A England Festive Bargains

Festive greetings ladies! This is just a quickie to share some exiting news...AEngland are having an awesome festive sale...It's well worth a look, and as Christmas shades go I can't recommend "Perceval" highly enough. It is quite simply THE perfect metallic red. If by some horrible trick of fate I was forced to choose only one red from my collection to keep then I would pick this one without hesitation. Check out my blog post on Percival for more...

I would also highly recommend Avalon, if like me you live metallic purple then this is also hard beat. I also loved Dragon...

Sadly for me I already have a lot of these and none of the AEngland shades that I've been lemming are this offer but hopefully you'll find a nice bargain amongst them :-)

Go to http://www.a-england.co.uk for details

Crown of Thistles by AEngland

Hello ladies! Today I have a gorgeous polish to share with you from the brand new A England "Elizabeth + Mary" collection.  A new A England collection is something to get very excited about, and this one is no exception.  Taking inspiration from two of Britain's most famous Queens - Elizabeth the 1st, and Mary Queen of Scots. The history of these two women is steeped in murder, betrayal and intrigue.  Mary was considered by many to be the rightful heir to the English throne, and Elizabeth in turn kept her cousin imprisoned for 18 years before finally having her beheaded for treason. 

A England - Crown of Thistles - artificial light

Today's polish is 'Crown of Thistles', a shade inspired by Mary, the Queen of Scotland, whose national emblem is the thistle.  This is a beautiful shade of Orchid (pinky purple) that really captures the colour of the tufted top of the thistle:

Crown of Thistles is also a very strong holo finish, far more prominent than the usual soft dusty holo finish that A England are famous for.  Seen here in the bottle shot you can see the polish comes alive with a rainbow of colour from that dense holo finish.

Crown of Thistles was a lovely polish to wear, and for someone that owns a lot of pink and purple shades this one also has managed to be unique in my collection which is quite some feat.  I'm in awe of Adina at A England and her creative polishes.  Each one is truly a piece of art in a bottle.  Application is butter smooth, glossy and flawless.  Pictured here I'm wearing a couple of coats with NE base and Essie GTG, although this polish is easily a one-coater.

A England - Crown of Thistles - artificial light

I love this shade, and I'm looking forward to getting more from this collection.  I particularly fancy Fotheringay and Virgin Queen, so expect to see those at some point in future! In the meantime, UK customers can head over to A England http://a-england.co.uk/ where I picked up my bottle of Crown of Thistles for £9.  They are also currently having a special offer for November on the Gothic collection, with individual shades for £6 or bundled for even less.  With free P&P on all orders it's a bargain for polish of this pedigree.

Spotted : Barry M Glitteratti !

Barry M Glitteratti polishes have arrived! What's even better is that they are currently 3 for 2 in Boots :-) well it seemed rude not too...these look perfect for the party season but I'll definitely be breaking out the peel off base coat for these!

Have you tried any of these yet? What's your favorite? In the bottle I'm loving the purple Fashion Icon. Can't wait to try these out!

A England Promotion! Gothic November, on now...

Hello ladies! Just a quick post to let you know that A England are having another of their legendary promotions with shades for just £6, and special bundles for even lower than that! With free UK P&P it's s steal. 

This promotion is called Gothic November and contains all the Gothic collection shades.  Go to http://a-england.co.uk/14-gothic-november/ for details.

I have one of the Gothic collection polish - Lady of Shallot - which I have worn but haven't swatched yet. TBH I was a bit disappointed with it, it was a blackened shade that to my eye just looked black all the time on the nail. I have a friend with the Jane Eyre shade and she had the same experience. If that's what you like in a blackened polish, that it's more black than the accent shade, then crack on this promo is for you :-) there are also non blackened shades in the offer too...

Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Nidavellir

Hello ladies! Tonight I have the final post from the Crowstoes 9 Realms collection.  Tonight's polish, "Nidavellir", takes its name from the homeworld of the dwarves in Norse Mythology.

Nidavellir by Crowstoes - natural light (shade)

  Like collection-mates Muspelheim and Vanaheim, Nidavellir is a duochrome micro-glitter polish.  Densely packed with colour shifting glitters this shade shifts from teal blue to purple.  Pictured here in natural light (in the shade) you can see all the colours on the nail at once, but in all other lighting conditions one of the three shades will dominate depending on the angle of the nail to the light source.

Nidavellir by Crowstoes - artificial light

 The microglitter duochrome formula is really intriguing in these polishes....they remind me of pointillist paintings, tiny spots of colour coming together to make something beautiful.  In artificial lighting (below) you can see the lovely jewel tones of the blue-indigo-purple shades in transition.  The bottom of the bottle lets you see the full spectrum in the polish, but the gold tone you see peeking through doesn't translate to the nail (nails aren't as curved as the inside of a bottle!)



