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A-England Ballerina Collection

March 24, 2014
A-England, Holos, Nailpolish, Obsessed
14 Comments

Each time that A-England’s creator teases us with hints of a new collection, Adina’s eager fans wait with baited breath for what will be unveiled. The incredible formulas, the colours, the historic inspirations behind each collection…  Many of us have become devotees of the brand! And today I have for you the gorgeous Ballerina collection. (For inspiration details, head over to Ommorphia’s launch post.)

A-England’s Ballerina is a collection of four beautiful, delicate holographic polishes in whisper-soft colours. The collection immediately reminded me of the tulle on dancers’ skirts… how perfect!

aengland_Ballerina_Coll

The first shade, and probably my favourite of the four (though it’s nearly impossible to pick a favourite) is Fonteyn. Fonteyn is a lavender-tinged silver holo with a formula so perfect, so divine, that it was a one-coater. It applied with buttery perfection, fully opaque on the first coat, and drying quickly to an incredible shine. (If you own any A-Englands, you’ll know that this brand is renowned for its high-shine finish!) Here is Fonteyn without top coat:

aengland_Ba_FonteynFull sun

aengland_Ba_Fonteyn2In the shade

 

Dancing with Nureyev is blue-purple holographic with a metallic finish that almost changes colour depending on the light. It is a little more indigo in some light, then a little more purple, but always demure.

I paired Fonteyn with Dancing with Nureyev for a subtle holo gradient:

aengland_Ba_Fonteyn_Nureyev_grdt

And two coats of the gorgeous Dancing with Nureyev, no top coat:

aengland_Ba_NureyevFull sun

aengland_Ba_Nureyev2In the shade

I had to include a macro of Dancing with Nureyev because it is so beautiful:

aengland_Ba_Nureyev_macro

Encore Margot is described as an “icy blue prismatic hue,” a pale-silver holographic that dries to a cool dove grey shade. The holo effect on Encore Margot appears a little softer than that of Fonteyn or Dancing with Nureyev, but the effect is breathtaking. Another amazing formula, a little more fluid than Fonteyn, requiring two easy coats. Below, without top coat:

aengland_Ba_EncoreMargotFull sun

aengland_Ba_EncoreMargot2In the Shade

 

Finally, Her Rose Adagio, a delicate soft pink holo described as “faded roses in a silver prismatic base, as romantic as it is ‘en pointe’.” Possessing a similar soft holo and formula like Encore Margot, I used two coats for the photos below:

aengland_Ba_HerRoseAdagioFull sun

aengland_Ba_HerRoseAdagio2In the shade

 

What always stands out for me is A-England’s incredible glossy finish, and its beauty whether in sunlight or in the shade. These colours are so demure and perfect, so aptly named that it is impossible not to fall in love…

 

A-England is available directly from their website for those in the UK, or from several stockists this side of the pond (check out Where to buy), including Nail Polish Canada (with free shipping within Canada!). Don’t forget to follow A-England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and Nail Polish Canada on Facebook and Twitter!

Have you tried any of the Ballerina shades, and which one is your favourite so far?

If you liked this post, please take a moment to ‘like’ this post and/or comment! I love to read what you think.

~xo

 

 

(Product provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)

 

 

 

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Colors by Llarowe – Tribute to Michael Jackson

September 4, 2013
Colors by Llarowe, Holos, Nailpolish, Obsessed
10 Comments

When Llarowe recently announced that she was working on a Tribute to Michael Jackson Collection, I was overjoyed! I am a huge MJ fan, still deeply saddened by his untimely passing and still a huge fan of all of his timeless and incredible music. Superfan? Sure! And I could not wait to see what Leah Ann would create in his honour.

Cbl_MJColl

The first shade I have for you today is Smooth Criminal, probably my favourite of this collection, and currently my pedi colour because I could not get enough.
Smooth Criminal is a complex shade; I consider it a blurple linear holo – a gorgeous mid-tone, cornflower blue with just a hint of purple, greyed out enough to provide a steel-looking finish. It is spectacular!! And the holo is insane!! Even as I waited for the sun to peek out on a cloudy day, the holo blazed on my nails.

I used two coats, and this high shine is pre-top coat!

