Ciate Nail Polishes

I love Ciate nail polishes, I literally cannot get enough of them, from their wide variety of shades to the gorgeous packaging complete with pretty bow! They really do hit the spot when it comes to luxuary nail polishes. 

(Pocket Money)

I love the shade Pocket Money for a classy neutral nude look, and play date for a fun, sassy weekend look. 

(Play Date)

These polishes apply like a dream, look flawless even on ridged and uneven nail surfaces and are chip resistant. The pigmentation level is excellent and one coat is enough although I always do two. 

Ciate also do the 'Caviar' manicure which consists of applying thousands of tiny caviar sized beads on top of a base coat of nail polish. 

 

I apply some as an accent to the tip of the nail on the ring finger but then leave the rest of my nails just painted plain. I have seen people with every nail entirely covered in the caviar beads but I think it looks a little tacky not to mention impractical! The beads stay on long enough for a night out but certainly wouldn't survive day to day wear!

Tip: To give them more staying power apply a clear topcoat to seal them onto the nail. 

If you've not tried Ciate I recommend you do! They easily give Essie, Nails Inc, OPI and China Glaze a run for their money!  

Prices are from around £5 on eBay to £9 direct from Ciate but they are a large sized bottle at 13.5ml and well worth the money. 

Dove summer glow gradual tanning lotion

There are many self tanning products on the market, I've tried most of them over the years both drugstore and high end but I always end up going back to this product. 

Many are too orange, have a horrible scent, streak or don't give enough colour. This product does none of the fore mentioned. It simply gives a natural looking, buildable tan that really suits any skintone. It's not orangey or fake looking at all and it lasts for days! 

It retails for approximately £5 although you can regularly pick it up on promotion for as little as £3 in boots, superdrug and supermarkets. It comes in two shades; Fair to normal and normal to dark, Personally I prefer the normal to dark. It gives results faster. 

How to use it:

Take a shower or bath and exfoliate the skin using a scrub such as soap & glory flake away. Then dry the skin thoroughly. Apply a generous amount of product (as you would with your regular body lotion) and rub into the skin in circular motions to avoid streaks. Allow to dry (if you have to get dressed then try to wear loose clothing such as pyjamas for half an hour to allow it to soak into the skin) this is perfectly safe to also use on the face. It has never caused me to break out! I find it best to apply it of an evening an hour or so before bed, it works while I'm asleep and I wake up with a beautiful warm glow. It can take 8 hours to see any result so don't fret if you don't see results straight away! The other benefit of applying before bed is that although this has a pleasent scent it does eventually turn to the classic but annoying self tan scent of biscuits! At least when you awaken tanned you can shower and get rid of the smell before work. 

Apply daily until you reach the desired level of tan, this usually only takes 2-3 days. Then apply every other day to keep your tan. Once a week exfoliate thoroughly and start again from scratch. 

Tip: to avoid orange palms of hands simply wipe with a baby wipe after use! Don't wash your hands as then the backs of them won't be as tanned as your arms!