CIATÉ Feathered Manicure

Oh Ciaté, what will you come up with next in the innovative world of nail art!?

I remember how the craze started last year around the fall when they released Caviar nail sets. Admittedly, they looked stunning...but good luck keeping them like that for 10 minutes after you did them. There would be tiny coloured balls bouncing everywhere and randomly plunking off my nails all day long. 
Needless to say, an hour or two later and it looked like complete crap. 

I played around with it a bit and realized if you owned a gel shine kit, you could actually "seal" in the "caviar beads" with a top coat and setting the polish. Good luck trying it with a basic clear topcoat - the rainbow caviar bled everywhere!
Unfortunately for me, I simply couldn't handle the grainy texture on my nails and proceeded to pick the entire thing off. 

Next in line were the Velvet manicure sets. 
Great idea, really, it was...until you washed your hands. Ever seen wet velvet or suede?I ended up using the loose "velvet" with a glitter adhesive and applying it as an eyeliner.
It looks stellar!

Then they graced us with the sequin manicure set - which was very similar to the caviar set in the sense that it had giant chunks of glitter that you adhered to the polish. Again, terrible texture and personally didn't enjoy the look. I just took the glitter and used it with my make up.
After that....the very colorfoil manicure set [don't you love the play on words there?]. These were a great idea and actually looked fantastic...if you were lucky enough to get a set where the glue either wasn't fucked up or dried up completely. I ended up just taking the foil pages and using them with the Lip Rock adhesive on my lips. It basically looks amazing.

"Corrupted Neons" kinda came and went and is still lingering around but no one really seemed to care a whole lot. If it was a "glow in the dark" type of thing that might be interesting..but black light? Where the hell am I going to be where there are black lights everywhere?
I'm what you would consider a goth gal - I'm not hitting up any raves any time soon. 
Oh yea...and there was those "chalkboard" nails in there too somewhere. Almost forgot about those guys. Cool idea, though I found the pen tips too large to do anything cool with. Gel pens worked about the same though.

And finally this fall, we've arrived at Feathered Manicures. 

I was automatically intrigued.
I'm not sure if it was by the idea of having real feathers on my nails or if it was that this girls eye makeup was gorgeous.
Regardless, I had to see what it was all about.

You can get the whole kit for $25 CAD, which really is kind of a good deal since the kit comes with everything you need to make this happen...and again and again if you take the time to hit up a dollar store for more feathers or your local Michaels.

Here's what you get inside:

Despite it seeming like something simple, I still like to make sure I'm doing things by the instructions so that if I screw it up, I don't write a review blaming a product for not working properly when it's actually just me having done it incorrectly.
There's even a handy youtube video out there.

Base coated my nails.
Painted them a rather neutral shade [unlike me].

Applied the feathers. 

Cut em'

Filed em' 

and waited for it to fully dry. 

Then came the top coat. 

Now, this might seem like a simple idea, however, the feather is laying towards my cuticle. 

And I'm apply topcoat from my cuticle to the tip. 

Meaning, it's going against the grain of the feather. 

After struggling and feeling useless with my right hand [I'm right handed]. There's something that never crossed my mind about cutting with tiny scissors with the wrong hand. Luckily, I still have 4 fingers and a thumb on my right hand. 

This might be something to do with friends so they can help you. 

Anyway...here's what the end result was [and yes, this is the good hand. You dont' want to see the other one. Trust me!]

It's not bad.
I dont' hate it. 

I don't love it. 

I probably won't do it again. 

Now...to wait for the next cool thing to come through....
And off topic...any of you still rocking the newsprint nails?
I LOVE those!
Every time I do my nails like that I get nothing but compliments & a lot of "How do you do that!?" which I happily oblige them with the answer.
YAY for making friends with strangers!

Stila: Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow

There's something about Stila that always pulls me in - mostly it's because they usually are the first ones on the innovation train when it comes to products.

I started as a fan when I first tried the One Step Correct Primer. You could say I'm cursed with the ability to blush at the drop of a hat...or at least it can look like I'm blushing by the redness that often swallows my cheeks and nose. I loved the consistency, and what it did to even my texture, colour correct & even reduce the visibility of pores.

Then I was drawn to their new Stay All Day Foundation & Concealer. I'm not even sure where to start about why I love this. It's everything right there. The concealer in the correct shade [takes out the guess work and also forking over the dough for a separate concealer for those days you might need one]; which even has a tiny mirror in the lid!
The fact that the foundation is not delivered by a pump! It's actually a tiny spoon so you can scoop out just what you need and even get right to the nitty gritty at the bottom when you're just about out but are convinced there's enough for "one more day".
The darn thing even comes with a brush!
Awesome.

And then they released thier CC creams.
One of the best out there if you're looking to primarily address redness in the skin and aren't searching for something to even out hyper pigmentation [such as Smashbox's CC cream]. I enjoy the first application, where you rub the green onto your skin and watch the tiny pigment pockets turn it to a perfect shade. It's even okay for us oily folk.

But onto the real reason we're talking...the biggest and newest thing to hit the world of eye shadows.
Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow!!!!
When I first laid eyes on them, I was in love.
I hadn't even touched them yet and I knew they had to be mine.

What each package comes with:
ONE 0.07 oz eye shadow
ONE 0.06 oz special primer
ONE metal mixing pan
And you get it all for $42 CAD

You start by scooping out a tiny bit of the shadow which isn't a solid - it's more of a cream texture- and put it on the metal mixing pan.
Put a very small drop from the special primer and mix them together.
And BAM! You have this beautiful liquid metal right in your hands!

You can apply it dry without adding the primer if you like - but it'll be a more muted effect.

If you're looking for a more opaque effect, try patting it on with your fingers or with a small concealer brush. The primer not only turns your cream shadow into magic, it also works to provide a crease proof, waterproof finish.
It's also fantastic as a liner when applied with a liner brush...or heck, pop some on the your lips over a matte lipstick or stain [that's what I've been doing]

I know what you're thinking when you look at this - you're thinking the exact same thing I did - what the heck happens when all of the magic liquid primer is gone? Is this just a boring old glitter shadow then?

Can I purchase more magic primer on its own?
The answer to the question is no.
No you can't.
Very clever Stila....clever indeed...

But dont' fret! I've seeked out an answer and did a little trial and error [no, water will not work].
I tried a few different things - but the winner, by far...and even better than the magic primer you get with the shadow is Hard Candy's Show Girls Secret glitter adhesive

And it's yours....the whole freakin' bottle for just $5

You can get this amazing shadow in 12 different metallics and they're exclusive to Sephora.

And just to give you an idea of what they might look like in real life...on real skin without any fancy photography - just a silly camera phone - here you are:

The Colours featured above are:

                                                                                            Comex Platinum

Comex Gold

Metallic Merlot

Metallic Emerald

Kitten - nude pink