piCture pOlish's Pshiiit

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I am in love with this piCture pOlish shade!  It's called pshiiit and is a collaboration polish with Pshiiit, a fantastic nail blog that I wish I could understand but unfortunately my high school French has completely left my brain.  Anyways, every time I looked down at my nails I always thought "mermaid."  This is a perfect almost metallic sea green with a green-blue shimmer and tiny flakies.

For some reason I had to reapply polish on several of my nails, which is unusual for me.  I don't know if I was having an off night or if this one just dries slower, or if it was the flakies throwing it off (getting stuck near the tip and sticking out).  This is a base coat, two coats of polish, and a top coat.

Sorry I didn't take more photos but my application wasn't so great and I ended up taking it off pretty soon because this is definitely only a weekend polish for me (so sad).
This is one of my favorite indie polishes so far because I feel like it's very unique and incredibly beautiful.  And I've never come across another polish that makes me think of mermaids as much as this one!

Essie's Miss Fancy Pants and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
I am obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival top coat.  It's a top coat filled with iridescent flakes.  It's amazing!!  And if I apply it to the right polish, then it's low key enough that I can wear it to work without it being too flashy.  Here it is applied over Essie's Miss Fancy Pants.  
I bought this Essie polish when it first came out but then I went through a polish low where I just stopped painting my nails for no particular reason and didn't apply any for several months.  So I decided to give it a try even though the color didn't seem that exciting.  But I really love it.  It's a perfect greige for me.  It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite polishes, Essie's Chinchilly, but it's a warmer tone than Chinchilly.  So while it's not a flashy, new color, I think this will be one of my reliable standbys that I can wear during the work week.  And topped with Festival, I loved it so much I kept it on all week!
Here's a closer look at Festival's flakies. My cuticles are still a mess.  My hands took a brutal whipping from this past winter, and it's taking some time to get them back to normal.

And here's a shot with my pug model, Sunny.

Butter London's Tea With The Queen and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
 
This is an old NOTD from a couple weeks ago when I was first testing out piCture pOlish's Festival.  This is on top of Butter London's Tea With The Queen, which is a pinkish tan neutral.  I liked this a lot for a neutral and is probably the best nude I have that doesn't give me mannequin hands or look like I have on Silly Putty fake fingernails.  I think the mixture of tan and pink is a good combination for my skin tone.  And I love how this looks with Festival on top!  I ended up keeping this on for only a day though because this is when I was still using Seche Vite as a top coat and the shrinkage was so bad that my tips were completely exposed.  Argh!

Anyways, Tea With The Queen is a great office appropriate polish and easy to apply.  This is with a base coat, two coats of polish, Festival, and a top coat.  I always apply a top coat over Festival, even though Festival is a top coat, because I like to use a fast drying top coat at the end to help speed along the drying.  Otherwise I will for sure dent or smudge my polish within a few minutes.

Picture Polish's Electric Blue and Festival

To contact us Click HERE

I'm a sucker for a good blue nail polish and as we've already discussed, I'm obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival flakies top coat.  Here's piCture pOlish's Electric Blue with a base coat, a fast-drying top coat, and one coat of Festival.  I seriously have an addiction with Festival, when not even a fun blue polish is enough for me and I need to add a coat of iridescent flakies!  I love Festival on top of a dark polish - the different colors of the flakies look amazing against this dark blue polish!  Sunny was gracious enough to help me model the polish.
The only downside to this polish is that it's kinda a pain to take off because the polish is super pigmented.  Definitely use a base coat to prevent possible staining (not sure if it would, but I would do it just to be safe).

I couldn't stop staring at my nails.  Such a fun weekend polish for me!

Contrary Polish's Candle Light

To contact us Click HERE

Surprisingly, this is my only black nail polish.  This is Contrary Polish's Candle Light and I love it!  The color is almost like a very dark green/gray/brown that blends together to make a soft black.  There's also some beautifully subtle gold shimmer.  I put on a base coat, two coats of polish, and a top coat.  Application was smooth and easy!
I tried to get Rosy to help me with modeling this polish but she was too tired to do any good posing.
I haven't come across a Contrary Polish that I don't like.  I've been trying to get the rest of the spring 2013 collection but man it sells out so fast!

piCture pOlish's Pshiiit

To contact us Click HERE
I am in love with this piCture pOlish shade!  It's called pshiiit and is a collaboration polish with Pshiiit, a fantastic nail blog that I wish I could understand but unfortunately my high school French has completely left my brain.  Anyways, every time I looked down at my nails I always thought "mermaid."  This is a perfect almost metallic sea green with a green-blue shimmer and tiny flakies.

