Sunday, 20 January 2013

Review of Ciate's Mini Mani Month

Hi guys! My first review for you here :) and I apologise because it is the Ciate Mini Mani Month and it is the mid-end of January. I wasn't going to post this originally, but I didn't have a blog in December and Ciate did tweet that they had brought back the Calendar so I thought I would put it up anyway! Plus, it doesn't necessarily have to be used as a count down to Christmas  it could be a countdown to a birthday or other special event!


So, first things first - this is awesome! I cannot recommend this enough to anyone who likes nail polish. If you have a friend or relative who loves nail polish, buy this for them, when it next becomes available and you have a present that will be well appreciated. There are colours for everyone and, whilst there are a couple of colours I wouldn't really use unless I was doing funky nail art, there are also colours I wouldn't have thought about getting but absolutely love!

I got this a part of my Christmas present last year (feels so weird saying that when it was only a month ago!) and it retailed at £38 at Selfridges. It was then reduced down to £19 in the sale, so if you managed to get one for that price you got a bargain, especially when you consider that they are now charging over £50 for them on eBay!



This may seem quite expensive for an advent calendar, but when you think of how much you actually get, which is 20 x 5ml size bottles and 4 bottles of caviar beads, that makes 100ml of nail polish (which would cost around £67.50 with the normal prices of Ciate polishes) and the incredibly popular (and rather nifty) caviar beads which are also around £9 a bottle. Another thing to think about it the fact that there were more expensive advent calendars which makes this one seem cheap (i.e. Liz Earle - £100 and Look Beauty - £59.95).

I'm not going to put a picture up of every single colour, just my favourite, the caviar beads and the exclusive shades. I will, however, put a link to the pictures at the bottom of this page, so you can go click on them if you want to see what they look like!



Starting from the left, my favourites are: 
Cabaret - A lovely, glossy purple. I actually didn't have a non-sparkly purple before and I wouldn't have thought of buying one but this is gorgeous! 
Dangerous Affair - This is a key colour for the winter months in my opinion - a deep oxblood red. I have shoes in this colour so it seems only right that I have a nail polish in it too! 
Twilight - To me, this is the perfect colour for going out in - black with gold glitter particles. This looks really nice with a matte finish top coat as well! 
Headliner - This is quite a nice bright colour for me, but not too bright for winter. It is a light teal (to me anyway) and makes a change from the dull weather we are having here in the UK at the moment! 
Fade to Greige - This is (obviously) a greige colour! It has a hint of purple to it and looks really flattering on my nails and it goes with virtually everything!



From left to right (that little thing in the middle is the funnel to get the beads back in the pots! Very handy): Prom Queen - Silver, pink and purple beads with sparse bits of glitter in the same colours. 
Candyshop - Pink, bright teal (similar to Headliner) and gold beads. 
Sundance - Yellow and blue(almost teal) beads with sparse bits of gold glitter. 
Bumble Bee - Black and yellow beads, surprisingly like a bumblebee!



And these are the exclusive shade - all glittery and I would only really use them as a top coat myself but I know other people will just have lots of glitter on them. Again, from left to right: 
Glass Slipper - Very Cinderella-esque, as you can tell by the name, and it does remind me of her. 
Magic Carpet - I think Ciate were going for a Disney Princess theme with these names, although I think Aladin's magic carpet would be a little darker but that wouldn't make for very interesting glitter now would it? 
Enchanted Rose - Beauty and the Beast perhaps?

So here are the links to the pictures, along with a mini-description. Apologies if my fingers managed to creep into any of them. If you do happen to see a nail in there, the polish on it will be Mushroom by Barry M. 
Day 1 - Cupcake Queen - A very vibrant pink with a purple shimmer to it. 
Day 2 - Dangerous Affair - Mentioned in my favourites - A deep oxblood colour. 
Day 3 - Halo - A very sheer pearlescent colour. White with hints of purple and pink. 
Day 4 - Prom Queen (Caviar Pearls) - Pink, purple and silver. 
Day 5 - Cabaret - Mentioned in my favourites - Plain purple. 
Day 6 - Angel Wings - A lovely silvery white. 
Day 7 - Cutie Pie - A really milky, baby pink. 
Day 8 - Vintage - A grey with a green tinge to it. 
Day 9 - Mistress - An intense red for your more daring days. 
Day 10 - Ladylike Luxe - Gold with a hint of silver. 
Day 11 - Bumble Bee (Caviar Pearls) - Black and yellow. 
Day 12 - Twilight - Mention in my favourites - Black with lots of fine gold glitter. 
Day 13 - Glass Slipper (Exclusive Shade) - Blue glitter. 
Day 14 - Speed Dial - A cross between coral and a vibrant orange. 
Day 15 - Headliner - Mentioned in my favourites - A lovely brighter take on teal. 
Day 16 - Big Yellow Taxi - A very powerful yellow - again, daring! 
Day 17 - Power Dressing - An inky blue, almost black. 
Day 18 - Candy Shop (Caviar Pearls) - Pink, teal and gold. 
Day 19 - Cookies and Cream - A really creamy oatmeal colour. 
Day 20 - Magic Carpet (Exclusive Shade) - Pink glitter. 
Day 21 - Fade to Greige - Mentioned in my favourites - A grey with a purple tinge. 
Day 22 - Sundance (Caviar Pearls) - Teal and yellow. 
Day 23 - Mojito - A lime green, for another one of those daring days. 
Day 24 - Enchanted Rose (Exclusive Shade) - Red glitter.

Did you get this set? If so, what was your favourite colour? If not, would you ever buy it (or request it as a present like I did as I am a poor, poor student who asked my parents for this as part of my Christmas present)?

No comments:

Post a Comment