St. George by A England

Alohaaaaa polish people! It’s a breezy summer day in SoCal and I have had a lot of coffee and feel the kind of hyperfeel that makes me want to skip down the beach belting songs from The Sound of Music. But because that is generally considered uncool behavior, instead I’ll channel that energy into this blog post. Hurrah! EVERYBODY DANCE NOW.

Okay, sorry. I am totally going to be cool now. Reining it in!

So today I have St. George by indie maker A England. Oh St. George. You are gorgeous.

St. George in direct sunlight.

After the first swipe of this polish on my nail I paused, leaned back and blurted out, “Oh, snap.” It’s a freaking one-coater, people. THIS IS ONE COAT ON MY NAILS.

St. George indoors (low-light), continuing its reign of awesomeness.

There’s a rich depth to this polish – the way the scattered holos interact with the deep, dark teal is mesmerizing. I couldn’t truly capture the intriguing complexity of this polish with my camera – just trust me that you’ll know what I mean once you try this polish in person. It’s stunning.

For UK residents, A England can be found at their personal website. For the rest of us, you can find A England at Llarowe, or check A England’s Where to Buy. I have tried several A England polishes now and I can tell you they are some of the highest quality polishes I have come across. I have yet to be disappointed!

Now excuse me. I can feel my coffee fading and I must replenish. Then I think I’m going to do some double-time tae bo in my living room or climb a tree or something. Whoosh! Zoom! Polish Fox out.

‘Chinese Lanterns’ by Lumina Lacquer

Happy Saturday all! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I’m finally starting to feel a bit better. Woohoo! But I shall resist getting sidetracked. On to polish related things!

Today it’s all about ‘Chinese Lanterns’ by indie maker Lumina Lacquer. It’s a jam packed glitter topper in a clear base.

One thick coat ‘Chinese Lanterns’ over Essie ‘School of Hard Knocks.’

Hearts? Check. Giant circles? Check. Little hexes? Check check. Bajillion different colors and sizes? CHECCCKKKK.

I layered this over a dusky color first, something that might resemble lanterns against an early evening sky. I was blown away by how much glitter comes out with absolutely no fishing involved. Every brush stroke was thick with glitter (thick in a really good way, not a gloopy way).

For my second base color, I wanted something that resembled warm candlelight, like the light that glows within the paper globe of a Chinese lantern.

One thick coat ‘Chinese Lanterns’ over A England ‘Holy Grail.’

I absolutely love how this polish looks over a lighter color like this. It made all the colors in ‘Chinese Lanterns’ pop and come to life. It’s an incredibly lively and vibrant combination.

This is my first Lumina Lacquer and overall I have absolutely no complaints. It was shipped to me quickly and was very easy to apply. One thing to note – the last time Lumina Lacquer did a restock, ‘Chinese Lanterns’ sold out quickly. So if it’s one you’re interested in, I would follow her facebook for restock updates. And check out her shop for other polishes she makes!

A England ‘Dragon.’ GrrrRAWR!

‘Grrrrawr’ is the sound a dragon makes, in case you wondering. Not a lot of people know that. But I bet A England did, because they clearly know a lot about dragons, considering how perfectly they nailed the polish ‘Dragon.’ Seriously, check out this glimmery, holo beauty:

So grrrrawr.

As soon as I swiped this on (opaque in ONE COAT!), it instantly became one of my top five favorite polishes in my stash. Green is my favorite color, and I have been searching for a while now for the perfect, rich, foresty green – and this is it. It dried super quickly, and it hits the light like a jewel.

Of course, even with the perfect green, I get antsy wearing the same polish two days in a row. So I decided to add some ‘scales’ to this dragon with a single coat of Essie’s Shine Of The Times on top.

Like a dragon’s belly.

For any of you that are Hobbit fans, doesn’t this make you think of Smog the dragon? I think we should convince one of The Hobbit movie actors to wear this to the next premier. Right? Totally see that happening.

Anyways, since I’m the most antsy mani person ever, I decided to matte it to bring out the flakies. Um, HELLO.

A fire-breathing mani! Mattifying it gives it a crazy fiery glow.

The quality of A England’s polishes are fantastic, and my orders have always shipped promptly. You can find A England’s polishes on their website, and they have free international shipping! I highly recommend their products – the pigments, the colors and the quality are truly fantastic.

 

Update – I just wanted to update and let you all know that this was an absolute DREAM to remove. Took absolutely no effort! Oh A England, you so fab.

A England Limited Holy Grail; Emerald & Ash Deconstructed Daisy

Sunny nails!  I know many of you are snowed in right now, but don’t let heavy sweaters and snow boots hold you back from basking in the glow of a colorful mani.

Springtime fever!

Today I’m wearing a gorgeous indie combo: A England’s limited (ie, original) ‘Holy Grail’ beneath with Emerald & Ash ‘Deconstructed Daisy’ on top. You may not have heard about Emerald & Ash yet – her shop hasn’t opened yet, although you can contact and purchase her polish via her facebook page.

Separate, they’re awesome. But together? KERPLOW.

You know that scene in the movies when the heroine is twirling through a field of flowers, with the sunbeams shining warm and gold? You could shrink that heroine to miniature size and have her run around on this mani and she wouldn’t even know the difference.

Like sunshine and clover.

Application and formula for both these polishes are exceptional; I used two coats of Holy Grail to achieve full opacity and one quick and easy coat of Deconstructed Daisy on top. I was really impressed with the quality of Emerald & Ash – oftentimes I have trouble getting chunky glitter to spread evenly, but this went on smooth as velvet.

You can find A England’s products at their website, where the limited edition of Holy Grail is currently only £5, along with free international shipping on all their products. Emerald & Ash polishes can be purchased by contacting the maker through her facebook page, and there is a shop planned for the near future.