a-england Polish Review

a-england created by Adina Bodana was launched in January of this year.  I was reading an article about Adina and her new brand in one of my professional publications and was intrigued to read that her dream stemmed from being a little girl who loved to paint her nails with water colours.  This passion for beautiful things led into a fantastic fashion career working with some of the leaders in fashion.   Adina, who originates from Italy made England her home some years ago and her fascination with English history grew from there.  The collection, called The Mythicals, has brought together her two passions; polish and England.

The collection so far consists of 15 colour polishes, a base and top coat.  All the polish names are inspired by English mythology, hence the collection's name.

Of course, I would love to buy all the polishes simply from seeing the pictures on Adina's website and some of those posted by a number of beauty bloggers.  However, I managed, after much deliberation, to narrow it down to 3; a light cream, a dark cream and one with a gorgeous sparkle to it.  I do find the best way to test a brand is to go for a light, dark and a textured polish as you can hopefully see how the polish will perform across the board (in my opinion).

Formula - in 2 words, LOVED IT!  As a nail technician, and fan of quality polishes, I have tried quite a few different brands and I can say that this is a hit with me.  All 3 colours went on beautifully; smooth, great coverage, good level of pigmentation and the gloss finish is amazing (especially on Lancelot).  What I particularly liked about this formula was the kind of self-levelling ability it had making application look flawless in 3 strokes.  The pigmentation was so good in all 3 colours that you could get away with one coat.  However, as I always say, to get the best coverage and longer lasting wear, apply 2 thin coats making sure you use a base and top coat to sandwich it all together.  I didn't get the chance to try the base and topcoat from the range, but if the polishes are anything to go by then I would invest in these to try them out as a full manicure/pedicure treatment.

Bottle & brush - I love the look of these polishes, they are simple and classic.  The 13ml bottle size and square shape sits nicely in the palm of my hand when polishing nails in the salon.  The brush is round and just the right length to get good coverage in 2-3 strokes across the nail.  It fans out nicely in a controlled manner with the bristles staying neat on the nail. I also like the length and width of the cap as it gives me better control. A quality, well thought out, bottle and brush.

OK, so what did I go for. 
[The pictures taken below were all in natural indoor light and the polish was applied in 2 coats of colour with a base coat to start.  I left the top coat off so you could see just how glossy they are.]

Guinevere - a light, dusky lilac with grey undertones (a-england's description - beautiful elegant antique pale mauve the newest neutral shade already a classic).  This is my kind of colour as I am a bit of a purple/lilac/mauve fan.  This is a lovely shade that is indeed very elegant to wear.  The grey undertone gives it that sophisticated look, as lilac and purple can be a bit in your face for some, but not this one.  If I'm honest the picture below still looks a little more towards the lilac than it actually is.  It has more warmth than it truly shows here.  I can see myself wearing this all year round.

Guinevere

Tristam - one word 'WOW'.  A denim blue which is shot through with tiny silver glitter particles enabling this gorgeous look without a rough finish (a-england's description - night blue sky with starlight glimmer and glow).   I saw this on the website and couldn't choose between Lady of the Lake and Tristam, but my fascination with blue polish (although I love purple, which Lady of the lake is with the same sparkle as Tristam) took over and I decided Tristam needed to be mine.  It applies like a dream and 1 coat covers amazingly well.  This will look fantastic on toes, especially when the sun hits the glitter within it.  A must-buy!

Tristam

Lancelot - don't be fooled this is not black.  This is a black, plum/red colour (a-england's description - intriguing mysterious black red garnet).  I can see this being a go-to dark polish for those chic dinner dates and that office-to-party look that so many of us need on a Friday (I say us, I mean you as my young son has a better social life than me!).  The gloss is phenomenal on this one, even without a top coat and as mentioned above, the formula made it a breeze to apply.  I would probably keep this for the Fall/Winter, but it does make me wish away the summer months so I can start wearing this!

Lancelot

Overall - This polish range is going places.  This easily competes with the bigger, more well established brands, if not blows some out the water.  You can tell Adina has put a lot of thought and effort into the formula and colour selections for this collection, which will hopefully see her brand sky rocket.  I look forward to trying some more of the beautiful colours in the coming months, along with the base and top coat (and hopefully adding this to my existing brands in the salon and, maybe with permission, to my up and coming web shop too).  Well done to Adina and all the best for the future!

Product descriptions taken from the a-england website www.a-england.co.uk
Polishes are 13ml and retail at £9.00 each in the UK.


[All reviews are based on my own opinion and trials in my salon in North Wales, UK.  No other third party companies have been involved at any stage.]