Discovering Beauty: ciate

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Monday, 24 December 2012

Ciate mani month day 24 (Enchanted Rose)

Day 24

It’s hard to believe that the last 24 days have passed so quickly and that I have reached the final day of my blog challenge!

Today revealed the final Ciate mini mani month exclusive shade, Enchanted Rose, which is a glitter in a festive red shade.

I decided to apply the glitter on its own and also on top of Dangerous Affair. The glitter seems to be finer and more dense compared to the other two included in the calendar, which meant that two coats on its own was enough. However, I prefer the look of the glitter applied on top of the red polish, the colour underneath makes the glitter stand out much more even with one coat and I can’t think of a shade more suitable to wear on Christmas day!

If you have missed any days of the Ciate mini mani month, the links can be found below. Which one has been your favourite shade?

Day 1 — Cupcake Queen

Day 2 — Dangerous Affair

Day 10 — Ladylike luxe

Day 11 — Bumble Bee

Day 12 — Twilight

Day 13 — Glass Slipper

Day 14 — Speed Dial

Day 15 — Headliner

Day 16 — Big Yellow Taxi

Day 17 — Power Dressing

Day 18 — Candyshop

Day 19 — Cookies and Cream

Day 20 — Magic Carpet

Day 21 — Fade to Greige

Day 22 — Sundance

Day 23 — Mojito

Ciate mani month day 23 (Mojito)

Day 23

The penultimate advent shade of the Ciate mini mani month can only be described as a Kermit the frog green.

The shade is called Mojito and was one of the shades I was least looking forward to opening. I’m not a fan of green nail polish in general but, that being said, having worn it for the day I have grown to like this a little — I imagine that in the summer sunshine it will look much better. Like many of the polishes, it took three coats to look opaque and the polish dried quickly.

Tomorrow will be the last day of my mani month challenge and will be the third exclusive shade of the advent calendar, I have my fingers crossed that it isn’t another glitter, but I suspect it will be.

I’d love to know, have you enjoyed my advent challenge?

Ciate mani month day 22 (Sundance)

Day 22

Only two days of advent to go! Today revealed the final caviar pearls shade in the Ciate mini mani month, Sundance.

Sundance is a mixture of gold and pale blue pearls with gold and bronze hexagonal sequins. I paired the colour with day 10’s shade, Ladylike Luxe, which picks up the colour of the gold pearls well.

In my experience with the caviar pearls, to make them last as long as possible you need to apply a top coat but this does fade the colour of the pearls. I’m not sure if this is just my top coat but it does ruin the look, and again, I’m not a fan of those sequins!

If you have missed any of the last 21 days the links can be found below!

Day 1 — Cupcake Queen

Day 2 — Dangerous Affair

Day 10 — Ladylike luxe

Day 11 — Bumble Bee

Day 12 — Twilight

Day 13 — Glass Slipper

Day 14 — Speed Dial

Day 15 — Headliner

Day 16 — Big Yellow Taxi

Day 17 — Power Dressing

Day 18 — Candyshop

Day 19 — Cookies and Cream

Day 20 — Magic Carpet

Day 21 — Fade to Greige

Ciate mani month day 21 (Fade to Greige)

Day 20

Fade to griege featured behind door 20. I always think of griege as a grey based colour but this shade appears more of a brown/mauve and a bit like Vintage, looks different depending on the background!

The first coat was sheer and streaky but in three coats it was opaque, and like always took little time to dry.

It is a great winter shade and I like that it can appear so different depending on lighting and up against other colours. Another win in my opinion.

Ciate mani month day 20 (Magic Carpet)

Day 20

The second of the surprise colours featured behind the door today, and as a suspected it's another glitter.

Magic Carpet is a pink based purple glitter. Like Glass Slipper, the glitter is suspended in a clear polish. Again I would have preferred that the base polish was coloured. I don't think that this shade works well by itself and I don't have the patience to applying enough coats to get a good finish. I applied three coats, but as I mentioned before I think it would look much better layered over a coloured polish.

What do you think about glitter in general?

Ciate mani month day 19 (Cookies and Cream)

Day 19

Cookies and Cream featured behind door number 19. Although it is a beautiful nude shade, my immediate expectation was that it would streak.

However, I'm pleased to say it applied well, with no streaks! It was sheer on the first cost but opaque in three. I didn't expect to like this shade, but this may well be on my favourites list at the end of the month. It is one of those shades that is suitable for all seasons and will suit most skin tones.

Ciate mani month day 18 (Candyshop)

Day 18

The penultimate caviar pearls shade, Candyshop, featured behind door number 18. The beads are slightly different sizes with smaller and larger pearls making up the mix of green/blue, pink and orange.

The pearls look slightly metallic compared to the previous two bottles. From my experience so far with the pearls, a top coat is definitely needed to help them to stay in place for as long as possible.

Now as for the fact behind the door today, that sounds like a beauty bloggers challenge to me. Don’t you agree?

Ciate mani month day 17 (Power Dressing)

Day 17

A very random quote behind the door today, I'm not sure exactly what 'zest’ is?! However, today's polish is a dark, winter appropriate colour.

Power Dressing is a deep navy blue, which looks almost black in certain lights. The polish applies well, and is opaque with two coats. It is slightly streaky on application but this is more obvious in the photographs than with the naked eye.

If you have missed any other days of the Ciate advent the links can be found below. Let me know what your favourite is so far.

