One you go Shellac, you’ll never go back (forgive me, it was too easy). CND, the original and basically the only true Shellac company, has proved that taking an hour to head to a nail salon is well-worth it.

Not only does Shellac last for two weeks–meaning my manicure will take me straight through the holidays and straight into 2013–but the feeling of having slick Shellac nails is amazing and makes me pretty gosh darn glam.

CND wowed me with the polishes’ ability to be layered and customized creating a seemingly endless range of colour possibilities. Don’t even get me started with what they can do with nail art. Ombre? Yep. Checkerboard? Yep. Solid sparkle nails? Yep. They truly are nail magicians.

As for my nails CND gave me what I am considering to be a subtle take on Sarah Burton’s most recent collection for Alexander McQueen for Spring 2013. A grey base also known as “Cityscapes” which I took away as a fan favourite was then given a special treatment with CND sparkly pigments (properly known as additives) which was dusted on through a layer of tulle–like from a tutu. The layers of colours and pigments resulted in a honeycomb pattern thus the reference to McQueen. Sounds pretty right? Yeah, it is.

Shellac forbids me from picking off my polish and biting my nails because it’s too pretty to be ruined. And it’s for that reason, that having Shellac nails may become my New Years resolution. Plus, it seems like a pretty attainable goal.

Nail art salons we love:

Sparks Salon on King
1005 King St. West
sparksonking.com

WowWow Nails
802 B Dundas St. West
wowwownails.com
171 East Liberty Street

Check the CND website to view more nail art and find a salon near you.

~ Meredith Gillies