Any feedback on Ciaté London Plant Pots?

[civ2ru]

I’ve been eyeing this new Ciaté London Mini Mani Month Nail Polish Advent Calendar, but I’m not familiar with the brand or this particular Plant Pot formula. It is apparently at least 5-free, which is good, but what else? Only 3 reviews on Sephora so far... Coverage, opacity, viscosity, wear? How does it stack up to drugstore brands like Essie or Opi? Using base and top coats are a given here. If you have any insight to share, I’d be thankful!

[RGbrown]

@civ2ru 

So I'm way behind on this post, but my experience with Ciate is fairly opposite of the other poster 😛

I bought the 2019 advent calendar, and have been exceedingly impressed, especially with their cream formula. I normally hate creams for being streaky and a bit of a pain, but theirs have been super easy to lay down evenly (minus the yellow, but yellows are pretty universally obnoxious...it's tough to find one that isn't). Overall I've been really pleased with the brand, and would absolutely consider purchasing more polish from them in the future.

I can't speak to wear time as I change my polish every 2-3 days lately 😂

I can't tell that any shades from the 2019 calendar overlap into the 2020 calendar, but comparing ingredient lists between the two, they look awfully similar in basic formulation, so I'm not sure much has changed in that department other than, sigh, marketing...

FWIW, I got the 2019 calendar in April 2020 for $25 from Ciate direct. If you haven't bought it yet and are willing to gamble, holding out might bring better deals 😄

[civ2ru]

@RGbrown So, NOW you’re telling me? 🤣 Thank you for your expert input, honestly. As it stands, I’ve decided to go the “boring” neutral route. As much as I use my hands, anything else starts mercilessly showing tip wear after just 1-2 days. And looks like I have better longevity luck with OPI than Essie (or anything else). Now, my toes will keep it on until I’m tired of looking at the color. Guess I don’t use my toes as much... 😉

[RGbrown]

@civ2ru 

I normally never filter by group, but got a wild hair today to see what Nailed It had in store for me. It's not a commonly used group, apparently, as your post was something like the third one 😂

If you are interested in extending wear, playing with your base and top coats may yield some nice results. Everyone's chemistry is a little different, so maybe you just haven't found the right combo for you yet! Even when I only polished once a week, I found the polish itself to be a secondary factor in terms of lasting power. 

[nicole2759]

Ciate polishes are normally very sheer (3-4 coats on average, from my experience), but I haven't swatched any of the ones in this calendar yet (saving it for December). The formula for the polishes this year are more eco friendly (biodegradable glitter, pots are made of 10% recycled glass, bamboo brush), but I would assume the coverage would be the same or slightly worse than their other polishes. They start off a bit thin and they will thicken over time when you don't use them. I can't get more than 3 days of wear without chipping, but I also wasn't using the Ciate base and top coat when I was wearing their polishes (I used an Essie base and Orly top). This year's calendar includes a base and top coat, so you can test out their system for the wear test. I'm not a huge fan of drugstore brands, so I can't compare Ciate with OPI/Essie.