Polished Casual: A-England

Showing posts with label A-England. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2012

Another Look: A-England Saint George

I typically don't like to go out of order when I show you my manicures. It may be about two weeks behind, but you typically see them in exactly the order that I wore them. I also know that Jessie just showed you guys a ton of A-Englands, but I really couldn't help myself. I could hardly wait to put on Saint George, and it was so awesome I just couldn't wait two weeks to share it with you!

You can see Jessie's original post with Saint George here. Her photos were so drool-worthy I was DYING to get my hands on it! Or it on my hands...hehe. Saint George is a gorgeous (GORGEOUS) teal with a subtle scattered holographic finish. The depth of this color is unbelievable. You have to see it in person. Sometimes it leans more green and sometimes more blue, but either way it's beautiful. The holo effect isn't super strong, but it's noticeable even indoors. It just gives it this amazing depth. The formula is also just as amazing. Flawless application, and perfect coverage in two thin coats. Check it out!

(click to enlarge)

I. DIE. It really is that awesome, I promise you. I beg you guys to forgive me. I had full intentions of also getting sunlight photos for you, but fate had another plan. I put on Saint George during the Super Bowl, so it was dark out. It was going to be sunny the next day so no problem, right? Yeeeeah, I was closing up the reception window at work when my hand slipped off, taking a huge chunk out of two of my nails. And the polish. My soul was crushed. I hardly got to fully enjoy Saint George before it got ruined, but it was still so gorgeous I refused to take it off. Yeah, I wore it chipped up for about two days. When you guys start seeing the dominant hand popping back into my photos, you'll know why. My apologies in advance.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. If you don't already own Saint George, GO. RUN. NOW. You NEED it. Your soul NEEEEEEEDS it! This is happiness in a bottle, and you can nab it for $12 from shop.llarowe.com as soon as they come back in stock!

I promise to try not to overload you guys on A-Englands, but they're just too pretty to resist! :-)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

You Know Your Co-Blogger Loves You When...

This is so epic it deserves its own post. Seriously. So Jessie and I got together over the weekend. She told me my birthday gift had come in, so we decided to make a day out of brunch at Mimi's Cafe (a huge favorite of both of ours!) and custom lip gloss-making! The hubby even tagged along for good measure. :-)

So we order brunch and Jessie gives me my birthday gift wrapped in the cutest monkey wrapping paper I've ever seen...

*dies* My very own Avalon and Tristam!!! I'm literally beaming with excitement over these guys, but it doesn't stop there...

Oh, what do we have here? Awesome Birchbox goodies? Nay...this was something 1,000 times more epic!!!

Let's take a peeksie, shall we?

*dies a thousand deds* O....M....G. My words were literally "NO YOU DID NOT." That's the entire new A-England Legends collection. All of them. Words escape me.

THANK YOU, JESSIE!!!!! You're an amazing co-blogger and friend, and I'm so happy to have you as both! :-D

(Hope you guys aren't tired of this collection yet, 'cause Jessie made me promise to wear them all in a reasonable amount of time. I didn't waste any time, and tried my first one the next day! Stay tuned!)

Sunday, February 5, 2012

A-England Week! Morgan Le Fay

Well in all fairness, I am showing you Morgan Le Fay over Galahad. Morgan Le Fay is a opalescent pearly top coat meant to be worn over other polishes. She gives this silvery white sheen to the polish. If you look closely enough in real life, you can see a small rainbow of colors reflect in the sun. This is a really fun top coat, it would be great for spring. I'm showing 1 coat of Morgan Le Fay over Galahad.

Pretty cool right? I kind of wonder how close it is to Essie Pearl Perfection? I'll have to do a comparison the next time I wear this. Anyway, that brings my A-England Week to a close. How did you like it? Any other theme weeks you would like to see?

And in case you missed it this week, you can get A-England polishes direct from their website with free shipping, or from Llarowe when she has them in stock. They go for $12 a piece.

Friday, February 3, 2012

A-England Week! Galahad

Helloooooooooo gorgeous!!!!! Galahad, I love you, and your mysterious blue dusty ways. You lean a bit turquoise, and only require 1 coat. Your formula is super pigmented and your finish is uber glossy. You are the most amazing creme ever. Let's admire your beauty.

A-England Galahad

In all seriousness, I was very very very happy with Galahad. It's a dusty blue leaning turquoise that goes on like butter and is so pigmented! These pictures are without top coat! Can you believe it? If you are in need of a good dusty turquoise, stop your search now. You can get Galahad today on A-England's website or wait till he comes back in stock on Llarowe for $12.

A-England Week! Avalon

Remember when I showed you Lynnderella's Love Potion No. 99 and didn't tell you what purple I wore it over? Well A-England's Avalon was it. Strangely enough, I'm not crazy about this one. The shimmer in it is pretty special, but this is a very warm-toned purple (even though some of my pictures wouldn't show that). My skin is pretty cool, so this just wasn't as lovely as it should have been. I used 2 coats here. This was actually my first time wearing A-England ever, and I wore it with the base/top coat combo that's been really working for me lately. I start with Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler with Silk Fiber, then polish, the Barielle Manicure Extender. My nails have been a lot happier lately with less peeling! However this combination would not let Avalon dry. Not matter how long I wanted (we are talking 2 hours). It was dry to the touch, but the slightest nudge would dent this manicure. Hence the glittery top coat!

So the first set is very color inaccurate. It is NOT this blue.

A-England Avalon

This picture shows it the most color accurate, but totally kills the depth of this polish.

A-England Avalon

Finally, a happy medium. This is pretty close to what it looks like in real life. Not as blue, but oh so shimmery!

A-England Avalon

A-England Avalon is part of the first collection A-England produced called the Mythicals and is readily available from Llarowe or A-England's website for around $12. If you love warm-toned purples, definitely picked this one up.

Oh - and sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I was doing my taxes and totally forgot. Oh well. At least I made it (almost) through January!!!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A-England Week: Iseult

Ok, time to take a break from all that color and holo and amazingness with a nice pale pink. I actually wore this to a conference I went to as I was giving a demo and wanted to look "professional." Why can't the world see things they way us nail polish lovers do? Nail polish is just another accessories, another piece of jewelry, and I shouldn't have to wear pink or nude or mauve because someone decided boring is professional....

Ok, ok, off my soapbox.

The things that's amazing about Iseult is that she is not at all boring. The pale baby pink has the most beautiful fine shimmer in it that just make this polish dance. I'm surprised how much I love this baby pink. Its soft and delicate and feminine. Like I said, not boring at all. I wonder how this compares to Nicole by OPI's Kim-pletely in love that i just picked up. I know the shimmer will be different but maybe the base color would be the same? The only thing I don't like about Iseult is that it needs 2, sometimes 3 coats. 1 coat is very streaky! If you are careful, 2 will do.

A-England Iseult

Iseult can easily be picked up for around $12 at Llarowe or direct form A-England (free shippping!!!). It came out with A-Englands inaugural Mythicals collection and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If you are like me and barely have any baby pinks, this may be a good option for you.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A-England Week! The Legends Part 3

I'm super excited to bring you the last of The Legends Collection: Bridal Veil and Order of the Garter! But don't worry, we aren't even half way through A-England Week :) so there is plenty more to come. I figured it would be a pretty good way to round up my month of blogging everyday.

Bridal Veil is up first, and while it's pretty, super pigmented, and applies wonderfully, it's kind of bleh. And I'm saying that in context of the rest of this collection. The black shade is pretty amazing, I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's more charcoal, but the base is better than straight up black. It does have holographic particles in it, but it really just gives it a pretty shimmer. I wouldn't even call this a scattered holo, even though that is what I believe it's trying to be. I think the best this about this is it's 1 coat. I wonder how butter LONDON's The Black Knight? I might have to try that soon.

