July Pick-Ups & Deliveries

As it's the end of July, I thought I'd do a cumulative haul post for the month. I ended up doing way too much shopping in the past four weeks, which all started with — what else? — nail polish. I was going through sort of a nail polish funk, during which I was just bored of everything. I'm not sure this has happened to me before, but I guess it was inevitable. Nothing intrigued me all that much anymore; I love brights for summer as much as the next girl, but I had seriously met my quota this season. I'd been intrigued by HARE Polish for a while, though, and figured now was as good a time as any to try them out (love supporting indie brands, too), so I bought six shades that interested me the most. Of course, I saw that A-England also released a new collection inspired by Sleeping Beauty called Burne-Jones Dream, along with a couple of new shades in their already existing collections, and obviously had to get all of them, too.
HARE Polish Nail Lacquer in Hooky at the Hamlet, Golden Years, Oceans of Alloys, Cast in Bronze, Reverie in Rubellite, and Amethystos
A-England The Mythicals Collection Nail Lacquer in Excalibur (Summer 2013 Version); Heavenly Quotes Collection Nail Lacquer in Love is Enough; Burne-Jones Dream Collection Nail Lacquers in Fated Prince, Sleeping Palace, Briarwood, Briar Rose, and Rosebower
While I was walking around the mall one afternoon, I stopped by Lush to pick up a new tub of my favourite Big Shampoo and a small container of Whoosh Shower Jelly (love that ocean smell for summer), and then picked up a few new mascaras as well because despite my eternal love for MAC's Haute & Naughty Mascara, I was in the mood to try out some different formulas (Dior's new Diorshow Iconic Overcurl might actually be my new HG mascara). And, of course, to round out my beauty haul, I ordered a bunch of things from MAC, including new goodies from their So Supreme collection, plus several staple products and a bunch of new brushes. 
Lush Big Sea Salt Shampoo and Whoosh Shower Jelly
Lancôme Hypnôse Custom Volume Mascara in Deep Black, YSL Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils in High Density Black, and Dior Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara in Black
MAC So Supreme Collection
MAC Cleanse Off Oil, Fix+, Studio Fix Powder+ Foundation in NC35, and Mineralize Concealer in NC30
MAC Brushes: #239, #217 (x2), #227, #116, and #150
Finally, what with all the summer sales going on right now, I couldn't resist getting some new clothes. I was on the Mackage website a couple weeks ago and saw that nearly all their leather jackets were on sale. I'd been on the hunt for the right leather jacket for a long time, but could never find the right fit for the right price. I'd tried on a few Mackage styles at Aritzia, but didn't love any of them enough to splurge $600+ on it. Enter the Liat, a gorgeous bomber-style lambskin jacket. It has everything I want in a leather jacket: a center zip closure, a higher collar, ribbed cuffs and hem, and just the right amount of detailing to keep it interesting. I was worried that it might not fit properly since that's always a danger to ordering clothes online, but the sucker fits like a glove. The best part? It was 40% off. Seriously, it was meant to be. On that note, I also took advantage of Aritzia's Private Sale at the end of last month, and bought three new Babaton tops 'cause they were 20% off. Figured I needed more black in my wardrobe.
 Mackage Liat Leather Jacket in Black; Babaton Julien T-Shirt in Black
 Babaton Willis Blouse in Black; Babaton Ainsley Blouse in Black
Online shopping is just way too dangerous right now.

A-England Nail Varnish in She Walks in Beauty

Over the winter, A-England released two new shades for their Heavenly Quotes collection, joining one of my favourite A-England shades of all time, Beauty Never Fails. I got really excited when I heard A-England was going to be releasing new shades, but when I finally saw swatches of them, She Walks in Beauty was the only one that interested me, so that's the only one I bought. The shade names from the Heavenly Quotes collection are inspired by quotes from various poems and letters. The shade and name of this polish are inspired by the Lord Byron poem, "She Walks in Beauty": "She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies…"

She Walks in Beauty (layered on top of Julep's Sienna)

