One of my favourite things about your videos is your thoroughness, your even-handedness, and your clear evaluations. I also love your passion for polish! 💅 You bringing up Photoshopping is SO important, we as customers, spending our money, deserve accuracy and truth. The more of your videos I watch, the more I enjoy them...and the more I trust you. Thanks Stephanie, this fan in Australia is very grateful for your time, knowledge and experience. PS - the Emily de Molly peel off base coat is excellent IMHO, as a disabled, ultra sensitive to chemicals person, it has never caused problems, and the chonkiest glitters peel off smoothly.
Thanks for your video!!! Honestly - Cirque was my favourite brand 2 years ago. The jelly formula was such a game changer! But unfortunately with everything lately, and one uninspiring collection after the other, they have mostly fallen off my radar. I think I’ll still pick up a few of the new jelly’s just to round out my collection - but certainly they aren’t sparking joy for me as they used to.
Cirque apologist here 😩 I wish they would rebrand and focus on being more transparent! Side note- thank you so much for that massive swatching video! I refer to it every time I think about buying a new jelly 🤓
I think I’ve mentioned this before but seriously your videos are so helpful for those of us growing our collection (esp. indie/boutique brands). These “best of” videos are my favorites now! 😆 I never know what brand is known for what, and it’s nice to see a mix of staple/classic colors and standouts from the brands!
Still waiting for Negative Shine merch ❤😂 thank you for your videos. It must take so much time to create them but we're so thankful for your authenticity
Off topic, I’ve had great luck with baby girl lacquer peel off base coat - I grabbed it in PPU or HHC, I can’t remember which, but I absolutely love it. It dries instantly. I just ordered a refill bottle directly from their site because I love it so much! I’m frustrated with cirque, so I don’t know if I’ll order from them this year (probably not, a 20% discount for such an expensive brand is not too exciting), but I loved watching this rundown of your favorites :)
Love this vid (and the whole series)! I have a couple of Cirque polishes, though I don’t think I’ll be rushing to purchase anything from them. For all the reasons you and others have mentioned, but also for a more prosaic reason: I struggle with the short cap and dislike the skinny brush. I’ve got cerebral palsy and painting my nails is already a fun challenge with spastic hands, so I am very particular about caps. I have bought bulk KBshimmer replacement paddle brushes to swap out a few skinny brushes from older Holo Tacos, so I may get some brush+caps to swap out my Cirques, but for future purchases, that’s an extra cost and bit of faff that makes me less inclined to purchase from them. But I always love seeing your favourites and window shopping!
cirque is a brand i feel pretty conflicted about. on one hand they do dishonest photoshopping and keep re-releasing coronation lol and on the other hand they do make some very pretty, very quality products. they are also expensive for the size. so a sale is the best time to shop with them imo. one of the things i've recently learned though, in general, is that if you wait long enough something similar will come out somewhere either with the same or a different brand, which makes limited edition shades feel less urgent to own.
Love seeing your favorites and top recommendations videos of each brand. Thanks a lot for including swatches too. I love Cirque’s Vice collections and shimmer graphic polishes. Thank you for getting these top picks out just in time for each brands BF sales. I appreciate your integrity, honest opinions and all the hard work you put into getting these videos out😊🫶🏼
Super appreciate the honesty Stefanie and just tellin' it how it is. 👏👏 It is WILD as a brand to be taking someone else's picture/s, editing them, and then reposting them to gaslight your customer base. 🤯😡 To me that is inexcusable. If you're a brand owner and you feel like someone else's portrayal of your products is inaccurate then do your own work to show people. Do a quick live/reel/short with your own comparisons. If they were worried about losing sales and customers, then no one did a better job than the brand itself.
Thank you for this video! As others have said, I appreciate the honesty and the non-recs as well. Wondering what your favorite, truly matte top coat(s) is/are. Would love a rec!
you’re so welcome!! 🤗 and the best ones i’ve tried are from Mooncat, ILNP, A England and Olive Ave. for the price/size i would recommend Olive Ave or ILNP!
