A-England Ascalon

Ascalon was released by British indie polish maker A-England as part of The Legend collection in early 2012. Named for the fabled lance of St. George with which he slew the dragon, Ascalon is a shadowy medium-dark graphite grey scattered holo with gleaming ultrafine duochromatic shimmers that have a lavender/green color shift. On the nail, it has that marvelously dimensional finely speckled appearance native to scattered holos, with a bright semi-metallic flash of clear pinkish lavender rising along the axis of light. The green shift is elusive and rarely comes to the fore, but in sunlight informs the loose linear prismatic bloom with gorgeous hues of blue-green. There's always something interesting going on in this unpretentious, multifaceted grey polish. It's stealthy and understated one minute and then radiant with multiple glowing hues the next.

Application was first-class; it's impossible to overstate the serenity and satisfaction of working with a polish like this. Adina consistently turns out some of the most enjoyable, superbly applying lacquers anywhere, and Ascalon is yet another prime example of her outstanding formulary skills. The consistency is fluid, creamy and dense with a perfect balance of fluidity and viscosity for painting. It glides over the nail like full-bodied velvet and is easily manipulated with A-England's round, flexible brush. Pigmentation is very good, with completely even opaque coverage and full rich bottle color in two easy coats. Cleanup is completely painless. Ascalon dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat brightens and pops the lavender shimmer and does not diminish the holographic effects in any way.

Photos show two coats of Ascalon over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. 

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon, with bonus topcoat bubble!

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

A-England Ascalon

Ascalon possesses a doppelganger soul, sleek, steely and subtle yet ravishing and ethereal. "Forged by magic and guided by our hero's sainted hand, the steely grey of his spire is alive with a swirling heart of lavender fire," reads the apt descriptor for this polish on A-England's website. I can't imagine a better combination of attributes for this namesake polish.

love,
Liz