A-England Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour was released in November this year by British boutique polish maker A-England as part of the Tudoresque collection. Jane Seymour (c. 1508-37), as Henry VIII's third wife, was Queen of England from 1536-37. She gave birth to a son, the future King Edward VI, in October 1537 after a long and difficult labor, and died of post-natal complications twelve days later. She was the only one of Henry's wives to receive a queen's funeral, and the only consort to be buried beside him in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Creator Adina describes this polish as a "dark olive green scatter holo revealing at times an inner vibrant green fire and subtle grey hue complemented with golden shimmer." The color is indeed a medium to darker foresty olive (which does not seem quite as dark in person as it looks in my photos) that may appear somewhat murky at first glance but the longer you study it, the richer and more dimensional it becomes. Finely-milled holographic pigment gives it a velvety, delicately-grained visual texture with a glowing "lit from within" quality, and it's filled with tiny golden microflake shimmers that read as golden olive within the base when the light hits them just right. They sparkle in the sun, where there's a gorgeous, shimmering, mobile prismatic flush that travels up and down the nail as you flex your fingers in the light.

Application was lovely. Like the other polishes that I've worked with from this collection, Jane Seymour has a superb formula, with a fluid, light, creamy consistency, a medium viscosity and a buttery, even, self-leveling slip over the nail, easily accomplished with the brand's new wide, flat, tapered brush -- which I am loving! Pigmentation is excellent and will deliver evenly opaque coverage in one coat. I added a second like I always do, but it didn't affect the look of the polish at all. Cleanup is straightforward. Jane Seymour dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not appear to affect the holographic properties at all and accentuates the presence of the golden microflake shimmers.

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

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

A-England Jane Seymour

This is a sumptuous and evocative deep yellow-green with holographically-generated hints of pale sky blue and misty laurel green that emerge and recede in ambient light, luxuriously punctuated with glimmering bits of golden olive from the microflake shimmers. The prismatic flush in direct sun is poignantly beautiful, gradated semi-transparent arcs of shimmering rainbow colors that will take your breath away. It's darker, duskier and more complex than Fotheringhay Castle -- more of a twilight olive to that polish's midday radiance -- with the hushed mystique of a dense, mossy forest and the lush visual texture of silk velvet. Stunning!

love,
Liz