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.

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

Briarwood - by A-England

Hello ladies! Tonight we have the second instalment of the A-England swatchathon (if three polishes can count as a 'thon ;) of anything). Tonight polish is the much belated post of Briarwood, collection mate to the fabulous Rose Bower and Briar Rose from the amazing 2013 Burne-Jones collection.  The collection takes its inspiration from the four paintings of The Briar Rose series created by Sir Edward Burne-Jones depicting the fairy tale of the Sleeping Beauty.

Briarwood - A-England - full sunlight

I'm wearing two easy coats here, with SV topcoat and NE base.  As ever the quality, application and finish are flawless from A-England.  This is a gorgeous complex shade, I'm going to call it reddened brown, and its perfect for Autumn.  I'm surprised it has taken me this long to blog this shade because it was definitely in my top 5 polishes for 2013.  I love love love it!

Briarwood - A-England - natural light

This is still one of my top pick polishes, it's really unusual and the holo finish is just so pretty with this shade.  I can't recommend it highly enough.  I loved this whole collection, but Briarwood is definitely the star of the bunch.

You can Buy direct from A-England at http://a-england.co.uk/  RRP is £9 but I got mine on offer for a bargain-a-licous £6, and P&P is free.  Keep an eye out for A-England offers, its a great way to stock your A-England stash :)

Human Nature - Colors by Llarowe

Hello ladies! Today I have the third and final polish from my recent Colors By Llarowe purchase - this is a lovely nude holo called 'Human Nature' from the Tribute to MJ collection...

Human Nature - Colors by Llarowe - artificial light

Now you will be seeing this mani again, in an upcoming post on top coat comparisons.  In the meantime I apologise for the denting in this picture...what topcoat was responsible for this terrible crime?  You'll have to wait and see...but I assure you it was no fault of the CbL.

I used two easy coats, I felt it did need two although it was almost opaque in one.  Here I'm wearing it with NE base and a mystery topcoat :) The formula and application on this, like the other CbL's I've reviewed (Billy Jean, Connie You Saucy Minx) was superb.  Flawless quality through and through.  It also had the, quite frankly legendary, week long wear time with minimal tip wear.  Even rarer for a mani that lasts that long, I didn't get bored of it!

Human Nature - Colors by Llarowe - natural light

I'm terrible at describing these nude colours, but here is my best shot...This is a warm toned taupe with a strong pink and bronzed gold shimmer blush and an (almost linear) holo finish.  It's a very flattering shade, and like most nudes I've tried it was very flattering on my pale pasty Scottish complexion.

I bought my bottle for £8.80 from Rainbow Connection (link in the suppliers page).  I'd definitely recommend this one, and the CbL brand in general which at least with my purchases has been 3 for 3 on quality and wow factor.  I'll definitely be adding more CbL to my stash in the future.

Cap N' Cook - by Cadillacquer

Hello ladies! Today I have my third and final Cadillacquer post for you, and it's another tv show tie-in: "Cap N Cook" from the 2013 Breaking Bad collection.  Yet again I've bought a polish from a collection where I have no clue about the show that it's inspired by, so the name means nothing to me but woo mama would you look at that purple!...

Cap N Cook by Cadillacquer - artificial light

Cap N Cook is a gorgeous soft purple holo, with a beautiful pink shimmer that glows through the purple to add warmth and depth to this shade.  I'm a massive fan of purple polishes, and holo polishes, so this one pushes all my buttons...fabulous!

Here I'm wearing the usual two coats with NE base and HK girl topcoat.  No application issues, glides on smooth as melted butter.  What this shade really reminds me of is an A-England polish.  The finish is that perfect sophisticated dusty soft holo that A-England have perfected, in a shade that A-England have never quite done ("Lady of the Lake" is probably the most similar, but they're not dupes by a long shot).

Cap N Cook by Cadillacquer - artificial light

There really isn't much more to say about this polish, so I'll let the swatch porn do the talking...it's absolutely lovely and I highly recommend it :)

 

I picked up my bottle for £9.50 from Rainbow Connection (link in the Suppliers page).

Cap N Cook by Cadillacquer - artificial light

Sparkly Zoya's: Final Comparison

Hello Ladies! One final post of this sparkly Zoya blogathon...I just wanted to give some quick comparison bottleshots.  I was originally concerned that Peyton, Blaze and Aurora might be fairly similar before I bought them, but as you can see from the photo below they couldn't be more different.

From L-R : Zoya Peyton, Blaze and Aurora

You can also clearly see from this shot see that the holo glitter in Aurora is much more concentrated that in the other shades, and its utterly mesmerizing on the nail.  It ranks amongst my sparkliest polishes of all (second only to the Smitten Polish 'Magic Words' collection polishes...post to come on these).  So imagine my surprise to see this fantastic comparison post by More Nail Polish comparing OPI DS polishes, Zoya's, Ozotic's and Dance Legend, showing that the Dance Legend WOW Prism polish packs in more glitter than all of them....I strongly predict there will be some DL polishes entering the stash in the near future.

