Bend Over Backwards by China Glaze

Hello ladies! Today's NOTD is from the 2012 China Glaze "Worlds Away: Cirque Du Soleil" collection.  This was a fantastic collection from CG, who are renowned for their 'tie-in' collections to movie releases, TV shows etc.  This collection captured the colours of the vibrant costumes of the circus brilliantly.  Tonight's polish is "Bend Over Backwards"....

photo credit: Al Seib and Cirque Du Soleil

My camera didn't know what to do with this super saturated metallic shimmer.  It's an eye-watering orange toned red that is just fabulous.  This is a great fall/holiday colour and as you can see from the swatches it will certainly get you noticed.  To be fair, this super-saturated hue is really brought out by the artificial light, it's more toned down by natural lighting as the swatch at the bottom shows. 

Bend Over Backwards by China Glaze - artificial light

This is an easy two coats, fully opaque, with NE base and HK Girl topcoat.  No issues with formula or application.  I really like CG as a brand, they have such a high turnover of shades there's always something new on the horizon, and for a mainstream brand they have had more unexpected shades in the last few years than OPI for example.  It was CG that I first saw bar glitters in a non-indie polish.  They're not afraid to think outside the box, and always at such good prices.

Bend Over Backwards by China Glaze - natural light

I picked my bottle up from Nail Polish Direct (link in Suppliers page) for a tasty £4.95.  NPD are currently having a promotion on CG and this shade is £3.99 along with dozens of others....it's a great time to grab a bargain and with free P&P it's a steal.

Perceval by A-England

Hello ladies :)  Kicking off tonight I have a series of A-England polishes to share with you.  A-England are one of my favourite brands, and hopefully over the course of a few posts you'll see why.  So onto today's offering - this is "Perceval"...

A-England "Perceval" - full sunlight

Woo mama! There is no other way to describe this shade other than it is the PERFECT metallic red.  Formula, pigmentation, application, finish, all A*.  I love a good metallic red and this is hands down my favourite.  It's perfect for Christmas (which is only 10 weeks away apparently - yikes!).  Every last detail of an A-England polish is quality.  Boutique brand owner Adina knows her stuff.  I also love the titles of the polishes and collections - (usually) inspired by English myth and legend.  Perceval was a knight of King Arthur (at least according to Prof. Wikipedia).

Pictured here I'm wearing two coats with NE base and SV topcoat (hence the tip shrink!).

A-England "Perceval" - indirect natural light

I have only ever bought A-England polishes when they have been on offer - occasionally there will be a promotion where shades are typically £6.  There is also a monthly promotion where each month a different 'gem of the month' is picked and sold for £6.  With free P&P this is a mahoosive bargain.  Even the RRP of £9 a bottle is well worth it in my opinion.  Buy direct from A-England at http://a-england.co.uk/