Guest Post: Michaela from The Mani Café

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I've been so absent lately. I've been out of town, as you may already know, and then when I got home I was covered up in work and had a lovely visit from a friend on my birthday. To top it all off, while I was out of town, my laptop faceplanted on the pavement in a random parking lot, so it's basically out of commission permanently. So, for now, I'm at the mercy of friends and family for computer access and photo editing programs are totally out of reach. So for now, my blogging will be sporadic, but I am itching to get back to it so I'll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime, I would love to keep in touch with you on Instagram so give me a follow over there if you don't already! Now that you know why I've been MIA, I have a fantastic guest post to share with you today from the lovely Michaela over at The Mani Café! 

She has some fun and wintery nail art, which fits the weather pretty perfectly right now. Michaela has beautiful swatches and nail art, she is absolutely amazing at creating one stroke flowers. If you don't already follow her I will list all of her links at the bottom!

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Hi everyone! I'm Michaela from The Mani Café and I'm excited to be guest posting for Ashley today! She's an awesome friend and blogger! Hope you'll enjoy my post! 

I decided to do some simple nail art and try out the nail vinyls I got from the Pshiiit Boutique a little while ago. I love the simple triangles! They are so quick and easy to use and I love a good geometric mani!  

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

For this design, I started out with one coat of A England Excalibur. This is a really nice one-coat silver foil. The formula, like all A Englands in my experience, was fantastic. 

I then used the triangular vinyls and one coat of Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club. Polar Bear Club was part of the Christmas in July box put together by Ellagee and is therefore a box exclusive polish. 

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

It is described as a 'squishy blue packed with blue, purple and fuchsia micro glitters and holographic pigment'. The formula is fantastic. Bear in mind this is just one coat over a light base colour. It is more intense and squishy when worn alone. The shade of blue and the sparkles are just so pretty! I finished things off with a coat of topcoat. 

Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club & A England Excalibur

I really enjoyed this simple mani and I'm totally in love with this Paint Box Polish! What do you think of it? 

There are still a few Christmas in July boxes available here if you want to snag this beautiful Paint Box Polish! 
A England polishes can be purchased from A England (UK shipping only) and Various retailers (see list here).

Thank you to Ashley for having me today! I hope that you enjoyed my post! If you did, feel free to come see more at The Mani Café or on my Facebook or Instagram! 

Michaela 
xoxo 

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Thank you so much for the fabulous post, Michaela! Make sure to give her a follow at the links below!

Blog
Facebook
Instagram

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A England: Crown of Thistles and Virgin Queen - Swatches and Review

Press Sample 

Good morning! Today I have a couple of beauties from A England to show you!  Both of these polishes are from the Elizabeth and Mary Collection which was released for Autumn of last year.

A-England Argyle

Press Sample Purchased by Me

Hello again! I have one more post for you tonight! I would have waited to show you this one since it is so late and I already posted a collection review, but today is a special day and this mani was done in honor of my bestie's birthday so I wanted to get it posted today. Today (the 24th) is Sheila's (Pointless Café) birthday and I decided to do a mani inspired by her to celebrate!

A England Love is Enough - Swatches and Review ♥

Personal Collection

Happy August, everyone! Even though August is so hot here I always start to look forward to autumn and that makes me enjoy August, at least a little bit. Most stores start putting out fall and Halloween items and I start getting excited! Anyway, today I have a polish for you that would be great for any season! A England Love is Enough.

A England Love is Enough

Swatches and review after the jump!

a England Burne-Jones Dream Collection - Swatches and Review ♥

Press Sample

Good evening! I have a huge post for you tonight that is very pic heavy. I apologize for having so many photos but I wanted to show you all of the sides of these polishes. 

A England's new collection, the Burne-Jones Dream Collection, is inspired by a series of paintings by Edward Burne-Jones that were based on The Legend of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty). If you would like to learn more about the inspiration, visit  Lucy's Stash's blog here because she has done an amazing post about it.

There will be one more polish in this collection but it has not been released yet.

Continued after the jump!

Guest Post Featuring A England St. George and Elevation Polish Ama Dablam!

Hello everyone! I did a guest post for the lovely Mira at Pamper with Polish featuring Elevation Polish Ama Dablam over A England St. George! Check it out here!

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a England St. George - Swatches and Review

As I was looking over my a England posts I realized that while I had used a England St. George for stamping, I had never done a proper review post on it. Shame on me, this is a stunningly gorgeous polish and here I have kept it hidden. So hide no more!

a England St. George

This is such a stunning dark green-leaning teal holo. The formula was, as with all of my other a England's, amazing. Perfectly smooth, almost a one-coater, no issues whatsoever. This is 2 coats and no top coat.

a England St. George

a England St. George

a England St. George

a England St. George

a England St. George

a England St. George

a England St. George

Isn't St. George absolutely lovely?

a England can be purchased directly from the a England website where they retail for £9. They can also be purchased from Ninja Polish, Overall Beauty and Llarowe. Make sure to "like" a England's Facebook page for all the latest news and sales! 