Jen at The PolishAholic (one of my absolute fave bloggers) did a wonderful comparison post of Holiday polishes from several major brands, including the Zoya Ornate collection.  Check it out at this link.

One of the comparisons made on the More Nail Polish post is between Zoya Blaze and Picture Polish Monroe.  On her post these look very similar.  I have both of these so took a quick couple of comparison shots and I think they are quite different.  I think Monroe was re-released with a new formula, and I wonder whether this is why mine is so dissimilar to Blaze....

Left - PP Monroe, Right - Zoya Blaze

As you can see here, in my bottles the PP is a darker shade of red, more of a burgundy, and the Zoya is more pink leaning towards raspberry.  Both are fabulous, and not dupes.  So yes, if you like sparkly red polishes I think it's justifiable to have both.  Then again I think it's justifiable to spend more on nail polish than food, so what do I know?

Finally, I was interested in finding comparisons to Dream with Picture Polish Cosmos (which I don't own, but was considering) and found this great post from the Polished Cricket. In her post she suggests that these are quite similar, but that Dream is better and from her pics I agree.  Definitely no need for both methinks.

Until next time :)

Sparkly Zoya's: "Dream"

Hello Ladies!  Today's post is the final instalment in the sparkly Zoya blogfest :) I give you, the lovely Dream...
 

Morpheus says....buy all the polish!

Ooops, wrong Dream...Zoya Dream is from the Holiday 2013 "Zenith" collection (see collection mate Peyton).  This is a bright blue jelly base, packed with the "micro-fine diamond holographic particles" that the Zenith and Ornate collections are famous for (Ornate posts: Aurora, Blaze and Storm) and it's stunning....

Zoya Dream - artificial light

This rich blue has a real pop on the nail, and like all the other sparkly Zoyas the formula, application and wear time were all top notch.  In these swatches I have the usual two coats betwixt NE and HK girl.  In most lights this polish looks like a lovely shade of deep royal blue (above), but in bright artificial light it has slight denim tones too (below)

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I don't really own many sparkly blue polishes, but I'd say this one is definitely more impressive than Picture Polish Hope but not as cool as Smitten Polish Klaatu Barada Nikto (but then, what IS as cool as the Smitten? Answer....nothing!)



Zoya Dream - sun light

Dream is certainly a dreamy shade.....just look at that pretty colour and all those lovely sparkly bits...

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I have really loved all of the sparkly Zoya's, each is special in its own right, and there is definitely no such thing as too many sparkly polishes in my opinion.  Yes I now have several polishes with the exact same finish, but its such a winner that I really don't mind.  This has also been my first real experience of Zoya polish, which until recently wasn't easily available in the UK.  Now you can find it on Sally Magpies and TNBL (links on the suppliers pages), and for very reasonable prices too.  I've picked all of these up for similar money to OPI polishes and these have definitely been of a comparable quality.  I like the cute shaped bottles too.  Now if only they would adopt the OPI pro-wide brush....

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I bought my bottle of Dream from the Nail and Beauty Link (TNBL, link in the supplier's page) for a bargain £6 :)

Last up we'll have one more Zoya related post, which will be a wee comparison and some links and then I'll move onto something new (quite possibly the astonishingly awesome Crowstoes "9 Realms" collection which I just got  a few shades from)...

Until next time ladies, happy painting!

Sparkly Zoya's: "Peyton"

Hello ladies!  We're nearing the end of the sparkly Zoya bonanza...this is the penultimate offering, and it's a doozy!  Today we have the lovely "Peyton" from the Holiday 2013 "Zenith" collection. 

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

Of all the holiday collection Zoya holos, Peyton is the one that I'd actually class as a 'holiday' shade.  It's a scrummy dark cranberry jelly, packed with the same 'micro-fine holographic diamond' particles that Zoya used in its hugely popular "Ornate" collection from the previous year (Ornate posts: Aurora, Blaze and Storm).  This shade is utterly fabulous on the nail, deep and complex it's not as flashy as some of the other holos, instead it has a rich depth of fire that's mesmerising and no less pretty.

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

As per usual, this is two coats of colour sandwiched between NE base and SV topcoat. Application, formula and wear-time all excellent and removal is easy peasy which is always a nice surprise from a glittery polish.  The finish on all these polishes is naturally nice and glossy, but I always add topcoat to extend weartime (especially since I sit typing on a computer all day long, my tips take a battering so I need all the help I can get!)