For some reason I had to reapply polish on several of my nails, which is unusual for me.  I don't know if I was having an off night or if this one just dries slower, or if it was the flakies throwing it off (getting stuck near the tip and sticking out).  This is a base coat, two coats of polish, and a top coat.

Sorry I didn't take more photos but my application wasn't so great and I ended up taking it off pretty soon because this is definitely only a weekend polish for me (so sad).
This is one of my favorite indie polishes so far because I feel like it's very unique and incredibly beautiful.  And I've never come across another polish that makes me think of mermaids as much as this one!

Essie's Miss Fancy Pants and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
I am obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival top coat.  It's a top coat filled with iridescent flakes.  It's amazing!!  And if I apply it to the right polish, then it's low key enough that I can wear it to work without it being too flashy.  Here it is applied over Essie's Miss Fancy Pants.  
I bought this Essie polish when it first came out but then I went through a polish low where I just stopped painting my nails for no particular reason and didn't apply any for several months.  So I decided to give it a try even though the color didn't seem that exciting.  But I really love it.  It's a perfect greige for me.  It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite polishes, Essie's Chinchilly, but it's a warmer tone than Chinchilly.  So while it's not a flashy, new color, I think this will be one of my reliable standbys that I can wear during the work week.  And topped with Festival, I loved it so much I kept it on all week!
Here's a closer look at Festival's flakies. My cuticles are still a mess.  My hands took a brutal whipping from this past winter, and it's taking some time to get them back to normal.

And here's a shot with my pug model, Sunny.

Butter London's Tea With The Queen and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
 
This is an old NOTD from a couple weeks ago when I was first testing out piCture pOlish's Festival.  This is on top of Butter London's Tea With The Queen, which is a pinkish tan neutral.  I liked this a lot for a neutral and is probably the best nude I have that doesn't give me mannequin hands or look like I have on Silly Putty fake fingernails.  I think the mixture of tan and pink is a good combination for my skin tone.  And I love how this looks with Festival on top!  I ended up keeping this on for only a day though because this is when I was still using Seche Vite as a top coat and the shrinkage was so bad that my tips were completely exposed.  Argh!

Anyways, Tea With The Queen is a great office appropriate polish and easy to apply.  This is with a base coat, two coats of polish, Festival, and a top coat.  I always apply a top coat over Festival, even though Festival is a top coat, because I like to use a fast drying top coat at the end to help speed along the drying.  Otherwise I will for sure dent or smudge my polish within a few minutes.

Picture Polish's Electric Blue and Festival

To contact us Click HERE

I'm a sucker for a good blue nail polish and as we've already discussed, I'm obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival flakies top coat.  Here's piCture pOlish's Electric Blue with a base coat, a fast-drying top coat, and one coat of Festival.  I seriously have an addiction with Festival, when not even a fun blue polish is enough for me and I need to add a coat of iridescent flakies!  I love Festival on top of a dark polish - the different colors of the flakies look amazing against this dark blue polish!  Sunny was gracious enough to help me model the polish.
The only downside to this polish is that it's kinda a pain to take off because the polish is super pigmented.  Definitely use a base coat to prevent possible staining (not sure if it would, but I would do it just to be safe).

I couldn't stop staring at my nails.  Such a fun weekend polish for me!

Contrary Polish's Candle Light

To contact us Click HERE

Surprisingly, this is my only black nail polish.  This is Contrary Polish's Candle Light and I love it!  The color is almost like a very dark green/gray/brown that blends together to make a soft black.  There's also some beautifully subtle gold shimmer.  I put on a base coat, two coats of polish, and a top coat.  Application was smooth and easy!
I tried to get Rosy to help me with modeling this polish but she was too tired to do any good posing.
I haven't come across a Contrary Polish that I don't like.  I've been trying to get the rest of the spring 2013 collection but man it sells out so fast!

