Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Three Gothic Beauties

This is probably the most procrastinated review in the entire history of this blog. Why? I just wasn't happy with my photos, the sun escaped, I broke a nail... The excuses are many, and possibly small, but in their entirety made me feel overwhelmed. But there's a limit to anyone's ability to postpone what has to be done, so here are 3/5 of the A-England Gothic Beauties collection - finally!




Dorian Gray. Charcoal shimmer.







Jane Eyre. Red fleck shimmer in black base.







Tess D'Urbervilles. Green fleck shimmer in black base.

Missing in this post is of course Ophelia and Lady of Shalott, both of which will be up on a later date. But for now, behold what could be described as the most blackened shimmers ever. Good or bad? Well, I thnk this varies a bit throughout the collection. The ones seen in this post (except for Dorian Gray, of course) are the two extremes in both directions. While Tess D'Urbervilles has been described as the one of the four blackened shimmers that has the most visible shimmers, Jane Eyre is a tad too blackened to reach all the way to the shade I so very much desired when first seeing the bottle. Colorwise, it would be my favourite of the collection, had it shown more of the actual color, but the overpowering blackness removes it from the no. 1 spot. Tess D'Urbervilles, on the other hand, is still a contestant for the queen title.

It is definitely not a secret that I am a huge fan of the A-England brand, its products and its proprietor Adina, and while pigmentation varies a bit in this collection, I think A-England has a very consistent and awesome formula. I'm as always great friends with the outcome of the application process, this time as well.

Since the Gothic Beauties collection was released, A-England has released three more colors - one of them being in my forever beloved color family of golden olives - so check those out as well!

All products were sent for review.

Swedish word of the day:
skönhet -noun beauty
Lies in the eye of the beholder.

8 comments:

  1. they are all so pretty! I really must try some A-England. I love Ophelia and Lady of Shalott, mainly for the names., Im a big fan of Millais and the Pre-Raphaelites.
    Can't wait to see more swatches x

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    1. I can really recommend Lady of Shallot, it is beautiful! Ophelia is also on the more blackened side with less visible shimmer. I'll try toswatch the last two whenever the sun decides to shine upon Sweden!

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  2. Great swatches!

    I've heard some people say you can brighten up the shimmers in this collection by waiting for your polish coats to dry without top coat, then lightly sweep a pad with nail polish remover across the top, and finally cover with top coat. Might be worth a shot to try to get Jane Eyre to the color you want it to be :)

    Do you happen to know how Dorian Gray compares to Chanel's Graphite, Revlon's Carbonite or any of that dupe-family?

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    1. I think that's a decnt assumption, because it's basically what will happen upon removal - the shimmer stays on the nail the longest. :) I tried just applying the last coat really really thin, but it didn't reach all the way still. I think I'll try your suggestion some day!

      As for comparison: the golden streaks in Dorian Gray are much more subtle, of finer grain. It's not at all obvious it's golden. I'd say they are not all that close, but it of course depends on how large a stash you carry and how particular you are! :D

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  3. I was dissapointed with these. I think they are to dark. But Dorian Gray is a nice one!

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    1. Yeah, I know many are, and the collection as a whole may be too black, but I think both Tess D'Urbervilles and Lady of Shalott are "colorful" enough!

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  4. Dorian Gray and Tess D'Urbervilles are on their way home to me now, they look wonderful in your photos! I don't think I'll get them all since I think the others are a tad too black, not that black is a bad thing.. but they'd look too similar I think.

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