I love to read and in fact, I am working on my own work of fiction.  Hopefully, someday, if I ever actually finish it, people will want to read it.  What is your favorite book?  Please share with me in the comments.  Mine is ‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams.  Truly the best book ever.  I’ve read it over a dozen times and each time it is just as good as the last.

Okay, back to my other love: nail polish.  The polish today is the last of my A England stash.  I don’t have all of them, but I don’t foresee myself getting any more until a new collection comes out.

A England Perceval

A England Perceval

A England Perceval

A England Perceval is a bright warm-toned cranberry with red microglitter.  The formula is thick and frosty.  The above is two coats.

It’s an arresting shade, but didn’t look that good on me, mainly because some (not all) warm tones make me look yellowish.  There’s not much more to say about this.  I thought I would like it, and it looked unique in the bottle, but my overall reaction is meh.  

I hate ending my A England stash review on a low note, so stay tuned for a pretty watermarble tomorrow, using only A England polishes!

Today I have another gorgeous A England polish to show you.  I’m constantly on the lookout for a new collection from Adina, the creator of A England.  Her work is so amazing.  Any new polishes will be incredible!

A England Princess Tears

A England Princess Tears

From The Legends collection, A England Princess Tears is a pink-infused soft lilac with a holographic shimmer.  One of those polishes that causes you to constantly look at your nails at different angles and in different light just to see how it looks.

The formula is on the thin side and while the above is two coats and looks perfectly opaque, in real life there was still some VNL.  In addition, there is a slight frostiness, which showed some brush strokes.  Because of these issues, it gets .

Tomorrow will be my last A England polish (at least for a little while).  Next week I’ll be featuring Rescue Beauty Lounge, including some of the new polishes from the Georgia on my Mind collection.

A England Order of the Garter

A England Order of the Garter

This is a royal blue with cool tones and a silvery blue shimmer.  The formula is on the thin side, and took three coats for full opacity.  It looks gorgeous in the bottle and is definitely pretty on the nail, but it made my particular skin tone look washed out.  This was surprising, because I normally look better with cool tones than warm.  In other words, coral pinks don’t look that great on me, but blue pinks do.  I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly it is about this color that doesn’t work on me, but the reason eludes me.  However, this is definitely a great blue to use for accents or stamping or other nail art.

Due to the formula and color, this gets .

Today I have another gorgeous A England polish to show you.  It is very unique and just misses getting my highest rating because of a thin formula.

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

A England Ascalon

From The Legends collection, A England Ascalon is a purple-toned gray with a holographic glitter.  I’m showing you more swatches than usual so that you can see how the holo looks from every angle and in different light.  The last picture is fuzzier than I like, but shows how gorgeous the holo is.  Tending to green, the holo glitter gives the polish a stunning finish.

The formula was thin, although not too runny, and was easy to manage.  The above is three coats, which was needed for full opacity.  Therefore, this gets .

I love my A England polishes and this one is no exception.

Now, I am more of a fan of subtler shades when it comes to nail polish. I try out a few pinks now and then but never blues. This was the second polish I snatched up during an A England sale. While I enjoyed this eye-catching color, I’m still not convinced I’m brave enough to wear it very often. However, I did receive a lot of compliments on the color! It also gave me a couple ideas for Fourth of July manicures… (:

Here’s some pictures! (It was a nice, sunny week when I had this color on so I took advantage of it!)

I also experimented with some different hand poses…

(I still have some experimenting to do…)

And here’s a close-up of this gorgeous color!

If I can remember correctly, this could have been opaque in two coats, but being slightly OCD when it comes to my nails, I had to do three. Anyway, I loved this color and hope I have the courage to wear it again soon!

This first picture was taken in a dimly lighted room, and it truly shows the silvery/gray side of PT.

Though I really liked the duo chrome effect, I loved the holographic sparkling lavender color so much that I sought out every patch of sun I could find.

Today I’ve got another beautiful A England polish to show you.  Princess Sabra is from ‘The Legend’ collection.

A England Princess Sabra

A England Princess Sabra

I adore this polish.  The formula is spot on and just took two coats.  It is a gold base with a green holographic glitter.  The glitter is truly holographic, flashing the whole rainbow of colors.  It is bold, yet classy, and absolutely mesmerizing.

This definitely gets .

A England Dragon in direct light

A England Dragon

Even in regular light (bottom picture), the sparkle of the green and gold shimmer is easily seen.  When in direct light (top picture), some silver and blue shimmer is also apparent.  Very beautiful!

This took two coats.  The formula was very easy to work with.  A England is quickly becoming my favorite brand!

In a nutshell, my dog was attacked at the dog park.  And while he didn’t get hurt (thank God!), in my rush to get to him, I fell and got all scraped up.  Then, when I finally got home, my pilot lights were out in my gas stove/oven.  Being an appliance ignoramus, I had no idea what to do and it took many many phone calls to get the right help and figure out what to do.  It all ended up okay, but I got pretty stressed out during it all.

Here’s a couple pictures of my beloved, Kipling.  He’s too cute to attack!  What was that other dog thinking??!!

Ok, so on to today’s polish.  I have A England Lady of the Lake to show you.  This is my first bottle of A England and it did not disappoint.

A England Lady of the Lake inside

A England Lady of the Lake direct light

Lady of the Lake is a grape purple with multi-colored micro shimmer.  The predominant shimmer is lilac silver, which is seen very easily indoors (top picture).  In addition to that are blue, red, and green flecks which can be seen in direct light.  Even in the bottle, this polish is mesmerizing.  On the nail, it is to die for.

Formula-wise, it seemed to be too thick on the brush, but it laid on smooth.  One coat was almost enough for full coverage, but I laid on two coats for good measure.