Day 1 — Cupcake Queen

Day 2 — Dangerous Affair

Day 10 — Ladylike luxe

Day 11 — Bumble Bee

Day 12 — Twilight

Day 13 — Glass Slipper

Day 14 — Speed Dial

Day 15 — Headliner

Day 16 — Big Yellow Taxi

Ciate mani month day 16 (Big Yellow Taxi)

Day 16

Big Yellow Taxi was behind door 16, a bright yellow that reminds me of Barry M's Lemon Icecream.

Unfortunately the formulation of the polish makes it very streaky and even with three coats, it didn't look any better. It's a shame because I think this shade would be flattering on most skin tones but hopefully, it will still look striking when the sun is shining.

Ciate mani month day 15 (Headliner)

Day 15

Yesterday I declared that Speed Dial may well end up being one of my favourite shades of the advent month, then I opened door number 15. Behind it was Headliner, a beautiful teal colour. This is again the perfect example of when the image on the back of the box hasn’t done the true shade justice.

The polish is a creme finish and with careful application, one coat could be enough. It is one of those shades that is appropriate all year round and is nothing like anything I have in my collection and is therefore a welcome addition!

The past few days of messages behind the doors have been a bit odd, but I have to say I totally agree with the message today. Nothing is worse than when you do your nails and the doorbell rings or you realise you need to get something out of your bag! However, all the Ciate polishes have dried quickly, which is great.

Ciate mani month day 14 (Speed Dial)

Day 14

An odd message on the door today, but the polish behind is a beautiful summer shade called Speed Dial. Speed Dial is a bright orange, which was easy to apply and dried quickly. The first coat was sheer but you get an opaque finish with the second.

This is definitely a shade that will look gorgeous in the summer time. I love polishes that have a creme finish and this one is perfect. This could quite possibly be one of my favourites from the whole collection.

If you have missed anything from the last 13 days, the links are below. What is your favourite so far?

Day 1 — Cupcake Queen

Day 2 — Dangerous Affair

Day 10 — Ladylike luxe

Day 11 — Bumble Bee

Day 12 — Twilight

Day 13 — Glass Slipper

Ciate mani month day 13 (Glass Slipper)

Day 13

Today revealed the first of the three exclusive shades to the Ciate mini mani month. This shade is Glass Slipper, which is a gorgeous light blue glitter, which looks stunning in the bottle.

I applied three coats, which close up gives a 3D look as you can see the different layers of polish. I would have preferred that the base of the glitter was a blue colour rather than clear but I have plenty of polishes I can use as a base to layer this over. The glitter is very fine and the polish dries extremely quickly, which is always a plus.

I suspect that all the exclusive polishes will be glitter, what do you think?

Ciate mani month day 12 (Twilight)

Day 12

In my original Ciate mini mani month post, I commented that having the shades listed on the back of the box ruined the surprise a little, but I’ve found that in some cases the pictures don't do the true shades justice.

Behind the door today was Twilight, a polish that on the box looked like a regular black but is actually filled with fine gold glitter. The polish dries extremely quickly, so quickly that if you try to go over any area it starts lifting away but other than that it is beautiful.

Although you could probably get away with one coat, two gives the most striking effect. It is a great colour for the winter months and the party season, and I would recommend it to anyone who isn’t a lover of bright colours or chunky glitter but still wants something special. I just hope it isn’t too much of a pain to remove tomorrow!

Ciate mani month day 11 (Bumble Bee)

Day 10

I knew there had to be another Caviar pearls soon and my prediction was only a day out. Behind door number 10 were the pearls in the shade Bumble Bee, and as you might expect from the name, the pearls are a combination of black and gold, and match perfectly with yesterday's shade Ladylike Luxe.

To apply, I simply applied a thin layer of polish and poured on the pearls. These are much nicer than the Prom Queen pearls since they don't contain any sequins and therefore there is no appearance of gaps in the nail. I decided not to apply a top coat on this occasion since I didn't want to dull the colour of the beads, which is what I found last time.

So far I am really liking the look of the caviar pearls and once this challenge is over I'm looking forward to rocking the look on all 10 fingers!

What do you think of the pearls, yay or nay?

Ciate mani month day 10 (Ladylike luxe)

Day 10

All that glitters is gold behind door number 10 today. Ladylike luxe is a very yellow toned shimmer polish, that is the first polish ever that I have left with one coat. The bottle makes the shade looked two toned gold and silver (which you can see in the picture) but this doesn’t translate on the nail.

I’m not convinced that the gold is the most flattering shade for my skin tone but it is very good for the party season and I think that this would make a great base for glitter!

Just for reference I have shown what the polish looks like with two coats on my little finger and have also applied the shade Halo (from day 3) on my ring finger. Applying Halo tones down the yellow and does give a two tone, gold and silver effect as you move it around in the light!

If you have missed any of the last nine posts from the Ciate mini mani advent, the links can be found below!

Day 1 — Cupcake Queen

Day 2 — Dangerous Affair

Ciate mani month day 9 (Mistress)

Day 9

Another festive shade behind door nine today, Mistress is a santa suit red, which has an underlying orange/coral tone.

The creme finish means that the polish applies well, and two coats was all that was is needed. Red is always a good colour to have in a polish collection and it is suitable for all seasons.

I think it is about time for another set of Caviar pearls, so I am predicting that is what will be behind door number ten — at least, I hope so!

Ciate mani month day 8 (Vintage)

Day 8

I was happy to see a darker shade behind the door today after the streak of bright colours and pastels — not sure about the message behind the door though! Today’s colour was Vintage, a shade I was convinced was grey up until I photographed it and realised is in fact khaki green!

I’m not usually a fan of green nail polishes but because this is a dark shade, and does look grey in some lights, I like it. I think this will look great as part of a camouflage/army print nail art design, if I master one I’ll be sure to share it with you.