Ciate Chalkboard Manicure Swatch

Okay, so first, I love the packaging; it’s perfect for what’s inside.

And, here’s what you get inside. Four colour pens, one black chalk coat and a matte top coat to seal it all in.

First of all, you definitely need two coats of this, and as you can see, black is a very unforgiving colour so any little errors will show up. This won’t go down in history as my best manicure but I did it really quickly (that’s my excuse!). Those who can’t bear the feel of chalk will be happy to know that it doesn’t feel like a chalk board.. more a smooth but dry surface.

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I’ve done some very random designs just so you can see how it performs. As you can see, you can get a more perfect, and less chalk-like finish if you dot the pens rather than draw on them, but it’s personal preference with what you like. I love the pink shade, don’t think the yellow works quite as well and am quite happy with the blue and the white. As far as the chalk-on-board remit goes, well, it’s very true to that, with fade-outs just like chalk would have.

I just wanted to play about and see what would happen if I put a gloss coat over – the first two nails have the gloss coat on top. It really, really intensifies the colour – if I wanted black nails, I’d use the black chalk and then a gloss because it is such an intense black. There is a matte top coat which is on the other two nails (blue and white) so you can keep the effect. If I was to nitpick I’d like the pens to be just a little bit finer so that you can do more detailed designs if you’re able.

Overall, I genuinely love this – it’s fun! I need to think of some great designs and I’d probably dot them (easy for flowers) but it’s not out of the realms of possibility that I would write a rude message on them. #justsayin