Collection Swatch: a-england

So being the geek I am, when I found the a-england polish site I had to buy them all because OMG AWESOME NAMES. They arrived about last week (or maybe two weeks ago, okay, I’m kinda behind) and while I was staying up with Nick supervising him doing his homework, I swatched them all.

General notes before we begin:
— Most are two coaters, with the exception of Merlin, which is one-coater.
— No topcoat, only basecoat
— Formula was great with them all with a few exceptions
— I am still not exactly sure if they are deserving of their price tag, as the bottling and formula is kind of typical and their colors are not extremely unique (however beautiful).
— I am extremely, I mean EXTREMELY surprised there are no greens in this collection!! Green is a very medieval color, at least to me.

Here we go.

 Dark purple duochrome, with a slight blue flash.

 Excuse the horrid picture. Camelot is a gorgeous black, with a brown base and is an one-coater if you’re careful.

 Elaine is a very dusty purple/gray and I love it. Very muted, a nice color.

 There’s a saying among us nail bloggers– everyone needs one nice silver foil in their collection, and I can definitely say this one is mine. Not to mention the kickass name 😉

Galahad is an interesting light blue. This picture makes it look like a shade of the sky blue family but I would say it borders on being teal. Again, another favorite. 

 Guinevere is a dusty lilac creme. Pardon the hair on my ring finger– a piece of the cotton ball I used earlier.

 Holy Grail is a very nice warm gold, with a shimmer.

 This one kind of gave me trouble. A very pale sheer pink, almost a french pink. The formula was an issue and even after THREE coats there’s a visible nail line up there. The brush on this one was wonky too, and threw me off.

 Grey duochrome with a hint of … I don’t know? Green?

 Dark purple holographic goodness! I love this one too.

 Lancelot.. Good lord it’s an extremely dark plum. It’s pretty much another black. I included a picture of the first coat, so you can see its true color.

 Merlin is a silver glitter suspended in a clear jelly base. Extremely dense, what you see above is one coat.

 A sheer duochrome silver/white/pink, great for layering. Three coats above and it’s still sheer which is why I think it’s for layering on other polish (something I haven’t tried, this was swatched at the end– dammit)

 Lovely red. This is THE red, for me. Shimmery.

 Blue holographic goodness. What’s the difference between Tristam and Lady of the Lake, I asked myself? See below.

All two coaters, but you can see Lady is more pulling on purple while Tristam is on the navy side.

Thoughts? 😉 

Collection Swatch: a-england

So being the geek I am, when I found the a-england polish site I had to buy them all because OMG AWESOME NAMES. They arrived about last week (or maybe two weeks ago, okay, I’m kinda behind) and while I was staying up with Nick supervising him doing his homework, I swatched them all.

General notes before we begin:
— Most are two coaters, with the exception of Merlin, which is one-coater.
— No topcoat, only basecoat
— Formula was great with them all with a few exceptions
— I am still not exactly sure if they are deserving of their price tag, as the bottling and formula is kind of typical and their colors are not extremely unique (however beautiful).
— I am extremely, I mean EXTREMELY surprised there are no greens in this collection!! Green is a very medieval color, at least to me.

Here we go.

 Dark purple duochrome, with a slight blue flash.

 Excuse the horrid picture. Camelot is a gorgeous black, with a brown base and is an one-coater if you’re careful.

 Elaine is a very dusty purple/gray and I love it. Very muted, a nice color.

 There’s a saying among us nail bloggers– everyone needs one nice silver foil in their collection, and I can definitely say this one is mine. Not to mention the kickass name 😉

Galahad is an interesting light blue. This picture makes it look like a shade of the sky blue family but I would say it borders on being teal. Again, another favorite. 

 Guinevere is a dusty lilac creme. Pardon the hair on my ring finger– a piece of the cotton ball I used earlier.

 Holy Grail is a very nice warm gold, with a shimmer.

 This one kind of gave me trouble. A very pale sheer pink, almost a french pink. The formula was an issue and even after THREE coats there’s a visible nail line up there. The brush on this one was wonky too, and threw me off.

 Grey duochrome with a hint of … I don’t know? Green?

 Dark purple holographic goodness! I love this one too.

 Lancelot.. Good lord it’s an extremely dark plum. It’s pretty much another black. I included a picture of the first coat, so you can see its true color.

 Merlin is a silver glitter suspended in a clear jelly base. Extremely dense, what you see above is one coat.

