Bench Work: A-England Elaine

Hello Lab Partners!

Before we get down to business, let me fill you in on the color used in yesterday's Mystery Mani. It was none other than Cult Nails Quench. Each week, we post the answer to the MMM in the comments section of the MMM post and on our FB page.

Now let's settle down to today's "Benchwork," a review of one of my relatively new a-england polishes. Fairly recently, I  purchased three a-englands from Llarowe, and for my first time out with them, I chose Elaine. I've been slightly obsessed with purple polishes lately, and the description of Elaine as "smoky, voilet-amethyst" sold me.

Elaine applies like a dream--totally streak-free and nearly opaque in one coat, completely opaque in two coats. The brush provides great control. I really like the color, but it's far more blue than I anticipated. In fact, in most lighting, it appears more of a very dark blue, with little to no violet. In other lighting, Elaine is a dark plum. It definitely applies slightly darker than it appears in the bottle:

A-England Elaine. Inside with flash. Here you can see that the color often appears very dark blue.

A-England Elaine. Here in natural light, Elaine is more plum, closer to the shade in the bottle.

Conclusions: Although Elaine isn't exactly what I expected, I adore it nevertheless. It's a great vampy, plum polish for fall and winter. If other a-englands apply anything like this one, I'll be thrilled.

What do you think of Elaine?

Sending lab love,

Allison

A Follow-Up to Your Comments on Our Last Giveaway

Hello Dear Readers--

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all your wonderful comments and questions you submitted on the entry form for our last giveaway. We do read the comments carefully and take note of what you say. Here's what we learned:

• You liked the Spinal Tap theme (credit goes to Ace for that one!)
• Many of you are particularly fond of Zoya polishes. Good to know, as we have a lot of Zoyas! I tend to think of Zoya as my "comfort" polish. You know how people have comfort foods they turn to when they're feeling under the weather or have had a rough day? When it comes to nail polish, that's how Zoya is for me. Not that I only wear Zoyas when I'm feeling icky . . . but I do tend to go to them when I just want to curl up in jammies and lounge around my house, burning a gingerbread candle. Hmmm . . . sounds like a topic for a future Polish Personals, no?
• Some readers want to know how to get their polish to dry more quickly. We'll address that in a future post.

Two final points of note:

• There was a question on today's Mystery Mani Monday post about when we post the answer. Each week, shortly after 9pm Pacific (midnight Eastern time) we post the answer to the MMM both in the comments section of the MMM post and on our FB page.
• Would you like us to periodically feature a Q&A post? 

If you ever have questions or comments that you'd like us to address in a future post, please feel free to email us at thepolishlab@gmail.com. We can't promise that all questions will be turned into a post, but there's a good chance!

Thoughts? Please comment below! And as always, thank you for following us!

--Allison

Mystery Mani Monday: A Classic Red

Hello Lab Partners!






It's time to start our week off with another Mystery Mani Monday! Today, we're coming to you with a classic red. I don't wear red polish very often, but lately I've been craving sexy, shiny red. This one satisfied my metaphorical thirst!

 

Do you recognize this color? There's a little hint hidden in this post somewhere! If you have a guess, please submit it by leaving a comment. You're welcome to submit more than one guess, but only your final guess will count as your official answer. Anyone who comments with the correct polish name will receive one additional entry in our next giveaway. We don't have a current giveaway, but rest assured, we diligently keep track of these bonus entries. For your answer to count, it must be received by 9pm Pacific Time (midnight Eastern). Please remember--if your GFC name differs from the name under which you comment, please leave your GFC name in your comment with your answer.

Now, bring on the guesses!