She Walks in Beauty is a pale gold ultra-fine micro-shimmer base with small and large light rose hexagonal glitter. It's a seemingly complex shade, as the micro-shimmer can look gold, gilded olive, tarnished silver, or light pewter depending on the lighting and the angle. It has a thicker consistency that is common with chunkier glitter polishes, but it doesn't hinder the application. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. The glitter goes on evenly dispersed, and I had no problems getting the glitter to stay put, either. Due to the ultra-fine shimmer particles of the base, it does not fully reach opacity, and is therefore recommended to use as a layering polish (in the photo above, I've layered it on top of Julep's Sienna). I can't think of any close dupes for this; A-England's And the Moonbeams... (the other shade released in Heavenly Quotes) has a very similar base but with no hexagonal glitter, and Julep's Vivien is has gold hexagonal glitter instead of pink. There's something ultra-feminine and almost magical about this polish, like cherry blossom petals floating in a pool of sun-reflected water.

A-England Nail Varnish in Beauty Never Fails

One of my favourite nail polish brands, A-England, released two new shades this fall. One is the newly re-vamped Holy Grail (which I reviewed here), and the other one is a shade called Beauty Never Fails, which is the first shade released from a new collection called Heavenly Quotes. The shade names from the Heavenly Quotes collection are inspired by quotes from various poems and letters. The name Beauty Never Fails came from a quote in a letter that British artist Edward Burne-Jones wrote: "Only this is true: that beauty is very beautiful, and softens, and comforts, and inspires, and rouses, and lifts up, and never fails."

Beauty Never Fails (natural lighting)

Beauty Never Fails (under flash)

Beauty Never Fails is a blackened pine green with emerald, gold, olive, and bronze micro-shimmer. While the dark green base remains consistent in all lightings and angles, the micro-shimmer will take on a warmer glow of gold and bronze in a certain angle, or a cooler glow of emerald and olive in another. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation, and will go opaque in two medium coats. I can't think of any close dupes for this; Butter London's Wallis is lighter and has more predominantly dirty gold shimmer, while A-England's Tess D'Urbervilles has a darker base and more predominantly green shimmer. The shimmer in this one is truly gorgeous; so multi-faceted that it's almost mesmerizing. It reminds me of the embers of a bonfire floating towards the trees in the woods at night.

A-England Nail Varnish in Holy Grail

A-England recently released two new nail polishes, both of which I bought (obviously). One of them is a new shade for a new line-up called Heavenly Quotes, and the other one, which is the one featured here, is the newly re-vamped Holy Grail, which is a shade that was originally released with A-England's The Mythicals collection. I assume the reason for the re-vamp was because the original Holy Grail shade, a brighter yellow gold, wasn't popular enough to keep it as it was, but they didn't want to retire it completely.

Holy Grail (natural lighting)

Holy Grail (under flash)

Holy Grail is a medium-dark antique gold with gold, bronze, copper, and tarnished olive micro-shimmer. It's a complex shade that can look more gold or amber in certain angles, more brassy or tarnished green in others, so it can look both cool and warm. It has a fluid consistency without being too thick or too runny. It goes on smoothly and evenly, without any pulling, bubbling, or streaking. It has high pigmentation, and will go opaque in two thin-medium coats. I can't think of any close dupes for this; Butter London's Wallis is darker and has more predominantly dirty gold shimmer. I received a ton of compliments when I wore this shade, which really looks like richer, classier, more luxurious version of the original Holy Grail — and is much more suited to its namesake as a result.

A-England Nail Varnish in Lady of the Lake

A-England recently had a sale during which you could purchase any shade from their Mythicals collection for £5. The Mythicals never appealed to me as much as The Legend so when I first decided to try A-England, I only picked up their Legend shades. But there were three shades that I'd been eyeing from The Mythicals, so I took advantage of the promotion and snatched them up, and they arrived within three days. The first shade I decided to try was Lady of the Lake.

