Let's talk about my underwear

My sister, bless her little cottontails, recently started work at Nearly Nude (they are shapewear designers, get your mind out of the gutter!) This excited me no end because I have been eyeing off their goods for quite some time. You will be relieved to know she gets a staff discount - I know I was!

Anyway, being a lady of the ‘larger breasted’ variety, I have a lot of trouble with the ladies when I sleep. Nearly Nude do a bedtime bra singlet which I had wanted to buy for a while but very naively went for the cheaper option. The cheapie does the job to a degree, but now that I have experienced the true comfort of the Nearly Nude bedtime bra, I could never go back. The straps are thin, so they don’t crumple up, the cups are reinforced so they hold you in place without being invasive (especially when I’m lying on my back – my endowed sisters know what I’m talkin’ about), and they are made of the most divine fabric so they are super comfy (mainly polyamide, so it’s non flammable, comfortable and with a bit of stretch for a firm fit). I also got the skinny strap tank, which is very similar to the bedtime bra, and I wear it around the house because it’s just so darn easy to wear. My sister wears hers every day instead of a bra (too much information?) because it gives enough support and has a slight hint of tummy control. If only I was petite enough to get away with that. Sigh.

Apart from my new love of their singlets, I am completely enamoured with their unmentionables. I have always been a hard and fast Bonds girl – I have every colour of the rainbow, all in the same size and cut (are we getting too personal here?) Nearly Nude do a few different cuts –hi top, hi top g, regular g, regular briefs and boy shorts. I normally hate boy shorts but man are these great! They are so soft it feels like you are wearing nothing at all. They also have a seam in them that makes them 100% wedgie proof. No kidding, Wedgie. Proof. Undies. No wedge. No butt picking. No awkward yanking. This feature alone is worth the price.

Price: Skinny Strap Tank - $45.95, Perfect Pants (boy shorts) - $24.95, Bedtime Bra - $64.95
From: Check the Nearly Nude website for stockists – they can either give you online sites of find a stockist near your postcode
Why you need it: To look after your cleavage and never have to pick your bum again!

Picture credit: nearlynude.com.au – I wish my ass looked that good!

Attention passengers!

You know I’m a bit of a nail polish person. In fact, I’m so much of a nail polish person that I have a new project in the works that I’ll let you in on soon. But in the meantime I was superpsyched to a) discover a new brand and b) be offered the chance to review their wares.

Uslu Airlines is, contrary to popular belief, not an actual airline, but a Berlin based cosmetics company who do lux cosmetics with unusual names. Their nail polish and lip gloss are imported into Australia exclusively through Honey Honey. This is kind of a big deal since this brand is stocked in places like Colette Paris and 10 Corso Como Milan. Oh la la.

Their range of nail polish colours is so schmick – toffee, aqua, raspberry, orange and a great cement grey amongst others. I tried out the awesome GNB grenoble-isere st geoirs, Bernhard Willhelm aka royal blue. It’s a strong, sophisticated blue with amazing pigment and a ridiculous amount of shine. I almost didn’t put a top coat on because it was so shiny (I did though, because even the best polish in the world needs some protection). After 4 days the colour is still really strong and glossy, and only just starting to rub on the tips (picture was taken at 3 days).

I was most impressed with the consistency of the polish and the way it brushed on. It was thick, but it spread really easily. It didn’t have a fancy brush or anything, but it covered the whole nail really well and moved around with ease. It also didn’t streak, which is unusual for a dark colour. I will admit I even got a bit clumsy with my application just to see what would happen, and it seemed to even itself out. It’s like it knows what it is supposed to do! What an obedient polish.

This gets two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me. It is definitely on the expensive side of the scale for a polish, so I suggest you pick one signature colour and use every last drop out of the bottle. You can’t go wrong with a pink, toffee or cement grey. Or a royal blue.

Price: $38.50
From: Honey Honey
Why you need it: For a strong and glossy pigmented polish that behaves itself.

UPDATE: It's now Sunday and I am taking the polish off - not because it has chipped or scratched but simply because I have had it on for almost a week. There are a few markings right at the cuticles but I'm pretty sure that's only because my nails grow at a ridiclous rate and that's just how it tried when I painted them. My nails have looked like glass all week - this gets three very enthusiastic thumbs up. That's right, THREE! I grew an extra hand just to salute this polish.

Get a little O in your Glow

Last week I got to meet the incredible Davis Factor – his resume is stupidly impressive so I’m going to list it in point form:

• Creator of Smashbox photo studios in L.A.
• One of the world’s best celebrity and fashion photographers
• Chief Creative Officer of Smashbox Cosmetics
• Great grandson of THE Max Factor (I know it’s not a resume point, but it’s kind of important)

On top of that, he is charming and affable and a great brand ambassador. You just want to hang out with him and drink cocktails at the Chateau Marmont while he tells you about all the celebs he has photographed over the years. But this is about the face slap, not the clicky-click.

Smashbox Cosmetics was created in 1996 and is a hugely successful brand in the States. I’ll be honest, I actually didn’t realise it wasn’t available here. I have a couple of Smashbox things that I love, but I always buy them at Sephora when I'm travelling in the U.S, so never noticed it wasn’t here and just assumed someone was savvy enough to import it. Boy is my face red! The good news is it’s now stocked at Kit. Nice work, Kit!

One of my favourite Smashbox products, and one of their cult favourites, is the O-Glow. It’s a blush gel that’s Intuitive Cheek Colour. This means it reacts with your skin chemistry to mimic the shade that you blush naturally. It has Goji Berry C-complex, Ginkgo Biloba and pomegranate seed in it, so it’s made from good juice, and it goes on silky smooth. It has a really weird feel to it actually – kind of reminds me of L’Oreal Studio Secrets Primer. Make sure you use the 3 finger rule when you apply this (or any blush). The area next to the nose is a no-go zone – start your blush on the third finger out from your nose. Make sure you go all the way to the hairline, too.

This intuitive colour technology has also been used in a lip gloss (O-Gloss), bronzer (O-Bronze) and lip plumper (O-Plump). You see a pattern, right? I have been using the O-Gloss and it feels like a normal lip gloss (a bit sticky but easy to wear), but it has that added bonus of just a hint of colour. Smart.

Price: O-Glow - $37.95 and O-Gloss - $32.95
From: Kit Cosmetics
Why you need it: They are fun products to use and you get a natural, gently flushed look. Perfect for winter.

I’m also using the best selling photo finish primer at the moment, so I’ll give you the 411 on that next week.

Picture credit: Kitcosmetics.com.au – I honestly tried to take pictures but I am having a shocking face day and nothing was working out right!!

Soft hair, great service and a chocolate bar

I am so very late to the Moroccanoil bandwagon, but better late than never, right? I’m still going to give you my 2 cents, because that’s the kinda girl I am. I know putting oil in your hair can seem kind of scary – my hair is so fine that the mere thought of oil makes it hide in fear of the potential limpness and lankness. Not here though. You only need a teeny tiny bit – about the size of a 5c piece warmed up in your palms – and you run it through damp hair. Ends only! It’s essentially a hair tamer made with argan oil and silicons, which are excellent for calming frizz and making hair all lovely and soft. It also helps speed up drying time, which is a blessing now that the colder weather seems to be on its way and the blow dryer is my friend again. Best bit: smells amazing. And we all know that boys are 86% more likely to prefer girls with nice smelling hair.

I ordered my Moroccanoil from Adorebeauty and I need to tell you about was how amazing their customer service is. I placed my order and it didn’t show up – a few different things I had ordered from various sites had all gone M.I.A. at the same time (I blame the mail room). After waiting impatiently by the mailbox for two weeks, I mentioned it to Adore on twitter and had an email in my inbox within 5 minutes. Impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that they had a second order out to me within 24 hours. That’s customer service, people! Naturally, my original order showed up 3 days later but all I have to do is pop it back in the post to their reply paid address. It goes without saying that I ate the chocolate that was in the parcel though. Any company that puts a chocolate in my beauty order is going to get my repeat business. Their exceptional customer service might also have something to do with it too. Thumbs up Adorebeauty – you kids are orright.

Price: $49.50
From: Adorebeauty
Why you need it: For soft, frizz-free hair. Makes it easier to get it into a plait, and we all know plaits are the look du-jour right now.

Picture credit: moroccanoil.com

Some long weekend inspiration

Happy public holiday Monday! I hope you paid the ANZACs the respect they deserve yesterday with some two-up and a beer down the RSL, and perhaps some quiet reflection. I was at home working most of the day (stop, put away your violins with those sad songs) but I did eat some Sara Lee Rocky Road ice cream, with added Starburst babies. It could have been worse.

Anyway, I was admiring the images from the Chanel Metiers D'Art Pre-Fall 2010 fashion show in Shanghai from all the way back in December (an eternity in fashion years) and thought they were just the long weekend inspiration I was looking for. The Chanel nail look was gold with black tips, which is incredibly lux and a quirky twist on a classic favourite. Lucky I had a gold polish at home already (Bling Dynasty from the OPI Hong Kong collection, as seen in Five Nails in Five Days, and, funnily enough, also posted on a public holiday) and I dug out my trusty black M.A.C in Nocturnelle. I have absolutely no idea when the three Chanel polishes from this collection hit counters (metallic gold, flakey/glitter gold and matte black) but it has just hit U.S. counters so should be here soon if it isn't already. The black looks killer and I will be wandering down to Myer to pick up a bottle, assuming they don't have a darn waiting list like every other Chanel polish.

As for the polishes I used:

Price: OPI - $19.95, M.A.C - $22
From: David Jones, M.A.C (although I don't think the M.A.C Nocturnelle polish is still available)
Why you need it: To give your nails the gilded look.

Hint: I use sticky tape to create my tips! Will do a how-to instructional in the near future.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! I have a whole heap of bits and pieces to flick through today, so let’s get to it! Think of this as a bastardised version of This Week I...

Remember my green shoes that I bought for the weddings? I am massively in love with those shoes. Anyway, I picked up the same Mimi Loves Jimi shoes but in patent black croc. They are super cool, fit perfectly and look great, but the best part is they cost me $20. Yep, $20. Thank you General Pants clearance store in Pitt St Mall and your insane buy one get one free deal. The store is only going to be there for another month, so get your skates on.

Last night I went to the launch of Smashbox Cosmetics. I am super psyched that they are finally entering the Australian market – I have been in love with one of their signature products, O-Glow, since I first bought it almost 3 years ago. In fact, I’m wearing my O-Glow today in honour of the occasion. I have a couple of their other products to try out so I’ll fill you in once I give them a good enough test drive.

I’m kind of obsessed with Nearly Nude underwear right now. I won’t take photos but I will gush profusely about them next week.

I have a bunch of awesome nail posts up my sleeve right now (stored away in the Nail Files – zing!) which I can’t wait to share with you.

Due to popular demand, I’m posting the Women’s Weekly brownie recipe below. Plenty of time on the long weekend to get some baking done! Have a good one.

125g butter, chopped coarsely
200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1¼ cups (185g) plain flour
180g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
100g milk chocolate, chopped coarsely

1 Preheat oven to 150°C fan forced. Grease and line 20cm square cake pan.
2 Stir butter and dark chocolate in large saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat, stir in sugar. Cool 15 minutes.
3 Stir in eggs, then sifted flour and then chocolate. Spread mixture evenly into pan.
4 Bake about 30 minutes. Cover hot pan tightly with foil, cool brownie in pan before cutting.

I love a happy accident!

Five different people have told me in the last week that my hair was looking particularly blonde and shiny, and isn’t it nice when its freshly coloured. This is great, except I haven’t had my hair coloured for six weeks. I figure if three’s a trend, then I should figure out exactly what it is that’s caused this sudden upsurge in compliments. To the shower!

Yep, it’s my goldwell dualsenses shampoo. This shampoo, conditioner and treatment set is one of those unsung heroes that quietly goes about its business when really it deserves a medal and maybe even a parade. One of the girls at work gave me the set a while ago (left over from a promotion I think?) and it just slotted into my shower without a second thought. I used it for ages and then when it ran out and I replaced it – isn’t it funny how something makes its way into your repertoire?! What started out as a freebie ended up becoming a household favourite, Even when I try all sorts of other brands, I always end up going back to it.

My research tells me that the Goldwell dualsenses Extra Rich range (as seen in my shower) is rich and intensive, with a brilliance technology system for extra shine. Think little usb’s and computer screens all through my hair (technology? geddit?!) I jest. It has a lychee, blackberry, watermelon and raspberry fragrance, which explains why I always want to eat it. The most important part is that it’s formulated for coloured hair. That totally explains why my hair looks freshly coloured – I was treating it without even realising!

Anyway, if your looking for ultra shiny 'I have just been to the salon’ hair, then I (accidentally) found it. Goldwell dualsenses range. Smells good.

Price: Extra Rich Shampoo, Extra Rich Conditioner and Colour Extra Rich 60sec treatment – all $20.95
From: Salons – check the Goldwell site
Why you need it: To keep your colour looking good and avoid the hairdressers chair for an extra couple of weeks.

Picture credit: Goldwell

My not-so-secret family recipe

In my opinion, one of the biggest perks of working at ACP Magazines is being in the same building as the Australian Women’s Weekly Test Kitchen. I know I have gushed about AWW cookbooks before, but I really was brought up on a diet of recipes cooked from their hallowed pages. In fact, my Nan is famous in our family for her sausage rolls and it turns out her secret recipe is from a very old AWW cookbook.

Last week, ACP employees were fortunate enough to be invited to visit the Test Kitchen and sample their wares. They fed us sausage rolls and their famous triple chocolate brownies. Ask anyone who works at ACP about these brownies and they will groan wistfully and sigh, with a far off look in their eye – these brownies are legendary! But I have successfully tackled the brownies before, and now it was all about the sausage rolls.

The recipe itself is pretty straightforward, but the construction was a bit more fiddly than I expected. The recipe says you should use disposable gloves to mix the mixture, but if you, like me, don’t keep a pair handy at home, then whack a freezer bag on the hand and secure it with a hair elastic. Rudimentary, but it does the trick. The hardest part was piping the mixture onto the pastry. The easiest part was eating them when they came out of the oven.

The recipe is part of the new Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking School cookbook. I had a flick through the book and was massively impressed. I won’t be buying it because I am on a self imposed cookbook buying ban (I own over 50 cookbooks already), but it’s the kind of thing I would buy as a Mother’s Day, housewarming, engagement or wedding gift. In fact, I have a housewarming coming up that this will be perfect for! Well done, me. Tick another errand off the to-do list.

Price: $75
From: Bookstores and some newsagents
Why you need it: Everything you could ever need to know about cooking in one place

As a bonus, I’m going to give you guys the sausage roll recipe. Let me know if you try it!

500g sausage mince
500g beef mince
1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons bbq sauce
½ cup stale breadcrumbs
1 egg
6 sheets puff pastry
1 egg, extra

1 Preheat oven 200ºC fan-forced. Coat two oven trays with cooking oil spray, cover with baking paper.
2 Use disposable gloves for mixing with your hands (or a bag on your hand, if you want to get all primitive like me). Combine minces, onion, parsley, paste, sauce, breadcrumbs and egg in large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into large piping bag, make a mess all over the bench. Curse your clumsiness.
3 Cut each sheet of pastry in half. Pipe meat along one long edge, brush pastry with extra egg, roll firmly, enclosing each long sausage.
4 Cut each roll into six bite-sized rolls, place on trays about 2cm apart. Brush rolls with extra egg, stab a hole in each roll with a sharp pointed knife. Congratulate self.
5 Bake rolls for about 30 minutes, turn and/or rotate trays after 15 minutes for even browning. Stand rolls 10 minutes before serving with tomato sauce. Congratulate self again.

