Monday, April 30, 2012

The Caviar Manicure (updated)


Well ladies, I couldn't resist I had to get my hands on the $25 limited edition caviar manicure by Ciate.
In the video below I will demonstrate how to apply this polish but don't fret it also comes with detailed instructions as well. It is a totally simple process to make your nails pop in 3D.
In this kit you will get the base coat polish which really can be substituted with your favorite nail polish. The you get the actual beads, the funnel to return excess beads to the bottle and a tray used during the bead application process.

Although this special manicure comes in three colors, I opted for the black with the purple and teal pearls. In the video I discuss the issues I have with this kit, but overall I really like this unique look.
Check out my other pics:
Ciate recommends a 15-20 minute drying time to ensure that your beads are set properly.
I will continue to update this post throughout the week to document my beaded journey but so far so good. My nails are completely dry and I was distracted doing other things so I am not sure if it took 20 minutes or more. It has not been about 4 hours that I've had my beads on and I have not seen any beads dropping off of my hands. I have in fact washed my hands several times and everything is still in tact.
Do you think you will buy this 3d nail product or will you find your own beads in a craft store and try this look on your own?



UPDATE
I don't want to call Sunday Day 1 because I applied the manicure in the evening so it wasn't on for too many hours before I went to bed.
Let's call Monday my first official day. Ok here goes, the very next day my nails looked different. After taking a shower, applying lotion and doing all of the things that we do during the day, I noticed that the shine of the pearls began to diminish- how disappointing!!!! I must admit that the beads have some real holding power because they really remained in tact.  Here is a pic of my Day 1 (some of you may want to call this Day 2).
This picture was taken with flash:
Also please keep in mind as you look at these pictures the fact that I coated only one finger with a clear top coat- the finger next to my pinky finger. Although it is recommended that you DO NOT apply a top  coat, doing so helped to preserve the appearance of the pearls. On the video posted above you will note that I didn't like the appearance of my nail with the top coat because I thought it looked a bit dull when compared to the nails with no top coat. However, after considering the downward spiral my other nails took I am starting to reconsider my thoughts on applying a top coat.
If you look at the picture the one with the top coat actually looks brighter than the nails with no top coat. Now let's look at my nails with no flash used on the picture.
Do you see that the nails look a bit dull? Do you notice anything else? Let's look at a day 2/ 3 picture to examine my nails a bit more.
If you notice the nail with the top coat is the only one that maintained the appearance of the multi colored pearls!!! What eventually happened is that after hand washing, showers, and washing dishes, the pearls on my nails looked like little silver balls. What happened to my purple, and turquoise balls? Well that colored coating pealed off to reveal not so exciting silver balls.
The ONLY nail that maintained the color of the pearls is the nail with- yes, you guessed it, the nail with the top coat.


I experienced chipping on one hand (index finger shown below) but it really was my fault. I hit my finger on something and when I pulled back I saw the damage.  All of my other nails have really held up and today is day 4 if you're counting from Sunday and Day 3 if you count Monday as my first official caviar day.

Since this polish has raised little pearls, you may experience a little snagging on some materials or even your hair, nothing too major but I wanted to mention this issue.
Would I buy this again? Nope, I would likely purchase some micro beads from a craft store and call it a day. I would just look for beads that don't look too cheap. Or I would use this product and make sure that the day I do my nails with this caviar look is the night that I am going out so that my nails look fresh and my pearls shine.
Thanks for watching/reading.
pjd

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am definitely buying the caviar manicure in black. I decided that when I read your first post early least week and this really sealed the deal. I think it looks fantastic.

Anonymous said...

oops the previous comment was me, lol

Thickroots

Product Junkie Diva said...

Hi Thick roots
Do you want to wait to see how things turned out with me nails? I will update the post tonight/ tomorrow.
PJD

Maven said...

I like the caviar manicure. It would be great for an evening out. I like the color choice. I wish I was better at painting my own nails. This would be too advanced for me to do myself.

Ava Marianna said...

I live in the UK and I bought the limited edtition red white and blue caviar which I think is only in the UK. I followed your video and I was really pleased with the initial look... although I put a top coat on the end of my nails and I found it made the red beads colour run:/ which was a bit annoying and then after id done some washing up etc. I found the colours changed drastically and were very faded and it only lasted 24 hours. I still love the product but I dont trust the coloured caviar maybe ill get black or white because they dont seem to fade as much. Thanks for the great review!

Ava

Product Junkie Diva said...

Hello Ava Marianna
Wow a comment from the UK :-) thanks for checking in. Yes, I think that red white and blue set was only for the UK. After washing my hands etc. the black beads basically turned silver so it didn't last must longer than what you described.
I do like the ciate polish though even the regular polish without the beads. I really like some of those UK products that I've been seeing on the market. What are your favorite products?
Thanks for reading.
PJd