A England Burne-Jones Dream Collection Review

Hi girls! I'm really sorry for disappearing on you for these past few days but I've been felling sick lately. Nothing actually bad, just really tired... Oh well, I have a lot of amazing collections to share with you so I hope you'll forgive my absence ^_^


The A England Burne-Jones Dream is the latest addition to the brand's reverie into fantasy, painting and history, inspired by Sir Edward Burne-Jones "The Briar Rose" artwork series over "The Sleeping Beauty" Charles Perrault fairy tale and that specific moment where the brave prince having battled through the Briar Wood, first comes upon the bewitched court and the princess he is to awake with a kiss.

"The fateful slumber floats and flows
About the tangle of the rose.
But lo the fated hand and heart
To rend the slumberous curse apart."
(William Morris)

The Briar Rose: The Briar Wood by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Fated Prince is a dark olive-tones grey with a smooth linear holographic effect. It's such a deep and complex shade, a truly perfect addition to the A England range! Formula was particularly flawless, no aqua base or patchiness issue here, just a smooth and easy two-coater.

"The threat of war, the hope of peace
The Kingdom's peril and increase.
Sleep on, and bide the latter day
When fate shall take her chains away."
(William Morris)

The Briar Rose: The Council Chamber by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Sleeping Palace is a dusty plum purple with a smooth linear holographic effect. As much as I love Fated Prince and believe I LOVE it, I honestly thought that this one would come second but it's just so spectacular in person that it stole the first place! Formula was just as outsanding an easy to apply, only even more pigmented and barely required a second coat. I used 2 coats here for swatching purposes but I'll definitely be using one for "real life".

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"The maiden pleasance of the land
Knoweth no stir of voice or hand,
No cup the sleeping waters fill,
The restless shuttle lieth still."
(William Morris)

The Briar Rose: The Garden Court by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Briar Rose is a medium antique red toned pink leaning cranberry with, as well, a smooth linear holographic effect. I can't think of anything like it in my stash and if you're a cool toned holo lover, you certainly won't want to miss on this one. Stellar formula, again, and the easiest application ever, this is two coats plus topcoat.

"Here lies the hoarded love the key
To all the treasure that shall be.
Come, fated hand, the gift to take
And smite the sleeping world awake."
(William Morris)

The Briar Rose: The Rose Bower by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Rose Bower is a deep pink toned red with a faint scattered holographic effect. It's the least holo shade in this collection but definitely the brightest and one that I strongly recommend as well. I mean just look how  seriously intense it is! Perfect application and formula, two easy, opaque, saturated, self-leveling, coats here as well.

Overall :
While one might think that there can't be that many colors left to explore in the Tristam /Lady of the Lake / Dragon / Saint Georges / ... A England type of holos, this collection just proves otherwise. I completely love the complexity and sophistication behind each of Adina's creations and obviously the impeccable formula never fails to impress.



The A England Burne-Jones Dream Collection 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).
A fifth shade, Briarwood, has been delayed for now but will also join the collection really soon.

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Unknown a england, Grey, holo, pink, purple, red, review

a-england new Holy Grail and Beauty Never Fails

There's just something about a-england that instantly puts a smile on my face!

It might be the fact that I've been following the brand since its beginning, the kindness of its creator Adina Bodana, the constant high quality of the products or maybe simply the fact that each and every bottle feels like a precious gem in my collection...

When I learned that Holy Grail was being discontinued, I must confess that it felt like a shock but of course, knowing Adina, she had something up her sleeve and replacing it by a new and re-vamped version somehow seemed evident.

So here it is, along with Beauty Never Fails, also new and exclusive.

Holy Grail is a complex antique gold shimmer with an innumerable amount of gold, bronze and green particles. The first stroke of polish, if not the shade in the bottle itself, truly sets it apart from the original version, first because of its heavy and sumptuous hue but also because of its extraordinary pigmentation. Depending on the lighting, it will appear either warm, almost coppery to completely cool and almost greenish. I used 2 coats here, combined with The Knight (basecoat) and The Shield (topcoat).

Beauty Never Fails is a heavy mix of coarse gold, copper and green shimmer in a blackened base. Vampy as vampy can be, definitely my favorite kind of shade and a must have for every a-england lover. If you've been holding of the Gothic Beauties because they looked too black for you then you will love Beauty Never Fails as it differs from black even under low lighting. Formula was once again pure perfection and barely required a second coat for complete coverage. Again, this is 2 coats with The Knight and The Shield.

Overall : 

I couldn't express just how much I love both of these shades. I have no idea how Adina manages to surprise us each and every time with such stunners and yet she does. Always.

