I don’t normally bother with an advent calendar for myself, the nice chocolate ones are overpriced and the cheaper ones have the not so nice chocolate in. This year  I was tempted by another type of advent calendar. A nail polish one. One of my friends told me about one she had seen in John Lewis Oxford Street and of course curiosity got the better of me and I had to have a look. It is manufactured by Ciate and is great value at £42 . For this behind each door is a mini Ciate nail polish or decorations pot and one full size polish for Christmas Eve as well as a top coat and base coat. I have turned into a bit of a nail snob in my old age using Nails Inc or OPI for the most part, but I decided to read the reviews and thought I would give it a try.I actually prefer mini pots of nail polish as apart from top and base coat I never finish a pot before it goes gloopy and I am a sucker for a good deal. Yes I did cheat and look through most of the doors , I know,no self control . There is a good mixture of colours and textures with only a a handful I don’t think I’ll use.

Ciate polish after 9 days

These are my nails after nine days. I used one coat of base and top coat and two coats of the polish. I am extremely impressed. My nail polish never stays on all my fingers for longer than a few days as the nails on the forefingers of each hand always chip or peel off, even when I use the Red Carpet gel polish. It will be interesting to see how easy it is get the polish off. I shall report back once I remove it.
Over all I am impressed with the quality and range in this advent calendar and will probably buy one next year as well.

Full details can be found on their website Ciate. http://www.ciate.co.uk/nails/gift-sets/mini-mani-month