CND Brisa Lite Removable Gels. Application& Removal

I must say I waited very impatiently for the new Brisa gels. They arrived mid week but I didn't have a time to "play" with them till today.
After a busy day at the salon I locked the door and with another snow fall outside there was nothing better to do then to make myself a green tea and finally try the gels on my nails.

First of all.... what IS Brisa Lite?

Brisa Lite is a UV cured enhancement system... actually it's two systems:
#1 Brisa Lite Smoothing system
#2 Brisa Lite Sculpting system

The main and the most exciting difference between Brisa Lite and the original Brisa is that this system is the first removable enhancement system on the market that doesn't require filing/removing shine from the natural nails. The prep is the same as for the Shellac!

Another difference is that this product can be safely removed from the nails by soaking off (wrap method). There is also an option with this system of rebalancing/maintaining the enhancements.

Brisa Lite is also more flexible then original Brisa

More info and pictures after the jump break:

CND Shellac Spring 2013 swatches and reviews

I was super excited today to pick up the new Spring 2013 colors!
We needed more pastels!

The collection is called Sweet Dream Collection and the name I must say is accurate.
Below you will find swatches of all colors and a quick description.

Knock... knock...anybody there?

My oh my... I've been slacking! Well...
Currently working 6 days a week leaves me with 1 day to relax, browse the Internet for inspirations, product reviews, keeping up to date with some of my favourite blogs and doing the background work for my business.

Here is what's happening in a short, short version:

Shellac Fall/Winter 2012 Preview..... and some salon talk

Summer has been very busy. I would say it has been one of the best summers ever business wise.
I have been enjoying doing lots of gel polish manis and pedis. Clients are in love with color and I rarely do "french". I'm OK with that LOL.
Overall, I think Shellac is the winner in my books. It's my favourite brand, hands down.
The issues I used to have with dryness seemed to fix themselves. I owe this to Doug Schoon. I'm surprised how many people in the industry still don't know him.
He's advice and knowledge are priceless.
What do I do differently? Doug said to time the soak off time. I used to "eyeball" it. Now I actually set a timer. I use OPI Expert Touch for the removal and tell each client to use cuticle oil till I'm blue in the face. I make sure that I remove the Shellac GENTLY, not scratching the nail.
I do very but very light buff just around the cuticle area with a fine buffer. Just like I would before a manicure. This step is used to ensure a very smooth surface so the color doesn't snag on anything.

One thing I'm lacking is.... MORE COLORS!! I NEED more colors! I was super excited when I came across the preview of the fall/winter collection. Darks!! YES! Navy! YESSS! Green? Even better.

OPI Spring 2012 Gel Colors collection

I can't believe that the last time I posted wast the beginning of April!! It's been 2 months and it feels like 2 weeks!
It's been a busy spring for me in the salon! I'm also changing locations so it's been hectic!

Today I picked up the 2 new OPI collections. I can't say I was super excited. I don't know why...
I like OPI GelColors but sadly I'm not in love with the line overall.
Surely it's a great addition to my Shellac collection (I can't wait for more Shellac colors!!) so I'm glad that OPI came out with new colors. My clients have been demanding more colors I must say ;)