Showing posts with label a-england. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a-england. Show all posts

Friday, 18 February 2011

a-england: The Love of My Life


I ordered two a-england nail polishes on Sunday 13th Feb and received them on Tuesday 15th Feb, brilliant turn-around time. I had a little card in my package thanking me for my purchase and was signed by Adina, I love those little cards, I keep them in my purse!
As I’ve mentioned before, I have spoken to Adina via email and she is lovely, customer service is the best!

I was already wearing polish on the Tuesday when I received my a-england order, I had only just applied it the day before but I was so excited by the new polishes that I took it off instantly and applied Guinevere. Guinevere is described as a sophisticated pale mauve grey.
I didn’t actually use my Chip Skip and Nail Envy this time, I used Seche ridge filling base as I hadn’t sorted out my cuticles or buffed out my ridges in a while and I was too impatient to try my new polish!
The bottles and brushes of a-england polishes are very sturdy and good quality. I found that the brush was a good size to get easy application. There’s no strong, horrible nail polish smell either.
I did find that the formula of the polish was a little thick, so slightly harder to work with than other polishes. This can easily be remedied with a couple of drops of nail polish thinner and a good shake. This isn’t too much of a problem as a nail-polish-nut like me should have thinner to revive my old polishes anyway!
I found that the polish dried quickly and it looked very professional and shiny before I had even applied a top coat. I did apply a top coat anyway, out of habit and because it is recommended on the a-england website.

This polish is the reason you haven’t seen many manicures on my website lately. I’ve been test driving Guinevere! I have to say that I am impressed. I have done all of my chores as usual, had countless showers, been to work and used my hands a lot and the polish has lasted very well. Only on Thursday, 3 days after application, did I notice a tiny little chip on the corner of one nail.
I did take off the polish on Friday as I had some new crackle polishes that I tried over the top and they failed miserably (blog post coming soon). However, I have put Guinevere back on again.

On one hand I have added the second polish that I bought, Morgan Le Fay which is described as a luminescent white silver, and also touted as the most versatile and easiest shade to apply.
I agree whole-heartedly. Application was insanely quick and easy and from what I see of the finished product, this shade has some serious potential to be paired up with a great many different polishes. It would look great under a shatter polish, it would jazz up a simple black polish, it would make interesting French tips… Those are just a few I can come up with and this is while the polish is still drying!

Above: 3 coats of Guinevere, 1 coat of Morgan Le Fay

 Above: 3 coats of Guinevere + OPI top coat

Here’s my overall thoughts of a-england polishes in general:
+ Beautiful colours
+The theme! The names!
+Elegant bottle design
+Good sized brush, no defects
+Very shiny finish
+hard wearing and long lasting
+Beautiful Website and the best customer service

-A bit pricey
-Formula was a little thick for me

Overall, I am very impressed. I think they are worth the money because you’re getting a product of great quality. I will definitely be getting some more of these polishes and I will definitely be keeping my eye on the website to see what collection comes out next!


Sunday, 13 February 2011

A new polish brand: a-england

Today I would like to share a new brand of nail polish: a-england.

The brand a-england belongs to Adina Bodana, who has spent an intense year working on the brand. It was launched in January just this year, and Adina describes it as a small project with big potentials.
The brand is heavily inspired by English mythology and if you check the glossary page on the website, you can read about where each polish name has come from.
There are currently 15 polishes, a top coat and a base coat grouped together under the collection name “The Mythicals”.   
The polishes are all manufactured in the UK, are 3 free (that is no DBP, Formaldehyde or Toluene), not tested on animals and of a salon quality. Each bottle is £9.50, the website does not currently state how much polish you will get in each bottle, but Adina has told me that it’s 13ml. As a comparison, both the price and the size is just a little less than OPI, so I’m hoping that they will be of similar quality. For the record, I like OPI and I feel that they are worth the price, so if a-england live up to those standards then we are on to a winner!



Currently, I do not have any of the polishes to try out and share with you, but I have just put in an order, and I will share my thoughts and pictures when they arrive.
As I was ordering, I felt that the sophisticated and elegant design of the website made me feel that I was ordering a top quality brand. Personally, I love the names and the theme of the polishes.
Using the website was very easy, everything was easy to find, simple to use and quick to load. There is a shopping cart on the right of the website and as you’re ordering you can see everything being added and it also gives you the shipping price as you go.
Before ordering I had contacted Adina to ask for general information about the brand with the intention of writing this blog post. Adina is lovely, very thorough with her information and her replies are very quick!
With everything I have seen so far, I am very impressed and I am really looking forward to receiving my order!

a-england is found here and can also be found on Facebook and on Twitter.