a-england: Rose Bower, Order of the Garter & Love is Enough

Sent for Review

Arggggh! I swear the heat is going to kill me one day. It would be a good day for swatching except that my block of flats is being painted at the moment and I don't exactly fancy doing my thang when the painters are hovering outside my window. *awkward*

Thankfully I have some swatches in my camera so I can still blog away!

If you've caught my last post, you would know that I've received some pretties from Dazzled, a new etailer based in Hong Kong. So today, I will be sharing with you some from one of my favourite brands: a-england!

Rose Bower. 2 coats (it is a one-coater but I did 2 anyway)
A gorgeous glowy red base with very subtle holo. Rose Bower is one of the new colours in Adina's latest collection, Burne-Jones Dream, inspired by Burne-Jones' paintings depicting scenes from Sleeping Beauty. Whilst the holo effect is the weakest in Rose Bower, the base colour more than makes up for everything. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the holo sparkles compliment the base perfectly.

Order of the Garter. (3 thin coats)
A sheer deep blue base filled with electric blue glass flecks that shimmer impossibly when they catch the light. I can truly lose myself in the depths within.

Love is Enough. (3 thin coats)
A sheer blackened base filled with shimmery metallic flecks giving it an overall olive hue with gold accents. Extremely glowy, sophisticated and edgy.







As with all the a-englands, the formula and application on these are perfect so no complaints there. In fact, it is one of the reason why I love a-england so much - painting is not just a process to getting pretty nails, it is an enjoyment by itself.

At the moment, a-england only ships within the UK but you can get your hands on these beauties through various distributors including Dazzled. Starting from yesterday, Dazzled is officially offering worldwide shipping (including countries outside Asia) so all you international ladies can satisfy your needs and lemmings too. On top of that, to celebrate 2,500 likes on Facebook, Dazzled is having a storewide discount of 10% with the code "2500FB". The code is valid until 6 September so don't wait! ;)



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

12 Days of Round-Up: Indie Favorites

And now... for my indie favorites!
I had such a hard time doing up my list when there are sooooo many to choose from!

source: scrangie

a-england Dragon.
Oh that gold flash is to die for - so dragon-esque. Honestly, I don't know why I don't have this in my stash. I need to remedy that pronto. :L

Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed. 1 coat over Illamasqua Rampage.
A sheer green base filled with silver and green glitters and a scattering of orange-gold flakies. Absolutely stunning combo. I'm sorry if the swatch looks a little gritty. I realized that I forgot to add a top coat until I was editing the pictures. It is completely smooth and glossy with just one coat of top coat. :P

source: fashionpolish

Cult Nails Flushed.
A stunning purple with that magical fiery shimmer not unlike OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest or Max Factor Fantasy Fire. I admit I have a weakness for such polishes. Yes, it is my fault for not getting it early but it is currently on its way to me. *happy dance*

Emily de Molly Harmony. 3 coats.
Another horrible swatch. I've worn this a few times already and each time the sky was overcast so I can't get a good picture of it. It is December after all. Anyway, I digressed. This is a beautiful grey with scatterings of teal, purple, lavender and white glitters and super tiny holographic shimmer/glitter in the base. Completely unique and absolutely chic and gorgeous. You know you need it. <3

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Hydraxia. 2 coats over Cult Nails Living Water.
Another Aussie indie polish that is absolutely fabulous. It looks good in the swatch and I can tell you, it looks even better in real life.

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Winter Hyacinth. 4 coats on ring and 2 coats over China Glaze For Audrey on the rest.
I'm sorry for the mini Aussie indie spam but they totally deserve a spot on the list. Just look at it. I simply can't adequately describe how awesome this is.

HARE Polish Magic Mist. 1 coat over a-england Guinevere.
I love purple and this is one of the prettiest purple glitter I have ever seen. Delicate yet bold at the same time.

source: harepolish

HARE Polish Oceans of Alloys.
It's blue/turquoise so you know it has my heart that wee bit more than the other colors in the collection. The color mix is also perfect. Even my nuggle (nail polish muggle) friend agrees. I've worn this a few times already but never had the time to take a proper picture because I was always rushing some where else after slapping it on.

source: scrangie

Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily.
I can kick myself in the butt a million times over for missing out on this when it was first released. And I can stab myself in the heart a million times for not grabbing this when it was available the second time. WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING?! Ji, please say you will make it available again. :c I promise I will never never let it slip me another time!

source: imfeelingnail-venturous

KbShimmer Hex Appeal.
I don't know why I keep telling myself I don't need this when I obviously do. It's such a rich deep blue and the glitters accentuate it perfectly. I'm so not skipping this the next time I'm making an order.

Yup so these are some of my favorites this year!
Admittedly, these are just the tip of the iceberg - there are still plenty of indie brands that I have yet to try so there may be other gems out there that I've missed out.
Do share some of your favorites so I can check them out! :d

Let's hope that 2013 will be another great indie year, shall we? xD

xoxo,
mich

P.S. Don't forget to enter our year-end giveaway to win amazing polishes from both mainstream and indie brands! Ends 12 Jan 2013.

