A-England Gothic Beauties: Lady of Shalott + The Knight & The Shield Review

Hello lovelies! Happy Thursday! Just a stones throw away from the weekend!

Today I have another of A-England's Gothic Beauties to share with you. Lady of Shalott is named after a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. If you are unfamiliar with the poem, I do suggest checking it out. It is the beautiful, yet tragic tale of Elaine of Astolat, who is afflicted with a mysterious curse which forces her to view Camelot through a mirror (and continually weave images upon a loom), as opposed to looking directly upon it. One day she sees Lancelot pass, and stops weaving, only too look directly out the window, bringing about the curse. She leaves the tower, and floats down the river in a boat that she has inscribed with her name, but dies before he reaches the palace. In an ironic twist, Lancelot sees her as she passes, and thinks her beautiful.

A-England's Lady of Shalott is a breathtaking deepest Sapphire Blue, with interwoven specks of fuchsia and teal. The flecks are very evident in the bottle, yet harder to see on the nail. I actually prefer it this way, since the flecks make this polish literally glow from within when the light hits it just right. To me, this polish embodies the darkness that shadows The Lady of Shalott, as well as the mirror itself (There is a line in the poem that says " And sometimes thro' the mirror blue") and the water in the river on which she floats.

See? This is what happens when a polish addict that was a hairs width from majoring in English (always my best and favorite subject, even through college) polish with literary themes! At any rate, Lady of Shalott is the kind of blue that leaves my little heart pitter-pattering.

All photos are 2 coats of Lady of Shalott over The Knight base coat and The Shield Top Coat (I'll be sharing a bit about these in this post as well). Please forgive my pesky bakdrop - the sun was at the perfect angle to reveal part of my lovely blue backdrop!

Oh but The Lady is beautiful!! I love blue polish, and this is among my very favorites. Dark enough to satisfy my love for dark colors, yet bright enough to still appear Blue.

Formula:
Perection.  Lady of Shalott bears the signature A-England formula, thicker consistency, yet not so thick as to be problematic. No dragging, balding, thickening during use, or glopping.

Application:
Smooth as silk, Lady of Shalott applies like a polish lover's dream. It is a touch streaky on the first coat, but evens out beautifully with the second. It does dry a touch matte, so top coat is a must!

The Knight:
A-England's The Knight Base Coat is, and I'm not exaggerating, as close to perfection as I have come. The Knight applies smoothly and evenly, using very little product. Dry time is quick, and The Knight provides a perfect base for polish adherence. I have less issues with chipping and tip wear with The Knight than with any other base coat in my vast arsenal.

The Shield:
If you love Seche Vite, but hate the shrinkage, then The Shield could very well be your Holy Grail Top Coat. The Shield boasts superior shine to any top coat I have used, literally leaving a shine that resembles liquid glass. Dry time is a touch slower than SV, but I would much rather have a slightly longer dry time than skrinkage and the hassle of adding an expensive restoring agent to my top coat every few uses. This is also my go to top coat for restoring shine to an older mani.

All A-England Polishes, Including The Knight and The Shield, are 3-Free and can be found by visiting A-England's website. Keep an eye out for promos! Right now the Knight and The Shield are available as a combo pack for 10GBP, or as singles for 7GBP.

Have you tried The Knight or The Shield? What do you think about Lady of Shalott?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

A England Jane Eyre and some bonus stamping

Hello again lovelies! I told you I was busy with posts! It's looking like I will have multiple posts every day for a bit. But hey, that means more gorgeous polish, right?

It's no secret that I am absolutely head over heels in love with A England. Today's A England Beauty is no exception. If anything, it has led to an even deeper love of Adina's utterly perfect creations. This post is pic heavy since I added some stamping after the fact. So, let's see some polish!

                                          A England Gothic Beauties: Jane Eyre

"Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt? May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine.  May you never appeal to Heaven in prayers so hopeless and so agonized as in that hour left my lips; for never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love"

-Jane Eyre, Chapter 27

Jane Eyre is a classic novel written by Charlotte Bronte. Published in 1847, Jane Eyre was considered by many to be ahead of its time due to its portrayal of such a strong female protagonist and subject matter such as religion, sexuality, and feminism . The novel follows Jane from a young orphan into adulthood and chronicles her love for one Mr. Rochester. Jane Eyre remains one of my favorite novels, alongside Tess of the d'Urbervilles (which, contrary to popular belief, existed and was beloved even before Fifty Shades of Grey used it to punctuate it's sex scenes ;) ).

