Ciate Advent Day 7

Everyone loves a light pink. Everyone who's even remotely into nail polish should own a light pink. Use it in a french manicure combination, or straight up on its own - it will make your hands look tidy and classical. I love wearing light sheer colours like this as a break between bold manicures, or as a 'please stand by' polish, when I'm just not sure what to put on.

Today's advent offering - Ciate Cutie Pie.

There is nothing mysterious about the shade in itself, so the money really is on the performance: the application, the pigmentation and the wear.

Ciate Advent Day 6

There is nothing that gets me out of bed quicker than the thought of my advent calendar shelf. I have tried as much as I could to not peek into the colours, with the internet so full of spoilers from impatient mademoiselles. So each day is a true surprise to me.

  This morning we discover a pearly white behind door 6 - Angel wings.

This looks like a universal colour good for all seasons, but I'm sure I'll be glittering it up for the upcoming festivities. The good thing about it is that it can be paired with a variety of glitter colours.

Review of Ciate's infamous Caviar

Today I took my newly acquired Ciates for a test run. I paired up the cream purple Cabaret shade  with the Prom Queen caviar for the accent nails (left thumb and right pinky). The two together really are a dream team! 

How gymnastic do your fingers need to be to get all five nails facing the same way? Very much so, as it turned out. 

I should start by saying that applying the little beads to the nail was easier than I anticipated, and used an insignificant amount of the magic sprinkles. In fact, the drying process was less stressful than with regular polish, as you don't need to worry about ruining the delicate shinyness. I did my accent nails in the morning before going to work. 

The texture of this is very... attractive. Not necessarily in a pleasant way, but more in a "touch me, touch me!" kind of way. I was very conscious of my mani all day. You know the awkward hand gestures you take to when you've just done your nails? I was like that all day. 

Unfortunately, the beads were mostly gone by the evening, significantly more so on the thumb than on the pinky. Im glad to know that I'm not wasting the evolutionary effort of my ancestors in developing an opposable thumb, I seem to use it a lot.

Don't get me wrong though, I enjoy this combo immensely! I shall wear the two together again, no doubt, but probably more for a one-day-long kind of deal. Which the upcoming few weeks will offer plenty of.

Ciate Advent Day 5

December 5th, and the inhabitant behind door number 5 is a rich creamy purple purple. Meet Ciate -  Cabaret.

I was so excited to discover this colour today! Not only because purple is one of my favourite colours to wear on the nails, but also because Cabaret would make a perfect friend to yesterday's Prom Queen.

The application of this was streaky and definitely needed the three coats depicted below to even things out. The colour is absolutely lovely-lovely though, so I forgive. 

Ciate Advent Day 4

Day 4 of the Ciate advent calendar, and OMG CAVIAR!

This little baby is called Prom Queen, and it's a cult Ciate product. I'm sure you will have heard of these: micro-beads that you pour over a wet base coat to create this unusual textured 'Caviar' manicure. Personally, I've always thought caviar polishes were a bit of a gimmick simply because the micro-beads aren't exactly micro. The end result appears quite chunky, but then again, I've never tried this technique myself.

Prom Queen is a mixture of navy, pink and gold beads, and I was also surprised to find large hexagon  flecks of glitter in the mixture. Very pretty!

I am really curious to try out this polish; I'm glad I have the chance to play with the mini bottle, I doubt I would have splurged the £18 for the set just to see if I like the idea. 

The bottle for this doesn't have a bow. I wonder why?

Ciate Advent Day 3

Advent day 3, and a true challenge in the photography department - Ciate - Halo

Halo is quite complex and even difficult to describe. I would call it  a transparent white polish with a purple-pink sheen.

 It will probably look best as a top coat over a solid colour. I also think it will give awesome dimension to galaxy nail art.

Here you can see the beautiful blue sparkle and the gritty-looking texture. I can't wait to try this one over a white!
Снегурочка.

Ciate Advent Day 2

Behind the second door of the Mini Mani calendar we have another classic - a deep red. Here is Ciate's Dangerous affair.

This colour looks darker in the bottle than it comes off on the nails. When applied, it is a bright blue-toned red, the kind I prefer to orange-y reds. 

It went on smoothly, the formula of this one is just right - not too runny, not too gloopy. I used three coats for good measure, but two would probably suffice. It dried very quickly, with a glossy finish. 

Here I wore it with China Glaze's Electrify on the accent nail. The two look stunning together!

Ciate Advent Day 1

Opening the door of the advent calendar today was a first in many ways. Not only is it the first day of December (and exciting landmark in the run-up to Christmas), a first door of an advent calendar, a first NAIL POLISH advent calendar I've ever seen, my first ever Ciate product, but it is also my first ever advent calendar altogether. 

What a better way to celebrate all those firsts with a hot magenta?

And here it is, the first one in the line-up:  Cupcake Queen

Ciate's Cupcake Queen is an intense pink with the finest blue shimmer running through it. In the bottle you can only see it under certain angles. It will be very interesting to see how it translates onto the nails. 

I was surprised about how big the bottle is. It is a generous "full size mini", if such a thing even exists. I  can't believe I'll be getting a whole 24 of these! The bottle itself is absolutely delightful. Whoever thought of putting a bow onto a nail polish was tapping into my subconsciousness. 

The Ultimate Advent Calendar from Ciate

I can hardly wait to start!

Ciate Mini Mani Month

Pictures of each day's shade coming 

Winter celebrations dress DIY challenge

Recently I have succumbed to a lovely fashion trend that I completely dismissed before - feather skirts/dressed. I always deemed them not particularly flattering, as most of the models feature a bandeau-style top and a very high (ribcage area) waist line which is great if you need to disguise a 'cookie pouch', but can generally look a bit squared-off.

Opulence England at Asos, £300

The other discouraging factor was the price. Although brands with different average pricepoints offer these types of dresses/skirts, the presence of the feathers bumps up the price signifficantly.

Topshop, £80

 What pushed me over the line of skepticism towards hip plumage was actually seeing one in real life. The culprit was this Warehouse dress, and although I'm not a fan of the top, the texture of the skirt blew me away. What appears to be ostrich feathers hover and glide softly as you move the fabric - mesmerising!

Warehouse, £130

Anyway!

The fact is that I, like many othe DIY enthusiasts, go "ppppft! I could make that myself in 10 minutes, just give me ascrewdriver and some Mod Podge!" whenever I see anything remotely handmade-looking for sale. A common claim is also that it would cost "like, £1.20 to make"..

So here I am, digging for ostrich feather trim on ebay. The idea is to not only create a feather skirt with a flattering silhouette, but to make the top of the dress (prepare yourselves!) warm. Because is it just me, or are the majority of party dresses on offer completely winter-inappropriate?

To be continued..