Brand values as well as integrity are important to me as well. As soon as I've heard about the lucky bag mishap, I haven't looked at Cirque the same. I miss how Cirque was.
You chose some beauties. I’m not that into jellies but to be fair, I haven’t worn to many either. I may check their website. I love the Flamingo polish. Thanks for your honest reviews and feedback.❤
Thank you so much for this video! (Although you took me back to my biggest Cirque trauma: Fata Morgana... 😁 Never been able to find a dupe for the color shown on their picture unfortunately.) I LOVE their jelly Odette though. So smooth, so perfect and juicy. Highly recommend!
You’re so welcome! And omg I completely forgot to mention it in the video, but if you want a polish that looks like Fata Morgana’s photos, check out ILNP’s Lilac Bridges!! I picked it up last year for BF and it’s basically spot on!! 😍 eta: also yess love Odette too!! Such a lovely, elegant milky sheer 🥰
I'm going to watch this video tomorrow because I want to see it when there's a bigger comment section.😀🍿In the meantime, I'm going to pick up the Coquette
I was thinking the other day about Fata Morgana. I remember you mentioned a good dupe but I can’t remember which video was it. Would you mind refreshing my mind?
Yes it was ILNP’s Lilac Bridges!! You can see my swatch of it in my ILNP Black Friday Haul video, and how it looks next to the photo of Fata Morgana. Super close to dupes imo!
Faves: “Chiffon”, “Kismet”, “Morning Tide”, “Lavender Sky”, (No Dove? No Linen?!! Lol I love those), “Anchor’s Away” “Flamingo” I think it’s actually sweet that you keep trying to see the good in Cirque because their actions In terms of causes you believe in is important! I hope they stop playing these dumb games! Integrity in the swatches should be paramount to them!!
@@PolishedYogi It must be! I have a lot of experience with peel off base coats and I'd say Cirque's is one of the better ones. It's the most comparable to the famous Unt one in my opinion. Also, I find that peel off base coats dry just as quickly if not quicker than regular base coats.
I have a lot of Cirque, mostly their jellies, but by now I feel like I have so much of those that I could make any other jelly shade they release. Combined with their price point, their Coronation greed, and the photoshopping of swatchers' photos, it doesn't look good. I still really like their releases but it's all added up to being less enthusiastic about the brand. I might still go for a unique jelly color or topper because they're the only jelly brand I've found that is consistently self-leveling without being patchy.
Has cirque officially apologized for photoshopping to the degree they did for Piña? (I only remember that they admitted to editing the photos). And love your video as always, thank you ❤❤
Unfortunately not, they’ve only double or triple downed when they were called out in their comments and then in my email to them 🫠 but thank you so much! 🤗🤗
It’s been so baffling to me to see that cirque still does stuff like overedit their pics because I think it’s like their longest running criticism yet they STILL decided to do that controversy with the ig pic? 😅 their newer swatch pics are better (like the jellies, they actually show the VNL rather than pretending it looks opaque? Again, baffling choice) so obviously they’re aware of the criticism but? yeah none of their controversies so far have been enough to put off from the brand, esp as like you said they do things like speak up on social issues and I appreciate that! But even these little things can build up and I don’t think it’s wise to eat away at your customer’s trust/faith in you like this? Esp when I know people already think that their jellies are kinda overpriced…. Which sucks since company messaging aside I actually really do like cirque polishes? I know you like having more umph in your magnetics but I LOVE their jelly formula combined with their magnetics. It just magnetizes so easily and looks so pretty!
I don't know american law but isn't that false advertising and illegal to photoshop a product so much that the color is not even close to how it is in reality?
I think it has to be a very drastic difference in color to be considered false advertising. It would be hard to prove they are _deliberately_ trying to trick the consumer instead of doing what they believe is best to accurately showcase the color. Still shady af, but hard to prove intent, I think. Especially if their website has a “colors may vary due to differences in screens” disclaimer that is common.
