Chic and Classy NOTD: Ciate Sharp Tailoring

Ciate is one of those brands that are underrated and little-known about, but their quality actually pretty good. Some colours are a mixed bag, but some are excellent.

Sharp Tailoring is classified as a "greige", and is one of the colours that has been all the rage lately, although it isn't brown like other greiges. Instead, it's a cross between a grey and a beige, with gold shimmer for good effect. And the result is pretty awesome - chic, understated, modern and classic all at the same time. It's a take on the "it" colour, with a slight twist.



The gold shimmer is relatively fine, and not always discernable once on the nail. But it is there, and can definitely be seen under some lights. Application on this was pretty good. The polish was thin, and of a very fluid consistency, and the first coat applied sheerly, but two coats rendered it nicely opaque. Sharp Tailoring has decent lasting power. It stayed on about 3-4 days before chipping, which is about average for me.



I've been told that Ciate nail polishes are actually produced by the same factory that also produces Chanel nail polishes, although that's just pure hearsay, and I can't confirm if any of it is true - it's just one of the things fellow nail polish enthusiasts have told me, although noone knows for certain. But it's an interesting nugget for sure.

Nevertheless, one of the draws of Ciate's polishes is definitely that cute little bottle. It isn't your usual round bottle - this one comes with a little ribbon on!



If you like pretty bottles, and pretty polish of good quality, Sharp Tailoring is definitely one to check out. Sharp Tailoring is one of my favourites right now, because it's one of those colours that's entirely work-appropriate while still being a little on-trend and edgy.

ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly: A Fuggen Awesome NOTD!

If you've been up to speed with your nail polish knowledge, then you'll know probably have heard of ManGlaze. The Chicago-based (woohoo, Chi-town!) brand is still small and niche, but they've steadily been making waves among the nail polish fanatic community.

As you might imagine, ManGlaze, with their matte shades, grungy colour names, and their punk-rock influenced aesthetic, was made with men in mind, but they've garnered huge following among ladies too. I guess you could say they're like the rock stars of nail polish, complete with controversy and all.

I know you're wondering how nail polish is supposed to be edgy, but take a look at the bottle:



The bottles are quite attractive, with graffiti-inspired drawings on them. That's pretty cool, because as far as I know of they're the only nail polish brand that makes 'em like that.

Fuggen Ugly is a matte grey-black (it's almost black, but not quite), infused with really tiny silver shimmer that gives it a certain dimension, instead of just being matte and flat. The end result is a polish that kind of looks like OPI's Suede polishes.



Isn't it cool? It kind of looks like the tarmac surface of a road, doesn't it? Very industrial looking. I really like it.

Application on this polish was one of the best as far as mattes go. This one went on evenly, and like most mattes it dried fast, but not too fast. Also, unlike some other matte polishes I've tried, you can layer two coats of this without it getting all weird and stringy and goopy. I really like the quality of Fuggen Ugly, and I think all the other matte polish makers ought to go get themselves a bottle of Fuggen Ugly and replicate it's ease of application.



In most lights, you won't be able to see much of the silver shimmer - it just gives a certain depth and character to the polish, like in the second photograph above. However, in some lights you can see discrete bits of silver shimmer (like in the very first photograph shown), which I think is pretty cool. I actually like it better when the silver shimmer is visible, but either way the polish looks good.

Of course, ManGlaze's attempt at a matte grey-black isn't that unique - this one is going to bear comparisons to OPI's Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede, Zoya's Dovima and Orly's Iron Butterfly. But of course, all the colours vary in colour intensity and shimmer density and size, so to a nail fanatic they're all worth owning. But what really makes Fuggen Ugly stand out is not just the colour, but also the gorgeous application, as well as it's really unique punk-rock positioning. And ManGlaze ships internationally too, so if you're outside the USA and having trouble getting your hands on some of the other colours, Fuggen Ugly might be worth a look at.

(This product was sent to me for review. I am not in anyway affiliated with or compensated by the company. This review is my complete and honest opinion.)

Nail Art Fun: Essie Chinchilly and Viva la Nails!

I love nail stickers and nail gems, because they can really dress up a manicure, and they accommodate people of all sorts of inclinations. If you don't have much time, simply slapping on a sticker will do. On the other hand, if you want to do intricate little designs with nail gems, that's also perfectly possible!

For this NOTD, I wanted to make a girly, yet not all pink-and-swirly NOTD, so I dressed what was otherwise a boring grey NOTD. I used these nail stickers and nail gems from Viva la Nails. Aren't they absolutely adorable? I used a pack of nail stickers that had teeny tiny little rhinestones on some of the stickers, and a pack of black gemstones.



For the base I used Essie Chinchilly, which by the way is the most gorgeous grey creme I've seen. It's grey, but it doesn't have much blue in it, and in fact it does seem to have a tinge of green compared to other greys, so it's perhaps the most ideal grey I've seen for warm-toned people. I love this one because it's not too cool-toned. And application and pigmentation was excellent, to boot.

Then, using a pair of tweezers, I picked up the black gemstones one by one and stuck them along my smile line on the nail, parallel to the free edge. Or at least attempted to, since not all my lines were perfect. And then I stuck on some flower nail art stickers for interest.

This is the final result:



I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely in love with it! I loved how the Viva la Nails art stuff totally glammed up my grey mani. And I love how it's fun and feminine without being OTT, you know? It's a very happy medium as far as nail art is concerned.

I wore these for a good while before I finally decided to remove them, and I didn't have any problem with them falling off or peeling off my nails. I applied two coats of topcoat (one slow-dry and Seche Vite on top of it), so I think that really secured them.