CbL_MJ_SmoothCriminalCbL_MJ_SmoothCriminal2

And check out the gorgeous holo in this macro shot:

CbL_MJ_SmoothCriminal_macro

I like to play with glitter toppers, so I decided to add a coat of Black or White to Smooth Criminal. Black or White is an aptly-named polish made up of black and white multi-sized circle, hex and bar glitter in a clear base. It is glitter heavy but still requires a good shake to get a good mix of glitter on your nails.

CbL_MJ_BlackorWhite

I’ll bring you more Tribute to MJ polishes over the coming days!

The collection launched on August 17th and is currently mostly sold out, but make sure you head over to Llarowe’s shop for all the restock news!
All Colors by Llarowe polishes are 3-free and cruelty free, and come in a 15 ml square bottles with easy-to-open rubber-grip cap. Don’t forget to follow Llarowe on Facebook, Pinterest and on Instagram!

Have you snagged any of these Tribute polishes yet?

~xo

(Products were provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)

Colors by Llarowe Part 1!

June 5, 2013
A-England, Colors by Llarowe, Nailpolish
4 Comments

I am so excited to share today’s post with you! In anticipation of tomorrow’s launch, I have for you a preview of three Colors by Llarowe, a brand-new line of polishes by the store of the same name!

The first three colours you’ll see are all gorgeous, holographic polishes, and I hope you will like them as much as I do.

The vampiest is Black Gold, Texas Tea, a limited edition polish collection to benefit the tornado victims in Granbury, Texas. Only a small amount was created, with all proceeds going to a fund for the victims. BGTT is a jet black linear holo, and very pigmented. In order to prevent staining (Leah Ann does warn of the staining potential on her website), I used 2 coats of basecoat, and I had zero staining. One tip: when removing highly-pigmented polish, be generous and use a clean piece of remover-soaked cotton on each nail, let sit for a few seconds, and wipe off with one good swipe. Then use a clean tiny piece of cotton to clean up any edges.

Here are two coats of BGTT over 2 coats of base coat, in the shade:

Colors_BlackGoldTexasTeaShd2Look at that AMAZING black! And that SHINE!!

And in artificial light:

Colors_BlackGoldTexasTeaShd

Now wait for the incredible holographic sparkle in sunlight:

Colors_BlackGoldTexasTeaSun

 

Next up, a tie for my favourite of these three, Rare Bear, from the Cheetoman & the Gang collection, named after her band of crazy kittens. How cute is that?? Leah Ann says that Rare Bear has the most intense blue/grey eyes, which inspired this medium gray-blue holographic. A portion of the proceeds from sale of this polish will benefit the ASPCA.

Another easy application with incredible shine, I wore 2 coats over A England’s base coat for these pictures.  Look at the gorgeous steel-blue visible in artificial light:

Colors_RareBearShdAnd in the sun, wow!

Colors_RareBearSun

Finally, the third polish for today is Sparkles are a Girl’s Best Friend, a hot pink crelly holo base with purple flash and multi colored sparkle. This polish is a tribute to Leah Ann’s best friend Emily. And girly it is! hot pink, fun, summery!

Here it is full sun:

Colors_SparklesAreSun

I just love that shade of pink!!

Unfortunately all my shade shots of Sparkles were slightly fuzzy, so I don’t have a picture for you, but trust me, it is so pretty!

 

Final verdict: I was really, really impressed.  The holo on these was incredible. It was highly noticeable, even on the very first coat. The base that was used is high-shine, even pre-top coat, and the colours were perfect. For a first collection, these are must-haves!

All of these polishes are 3-free and cruelty free, and come in a 15 ml square bottles. The future bottles after the initial launch will have those amazing soft-touch caps that we’ve come to love!

And they LAUNCH TOMORROW over on Llarowe! Don’t forget to follow Llarowe on Facebook, Pinterest and on Instagram!

~xo

 

(Products were provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)

piCture pOlish Majesty

April 18, 2013
Holos, Nailpolish, Obsessed, OPI, piCture pOlish
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It’s piCture pOlish Thursday, and today I have for you a sparkly gem of a polish, Majesty!

