Pinterest Post #3 - Nails

Nail art and just generally painting my nails is something that I've always been into even from quite an early age. I remember having a little children's set of stick on nails and nail varnish with a little section to add glitter and what not. So in today's pinterest post I thought I'd share with you five of my favourite designs and looks from my Nails board.

OPI - You Don't Know Jacques Matte - Matte nails have been quite popular for a while now and I think they're still increasing in popularity. I'm still yet to try a matte nail polish however but I really like the look of this one, I think the neutral tonnes go well with the matte finish, and because I haven't used one before I think it'll be a better first try than the glossier brighter looks that I'm use to from blues to reds.

Black with Gold Stripes - I've seen this nail art technique quite a lot and really want to try it! This was done by painting the whole nail with the glitter/gold nail polish and when dry you cover the nail with tape which you want to keep this colour, and then paint your nails over the top in black. Then when this is dry you can peel off the tape and you'll have this look!

Scrabble Nails - I've never seen these before - I remember when the scrabble rings and necklaces were popular not too long ago and loved them, these remind me of them but even better! I'm not sure how they painted them so neatly so I'd never be able to re-create this but it's definitely my favourite from these top 5.

Florals - After all of the cold cold weather and snow we've had lately - I love snow, but not so much when I have to travel to work in it, I am SO ready for Spring. And this nail art reminds me of exactly that. Spring/Summer nails are all about the pretty flowers and I love this blue background too. I even think I might just be able to re-create these ones (I'll let you know).

Polka Dots - Polka dots are great for all year round but with this pastel mint green as the background it reminded me of Spring again and I seem to be in that frame of mind lately! I like creating this look myself and one of my favourite colour combinations is grey and white.

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what your favourite nail polishes and designs have been recently

Abigail x

My Reading List

Reading is something I love to do but can never seem to find enough time to fit it in lately and that's something which I think I need to change. So I've built up a little pile of books that are waiting to be read and thought I'd introduce you to them. I can't give you full reviews just yet because I am yet to read these myself but hopefully, once I've finished the ones I've already started then I can let you know how they were.

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher - I first heard about Giovanna releasing a book on twitter a few years ago, as you may or may not know Giovanna is the wife of Tom Fletcher from Mcfly which I am a massive fan of - and how I really heard and became a fan of the books before reading them (is that even possible?) I think the colours of her books being so bright stand out and would have caught my attention anyway and I've still heard many good things about these books. Billy and Me is a book I really can't wait to read! The blurb states that...

"Sophie May has a secret. One that she'd successfully kept for years. It's meant that she'd had to give up her dreams of going to university and travelling the world to stay in her little village, living with her mum and working in the local teashop. But then she meets the gorgeous Billy - an actor with ambitions to make it to the top. And when they fall in love, Sophie is whisked away from the comfort of her life into Billy's glamorous - but ruthless - world. Their relationship throws Sophie right into the spotlight after years of shying away from attention. Can she handle the constant scrutiny that comes with being with Billy? And most of all, is she ready for her secret heartbreak to be discovered and shared with the nation?"

To me this sounds like a great book and the one I'm looking forward to reading to the most, Giovanna also has another book 'Billy and Me at Christmas' which I also need to get my hands on.

You're the one That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher - This is the second book released by Giovanna and again has such a great cover, I really love these bright designs so I'm hoping the stories will be just as good. The blurbs says...

"Maddy, dressed in white, stands at the back of the church. At the end of the aisle is Rob - the man she's about to marry. Next to Rob is Ben - best man and the best friend any two people ever had. And that's the problem. Because if it wasn't Rob waiting for her at the altar, there's a strong chance it would be Ben. Loyal and sensitive, Ben has always kept his feelings to himself, but if he turned round and told Maddy she was making a mistake, would she listen? And would he be right? Best friends since childhood, Maddy, Ben and Rob thought their bond was unbreakable. But love changes everything. Maddy has a choice to make but will she choose wisely? Her heart, and the hearts of the two best men she knows, depend on it..."

After reading and writing that out it has made me want to read it right now! I have also heard that Giovanna has her next book coming out later on this year so hopefully I'll have read these two and can decide if I want to buy the next.. I'm guessing so far that I most probably will!

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a JK Rowling) - The Cuckoo's Calling isn't usually a book I'd go for (being crime fiction) but as I'd heard such good things about it and it was secretly written by such an amazing author, you can't really go wrong, can you? This blurb says...

"When a troubled model falls to her death from a Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts and calls in private detective Cormoran Strike to investigate. Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his private life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline but it comes at a cost: the more he delves into the young model's world, the darker things become and the closer he gets to terrible danger..."

I think this book sounds quite intriguing as the blurb doesn't actually give too much away, I know JK Rowling also published a few other books under the name Robert Galbraith so if this one turns out to be as good as it's reviews say then you might see a couple of those in my next 'reading list' post.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - I'd actually never heard of this book which my brother bought me for Christmas just gone, until I was speaking to someone about it and they said they had read and enjoyed them a few years ago. It is actually the first book of a series called 'The Mortal Instruments' so I'm quite looking forward to reading this one too. The blurb says...

"Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistibly drawn to the Shadowhunters, a secret group of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City - and the dangers of forbidden love."

Another blurb that doesn't give too much away but I'm still looking forward to reading this book - and maybe even the whole series nonetheless.

Let me know if you've given any of these books a read and what you think of them.

Abigail x

Pinterest Post #2 - Fashion

So here, as promised is the first of the pinterest board posts! This week I've chosen to focus on fashion, I think fashion must be one of the most popular things searched for on pinterest (second to food most probably) and it's filled with so much inspiration for all times of the year and there's something for everyone's style. You can see what else is on my fashion board here, whilst I've chosen five of my favourites to show you below.

White Shirt and Blue Jeans - Such a simple look but I love wearing shirts and this outfit has made me want a really crisp white shirt that I could wear to work with black skinny jeans.

Jumper and Collar - As I just mentioned I love wearing shirts, at the minute I can't get enough of pairing them with jumpers, the polka dot blue on the white shirt really stands out even with a jumper, and look at how cute that broach is too!

Leopard Print Blouse and Black Skinny Jeans - This outfit reminds me of summer and I 'm already looking forward to being able to dress in nice smart clothes for work and not need to lug around a big coat and scarf with me.

Tutu Skirt - This skirt is so cute, I have no idea what occasion I'd wear it for or what with but we can all still dream of wearing pretty tutus everyday can't we?

Monochrome Dog-Tooth Dress and Red Coat - My next coat needs to be a nice long red coat. I think this can brighten up any winter, especially the dull English ones we seem to have.

What's your fashion inspiration at the moment?

Abigail x

My 100th Post - No.7 2014 Illuminated Make-up Mirror Review

Last night I realised that this next post will be my 100th blog post! I can't quite believe that I've written that many posts in just over a year and a half. Sometimes I've had quite long breaks from blogging from either being just too busy to write posts or have a block from writing and not knowing what to write about next or even thinking that you're doing something wrong when you lose a couple of followers. Since the new year however, I have gotten back into blogging - with a change of name, domain and finally blogging about what I want without writing posts just because I felt I needed to. So hopefully I can now stick to uploading posts twice a week (every Sunday and Wednesday). And seen as it's my 100th post I decided to post a review, which I haven't done for a long long time and kind of miss writing them.

The Boots No.7 Illuminated mirror is something that I've lusted after for many years, and once I heard that they'd upgraded their mirror to a special '2014' edition I wanted it even more. It's only available from boots here, for £49.99 (although I treated myself to this in the sales for just £19.99). The reason I finally decided to purchase this mirror is due to getting up every day at 6am for work and at this time of year it is still so so dark that there's no day light and the light in my room doesn't help me much in applying my makeup.

After using this mirror for the first time I knew it was going to be one of my favourite purchases, and I can't believe how much of a bargain I managed to get it for! It's absolutely brilliant, I knew it was going to be good but I didn't know it could be this good. With the 360 degree light around the mirror you can see so clearly, the dimmer switch also allows you to choose how bright you want the mirror to be illuminated, depending on how light your room is or your personal preference.

There is also a ball point joint (if you get what I mean - top left photo) which enables you to be able to tilt the mirror back and forth and from side to side. It is also how you can turn the mirror around to the other side which is 5X more magnified which is incredibly clear! I tend to use the normal side much more but I find the magnified side makes doing your eyebrows and applying eyeliner A LOT easier.

After using this for around two weeks now I can't even believe how I coped applying my make-up before without this, it was so dark! Another plus is that it has a cable that you plug into the back of the base of the mirror and into the wall which saves on batteries too!

Abigail x

Pinterest Post #1 - An Introduction

Introducing you to another one of my little spaces on the internet - Pinterest! Although I've had this pinterest account for a while, I never really used it much other than to pin photos from my blog onto my blog board. Don't get me wrong, I love pinterest and pinning but as I already had a pinterest account (which you can see here) for my work and those related boards I never really used this one - until now...

Now I am completely addicted to 'pinning' pretty much everything, from fashion and make-up to home inspiration to food, food and more food. So, I have decided that every week (hopefully) I'll be posting a mid-week post on a different one of my pinterest boards starting with Fashion next week! Choosing around 5 of my favourite pins from each board and writing a little bit about them.

You can have a look at all of my boards here and feel free to 'follow' my boards and account and leave yours in the comments below - I'd love to have a look at what you've been 'pinning'.

Abigail x

Quick & Easy Chocolate Orange Cake

Christmas is a time when we usually receive quite a few boxes of chocolates, so over the Christmas holidays this last year I decided to be a bit more creative and make something with some of them. So here's my recipe for a Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake! I didn't really know how to go about making this so I found a recipe for a microwave chocolate cake and just swapped the cocoa powder ingredients for the melted chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 100g Margerine
• 75g Self-Raising Flour
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 2 tbls Water
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Terry's Chocolate Orange

Method:

In one bowl I broke up the chocolate and put in the microwave for a couple of minutes until it had melted, and in the other bowl I added all of the other ingredients together. When the chocolate had melted I added it all to the bowl with the other ingredients in and whisked them together.