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a England Tristam - Swatches and Review

As I mentioned in my a England Lady of the Lake post, I also recently got a England Tristam. This one, like it's purple counterpart, does not disappoint. There's really not much to say - amazing formula, perfect application (could be a one-coater), stunningly beautiful. These pictures are two coats topped with one coat of Poshe.

The first two photos are taken inside under artificial light and the others are taken outside....

a England Tristam - inside

a England Tristam - inside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

The last two are slightly blurred to show the holo goodness...

a England Tristam - outside

a England Tristam - outside

What do you think of Tristam? I am absolutely in love.

a England can be purchased directly from the a England website where they retail for £9. They can also be purchased from Ninja Polish, Overall Beauty and Llarowe. Make sure to "like" a England's Facebook page for all the latest news and sales!

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Holo and Metallic Checkerboards!!

Checkerboard Mani

I have a quick post for you tonight! I reviewed a England Lady of the Lake yesterday and decided I wanted to jazz it up with some nail art. I decided to do a tape mani and remembered one from Chloe's Nails that I thought would be cute. (You can find the tutorial here.) I used Pure Ice Silver Mercedes (my favorite silver) and topped it all with one coat of Poshe.

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Checkerboard Mani with a England Lady of the Lake and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

As you can see it is not 100% perfect but I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at my nails for the past 24 hours! I plan on doing this one again, hopefully it will improve!

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a England Lady of the Lake - Swatches and Review and a Wear Test!

I hope you all are having a great weekend!  I FINALLY acquired a England Lady of the Lake through a blog sale. It was one of those polishes that was perpetually on my wishlist but for some reason unbeknownst to me I had never purchased it. I am so glad I finally did!

a England Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake is a medium dusty purple that I think would be flattering on any skin tone. It is a scattered holo that also has a slight linear holo property that reveals itself in the sunlight. The application was amazing, I used two coats but you could probably get away with one. Very smooth formula and I had great wear. These photos were taken after almost one full day after putting it on and I did not wrap my tips (because my nails were so short and I didn't really have "tips" LOL). As you can see there is some wear but nothing major. This was without top coat and a full day of cleaning, dishes, typing and just general "stuff" - no babying of the nails. All photos were taken outside.

a England Lady of the Lake

a England Lady of the Lake

a England Lady of the Lake

a England Lady of the Lake

a England Lady of the Lake

What do you think of Lady of the Lake? Do you have it?

I also recently acquired Tristam which is the same holo finish but in a dusty blue. I will have that one on the blog soon. Lady of the Lake and Tristam are from a England's Mythicals Collection and are still available for purchase.

a England can be purchased directly from the a England website where they retail for £9. They can also be purchased from Ninja Polish, Overall Beauty and Llarowe. Make sure to "like" a England's Facebook page for all the latest news and sales!

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Holy HOLO!!! Layla Jade Groove with a England St. George Stamping!

Happy Holo Day!!! Several of my blogging friends and I decided we needed a day to show our holos some love! So we dubbed May 19th Holo Day! You can find links to all the other posts at the bottom of my post. I posted about Holo Day on my Facebook page and asked my readers to participate. I would also love to see YOUR holo manis! If you joined in please post your mani on my Facebook page!

I decided to use Layla Jade Groove for the first time and it is AMAZING! I decided to add some stamping just to add a little pizazz and I actually LOVE how it turned out. I used 3 coats of Jade Groove over CND Stickey as my base. I then added stamping with a-England St. George with Bundle Monster plate BM04.

I have added photos below of Jade Groove on its own as well as more photos of the finished product. There are several pics, I couldn't narrow it down. But who doesn't want more holo?! LOL

Check out all the fab bloggers who showed their holo love today!!

a England Dragon - Swatches and Review

I attempted several Easter-themes manis last night (at around 2 AM LOL) and I wasn't happy with how any of them turned out. I decided to use one of my amazing untrieds that is happy and very Spring-y and I am so happy I did.

a England Dragon is a mossy green with tightly scattered, almost linear holo bits scattered throughout. Pure love in a bottle. The formula on this is simply amazing, I only needed ONE coat. I attempted some stamping designs and had to go over my nails with more Dragon when I didn't like how it turned out but my pinky only has one coat. You can tell there is no difference in the color or opacity at all. This shocked me, I NEVER use one coat of any polish and holos are notorious for being sheer. Great job to Adina and a England! I did use a top coat for these photos and it did not change the holo effect.

My pictures do not do justice to this amazing polish. It is so stunning in person, if you like green or holo at all you definitely need this one! 

You can purchase a England polishes from Leah Ann at Llarowe or directly from the a England site in the UK HERE. You can also visit a England on Facebook!