Barry M Matte Polish; Copa, Copacabaaaaana!

'Ello all. I found this beauty at one of my local Superdrugs about a week and a half before the new mattes release date and completely fell in love with it. You may have seen that Barry M have been throwing new products into the mix just recently for their Summer collection. Obviously I've been paroosing the new nail polishes and the Summer 2014 Matte collection really got my attention. So far I have four of the shades in Cancun, Miami, Rhosilli and the shade I have for you today, Copacabana. I've been meaning to get this post written and out for the past two weeks but my brain has been in sleep mode as far as blogging is concerned but, hey, better late than never.

A Firm Favourite; China Glaze Fast Track

The other week I was having a hard time choosing a nail polish to wear and I, once again, found myself going back to one of my all time favourite polishes; Fast Track from China Glaze. I remember back when this one came out as part of their Capitol Colours collection for The Hunger Games and I completely fell in love with the whole collection. Fast Track was one of those ones that didn't really catch my eye particularly in the promotional images but then I started seeing swatches and I fell in love.

Barry M Limited Edition; Promenade

Once again Barry M has released a set of Limited Edition polishes. Two of the colours are exclusive to Superdrug and two to Boots. Today I'm bringing you Promenade, one the shades from Superdrug.

Quest for Opal

Opals, to me, are by far the most beautiful and magical gemstone to have formed here on this little Earth of ours. There's something so intriguing about the fire bursting from within that makes my heart sing. Perhaps it's my overactive imagination and obsession with all things sci-fi, fantasy and magical but Opals look like they've just been pulled from a fantasy world.

As some of you may know if you read my blog regularly, my Grandad passed away last January. A few months later my sister and I were presented with some inheritance he had left us. For a while I didn't know what to do with it. Heck, I didn't even want it, I just wanted him back. Eventually I decided I wanted something that would be sentimental, something that I could keep with me forever and remind me of him. I wanted an Opal ring. It may sound strange but in some ways I see my Grandad in opal stones. He had a fire in him, a stubborn fire at that, but a fire no less so it felt rather fitting.

I spent a long time searching for my opal ring. Every time I was out shopping I would stop everything if we went near a jewelers and scour every last corner searching for that perfect ring. Fast forward about 10 months or so and I found myself in York with my family. The number of jeweler shops around York is astonishing but none had what I was looking for. I then came across Bradley's Jewelers, a family business with a few shops dotted here and there across the country. The two ladies working there were so lovely and gave me a lot of advice on what to look out for when looking at rings, I even found out about opal doublets and triplets. I then spied a little beauty in the window and fell in love.

I always thought that I would find my ring when I tried one on and couldn't imagine ever taking it off. I'd tried several up to this point and none were right. This one though, this was right. My mum and I discussed the ring with the women in the shop, explaining the sentimentality behind the moment and that's when things got a bit teary. My mum started, then I started, it was a bit emotional but it was lovely and worth it. I'm so glad I found my ring and I can't help but stare at it at least once a day.

I know this may seem like somewhat of a random post, but I felt that I just wanted to write it down and share it. If you have any stories like this you want to share please leave me a comment, I'd love to hear it.

Until next time...
Abigail

Revlon Graffiti Top Coat

I recently took advantage of a 3 for 2 on Revlon at Superdrug as they were also offering their Gold Coin polish in a special 50th Anniversary if you bought two items. So naturally I went for a polish as well as one of their amazing lip butters. I've had my eye in their red Graffiti Top Coat for some time now so I finally picked it up. I've been pondering what to wear it with for a while and the other day I decided to go neutral underneath. Enter this simple yet beauty of a combo! Follow the jump to see more...

Golden Plums; Nail Striping

I must say, these past few weeks I've been quite uninspired by my nail polish collection. For that reason I kept piCture pOlish's Majesty on for about two weeks before I finally switched out to something different. After a great deal of thought I decided to try out some nail striping. I've done a bit in the past, keeping it very simple, and so I thought I would go for something a little different yet still simple. I'm afraid I only have one picture for you today as I took some snaps and then removed the polish a day or so later to do something new. The problem there, however, was I hadn't checked the shots and, of course, I only had one I was barely happy with. So, yes, just one lonely shot for today:

To create this one I painted all my nails with China Glaze Goldie But Goodie as a base colour. I then arranged my striping tape where I wanted the gold to show through. On my pointer and pinkie fingers I created a criss-cross pattern and on my ring finger and thumb I placed one strip across the nail. I left my middle finger clear. Using China Glaze Purr-fect Plum I then painted a relatively thick coat over each nail, apart from my middle finger, and immediately removed the tape before it could dry. For the ring finger and thumb I painted up to the striping tape without going over onto the other side to create the half and half design. I then applied Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Topcoat to seal everything in and that's it! Once you get the hang of striping tape it's quite simple but to start with it can be super fiddly. 

I've got another nail post coming up soon as well as some photography and a special find so check back over the next few days for those.

Until then...

Abigail

The Chronicles of Duck Feeding; Photography

It's been such a long time since I last posted some photographs, it makes me somewhat sad. My parents and I took a trip last week to Bempton to see the sea birds on the cliff side with my new 300ml lens in tow. I think in the end I had about 200 pictures to show for our little journey. It was only when I checked through them the other day that I realised most pictures were completely out of focus. I spoke to my Dad about it, showing him the photographs and we both agreed that something wasn't right with the lens. So naturally we're returning it tomorrow in the hope that we can swap it; fingers crossed! So instead of some glorious puffins I bring you another chapter in my mum and I's Mere visits. Follow the jump for more...