I appreciate that you include thoughtful critiques along with your recommendations :)
So glad you appreciate that! ☺️🫶🏼
One of my favourite things about your videos is your thoroughness, your even-handedness, and your clear evaluations.
I also love your passion for polish! 💅
You bringing up Photoshopping is SO important, we as customers, spending our money, deserve accuracy and truth.
The more of your videos I watch, the more I enjoy them...and the more I trust you.
Thanks Stephanie, this fan in Australia is very grateful for your time, knowledge and experience.
PS - the Emily de Molly peel off base coat is excellent IMHO, as a disabled, ultra sensitive to chemicals person, it has never caused problems, and the chonkiest glitters peel off smoothly.
Thanks for your video!!! Honestly - Cirque was my favourite brand 2 years ago. The jelly formula was such a game changer! But unfortunately with everything lately, and one uninspiring collection after the other, they have mostly fallen off my radar. I think I’ll still pick up a few of the new jelly’s just to round out my collection - but certainly they aren’t sparking joy for me as they used to.
I have seen the comments about something going on with Cirque, but I have no idea what. Can you ellaborate?
They were my favorite brand also. I’ve stopped buying from them
Cirque apologist here 😩 I wish they would rebrand and focus on being more transparent! Side note- thank you so much for that massive swatching video! I refer to it every time I think about buying a new jelly 🤓
I stocked up on some cirque jellies this morning. Your jelly video was really helpful! Thank you so much for putting in all that work.
So exciting!! Which ones did you grab? 😍
I think I’ve mentioned this before but seriously your videos are so helpful for those of us growing our collection (esp. indie/boutique brands). These “best of” videos are my favorites now! 😆 I never know what brand is known for what, and it’s nice to see a mix of staple/classic colors and standouts from the brands!
Aw this means so much, thank you!! So glad this series has been super helpful 🥹💞
You’re my comfort creator, thanks for all your videos and honesty i appreciate them.
Aw this is so sweet!! What an honor, thank you 🥹🫶🏼
Still waiting for Negative Shine merch ❤😂 thank you for your videos. It must take so much time to create them but we're so thankful for your authenticity
Off topic, I’ve had great luck with baby girl lacquer peel off base coat - I grabbed it in PPU or HHC, I can’t remember which, but I absolutely love it. It dries instantly. I just ordered a refill bottle directly from their site because I love it so much!
I’m frustrated with cirque, so I don’t know if I’ll order from them this year (probably not, a 20% discount for such an expensive brand is not too exciting), but I loved watching this rundown of your favorites :)
Love this vid (and the whole series)! I have a couple of Cirque polishes, though I don’t think I’ll be rushing to purchase anything from them. For all the reasons you and others have mentioned, but also for a more prosaic reason: I struggle with the short cap and dislike the skinny brush. I’ve got cerebral palsy and painting my nails is already a fun challenge with spastic hands, so I am very particular about caps. I have bought bulk KBshimmer replacement paddle brushes to swap out a few skinny brushes from older Holo Tacos, so I may get some brush+caps to swap out my Cirques, but for future purchases, that’s an extra cost and bit of faff that makes me less inclined to purchase from them.
But I always love seeing your favourites and window shopping!
Cirque was also my first foray into indie/boutique polishes so they hold special value to me too! Specifically organza, my go to sheer.
can you believe i only recently added Organza to my collection? 🙈 def another classic!! 🥹
Love that you reignite excitement for polishes i already have! Maybe I’ll come back to these once my flashy nails phase is over!
cirque is a brand i feel pretty conflicted about. on one hand they do dishonest photoshopping and keep re-releasing coronation lol and on the other hand they do make some very pretty, very quality products. they are also expensive for the size. so a sale is the best time to shop with them imo. one of the things i've recently learned though, in general, is that if you wait long enough something similar will come out somewhere either with the same or a different brand, which makes limited edition shades feel less urgent to own.