12 Days of Round-Up: Best Indie Collection 2012

Oops I apologize for this incredibly late post today! I had been really busy with spring cleaning (where did 2012 go?!) and trying to swatch my collection on swatch sticks during my little "breaks" from all the housework.

Anyway, having looked at some of my favorite mainstream collections yesterday, let's take a look at some of the indie collections that caught my heart this year!

a-england The Legends

source: ommorphia

Gorgeous colors to go with a beautiful story. I have a weakness for myths and legends so I am already slightly biased towards this collection. Add some beautiful holos to the collection and *poof* instant favorite. Although there are many other polishes with stronger holo effect, I still have a soft-spot for a-england's holos because they are softer and look more elegant.

Cult Nails Behind Closed Doors

Source: Chalkboard News

Sexy naughty collection with incredibly rich colors = extremely hard to resist. Right up my alley!!
I tried to tell myself I don't need them but I don't know how long more I can hold out for. I already caved in and got Flushed. :$

HARE Polish Finder's Keepers

source: harepolish

Now, don't look at me like that! I am a HARE fan but I honestly did try my darndest to choose only two or three to buy. I stared at swatches for hours and.... ended up buying everything. I am such a fail. :b In my defense, the colors are all so unique and pretty! I honestly don't understand how Nikole manages to snag my heart again and again...

Rainbow Honey Yokai

Yup, I couldn't resist. Folklores and myths? Check. Beautiful colors? Check. Unique? Check. The formula wasn't the best but I think I can put up with it.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection Spring 2012

source: scrangie

This is a collection that made me wish I were rich enough to buy them all. Incredibly gorgeous colors that are so unique. It certainly didn't help that I'm on a blue-green kick this year! The more I look at them, the more I want them. Unfortunately, most of these are no longer available for sale at RBL - I don't know whether to feel relieved (money saved!) or frustrated (because I didn't get them when they were available). :et

What are some of the indie collections that caught your heart this year?

xoxo,
mich

P.S. Don't forget to enter our year-end giveaway to win amazing polishes from both mainstream and indie brands! Ends 12 Jan 2013.

12 Days of Round-Up: Favorite Color

I must confess, I don't usually have a particular color preference. Admittedly, I had my pink and blue moments back when I was young but I've since grown to love a wider range of colors. But of course, I still find myself having a soft spot for certain colors every now and then.

This year, the official Pantone color of 2012 is Tangerine Tango. Butttt... that color never really caught my eye. >.<
Instead, I've noticed that the newer members of my stash in 2012 are largely... blue-greens! :h

Let's take a look at some of the blue-greens that caught my heart this year:

China Glaze For Audrey. 2 thin coats.
This was the color that started it all off. A friend of mine asked about turquoise nail polishes and I stumbled upon For Audrey. It was not love at first sight because I wasn't sure how it would look on me but I am glad I bought it. It is such a pretty color that I don't really care whether it looks good on me or not. It is one of the colors that I reach for very often - so much so that I have only about half a bottle left now. :$

Zoya Bevin. 2 thin coats.
A soft dusty sage green that is incredibly elegant and beautiful. It wasn't love at first sight either but I fell hopelessly in love with it after seeing it on my friend. :L It is not easy to get Zoyas in Singapore and I nearly went crazy with need. I know that OPI Thanks A Windmillion is very similar but for some reason I really wanted Bevin. It took me months before I was able to satisfy my lemming but it is well worth the wait. It is surprisingly eye-catching for such a soft color and I received many compliments while wearing it. <3

Rescue Beauty Lounge Halcyon. 2 thin coats.
This is another beautiful dusty medium sage green from RBL's Fan Collection for Spring 2012. I know that Aqua Lily was the one that caught the hearts of many others but Halcyon was the first to call my name when I saw swatches of the collection. It took me a lot of willpower to close the browser tab but as fate would have it, a friend of mine accidentally bought an extra and asked if anyone wanted it. The rest was history. I didn't expect to love this as much as I do but, boy, those gold-copper-pink shimmer-flakes are simply stunning. They are subtle but very visible on the nail and catch the light so beautifully. I never knew pink would go so well with green, copper and gold!

China Glaze Exotic Encounters. 2 coats.
A dusty green-leaning teal. By the time the China Glaze On Safari collection came out, I was hopelessly in love with blue-greens so naturally this was a love at first sight for me. Even the holographic glitters in that collection did not distract me from this gorgeous creme.

a-england Galahad. 2 thin coats.
A bright yet slightly-dusty blue-leaning teal this time. Slightly more teal than what my camera picked up. Not a very common shade but I do love it. I also love how pigmented this is. I could get away with one coat if I had been more careful.

Cult Nails Living Water. 2 thin coats.
A dark teal jelly with tiny brillant blue and green glitters. I love my darks so there was no way I could leave out this beauty. Even after wearing it so many times, I still lose myself in this dark sparkly polish each time I put it on. :L

What is your favorite color this year?

xoxo,
mich

P.S. Don't forget to enter our year-end giveaway to win amazing polishes from both mainstream and indie brands! Ends 12 Jan 2013.