Essie's Miss Fancy Pants and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
I am obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival top coat.  It's a top coat filled with iridescent flakes.  It's amazing!!  And if I apply it to the right polish, then it's low key enough that I can wear it to work without it being too flashy.  Here it is applied over Essie's Miss Fancy Pants.  
I bought this Essie polish when it first came out but then I went through a polish low where I just stopped painting my nails for no particular reason and didn't apply any for several months.  So I decided to give it a try even though the color didn't seem that exciting.  But I really love it.  It's a perfect greige for me.  It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite polishes, Essie's Chinchilly, but it's a warmer tone than Chinchilly.  So while it's not a flashy, new color, I think this will be one of my reliable standbys that I can wear during the work week.  And topped with Festival, I loved it so much I kept it on all week!
Here's a closer look at Festival's flakies. My cuticles are still a mess.  My hands took a brutal whipping from this past winter, and it's taking some time to get them back to normal.

And here's a shot with my pug model, Sunny.

Butter London's Tea With The Queen and piCture pOlish's Festival

To contact us Click HERE
 
This is an old NOTD from a couple weeks ago when I was first testing out piCture pOlish's Festival.  This is on top of Butter London's Tea With The Queen, which is a pinkish tan neutral.  I liked this a lot for a neutral and is probably the best nude I have that doesn't give me mannequin hands or look like I have on Silly Putty fake fingernails.  I think the mixture of tan and pink is a good combination for my skin tone.  And I love how this looks with Festival on top!  I ended up keeping this on for only a day though because this is when I was still using Seche Vite as a top coat and the shrinkage was so bad that my tips were completely exposed.  Argh!

Anyways, Tea With The Queen is a great office appropriate polish and easy to apply.  This is with a base coat, two coats of polish, Festival, and a top coat.  I always apply a top coat over Festival, even though Festival is a top coat, because I like to use a fast drying top coat at the end to help speed along the drying.  Otherwise I will for sure dent or smudge my polish within a few minutes.

Picture Polish's Electric Blue and Festival

To contact us Click HERE

I'm a sucker for a good blue nail polish and as we've already discussed, I'm obsessed with piCture pOlish's Festival flakies top coat.  Here's piCture pOlish's Electric Blue with a base coat, a fast-drying top coat, and one coat of Festival.  I seriously have an addiction with Festival, when not even a fun blue polish is enough for me and I need to add a coat of iridescent flakies!  I love Festival on top of a dark polish - the different colors of the flakies look amazing against this dark blue polish!  Sunny was gracious enough to help me model the polish.
The only downside to this polish is that it's kinda a pain to take off because the polish is super pigmented.  Definitely use a base coat to prevent possible staining (not sure if it would, but I would do it just to be safe).

I couldn't stop staring at my nails.  Such a fun weekend polish for me!

LET'S TOUR HADDON HALL

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Haddon Hall is a well-preserved 12th century medieval manor house we had the great luck to tour. It also had the added benefit of a pretty chapel.

Haddon Hall has shown up in loads of British films including Pride and Prejudice (with Keira Knightly), several versions of Jane Eyre and The Princess Bride. I will have to watch these movies again and keep an eye out for bits and pieces of this estate.
     


                                                                The Long Gallery
             Ever wonder how you could possibly make this room livable?  See the pic below.


This photo was on display to show how a previous family turned it into a very comfortable room.
Again, I'm thinking of a dark and stormy night, crackling fire, lamps lit for reading, tea and toast.



   The gardens were more inviting than I expected.  Look at that well-designed herb garden next to the mottled walls. Those straight lines are so appealing along with the bright and pale greens.

 
                                                               The upper gardens


The lower gardens

                        The pretty chapel is attached to the property.  Also very well-preserved.
                                    Don't you think the purple lilacs are just the right touch?


This is the marble sculpture of Lord Haddon, the young son of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, who died too young.  His mother, the Duchess, designed and sculpted the effigy.  Sweet and heartbreaking.


Most of the wall paintings were done during the Reformation period (16th century).  I'm assuming that is Henry VIII standing there in the middle between the windows looking ready for a fight. 

                                               A pretty pattern that reminds me of Istanbul.



                                The leaves and flowers bring a light feeling to the chapel.


                                                                   This is perfection.