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| The Briar Wood, Edward Burne-Jones (source) The first painting of the series depicts the discovery of the sleeping soldiers by a Knight -- the Fated Prince. Running beneath the panel is an inscription of lines from the poem "For the Briar-Rose" by William Morris. "The fated slumber floats and flows/ About the tangle of the rose./ But lo the fated hand and heart/ To rend the slumberous curse apart." |
Fated Prince is described on the a england website as "'the tempered steel of a hero's blade' -- a mysterious grey base hue with deep olive undertones, throwing off valiant prismatic flashes to herald the arrival of a certain destiny." It's a medium-dark charcoal grey softly underpinned by olive green and suffused with holographic pigments that produce a scattered prismatic display in direct sun. In indirect light, the holo pigments give the rich grey green base a delicious speckled appearance that is lighter and brighter at the center of the nail and deepens to a near-black hue at the outer edges. This exquisite dimensionality is my favorite of its many attributes.
Application was lovely even though my bottle had a wonky brush, which is disappointing because I purchased this off of a blog sale with no note of its imperfection. Never the less, Fated Prince went on in the profoundly satisfying manner I've learned to expect from Adina's lacquers. The consistency is fluid, creamy and dense, with excellent self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is also very good, with complete opacity and perfectly even coverage and color in two coats. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, although as you'll see I missed a few swipes dealt by the abnormally splayed shape of the wonky brush. Fated Prince dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Application of topcoat does not diminish the holographic display in any way.
Photos show two coats of Fated Prince over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl. My apologies for the incomplete clean up.
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
And some pics of this elegant polish in direct sun showing its scattered holo finish, which is actually more colorful in person than my photos could capture....
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
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| a england Fated Prince |
I adore this type of scattered or "loose linear" holo. There seems to be a perfect balance between color and holographic pigments to allow nuancing of the base by the prismatic shift without disturbing the fundamental character of the polish or giving it an overly silvery look in shade and indirect light. At the same time, the polish has enough holo to it to produce a complete rainbow of colors in direct sun, even if they are a little more loosely arranged than the flame-shaped display of the typical linear holo. Adina was among the first, if not THE first indie polish maker to consistently produce blends of this caliber and to me hers are still the quintessential scattered holos.
Dark grey can be a dramatic and satisfying color for nails, especially when it's done with a twist, as Fated Prince is. It has the delicacy and dimensionality of the holo to keep it from being too somber, and the warmth of the olive undertones to keep it from being too aloof. The pleasure of wearing such a beautifully composed polish will always transcend seasons and occasions for me. With this polish on my nails, I feel elegant and special and ready for the next big thing, whatever it might turn out to be.
love,
Liz
This is an amazing charcoal holo. Your sunlight pics do it justice!
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear! This is one of those polishes that was so lovely to apply I have a hard time reckoning how much I love it is because of the application and how much I love it is because of the look. Even when I look at the photos, I'm thinking how beautifully it went on....
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