19 March 2024

Gimme-5 with the amazing Jan Arnold, CND Co-Founder

We met with passionate and talented Jan Arnold, the Co-Founder of CND – for an exclusive Gimme-5 interview, and she gave us the scoop on CND’s future plans and key colors they are excited to introduce for new upcoming collections!

1. What do you think sets CND, as a company, apart? “Our roots as a company are based in innovation and education. When other companies outsourced their research capabilities during the recession, we at CND invested in a custom-build multi-million-dollar Research & Development facility, where our team has continued to develop groundbreaking technologies that truly revolutionize the nail industry. We remain a professional-only brand and are fully committed to elevating Nail Professionals worldwide, while showcasing unrivaled nail artistry at Fashion Week each season.”

2. Estetica is going to push hard for nails and color in a new color issue, we want to devote more to nails, could you share with us the your philosophy on how to approach nails? I’ve always had this dream of getting the cosmetologists – the hair colorists and the Nail Professionals – to consult their clients on a total and complete color story. When a client changes her hair color, it changes her entire look! We see so many salons today compartmentalizing color influences for a client, but could you imagine if we pulled it all together and clients could visit the salon and get a total color analysis? From hair to makeup to nails! I’ve got short boyish hair, so I like to have long feminine nails. Short white hair, long dark nails – high contrast. So there’s this interplay between what’s happening with you hair and your nails and you really are telling a story and making a statement. So many stylists have not yet made that connection. We should approach nails by asking, “What do they say about you?” Your nails can have an alter ego – it’s not always obvious. When we used to work with Betsey Johnson for her runway shows, she really understood that she could put a tutu on a girl and it was very feminine and girly, but there were ways to still portray that girl as naughty. We would create long pointy nails with a rebellious chunky crystal in the back, and then she’d put a red lip on the girl, and the story was instantly totally changed.”

3. What more can nail school be for cosmetologists? “Cosmetologists are licensed to do nails, but many of them choose to focus on another niche, like hair cutting and coloring. When a client is getting her hair colored, she has a good 30 minutes to wait while the color is processing. During that time, cosmetologists have an opportunity to elevate their service ticket by at least $50. Why not give your hair client a CND Shellac manicure while she’s waiting for her color to process? It takes about 30 minutes, the same amount of time as a regular manicure. The client can then go three weeks with her CND Shellac and three weeks with her cut and color before going back for another service. A fresh manicure feels phenomenal – I think offering CND Shellac to clients while they are getting their hair done is a gift because it is so convenient for them, and nothing feels better than a fresh manicure. It’s the perfect chance to tell a full story with your look and become a fashion expert.”

4. What’s new for CND for 2014? For CND, 2014 is all about color! We launched CND Shellac in May 2010 and it has really taken hold globally. Last summer, in 2013, we introduced our latest color innovation, VINYLUX Weekly Polish System, which is doing amazingly well. With these two unique color lines, CND is now able to cater to every woman. CND Shellac is perfect for the woman who can commit to a look for 2-3 weeks. On the other hand, there’s the antsy client who wants to change her color weekly – that’s where VINYLUX comes in. It really is Polish Reinvented. While traditional nail polishes break down in about three days, VINYLUX does just the opposite. The two-part system requires no UV curing. It consists of a self-adhering color coat that eliminates the need for a base coat, and a Weekly Top Coat that actually gets tougher with exposure to natural ambient light over time. It dries in just 8.5 minutes and goes a full seven days without chipping! Then, when you’re ready to change your color, it removes quickly and easily with an acetone-based polish remover just like regular polish, allowing clients to change their look frequently and experiment with color. Each season, CND is now unveiling a new color fashion story with matching shades in CND Shellac and VINYLUX, as well as complementary Additives for a little extra sparkle. The whole notion of nail fashion has become quite animated over the past few years. Nails are worn as jewels or fashion accessories, and every season, there is a new story and texture to play with. Working with our top distributors, CND is offering over 750 trend classes, where Nail Pros can learn about seasonal nail trends, get the news from the fashion runway and learn the techniques necessary to keep their clients thrilled. We’re also expanding our CND Shellac Pro Certification program. By visiting the Salon Locator on cnd.com, consumers can easily find Certified Pros in their area.”

5. What are the key colors for CND Spring 2014? Spring 2014 is all about faded vintage pastels for the modern muse! Our collection for the season is called Open Road. In developing the colors for the collection, I sort of envisioned this LA girl working at Sony or a PR company. She’s very buttoned up, but on the weekends, she puts on her jeans and lets her hair down – she jumps in her convertible and heads to Palm Springs. Along the open road, she experiences the drama of the desert sky. The morning colors are clean and sun bleached, but there’s a sandblasted soft focus that mutes the pale colors. Reflective of midday, we have a color called Desert Poppy which is clean and very vibrant like the flowers of the desert. Then we get to my favorite time in the desert, called the “amethyst hour,” when as the shadows cast against the mountains, everything is washed in purples and fuchsias. We have a color in the collection called Sage Scarf – it’s resembles a vintage scarf, kind of a faded out green. If you take our Amethyst Flash Additive and dust it around the cuticle or rim the side of the nail, you get that “amethyst hour” depth that gives nails dimension. The collection really encompasses a free-spirited journey through the desert from dawn to dusk.”

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