NOTD | Ciate Caviar Polish by Marie Claire


I love a magazine freebie, especially of the nail polish variety, and I was excited to see this Ciate London Caviar Manicure Mini duo included with this months Marie Claire UK (July 2014 edition).


There were several different colours included with the July issue, though admittedly stock was limited to the Sugar Plum nail colour and Ice Queen Caviar (pictured above) at my local Asda. The magazine was reduced to £2.50 so I can only assume that's what led the stand to look a little bare by the time I had got to it.

I've never tried this brand before or a caviar type of polish. The 'caviar pearls' (which are tiny coloured beads) put an interesting twist on my usual mani. I did imagine all sorts of mishaps when applying the caviar pearls but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

You start off by painting all of your nails with one coat of polish and allow that to dry. Then you apply a second coat and, whilst it's still wet, pour over the caviar pearls and carefully press them down into the polish to make them stick. After my nails were fully dry, I finished off by applying a top coat at the bottom edge of the nail to make the beads more secure. If a top coat is applied over the whole of the nail it can remove the colour of the beads.


The result was really pretty and though I love pastel colours I just didn't think it suited me. I think it's because I'm so used to wearing quite safe and muted colours. I'm also really picky with nail polish - if there's the slightest chip, bubble or streakiness I often end up taking the whole thing off and starting again. Initially the beads seemed to stay on my nails quite well, but after washing my hands several times some of the beads fell off which just made me want to remove it. 

It was definitely cool to try this and if I find out a way to make this last longer I would definitely try it again, but maybe with a darker colour. 

Have you tried a caviar nail polish before? 

Lesley x