Holy Grail and Beauty Never Fails retail for £9 each and are available for sale through email order and very soon on a-england.co.uk.

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

*products provided for review*

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Unknown a england, gold, green, review, shimmer

A England "The Gothic Beauties" Collection

There's no introduction to A England...

I remember, just a little over a year and a half ago, receiving an email on a Saturday morning announcing the launch of a new brand and while the products seemed promising and spirit behind them authentic, nothing could have prepared me for what was toB come : the rise of what I would personally consider as the best independent polish brand.

A England's latest collection, The Gothic Beauties, through shimmers and blacks, perfectly impersonates the duality of romantic passion and tragic outcome that characterize the writings of the authors Adina Bodana took inspiration from.

Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is a glorious gunmetal shimmer with a strong pewter hue that seems to glow from within while revealing its complexity through darkness on the edges. The perfectly smooth and even formula barely required a second coat and, once again, proved to be no less than A England's very high standard. Two coats over "The Knight" base coat and "The Shield" top coat here.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a mysterious eggplant shimmer scattered through the blackest black revealing an enigmatic sparkle under direct lighting. While a slight color shift towards gold appears in the bottle, the effect is non existant on the nail but must contribute in the overall glow. Formula was once again wonderful and opaque in almost one single coat. Two coats over "The Knight" base coat and "The Shield" top coat here.

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Lady of Shalott

The Lady of Shalott is a precious midnight blue, leaning blurple, shimmer infused in a rich black base. Once again, sparse purple particles and a slight color shift in the bottle do not translate on the nail but the pure perfection of the formula combined with my never-ending crave for blacks allow me to overlook them. Two coats over "The Knight" base coat and "The Shield" top coat here.

with flash

Ophelia

Ophelia is a luxurious warm purple that illuminates the darkest black base. Very similar to Jane Eyre in terms of shimmer and glow, it also shares its high quality formulation and requires no more than two coats to reveal complete coverage and intensity. Two coats over "The Knight" base coat and "The Shield" top coat here.

with flash

Tess d'Ubervilles

Tess d'Ubervilles is a rich, lustrous, forst green shimmer running running through a black base. The shimmer in this is somehow bigger than in the other blacks of the collection and manages to peak through the black fairly easily, illuminating the nails with a luminous sparkle. As always, the flawless formula delivers the perfect amount of product. Two coats over "The Knight" base coat and "The Shield" top coat here.

with flash

Overall :

I don't think I could express in word the amazement and infatuation I felt when I first laid eyes on these "Gothic Beauties". Dorian Gray truly feels like one of a kind with its dark pewter hue, even in my not so negligible collection of greys. As for the "blacks", be warned, they are extremely dark, almost black under low lighting but for a black lover, they definitely are an object to covet!

The ‘Gothic Beauties’ Collection will be released in the very next few days  on a-england.co.uk

Retail price : £9 (11ml) each, free shipping worldwide.

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

*products provided for review*

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Unknown a england, black, Grey, review, shimmer

Pot of Gold At the end of the Rainbow

Green isn't one of my favourite colours...so I had to be a little creative coming up with a St. Patrick's Day mani without painting green on every nail. I thought of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would be a little colourful...here's what I came up with.



Base polishes used starting at thumb are OPI What's Dune? over two coats of OPI Bride's Bouquet, then Catherine Arley 803, Catherine Arley 674, Catherine Arley 673 and Catherine Arley 800, all two coats except 674 which was three. Finally cracked open my Catherine Arley's after all this time.



Stamped rainbows onto the nails using KleanColor black with plate Big SdP A.



My stamping failed me at the top of the middle finger plus a few other spots so I took a fine brush and hand painted in the lines. Not a fantastic job, but passable....from a distance!



Then I hand painted the cauldron for the pot of gold....this is why I don't do free hand art! lol! I stamped a shamrock too using XL F using A-England Saint George but it stamped fainter than I wanted so I did hand painted another coat of the polish over the design freehand.



Added a dab of Color Club Gingerbread Man for the gold.



Then decided a wanted some gold coins; used Nubar gold glitters and put them in the pot.



To prevent the faint holo from fading even more, I used a light coat of Sally Hansen Clear Hardener which is suppose to not kill the holo...not that it mattered in this case as the scattered holo is so faint to begin with. It was interesting to see that I had a little drag on the areas I hand painted....not sure why as the coat of SH was thin plus a good amount of time had passed since I had drawn in the lines.




Thanks for looking!

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Unknown a england, Big SdP A, Catherine Arley, color club, Holographic, kleancolor, nubar, OPI, SdP, skittles, St. Patricks Day, XL F