Tuesday, April 8, 2014

My First A-England: Briar Rose

Hey everybody!  I hope you're doing well this week.  Well, as the title of this post suggests, I've finally acquired my very first A-England polish.  After months of going back and forth about which one I wanted as my inaugural A England experience, I chose the one I had a feeling it would be all along...Briar Rose, from the Burne-Jones Dream collection.


I'm not going to repeat what you've read about this polish a hundred times already...about how striking it is, how strong and dense the scattered holo effect is, how easy it is to apply.  Nah, I'm not going to bore you with all that. :)  Instead, I'll tell you about the other things I like!  

First off, I adore Pre-Raphaelite art.  I've always related to those sad-eyed, juicy-bodied maids of old.  My 1998 (back when all you guys were about 3) calendar was an Edward Burne-Jones calendar that contained one of the paintings from whence came this collection's inspiration, The Rose Bower.


Other reasons I love this polish, in no particular order:

1.  I love Sleeping Beauty...well, particularly Maleficent, but Aurora was pretty nice too.

2.  You can't make a mistake with this!  Very helpful for somebody so clumsy that she just smashed her elbow whilst putting clothes in the dryer.

3.  It's that color that sucks me in every time...a metallic, slightly wine rose.

4.  A-England is just a cool brand.  I mean, I love the Camelot legends, AND I have John William Waterhouse's The Lady of Shallot over my bed (you'll see that one on my wish list)!??!!

5.  The best reason of all:  this polish looks dusty.  Like it's literally covered in dust.  Magic dust.  It gives it such an antiquated feel.  It makes you want to break out the heirloom jewelry...


...or at least the 10-year old jewelry that was designed to look antiquated. :P

So my first experience with A-England was a marvelous one.  The legends are true.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

14 comments:

  1. That is a pretty holo shade! Love the antique jewelry too.

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    1. Thanks! :) I had such a hard time narrowing these gorgeous holos down to one...

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  2. Awwwww!!! Your first A-England!!!!! I'm like a proud mama!! LOL
    I'm so glad you didn't bore us with "all that." :P This is seriously such a beautiful color, especially on you! It's easy to see why you chose that one for your "gateway drug..." Briar Rose reminds me of My Big Break but probably more opaque and with HOLO!!! :D And they truly are sooo mistake-proof. I put on one easy, flawless coat of Briarwood on my lunch yesterday. hehe! I'm really sorry to hear about your elbow, though. :( That hurts like the dickens!!
    Goodness, I had myself convinced I didn't need Briar Rose, buuut maybe I do! lol Your last photo truly is in two words (because "a" doesn't count): a lacquer reverie! ;) That piece of jewelry is THE perfect compliment to this polish too. :D LOVE love love!!!

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    1. Oooooh, My Big Break is also on my wish list! I love that doggone polish. You're right about the color being like Briar Rose too! :) Ah, come on! Don't say "gateway drug"!! I'm *believing* I'm going to be really strong through all this...:P Awww, thanks for liking the last photo...I was thinking it would be the perfect piece to showcase the (literally) dusty look of the polish. :)

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  3. This is so pretty! I need this polish - I have a few A Englands and love them!

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    1. I concur. You need this polish. And I need more. The End.

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  4. Welcome to the A England galaxy!!!! So happy you finally dipped your talons in them, but you rightly recognized the impact - buy a single one and you are sold on all of them. I love Briar Rose (of course) despite A England doing to me what the BL's do to you - who cares!!! They are too beautiful!!! I love the Raphaelite art pieces as well, that area speaks of the gift to linger and enjoy beauty with way more time and leisure than we are willing to invest. Have a wonderful day xxx

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    1. Why, thank you...what a wonderful galaxy it is!! I am happily ensconced in a constellation of awesomeness! :P OH wow...these do the dreaded Butter Trick on you?? Yikes! That's awful!! Oh, and I am a naturally very sleepy person, so the life of the Pre-Raphaelite girl has always looked...so...yaaawwwnnnn...

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  5. Congratulations on your first a-england.
    Just a word of warning though... the bottles seem to magically appear once you have one in your collection!
    Not six months ago I started out with one and now I count about 20 of them...
    Oh, and weird enough, my paycheck seems to have disappeared :)

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    1. I was so afraid of that. Six months, huh? My, my! I'm impressed by all that magic! :P

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  6. A-England is a slippery slope my friend. Before long you are going to want ALL THE A-ENGLANDS. I have St. George and I was seriously impressed by everything about it! These swatch photos are amazing too. You catch that awesome dustiness around the edge of the nails and the vibrant wine in the center. Please excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my mouth...

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    1. Oh, thank you for liking my photos. I was afraid they didn't capture all the loveliness of what was going on. Liesl told me I needed St. George...and you know Liesl is always right about these things. She also said I needed Briarwood. Blast that Liesl!! :P

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  7. Gorgeous photos and your description is SO apt! This polish really is perfectly you.

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    1. Are you cracking the case?? Mayhap you are figuring me out?? :P I jest. It's funny...I was reading your "dusty rose" description of this, and I just thought it looked dusty!

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