I'm totally enjoying the Viva la Nails nail art stuff, I have a bunch of their stuff, and it's really good quality - no tacky stuff that falls apart here! I love that they have individual gemstones, stickers, and even some less conventional items like feathers! (I'm still trying to figure out what to do with a feather on my nails, but if I ever do, you can bet you'll be hearing about it!) They're UK-based, and shipping is cheap (2.95GBP and up) and fast when I placed my order, so if you want to get anything from them, I highly recommend it!

Chanel Paradoxal's Cheaper Little Sister: Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna

Not all of us can afford to drop our hard-earned money on Chanel's new "must-have" shade, Paradoxal. While there aren't any dupes that I know of as of now, there are a couple of colours that are pretty close, especially in terms of base colour. If you're not exacting about finding a dupe, you can definitely find a similar colour at a lower price.

Today's "Get-The-Chanel-Paradoxal-Look-For-Cheap" shade is none other than Asos Paints by Ciate, in the shade Sienna. It's a creme, so it doesn't have any of that shimmer Paradoxal has, but the base shade is similar - it's one of those purply-grey taupey mushroomy colours that are so in fashion right now. These taupey mouse-y colours seem to be fast establishing themselves as the new neutral shades - I mean first there were greiges, then there was Chanel Particuliere and the like, and now there's this purply-grey shade. And that's all right by me, because I love them all.

But obviously you're not interested in my colour preferences. You wanted to see Sienna. So here it is under sunlight:



The ASOS Paints by Ciate range is sort of like the UK's version of Sephora by OPI. These polishes are exclusive to ASOS, have a different packaging from the usual Ciate polishes, and are sold jointly under the Ciate and Asos name.

As you can tell, Sienna is my favourite of the bunch. It's an awesome purply-grey-brown, that leans strongly on the purple and grey. I don't think there's much brown in this, if any at all. And it's a delicious creme. Photos cant seem to do it justice, because this one looks grey in some photos, and purple in others.

Here's another shot, this time indoors:



These shots were two coats, but the polish is very opaque and pigmented and really only needed one coat. I did two because the first coat was uneven. These have a similar consistency to Eyeko polishes - a bit on the thick side, but very opaque - so if you prefer a thinner texture, a couple of drops of thinner will do the trick.

So, obviously Sienna isn't a dupe for Paradoxal, although I'd say the base colour is definitely close enough. It's a good choice if you want to spend less money (it retails for 6GBP and can be found on sale occasionally), or if you want a version of Paradoxal without the shimmer, or if you are one of those people on whom Chanel polishes seem to chip easily, and you want something that will last longer. But even without the Paradoxal comparisons, I do think Sienna is a colour worth owning in it's own right.

Eyeko Rain Polish and Saucy Polish NOTD, Swatches and Review!

Eyeko has released two new nail polish colours, Rain Polish for City Nails, and Saucy Polish for Naughty Nails. These are limited edition and come in slim, small bottles, housing 8.5ml of polish. That's a slightly smaller bottle than average, but these bottles still pack a punch in terms of pigment - in fact, both of these can be one coaters if you're careful with how you apply your coats.



Rain Polish is quite aptly billed as being "for City Nails" (the way Eyeko tells you what effect their polish is supposed to give your nails never fails to make me chuckle, it's so cute!), and indeed it does kind of remind me of cities - particularly the ever-cloudy skies of London. When I first started living in London, I was struck by how it was always overcast, and the sky was never blue (well, it was Fall back then). It was always some weird shade of blue-grey, and it was a couple of months before I saw my first glimpse of blue sky in London.

So what did that all have to do with the polish? Well, Eyeko has done an awesome job of capturing the grey-blue colour of the skies I saw in their polish. This colour is just the colour of those skies, which I think is pretty cool. And it's a beauty, too! It's a cross between a blue and a grey, and I can't decide if it's a blued grey or a greyed blue. It's a muted, dusty colour, one that's really chic and stunning without being loud or neon. Awesome stuff.

Here's a swatch. This is as colour accurate as I could make it - you know how hard it is capturing accurate photos of greys and purples. But I think I pretty much nailed it!



She's a beauty, isn't she? This polish has a slight shimmer in the bottle that doesn't really show up on the nail, it kind of just reveals itself as a reflective sheen instead. This is definitely the next big hit for Eyeko.

And next we have Saucy Polish. Now this is billed as being "for Naughty Nails", but we all know reds are a classic - they just give off that 1940s movie-star vibe. Sexy, classic, and a little retro all at once. I always feel it's a pity that red nail polish, just like red lipstick, seems to have gone the way of the dodo now that girls are so cautious about wearing red.



This is red. Straight-up neutral red. Fire engine red. Telephone box red. Hollywood movie starlet red. Colour wheel primary red. I love it! I don't normally wear reds, but I'm of the opinion that every girl needs a red lipstick and a red nail polish, and I like this one. It's a middle-of-the-road neutral that leans neither too cool or too warm - this is pretty much as neutral as red gets. And it's not too dusty or muted, but it's not so bright it's neon either. It's just right. I love it. If you're looking for a red nail polish on the cheap, this is probably as good as any other.

Application on both was pretty good. These are a little thicker than I'd like, and are not as thin as say, Zoyas, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preferences. These are also awesomely pigmented, which means if you're careful with application, one coat is enough. However, my swatches all show two coats, because I couldn't get the first coat to be even enough due to the slightly thick texture.

Colour-wise, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Rain Polish. It's always going to have some sentimental value to me, reminding me of the London skies I glimpsed at when I first stepped foot into the city. The only catch is that being blue-based, it's a shade that might potentially be unflattering on girls who are really warm-toned. Still, I think it's a pretty shade worth a shot if you're game for it.

(These products were sent to me for review. I am not in anyway affiliated with or compensated by the company for this review. This review reflects my honest and complete opinion on the products.)