Tuesday 20 September 2016

Puglia, Italy

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Villa/Trulli


Monopoli




Polignano



Alberobello

As usual I have been unorganised which is why my summer travel post has been delayed to pretty much the end of summer and a good couple of weeks into school (for some of us). Even though it's late, I still want to share with you some pictures from my holiday to Puglia in the Southern region of Italy.

I'll start by mentioning what I think is one of the biggest things I like about Italy which is of course the food. I could have put so many more pictures of pizza and pasta in this post; I was restrained. If you do go to Italy however you have to try the foccacia breads and kinder ice cream (my lovely friend from Alice J Lorna told me I had to try it so credit to her!) Besides eating, we did actually go and visit a few of the towns nearby, one of them famous for cliff diving (Polignano); and Alberobello, a town full of traditional Trulli buildings (the conical ones). We were in fact also staying in a trulli with a lovely pool looking out to sea near Monopoli, a typical Italian style town. I will admit that most of my time on the holiday was spent sunbathing, because of course I had to make the most of the hot weather! I also couldn't forget to mention that if you visit this area try to go to the caves, they are amazing!

Anyway, I thought I would only briefly summarise the trip, I want this post to be mainly focused on photos. Hope you all had a great summer!

-Beth




Sunday 4 September 2016

Tartelette In Bloom

Sunday 4 September 2016




(In order top left to bottom right of palette) charmer, jet setter, rocker, smoke show, flower child, smarty pants, firecracker, activist, funny girl, sweetheart, rebel, leader.

This palette has been on my wishlist for so long and when I saw it was no longer available on QVC I was so disappointed. However, in true beauty blogger style my friend and I decided we would just have to order it from America, luckily I had a discount code but customs tax is not ideal aha. Anyway, thankfully I have no regret in purchasing this palette and for anyone contemplating buying it even if it does mean paying more for shipping I will tell you now it is absolutely worth it.

I could not start this review without mentioning the packaging, it is so attractive and it feels sturdy with a generously sized mirror. It is very compact but that does not mean you are left short handed with the amount of eyeshadow you get for the price. I can also not forget to mention that itsmells so good!

Even though I don't think the name 'In Bloom' suggests it, this palette is the perfect neutral eyeshadow palette. In amongst it are a range of warm browns, bronzy coppers and rosy tones, all matte apart from 3 shimmers/lustres. Although it is a neutral palette the list of possibilities with this palette is endless. The intense shimmers along with the gorgeous red toned browns and off-black shade can dramatise any look. The pallete has also been cleverly designed so that each row is like a quad, so if you are not so confident pairing shades together it is easy!

In terms of the quality of the eyeshadows, these are exceptionally good. The darker matte shades are not as creamy as the lighter shades however all of the shades blend beautifully and are so pigmented with little to no fallout. The same goes for the shimmers, funny girl and fire cracker being particularly stunning and pigmented, almost foiled - the swatches don't do them justice. 

Apart from the fact it is no longer sold in the UK, I don't think I have one bad thing to say about this palette; it has already become a staple in my makeup collection! Let me know if you'd like to see some looks with this palette & if you've tried it. 

-Beth



Wednesday 17 August 2016

Fairport 2016

Wednesday 17 August 2016









Festival season has to be one of the best times in the year in my opinion, and even though I don't go to many I love getting into the festival spirit, which of course means flower crowns, face paint, and glittery eyeshadow. For a few days last week I stayed with my friends for Fairport's Cropredy Convention. Although the music is not what we typically listen to we had a really great time and loved listening to Madness (admittedly the only one in the lineup I'd heard of). Like at all festivals the food on offer is also so good, I felt like I'd eaten so much at the end of the few days; nevertheless, the doughnuts, crepes and fresh lemonade were more than worth it! We were very lucky with the weather too and there were some very pretty sky's in the evenings - the photos don't do it justice! I would love to know if you've been to Fairport or any festivals recently - I'd really like to discover some new ones.

-Beth




Friday 15 July 2016

A day in London

Friday 15 July 2016
Royal Academy


Regent Street





Carnaby Street


Liberty London


Oxford Street


At the weekend, my friend, mum and I went to London for the day.  It was meant to be a cultural trip to the Royal Academy art gallery, however inevitably we spent a lot of time going round the shops! I know this post is very picture heavy however I got carried away taking photos.

