8 Dec: Ciate Mini Mani Month – Kiss Chase

December 8, 20131 Comment

It’s bright, neon pink for Sunday, with Ciate’s Kiss Chase – under door number eight of my advent calendar!

What can I say other than this is unashamedly girly.? Ciate’s decription reads: “A dreamy pink to make the boys wink, super girly and sure to become the Paint Pot equivalent of your BFF. Bold high coverage one coat colour with luminous pastel tendencies. Pucker up!” Buy a pot here.

Bold pink is not really my thing, but even Kiss Chase is growing on me! And what do you think of the matte version, on the right? (By the way, I added three coats to my nails, because it seemed slightly sheer to me, somehow! But then, I was painting my nails at 2.30 in the morning!)

6 Dec: Ciate Mini Mani Month – Sugar Plum

December 6, 2013Leave a comment

A pretty pastel shade for Friday – it’s Sugar Plum under door number six of Ciate’s Mini Mani Month advent calendar!

Ciate’s description reads: “Baby doll parmaviolet. Delicious creams create a colour perfect for the spring and summer. Unique and flirtatious that screams pass me my floral skirt and pussybow blouse.” You can purchase a full bottle here.

Pastel shades aren’t really my thing, although this is a pretty shade if you want to fully embrace your girly side!

I also gave it a whirl under a matte top coat (bottom left – although I didn’t really dry it enough, the finish is much more matte than it appears there!). What do you reckon to this colour – are you a Sugar Plum fairy?!

4 Dec: Ciate Mini Mani Month – Miss Mistletoe

December 5, 2013Leave a comment

Behind door number four is the beautiful and glamorous Miss Mistletoe! I was very excited to try out the month’s first sequin set and I wasn’t disappointed.

Miss Mistletoe isn’t available to buy separately from Ciate’s site, but you can still buy sets with sequins included, like the emerald set, which also has caviar, velvet and a full sized lacquer, all in green of course!

The sequins are pink and gold, and perfect for a luxe take on festivities! I love the name too – I definitely like getting nods to Christmas in the advent calendar, as pretty much everything I do in December revolves around Christmas, so it’s nice to co-ordinate! I really think this is a contender for a New Year’s Eve mani, too – that gold is just gorgeous.

It’s easy to apply too, although you will end up with sequins everywhere – just like Ciate’s caviar, you simply paint your nail the desired colour, then pour the sequins over the top, press to firm everything up, then allow the excess to fall off. You may have to tidy the edges and remove any sequins not quite flush. Then, for added protection, paint a top coat over everything to keep it in place!

18 Dec: Ciate Mini Mani Month – Candyshop

December 18, 2012Leave a comment

Yay, another bottle of Caviar Pearls! This mix is called Candyshop – fairly appropriate, I think!

This is an amazing mix of sweet colours – hot pink, light navy blue, and orange!

So Christmassy – it ties really well into the Russian Christmas theme I’ve seen in some of the shops this season, based on the amazing colours of the famous Onion Domes seen on Eastern European churches.

I had no end of trouble trying to capture the beauty of these colours in the dull overcast light of a miserable Tuesday…