I cooked my cake in the microwave on high power for 6 minutes, which was what the original recipe suggested. Although some microwaves may need more or less time, it worked pretty well for mine despite how messy it looks.

Then simply turn it upside down onto a plate and ta-daa, I also added cream but that's totally up to you!

Let me know if you like to make anything in-particular with your Christmas chocolates. You can see some other yummy recipes I wouldn't mind making on my pinterest board here.

Abigail x

2015 Beauty Wishlist

If you follow my blog you may know that I usually like to post a 'wish list' of some sort every month. So with it now being January, the start of 2015!! I thought I'd make a list of some things that i'd quite like to purchase this year, I know that there's no way that I'll be buying every single one of these products - but I can dream, right?

1. Real Techniques 301 Flat Contour Brush - These have been spoken about quite a lot recently in the blogging community, I absolutely adore the rose gold brushes the most out of the new collection and I think a contour brush is next on my make-up brush list.

2. Sleek Makeup Brow Kit - I've wanted a brow kit now for quite some time but I've never been sure which one to go for, at the minute I just tend to use a Rimmel eyebrow pencil which does the job but sometimes can feel a little 'cakey' and this little set looks like something I could try next!

3. Sleek Makeup Face Contour Kit - I remember when I first saw a review on this set some time last year and it's been on my wish list for some time but I've never gotten around to actually trying it.

4. Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in No. 13 Peach Passion - I don't own anything by 'YSL' and being on a student budget it would be quite the dream to own one of their lipsticks, and how lovely is this shade?!


5. Mac Lipstick in Ruby Woo - I'd say mac lipsticks tend to be some of the most popular lipsticks in the blogging world, I only own the one but that's enough to know I want to broaden my collection and 'ruby woo' is such a great shade!


6.Origins Clear Improvement Facial Mask - I've tried a sample of this face mask and absolutely loved it! I think a little goes quite a long way and I think it should do for the price - which is partly why I haven't got around to purchasing the full-sizes version just yet.

7. Una Brennan Superfacialist Salicylic Cleansing Wash - I've never tried anything by Una Brennan before but I've heard a lot of good things about the brand so hopefully this might be my first purchase by them.


8. Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - I've used this body scrub before and think it has to be my absolute favourite! It smells delicious and I'm not getting on well with the one I have at the moment because it's just too oily so I might have to go back to my favourite!


9. Soap and Glory Fab-Pore 2-in-1 Facial purifying mask and peel - I've not actually heard much about this product before but it sounded quite good to me and I tend to get on with the soap and glory products so it could be quite a good find.

10. Revlon Colourstay Concealer - I don't tend to use concealer much these days but just lately I've been thinking about using it again because of my pale winter skin (boo!) and although I've not tried this concealer before I have tried the foundation which is one of my favourites so hopefully it's just as good.


11. Revlon Lash Potion Mascara - I for some reason tend to run out of mascara quicker than any other makeup product and I more often than not like to try a new one each time so maybe this could be the next one.


12. Vaseline Spray and Go moisturiser - I almost bought this product last year but I held back because I have waaaay too many moisturisers and body butters already but maybe this year I'll get to try it - it seems like such a great lazy way to apply it too!


13. Yankee Candle in Sweet Apple - I'm not sure if 'sweet apple' would be a bit too christmasy for any time of the year but I've smelt this flavour and it smells amazing so I had to add it to the list.


14. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Candle - Last but not least, a Jo Malone candle would be an absolutely amazing treat to myself but at £40 for a candle I'm not sure that I'll actually make this purchase, but as I said, we can all dream!


What's on your beauty wishlist for 2015?

Abigail x

Spinach and Egg Cups

I've never written a food related post before let alone a recipe I made up myself but here goes! I first saw something similar to these spinach and egg cups on pinterest here. I was looking for something to make which included both eggs and spinach for breakfast when I cam across this link, but as I'm not a fan of mushrooms I decided to give it my own twist. If you wanted to re-create this with your own ingredients too, let me know what you decide to use!

So, firstly the ingredients which I used were:

• eggs
• spinach
• bacon
• red onion
• salt & pepper

Firstly I boiled the spinach for a little while until it looked slightly wilted (you don't want to do it for too long). At the same time I fried the bacon and red onion so they were mostly cooked before putting them in the oven. I then cracked the eggs into a bowl and added the spinach and bacon and onion.

I wasn't sure how many eggs and whatnot to use so I just had to guess with it being the first time of making these, and I ended up with 8 cups from using 5 medium eggs. I also added salt and pepper to the bowl to taste (I just love pepper) and mixed it all together. I put them in the oven for around 10-15 minutes and I was surprised at just how quickly they cooked!

And ta-daaaaa! I was really impressed with these little cups they tasted amazing, even if i do say so myself. 

Let me know if you decide to re-create the recipe or have written any recipe posts yourself!

Abigail x