NOTD Ciate Sand Dune Paint Pot

I decided to give one of the shades I picked up with this month's issue of Marie Claire a go yesterday. Until quite recently, I completely bypassed nail colours with any sort of shimmer or glitter, but after adding a few sparkly colours to my collection, I have to say, I'm actually quite liking shimmery shades at the moment. 

Ciate Paint Pot: Sand Dune

Ciate Sand Dune

Sand Dune is described as a glistening gold on the Ciate site, which it most certainly is. It's a pretty, shiny pound coin kinda gold shot through with tiny shimmers. 

Ciate Sand Dune (3 Coats)

It took three coats of colour to get a completely opaque finish, but the formula is excellent and I had zero application issues. I've actually found this to be the case with all of the Ciate shades I've tried - they all seem to apply brilliantly and wear well, too. I added a coat of my regular topcoat over the shade (Seche), but the finish still felt really smooth and looked quite glossy without.

Overall, a nice shade and one I imagine will look pretty during the summer with a bit of a tan. 

Free Ciate Nail Colours with This Month's Marie Claire

A quick post on another magazine freebie. Marie Claire are currently giving away a full size bottle of Ciate nail polish with the May issue of the magazine. There are two different colours to collect (worth £9.00 each), Sand Dune and Pocket Money.

Ciate Sand Dune 085 & Pocket Money 107

Ciate Sand Dune & Pocket Money

Sand Dune is a pretty, shimmery gold and Pocket Money is a creamy fudge shade. I haven't done a full mani with either of the colours yet, but I have done some nail swatches and they both apply really well. To be honest, though, all the colours I've tried from the brand have been great in terms of application and finish, and all of the shades I've tried seem to wear well, too.

Top: 3 Coats of Sand Dune & Bottom: 2 coats of Pocket Money

The May issue of Marie Claire is out now and costs £3.80. There's also a free 25ml tube of Jergens Ultra Healing Body Moisturiser included with the magazine, and a discount code for 20% off at Ciate. 

Hope everyone's having a nice weekend!

NOTD Ciaté Jelly Bean

Jelly Bean was actually my nail colour of choice yesterday, too. I wanted something pink for Valentine's day and opted for the bright fuchsia, mainly because it's been sitting unused on my nail polish shelf since I picked it up last year. I've no idea why, because it's a really pretty shade!

Ciaté Paint Pot Jelly Bean

Jelly Bean is a bright fuchsia, shot through with blue shimmer, which is much more visible in the bottle than it is on nails.You can just about make out the tiny blue shimmers on the nail up close and in natural light, but they're very subtle. In bright sunlight and with flash, they become much more visible.

Ciate Jelly Bean (with flash)

Two coats applied in the picture above and photo taken with flash to show the fine blue glitter/shimmer.

Ciaté Jelly Bean

Ciaté Jelly Bean (2 coats)

As with other shades I've tried from the brand, Jelly Bean applies brilliantly. The wide, flat brush and long handle make application a pretty easy task, and the shade was opaque with two coats. I applied my regular top coat over the colour (Seche Vite), but the finish was still super glossy without.

Ciate Nail Colour: Skinny Jeans 022

I actually received this in my July GlossyBox and stashed it away in my polish drawer because I'm not really a fan of blue nail colours. I am quite fond of mint, turquoise, aqua and even teal shades, but tend to shy away from deeper, darker blues.The colour seems to be a popular choice for nails this Fall with Dior and Chanel both releasing blues in their collections, so I decided to fish out the shade yesterday and give it a go.

Ciate Paint Pot Skinny Jeans 022

I'd describe Skinny Jeans as a really pigmented, cobalt or denim blue shade. It's the first polish I've tried from Ciate and I'm really impressed with the formula, which is fairly thick and applied beautifully. The elongated lid and short, fairly wide brush allowed for really precise application, and the quick drying, rich, non streaking colour made painting my nails an absolute pleasure.

Ciate Skinny Jeans with flash (2 coats)

The photos show two coats of colour without a top coat. Ciate describe their nail colours as being long lasting so I thought I'd test it without Seche Vite to see how long the colour lasts.

Skinny Jeans Direct Sunlight (2 coats)

 So has Skinny jeans changed my opinion of blue polish? No, I don't think so. The colour is lovely, but I'm just not ready to embrace smurf nails yet. Blues look lovely on others, but the colour just isn't for me. I'm glad I've given it a go because I've discovered a new brand of great polish, but I doubt I'll be reaching for the shade again anytime soon. 

Ciate nail colours are available here and cost £9.00 for a 13.5ml bottle 

Are you a fan of blue polish?

Do any of the blues from this years fall collections take your fancy?