I love the Arthurian legends. I grew up convinced I could pull a sword from a stone… provided I could find one, and that pale arms will appear from the middle of a lake if I threw a sword into it. I wanted a sword named Excalibur and I wanted to be a Knight of the Round Table, and have a wizard called Merlin.
It never once crossed my mind that they didn’t exist. Why shouldn’t it? :D
Perhaps that’s why I went to England – to see if King Arthur does exist and if there are any modern day Knights of the Round Table (Answer: No and No :P )
Anyway, a reader Yin Huei wrote me one day and told me to check out a-England nail polishes. They are a little outfit from the UK and the minute I hopped to the store, I knew I was sold. Every single polish in the store is named after an Arthurian character. Gah! I wanted every single one! Nevermind that I don’t use polish – I’d learn goshdarnit!
I picked up a couple just for testing purposes (there are a couple of sets available for a limited period only), and today I bring you my New Year manicure in a blingy golden silver haze of Holy Grail and Merlin.
I made the mistake of not taking photos of the polish on their own so you can see how they look – please excuse this n00b. I’ll get better, I promise :P I’ll do another post another time with the shades. So today, its just what I did with 2 of the polishes.
The base is Holy Grail – a metallic warm gold shade that I wasn’t terribly enchanted with on its own. For some reason, it looked a bit warm against my skin tone. All that changed with a touch of magic from Merlin – silver glitter.
I used just 1 coat of Merlin over Holy Grail. The glitter is fairly dense, so if I went with 2 layers, it’d cover the base. I did find that the glitter wasn’t quite well distributed as I swiped the brush over the nail, so some parts have more glitter than others. If you are a perfectionist, it may bug, but since I’m not, it doesn’t bug me. But it also means some nails are more silvery than others which I find absolutely fascinating.
Merlin is a gorgeous straight silver glitter that I believe works well enough on its own – I’ll try it soon and let you know. Application is fairly easy even for this newbie, without being streaky.Longevity is fairly good but I do have a top coat on.
In a nutshell
A new brand of nail polishes from England, that will appeal to those who love Arthurian legends and myths. Texture and application is quite easy and the colours that I have are quite nice. Holy Grail is a warm metallic gold that isn’t brassy nor bronzey. Merlin is dense silver glitter that is pretty when layered over another colour or I’m assured, worn on its own.
Pros: Nice interesting polish textures, Metallics and shimmer polishes are very nice, Application was easy without streaking
Cons: Only available online, A little pricey, Limited colours for now
A-England polishes are new and I think they are adding more colours to their stable soon, which I’d love of course. I’m just getting back into nail polishes again, and it is very opportune to discover these now, because I love the names, colour and texture and I plan to own them all one day. The formula is also Three-Free and for now, there’s free shipping until further notice.
And you have to admit that this is a pretty decent manicure to greet the Lunar Year of the Dragon later this month too! :D In fact, this will be my Holy Grail of glittery polish looks for any occasion. Win!
Have you come across A-England nail polishes before? Do you enjoy the King Arthur legend and myths surrounding them? :D
Paris B
A-England nail polish Price: £9 each Availability: a-england.co.uk Shipping: Free until further notice
Love gold! :D Perfect CNY mani! This combination reminds me of a bling-ier version of China Glaze Champagne Bubbles. How wonderful they provide free worldwide shipping for the time being — wish more companies would!
I have to agree! If more companies would offer free shipping, I would be more willing to buy from them :D And thank you I do think I”ll be sporting this at CNY :D
Another pretty and unique shade..so NOT you ..again! hahahaha :) But it works! That’s the most important! Happy New Year!
Teehee so what sort of shades do you think are me then? Bold red? ;)
OF COURSE! NOTHING ELSE!
Do we even need to state that? :P
HAHA I’ve found that bold red works amazingly on lips but on my hands I look like I’ve been ripping babies apart >.<
i think it is quite a nice little gold, but i am surprised that it actually looks sheer-er in person than in photo!
Yep in the sun though, it can be blinding LOL! :D
Oooh, I saw your nails on Sunday and really like it! I was planning to order a few polishes and your review has me convinced! As a teen, I used to read many Arthurian books / lit and one of my favourites is a trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. I’d definitely recommend his books :-)
*makes mental note to check out Bernard Cornwell* I think I may have read one of the books – Book 2 or something silly because it was on sale hehe… I’m planning to order a couple more too – I’m wearing Tristam today. Its OMGImInLove :D
was this the one you wore during our gathering the other day? if it is, it looks more subtle than it appears in your picture tee hee
Yep I wore this and its more muted in the shade but very bling in the sun. I like my bling :)
Love the yellow gold color! Perfect to start the year! :)
Yes! Lots of gold on the fingers and in the pocket! :D
Oooo, very pretty. How about drawing some red on this gold? I personally can’t do it, so I seek professional help ;-)
One thing about glitter nail polish though, is that it’s a b*%ch to remove. Ugh!
Its all I could do to paint my nails – drawing would have been way too advanced! LOL I actually found this surprisingly easy to remove – just left the cotton pad on and in a few minutes, wiped it all off. Not sure if it’d be that easy once I go all out Merlin on my nails :D
I love the gold shade but not particularly taken by the silver glitter – although now I’m tempted to suggest a gold base with red glitter! :P
Hmm that would be very CNY :P I’m not familiar with red glitter but I’m planning to go straight silver glitter soon! I wear silver well ;)
That you definitely do! :D Was egged on to the website by LeGeeque, and now I want to mix Galahad and Morgan Le Fay…yikes! :P
That is a lovely combination! :D
i am in love with holy grail! but! but! but! but! so so so so pricey!
I did think the majority will find it pricey, after conversion although I personally didn’t think it all THAT pricey. Shipping is free after all ;)
Alaaa.. you feeding my nail polish addiction laaaa… :D I’m too impatient with glittery polishes but your gold polish is a great twist. (Buy while AUD is still up, hahahahah!)
I’m just starting so its ok to feed addictions hehe… ;) I don’t know what the fuss is about glittery polish to be honest – I always thought they were just a) pretty and b) easy to apply :D
Also, I did some conversion of currency for the benefit of those who claimed this is pricey. Converted, it’s about RM39 which is way cheaper than OPI if you buy them from brick-and-mortar stores. OPIs were retailing for RM59 many years back when I bought them; factor in CPI, etc, A-Englands are very affordable.
I wouldn’t call them very affordable, but I don’t think they are terribly pricey either. Maybe its because I like lesser known brands hence you don’t see much of if any OPI or MAC on my blog :D
OK, I just shot myself in the foot re: prices. Apologies. Guess I need to understand the economics of nail polish in Malaysia. Thanks to Bee for enlightening me. Having said that, I’m still buying Avalon because there’s an airport in Geelong, Victoria that I’m curious about named Avalon. :P
That’s a gorgeous colour! I’m eyeing that and Lady of the Lake and Perceval >.<
Your nails are small and cute :)
LOL!! I’m taking that as a compliment :D I just can’t grow my nails and I look awful with talons :P
What a nice combo! That gold shade is really pretty!
AWw thank you Gio – I’m sure it can easily be replicated with any similar shades :D
I seriously can’t wait to try these nail polishes. They have a red shade to die for!
Perceval! I can’t wait to get it in the mail :D