This recipe makes 4 baking trays of sausage rolls. You can always freeze half of them at the end of step 3, before you chop them into bite sized pieces.

Picture credit: randomhouse.com.au

Chocolate of the sea

Ever since I enjoyed a dessert of salted dark chocolate at a restaurant last year I have been fantasising about this glorious combination. Chocolate and salt sounds crazy but it really really works. Truly. It’s a combination of salty, sweet and bitter that dances across the tongue and tickles three different tastebud zones at once. Magic.

I read on one of the foodie blogs a couple of weeks ago that Lindt had launched a 100g block of Excellence Dark Chocolate with a Touch of Sea Salt. I literally started salivating the second I read it, then I started stalking the Lindt account on twitter for details. Ah twitter, is there nothing we can’t stalk.

Apparently it is available in Priceline, but I couldn’t find it in the stores I visited. I did however find it at the Lindt Café (well duh) AND when I went to buy it they had buy two bars get one free. It was pretty much the greatest day ever.

I am pleased to say it is just as amazing as I imagined. Ten squares of classic Lindt dark chocolate with punchy bursts of sea salt that slap you in the tastebuds and then slither across your tongue. Oh yeah…

Price: $4.70
From: Lindt Café, Priceline
Why you need it: To experience the culinary wonder of sweet and salty. I promise you’ll like it (and if you don’t, feel free to come back and yell at me.)

Picture credit: lindtusa.com

I have a confession to make

My name is Elise and I'm a concealaholic.



Price: $68
From: Benefit
Why you need it: This is a fabulous edit of all of Benefit's best face products - you'll be flawless and glowy in no time!

What's the time, Mr. Wolf?

There’s nothing like a new purchase on a Thursday night to get the weekend off to a good start. Boyfriend and I popped up to Bondi Westfield to exchange a bag he bought recently at Fossil, and while I was waiting for him to do the exchange paperwork (you have to give them your life story just do a simple swap these days) I wandered over to the watch cabinet. Minutes later I was buying a watch. How did that happen?!

Actually I had been considering a new watch for a couple of weeks (the band on my current timepiece was held together with superglue) but I had been looking at subtle silver. Instead I picked out this really cool sport-luxe chunky white beauty. It has a big face and a fat band in this weird silicon material. It looks like the silicon will mark easily on the underside of the wrist, but I’m only really concerned about the face.

Not much else to say really. I won’t keep you; I’m sure you’re busy since it’s Friday and all.

Oh wait! Yes there is more to say! Shout out to the staff at Fossil Bondi Westfield for being super-awesome and playing my favourite Frou Frou song. Also, What's The Time Mr. Wolf was my favourite game in primary school; Whats The Time Mr. Wolf > Bullrush because no one got hurt. Ok, you can go now.

Price: $169
From: Fossil
Why you need it: So you can tell the time (and date, and day of the week – fancy)

Can I per-suede you?

Ooh la la! So chic! I was talking about the new OPI Suede polish on twitter last week and it seems like lots of you are interested in it! Being the good citizen I am, I tried out two different colours in a whole host of ways - no base, with base, with colour base, with top, without top...there was lots of painting and repainting while sitting in front of the TV.

OPI Suede comes in 6 colours and I tried two of them - Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees (deep blue-grey) and You Don't Know Jacques (the so-hot-it-hurts taupe). It also comes in Russian Navy (deep-sea indigo), Lincoln Park After Dark (dark purple meets midnight), OPI Ink (violet-blue) and We'll Always Have Paris (coffee-plum, very tasty). These are all existing OPI colours that have been given a make-over (or suede-over. so clever!)