Majesty is another Collaboration Shade, polishes that the piCture pOlish Girls created with bloggers or their Network members. And this is what piCture pOlish has to say about this creation:

Majesty was created with Sahrish from Sahrish Adeel’s Inspiration: a shade that would be perfect for every occasion, every skin type, every age –  basically everyone!  And what a challenge that became however we never gave up! And yes with Majesty your nails will look perfect everyday…  

Majesty is a taupe/pink/nude with micro gold sparks and holo (scattered) and has NO glitter. Majesty contains a holographic shimmer to create a shade just perfect for everyone for every occasion!

Read all about how Majesty was created on Sahrish’s blog!

 

I was excited to review this shade because it truly is a universally flattering soft gold with a faint taupe base colour. It is filled with micro glass flecks that sparkle in a multitude of colours, depending on the light. I found it to reflect greenish-gold on the surface of the nail, though it sparkled the way that scattered holos do: a little bit of pink, gold and green flashes.

It applies quite sheer on the first coat, making it a buildable polish that reaches near-opacity by the third coat. This makes it a cool layering polish, so of course, that is what I did! Reaching for a gorgeous taupe untried, I used two coats of OPI’s Berlin There, Done That, from their recent Germany Collection:

OPI_BerlinThereDoneThat

(Why have I not worn this spectacular polish in the months since picking it up??)

 

And here is a generous layer of Majesty added to the above mani:

picturepolish_Majesty

I felt that OPI’s Berlin There, Done That was the perfect base for Majesty, not overpowering it, but also allowing me to show Majesty’s beauty with just one generous coat.

To show you the scattered holo sparks, here is a slightly blurred photo:

picturepolish_MajestyBlur

Beautiful, gold, sparkly!

I simply adore piCture pOlish products, and I adore them more for creating these cool Collaboration Shades! (Check out my other Collaboration Shade reviews here and here.)

 

If you love holos as much as me, you can get your very own Majesty by visiting piCture pOlish on-line and or any piCture pOlish Network member, including Harlow & Co, Llarowe and Nail Polish Canada.

And don’t forget to follow the Girls on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all the latest news, giveaways, and more!!

~xo

 

 

(Product provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)

 

Naild’ It Charity Trio

January 20, 2013
Naild' It Unique Nail Polish, Nailpolish
7 Comments

Happy weekend!

Today I have a wonderful charitable trio of polishes for you… polishes that are not only gorgeous enough to purchase, but 50% of proceeds benefit each of these polishes’ charities. All three polishes have a scattered holographic base – just beautiful!

First up is Ultimate Service, a pistachio-colour holo polish that leans slightly gold/yellow, and supports Disabled Veterans. I love how very different this colour is! I see a beautiful pistachio shade, the scattered holo is stunning. I’m not usually a big fan of green polish but I love this colour.

Here are two coats with base and top coat:

NaildIt_UltimateService

Isn’t this spectacular??? I think this was my very favourite of the three!!

 

Next up is Give Hope, a deep pink holographic polish with pink holographic glitters. 50% of proceeds will go towards National Breast Cancer Research Society.

Here are two coats with base and top coat. I love how easily Give Hope applied, and look at that shine!!

NaildIt_GiveHopeSh

Now look at Give Hope in the sun:

NaildIt_GiveHopeSunGive Hope is a beautiful, girly pink polish… isn’t it? And what a wonderful cause.

And the third polish, Make Your Wish, a blue holo polish that’s described as shifting between blue, green and yellow;  you can see the slight turquoise tone in the photo below. Make Your Wish proceeds benefit the Make A Wish Foundation! It contains dark blue and holo glitters, as well as holographic moons, stars and large circles. A complex glitter-filled gem!!

Here are two coats with base and top coat in the shade. Unfortunately I don’t think I was able to catch any stars here but you can see all the other cool glitter shapes 🙂

NaildIt_MakeYourWishSh

And here is a pic of it in the sun, showing the incredible holo and complexity of all the glitters:

NaildIt_MakeYourWishSunSpec-tac-ular!!!

Knowing that many indies are small businesses, it warms my heart when these incredibly talented people choose to donate their time and profits to charities. It is incredible generous of them to do, and it helps us, the buyers, feel a little better about our purchase. 🙂

Naild” It polishes are available on their Etsy shop (which is currently closed though), as well as from Llarowe, Overall Beauty, and MeiMei’s Signatures.

Don’t forget to follow Naild’ It on Facebook for the latest previews!

~xo

 

 

(Products provided for consideration and review. All opinions are my own.)

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