A-England Katherine of Aragon

Like Sir Loyal Heart, Katherine of Aragon was released in November this year by British boutique polish maker A-England as part of the Tudoresque collection, a series of eight polishes inspired by English Tudor king Henry VIII (1491-1547) and his six wives. Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536), daughter of Spanish monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, was married first to Henry's brother Arthur, who died within six months. Her subsequent marriage to Henry lasted 23 years before Henry had it annulled after becoming infatuated with Anne Boleyn.

This is the most reserved shade of the collection, described by Adina as a "holographic antique gold like precious brocade." The color is a complex, semi-metallic variation of ecru-leaning greige with aspects of Vegas gold and straw, kind of like if you took sand, made it semi-metallic and gave it a transparent grey veil. In addition to holographic pigment, it's loaded with tiny, highly-reflective metallic microflake shimmers in bright yellow-gold that gleam as light travels over them, giving the dimensional, finely-grained visual texture of the polish a subtle sparkling aspect. In the sun there's a beautiful, smoothly-gradated prismatic flush of yellow, pink and pale slate blue punctuated with bright yellow-gold sparks from the microflake shimmers.

Application was fabulous. The consistency of Katherine of Aragon is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, even, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good to excellent, delivering completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is straightforward with a bit of dispersal and stickiness on the part of the microflake shimmers. Katherine of Aragon dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its very best.

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

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

A-England Katherine of Aragon

Even though it's perhaps not showcased to its best against my skintone, the velvety holographic effects and essential elegance so characteristic of the brand make this understated but complex sandy-colored neutral with its bright gold microflake shimmers a classically beautiful polish -- I can't help but admire it. 

love,
Liz