Friday 30 November 2012

Ciate Mini Mani Month Manicure


Ciate Mini Mani Month Manicure
As some of you may have seen on my Instagram and Facebook pages, I bought the Ciate Mini Manicure Advent Calendar and have been holding on to this for quite some time as I had anticipated using it as it was intended (as an advent calendar).

So, as of tomorrow I will be posting pictures of the nail polishes for each day.

Until tomorrow,


Jolina xxx

(PS, here is a sneak peek of all the colours that you get. These images are intentionally small so it doesn't give EVERYTHING away. BUT if you're really dying to see them you can click the images to make them larger ;p)



Thursday 29 November 2012

Ciate Velvet Manicure in Berry Poncho


After reading/hearing all the hype about the Ciaté nail polishes I thought I would buy some and give it a try. I had already tried the pearl/caviar type nail art and wasn't a fan of it so I thought I would try the Velvet Manicure range.

Instruction Booklet
**According to the instructions there is supposed to be a tray supplied to catch fallout but mine was missing. So, I just used the tray that the polish and velvet were attached to. It came in handy as there is a dip in the tray that helped guide the excess velvet back into the container.

Contents of Box
I was quite impressed with the Ciaté Nail polish. The formula is so pigmented and goes on really nice and smooth. It also dried quite quickly.

First Coat of Polish






Once you have let the first coat dry, you then need to apply a second coat of polish then immediately apply the velvet on top doing one nail at a time.

I recommend liberally applying the velvet to ensure that you get a nice coat of it to make the manicure look nice and full.

I also found that the velvet came out a lot nicer if you just tapped your finger on the bottom of the container rather than shaking it like a salt and pepper shaker.

This is what I mean by LIBERALLY! ;p

Then once you have laid a layer of velvet on the nail, I pressed down on it to try and compact it even more on the nail and then using the little black brush provided you sweep away the excess and let it fall into the tray.

The excess velvet after doing one hand

Once you have let it dry for 10-15 minutes the manicure is complete!


Completed Velvet Manicure (this photo has not been photoshopped - besides the addition of my watermark)

I absolutely love the look of this manicure but it is definitely only for special occasions as the velvet doesn't stay fluffy after coming in to contact with water, which is a bit of a let down but totally expected.

Once the velvet comes in contact with water, it's almost like it absorbs the water and then shrinks/disintegrates. On some of my nails the velvet has gone completely within one day.

The next day, same nail as above (also not photoshopped)

However, I am a massive fan of their polish formula. As I said previously, the pigment and consistency is just dreamy and it dries so quickly!

I was strictly just an OPI and China Glaze nail polish user, but now I can confidently add Ciaté to my trusted products/favourites list but maybe just not the Velvet Manicure editions!






Saturday 3 November 2012

OPI - Bond...James Bond



Following on from my "Man with the Golden Gun" OPI purchase, I also bought "Bond...James Bond" magnetic nail polish. It's a cute metallic polish that comes with a criss cross pattern magnetizer.


OPI - "Bond...James Bond".
This is the contents of the packet.

The instructions read:

"Apply two coats on one finger. Place finger onto the bottom of the magnetizer with the magnet positioned over the nail. Press the top side down until the edge touches the finger below the cuticle. Be careful not to touch the nail with the magnet. Press and hold in place for 5-6 seconds. Release and pull it away, revealing the design. Continue, doing one finger at a time. Allow your nails to dry completely; finish with top coat."
 
At first glance, I though the concept and structure of the magnetizer was quite ingenious but I found that the pattern just wasn't coming when used as instructed so I ended up holding the magnet and positioning my finger as close as possible under the magnet. The results were pretty cool (below).

Freshly magnetized.
I was pretty happy with the effect and waited for the polish to dry. However, once I applied the top coat, I felt as if the pattern melted away with every swipe of top coat I applied which was very disappointing.
Painted with top coat.
Overall, it's pretty cute and kitschy but I'm not really happy with how it looks from far away as it looks quite messy.

The reason I bought this one was more so for the colour rather than the magnetizer as it looks like a cool based gold (I can't think of a name for it but those are the only words I can think of to describe the colour). I wouldn't recommend this if you were wanting nails that match the advertising/pictures on the boxes but the colours of the polish are quite nice and, as with all OPI polish, it goes on quite well and lasts a long time.


"Bond...James Bond" is sold at selected David Jones stores for $24.95RRP (magnet is not sold separately). There are two other colours available, "Is That Silva" (grey with silver specks; diagonal magnet design) and "Morning, Money Penny" (rose pink with silver specks; striped magnet design)
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