A England's Jane Eyre boasts Fiery Red shimmer interspersed within a blackened base. In Natural light, Jane Eyre shines with a subtle glow, a dark gem lit with soft red flames. In direct light, Jane Eyre come to life, resembling polished onyx reflecting the coppery flames of a roaring fire.  Much like the fictional character, Jane Eyre seems simple at first glance, but upon inspection is complex and deep, dark and brooding yet with an inner glow that cannot be dismissed. Simply put, it is Blackened Red at it's finest.

I've decided to showcase Jane Eyre with some stamping first, since it has been shown beautifully on several blogs.  I chose Red Angel Plate RA 106 with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Wined Up as my stamping polish. I love the result!

And of course, a couple shots of Jane Eyre before stamping. Please note that the polish looks kind of textured in these shots - what you're seeing is actually the reflection of my backdrop and other objects around me. The Shield top coat is amazingly shiny and reflective, and I need to change my lighting to accommodate when I use this!

I adore blackened red polish, and Jane Eyre is simply the most stunning Blackened Red out there. Obviously, I am in love!

Formula:
Jane Eyre boasts the famous A England formula: thicker than other polish, yet not too thick - the perfect consistency. No thickening during use, no dragging, balding, glopping or gooping.

Application:
Jane Eyre applied beautifully, staying right where I put it on every brush stroke. A bit sheer on the first coat, she builds to perfect opacity with the second. Truly a dream to apply.

Although I love every single polish in the Gothic Beauties Collection, Jane Eyre holds a special place in my polish loving heart. If you love both Reds and Blacks, Jane Eyre is an absolute must have. It's also a perfect alternative to plain black - still deep and dark but with a subtle flash of color.

All A England polishes are 3 free and can be purchased from the A England Website ( with free worldwide shipping), as well as Llarowe, and Ninja Polish. Adina is currently running a special on certain polishes, so be sure to check it out!

I did create a really pretty stamping mani using Jane Eyre as a base color, which I'll be posting soon!

A England Gothic Beauties Collection : Ophelia (swatches, review, and some Subtle Stamping)

O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword,
Th' expectation and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th' observ'd of all observers, quite, quite down!
-Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

Ophelia is a character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.  She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius and potential wife of Hamlet. As one of the few female characters in the play, she is used as a contrasting plot device to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. She is deeply in love with Hamlet, and as he spirals into madness, goes mad herself, killing herself by drowning.

A England's Ophelia is just as dark and beautiful as the character herself. A shimmering purple in a blackened base, Ophelia captures the dark beauty of her namesake perfectly. In most light, Ophelia looks like the deepest, almost black, purple. But when the light hits this girl just right, the purple comes to life, morphing the polish into a sparkling Gothic Beauty.

Pictures do not do this polish justice, this is most definitely a must see for yourself stunner.  My camera just couldn't capture Ophelia's complexity, so I've included a Macro shot at the bottom.

Just beautiful. This polish really makes me wish I had a DSLR! Soon...very soon.

Ophelia is one of my favorites from the Gothic Beauties Collection. In the bottle, Ophelia glows with purple shimmer. On the nail this shimmer is more subdued, leaning toward a blackened purple (certainly she is the darkest color in this collection). As a lover of black polish in all its forms, this is perfection for me. Black with a hint of color? Yes please! It seems that much more mysterious and beautiful to me.  I wore Ophelia on her own for a day, and then added some subtle stamping with Illamasqua Baptiste.

I love the combination of Baptiste with Ophelia. It's very subtle, but IRL you can see a purple glow on the nail that has attracted the attention of most people I've encountered while wearing this. I love the Gothic Beauties alone, but they also make really awesome base colors for stamping. I used Red Angle plate RA-112, the flowery image, since I wanted to stamp but didn't want to cover too much of Ophelia.

Formula:
Ophelia has A England's thick but dreamy formula - buttery, silky, smooth. Thicker than other polishes, yet not gloppy or goopy.

Application:
Due to her thick formula, Ophelia glides onto the nail like liquid silk. No dragging, streaking, balding or glopping here. This polish stays where you put it, requiring little to no clean-up, and no staining left behind. Every swipe of my brush was perfection, and even wrapping my tips was a joy.  Ophelia is a true one coater, however I'm wearing 2 coats for depth.

My only issue was with my top coat, the infamous Seche Vite. As much as I love SV, I've been having issues with bubbling with most of my Indie polish lately, most likely due to their 3 free formula and SV's inability to play nice with those. I simply cannot wait until my bottles of The Knight and The Shield arrive!

The bottom line here is: there is NOTHING like an A England polish. Adina has created the best polish out there, hand down. I am so spoiled by them that I compare every other polish I use to them, and am starting to notice that what I used to think was an excellent formula pales in comparison. I simply cannot wait to see what Adina comes up with next!

You can purchase A England polish at A England's website. They retail for 9GBP (approx $14.00) and ship for free Worldwide.

Do you have a fave A England polish?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber