Pointless Cafe: a England The Legends Collection - Swatches and Review (PIC HEAVY)

Well, I've been sick and let me tell you, these Legends sure upped the cheer-factor in MY house this week. Exponentially! I didn't think Adina could ever top, or even MATCH, the magnificence of Tristam and Lady of the Lake. But she's at least matched them. This entire collection surpassed my expectations.

The Legends Collection consists of seven polishes that were named after the tale of Saint George and the Dragon. I could cut and paste from Wiki here, but I won't. Most of you have heard the story and if not, well, you know how to find Wiki. I know you're just here for the photos anyhow!

Here are the names:

Saint George - teal holo

Dragon - green holo

Princess Sabra - golden holo

Order of the Garter - royal blue glass fleck

Princess Tears - light grey/lilac holo

Bridal Veil - black holo

Ascalon - medium grey holo

I started to just order a few of them and I'm so happy I didn't because the ones I wouldn't have ordered may just be my favorites!

First up, and rightfully so, is Saint George (who is, just FYI, the Patron Saint of England.) This is a magnificent deep teal leaning toward a blue teal, but depending on how the light hits it, the green also plays a huge role - highly pigmented and creamy with so many shimmers, it's hard to pick out exactly what they are. The holographic properties are *almost* a straight linear but not quite. I'm going to call it a tightly scattered holo. Very tightly. It goes on smoothly and is self-leveling. I used two coats and no top coat for the photos. Sorry there are so many, but I tried very hard to get shots of how the light reflects off of it. (Pro Tip #1: I didn't put on a base coat for these swatches and I highly recommend you use one, especially with this good ol' Saint George.)

a England Saint George

Next up is Saint George's co-star, Dragon. Dragon is a lush green and with the holographic shimmers seems to have the iridescence that a real life dragon scale might have! As with Saint George, the scattered holo is so tight it's *almost* a linear. Creamy, smooth, self-leveling, highly pigmented. Again, lots of photos as I've tried to capture how it looks, which is very difficult, especially for someone like me who's not a photographer. It flashes light green, dark green, gold, blue and well, you get the idea. Have a look...

a England Dragon

Since Princess Sabra is the princess Saint George saved, she's up next. Princess Sabra is a rich gold with olive undertones and has the same tightly scattered holo. More pigmented than I expected for a lighter shade. Very rich and creamy like the others. When I applied the first coat I just knew it would be a 3 or 4 coater, but I wasn't sad for long when the second coat worked its magic. Totally opaque and even with 2 coats!

a England Princess Sabra

Next is Order of the Garter. This one is the "odd man out" in this collection as it doesn't have the holographic properties of the other six. The Order of the Garter is the highest order of chivalry or knighthood existing in England. It's the richest of royal blues and just chock full of glass flecks and shimmers and sparkles in the light like nobody's business. But once dry, I think you will need a top coat with this to show it to its best advantage. I had the most difficulty with the application of this one. It still went on smoothly and in two coats, but wasn't quite as creamy and smooth as the others. I may have tried to apply the second coat too thickly, but all in all, it wasn't bad. I might try to do 3 very thin coats next time. Upon close inspection, I think there is even some pink shimmer with the glass flecks.

a England Order of the Garter

Next is Princess Tears. It's a light grey/silver with lavender, lilac, pink and blue flashes and tons of tightly scattered holographic shimmer. Like Dragon, Saint George and Princess Sabra, it's creamy, smooth and well pigmented. Goes on like a dream and is opaque in two coats. (This is another one I had doubts about after the first coat, but the 2nd coat was magic.)

a England Princess Tears

Next is Bridal Veil. This is what I call a black holo. But that doesn't even begin to describe it. It's another scattered holographic shimmer polish - not quite as tightly scattered as the others, but still gorgeous with the prismatic flashes. Creamy, smooth, highly pigmented and probably a one-coater, though I used two coats on all 7 Legends.

