Beauty is my Crush: My CHEAP Version of Ciate's Caviar Nails...

Hey babes!

I'm so so sorry, but I realized it's been a couple weeks since I last updated this thing. Ugh. Lots has happened. I was in the hospital for a week. I just got out about 4 days ago. This whole Crohn's disease thing is REALLY unpredictable and caused me lots of pain and other unpleasant symptoms, so I headed to the ER and they liked me so much, they kept me for a whole week. Ha! No really, I'm doing a little better now. I'm actually thinking of starting a second blog about my life with Crohn's, so if I do, I will link it here.

Anyways, while I was in the hospital I had a caviar manicure on that I did myself. I really, really like the look of them, but I really, really did not like the price tag of the Ciate Caviar Manicure Set that is sold at Sephora. For about $25 USD, you get one bottle of nail polish and one bottle (the size of the nail polish) filled with microbeads. So yea, $25 for what, beads and one jar of polish? Ummm, nope, I was NOT going to jump on the Ciate trend. So being little Crafty Keri, I decided to search for microbeads somewhere else. Initially I was going to go to Walmart, but I didn't have luck there. Then I went to the Dollar Tree to get some cleaning supplies, and what do you know... I found microbeads!!!! And the best part was, they were a freakin' BUCK! So I went completely wild and bought TWO packages! :)

It literally is the SIMPLEST manicure EVER! If you can pain your nails, you can do the caviar manicure. All you need is a bottle of your favorite nail polish and matching microbeads. If you have those two items, you can achieve the $25 Ciate look and NO ONE will ever know the difference!

 Here I used Spoiled polish in Let's Eat Sushi and yellow and white microbeads from the Dollar Tree. So simple and so cute!

First, you want to take what ever color polish you choose and paint one coat and let it dry completely. Once it is dried, go ahead and paint a second coat that is a tad bit thicker than the first one.

I polished two coats on this nail, now it's ready for the beads. 

Immediately after you paint your nail, take a handful of whatever microbeads you are using and pour them onto your wet nail. It will be MUCH easier, if you paint all 10 fingers with the first coat, let them dry and then go back and do the second coat one nail at a time. So paint a thicker second coat, add beads immediately, then proceed to the next nail.

 These are the beads I found at my Dollar Tree. I bought two packs. I used about a bottle and a half for one manicure that I did on all of my fingers. 

After you sprinkle the beads on your nails, you want to press down the beads gently to get them to stick into the second layer of polish you applied. Don't press too hard, just pack 'em in there. Also press along the top of the nails, to make sure there are no microbeads that are hanging off the tips of your nails. After that you can add a top clear coat, but it is totally optional. I personally did at a top coat. But if you do choose to, be careful and use a VERY, VERY thin amount of top coat. If you use too much, it'll settle into the beads and look like a gloppy mess *lesson learned*. Lol :)

So there ya have it! It's seriously, SO simple. I got complimented on it by every single nurse that came in to take my blood pressure and O2. Lol. So save your money and go the budget friendly route and get your beads anywhere BUT Sephora. I'm sorry, I'm a huge fan of Sephora, but to me, this just feels like its ripping people off, when you can get the SAME exact results for a BUCK! Lol!

Okie, enough rambling. Lol. I took some pics over the days I had the mani on to show you the wear of the mani. Overall, I got about 4 days of good wear. My right hand, which I use for everything lost beads a lot quicker than my left hand. Overall, I'm pleased with both the outcome and wear and will definitely be doing these manis again.