 A sheer duochrome silver/white/pink, great for layering. Three coats above and it’s still sheer which is why I think it’s for layering on other polish (something I haven’t tried, this was swatched at the end– dammit)

 Lovely red. This is THE red, for me. Shimmery.

 Blue holographic goodness. What’s the difference between Tristam and Lady of the Lake, I asked myself? See below.

All two coaters, but you can see Lady is more pulling on purple while Tristam is on the navy side.

Thoughts? 😉 

another one of my creative processes…

 I began with Color Club’s Where’s the Soiree, which is a GREAT one-coater black. I originally tried out Orly Liquid Vinyl and it was horrid– it split apart when it dried, wtf? It was also brownish black, eww. I am also not sure why the quality is so crap in this photo.

 Layered the black with Jesse’s Girl in Confetti, I think the effect is similar to RBL’s Scrangie– it definitely reminds me of beetle wings, but a lot more purple. It looks rough, highly textured and cray cray in the picture but I promise you everything was smooth.

 Layered over this is China Glaze’s Cracked Concrete, from their Crackle collection 🙂

Right hand. Topped with Seche Vite, I feel this helps the shimmer show through while the matte effect kind of quietens things down.

OFF TOPIC, sorta: I ordered two half pearl wheels from Born Pretty, and there is SOOO much static cling in them! The pearls literally fly out when they’re turned. How do I reduce the amount of static that’s built up in them? Swipe a dryer sheet over it??

another one of my creative processes…

 I began with Color Club’s Where’s the Soiree, which is a GREAT one-coater black. I originally tried out Orly Liquid Vinyl and it was horrid– it split apart when it dried, wtf? It was also brownish black, eww. I am also not sure why the quality is so crap in this photo.

 Layered the black with Jesse’s Girl in Confetti, I think the effect is similar to RBL’s Scrangie– it definitely reminds me of beetle wings, but a lot more purple. It looks rough, highly textured and cray cray in the picture but I promise you everything was smooth.

 Layered over this is China Glaze’s Cracked Concrete, from their Crackle collection 🙂

Right hand. Topped with Seche Vite, I feel this helps the shimmer show through while the matte effect kind of quietens things down.

OFF TOPIC, sorta: I ordered two half pearl wheels from Born Pretty, and there is SOOO much static cling in them! The pearls literally fly out when they’re turned. How do I reduce the amount of static that’s built up in them? Swipe a dryer sheet over it??

Burgundy Argyle

I don’t know… Something about the argyle stamp just doesn’t like me.

Base- Essie Velvet Voyeur, and Pure Ice Sterling Silver for stamping.
While we’re here at it, here’s a swatch of Essie Velvet Voyeur:

 I didn’t clean up to show you the formula is kind of runny, and especially with vampy shades like this it’s v. easy to make a holy mess. D: But the color is gorgeous, it’s a deep chocolaty burgundy.

Burgundy Argyle

I don’t know… Something about the argyle stamp just doesn’t like me.

Base- Essie Velvet Voyeur, and Pure Ice Sterling Silver for stamping.
While we’re here at it, here’s a swatch of Essie Velvet Voyeur:

 I didn’t clean up to show you the formula is kind of runny, and especially with vampy shades like this it’s v. easy to make a holy mess. D: But the color is gorgeous, it’s a deep chocolaty burgundy.

Cherries

Here kind of begins a red theme, or a Valentine’s day theme week sort of thing.

 Pure Ice Sterling Silver for the base, and Essie Silken Cord for the stamping.

Cherries

Here kind of begins a red theme, or a Valentine’s day theme week sort of thing.

 Pure Ice Sterling Silver for the base, and Essie Silken Cord for the stamping.

Bull’s eye

 Zoya Karina for the red, and China Glaze snow for stamping.

More accurate picture for the color of Karina. It’s a lovely shimmery red.

Ok a question for the masses… Does this remind you of Target? I did it last night, and thought it was brilliant. Then this morning I was looking at it and suddenly realized, FML it’s Target!! Nick disagrees. But he’s being anal about the difference. 😦 I was trying to do a Valentine, maybe February, themed mani.

Bull’s eye

 Zoya Karina for the red, and China Glaze snow for stamping.

More accurate picture for the color of Karina. It’s a lovely shimmery red.

Ok a question for the masses… Does this remind you of Target? I did it last night, and thought it was brilliant. Then this morning I was looking at it and suddenly realized, FML it’s Target!! Nick disagrees. But he’s being anal about the difference. 😦 I was trying to do a Valentine, maybe February, themed mani.