After my very pleasant experience with CND Vinylux and their Starstruck collection CND Vinylux Starstruck holiday 2016 swatched and seeing how many people are interested in it, I looked at this other consumer nail colour range CND has. It’s an artsier one, as you can tell from its name CND Creative Play. I mean, what can be more artsy than creative play, right? It’s an interesting concept of a bunch of exciting shades that can be combined in a whirlwind of very special manicures. I’m always for creative manicures. This way I can alternate between super elegant and artsy. Or whatever else I can picture and imagine in manicure department. And that’s a lot 🙂 Basically, I do appreciate the ranges that have those shades in them that are not just red or just purple or just nude or just pink, that are special, out of the common run and that you can’t see that often in nail polish permanent bunches and limited editions. It’s a new world, a new mood, a new you every day. Sounds good?

 

Before we move on to look at the shades, here’s a word – or more than a word – for you about quality. CND Creative Play is a good and solid nail colour formula. Traditional. Not one of those trendy no gel long lasting things. It’s not that I mind them. I just want to have choice, you know. Where I can sometimes use the no gel ten day thing, and then sometimes I can just apply the good old with base and top coat. Especially as I’m very much into variety in makeup. And manicure. I can only rarely walk around with one shade or one manicure kind for ten days in a row. Or even a week, for that matter. Or even three days 🙂 Or sometimes two. I’m like – let’s go, let’s go. There are so many beautiful shades and manicure options out there. Why get stuck on only one? You know what I’m saying here. Also, there must be people out there who don’t like the no gel manicure systems that feel like gel. So, I’d like to have both options out on the table.

 

So, other than CND Creative Play nail colour, there’s CND Creative Play base and CND Creative Play top coat. The top coat is nice and easy to use, helps your nail colour last and shine and not chip. And that base… Man, that base is AWESOME. Absolutely spectacular. One of the best, really. So easy to use. And it does everything it’s supposed to do. I love it. I love it so much I’ll actually be using it under other nail colour, not just CND Creative Play. Who would have thought, that when swatching new nail colour, I’ll find such a great base. There’s more good news for you. It’d about nail colour proper. Ready? There are 80 shades in this range. 80! Eighty! EIGHTY! And they aren’t limited editions. They are permanent. How’s that, huh? And there’s even more good news. There are 10 finishes in this range. Eighty shades, including some funky ones, in ten finishes – cream, metallic, pearl, satin, shimmer, holographic glitter, multi-color glitter, micro glitter, metallic glitter, transformer. 80 shades in 10 finishes. Wow!

 

In CND Creative Play collection there are eight shades, just like there are eight shades – usually but not all the time – in their Vinylux seasonal collections. CND Creative Play holiday collection 2016 is called Celebration. The name makes sense in the holiday context. I only hope that these shades will be suitable for more than holiday season celebrations. If you come to think of it, there are a lot of celebrations in our life: birthdays, parties, anniversaries and all kind of stuff. So, a lot of those holiday nail shades that look too dressed up or too artsy for everyday life and casual events, work and rock, when you’re about to go out and party. These shades paired up with that base and top coat can withstand special occasions, because they are good quality. And you really need that, when it’s about some important celebratory events. You don’t want any manicure issues coming up in the middle of those. On those very special days we want everything to be perfect in us, head to toe. And we’re supposed to have fun and not to worry about a thing, definitely not about our manicure.

 

Well now. Eight shades. Full of Celebration. By CND. In terms of finish, we have holographic glitter here, 2 metallic glitter shades, satin, 2 cream shades, micro glitter and metallic. All in one collection. Yay 🙂

 

One.

 

471 Naughty or Vice (cream)

 

Cream more or less means that it’s just colour. No sparkle, no shine, no pearl, no glitter, no trimmings. This shade is purple. A dark purple.

 

Not only it’s purple and dark. It’s ink purple, in fact. Femme fatale like. It’s a cool and dark vampy purple that you can treat as an off black shade.

 

This shade can be a good darker than dark manicure shade. You know, when you want to go with something dark on your nails, but don’t want it to be full on black.

 

Naughty or Vice can be artsy for you, if you usually wear pastels, lighter, romantic shades or manicure classics. Then you going with something that dark all of a sudden will have a rather striking effect.

 

What’s good about this shade is that it’s dark to the point, where – just like black – it matches a bunch of colours, styles and, eventually, outfits.

 

So, it’s the kind of shade you throw on, and then just calmly change clothes all through the week – or however long you want to – without having to redo your nails. Can come in handy sometimes.

 

Next shade.