Currently, at the Royal Academy they have their annual summer exhibition. I'm not necessarily an art enthusiast but they did have some interesting pieces. We also had a look at the Hockney exhibition - a collection of portraits. But the main attraction for me was walking around Carnaby street. I think Carnaby has to be my all time favourite street in London - mainly because it has the only MAC store that stock loose pigments aha. Anyway the MAC there is definitely worth a visit and I included a picture of the Monki store as it looked amazing!

We didn't end up going into Liberty but I of course had to take a picture of the flowers! Even if your like me and can't afford anything in there, Liberty's is great to look around. By the end of the day we ended up on Oxford street and looked in a few of the shops; by that time my feet were hurting quite a bit. I couldn't forget to mention that whilst walking to Selfridges there was a girl playing the drums - she was amazing and her twitter is @bananadrummer. But there is always so much going on and lots of things to see in London especially as regent Street is traffic free every Sunday in July.

Hope you like this different type of post, although I still managed to mention makeup! Let me know if you've been to London or if there's anything you particularly like to do there.

-Beth


Saturday 2 July 2016

My MAC Quad

Saturday 2 July 2016





More recently, I've become really interested in eyeshadow. I know previously in the past I bought it purely because it looked pretty and I rarely wore it. However, thankfully that is not the case now and I consequently decided to treat my self and start a MAC quad, which I've filled with my own choices of shades gradually over the past few months. As well as being a great way to collect gorgeous eyeshadows, the MAC customisable palettes are great fun to fill even if £10 for a single eyeshadow is borderline very overpriced aha. I'd also suggest, if your not an expert, which I am not, chatting online to makeup artists or in store is really helpful when getting an idea of which shades will compliment each other.

Folie (Upper Left) - This shadow is a satin finish and is essentially matte. It is a really stunning pigmented brown shade with a red/rust undertone. It's one of those shades that I feel is an essential and the perfect brown to go with cranberry. Not only does it look gorgeous through the crease or to darken the outer corner of the lid, I also love to wear it all over the lid. I might do a post on one of these looks, let me know if you'd be interested!

Cranberry (Upper Right) - I decided to base the whole quad around this shade. When I bought it it was a bit out of my comfort zone however I've worn it so many times since, even around the house as it is so pretty! It is a true cranberry colour and is a frost finish with a nice shimmer to it. I will say though the pigmentation is not as good as the other shades however with a bit of MAC fix plus I've heard this is not such a problem, I am yet to own it myself though.

Texture (Lower Left) - This is the perfect orangey brown transition shade, recommended to me by a friend! It is one of MAC's Velvet formula eyeshadows; velvety being exactly how it feels to use. The shadow is also amazingly pigmented and has a slight shimmer in the pan, although on the lid this is barely noticeable. Another must-have shade.

Haux (Lower Right) - My most recent purchase to complete the palette and a very muted, brown toned pink. It is a satin finish and again really nicely pigmented and lovely to work with (although I have not properly worn it yet aha). I envision this working well as a transition shade for a more rosy toned look.

All in all I love this palette and its versatility; I also don't feel as though there is one shade I would change at the moment. The pigmentation of the shadows with the exception of cranberry (which is by no means bad) is excellent and they all blend beautifully. I personally always wear them over a primer/base (MAC Painterly), however they are swatched without. I'd love to know if any of you have collected any MAC eyeshadows you love, I am so tempted to start collecting more, it is very addictive aha. 

-Beth


Saturday 4 June 2016

Hello

Saturday 4 June 2016
There is a very small possibility you might have come across a blog called Beth Abigail before, thats because I did used to write a blog almost exactly the same as this. However to put things simply, after a good couple of years blogging I ran out of inspiration. It wasn't until recently my friends started talking about it again that I decided I wanted to give it another go.

I would have kept my old blog however I want to do a few things differently this time so I thought I may as well start a fresh. I've decided this time I want Beth Abigail to be a bit more laid back, in the way I'm not really going to have a posting schedule and my posts aren't going to be strictly about makeup (as much as I love to write about makeup aha). I feel like by doing this I'll be able to make my content much better and more worthwhile; I won't be running out of ideas and writing about any old thing.

Anyway, enough said. What I guess I'm mainly trying to say is welcome to my new blog and I hope you'll enjoy reading it if you decide to stay around.

-Beth
Beth Abigail © 2014