It’s always fun when we get to see new nail styles that we’ve never seen before. That’s what happened when Jennifer Mather of Polished Nail Design Group in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, came in to do this month’s cover. Mather has been a CND education ambassador since 1999 and when we first contacted her, she sent us a bunch of really cool designs. We were intent on having her use CND’s new Additives — a collection of 12 pure pigments and lustrous effects that can be blended into any CND sculpting powder, gel, or used as a topping for Shellac to create a custom finish. These are cosmetic-grade pure pigments that can be blended to create an array of colors. And they are great for creating sophisticated, fashion-forward nail art designs.

Cover tech and CND education ambassador Jenn Mather (left) created this month’s cool textured nails using CND’s new Additives collection and Velcro. The Canadian tech showed us a ton of great designs, but we loved this unique texture to go with our icy cover.

Cover tech and CND education ambassador Jenn Mather (left) created this month’s cool textured nails using CND’s new Additives collection and Velcro. The Canadian tech showed us a ton of great designs, but we loved this unique texture to go with our icy cover.

While we’ve never met before, Mather has plenty of experience creating unique nail styles. A nail tech for about 16 years, she’s won many nail competitions in Canada, including the Contessa Nail Enhancement Artist of the Year in 2009. She’s also listed by BE! (Beauty Entertainment Magazine) as one of the top 40 North American nail technicians.

For this month’s cover, Mather came up with a fun technique combining CND Retention+ liquid and powders, CND Black Pigment, Cerulean Blue Pigment Effect, Titanium Pearl Pigment Effect, and Velcro — yes, Velcro! With textures being all the rage this fall, what a perfect way to take fashion to the nails.

 

Here’s how you can do these nails:

 

1. Prep natural nails for enhancements. Sculpt a thin layer of clear Retention+ liquid and powder. 

 

2. File the nails to desired length and shape.

 

3. Apply a thin layer of custom dark gray acrylic (Retention+ White Powder and CND  Additives Black Pigment mixed) to one nail.

 

4. Using a small piece of Velcro, imprint the nail with the spiky side of the Velcro. Repeat dark gray and Velcro to finish all nails.

 

4a. This is what the nail will look like after the gray acrylic has dried with the Velcro imprint.

 

5. Using Cerulean Blue Pigment Effect, Titanium Pearl Pigment Effect and a dry brush, burnish the solid pigments randomly over the stippled nail surface.

 

6. Seal with Brisa Gloss, curing for two minutes.

 

Click here for a video tutorial on creating these textured nails.

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