 

431 Happy Holly Day (cream)

 

Another traditional cream in this collection of shades that aren’t usually traditional and are full of surprises instead. There’s a reason why they are here, but we’ll talk about it a little later.

 

Well, for starters, this shade is green, so I’m ready to love it. It just needs to be good, but my heart is all open for it. I love green nail shades.

 

And this green in particular is a dear. It’s deep and intense without being too dark. It’s green as green can be. A beauty. Just wonderful.

 

A great shade to have in a holiday season collection. You know why? Green is often associated with holiday season, and even if it’s not in the part of the world you’re in, it’s just so nice.

 

Happy Holly Day is one of those rare greens that aren’t too artsy and aren’t too funky. It being so deep makes it more wearable, especially if your outfit is green. To put it simply, this green is not crazy.

 

This is one of those nail shades that has something nice about it. It’s just a feeling I get on seeing and wearing these shades, so I can’t give you a better explanation than that. But it’s a truly nice one. And I don’t get this feeling too often, mind you 🙂

 

Moving on.

 

479 Revelry Red (micro glitter)

 

Ok, so what’s this whole micro glitter finish in Creative Play nail colour by CND is like? It’s glitter, only micro, that is, tiny. And there’s not too much of it there, just a handful.

 

Now that we’re clear on this finish by CND, let’s talk shade. It’s red. But not a classic. Instead it’s a light and bright red that seems to be lit up from within.

 

That’s not all there is to this shade though. It’s micro glitter, remember? This micro glitter seems to be pearly red or gold depending on the angle. Mostly pearly red.

 

I like festive reds. They haven’t been done as much as red nail colour classic. They are not as dark. And they are fun, while classic red nail polish is elegant, womanly, but fun? Not that much.

 

The micro glitter in Revelry Red – I love this shade name, by the way, it rolls nicely on my tongue – gives it depth and dimension. And it’s surprising, given how little glitter there is there.

 

If before you saw this shade, you thought that red nail colour is a special occasion and elegant manicure option, now you see that it can be a party shade too.

 

More nail colour.

 

449 Foiled Again (metallic)

 

Ok, so metallic finish got to be a classic in nail colour and makeup. And we all know roughly what it’s like. It’s when they add pearl in nail shades to make them shiny 🙂

 

This shade though looks like they added a good metallic finish portion of pearl in it and then thought some, turned around and added five more portions of pearl there.

 

The shade is gold. A very light and bright gold. Like that red shade – Revelry Red. And with all this pearl in it this golden nail colour looks truly Foiled and even Foiled Again.

 

Boy, this shade is festive. Very much so. Celebratory to the point of no return. That is, I don’t know where you can wear it in real life, unless you’re very artsy, when it comes to manicures.

 

Given that it’s a holiday collection called Celebration though, this shade makes total sense. It’s gold taken to the extreme. There’s some irony in it. It’s almost too much without actually being too much.

 

Foiled Again makes me smile every time I see it on my nails. Speaking about smiling, that’s what it reminds of. Of a smiley face. It’s as bright and as happy.

 

Five.

 

127 RSVPlum (satin)

 

Now, this finish – satin – is, probably, the most mysterious one of the ten finishes we have in Creative Play range by CND. Here’s why I think so.

 

When I hear ‘satin’, when we’re talking nail shades, it sounds to me like it’s going to be matt like, because they often call matt finish in nail colour without all the gloss to it ‘satin’.

 

Because satin as a fabric doesn’t have the high shine, instead it has a delicate gleam hovering about it. That’s what we like it for. And that’s what’s so special about it.

 

Instead RSVPlum – yet again CND nails a shade name here, it’s easy to remember, fun to say and kind of tells you what the shade is going to be – is pearly, more or less.

 

It’s plum, yes, a warmer purple shade and a lighter purple shade than Naughty or Vice, but then there’s something there that looks like silver pearl in the bottle.

 

I can’t say that it makes the shade silvery though. Somehow it manages to create some of that truly satin sheen in the plum shade. It looks gorgeous. Awesome. Stunning. And makes the plum metallic and special and relevant as opposed to just boring. This satin finish is really something, CND. Love it.

 

Next shade.

 

450 Turquoise Tidings (holographic glitter)

 

Holographic glitter is self explanatory, I think, more or less. It usually means the kind of glitter that shines and changes colour depending on the angle, on how the light hits it. That’s a generality.

 

Now let’s talk about details, about how it actually looks and feels 🙂 For starters, this shade in particular somehow feels more like jelly, if you know your nail colour formulae.

 

The structure of nail polish and this glitter is kind of looser than the two glitters in this collection that I’ll show you in a minute. The glitter itself is bigger.

