Ciaté Paint Pots in Helter-Skelter

Ciaté isn't a brand that I often look at because I'm not a fan of their manicure sets, which is what they're really known for. But they do sometimes have some gorgeous, unique shades in their regular nail polish range, and I found a few that I ended up really loving last month so I snatched them up. I am a little confused as to why they decided to name their nail polishes, "Paint Pots," though. Aside from being totally misleading because these don't actually come in pots, they totally took the name from a pre-existing MAC product range. After their whole "Caviar Manicure" trademarking fiasco, wherein they accuse nail bloggers of biting the term "Caviar Manicure," I find this incredibly hypocritical. Despite the quality of their products and the cute packaging, I'm kind of on the fence about supporting them because I've sort of lost my taste for this brand due to their questionable ethics, but I will give them a fair review. (Disclaimer: I'm not putting myself on a full ban because I'm a nail polish fiend at heart and if there's a shade that's too pretty to resist, I may still pick it up. I'm just more conscious about it, and will look to see if other brands have dupes first.)

Helter-Skelter is a clear purple-grey base with medium lilac-purple glitter and micro-glitter. It has a slightly thicker consistency that is common with glitter polishes, but it doesn't hinder the application. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has a clear base but it is so glitter-packed that it will almost reach full opacity in two coats, though I do recommend using a base colour if you don't like any of your nail bed to show through (in the swatch photo above, I've layered it on top of Illamasqua's Jo'mina). I can't think of any exact dupes for this; it is more purple than Formula X for Sephora Intergalatic, darker than China Glaze Tail Me Something, and has a totally different finish than Zoya Stevie. There are plenty of purple glitters out there, but I haven't found one in the same hue as this particular one. It's darker and more vibrant than a pastel, but lighter than a straight-up violet. This type of shade is usually reserved for cream shades, metallics, or shimmers, but I find it quite unique in a glitter, which is the sole reason I picked it up. Judging by the amount of compliments I got on it from people of all ages (seriously, from kids to teens to stroller moms to grandmas), it's quite the crowd-pleaser, too. The glitter makes this fun and festive and gives it an icy edge that is wintery, but the lilac shade makes it perfect for the transition into Spring (and coincidentally, it's in line with Pantone's Color of the Year, too).