Nidavellir by Crowstoes - artificial light

In these pics I'm wearing two coats over black undies, with NE base and HK Girl topcoat.  No issues with formula and application, all Crowstoes polishes are top notch in the quality stakes.  Below you can see the final swatches which are taken in direct sunlight.  Here you can see that the main shade is far more of a teal green/blue than the royal blue shade you get under artificial light.  Also, the end tone is much more of a magenta than the purple you get under artificial light. This polish, like its collection mates, is a real chameleon.  I really liked this one.

Nidavellir by Crowstoes - sunlight

I picked up my bottle for £10.25 from Rainbow Connection (link in the suppliers page).   This is my last post in the 9 Realms collection series, I hope you've enjoyed it :) This is a very special collection, and well worth a look if you can find it in stock.

Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Muspelheim

Hello Ladies! Today I have another of the fabulous polishes from the Crowstoes 9 Realms collection - tonight's offering is the lovely (but unpronounceable) "Muspelheim":

In Norse legend Muspelheim is the flaming inferno volcanic home of the fire giants.  I don't know that I would have picked a blue based shade to represent a fire planet, by hey I'm not the creative at work here.  Muspelheim the polish is a multichrome glitter in a blurple base.  It is packed with teeny tiny glitter particles in royal blue and golden yellow that produce a multichrome spectrum from royal blue to purple.  The golden particles don't really show on the nail as clearly as in the bottle (except in the closeup thumb nail shots below).

Pictured here I'm wearing my customary two coats with NE base and HK girl topcoat.  In the swatches at the top of this post you can see Muspelheim in the sunshine - in the shade is the only time you'll see both colours on the nail at once, otherwise the main colour is either the royal blue shade or the blurple. The magenta shade here is really hard to capture because it's not really seen except at really high angles to the light source.

 

In the thumbshots below you can see all the lovely details of this polish.  Unfortunately these details aren't quite so obvious on the nail unless you look quite closely.  I really did like this shade a lot, but it's one of those that's just not quite as fabulous as it promises in the bottle.

I bought my bottle of Muspelheim for £10.25 from Rainbow Connection (link in the Suppliers page). This is a lovely shade, I think I was just a little spoiled by this point because I'd tried collection-mates Huginn and Muninn, and Vanaheim, right before - and those are bonkers good!  I do recommend Muspelheim, especially if like me you're a big fan of purple/blurple shades.

Nail mail : Colors by Llarowe Fall 2014

I just couldn't wait to swatch these before sharing :-) The colors by llarowe Fall collection is out now in the UK (@ rainbow connection) and I was so excited to grab three of the shades (although if I had the money I'd buy them all!). I picked (left to right) Burning Embers, Midnight in Montana and Obsession.  I can't wait to try these out!

Shown here are all the shades in natural and artificial light. My initial thoughts are that Midnight is the clear standout of the bunch. Obsession reminded me of A England Briarwood but a quick side by side comparison shows that Briarwood is much redder. I'll compare these properly when I post swatches.

Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Vanaheim

Hello Ladies :)  Tonight we're continuing with the incredible 9 Realms collection by Crowstoes.  Tonight's offering is a simply astonishing polish - "Vanaheim".  In Norse Mythology, Vanaheim is the home of the Vanir, an ancient breed of sorcerer gods.  I don't know much about that, but I think there might be some sorcery involved in the making of this polish...

Vanaheim by Crowstoes  - artificial light

Vanaheim is a glittering fusion of emerald, gold, bronze, and tiny flecks of sky blue.  I'm at a bit of a loss to describe the finish of this one - its predominantly made up of tiny foil glitter particles, suspended in an emerald base, and this makes it a duochrome.  In some swatches here (like the above), you can see this clearly coming across as a deep metallic shimmer, and in others the foil glitter finish is dominant.  However you choose to describe it the effect is simply stunning and this is one of my favourite polishes of the whole year.  For me, this polish was like the skin of a magnificent dragon, the green and gold combined with the iridescent glitter would be perfect as dragon skin.   

Dragon skin

In these swatches I'm wearing two coats over my usual NE base and beneath a generous layer of HK Girl topcoat.  The finish was totally smooth, no bumpy lumps on this dragon.  Application, formula and wear time were also all top notch as you'd expect from Crowstoes.



Vanaheim by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - artificial light

In these swatches (above) you can see the deep emerald shade that dominates in direct lighting (top), and the burnished olive gold (bottom) that appears in side-on lighting conditions.  I really love this antique gold shade, I find that a lot more interesting than a straight gold shade and it works beautifully in transition with the emerald.

