a england tess d'urbervilles (gothic beauties)

back in 2012, a england released probably their only underwhelming collection, gothic beauties. the main issue seemed to be the lack of shimmer, and with all the polishes being either black or off black, it all seemed like a dark blob. i already showed jane eyre, now it's time for tess d'urbervilles.

oh, tess... this hardy's novel is one of the most depressing books i've ever read, i just kept waiting for something nice to happen and it never did. it scarred me for life and i don't even want to watch any of the movie adaptations. but i digress. tess is described as 'like the secretive black of a deep forest, sublimely displaying its provocative emerald secrets". 

in reality, it is a black polish infused with emerald green flecks. it had to be double of the amont for it to really stand out, like this, the effect is mostly subdued. but, like with jane eyre, if you look at it as a simple off-black polish that has just enough of oompf not to be a plain black, then you are fine. formula is amazing though.

a england jane eyre (gothic beauties)

we are going back to 2012, where a england released gothic beauties collection, with jane eyre as one of six.

my disappointment with this collection has not been a secret. the promise of black base infused with amazing shimmer is not translated well in the reality, as the shimmer gets drowned. i got jane eyre on a blog sale, so i use it when i want plain black polish, or as a base for toppers.

it is advertised as "intensely smouldering crimson embers, imprisoned in a veil of sombre black". as you can see, the red shimmer gets buried in the base, but the base colour itself is very pretty, and formula great. when you look at it as a slightly spiked black polish, it works perfectly.