Friday, December 6, 2013

Beauty Obsessions: Benefit & Ciate Advent Calendars 2013 Days 1 – 6

This year I was spoiled with 2 beauty advent calendars! I was gifted the Benefit Countdown to Love  and the Ciate Mini Mani Month I, of course, had to document & rate the products for you! I will be rating the products out of 5. I will also let you know if I would purchase or recommend the purchase of a full-size product.

a little blurry but trust me this is magical


As you know from my gel nails post I traded this one in for the one from Sephora

 
Day 1: Ciate- Snow globe : this is a very pretty holographic flaked top coat. I loved the way the polish looked in the bottle but not as much on my nails. I found the flakes a bit hard to control and I didn’t really love the end texture but I thought it was pretty and season appropriate. I think I will wear this on my ring finger over polish to my Office Christmas Party. 3/5 – NO I would not purchase the full-size product


 

Benefit- Coralista blush: this is one of my favourite coral blushes & I have hit the pan of my full-size so I was very excited to get the deluxe sample. This coral looks great on all complexions and it gives you a fresh, youthful, natural look. It is prominent in my daytime looks. 4.5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product
 



Day 2

Day 2: Ciate- Boudoir : this is the type of red that your Grandmother wore, it is a full red with a slight orange tinge. With this paint pot I was able to see just how great the brushes in Ciate nail polish are – they are worth it just for the brush alone! The colour pigmentation is great; I barely needed a second coat 3.5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product

 


Benefit- Stay don’t strayprimer/under eye concealer: I got light/medium so the primer matched my eyelids perfectly after a bit of blending. To put this to the full test I used a smokey eye kit that often fades really quickly and gives me those horrible shadow lines on my eyelids. I found that this primer/concealer worked really well! I have pictures from 8:30 am when I first applied my makeup, 6:00 pm when I got home from work (it looks like the shadow is a bit darker because of poor lighting) & 9:00 pm when I got home from getting my eyebrows waxed. I included the after wax picture to show that my shadow stayed on all day! The slight colour loss is due my brows being wiped with azulene oil. 5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product





8:30 am
9:00 pm
6:00 pm
Day 3
Day 3: Ciate- Amazing Gracie: When I saw this I immediately thought of Ballet Slippers by Essie but this pink is slightly more pigmented. I put one coat on to test the colour and really did not notice a difference in colour but there was lots of shine, at the second coat there was slightly more colour but this a very sheer, delicate pink. I only swatch tested my pinky because I was running out the door but I do think this is a polish that will get lots of wear from me once my mani month is over.3/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product

Benefit- It’s Potent! eye cream : I really enjoyed the way that this eye cream went on, it is strictly for under the eyes. I do not think I can give a fair assessment after a few uses but based on the reviews on the Benefit site and the way it applies I will give It’s Potent! 3.5 based on my limited experience. 3.5/5 – TOO soon to tell


 



Day 4

 Day 4: Ciate- Caviar MetallicPearls - Silver: I just got my gel nails done when I opened day 4 and really could not justify putting the pearls on without being 100% sure how my nails would look after, I will revise this in the day before my next mani. In the meantime you can read these 2 reviews with opposite opinions. Stuff that I Bought thinks that this is impractical and Beauty in NYC loves it. I can’t wait to see what I think of it! N/A– to be determined   
 

Benefit- Dandelion lip gloss: I love the applicator tip, most deluxe samples do not provide great applicators on their samples but this one is great and contours the shape of your lips nicely. The website says it is a very pretty soft pink, but my lips are a bit pink to begin with so it gives me little pigment; however, I really like this gloss. It is not sticky and it gives my lips a subtle peachy pink gloss. 4/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product
   
 


 


 
Day 5
Day 5: Ciate- Hoopla : I can understand why this is a best seller, it is a perfectly creamy peach shade that works well on all skin tones and in during all seasons, my only miniscule compliant is that it is a tad streaky but that could have been because I really rushed the application. I can picture wearing this shade in the spring or on a weekend getaway because it matches with almost everything! 3.5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product   

 
 

Benefit- Benetint: OK I am in love! I had tried this a few years ago and hated it; so I wasn’t really happy when I opened day 5. This time around I followed the directions and I loved the end result. It is a sheer red that gives you a cheek-pinched glow.  You put 3 lines on your cheek with the applicator (that looks like a nail polish brush) as you can see in my pictures below. Blend out and upwards to give yourself a gorgeous glow. Only drawback is stained blending fingers! 5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product



 

Day 6
Day 6: Ciate- Sugar Plum: I really love this lavender colour, it is so pretty! I only put it on my pinky since I literally just painted my nails with hoopla and I also want to actually post this today (as I promised!). Since I painted over hoopla it’s probably not a pure example of the pigmentation but I am sure you get how pretty it is! 5/5 – YES I would purchase the full-size product 
 
Benefit- Bow hair clip: Sorry! This is a limited product for the Countdown to Love advent. Just to rub it in a bit, this clip actually is strong enough to keep my thick curls out of my face in a very pretty way. 5/5 – N/A
 
 
 
I hope that you all enjoyed the first part of my advent reviews! If you are beauty-adventing please share below! Also let me know if you have any of the full size products and what you think of them!
Lots of Love,

E et E


 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

2 comments:

  1. I have the ciate mani month and I love each of the colors so far. I used the caviar beads, they are pretty cool but only good for one night

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    1. I agree Sevyn, but I would need to put them on after getting ready. I tried them and it was not a good look

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