I love watching your videos! They are so relaxing and I love your voice :) best regards from Finland!❤
Thank you so much for the love!! I really appreciate that! 🥹🥰🫶🏼
Love seeing your favorites and top recommendations videos of each brand. Thanks a lot for including swatches too. I love Cirque’s Vice collections and shimmer graphic polishes. Thank you for getting these top picks out just in time for each brands BF sales. I appreciate your integrity, honest opinions and all the hard work you put into getting these videos out😊🫶🏼
Gosh, all of these are stunning!
I’m glad you think so! ☺️
lol at your flamingo description now I must get it ! 😂🙌🏽
Hahah yayyy im so excited for you!! 💖💖💖
Super appreciate the honesty Stefanie and just tellin' it how it is. 👏👏 It is WILD as a brand to be taking someone else's picture/s, editing them, and then reposting them to gaslight your customer base. 🤯😡 To me that is inexcusable. If you're a brand owner and you feel like someone else's portrayal of your products is inaccurate then do your own work to show people. Do a quick live/reel/short with your own comparisons. If they were worried about losing sales and customers, then no one did a better job than the brand itself.
Thank you for this video! As others have said, I appreciate the honesty and the non-recs as well. Wondering what your favorite, truly matte top coat(s) is/are. Would love a rec!
you’re so welcome!! 🤗 and the best ones i’ve tried are from Mooncat, ILNP, A England and Olive Ave. for the price/size i would recommend Olive Ave or ILNP!
@@PolishedYogi Thank you, that is super helpful! I am planning to shop the ILNP Black Friday sale, so I'll probably pick up theirs to try. :)
Brand values as well as integrity are important to me as well. As soon as I've heard about the lucky bag mishap, I haven't looked at Cirque the same. I miss how Cirque was.
Thank you for posting this, super helpful with the BF sale today!
So glad I could help! 🤗
You chose some beauties. I’m not that into jellies but to be fair, I haven’t worn to many either. I may check their website. I love the Flamingo polish. Thanks for your honest reviews and feedback.❤
Thank you so much for this video!
(Although you took me back to my biggest Cirque trauma: Fata Morgana... 😁 Never been able to find a dupe for the color shown on their picture unfortunately.)
I LOVE their jelly Odette though. So smooth, so perfect and juicy. Highly recommend!
You’re so welcome! And omg I completely forgot to mention it in the video, but if you want a polish that looks like Fata Morgana’s photos, check out ILNP’s Lilac Bridges!! I picked it up last year for BF and it’s basically spot on!! 😍 eta: also yess love Odette too!! Such a lovely, elegant milky sheer 🥰
I'm going to watch this video tomorrow because I want to see it when there's a bigger comment section.😀🍿In the meantime, I'm going to pick up the Coquette
I am with you on the jellies m. Cirque gas such a great range to select from
I was thinking the other day about Fata Morgana. I remember you mentioned a good dupe but I can’t remember which video was it. Would you mind refreshing my mind?
Yes it was ILNP’s Lilac Bridges!! You can see my swatch of it in my ILNP Black Friday Haul video, and how it looks next to the photo of Fata Morgana. Super close to dupes imo!
Anchors Away is really pretty. I don’t usually reach for lighter blue polishes but I really liked that one.
Isn’t it?! Soo magical! 💙
I used to be a cirque stan but this BF I'm buying from ILNP and mooncat only. Haven't liked many of their collections this year :/
Yeah I know a lot of people who feel the same! 🥲 but even if you did like them, it makes sense to prioritize Mooncat and ILNP 🤣🙈
So interesting the cirque peel off works better than the unt or others for me.
