Chanel Paradoxal's Cheaper Little Sister: Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna

Not all of us can afford to drop our hard-earned money on Chanel's new "must-have" shade, Paradoxal. While there aren't any dupes that I know of as of now, there are a couple of colours that are pretty close, especially in terms of base colour. If you're not exacting about finding a dupe, you can definitely find a similar colour at a lower price.

Today's "Get-The-Chanel-Paradoxal-Look-For-Cheap" shade is none other than Asos Paints by Ciate, in the shade Sienna. It's a creme, so it doesn't have any of that shimmer Paradoxal has, but the base shade is similar - it's one of those purply-grey taupey mushroomy colours that are so in fashion right now. These taupey mouse-y colours seem to be fast establishing themselves as the new neutral shades - I mean first there were greiges, then there was Chanel Particuliere and the like, and now there's this purply-grey shade. And that's all right by me, because I love them all.

But obviously you're not interested in my colour preferences. You wanted to see Sienna. So here it is under sunlight:



The ASOS Paints by Ciate range is sort of like the UK's version of Sephora by OPI. These polishes are exclusive to ASOS, have a different packaging from the usual Ciate polishes, and are sold jointly under the Ciate and Asos name.

As you can tell, Sienna is my favourite of the bunch. It's an awesome purply-grey-brown, that leans strongly on the purple and grey. I don't think there's much brown in this, if any at all. And it's a delicious creme. Photos cant seem to do it justice, because this one looks grey in some photos, and purple in others.

Here's another shot, this time indoors:



These shots were two coats, but the polish is very opaque and pigmented and really only needed one coat. I did two because the first coat was uneven. These have a similar consistency to Eyeko polishes - a bit on the thick side, but very opaque - so if you prefer a thinner texture, a couple of drops of thinner will do the trick.

So, obviously Sienna isn't a dupe for Paradoxal, although I'd say the base colour is definitely close enough. It's a good choice if you want to spend less money (it retails for 6GBP and can be found on sale occasionally), or if you want a version of Paradoxal without the shimmer, or if you are one of those people on whom Chanel polishes seem to chip easily, and you want something that will last longer. But even without the Paradoxal comparisons, I do think Sienna is a colour worth owning in it's own right.

Chanel Particuliere Dupes: Do They Exist? Comparison Swatches

I never bought Chanel's famed nail polish, Particuliere. I just couldn't imagine spending 16GBP on a polish, especially when Orlys, Nubars, OPI, and China Glazes go for less. But I was curious to know if there was a dupe, and to see for myself if any of the other taupe-brown-purple polishes were close enough. So I borrowed my friend's bottle of Particuliere, and made a few swatches. Mind you, these are very messy swatches, because I wanted to return Particuliere to her immediately (I'd feel bad hogging a 16GBP bottle of polish!), so I didn't really have time to be as neat as I wanted to be, and we all know haste makes a mess of nails!

First up of course, are bottle pictures.



L-R: Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna, Rimmel Steel Grey, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Chanel Particuliere, Essie Mink Muffs.

Nothing seems to be an outright dupe for Particuliere. Essie Mink Muffs does look similar, although deeper, in the bottle.

And here's how they fared in swatches. Once again, please excuse the terrible state of cuticles and my messy swatches. Like I said, they were done in a hurry because I wanted to return Particuliere ASAP. The swatches show two coats of each:



L-R (Thumb to Pinky): Essie Mink Muffs, Chanel Particuliere, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey, Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna

Application-wise, I had no complaints about any of the colours. They all applied like butter, although the Nails Inc, Essie, and Chanel were better than the other two. And as you can see, nothing is quite a dupe for anything else.