First up I painted on You Don't Know Jacques (YDKJ) without any base or top coat. It has a really cool chalky texture which is very similar to matte polish but even more exaggerated. Without any top or base though, it chipped within 12 hours.

Next up I did Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees (SSITP) with and without a top coat. The nails without a topcoat chipped pretty easily, but the ones with a topcoat stayed chip free and ready to party. However, it changed the look and feel of the polish - it took away the texture and made it shiny, which in turn made it look more like a glitter polish. I quite liked the shiny look though, and will definitely add it to my repertoire, even though that wasn't really the intended purpose.

I think I may have figured this out though - YDKJ with a base coat seems to be the winner. It maintains the suede effect and texture but there is definitely less chipping, although still some rubbing on the edges. I actually did a finger with a coat of regular YDKJ first but it didn't change the look or colour at all, so I think regular base coat should be sufficient. I'm up to day three now with only one small rub so far.

I really adore the effect these polishes give off, even though they're a bit painful. You have to make sure you shake the bottle every couple of fingers to keep the polish thick, otherwise the suede sediment settles at the bottom of the bottle and it becomes thin and watery. Definitely a fun trend though, and one I will be pulling out for big occasions this winter (and day to day with a top coat).

Price: $19.95
From: David Jones
Why you need it: Suede polish IS a fun trend. Suede polish IS NOT an easy trend to maintain. Suede polish IS an attention seeking compliment thief. Suede polish IS NOT very tasty.

Spreading some hope

I'm going to put my serious hat on (again! I know!) and talk about The Butterfly Foundation for a minute. They are an amazing organisation who do great work helping Australians with eating disorders. I myself have never been affected by an eating disorder, but body image is a huge deal in my industry (magazines) and it's something that is on my mind every day. I will very shamefully admit that a potential cover came through yesterday and the first thing I thought when I looked at it was 'her arm looks fat'. Why would I think that!? Her arm wasn't even fat but it was my gut reaction, ahead of straplines, colours or even the celebrities face. My male boss was horrified and I was ashamed. Ten Hail Mary's for me.

Fortuitous timing then that I popped into Sportsgirl at lunch to buy a pair of shoes (which I didn't buy - either the Sportsgirl sizing system has changed or my feet have grown). I noticed The Butterfly Foundaton had some new jewellery on the counter and my bowerbird instincts kicked in. Ever since Sportsgirl became a corporate sponsor of The Butterfly Foundation in 2007 (high five, Sportsgirl) I have been wearing a Butterfly Foundation string bracelet around my wrist. Every time I look at it, it reminds me to let my body issues go and be a little more forgiving on myself. It also reminds me that I should probably buy another one as it's looking a bit tatty.

How amazing is the hope ring (statement, not question). It's dainty and delicate, but powerful in its message. As for the silver bracelet with the charm, well, that's just plain cool (and will stack perfectly with my other silver hardware). Sportsgirl have a beautiful range of Butterfly Foundation merchandise. It always sits on the counter, it's insultingly cheap (I felt like I ripped them off ) and it's for a wonderful cause.

Price: Ring $5 (OMG!) Bracelet $7
From: Sportsgirl
Why you need it: You get to look cool, feel virtuous and hopefully help a young Aussie in need. Hugs all 'round.

The Steam Dream - VS Sassoon Goddess

Aiight…I know I mentioned last week that I had tried the VS Sassoon Goddess Conditioning Ionic Steam Straightener as part of the Primped VIP Club and I wasn’t that impressed with it. I figure I should give you a better explanation and then you can make up your own mind (I swear I can be serious business sometimes!)