Vanaheim by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light

The swatches above and below here show this shade in natural light, which is quite different and equally lovely.  The green is a bright jewel tone that really pops on the nail, and the gold is a much deeper bronze.  This was one of those polishes that I just couldn't keep my eyes off, and I was really sorry to remove.  Usually when I try a new shade I stop noticing it so much after a few days and I'm excited to try the next shade in my untried pile.   But with Vanaheim I could have quite happily gone straight back to it.

Vanaheim by Crowstoes - natural light

I seem to say quite often on here that I'm not really a green person, and it is one of the least represented colours in my stash, but all the greens I post about I then say I really like.  I still don't think I'm a green person, but I think I like the right kind of green, and Vanaheim certainly fits the bill.

I bought my bottle for £10.25 from Rainbow Connection (link in the suppliers page) and I'm really glad I did.  This was my 'wildcard' polish to make my total high enough to qualify for the cheap postage rate and it ended up being my favourite of the bunch.  Vanaheim and Huginn and Muninn would be my two top picks for the collection.

Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Huginn and Muninn

Hello Ladies! Tonight I have a real treat of a polish to share with you, from a collection that is one of my absolute favourites of 2014 and in fact, ever.  There are two standout collections for me this year - the Picture Polish LE duochromes, and the 9 Realms collection by Crowstoes.  As a brand, Crowstoes stand head and shoulders above the rest for me.  The creativity behind each collection is just on a whole other level, so any new collection is something to get excited about, and boy did I get excited about this one!   Over the next few posts I'll be sharing with you all the polishes I picked up, and I'm starting with my favourite: Huginn and Muninn.

Art Credit: Jarnsaxe@DeviantArt

The 9 Realms collection is inspired by Norse mythology. In Norse legend, Huginn ('thought') and Muninn ('memory') are the raven avatars of the god Odin, they flew throughout the world and brought knowledge back to Odin.  The polish of the same name is a stunning multichrome in shades of royal purple, forest green and earthy brown:

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light (shade)

Pictured here I'm wearing two thin coats over black, but from swatches I've seen you can achieve the same effect with three coats and no undies. The colour combination on this is strikingly beautiful, and quite unlike any other multichrome in my collection.  The green and purple complement each other beautifully, and the combination really drew to my mind the image of a mystical forest with dark green shade and purple autumn leaves, and the beady eye of a raven peering out from the canopy:

Art Credit: Ninjatic@DeviantArt

The multichrome effect is most apparent in natural light and shade.  Under artificial lighting one colour tends to dominate, depending on the direction of the light relative to the nail surface:

Upper Row and Lower Left: Artificial light, Lower right: natural light (shade)

In the swatch above you can see the gorgeous royal purple, the golden brown and green transitional shade, and the rich emerald.  In the lower right corner is a swatch taken in natural light and you can see the purple and green clearly together on the nail. In artificial lighting, at direct angles (ie most of the time) it's the purple shade that dominates, with the green appearing at higher angles/along the curved nail edge.

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - artificial light

This swatch captures the closeup detail of the two main colours at the opposing ends of the multichrome spectrum.  In the purple you can clearly see royal blue and magenta shimmer, and the green is a combination of forest green, teal and gold.  Quite how they managed to pack so much depth into one polish is a mystery to me.  I couldn't love this polish more, it's utter perfection.

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light

I can confidently say that Huginn and Muninn will make it into my top 3 polishes for the year 2014. It has as sold out faster than any of the other 9 Realms shades but is not LE so keep your eyes peeled for restocks.  I picked mine up from Rainbow Connection for £10.25.

Sea You in Hollywood by OPI

Hello ladies! Tonight I'm shopping my stash for a short and sweet post.  This is 'Sea You in Hollywood' by OPI.  This is a beautiful cerulean blue foil polish that is really pretty to wear.  This was apparently a QVC exclusive shade, but I picked mine up in T K Maxx in a pack of 3 for £10.  This is two coats with NE base and HK girl topcoat.  No issues to report quality wise, and I got a CRAZY weartime out of this...a whole week with no chips.  That's the dream ain't it?

OPI Sea You in Hollywood - natural light

Hooray for T K Maxx! It's always worth a visit, and my local one has recently really expanded the brands it carries, they now have Spa Ritual, CND, tons of Ciate and loads more and all for silly prices.  What's not to love?

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.

