[Backstage Beauty from the Karen Walker Spring 2012 show; Image courtesy of CND]
One of the best things about beauty is that playing around with color is strong encouraged, if not highly recommended. After hearing about how CND nail expert Wanda Ruiz mixed two CND colors, Bicycle Yellow and Blackjack together to get this stunning nail color, it definitely inspired some curiosity as to how to best DIY a new shade of nail color, adding in a new spin on the current colors in our collections.
FPD: Please tell us about how you made the Karen Walker nail color.
WR: The nail color was custom blended…I took a bottle of Bicycle Yellow and added 7 drops of Blackjack to it, shook it up, and that was the final shade. It’s all mixed together.
FPD: To do seven drops of polish against a base, what other color combos, besides black on yellow, should work? Is it always better to pair a darker color on top with a lighter on the bottom, or what would you say is the key to mixing and matching so that it looks distinct and not like you had a ‘nail accident’?
WR: Adding a few drops of black to any color will tone it down. We did this to create ombre nails at Jen Kao’s Spring 2012 shows as well. If you want to take a nearly neon color and make it a little less bright, add between 5 – 10 drops of black polish directly into the bottle and shake.
Thanks for the tips Wanda, and we can’t wait to start shaking up our current nail polish assortment with some new custom-mixed hues!
-Julia DiNardo
