New from A England : Briarwood, Love is Enough and Excalibur (new edition)

Whenever I hear about a new A England release, my heart skips a bit, always...
There's just something about Adina's creations; passion, creativity, uniqueness but also high quality, everything about them appeals to me as a nail polish enthusiast.

Today I have the 3 latest additions to the A England range : Briarwood, highly anticipated fifth Burne-Jones Dream shade, Love is Enough, latest Heavenly Quotes and finally Excalibur (new edition), completely re-vamped version of the silver that marked the brand's debuts.

Briarwood (Burne-Jones Dream collection) is a deep marron red with A England's famous holographic effect, I love everything about it, the darkness, complexity, vampiness; all combined with a subtle but oh so beautiful holo, enough to give it to a whole new dimension... sigh.Thick but in a good way, offering a lot of control and high pigmentation, formula was flawless and if it wasn't for review purposes, I would have stopped at the first coat. Pictures below show 2 coats plus topcoat.

Love is Enough (Heavenly Quotes collection) is a grey-green-gold shimmer chameleon. Extremely complex but well balanced, perfect to give a sophisticated and edgy touch to your tips. I've always loved greys and olive greens and this one's no exception. Formula-wise, it was thinner than Briarwood, applied evenly and effortlessly, showing zero brushstrokes.  Two coats were necessary for complete coverage.

Excalibur (re-vamped new edition) couldn't be more different from its first version. Silver indeed but completely counterbalanced by rich golden particles : mostly silver, often pewter or champagne, truly versatile. Application and opacity was very similar to Love is Enough and 2 easy coats was all it took for a completely opaque, brushstroke-free, finish.

And here's a final shot of all 3 bottles next to Excalibur first edition :

Overall :
I feel like each and every one of my A England reviews end the same way : these are all complex and unique colors, if they appeal to you then you won't regret your purchase. Having ever tried the brand before you know its quality never disappoints.



A England is available for purchase within UK directly on a-england.co.uk (£9 each) but also worldwide through the brand's online retailers (full list here). 


For more information, please refer to a-england.co.uk or a-england on Twitter/Facebook.

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2true Pro - Metallica, Salon Shine & 3D Candy

2true Cosmetics and Make-up have recently launched their new range of nail polish, 2true Pro which has 3 parts to it - Edgy (which are a set of 4 caviar beads), Classic (a set of 5 cremes/ crellies) and Metallica (5 metallic polishes).

Today I'm reviewing a little bit of each collection. First up, the metallics. Although I'm not a massive fan of metallic polishes, the good thing about these is that they are completely opaque in one coat. I couldn't imagine having to apply two or more coats of a metallic polish.

Aphrodite - a medium rose pink - 1 coat

Arete - a light lime green - 1 coat

Athena and Noir beads - a dusty blue and black beads - 1 coat

If you read my blog, you will know that I was never into the caviar/ bead/ sprinkles (whatever you want to call them) craze. It was just one of those trends that I didn't get and didn't appeal to me, plus I even had some trouble applying them. They aren't durable and would annoy me every time one fell. I know you can put a top coat over them but I think that makes them look lumpier and they end up falling off anyway! Great look for a nail photo shoot though!

Next up is a polish from the "Classic" collection - Mila. I have to say that this is my favourite of the bunch! I love this shade of orange as all my other oranges have too much red in them. This one actually looks quite coral'ish in person. It applies beautifully in 2 smooth coats.

2true polishes are available now exclusively at Superdrug stores nationwide. They cost £4 each and the beads cost £3.

*The product(s) featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

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Jacava Chillax and Blueberry Muffin - Swatches

Press Sample

Hi! Sorry I've been a bit slow posting lately. I've got some crazy lower back issues which makes sitting at a desk doing nails and sitting at a computer typing posts almost impossible :( I'm currently full of pain killers with a heat pad on my back. Hoping to be back to normal soon, don't know how much more I can take!

I have a couple more swatches of British brand Jacava to show you today. I first reviewed Jacava back in December and you can read my original review here. Jacava is the world's first patented 8-free brand (no formaldehyde, camphor, DBP, parabens, collophane, toluene, phthalates or animal ingredients) and is designed and made in the UK! They also feature an extra long brush that reaches all the way to the bottom of the bottle, unlike a lot of brands. They were kind enough to send me some more shades to try and here they are.

This is Chillax, a bright metallic turquoise blue with subtle shimmer. Application was great, I used 2 coats and it dries really fast. It's a bit of a stainer though so make sure you use base coat!

Yummy shimmery macro!

Blueberry Muffin is a glossy lilac creme which was a bit difficult to photograph but I got there in the end! This also applied really well, 2 coats.

The print on the bottle is 22 carat gold!

Jacava retails at £14.50 a bottle and is available direct from the website, www.jacava.com, where there is currently a promotion for 10% off. You can also buy Jacava on Feel Unique.