I know Essie Mink Muffs and Chanel Particuliere look like dupes for each other in this photo, but in reality they aren't that close. The Essie is a little darker, and a little more brown than the Chanel. I don't think most people would notice, but if you're a nail fanatic like me, if it's not an exact dupe, it isn't a dupe! :P

Here's a photo that exaggerates the differences between the two. Essie Mink Muffs is on my thumb, while Chanel Particuliere is on my pointer finger. The differences aren't as massive as they are in this photo (stupid camera), but you get the idea:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, Essie Mink Muffs

And I remembered reading somewhere that Essie Mink Muffs is a dupe for Chanel Particuliere, if you lighten it by wearing it over white. So of course I HAD to try that. So I applied Essie Mink Muffs over GOSH Snow (a sheer white), and here are the results:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, 1 Coat Essie Mink Muffs over 1 Coat GOSH Snow, Essie Mink Muffs

Similar, but no dice. It's a tad lighter than Particuliere. The purple in Mink Muffs really shows up when you layer it over white. It's really cool.

So, I added on another thin coat of Mink Muffs on top of GOSH Snow, and the results were better:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, 2 Coats Essie Mink Muffs over 1 Coat GOSH Snow, Essie Mink Muffs

As you can see, it's close, but not identical. Mink Muffs is now the same depth of colour, but just a tad browner than Chanel Particuliere, while Particuliere is a hair more grey than it's Essie counterpart. I think someone might be able to franken a dupe of Particuliere using Mink Muffs, white, and something to make it more grey.

So, which of these should you choose, if you only had to go for one of them? All the colours applied well, so your choice would depend on your colour preferences, and your skin undertones. Although all these colours are pretty neutral, in general, colours with a stronger purple/grey tinge to them look better on cooler skintones, while colours with more brown tend to look better on warmer skintones. And it also depends on your preference - do you want more grey, brown or purple in your colour? If you want more brown, Essie Mink Muffs or Chanel Particuliere are good choices. If you want something that's more grey, Rimmel Steel Grey is a good choice. And if you want something that leans more purple, Nails Inc Jermyn Street and Asos by Ciate Sienna are your best bets.

Haul Post: Illamasqua Beg, Models Own and Why I Didn't Buy Chanel Particuliere

I know we're in the middle of swatching our Barry M Dazzle Dusts, but I just had to take out a bit of time to show off my haul - we'll be back to the Dazzle Dusts in my next post, promise!

ASOS had a sale and I bought makeup and nail polish, and only makeup and nail polish. I don't know why I have that problem. I never buy clothes, rarely buy shoes, occasionally buy bags (my other weakness), but give me a sale and throw in some makeup and I'll be all over it.

Anyway, this means I get to show off my haul, and because I love you guys (aww!), I included a couple of bottle comparison pictures. I know they're bottle comparison pictures and not swatches, but I promise I'll get around to the swatching soon!

But first, the haul.

I got my first Illamasqua blush ever, and it's in the colour Beg. It's a pretty, slightly deep dusty rose colour, that is more neutral than anything else. At some point in the future I will do swatches and possibly an FOTD and a full review, but you'll have to go on this for now:



I know, it's a beautiful thing right?!

Then, because it was also really cheap, I bought a duo set of nail polishes, consisting of two Asos by Ciate colours. This particular set has Sienna, a purply-taupe-grey-brown creme which is the type of nail colour that is right up my alley, and Alexa, a navy blue creme. Obviously you can tell I bought the set just for Sienna:



And I also bought a Models Own It set, because it was just 2.50GBP. How could I resist? It had a nail buffer (which I doubt I'll use), a lipgloss and a nail polish:



Ok, Ok, so on to the comparison pics. I do intend to swatch and review these and make them more extensive, but here is why I didn't buy Chanel Particuliere, although purply-brown-grey nail colours are just my thing. *clears throat* I already have too many taupey-purply-brown-grey nail colours. I know Particuliere may not be a dupe for any of them, but I feel like I may have too many shades in the same colour family, as it is.



L-R: Essie Mink Muffs, ASOS by Ciate Sienna, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey

I know, that's not a lot by nail fanatic standards, but by civilian standards, that's way too many! :X And what's more, these are just the ones I have here. There are a couple that I don't have on me right now, like $OPI Metro Chic.

To make the comparisons easier to see, I've turned the bottles on their sides as well, so you can look at them:



L-R: Essie Mink Muffs, ASOS by Ciate Sienna, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey

See, I tell you, I can own all of them because they're NOT identical, not even in the bottle, even if they're all close. Honestly, this makes me vacilliate a lot on Chanel Particuliere, because chances are, I know Particuliere won't be an exact dupe for any of these, but it'll probably be pretty close. And while I abide by the if-it-isn't-an-exact-dupe-it's-a-justified-buy rule of nail fanatics, I also know that 99.99% of people aren't going to be able to tell the difference. Add that to the fact that Chanels here retail for 16GBP (and yes, I do know they're more expensive elsewhere), and you get a very indecisive girl.

That said, I am happy with what I have, and here's how they're different. ASOS by Ciate Sienna is the most purple, while Essie Mink Muffs is the most brown, and Rimmel Steel Grey has strong hints of purple and grey, while Nails Inc Jermyn Street is an equal mix of all three. If you're just going for one, I guess which colour you'd be picking is a matter of preference, and skin undertone. I think they're all neutral enough to be worn by most people, but if you really want to split hairs, in general, some purples and greys can look a little odd on girls who are really warmtoned, so if you're really warm, you might want to try Essie Mink Muffs and Nails Inc Jermyn Street, which are more brown. If you're cooltoned and you love your purples, Asos by Ciate Sienna is a good pick, while if you want something a tad more grey, Rimmel Steel Grey (which is only partly grey) is perhaps best.

Alright, showing-off time over! We'll be back to the Barry M Dazzle Dusts in my next post. Thanks for humouring me guys!

Asos Paints by Ciate: Agyness, Flakiefied and Mattified

I know I should stop posting NOTDs when my skills are le suckage, but sometimes, I just can't help it. Especially when a pretty purple comes along! We all know what a sucker I am for pretty purples, so Agyness, part of the Asos Paints by Ciate Winter Collection for 09, comes along.

Here we have Agyness in natural light. She's a really pretty deep violet purple colour, a little blackened, with that lit-from-within glow.



Pretty, isn't she? She's equally good in indoors lighting, and it really brings out her shimmer.



I couldn't really get a good pic of the shimmer, so I took this picture for you, since3 it does show the shimmer very well. It's very pretty blue and pink shimmer.



And then, because I got bored, I decided to add a flakie over it. This was Maybelline's Pink Pinata. I think it's been discontinued.

This is the flakie-fied Agyness in the sun:



And in indoor lighting:



And, because I was STILL bored, I added RBL's Matte topcoat over it. And then I was satisfied. The results were truly stunning, although I have to say the matte-ness of the whole thing made the purple base look black.

It really changes colour with different angles. Sometimes it flashes red, orange or yellow:





While other times it looks green, or even blue-ish:





And sometimes, it just looks like a little bit of everything! This is so pretty - it's when it really looks like a rainbow!



While I thought Agyness was pretty, I really liked it better when it was oomphed up a bit more with the flakie and the matte topcoats. As with the other Ciates in the Asos Paints Winter 09 Collection, Agyness, like Pixie and Mary-Kate, has been quite smooth to apply. Not as smooth as the other two, but better than you'd expect for the price point. As usual, the formulation was good, but the brush was a bit draggy. I wish ASOS would change the brushes on these, so as not to ruin the awesome formulation of the polishes.

Another thing I noticed when I matted and flakiefied my mani - the RBL Matte topcoate didn't stay on for very long. It started showing tipwear after day 2...Which made me kind of sad. So after the second day, the tips of my nails started looking glossy, while the rest of my nail was matte. Of course this is easily rectified by applying another layer of topcoat, but I thought I'd just put it out there for my readers. I'm not sure if this is due to it being matte, and thus more chippy (like matte and suede polishes), or whether it's just this polish. I suspect it's the former.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this photo-spam of a post, I certainly had fun trying to peer at the flakies to see that I got all colour spectrums down on film for you guys :)

OPI Jade is the New Black Dupe? Asos Paints by Ciate Pixie

Of course, we've all been looking at pictures of OPI's upcoming Hong Kong collection that will be released in Spring, and while I was browsing the gorgeous pictures of many a beautiful finger, a thought suddenly struck me - Jade is the New Black looked hauntingly familiar. In fact, it kind of looked like something I already had in my stash, and that was released in Winter!

