Swatches and review: Ciate Paint Pots – Festival Fever Summer 2010

I don’t know how could this happen but I was the lucky person whom Lyra sent Ciate‘s new collection for spring and summer called Festival Fever. It’s a really great collection with very appropriate shades for spring and summer. And the bottles … the ribbons …

I’ve had a really hard time photographing these beauties. Some of them were almost impossible to photograph. I did the most I could with the time I had and the knowledge I have. Here are the results, but I’m telling you in advance that some pictures are really horrible.

I’ll start with the not so pretty pictures …

The ugliest of them all is the picture of the coral creme shade called Access All Areas. I don’t know why I have such difficulties to photograph coral shades. Maybe also because they don’t look well with my skin tone. It’s a bit less orange IRL. It dries to a satin finish, but it’s not neon. There is a top coat on the pointer and the ring finger in the picture.

Next is always pretty and safe but for me boring shade of berries. It’s called Main Stage.

There is also a pink in the collection. It’s a nice dusty pink shade. It’s called Fun Fair and it was the first Festival Fever shade I picked for a manicure. Quite surprising for me.

And the second half of the collection. The more interesting part. At least for me.

Talent Scout. A nice creme purple. Not too dark not too light or bright. Simple and lovely!

And the hard to describe shades …

Ditch The Heels is a shade I can’t really describe. It’s definitely green but I can’t describe what kind of green it is. It’s bright but not too bright. It’s green but not grass green. It’s not turquoise either. I suck I know and I’m sorry. And you know what? The shade is a pain in the a** to photograph, so even the photos aren’t accurate. It’s greener IRL and a bit more vibrant. Well, I tried, but I failed. I guess I’m of no use …

The last one is a stunner and another hard to photograph and hard to describe one. All the swatches I’ve seen so far show this beauty too blue. Well, it’s not a sky blue color. It has quite a lot of green undertones, which make is it on the teal side but it’s also not a real teal. Or maybe a light teal. But of course it depends on the light and everything. Here it is … Headliner …

with a bonus photo …

As you may noticed Headliner also dries to a satin finish, but it’s not a neon (I put it under the black light and nothing happend). There is a top coat on a middle and a pinky finger in the pictures above.

All in all, the collection is very pretty. I love the last three shades. The first three aren’t bad either. All are cremes, which seems to be “the” trendy finish of the season. Although I used to be a shimmer lover, I am more and more into cremes lately.

It feels like Ciate has done something on their formula (I think that they weren’t B3F before but are now) as it isn’t thick anymore, which is great. But the polishes dry a bit longer now and without a top coat they chip easily. At least that’s what I experienced. Which means I have to put a top coat on when I’m wearing the new Ciates. Well, isn’t a top coat a must? Yes, it is, so nothing new here.

But I’m interesting to read what are your experiences with the new Ciates compared to the old ones?

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