 

The shade is truly turquoise. And it’s jelly like too. Kind of leaning to sheer and looser, although it’s possible to get to full coverage, if you get a lot of it on the brush and apply two coats.

 

The glitter is medium sized, uneven in terms of shape, all over the place, pretty much, not in a bad way 🙂 And the glitter changes colour from a deep and bright blue to aqua like green.

 

The result is mermaidy, kind of artsy and exciting. Do look at this one, if you like bright and fun blues on the nails. At the same time, this shade is funky without being too crazy, so a lot of people people can probably venture into this blue blue sea.

 

One but last.

 

475 Stellarbration (metallic glitter)

 

Metallic glitter? Ok. I’ve been wondering what the thin line between just glitter and metallic glitter in CND Creative Play range is. Does that mean that the glitter itself is metallic?

 

This is a true glitter shade. There’s no nail colour proper in it. It’s transparent, and then there are all the fun particles there that you can wear as is or top any shade you like with them.

 

And, yes, now that I look at this shade, I realize that metallic glitter in CND Creative Play means metallic glitter particles proper. Look how metallic they are here in this shade 🙂 Obviously, just glitter will mean non-metallic glitter particles.

 

Ok, now that we’ve figured that out, we’re back to the shade. It’s truly stellar and celebratory. There’s so much different stuff in it. I almost couldn’t believe it.

 

Tiny golden specks or flecks. Holographic silver and golden small circly things that aren’t quite round 🙂 Kind of bigger holographic silver and golden hectagons. And, finally, bigger silver stars. Believe it or not, with all of the above combined in one shade, it’s not too much and not too busy.

 

And these stars are so-o beautiful. They are trouble though. There are so few of them there. And they are the biggest ones. So they are as hard to get at as it gets. Good luck pulling out more than one or two per nail. If there were more stars in this glitter shade, and if they were easier to get out of that bottle, I would be ecstatic. As it is, I’m just glad to have it 🙂

 

And the last shade.

 

459 Extravaglint (metallic glitter)

 

Another metallic glitter run by CND. That is, the glitter in this shade is metallic and super shiny. It’s also bronze and comes in shape of little sticks.

 

In a classically glitter shade fashion, there’s no colour to it. It’s transparent. So, those bronze sticks can go over any shade you would consider a good match for them.

 

I’ve got to tell you, I like glitters for all the variety they can introduce into my manicures, but somehow sticky shaped glitters have never been my favourites.

 

Doesn’t mean you can’t like them though 🙂 Because they are bigger, conspicuous and very special occasion like. They have party written all over them.

 

And it can be any party. Doesn’t necessarily have to be one during holiday season. Going out and wanna shine? Extravaglint might come in handy.

 

Such artsy metallic glitters look their best on dark cream nail shades. Or bright cream nail shades. Although, I guess you could come up with a super interesting pastel manicure with these sticks, where they’ll be tender rather instead of edgy. Why not? 🙂

 

These are our eight. Looking all good and ready to celebrate. We still have to see how the two glitter shades will look on all the other shades in the collection though. That’s what they are for, right? So, we’ll go one by one here and all over from the beginning and study our shades and glitters put together very closely to decide what we like best.

   

   

   

   

 

On with the glitters.

 

The first shade we saw was 471 Naughty or Vice (cream). Remember? 🙂 All dark ink purple and gorgeous. It has to look great under glitters. We’ll see how it looks under our two – 475 Stellarbration (metallic glitter) and 459 Extravaglint (metallic glitter).

 

471 Naughty or Vice + 475 Stellarbration

   

 

471 Naughty or Vice + 459 Extravaglint

   

 

And Naughty or Vice topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

Wow. Naughty or Vice seems to bring out the best in the two glitters. When it comes to Stellarbration, all the golden powder in it is revealed. And those stars really shine in that ink purple sky. Extravaglint gets even more fun, once it lands on the dark background providing a perfect contrast for the bronze sticks. I say, we’re all good here. Both glitters work with Naughty or Vice.

 

Our next shade was 431 Happy Holly Day (cream). This deep intense green is not as dark as ink purple Naughty or Vice, still it might be just dark and bright enough to bring out all the glittery essence of Stellarbration and Extravaglint. So, let’s go.

 

431 Happy Holly Day +  475 Stellarbration

   

 

431 Happy Holly Day +  459 Extravaglint

   

 

And Happy Holly Day topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

You know how yellow and green go so well together oftentimes? Well, if you come to think of it, golden is a shade of yellow. Agreed? 🙂 So, Happy Holly Day paired up with those golden glitters looks stunning, even if a little different than Naughty or Vice. This green is more on the artsy side with the golden dust all over it and the silver stars shining on it. And it really rocks with the bronze sticks. Love it.

