Sunday Swatch Spam

So it was supposed to be saturday but my hangover got the best of me and i only managed a few swatches as i got the hand shakes.. :/ this is why i generally do not drink!

These swatches are of what i have gotten from my advent calendar so far.. I am generally very pleased with the selection!

 

This is Cupcake Queen - I am not a big fan of pink, but I was pleasantly surprised when I picked this up to swatch - I was originally pretty disappointed to pick up a pink on Day 1 of Advent. When you look close, it has a beautiful blue tinted shimmer, but due to my camera quality (phone) I couldn't pick it up. Only downside was the dodgy brush!

This is Speed Dial - by far one of the top colours I've had from my advent calendar. In the bottle, this looks really REALLY bright, but it was lovely on the nail. A jelly like consistency, this was two coats. Love.

This is Mistress. Although it looks quite red, in person it is more orangey. Probably the first 'red' I have ever really liked on me, as I have a very pinky red skintone and reds usually look terrible. This is 2 coats.

This is Vintage. Again, like many of the Ciaté colours, it looks completely different on the nail. The grey has a blue/green hue to it, but I really like it. Strikes me as a sensible work choice. Only downside was the terrible bottle brush. Really not impressed with the brush quality!

This is headliner, a gorgeous blue shade. Again, I have two coats. Application was brilliant, although the bottle brush again needed to be trimmed.

This is Glass Slipper. Glass Slipper is a clear top coat with microfine royal blue glitter. Here I have put it over Headliner and over black on the accent nail.

This is Twilight. I can't make my mind up on this one. It looks so beautiful in the bottle, but A, the brush was again RUBBISH, and B, the formula was strangely thick and a bit gloopy, so it was really hard to get a smooth finish.

This was my Xmas Party mani. Ciaté Ladylike with Ciaté 'Sundance' Caviar Pearls on the accent nail. They lasted quite well - I only lost a few at the tip during the night - I didnt think there would be many left! Pleasantly surprised :)

I then updated my mani when I removed the pearls. I really love the gold, and as you can see I got a new rose gold coloured polish from The Nail Junkie called Cocoa. So I decided to attempt a tape mani, and I quite liked the results - but I think I may have not needed tape for something as similar as this.

Ciaté Mini Mani Month and Water Decals

So i've finally had chance to try each of my advent polishes - here is Angel Wings which i got Day 5. Angel Wings is a sheer, shimmery white polish. Here I have used two coats which has given near enough full coverage. I decided to play about - I tested out another of my Sparkly Nails decals - just on my thumb - my nails are quite short at the moment so many of the decals won't fit on my little stubs. Don't want to use them all at once until I've managed to grow my nails long enough to showcase them properly!

I think it might be the polish but these decals didn't need sealing - they applied straight on then dabbed dry in seconds - excellent.

The colours from Mini Mani Month are available full size at Ciaté.

The decals are available for £1.55 a pack from Sparkly Nails.

I think theyre really sweet!

Mini Mani colours and some Polish from a Different Dimension!

So i've not blogged about any of my mani colours yet. Today was day 7, and i got "Cutie Pie" a pale, girly pink creme. I am not a fan of these shades - a) because of my skin tone and b) because they take so many coats to perfect! This was 4 coats and it still wasn't perfect. It really reminds me pf the Essie colours - mademoiselle, muchi muchi etc.. I'm not a big fan of them either!

So I took that off and applied Day 6 again - "Cabaret". This is a beautiful plummy purple which applied well with only 2 coats needed. I decided to spice this up a bit - this is Different Dimension - Honesty Feels A Lot Like Mean on my ring finger. Think I'm in love! Pic is without a topcoat.

What do you think? I really love both shades, I've tried Honesty Feels A Lot Like Mean on a few shades but this is the first i've liked!