Interesting! I wonder if it’s a body chemistry thing, similar to other regular base or top coats? 🤔
After the whole Photoshop/gaslighting debacle, I just can't buy from Cirque anymore. I do, however, love your videos, so I'll watch the Cirque ones.
i totally understand that 😓 thank you for still watching though! it’s greatly appreciated 🙏🏼
Faves:
“Chiffon”,
“Kismet”,
“Morning Tide”,
“Lavender Sky”,
(No Dove? No Linen?!! Lol I love those),
“Anchor’s Away”
“Flamingo”
I think it’s actually sweet that you keep trying to see the good in Cirque because their actions In terms of causes you believe in is important! I hope they stop playing these dumb games! Integrity in the swatches should be paramount to them!!
I actually love the Cirque peel off base coat!
I know a lot who do! It’s so weird, I wonder if it’s a body chemistry thing or something??
@@PolishedYogi It must be! I have a lot of experience with peel off base coats and I'd say Cirque's is one of the better ones. It's the most comparable to the famous Unt one in my opinion. Also, I find that peel off base coats dry just as quickly if not quicker than regular base coats.
I have a lot of Cirque, mostly their jellies, but by now I feel like I have so much of those that I could make any other jelly shade they release. Combined with their price point, their Coronation greed, and the photoshopping of swatchers' photos, it doesn't look good. I still really like their releases but it's all added up to being less enthusiastic about the brand. I might still go for a unique jelly color or topper because they're the only jelly brand I've found that is consistently self-leveling without being patchy.
I love Lavender Sky and Linen
Has cirque officially apologized for photoshopping to the degree they did for Piña? (I only remember that they admitted to editing the photos). And love your video as always, thank you ❤❤
Unfortunately not, they’ve only double or triple downed when they were called out in their comments and then in my email to them 🫠 but thank you so much! 🤗🤗
Wicked marketing budget so big that they're even advertising through Stefanie's wall decorations
Omg I wish I was getting some Wicked marketing money 🤑 lol
I think maybe the dark jellies are sheerer to make sure things show through when they are layered like in jelly sandwiches? 🤔
Oooo you know what lol 😅 That would make sense!!
Putting a cream of the same color first then putting a jelly could help cover up the nail line
Yes for sure! I personally love the squishy look but I know it’s not for everyone 😅
Peel off shouldnt take two coats, unless youre putting a different base coat on top the peel off base coat
Ok good to know! I’m pretty sure when I would use UNT it would only be one coat as well, so weird this one didn’t work for me 🥴
It’s been so baffling to me to see that cirque still does stuff like overedit their pics because I think it’s like their longest running criticism yet they STILL decided to do that controversy with the ig pic? 😅 their newer swatch pics are better (like the jellies, they actually show the VNL rather than pretending it looks opaque? Again, baffling choice) so obviously they’re aware of the criticism but? yeah
none of their controversies so far have been enough to put off from the brand, esp as like you said they do things like speak up on social issues and I appreciate that! But even these little things can build up and I don’t think it’s wise to eat away at your customer’s trust/faith in you like this? Esp when I know people already think that their jellies are kinda overpriced….
Which sucks since company messaging aside I actually really do like cirque polishes? I know you like having more umph in your magnetics but I LOVE their jelly formula combined with their magnetics. It just magnetizes so easily and looks so pretty!
I don't know american law but isn't that false advertising and illegal to photoshop a product so much that the color is not even close to how it is in reality?
I think it has to be a very drastic difference in color to be considered false advertising. It would be hard to prove they are _deliberately_ trying to trick the consumer instead of doing what they believe is best to accurately showcase the color. Still shady af, but hard to prove intent, I think. Especially if their website has a “colors may vary due to differences in screens” disclaimer that is common.
@nailartguy3363 hm ok makes sense. And since every site has the "colors may vary" sentence it's really a case of "though luck" .
yeah unfortunately i think the “colors may vary” disclaimer is them preemptively protecting themself from a false advertising lawsuit 🙄
cirque HALO does not match the images.... it is totally silver and not beige-y