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Hey dolls! I hope you all have been having a great weekend. Many thanks to all of you who gave positive words, thoughts, and prayers while my mother was in the hospital. If you follow me on IG and saw this picture, you already know that she was released after five long days in the hospital. We’re now preparing for the road to recovery and treatment. Be prepared to see several peach looks in support of uterine cancer awareness!
I was able to get some swatching done after returning home earlier this weekend. The Cirque Kontiki collection was at the top of my list! This collection features three gorgeous jelly bases filled with shimmer that is visible in all lights. The formula was the same on each: they applied easily; didn’t drag; and built up to opacity in three coats. I would also suggest wrapping your tips. I wore two of these shades and the wear time was amazing!
Cirque Dear Dahlia is a bright pink jelly with green shimmer. I don’t even have to say how much I adore this polish! Pink and green is always a winning combo in my book. I swatched Dear Dahlia first and immediately had to apply it to all of my nails for a full mani. The visible nail line is not nearly as apparent at all in real life as seen below.
Cirque Midsummer Night is a cobalt blue jelly filled with copper shimmer. This is another winning shade in my book. The shade of the shimmer complements the base perfectly.
Cirque Thicker Than Water is an aqua jelly filled with gold shimmer. I’m so in love with this polish! Depending on the light, Thicker Than Water can lean more turquoise or teal. I wore this polish for the duration of my time away and it held up perfectly!
Here’s a cell phone pic (not color accurate) of Thicker Than Water after six days of wear. I didn’t have any chips and you can only see minimal tip wear and grow out at the cuticles. I wore this polish for two more days after the photo below.
Cirque has also released a Back to Basics collection ($36 for the set) that features black and white cremes and a base and top coat. I used the Cirque Holdfast Base Coat and Cirque Liquid Laminate Top Coat for the mani above and I was throughly impressed with the wear time. My nails are very finicky when it comes to base coats. I can tell after 2-3 manis whether one is a keeper because my nails will start to peel immediately. Thankfully, I didn’t run into any issues with Cique Holdfast Base Coat. As with most polish addicts, we’re always trying to top our favorite top coat. Cirque Liquid Laminate Top Coat had a thinner consistency than what I tend to prefer, but it applied nicely and left my nails with a high gloss finish. It took about 15-20 minutes for my nails to be completely dry to the touch.
Cirque Carpe Diem is a white creme that includes a very subtle shimmer. I noticed the shimmer when applying the polish, but it was not visible on the nail. The formula was slightly streaky on the first coat, but leveled out nicely on the second.
I did a little nail art over Carpe Diem using Cirque Chainmail, a gunmetal microglitter with scattered holo particles. Chainmail was very dense and applied easily in one coat. It does dry matte, so Cirque Liquid Laminate Top Coat was used.
Cirque Memento Mori is a jet black creme. This polish had a flawless formula, was extremely pigmented and was opaque in just one coat!
Cirque Ica Valley, a gold microglitter, and Cirque Stella, a rose gold microglitter, were used over Memento Mori for a cute polka dot look. Each applied easily and were very dense. Top coat was applied to smooth out the glitters.
Overall, I’m really impressed with these sets. The Cirque Kontiki and Cirque Back to Basics collection are available here. The polishes are $13 each and the treatments are $10 each. To find out where Cirque polishes are available locally, check the stockists page. Be sure to keep up with them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates.
The lovely Annie behind Cirque has graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway for both the Kontiki and Back to Basics (plus 2 glitters of your choice) collections! There will be two winners (one for each collection) and the prizes will be mailed directly from Cirque. This giveaway will last for two weeks and is open to the US and international countries except for the following: Brazil, India, Italy and Russia. Please enter below using the rafflecopter widget. Good luck dolls!
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