a England Bridal Veil

Finally we come to Ascalon. Saint George's trusty sword. This is definitely a unique polish (as if the others weren't?) in that it has a strong duochrome quality along with the holo. It reminded me of something you might have if Orly Space Cadet and Nfu-Oh 61 had a baby. Except BETTER. It's a medium steel grey and is another tightly scattered holo. The formula on this is most like Dragon, Saint George and Princess Sabra...creamy, smooth, self-leveling. Goes on like a dream.

a England Ascalon

Wow, that was a LOT! In summary, I really liked all seven of The Legends. The only issues I had were that a couple of the brushes had a stray bristle that needed cutting off, which took all of 3 seconds, so really not much of an issue. I do love the brushes as they are cut well and hold the perfect amount of polish for each nail with out "re-dipping." I did have a little application problem with Order of the Garter - a little thicker than the others, but nothing major. The other six were pure perfection. (Pro Tip #2: These polishes go on easily and in very few strokes. If you like to go over and over and over your nail with the polish, you'll need to do it differently with these.)

A-England polishes are available on their website, and they offer free international delivery. You can also order through Ninja Polish, MeiMei's Signatures, Overall Beauty and Llarowe. And of course, you can always stay up to date on their latest release by following a-England on Facebook and Twitter! Also follow Ninja Polish on Facebook, Overall Beauty on Facebook and Llarowe on Facebook and MeiMei's Signatures on Facebook for more updates, availability and re-stock information.

My favorite? I don't think I can pick! The one that surprised me the most was Princess Sabra. I almost didn't order that one and that would have been tragic. It's definitely in my top three. The other two are Saint George and Dragon with Ascalon pulling up in 4th position.

Which are your favorites?

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25 comments:

Michelle L.January 29, 2012 at 12:48 AM
all wonderful swatches, thank you! I want them all but especially Dragon & Saint George! *sigh* just gorgeous!
UnknownJanuary 29, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Sheila, these are fantastic pictures and the descriptions were great as well! I love the hand picture with the polish bottle between thumb and index finger! I am now rethinking the fact that I didn't buy them all!
UnknownJanuary 29, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Holy Holo these are gorgeous! great swatches!
BubblewrapperJanuary 29, 2012 at 1:16 AM
St. George is on the way to my house! Looks gorgeous in your swatches, I was going to pick up a couple more, but llarowe had just gotten Light as a Feather back in stock. A non-streaky white holo? I am clutching my pearls in amazement.
Niesha(skyla91)January 29, 2012 at 1:44 AM
Princess sabra is pretty!
BluMochiJanuary 29, 2012 at 2:10 AM
Gorgeous! Yeah, I'm going to need the whole collection. No idea why I didn't order them sooner.
phoenixorJanuary 29, 2012 at 4:04 AM
Just discovered your blog--your beautiful nails show off these gorgeous polishes really well. Thanks for the great pictures and swatches. St George is coming to me soon, and I might need Dragon in my life as well. Are the yellow undertones in Dragon really prominent?
BárbaraJanuary 29, 2012 at 4:53 AM
Just read it all! My first morning reading! =D
Loved it!

Cant wait to get them! =D
*B*
A Polish AddictJanuary 29, 2012 at 5:45 AM
This is a great collection and yes, the formula is excellent! Love your swatches!!
NailderellaJanuary 29, 2012 at 2:19 PM
GREAT post!
cynthia deckerJanuary 29, 2012 at 5:48 PM
love both Princesses!
AnonymousJanuary 30, 2012 at 2:32 AM
I think I liked Bridal Veil the best. I need to give this brand a try.
Pink PamalammaMarch 12, 2012 at 1:26 PM
Absolutely gorgeous swatches/pics! I've been lemming St. George since I first saw it swatched, and my desire for it gets stronger each time I see it!
Polished PiscesJanuary 9, 2013 at 9:05 PM
I managed to catch the sale with free shipping to the states so i got 8 polishes but st.george is my favorite from that collection. They are going to make amazing gradients!

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

a England The Legends Collection - Swatches and Review (PIC HEAVY)

25 comments: