Last weekend,  the hubby and I joined friends for an overnight in Glasgow. My friend was turning 30 and we decided we were in need of some pre-birthday debauchery in the form of drinking, eating & laughing. We had a fab time, I was still recovering 3 days later. When I returned home to my mountains of washing I realised that if I had stayed just one more day I would have made it to the official launch of CND Creative Play at The Centre in Glasgow, with live demos from the ever fabulous Fee Wallace.

Creative Play is the brand new polish line by CND. The polishes come in over 80 different colours, and consists of different finishes including- glitter,pearl,shimmer,cream,satin,pearl and transformer. I didn’t have too worry too much as Fee used the new feature on Facebook called ‘Facebook Live’ and went global with her 45 minute live video demonstrating different looks that can be achieved using the new lacquer line. For those of you who missed it, it can be viewed here.

 

I thought the live broadcast was an amazing idea. Stuck for childcare that day I wouldn’t have made it to the launch, but I didn’t have to. I could watch live from my mobile device which I could move from room to room while I watched my toddler go on a one man whirlwind of toy destruction. I could even interact by adding comments at the bottom, which Fee worked through over the following days answering every single one. Amazing!!! I am completely in favour of more broadcasts like this. So well done to Fee and the girls at the Centre for pulling it off.

So let’s get down to business. Me being me I had to order some of these polishes right away to see what it is all about. I placed an order for the pack of 40 minis which are super cute and ideal for retail, and a few glitters, top, base & a few colours to stamp with.

 

My order arrived promptly the next day. Due to being super busy at work I never got a chance to ‘play’ for a few days so I ended up borrowing my eldest to give me a hand-quite literally. I applied Creative Play base coat, colour coat, glitter coat, and did some stamping on her ring finger followed by a top coat. The polish applied well in 2 coats. Dry time wasn’t too bad, and the polish had a strong pigment ideal for stamping with. My guinea pig was pleased anyway as you can see.

 

 

So what do I think? Well the colours are bright, bold & fun, but will I use them on clients? No, not as a polish. I currently use CND Vinylux as my polish for manicures & pedicures, the super quick dry time & hard wearing qualities of it wins out every time. That and the fact I have 2 racks full of it which hardly get used. Most of my clients have Shellac, only a handful prefer a polish. I use Vinylux mainly on toes. I find normal polish a dying trend in the salon. However, Creative Play does have a place. I have purchased some of the lovely glitter polishes to use on top of Vinylux. I have kept a few for stamping with, and the minis make the perfect retail item. Just because I won’t use it much professionally doesn’t mean my clients won’t enjoy it as an at home product for themselves. The price is reasonable, the colours are cool & it is still a decent polish. I think using Shellac & Vinylux has spoiled me, I just don’t have the patience for sitting watching paint to dry. My daughter loved them though, she managed to wangle a few of the minis for herself.

An idea shared via one of the CND groups was to offer a Creative Play pedicure. Where clients get to choose a complimentary mini polish with their pedi. I plan to incorporate this into a CND Citrus Spa Pedicure for the Summer. This is a great idea as it lets the client maintain their pedicure at home. Did I mention how cute the minis were???

Other purchases this week include two new Lecente glitters: Mortar and Waterfall. Don’t be fooled by Waterfall’s gold appearance in the tub, it is an amazing ultra fine multi tonal pink. It looks like it will be versatile and could go over most colours. It is supposed to be similar to CND’s limited edition additive ‘Dream Lily’. Mortar is a super sparkly holographic purple blue colour which I have been waiting to get my hands on for a while. I have also spotted pictures on Facebook of the new summer collection from Lecente which includes glitter strands. Now these I can’t wait to play with.

 

 

For my Glasgow trip I changed my own nail colour to another new glitter purchase (I know I have a problem) from the Magpie Glitter range: Angel and Amelia. Amelia came recommended as I was hunting for the perfect nude glitter. It is beautiful. Angel is a mix of white iridescent and silver holographic and reminds me of Winter and weddings.It is extremely hard to photograph this colour. Both these colours are stunning. This was my first purchase from Magpie and I definitely will be ordering again. If you have any recommendations please do let me know.

Have any of you tried the new Creative Play polishes yet? What did you think? Let me know by commenting below, until next time

sparkle on,

Jo x

In other exciting news I have been asked to be a bridesmaid at my brother’s wedding in February 2018. I am so excited. Of course I accepted. I cried when I got this lovely card through the door.The only thing is I may have to give up my (un)healthy afternoon snacks before the wedding in order to lose some weight. No more Squashies for me (who am I kidding lol).

mummy moments: note to self don’t leave unprepared fruit lying around. The toddler WILL eat it, skin and all.

Note to self no.2: remember to check under your bed for used baby cups.

Note to self no.3: don’t laugh too hard as your pelvic floor isn’t quite up to it just yet. This did literally make my pee myself laughing-mainly because it’s true.

Note to self no.4: appreciate every minute as they aren’t small for long.