a-england: Merlin, Avalon & Perceval (review/swatches)

This past January, a new star in the world of nail lacquer, appeared on the horizon: a england. With my first review of these beauties, it was instant LOVE. The jewel-like hues, the incredibly smooth formula, the wonderfully flexible brush plus the high shine finish convinced me that this was a line of polishes of sublime perfection. The brain child of the highly talented Adina Bodana, these are polishes that are meant to “crown your hands and feet“. How appropriate then that her first collection should revolve around that most regal of legends, King Arthur. The three shades I bring you today are Merlin – a stunning silver sparkler, Avalon – deep royal purple and Perceval – intense shimmery garnet. All swatches are with Sèche Natural base coat and two coats of lacquer (except where noted in the comparisons), no top coat.

‘Merlin’ is described as a “spectacular scintillating silver” and is exactly that. Filled with varying sizes of both square & oblong pieces of highly reflective silver glitter, this is a semi-sheer polish that builds to good opacity by the second coat. Easy to apply and well flowing, this is excellent as a stand alone shade, or brilliant when layered as a top coat. Top swatch photo: 1 coat, middle photo: 2 coats (both taken in sunlight), bottom photo: indirect light (click to see detail of the glitter pieces). Representative of Merlin’s incandescent magical powers, this lacquer simply glows on your fingertips.

Looking through my stash, I came across CHANEL’s ‘Lamé’ which was the closest in hue and texture, although where ‘Merlin’ is a white-silver, ‘Lamé’ comes across as slightly more golden-tinged. The glitter pieces in ‘Lamé’ are also of only one size, which changes the density of the layering, and the other main difference is that ‘Lamé’ needed three coats to reach the same opacity level of ‘Merlin’, at two coats. Swatch photos above were taken in full sun (top) and indirect light (bottom).

My photos of ‘Avalon’ cannot truly do this shade justice; this is the most regal and intense purple I have yet to come across, and what makes it even more unique is the minute pink and blue shimmer in its depths. So densely saturated in colour, it was practically a one coater, although the swatches here are with two coats. The top and middle swatch photos show it to pull more bluer than it actually is, while the last photo (taken with flash) gives a better indication of its true violet undertones. Application was flawless with the loveliest glassy finish. ‘Avalon’, the royal and sacred island, home to Vivian, The Lady of the Lake…and some say the final resting place of King Arthur himself. This shade is truly breathtaking!

Of course, when I looked for a match, I found only one that came somewhat close: Nicole by OPI’s ‘Prized Possession Purple’ from the One Less Lonely Girl collection. While both shades bear similar blue & pink micro shimmer, ‘Prized Possession Purple’ is definitely a lighter hue and much more sheer, needing three coats to come close to the opacity of ‘Avalon’s’ two coats (top photo taken in sunlight, bottom photo with flash). To make things interesting, I then layered one coat of ‘Merlin’ on top and was captivated by the pattern, which looks almost like stars glimmering in a twilight sky. Swatch photos above are: index & ring fingers – ‘Avalon’, ring & pinkie fingers: ‘Prized Possession Purple’.

‘Perceval’ has an indescribable raw beauty; this is a deep almost ruby shade, with incredibly fine golden shimmer seeming to simmer in its depths. I fell for this ‘lit-from-within’ shade from the moment I saw it, and having such an incredible formula to work with, made it that much sweeter. Note how when seen in sunlight (top photo) as compared to indirect light (middle photo) the colour shifts from fiery to slightly cooler, while flash (bottom photo) brings out all the internal glimmer. This is an intense, jewel shade and will compliment all skin tones…I dare you to try and stop looking at it when you wear it! It is so fitting that ‘Perceval’ is a red, being the colour representative of loyalty and undying love, as was this virtuous knight who swore his allegiance to King Arthur, and legend has it that he was among those knights who found the Holy Grail to help heal his dying king. A true swoon-worthy shade…love!

In my stash of numerous red shades, once again the closest I came to a match was with Nicole by OPI’s ‘OMB!’ from the One Less Lonely Girl collection, but there are still significant differences. First of all, ‘OMB!’ is much more sheer, requiring three coats to reach the opacity of ‘Perceval’s’ two coats, and the former’s base shade is several tones lighter and more pink tinged. ‘Perceval’s’ base is somewhat more saturated as well, making the shimmer particles of ‘OMB!’ seem slightly sparser. Even with a coat of ‘Merlin’ layered on top, you can still see the deep ruby hue of ‘Perceval’ peeking through. Swatches photos above are: index & ring fingers – ‘Percival’, middle & pinkie fingers – ‘OMB!’.

Final thoughts: From the six shades I have reviewed and swatched to date of this incredible new line, I cannot help but be so impressed across the board, from the richness of the colours, the almost self-levelling formula, the excellent brush and the high gloss shine. They are colours we may have seen before, but somehow Adina manages to infuse each and every shade with that little extra magical touch, taking them from the ordinary to the sublime. Worthy of their regal and historical heritage, these are shades suited for royalty….or for anyone who always dreamed of being a princess, at the very least! This line of exquisite lacquers can be purchased through their website and they also offer international shipping…you really have no reason not to try them now! If you’ve been wanting to try these polishes out, here’s another incentive: from now until April 16th, and when you join a-england on their Facebook page, receive 20% off your entire order by typing in the promo code available.