SWATCHES: Ciaté // Palm Springs, New England Fall, Dangerous Affair & Reign Supreme

So I was gonna make this big spiel about how long it's been since my last post but it was like 3 weeks ago 😂 So I guess not that long. It just feels like a long time because I've barely been painting my nails thanks to programming day and night. I'm just obsessed with trying to get better at my job right now and I've been burning the midnight oil and all my hobbies have fallen to the side.

Since logging back on though, one thing that is super annoying is the new Blogger interface......thanks, I hate it! They literally haven't changed it since 1999 but now they go and utterly ruin it. If I didn't detest Wordpress with a passion I'd totally swap.

But anyway, I saw these bottles in my local TK Maxx and holy hell, I almost started dancing in the store. I love it when they have Ciaté because they always sell them for £1.99 and the Gelology formula is one of my favourites.

Palm Springs // Deep Royal Blue Shimmer

Collection: Gelology

Coats: 2

This shade was the reason I purchased the 2019 Mini Mani Month and in a cruel twist of fate the calendars we're all marketed/printed incorrectly and they actually contained Pool Party. I mean it's still a nice shade but this is now my favourite blue. It's hard to imagine this looking terrible on anyone. With two coats, my nails looks like shimmering sapphires. The shade is so deep and rich; I can't stop staring at my hand. I honestly feel like I've stolen it by paying £1.99.

New England Fall // Deep Navy Crelly

Collection: Ciaté x Olivia Palermo

Coats: 2

This bottle is fancy as heck. It weighs more than the gelology bottles and it just feels more expensive but it isn't because it had leaked inside the lid. AFter opening it and cleaning it up, I then struggled again to get the top off. It seems to have dried inside the lid which is annoying. I'll have to find some cotton buds to clean it out. Anyway, the shade is amazing. I'd say it's more of a jelly creme than a true creme as it has that glass-like shine. It shines slightly purple in certain lighting and will make any outfit look 5 times classier.

Dangerous Affair // Oxblood Jelly

Collection: Gelology

Coats: 2

I swatched the Paint Pot version in Ciaté's 2018 advent calendar (over here). I love the shade but it's  a nightmare to apply; it stains the skin so easily. So, I eagerly picked up the Gelology version in the hopes that it was a more pleasant experience. Oh my word, was this a dream to apply. In my opinion, this is the perfect red shade. It's elegant, classy and will suit any skin tone. It's also a true Jelly with no streaks in sight so you can go for a more translucent look or layer it up for a glass shine.

Reign Supreme // Deep Aubergine Jelly

Collection: Gelology

Coats: 2

Another beautiful shade; Ciaté do jellies so well. This is very similar to Dangerous Affair but under bright light you can see the purple hue. This is a perfect winter shade. I have a velvet pant set in this colour and I'll just have to wear it round the house to a virtual christmas party this year.

Ciaté Mini Mani Month 2018 // Days 1 - 7

Ok, the first 7 days of the Ciaté Mini Mani Month are over (already??) and I'm here to do a quick round-up of the week. You can check out the first 7 days of the 2013 version here and you'll see that they really stepped their game up over the years because every single shade this week is just beautiful. We got 3 amazing shimmers, 3 pigmented creme's and 1 shiny top coat. Lets get straight into them.

Day 1 - Cyclone // Purple shimmer with green/gold shift

Formula - Gelology

Inside the bottle this looks stunning and I couldn't wait to get it on my nails. After two coats I kind of feel it looks like a bruise however dat shift tho. I found it a little hard to capture the shift but I'm so glad I finally have this shade in my collection because I've been staring at it on the Ciaté website for many months now.

Day 2 - Hoopla // Bright Coral Pink Creme

Formula - Paint Pot

Look at that shade! So bright, so pink, so spring! This shade is the perfect cross between peach, pink and coral and it's bright but not neon. I love this shade, I have a feeling it will be a staple in my spring looks next year. I'm wearing two coats and it's a little thin in some places however if you apply it properly, only two coats will be needed.

Day 3 - Prima Ballerina // Muted Grey Beige Creme

Formula - Paint Pot

At first I thought this was exactly the same as the OPI shade I just received in the November Mani & Lola however, you can see that it's just ever so slightly different as Berlin There Done That has more of a purple undertone and is a little warmer but in the bottle they look identical. I love both these shades though and they're perfect for scarf looks (as seen here). I'm wearing 1 coat in the photo and if applied thinly will need two, but one thick coat does the trick nicely.

Day 4 - Purple Rain // Scattered Purple Shimmer

Formula - Gelology

This is more of a top coat than a polish to be worn on it's own. I'm wearing 4 coats in the photo and you can still see my nail tips peeking through. It is a beautiful topper though with an icy pink shift. It also has specks of red and blue in there which you can see under a light however my camera was just refusing to pick up them up. 

Day 5 - Gelology Top Coat

This is a great top coat. It's super shiny and thick but not to be used with stamping polishes because it smears them instantly. However this is perfect for smoothing out glitter polishes and dries pretty quick. It does have a weird smell but I can deal with it. I just wish the brush picked up more product.

Day 6 - Iced Frappe // Dusty Pink/Nude Creme

Formula - Gelology

I've actually owned this shade for several years but in the Paint Pot formula. I got it in a glossybox many moons ago and since then it's been one of my go to nude pinks. I much prefer the gelology formula though; it's just so thick and shiny. I'm wearing 1 coat and whereas it can sometimes drag if you've not got enough on the brush, I find it very easy to apply. 

Day 7 - Golden Hour // Rose Gold Shimmer

Formula - Gelology

And the last shade this week is the amazing Golden Hour which has become my favourite rose gold shades. I've been using this quite a bit over the last couple of weeks (I may have opened this calendar a bit early....) as a stamping polish and you can see here that it stamps beautifully. This is one I would definitely buy full size.

And that's the first week down! First impressions of the new Gelology range is; I want more! That said they seemed to have vastly improved their Paint Pot formula as these peform so much better than other Ciaté polishes I own. or it could just be because their new and my bottles are getting on quite a bit now. Either way, the mini bottles are super adorable and the shade range is everything you would expect from a Christmas Calendar with a nice balance of shimmers to creme's. Roll on next week!

Days 8-14
Days 15 - 21
Days 22 - 24