Grey Shimmer

In keeping with the rather grey and dreary weather fueled by Hurricane Sandy today, I thought I would bring you gorgeous greys:  one of my favourite Shimmer Polishes with my very favourite a-England Gothic Beauty!

a-England, a bijoux brand that I simply adore, recently released a dark collection named Gothic Beauties. I adore vamps and had to have all five polishes the moment Adina released them!!

And today I bring you my first review of this collection, featuring the gorgeous Dorian Gray. All of the Gothic Beauties have the beautiful black a-England Camelot as a base, and Dorian Gray is as dark of a gunmetal grey as you can get, even shining in a pearly black in some lights.  This beautiful metallic gunmetal is described as “an intensely sinister pewter grey, forged with a forgiving deep golden shimmer.” And how sinister it is! The deep golden shimmer is very subtle, allowing Dorian to reflect in more of a metallic sheen.
Like many of my a-Englands, Dorian Gray was a one-coater — thick and self-levelling, and really not needing a second coat (though I did apply one). The best part? It’s a smooth, liquid thicker polish, drying quickly and evenly, showing nary a brush stroke.

Here it is, two coats over a coat of The Knight basecoat, topped with a coat of The Shield top coat:

Indoor light

 

I love how dark and truly sinister it looks with flash:

With flash

Do you see that golden, blueish shimmer?

As if Dorian Gray wasn’t spectacular enough on its own, I added this incredible Shimmer Polish that I adored the moment it arrived: Shimmer Vanessa, a slightly darkened jelly base featuring pewter, silver and red glitters, with some black thrown in for good measure. You would think such a dark polish may be subdued, but not Vanessa. It was sparkling in the dimmest light!!! It was simply spectacular!

Here is one coat over my previous Dorian Gray mani:

Full sun

It was insanely sparkly!!! People stopped me to compliment this manicure!

Here is a macro for you to drool over 🙂

Tell me that is not a swoon-worthy polish!

 

I love how elegant this mani turned out. It was sparkly and party-ready, but not in-your-face. I wore this mani to a concert at a classic concert hall, with a gorgeous black dress… it was perfection!

 

You can purchase a-England’s Gothic Beauties (along with all their other beauties) directly on their website, from Nail Polish Canada, or from their US stockist Llarowe.

And you can find Shimmer Polish here. Be sure to like them on Facebook to participate in their contests and see the latest offers!

~xo

 

 

 

(Some product was provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)