Lacquer Slacker Liz: a england Princess Sabra and St. George

Got two beauties for you to see, Eleanor, by British indie polish maker a england. I've posted about Adina's polishes before, most recently Dorian Gray. She is legendary for her brilliant formulary skills and her use of English history, legend, literature and myth as inspiration for her creations.

The first is Princess Sabra, a gorgeous light medium olivine bronzite scattered holographic polish. It is so subtly complex, there's so much going on with the pigments and particles, that the mind boggles. The holo particles are microfine and produce a subtle linear prismatic flair, but their largest contribution to Princess Sabra is the look of being finely grained with specks of light. It is a rich, smoothly elegant look with a light sophisticated feel.

a england polishes are a joy and a delight to apply. The fluidity and viscosity are in perfect balance. The full soft flexible brush holds a generous amount and fans gracefully over the nail bed, evenly distributing a perfect medium coat. I applied three coats of Princess Sabra over my basecoat duo, giving each coat time to dry before applying the next to prevent bubbling. Princess Sabra dries naturally to a silky smooth finish and I applied two coats of Seche Vite for maximum gloss.

Photos were taken in the kitchen under the holo lights without flash.

a england Princess Sabra


a england Princess Sabra

a england Princess Sabra

Those bits of sky blue that appear courtesy of the holo particles prismatic flair just make my day! Princess Sabra is a stealthy intricate stunner, the longer you wear this polish the more your lose your heart to it. It is completely at ease on the nail, it belongs there. The feeling is kind of like the way a really great haircut feels. It carries with it a certain sense of triumph and pride. It becomes part of you, and you feel like your best self because of it.

Polishes like this turn me into a blithering graphospastic idiot.

The second a england I have for you in this post is the resplendent St. George. St. George is a deep glowing viridian green scattered holographic polish, a fan favorite among Anita's offerings. It's easy to see why.

The holo particles, like those in Princess Sabra, are microfine and their effect is subtle but resounding. This is one of those polishes that appears to be lit from within. The dark teal coloring is super-pigmented and super-saturated, creating a bold jewel-like look. In dim light, it's as if a black veil draws itself across the color. Bright light, especially bright direct light, is where you'll find the strongest manifestation of holographic prismatic flair.

St. George is for all practical purposes a one coater. The opacity is that good. I needed two coats thanks to uneven pressure on the brush with my left hand, which created a few bare-ish patches. But the formula is as perfect as a nail polish can be. St. George dries naturally to a smooth sheen and I added one coat of Seche Vite for gloss and color emphasis.

These photos were also taken in the kitchen without flash.

a england St. George

Gorgeousness. There is a refined formal elegance about St. George that makes me feel like I should be going somewhere important. The holographic particles allow the brighter bluer tones of the color to creep in from different directions as you turn your nails in the light. Different tones of dark blue and dark green pass through the color like cloud shadows over foothills. It's mysterious and mesmerising. And flat out gorgeous! I ask you, how's a body supposed to resist a polish like this?

The answer is, of course, that you can't resist. Colors like this provoke my strongest covet response. The second I saw my first photo of St. George I knew I had to have it. It was my first a england polish. Anita just brought out a new collection based on the Briar Rose paintings of Edward Burne-Jones, like this one...