Lady of the Lake is a deep amethyst purple with fine multi-coloured holographic shimmer. It can take on a cooler or warmer undertone depending on the angle and the lighting. It looks darker in indoor or incandescent lighting, and the shimmer is much more muted. However, in outdoor lighting or flash lighting, it takes on a much brighter, richer purple (with it being the most vibrant when in direct sunlight), and the shimmer reflects different colours of the rainbow in a most stunning prismatic effect. I couldn't think of any dupes for this shade. The consistency is not too thick or thin, and it applies smoothly and evenly with no streaking, pulling, or bubbling. It has high pigmentation and goes perfectly opaque in two medium coats. I don't think anyone does classy holographic shimmer polishes quite like A-England. And this shade is totally pumping me up for fall.

A-England Nail Varnish in Ascalon

It's been a while since I last wore an A-England nail polish, so I decided to bust out one of the colours I hadn't tried yet. Given the dreary turn in weather recently (guys, it snowed today, and while I realize that we were freaking out over the global warming-induced, record-breaking temperature days in March, I am now freaking out over snow when we're a week from May), I decided that A-England's Ascalon really suit the mood.

Ascalon is a medium gunmetal grey with fine multi-coloured holographic duochrome shimmer. It looks more like a shimmery gunmetal grey when you're indoors, but when the sun hits, the holographic and duochrome effects of the shimmer are ridiculously stunning: It'll take on gold, pink, green, lavender, aqua, blue, purple... I just about passed out at seeing rainbows shining back at me in shimmer form. (Seriously, the photo doesn't do it justice.) The consistency is not too thick or thin, and it applies smoothly and evenly with no streaking, pulling, or bubbling. It has very good pigmentation, but while both Dragon and Saint George were one-coaters, I found that Ascalon needed a second coat to make it perfect. This polish has probably the most complex, harmonious blend of coloured shimmer I have ever seen, and I cannot think of a single dupe for it. Therefore, you need this polish.

Oh, and did I mention that this shade looks good with everything? Indeed, I love it so much that I'm going to wear it on my trip to New York City. I will be gone until Sunday, but will be on Twitter from time to time. Try not to miss me too much.

A-England Nail Varnish in Saint George

After having used Dragon last week, you know I had to try another A-England polish. I had bought four from Llarowe, and I had a serious debate as to which shade to try next. (First world problems.) However, knowing my affinity for blues, you know I picked Saint George.

Saint George is a dark green-teal with fine holographic shimmer, so it will flash more teal in one angle and more green in another. Even though it's not as cool as dragon scales, the effect of this polish is just as dazzling as Dragon. Every brand has done a dark teal shade, so Saint George might not seem so unique at first, but the it's the holographic shimmer that really makes this polish truly stunning. And if I thought the formula on Dragon was just a one-off, I was totally wrong; Saint George is just as phenomenal. That is, it applies smoothly and evenly with no streaking, pulling, or bubbling, and it is so pigmented that it will literally go opaque in one medium coat. I sense an A-England binge coming on, guys.

A-England Nail Varnish in Dragon

A-England's nail polishes have gotten a lot of hype on beauty blogs in the past year, and when I finally saw swatches of The Legend collection last month, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist much longer. Their products are, for whatever reason, not available in stores in Canada, so when I found out Llarowe shipped to Canada (for a really reasonable price, too!), I snatched up four shades. The first one I decided to try was Dragon.

Dragon is a medium-dark lush green with fine holographic shimmer, so it can appear to be warm or cool, depending on the lighting. In one angle, the shimmer will flash gold-bronze, and in another angle, it will flash teal-blue. In a word, amazing. This is seriously what I imagine dragon scales to look like, just like Mermaid's Dream was exactly what I imagined a mermaid tail's scales to look like. It is also one of the most unique colours I have ever seen in a nail polish, which is a huge feat considering the hundreds of thousands of shades out there (and the nearly 300 I have in my personal stash!). And, as if the colour wasn't amazing enough, the formula? Is one of the most phenomenal I have ever used. That is to say, the consistency is not too thin or thick, with no streaking or pulling or bubbling, and it is so richly pigmented that I have to quote the ever-eloquent Liz: "This is a one-coater, you guys!"