a-england Ascalon

The second polish I have to show you from a-england's The Legends Collection is Ascalon, named for the sword (or lance) that St. George used to slay the dragon.

Ascalon is exceedingly difficult to photograph well. It's a mid-range grey with a scattered holo effect, but it also has a slight duochrome finish that flashes from a lilac shade to having a sort of greenish tinge. The green was absolutely impossible for me to capture in these pics. The lilac flash is more evident, and it's almost like it's sitting on top of the other finish of the polish. It's really just stunning.

Lots of a-england polishes could be one-coaters, but I definitely needed two coats for Ascalon. The formula is simply perfect, just like my other a-englands, it just wasn't as pigmented as some of my others. 

I wish that I could have captured this beauty better for you guys. It's so much better in person. I own absolutely nothing like it, and I'm so glad I ordered this one along with St. George. 

The a-england Legends collection can be purchased on Llarowe when it's in stock. You can also order directly from a-england, but you currently have to do so by e-mail because the collection is not up on their site yet. The contact address is hello@a-england.co.uk. They offer free worldwide shipping, and mine took less than a week to arrive. =)

Happy Saturday! Thanks for reading!

Face Shop BK901 - Another Amazing Holo

My sweet friend Cilucia got me these awesome Face Shop holos for my birthday when she was on her trip to Asia. The first one I've worn is the charcoal one, BK901. Here it is in the shade. I quite love the finish on holos even when they're not showing their rainbows.

And then in the sun.

The holo effect in this one is rather subtle, but I'm not always in the mood for full on rainbows either. I'm an equal opportunity holo lover.

Two completely effortless coats, great formula.

Thank you again, my friend! I absolutely adore them! <3

De-Dudding my Dud Bottle of Color Club Revvvolution!

Yeah. I got a dud bottle of Revvvolution. In fact, I actually got three dud bottles. I found them in a dusty with poor lighting for 99 cents each, so I took the gamble and hoped that they were the good version with lots of rainbows. They weren't. They were the dudderiffic super dud version with nary a rainbow to be seen. For several months, I tried amping up the holo. I added drips and drabs of various holos in an effort to make the rainbows appear, and they never really did. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure I was being too conservative in my addition of the other holos, but I didn't want to waste too much of the preciouses on an experiment. 

Enter Spectraflair. *angels sing* 

Yeah, boy! My Spectraflair came that I ordered from More Nail Polish. It took some experimenting, but I probably ended up dumping out about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle of Revvvolution, then added some clear, and added Spectraflair until I was happy with the result. I'd guess I added 1/4 of a gram.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaainbows! Yes!

I fixed its little red wagon! That'll show it for being all duddy! So beautiful now. *weeps*

Some random comparisons and swatches

I'm still in the process of checking my stash for dupes and weeding out things I don't like. Hope these help someone!

OPI The One That Got Away

OPI Tease-y Does It

Ulta Envy vs. FingerPaints Avante Garde Green

Zoya Blair vs. Zoya Isla

Zoya Valerie vs. OPI Visions of Sugarplum

Ulta Banana Rum in the Sun vs. China Glaze Lemon Fizz

American Apparel Factory Grey vs. Ulta Concrete Evidence

China Glaze Sea Spray vs. Color Alike 451

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver vs. Barry M Mint vs.
 Orly Ancient Jade vs. Ulta Mint Condition

Colour Alike 451

Tonight I have another of the polishes I received in my awesome swap that I mentioned in this post, Colour Alike 451. I love greyed out shades in general, and greyed out blues in particular, and this one is just lovely.

Great formula, just like all my Colour Alikes. Two easy coats, no fuss, no struggling with bald patches or the streakiness that is so common in light colors.

It has this marvelous soft shimmer that reminds me greatly of China Glaze Sea Spray and Nubar Blue Hydrangea. It's more blue on me than Sea Spray, and lighter and more grey than Blue Hydrangea, but it definitely is in that same family as far as finish.

I probably didn't really need this many pictures of this, but I just love it to bits. It was exactly what I needed tonight... it made me feel very calm and serene. =)

And for reference, here's a bottle comparison with Sea Spray.

As always, thanks for stopping by! I hope the week is treating you well!

Ulta Concrete Evidence - My Second "Conservative" NOTD This Week

As I mentioned here, this week at MUA some of were flip flopping what we normally wear to get out of our comfort zones a little bit, and my job was to do more "conservative" colors. My first was Ulta Haute Stuff, which truly is a lovely berry shade, but it was making me crazy after two days. Last night at Ulta, I picked up Concrete Evidence, which is a light grey creme polish.

I know it isn't really unique, but this is the first grey I've owned that's quite this light. I absolutely ADORE this shade. It's neutral and conservative while still being modern and a little edgy. The formula was great, as is usual with Ulta's house brand of polishes, two easy coats. Perfection.

Hope you all are having a great week!!