Ooh. Just goes to show you that these types of emerald-jade slightly dustied jewel greens are awesome and chic year round, be it Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall. Anyway, regular readers of this blog will probably be able to guess what I was talking about, because awhile back, I posted bottle pics of potential-dupe-in-question here. But of course bottle pictures are inconclusive. And as it so happens, I've actually used it for a mani since then!

Behold, a potential dupe-or-not for OPI's Jade is the New Black. Maybe it's not a dupe, but it's definitely in the same family, or if not, a close neighbour. From what I could tell based on other bloggers' swatches, the main difference is that Pixie is a little more blue-toned, while the OPI is more yellow-based. I do think they are close though. I only wish I had the actual OPI colour so I could do a side-by-side comparison. But anyways, this maybe-it's-a-dupe-maybe-it's-not isn't too shabby either. It's cheaper (for the UK ladies, that is), it's beautiful and creamy, it covers in one coat (although I used two out of habit) and it's none other than Pixie, from the Asos Paints by Ciate Winter Collection!

Observe it's beauty, in natural light:



And here it is indoors:



Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I had to pair it with $OPI's Run With It, a beautiful, albeit streaky and sheer, silvery grey, and I konaded over the ring finger with Pixie, using Konad plate M57 (I think. I'm bad at remembering which plates I used).

Anyway, can I just sing the praises of Pixie again? Oh Asos and Ciate, you have done it again. Beautiful, pigmented, creamy, good texture, and very smooth creme. Unfortunately, it's let down by a brush that likes to skip and make application not as great as it could be. Which is really unfortunate, because the formulation of this was near perfect, and it was a shame that it was let down by the brush.

I also really liked Pixie, because it is something of a chameleon, colour-wise. Indoors it leans a little blue, and sometimes I swore it looked rather teal on my fingers. But outdoors, it looks most mostly green. And this isn't a wimpy mint-jade green (haven't we had enough of those already?) but it's a much sexier, much more sophisticated, much more chic older sister of those green wannabes. It's deep, but not too deep, and it's a mix of emerald and jade colours, and is bright but still a little dusty, making it eyecatching but still very wearable. And of course it likes to tease me by being bluish and teal sometimes.

So OPI, don't say I didn't warn ya, but you have competition! I only wish I could get my hands on OPI Jade is the New Black to do a side-by-side comparison!

Asos Paints by Ciate: Mary-Kate NOTD: Black Blah

So a long time ago in this post I said I would show you guys my NOTDs of the Asos Paints by Ciate when I eventually got around to doing them. Well I did, and here you are.

The first one (because my nails are nubbins now and that's the perfect excuse for wearing black) is of course Mary-Kate, the black I was so excited about. In the bottle it was a black with gold glitter that looks a little yellow or orange in some lights, and I was hoping that it would be a jelly, for that super cool glitter-suspended-in-black-jelly effect a la ChinaGlaze's Lubu Heels. And honestly, this one had the potential to one up Lubu Heels, because the glitter is a lot more noticeable in the bottle.

Well you notice I said "had". Turns out the black base was a creme, not a jelly, so although this polish is positively LOADED with glitter, most of it got buried under the opacity of the creme. Now opacity isn't a good thing - those of you who know me know that I LOVE polishes that are opaque in one coat, as they do double duty as nail colour and Konad colour, but when it comes to glitter in a black base, I personally feel a jelly or a sheer finish is best for showing off the glitter. Anyway, this one was still cool, but didn't live up to it's full potential.

Check out this photo. Once again, this was pre-cleanup, so please forgive the mess everywhere. I was just so excited to show you guys a pic of these that cleanup couldn't wait! I know, I'm such a slob when it comes to painting neatly. I'm learning!



Ah, Mary-Kate. I'm so sad for you. It's not that you can't see the glitter - as you can see, when the glitter catches the light it does sparkle - but why is this in a creme and not a jelly base?! It almost makes me want to cry, because that is such a waste of good gold glitter. Seriously, when you remove this thing you'll realize how glitter packed it was - it does tend to get everywhere, as is common with glitters - but you only really see the top layer of glitter when it's actually on your nail. The rest are just buried in the opaque creme base and are invisible.

