rich with tone and shimmery texture...they’re dark, but not black. 

Gwen Stefani’s “Van Gogh blue” read on the runway as optimistic and clean, Jason Wu’s ‘Veronica’ was oxblood red, the famed Ruffian “Monogram Moon Manicure” was edgy and elegant and Phillip Lim’s “City Slick” deep bronze manicure reflected the finest details in the beaded tops and dresses.

2. It takes the RIGHT village to pull off 21 shows with style and perfection!

 The CND Team did just that and is unsurpassed in their ability to exceed expectation!  

Here’s why:

Team Director: Roxanne Valinoti – unrelenting high standards and a strong leader of the team

Team leads:

1. Amanda Fontanarrosa:  brilliant and fun
2. Kristina Estabrooks:  dedicated and driven
3. Wanda Ruiz:  cool and confident
4. Angi Wingle:  practical and patient

Team members:

1.  Jennifer Harrison:  positive
2. Dana D’Andraia:  sweet
3. Candice Manacchio:  clever
4. Kris Kiss:  chill
5. Torie Savickis:  funky 
6. Shelena Robinson: artistic

Backstage Production Coordinator:  Beatriz Viramontes – quiet strength

Website/Blog designer extraordinare:  Trina Franklin – genius!

Red PR:  this extraordinary team was flawless in their management of the week! 

Julia – PR master

Charity – Organized juggler

Rachel – ‘The Daily Nail’ wizard 

Happy Anniversary to RED PR for 10 years of CND partnership!!!

Thanks one and all for your unbelievable brilliance!

More Photos!

Team ‘Fabulous,’ lead by Kristina Estabrooks, has been working on these nails for weeks.  Glittery, glimery, gorgeous…each nail is hand-encrusted with tiny pave Swarovski crystals (to match the custom-made Christian Louboutin shoes) and beaded, painted and fussed to perfection! (a full set of these nails would be worth at least $500!).  The show featured both ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ inspired looks, with beaded corsets and sexy tuxedos…Philippe wore the opening and finale look, with black-diamond nails specially created for him.

The Blondes went to the next level with this show.  The standing ‘O’ for them paid homage to their hard work and consistent excellence.  They were definitely ready for their close-up!!!

Faces were matte and flawless nude, lips were bright coral crème and nails were lean and sleek in ‘Desert Suede’ and ‘Super Matte’ on pale skin tones and ‘Desert Suede’ caramelized with a few drops of  chocolate cream and jet black for darker skin tones, rounded off with two coats of ‘Super Matte’. Cucumber sandwiches anyone???

Fun to see full-figured model Crystal Renn walking the show, strutting her fabulous curves!  Hmm…perhaps a new trend?  Healthy, sporty, curvatious beauties on the runway?  Yes please!

The quote in the program says, ‘she walks crooked and paints her eyelids blue…dandie-lion, I wanna go there too.’  Charlotte Gainsbourg

Colors and fabrics were light as a dandie-lion and wispy as air but slick and street-wise too.  The collection was filled with asymmetrical tonal layers in oatmeal, camel, grey and blush and soft shapes mixed with strength representing the new modern uniform.  Hair was up and braided but a little undone…makeup was pale and matte with glimmers of sheen at the cheek, eye and lids.  Nails?  Urban cool… ‘elegant with street cred’ according to Phillip, who always has a strong perspective about the role of nails!!   A coat of ‘Asphalt’ followed by a coat of ‘Copper Shimmer’ looked like city shadows at night..with reflections of street life.  Philip asked Team CND lead… ‘what shall we call this fabulous mani?’

… ‘City Slick’..what else??

This season’s daywear and sportswear collection featured floral patterns and prints in shades of grey, taupe, sage, peach and blush and wild solid graphic punches of bright color in orange, yellow and blue.  The perfect nail for the theme: ‘A Perfect Day’….alternating between ‘Silver Chrome’ followed by ‘Putty’ and ‘AirDry’ for a reflective whitish nail and the other half of the models had ‘Desert Suede’ and ‘Cheeky’, shined with ‘Air Dry’ for a pinkie, nude, healthy nail.

Now…drum roll please…the look:  frizzed-out gimongous hair, pale faces, dark eyes, red lips and bleached-out brows…nails as GONE as the lips…bleached-out with our new spring shade ‘Perfectly Bare Colour’ mixed with ‘Super Matte’, to produce a done…but rather un-done, erased look…that oddly matched the brows!  TOES then stole the show with dark, rich, commando red in high shine ‘Bloodline’ for a bold, sexy look.  The fashion?  70’s flash-back to the effortless ease of muse Bianca Jagger.

Can’t get cooler than that!