Press Sample

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Ozotic Scatter Chrome collection review

 

Hi girls!

Today I have a not-so-new collection to share with you LOL : the Ozotic Scatter Chromes.

Released last Fall, I only got 915 back then (link) but I totally fell in love all over again today! How could I forget how incredibly gorgeous 915 is?

 

 

 

The Scatter Chrome collection is a set of 4 metallic duochromey shimmers packed with scattered holographic particles : 910, 912, 914 & 915.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ozotic Scatter Chrome 910 (limited edition)

gold to green duochrome metallic with a scattered holo

1 coat over black

 

 

 

 

 

Ozotic Scatter Chrome 912

purple to green/grey duochrome metallic with a scattered holo

1 coat over black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ozotic Scatter Chrome 914

royal blue to purple metallic with a scattered holo

1 coat over black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ozotic Scatter Chrome 915

green to blue/grey duochrome metallic with a scattered holo

1 coat over black

 



 

 



 

 

 



Formula was just what you would expect from Ozotic : flawless! As mentioned, I only used one coat over black in all of the swatches above and it was enough for an easy, streak-free, complete coverage.

I also really love the finish, metallics and duochromes were everywhere last year but non of them even begins to compare to the Scatter Chromes, the holo really does set them apart!

 

 

 

 

 

The Ozotic Scatter Chrome collection retails for AU$12 each and can be purchased directly from piCture pOlish.com.au or through their international network.

For more information, please refer to piCture pOlish.com.au or piCture pOlish on Twitter / Facebook.

And don't forget that the gold one 910 is limited edition, when it's gone, it's gone for good!

 

 

*products provided for review*

 

 

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Kiko Mirror Collection picture spam

 

Hi girls!

I'm sorry for disappearing on you for 3 days but I've been really sick. Burnt out I guess. My body has literally told me to stop and get some real rest and I had no other choice but to listen this time...

 

 

Anyway, I'm back today and I have pics of the latest Kiko collection. After the Sugar Mattes, the Mirrors!

 

 

 

 

The Kiko Mirror collection consists of 15 metallics. I don't really care for pure metallics as a full mani so I didn't bother swatching them all on my nails.

However, being one coaters, they look great for nail art and stamping so I'll definitely show you more on them in the future ;-)

 

 

Now, let's get started!

 

 

616 Silver : medium silver metallic

617 Taupe : champagne metallic

618 Orchid Pink : blue based pink metallic

619 Red Peony : pink metallic

620 Lavender : lavender metallic

 

 

 

 

 

621 Violet : purple metallic

622 Wisteria : periwinkle metallic

623 Blue : jeans blue metallic

624 Sky Blue : blue metallic

625 Emerald : turquoise metallic

 

 

 

 

 

#626 Lawn Green : green metallic

#627 Lime Green : spring green metallic

#628 Gold : gold metallic

#629 Copper : pink copper metallic

#630 Golden Rose : mauve metallic

 

 

 

 

 

I used one coat of each of these Mirrors in the swatches above and they all dried really fast with minimu brushstrokes. On the nails however it's another story, you'd have to be very careful with application beause they don't dry to a completely smooth finish, unless maybe if you use prep your nails with a shiner buffer beforehand.

 

 

Do I recommend them? Yes! But to get the best out of these metallics, use nail art and/or stamping ;-)

 

 

 

 

The Kiko Limited Edition Mirror Collection is available online and in stores and retails for £4.90 / 4.90€ each.

The ONLY4YOU13 20% off coupon is still valid online and in stores until tomorrow only!

Please check my previous Sugar Mattes post more info on the promo and/or download the coupons.

 

 

*products purchased by me*

 

 

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Random Swatch Saturday - China Glaze Champagne Bubbles

Here's another from my seemingly endless stash. Champagne Bubbles is from the 2011 Let It Snow collection. It's probably not a shade for everyone, but I love the little bits of silver glitter! 

Like I said, it's not for everybody...It's a nice Christmassy colour though! 

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31DC2012: Day 8 Metallic Nails

Day 8 of the 31 Day Challenge calls for Metallic Nails and what's more metallic than actual metal?! The gold stuff you see on my nails is this very interesting Nail Art Foil* from Born Pretty Store. It comes in sheets scrunched up in to little pots and it's so light and thin that it's barely even there. I just used a pair of tweezers to tear the foil up in to little pieces and place it on to my nails and I love the outcome. Since I don't think I'll be shedding out up to £30 for The Man With The Golden Gun any time soon, this is a great $6 alternative!

I used Cult Nails Vicious as my base colour. I painted one coat and then, one nail at a time, added a second coat and attached the foil while it was still tacky. I finished up with one coat of Seche Vite but it could have used two just to even out any bumps.

As always, hop on over to Let Them Have Polish and Nails and Noms to see what Cris and Rie have come up with today!

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

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Unknown 31DC2012, cult nails, metallic, purple