Anyway, this one was a pretty awesome polish otherwise. It was opaque in one coat, although I did two, and the formula on this was smooth. I was really impressed! In fact someone mentioned on a forum that she thought these applied better than the regular Ciate, and I wouldn't be surprised, because this was really smooth and nicely pigmented. The only thing is that the brush was a bit unwieldy for me, which resulted in a greater amount of mess than usual. I personally thought that this was an awesome formula ruined by a terrible brush, but then again brushes are very much a personal preference (you know, like how some people like the OPI Pro-Wide brushes and some don't), so my word isn't final authority, of course. It doesn't dry smooth of course, like most glitters, but that isn't an issue for me, and isn't anything a couple of layers of topcoat can't fix. Wear time was good on this one - I didn't experience any major chipping or tipwear issues.

And because you know I love to mattify everything with glitter in it, here's a lousy swatch of it with RBL Matte Topcoat over. (Sorry for the one-finger and lousy swatch, I did it after I took off the polish from most of my fingers. That also explains why the polish is seeing some wear.)



I think it's pretty cool mattified. But I also wish it had a jelly base so it'd be even more cool mattified. Still, can't complain - it's opaque enough to Konad with, and it does have a pretty good formulation. I hope Ciate polishes in general are this nicely formulated, I'm looking forward to trying out the rest of my bottles.

Asos Paints by Ciate Winter Collection Bottle Pics

Ciate is a UK-based brand of nail polish founded by celebrity nail technican Charlotte Straughan, and is hard to find, even within the UK (or at least in Central London, where I'm at). I end up ordering most of mine online. They also aren't very well-known or popular (unlike fellow UK-based nail polish brand Nails Inc), but those who are in the know will have at least heard of them. They also have the cutest bottles ever. I don't have enough Ciate to form a good opinion of their quality in general, but I've heard raves from some, and I've also heard from others that it's a hit-and-miss brnad (like every other). In general they seem pretty good though.

Ciate also has a line of nail polish specially created for ASOS, called Asos Paints by Ciate, kind of like how Sephora has their Sephora by OPI collection. These have a similar packaging, but it's not exactly like the regular Ciate collection. The bottles are smaller, being 9ml instead of 13.5ml, and the bottles are also square instead of rectangular, and have a shorter handle. Each season, ASOS also releases a limited edition Asos Paints by Ciate. I just got the Winter 2009 Asos Paints by Ciate collection, because it was on sale at Asos, so that explains why I'm reviewing these after the fact. I'm sorry, but I'm not gettin' any swag down here, so everything I review either comes from my own pocket, or me squatting at counters and swatching their testers. What can I say, it's tough being a small-time blogger, LOL.

Anyway, the Asos Paints by Ciate Winter 2009 collection consists of 3 pretty exciting colours that are awesome all-year round. I haven't gotten around to trying them out yet, but here are bottle pictures! I know bottle pictures aren't preferred, and most people would rather see on-nail swatches, but I couldn't wait (and not just because I'm overdue). This collection's pretty cool - it's a good digression from the usual pale pinks and sheers. Without further ado, here are pictures!



Here's the entire collection altogether. This photo isn't very great, the individual bottle pictures are more accurate.



First up is Pixie, a emerald-jade green, that's NOT a Chanel Jade dupe. It's a darker, deeper and more jewel-toned green, more emerald and less pastel. I LOVE this colour, and I don't even normally like greens! This is a creme finish, very smooth looking.



Next up is Agyness, a medium-to-dark royal purple with multicoloured shimmer. I love purples, so this is right up my alley.



Lastly, we have Mary-Kate, which is a really awesome black with fine glitter. I can't really discern all the glitter in this colour, but from the bottle it looks to be gold, but it also has hints of orange and green. Super cool. It's hard to tell if the black is opaque or jelly-ish, but I'm hoping it's a jelly! I totally want to try this one out. This is probably my favourite of the bunch! It kind of reminds me of $OPI 212, except that 212 has bigger chunks of glitter. The glitter in this one isn't too big.

So that's it for today, and when I do get around to trying this out (my untrieds list of nail polish is so long right now), I'll be sure to do an NOTD post!