This is one of my favorite polishes now.  The color, the formula, the hypnotic shimmer.  Divine!!

(Note: I’ve suspended Franken Fridays for now, as I’m working on saving up to purchase some materials to make some polish from scratch.)

A England polishes are a bit  more expensive than mass retail and drugstore brands, but the quality and uniqueness of the color range are definitely worth the splurge if you can afford it.  A England also offers free worldwide shipping with helps with the cost and makes these cheaper than some of the high-end department store brands.

Word of Warning: Heavy pic spam ahead!

Just wanted to add another photo of Dragon.  This was taken in direct sunlight and you can see how this holo just glows.

King Arthur is perfectly lovely on its own and I was tempted to just stop here.  But then I remembered how awesome my friend’s manicure looked and I had to add a coat of Deborah Lippmann’s Today Was A Fairytale.  Today Was a Fairytale is mesmerizing and is probably my favorite glitter polish. TWaF  takes a manicure from everyday to special day.  It’s an instant pick me up which I think I’ll need this week.

Now on to the polish spam:

Saint George, flash

Saint George, flash - macro

Saint George, flash - macro

Here is a break down of what I used on each nail:

Thumb – A England’s Holy Grail for the base (2 coats).  I created the mask using rhinestones and bullion beads that I purchased from Born Pretty.  I used Sinful Colors Nail Art polish in Fun Times (purple, purchased at Walgreens) and a grass green So Easy Stripe Rite nail art (purchased at Sally’s – item #698579)

Index – A England’s Holy Grail for the base again (2 coats) and topped that with one coat of Color Club Sugar Plum Yum to top it off.  Sugar Plum Yum is one of the scented polishes from the Color Club Holiday 2011 collection, but the purple and green glitter just screamed Mardi Gras to me.  Sugar Plum Yum is packed with mid-sized purple circle glitter and mini green circle glitter suspended in a clear base and covers well in one coat.

Middle – Zoya Holly as the base (2 coats) and the beads were created using the same rhinestones and bullion beads as the mask.   Zoya Holly is a gorgeous metallic green from the from the 2011 Jems & Jewels holiday collection.  This color is rich and opaque enough that you only really need one coat.

Ring – The base color is a combination of one coat of A England’s Avalon and one coat of Sinful Colors Daddy’s Girl.  I used MAC’s Immortal Gold to stamp the fleur-de-lys from Konad image plate M15.  I am a bit disappointed that the fleur-de-lys did not show up more against the purple.  I may need a lighter purple but I loved the shimmer in Daddy’s Girl too much.  I may redo this if I can find a different purple in my collection.

Pinkie – A England’s Holy Grail for the base again (2 coats).  I used China Glaze’s Emerald Sparkle to paint the diagonal on the tip and finished with a stripe of Sinful Colors Fun Times.

If you celebrate and however you celebrate Mardi Gras, hope you have a good time and stay safe!  As they say in Louisiana, Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Natural light (please excuse the dry hand and cuticle)

The formula applied well but was quite sheer, so I needed three coats for opacity.  For full opacity, I would recommend using 4 coats.  The drying time was a bit longer than most of the other a England polishes I used but it could be because I used 3 coats whereas I usually only need 2 coats. Pictures were taken in natural light with a top coat.

I used a England’s Camelot as my base color and I have to say that this is my new favorite black and it is a true black onyx creme.  The formula is fantastic.  It applies like a dream and was fully opaque in one coat with no streaking.  It’s a definite time saver since one coat will get you the bottle color.  It also dries nice and glossy.

I topped Camelot with 1 coat of Deborah Lippmann’s Today Was A Fairytale (TWaF). TWaF is packed with large and micro circle silver glitter in a sheer silvery blue base.  It’s gorgeous on its own but I think it’s quite stunning layered over Camelot.  I only needed 1 coat to cover my entire nail.

Deborah Lippmann's Today Was a Fairytale over a England's Camelot - natural sunlight

A England polishes can be purchased here.  Through January 6, 2012 you can purchase Perceval with Merlin as part of the Merry crowns promo for £13 for the pair (around $21 USD).  She offers free worldwide shipping as well!

Like the other a England polishes I own the formula for Perceval is amazing and it’s opaque in one coat.  I used two coats because I am a spastic and need that second coat to correct my many mistakes. The below pictures were taken after four days wear – I did do some repair to cover up tip wear but it help up well overall.

I was able to capture Elaine on the drive into work one morning.  Behold, Elaine in her sunlit glory:

I wore Elaine for a couple of days and decided to change it up by adding a Konad floral paisley-ish design from plate M64.  I used Zoya’s Trixie, a gorgeous silver foil, to stamp.  And for the record, Zoya Trixie runs circles around Konad silver special polish.  I picked up Trixie with Zoya’s BOGO offer last month.  The pics aren’t the best since I forgot to take my camera to work and had to settle for indoor lighting.  Still gorgeous and I think I may like the Elaine/Trixie combo more than Lancelot/Immortal Gold.

Lancelot is just gothic gorgeousness.  It’s described as black red garnet and the red undertones definitely are visible.  I love blackened reds like this because they’re not as stark as a black mani.  Lancelot has a high shine glossy finish like the other a England creme polishes I’ve tried.

After wearing this mani for a couple of days I used  MAC’s Immortal Gold to stamp the Konad M65 roses over Lancelot.  The color combination is one of my favorites.  I have to say that MAC’s Immortal Gold is way better for stamping than Konad’s special polish in gold.  Gratuitous pic spam below:

a England's Lancelot

In the pictures below – 2 coats of Lady of the Lake with 1 coat of butter London’s PD Quick topcoat.  These pictures hardly do the Lady justice as they don’t capture the holographic glow when she catches the light.