Lady of the Lake by A-England

Hello ladies! Tonight's instalment in the A-England stashathon is the gorgeous 'Lady of the Lake' from the Mythicals collection.  The Lady of the Lake was the ruler of Avalon, and a pivotal character in the Arthurian legends.  Most famously she arose from the lake to present King Arthur with the sword Excalibur.  Since Halloween is almost here, here's an incredible artwork by thejeffster@deviantart depicting the Lady of the Lake to set the mood...

Lady of the Lake (http://thejeffster.deviantart.com/)

'Lady of the Lake' by A-England is a non-spooky but utterly gorgeous shade of dusky amethyst with the AE signature soft holographic finish.  Easily opaque in two coats and dries to a high gloss shine, the formula and application are flawless.  A-England is a truly luxury boutique brand and their quality is consistently excellent.

Lady of the Lake - by A-England - artificial light

Pictured here I'm wearing two coats with NE base and Essie Good to Go topcoat to extend weartime.  I really love this shade, apart from being purple (which is my favourite colour in case you hadn't guessed) it's such a pretty balance between the richness of the base colour and the sparkle of the holo finish.  A-England polishes are very rarely an 'in your face' colour, they make sophisticated and elegant shades and this one is no exception.

Lady of the Lake - by A-England - artificial light

In full sunlight (below) you can see the full rainbow effect from the holo.  In artificial light (above) the holo particles add a slightly silvered sheen to the polish to give it that soft 'dusty' look that I love.

Lady of the Lake - by A-England -sunlight

I could wax lyrical about A-England polishes until the cows come home.  There really are only so many ways that you can say 'these polishes are awesome, you need them all' and I think I've exhausted them.  If you are new to A-England then I'd say take a chance and try one, I'd put money on it not being your last.  In the UK you can order direct from http://www.a-england.co.uk/.

I am super excited to hear this week that there is a new collection ready to drop ANY DAY now...It's called the 'Mary + Elizabeth' collection and takes its inspiration from two of Britain's most famous (or infamous) queens.  I've seen early nail wheel swatches and can't wait to see more.  I'd recommend following the fantastic blog of Eugenia - Ommorphia Beauty Bar - she seems to have a special relationship with A-England and is usually one of the first to swatch the new collections.  She also does some of the prettiest swatch photography I've seen, so be warned, you will have major lemmings for basically anything she points her camera at.

Dragon by A-England

Hello ladies! Continuing the A-England love-in, today's offering is the beautiful Dragon from the 'Legend' collection:

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

I'm not a fan of green polished in general but this one is a doozy.  A gorgeous shade of sage/emerald with gold and teal flecks to give it an amazing depth.  This really does look like the skin of a dragon (and on that theme, just wait till you see my swatches of Crowstoes Vanaheim! Yowza!).  The lovely soft holographic finish is a really pretty touch and it really comes alive in sunlight (see below).

Dragon - by A England - sun light

 This is two coats, with NE base and Essie Good to Go topcoat.  As ever, no issues with formula or application.  This polish (like all A-England's) also dries to a really nice glossy finish all on its own, so I add the topcoat only to extend weartime.

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

 In this closeup you can see the gold and teal particles that are threaded through this shade to give it that extra bling factor.  The gold adds fire (especially in sunlight) and the teal really lifts the green.  Like when you add coffee to a chocolate cake to make it taste more chocolaty, somehow the teal makes the green seem greener.

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

I picked up my bottle in a sale at http://www.a-england.co.uk/ for £6.  Adina holds these sorts of sales once or twice a year, and it's a great time to expand your collection.  Keep an eye out around Christmas time, alternatively you can check out the 'gem of the month' where each month one shade is at £6.  It's an absolute fricking steal for a polish of this quality.

Sleeping Palace by A-England

Hello ladies! Continuing with the theme of A-England polishes tonight we have the last one from the Burne-Jones collection in my stash - Sleeping Palace.  This smoky plum holographic polish is just fabulous...

Sleeping Palace - A England - Artificial Light

This is a really tricky shade to describe, part smoky charcoal, part plum, with a dash of brown.  Combined it's a beautiful warm toned shade that's super flattering.  This is hardly a surprise, I'm convinced that Adina is incapable of producing an ugly polish.  The holographic effect in this polish is more pronounced than in the others of the collection, and I think this is due to the base colour showing it off.

Sleeping Palace - A England - Sun Light

This is two easy coats with NE base and HK Girl topcoat.  As with the others in this collection (see:  Rose Bower and Briar Rose, and Briarwood) application and formula are both top notch.  No complaints here.

Sleeping Palace - A England - Natural Light

This is a really lovely shade, and great for the autumn. It's a sophisticated take on the Grey/Mauve trend that I really love.  I bought my bottle for £6 when it was the 'gem of the month' on  http://a-england.co.uk/ and I highly recommend it :)

Sleeping Palace - A England