Nothing screams “holidays” more than sparkle and shine.  To add a little festivities to my nails I like to layer on the glitter polish, however, sometimes it’s not as sparkly as I would like.

I picked up the Ciate Sequin Manicure Kit for a friend for Christmas and she was so kind to let me try it out (thanks Jess).

From Sephora.com:

The Sequined Manicure™ was created by Ciaté’s Creative Director Charlotte Knight while styling an extravagant nail look to give an embellished dazzling finish, unachievable by regular nail polish.

Ciate is always coming out with innovative nail kits; first there was the caviar nails, now the sequins.  This kit is not for the faint of heart as you literally dip your finger into a pot of sequins, leaving you with beautiful high-shine tips, perfect for the holiday season.

Now since I didn’t want to go too over the top with this, I chose to just sequin up an accent nail (my ring finger), and paint the other ones with a nude polish (Essie’s Sand Tropez, my favourite nude varnish).  

The kit comes with a pot of sequins, sequin glitter grip, and a small brush.

First, on a clean nail (I messed this step up, I had polish on, however, it didn’t really affect the outcome), paint the sequin glitter grip on your nail and then wait for it to dry.

After your nail (or nails) is dry, apply a second coat of the adhesive and then dip your finger in the glitter.  Then, using the brush, sweep the excess glitter off your nail and then pat the glitter on your finger. Finally, apply one more coat of the glitter grip and wait for your nails to dry for about 20 minutes.

I love the effect of the kit, however, I do have a few qualms.  First, the glitter gets everywhere. Make sure that you are doing this over a paper towel or napkin, or even in the plastic that the kit comes in, otherwise it gets all over the place.  Second, I recommend applying a topcoat over the finished product just so it smoothes it out a bit. The glitter does feel quite thick on your nail and it can get jagged so you will want to smooth it out. Lastly, if you are a nail polish peeler (like me), this stuff can drive you nuts.   Since it is so thick and jagged, all I wanted to do was peel it off.

As for positives of the kit, it leaves you with a mega-shine effect and it really does catch your eye. I don’t have any polishes that can give you the same effect so this is an easy way to have a sequin mani (OPI’s Rainbow Connection from last holiday’s Muppet Collection has the same kind of glitter but you would need like 10 coats to get a similar effect).  It also lasted all weekend, so that was a plus.  When it came time to take it off, I just peeled off the glitter (it felt so good) and then used a nail polish remover to get rid of whatever was left on my nail, as well as the glitter grip.  Thankfully, the stuff came off quite easily.

Now I know what you are thinking, couldn’t you just go to Michael’s, get some glitter and use it with a topcoat?  Absolutely yes!  You don’t really need to spend C$21 (on sale now at Sephora for C$14) for a jar of glitter and “glitter grip”, but what fun would that be?  I bought this as a gift for someone, but if you wanted to try out the style but not pay a high price tag, I would recommend just picking up some glitter at a craft store.

The Ciate Sequined Manicure Kit comes in three different colours: Black & Gold, Multicoloured, and Tutu Pink.  I tried the multicoloured one, but the black and gold would be pretty as well.  If you are interested in the kit, I would recommend picking it up online at sephora.com where it is on sale (check your local store to see if it’s on sale there as well).  It gives a really pretty effect, perfect for New Year’s Eve.

Also, for all you Canadians out there, Happy Boxing Day!  What stores did you hit up?  There isn’t really anything that I want this year, but I always go to Lululemon on Boxing Day for their deals.

Have you tried Ciate’s Sequined Manicure Kit?  If so, what were your thoughts?

Like what you read? Check out these related posts:

• Fast and dry: Poshe Top Coat
• The Cult Collection: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
• To repurchase or not: products I’ve used up
• Back to “base”ics