 

Moving on. 479 Revelry Red (micro glitter). This red is quite bright, not as bright as that green and not nearly as dark as that ink purple. Still somehow I think it will provide a good enough contrast for our two glitters. I just wonder how micro glitter in it will work with metallic glitter. We’ll see.

 

479 Revelry Red +  475 Stellarbration

   

 

479 Revelry Red +  459 Extravaglint

   

 

And Revelry Red topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

Looking good. Even better than I expected. With both Stellarbration and Extravaglint. A little artsier than Naughty or Vice and Happy Holly Day. This micro glitter in all the red adds texture and depth and gives a little bit of an interesting twist to the glitters. It especially clicks with the tiny golden flecks in Stellarbration and the stars 🙂 And the micro glitter paired up with the bronze sticks in Extravaglint creates a gorgeous abstraction.

 

More beauty. 449 Foiled Again (metallic). I wonder, whether any of the glitters will actually work with the rich and shiny gold that’s already there in Foiled Again. Seems to me, it might be too much. I mean, shine, pearl, glitter, gold, all in one place, that’s a whole lot of celebration.

 

449 Foiled Again +  475 Stellarbration

   

 

449 Foiled Again +  459 Extravaglint

   

 

And Foiled Again topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

Believe it or not, the stars are so great they even work on golden Foiled Again. The golden sparkle more or less gets lost in all the gold, and we only see the silver in the remaining bigger holographic particles there. Not just stars, circly things and hectagons too. Surprisingly good. When it comes to bronze sticks though, they seem to get mostly drowned by the golden sea around them. So, I’d say, it’s the first combo that doesn’t quite work.

 

Two more to go. 127 RSVPlum (satin). Hm, interesting. It could go both ways here. On the one hand, this shade is bright enough to be a good colour clash thing for glitters. On the other hand, it’s not too dark and not too bright. And whether this satin finish will work with glitter, I don’t know.

 

127 RSVPlum + 475 Stellarbration

   

 

127 RSVPlum + 459 Extravaglint

   

 

And RSVPlum topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

Oh, this is another version of the purple sky. Only it’s lighter than ink purple Naughty or Vice. It being lighter also means it’s artsier. It looks more modern, more edgy and even more party like. Less of a classic. Very nice. The bronze sticky glitter looks awesome on this satiny purple. Not only it looks super funky and super clubby. The satiny sheen somehow cooperates with the bronze in the sticks providing almost a golden glow of some sort hovering over this beautiful manicure. Cool.

 

And the last one. The most trendy one and funky one and everything. 450 Turquoise Tidings (holographic glitter). I don’t know. I mean, I’m going to try it, because it’s part of the collection. But this might be, finally, the one shade that has too much stuff in it to work with more stuff from the glitters.

 

450 Turquoise Tidings + 475 Stellarbration

   

 

450 Turquoise Tidings + 459 Extravaglint

   

 

And Turquoise Tidings topped with Stellarbration and Extravaglint side by side.

   

 

You know what? This is even more of a surprise than the starry Stellabration working with the golden Foiled Again, but there’s something about this super crazy in a good way manicure. I mean, if you’re going to go with artsy, why not really go with it? You have to be bold to wear this, and you have to like edgy manicures, but if you do, this might actually make it on top of your favourites list. It’s almost decadent in its glory. A little less so with stars. Here we mostly see stars and golden hectagons and circly things mixed with Turquoise Tidings holographic glitter. While those bronze sticks added to all the holographic glitter add up to not just having a ball feel, but to having a masque ball feel. It’s beautiful though on a certain level. A stunner, a party stopper and an attention drawer.

 

That’s CND Creative Play Celebration collection and my first experience with this nail colour range. The best part of this experience, to me, is that it proved to be as creative as promised. Having something very creative in manicure world is nice, because there’s not that many of creative nail colour ranges. I mean, I like this collection. Celebration. It’s like fireworks. Splendid for holiday season and for any special occasions to come. What I like even more though is that CND decided to do Creative Play as a permanent range. And this range is so wide. Eighty shades. Celebration collection definitely made me want to try more shades and get involved in that creative play to the full. It’s like every bottle is a surprise. Every bottle is like your birthday. Or your favourite holiday. Nice and pleasant and festive. CND Creative Play range stirs imagination, and I really enjoy this bubbly emotion it brings with it. Let’s celebrate. Let’s play. Let’s be creative. Thank you, CND 🙂