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

What I love about this shade is that its a real in-betweener....it's too pink to be a red, and too red to be a pink, it's just a perfect balance of the two.  After my final individual post (on Zoya Dream, also from the Zenith collection) I have one last post planned to show you a side-by -side of Peyton, Blaze and Aurora so you can see the comparison of the tonal range.

I bought from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a Christmas miracle price of £6....Like the 'Ornate' collection shades, I think the 'Zeniths' will also stay on Zoya's catalogue for a long time to come.  They hit the jackpot with this jelly/holo particle formula combo...here's hoping the holiday 2014 collection will have more! (Zoya, if you are reading this...think PURPLE!) :)

Next up is the final sparkly Zoya in my stash....the mesmerizing 'Dream'....until then ladies :)

Sparkly Zoya's: "Storm"

Hello Ladies!  The sparkly-themed Zoya posts continue....this time with the final polish I own from the "Ornate" collection - the lovely "Storm"...Storm is a true black jelly with the same micro-fine diamond holographic particle finish found in collection mates Aurora and Blaze.  The depth of this polish is fabulous, it's a galaxy in a bottle. 


Zoya Storm - artificial light

I've been looking for a true black (not a crumby charcoal-y black) holo for a looooong time. There are many out there, but I want the one.  My mind was finally made up by this fantastic post from Jen at the PolishAholic...in it she compares Zoya 'Storm', A England 'Bridal Veil', Butter London 'The Black Knight' and Girly Bits 'Into the Night' (scroll to the bottom of her post to find the swatch).  For my money, "Storm" is the clear winner from this bunch....Also checkout this great comparison on Globe & Nail of Storm with "Starry Night" by Picture Polish.  It shows that while the particles are similar, Storm is a much truer black base.  That's right ladies, I've done the legwork so you don't have to...ain't I kind? Seriously though, I give big props to all those lovely blogger gals out there that have made my shopping easier (and my bank balance significantly less....).

Zoya Storm - artificial light

As with its collection-mates I have nothing but praise for the quality, wear-time and formula on this.  It's fantastic and I'm so pleased to finally be able to add it to my stash.  This is what I had hoped to find in OPI's "My Private Jet" (which was controversially reformulated, see this archive post from the PolishAddict) but sadly I got the crappy reformulated version, which just looks like speckly charcoal with virtually no holo at all.  The disappointment with 'MPJ' is what started my long-term lemming for the true black sparkle-fest polish that is finally satisfied by Storm :)

Zoya Storm - artificial light

In all these swatches I'm wearing my habitual two coats of colour with a single coat each of NE and HK girl topcoat.  I bought my bottle from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a bargain £6.

Zoya Storm - artificial light

So what about you ladies? Have you got a polish lemming that you've been chasing down all these years?  For me there's nothing quite like that feeling of swiping on the first stripe and thinking 'Yes!! this is exactly what I was looking for!"

That rounds out my "Ornate" collection polishes...next up will be a couple from the more recent "Zenith" collection: Peyton and Dream...

Until then :)

Sparkly Zoya's: "Blaze"

Hello Ladies! Continuing the Zoya Sparkly polish post series with "Blaze".  This lovely polish was also from the Holiday 2012 "Ornate" collection (see collection mate Aurora).  Blaze is a raspberry red jelly base with the same "micro fine diamond holographic glitter" finish as Aurora, but at a slightly less dense concentration. 


Zoya Blaze - artificial light

In a lot of online swatches, this shade comes across as a deep true red, but that wasn't my experience.  In my opinion this is a pink leaning red, more of a raspberry than a vampy Hollywood red.  I absolutely love it though, it's a gorgeous shade.  I think the picture below has captured this pink/red tone quite well.

 Zoya Blaze - artificial light

As with Aurora the application/formula is fantastic, glides on smooth for a glossy finish and did need two coats for full opacity.  I'm wearing two coats in the pictures, with NE base and HK girl topcoat.  Wear time was excellent - you might notice some tipwear in the pics (sorry for that) but when you consider I took these photos after redecorating my kitchen, then this is pretty impressive.  This mani took an astonishing amount of abuse and stayed really well.  That's a nice surprise with a glitter polish, which in my experience tend to be a bit more fragile.  Removal was also easy, no different to removing a crème.

Zoya Blaze -sunlight

Just look at that sunlit glow! This is a fabulous shade in any light, and it just explodes when the sun hits it.  I'm a big fan.  Previous to this I only owned one Zoya polish (Valerie, which is frankly a bit disappointing, it's a very dry purple foil) so I was a bit unsure what I'd make of the brand.  Based on Aurora and Blaze I'm very impressed with the quality. My only complaint is that their brushes are a bit on  the narrow side.

Zoya Blaze - artificial light

I bought my bottle from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a ridiculous bargain £6.  I'd say this polish is easily worth twice that. 

Next up will be my final "Ornate" collection polish: Storm...until then!