I'm a bit of a nail addict to say the least. I own well over 150 polishes and counting!
I collect a few brands, and thought I would share with you a few of my favourites.
Of my three favourite, I have recently fallen in love with Ciaté. I have owned 2 full size bottles for a while and have received 24 mini paint pots in their newly released advent calendar. They paint really well and the length of their handles makes them a lot easier to apply than regular nail paints. Their packaging it really cute and I adore the bows used to decorate their glass bottles. They have the perfect consistency, and are very well pigmented, so you could easily get away with only one layer- but I prefer to go for two or three coats for the perfect glossy finish.
RRP £9
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| L-R Dangerous Affair, Jelly Bean |
After purchasing the Ciaté 'mini mani month' Advent calendar toward the end of November after waiting for it to come back in stock after the rapid sell out on the Selfridge's website, I eventually managed to get hold of one at www.ciate.co.uk
RRP £38
As I admire Ciaté for their long handles on the polishes, I was disappointed to know that they wouldn't be as long on the mini paint pots. However I was so excited when the 1st December finally came around after a long wait to see what was lurking behind the doors of this calendar!
I was so excited to try Ciaté's caviar pearl blends as I have seen so many youtubers raving about them. I knew that when applied to my nails they were only going to last 1-3 days maximum, which they did, but after a couple of hours the colour started to fade so that the glass bead was visible, colourless. They were easy to apply, but the calendar wasn't equipped with a plastic tray to collect the beads like in the caviar kits on their own, so I struggled to pour the beads back through the funnel with the aid of a tupperware container lid!
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| L-R Sundance, Bumblebee, Candyshop, Promqueen |
I was very impressed with the colours that were supplied in the calendar, there was a wide variety of choice and they all paint extremely well with the perfect consistency. I loved the idea of having mini bottles- unless it's a top or base coat, I can never find myself finishing a bottle of nail polish! The pictures below will name and show the colour of the products I received
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| L-R Cutie Pie, Cupcake Queen, Speed Dial, Mistress |
Cutie Pie, a very pale pink, perfect for the base of a French manicure.
Cupcake Queen, could be seen as a dupe for Jelly Bean with added opalescent shimmer.
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| L-R Cabaret, Fade to Greige, Cookies and Cream, Vintage |
Speed Dial, the perfect orangey coral, would look perfect on toenails in spring/summer.
Mistress, a bright fire-engine red, very festive paired with red glitter.
Cabaret, a vivid purple, pairs well with caviar pearls in prom queen.
Fade to Greige, a mushroom brown with a hint of purple, dupe for Barry M in cappucino.
Cookies and Cream, creamy mushroom colour, perfect for pairing with black for a sophisticated nail look.
Vintage, grey with a undertone of blue, perfect match for wearing with a wintry outfit.
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| L-R Big Yellow Taxi, Mojito, Headliner, Power Dressing |
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| L-R Ladylike Luxe, Twilight, Halo, Angel Wings. |
Big Yellow Taxi, bright yellow which would look very good faded ombre into white.
Mojito, shrek green, which I have found to stain even with a base coat, however looks great as an accent nail paired with black.
Headliner, turquoise which looks very good under sundance caviar pearls.
Power Dressing, dark navy blue which looks great with a bright outfit.
Ladylike Luxe, great sparkly colour which I wore this Christmas with a gold and white sequin dress.
Twilight, the gold in this shows well, and looks really cute when wearing a LBD.
Halo, this reminds me of being out in the snow, as the opalescent pink and purple look just like frost.
Angel Wings, this silvery white is very shimmery, however I'm not too sure when I would ever wear this colour.
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| L-R Glass Slipper, Enchanted Rose, Magic Carpet |
These three glitters were an exclusive addition to the mini mani month calendar, and they have to be some on the best glitters I've used. When painted the product spreads evenly and gives a good coverage of glitter.
Glass Slipper, very vivid blue looks excellent over a pale/mint blue base.
Enchanted Rose, great festive Christmas colour over Mistress!
Magic Carpet, this disco purple would look great as a glitter tip.
(This calender did also come with a mini bottle of Dangerous Affair, however as I already owned the full size I gave it to one of my very close friends)
Overall I was extremely chuffed with this calendar! All the colours will last me a while and will see great use over the course of 2013 and years to come. I would love brands such as OPI and Barry M to come out with a similar idea towards Christmas next year as I would love to obtain some of these as I feel they are more worth the money than a full size bottle that will dry up before it gets finished!
xoxo