A-England Bridal Veil

A-England Bridal Veil, regular indoor light

A-England Bridal Veil, regular indoor light with flash

The last of the bunch, Order of the Garter, is VERY different than the rest of The Legends, but I think that makes it even more schedule. If you haven't gone over to Fashion Polish yet to read the story of the names behind this polish, GO! Her post is fantastic, as always. It will give you some insight on why this one is different and special in the collection. Order of the Garter is an amazing bright blue polish packed full of lighter blue/turquoise glass flecks. SWOON! I was really shocked how much I liked this one. I expected to think it was pretty but not special. THIS IS SPECIAL. I promise you. Hopefully my pictures do it justice!

A-England Order of the Garter

These two are currently available for $12 each at Llarowe's website. Or you can order them directly from A-England by email. Hope you enjoyed A-England's The Legends as much as I did. Which is your favorite?

Monday, January 30, 2012

A-England Week! The Legends Part 2

Alright! Get Ready!!!!! Cause here comes Part 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First up we have Dragon, a beautiful green holo. This one is somewhere between a scattered and linear holo. It pulls the teeniest bit gold, but a lot of that holo reflects blue to balance it out. This was a surprise love for me! I only needed 1 coat! One coat! Can you believe? Just wait until you see the next 1 coater :). My only complain about Dragon is it came with a messy brush that needs to be trimmed. Oh well!

A-England Dragon

Wonky sideways pictures of A-England Dragon

Next up is my favorite of the entire collection: St. George. Words can not express how beautiful this 1 coater is. An amazing scattered teal holo. Swoon!

A-England St. George

A-England St. George under regular lighting

A-England St. George under regular lighting (lower lighting)

If you aren't immediately nuts over St. George, I may have to take your nail polish lovers card from you :) and kick you out of the club. This color is vampy, sexy, and sophisticated all in one. The formula on it is the best of the bunch. Just perfect. :) Get this one, you won't regret it.

Both of these are currently sold out on Llarowe's website but you can still get them straight from England with free shipping if you email A-England! These run about $12 each and are WELL worth it. Happy Shopping!!!!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

A-England Week! The Legends Part 1

Yeah, so in a moment of monetary weakness, I hauled A-England. And I mean hauled. I ordered the entire Legends collection plus some more of the Mythicals. So I'll have to take the polish purchasing very easy for quite sometime. At least until the OPI Holland collection comes out :).

So today I'm going to show you the first 3 Legends: Princess Tears, Princess Sabra, and Ascalon. These are the lightest of the group so I thought they'd make a good post together. Fashion Polish has a wonderful post telling the story of The Legends and how they all fit together!

Princess Tears is up first, and is a really lovely lavender holographic polish. It's pretty much always lavender, but if you catch it in the right light it looks silver because it's so pale. The holo is really pretty and delicate in this one. You can always see it, but it's not super strong. This is actually a perfect holo for work! I am wearing it to work tomorrow!!! Here are a million pictures of Princess Tears (2 coats).

A-England Princess Tears

A-England Princess Tears, outside, low indirect light with flash

A-England Princess Tears, outside, low indirect light

A-England Princess Tears

Next up is Princess Sabra, which is a polish I wouldn't have normally gotten. But you can't very well get 6 out of 7 on this collection. I do like it more than I thought, but not sure how often I will reach for this one. Princess Sabra is a gold holo that leans a little on the yellow-green side. I needed 2 coats on this one. She's an interesting one and the holo is really strong. Check her out, what do you think?

A-England Princess Sabra

Finally we have Ascalon, a steel grey. This one is more of a scattered holo than a linear, but not less gorgeous. This is 2 coats, but if I had been more careful I could have done one. The color on this one is so rich and sophisticated. In the pictures I feel like it pulls a little purple, but it's just to holo particles playing tricks :). A lot of other bloggers think this is a duo or multi chrome. I just didn't see that in real life, but I had limited lighting sources when swatching this one. Once I wear this as a full mani in the future I'll take more pictures.

A-England Ascalon

The A-England Legends collection was literally just released and can be bought from Llarowe's website for $12 each. They aren't up on the A-England website yet, but you can email them to order with free shipping to the US. You do pay 9 GBP for each one though. So far I highly recommend this collection and I know it's only going to get better. The formula is great (as long as you don't use it with Barielle's treatment system) and the colors are unique and beautiful! If you haven't jumped on the A-England band wagon yet I suggest you do today :).