The Goddess Straightener is a clunky, chunky beast. I found it very heavy to use, but I am used to using a GHD that is a lot lighter (and I’m sadly lacking in the arm muscle department). The silver tourmaline ceramic plates have variable heat for various types of hair, with a retractable comb in the plates. The comb bit I liked, as you need to comb hair while straightening for best results. The varying heat of the plates is also good in theory, but you need to read the instruction manual very carefully to understand what you’re doing – there is quite a difference between 170 and 230 degrees, and you don’t want to mess that up!

One of the other selling points is the steam. You have to fill up the reservoir, which is kind of fiddly. I also found it very disconcerting having a heavy appliance hissing and fizzing whilst so close to my head. It reminded me of ironing my friends hair circa 2001, her bent down over the ironing board, me taking to her locks like I was ironing my undies. I think the steam was the biggest problem for me – it made my hair all sticky and straw-like, and then completely dried it out like beef jerky. What you need to remember is I have very fine hair that has been blonded on the ends with balayage, so my hair is fragile to begin with. My flatmate has been using the straightener, and as she said the other day, she finds it easy to use because she can straighten large chunks quickly. She has very very thick, dark hair and loves that she only needs to do a once over to get it straight.

Just on the once over thing, the press release talks about it being more effective than GHD with a one stroke pass, but I only ever do one stroke with my GHD. Again, shows how fine my hair is.

My conclusion is that it is great for thick hair (I got that impression from reading all the reviews on Primped) but not so great for fine hair. It is also purely a straightener - the shape of the plates means you can’t do curls (bummer) and you need muscles to keep it up. It’s a lot more hard work than a GHD, but it’s also $100 cheaper.

Price: $199.95
From: Department stores and electrical appliance shops (I think I saw them in Harvey Norman a couple of weeks ago?)
Why you need it: It would probably be a worthwhile investment if you have thick, dark hair and are looking for a straightener that just straightens.

Picture credit: VS Sassoon

When you're running late...

Last wedding post for a while, I promise. My dear friend got married in Mollymook on Friday, which required an early start and a long drive from us. This might not have seemed like a big deal, except I was in charge of picking up the flowers and delivering them safely to the church, the bride and the groom. Yeah, important. Even more important since Boyfriend and I are ALWAYS late, and Friday was no exception. Wedding started at 3 and we didn’t do the first drop off until 2. Sorry photographer, you’ll just have to wait! Naturally I was in my comfy pants and thongs, with my hair all over the place and nothing more than moisturiser on my face. High five, me.

Thankfully, earlier in the week I had been sent a Miette Beauty pack and looking at it was seriously a ‘why didn’t I think of this before’ moment. Jessica, the smart cookie at Miette Beauty, has created special packs like Wheels to Heels and Boardroom to Bar, with all the essentials you would in theory have stashed in your handbag/glove box/desk drawer, but they are never there when you need them.

So we didn’t get to our motel until 2:30 and a 3pm ceremony meant I had 15 minutes for hair, makeup and dress. This meant I had to do a lot of prep in the car on the move. The Miette pack had bandaids (for blister prevention on my feet), moisturiser (for my dry air con hands), Pond’s cleansing wipes (for pre-makeup prep), lip balm, comb, tampons, deodorant (winner!) and these cool little breath mint wipes, which you slip onto your finger and brush your teeth with. A quick wipe over the hands with the wet ones and I was ready to go.

Moral of the story? When your friend trusts you to do something really important, make sure you leave the house on time. And always keep a Miette Beauty pack in the car just in case.

Price: $24.95
From: Miette Beauty
Why you need it: The ultimate In Case Of Emergency. Break glass, grab bag, ready to go.

Picture credit: Miette Beauty

Just like magic

If we are friends on facebook or you follow me on twitter you might know that I have been whinging and moaning the last few days about my spray tan. It looked amazing last week, but, as they do, it has gone a bit patchy. This means time to scrub it off, except mine is Refusing to budge with a capital R. This wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t going to a wedding today but, gosh darn, I am. (Congratulations Amy!)

My very patient beauty therapist Mel at Fifty Four Park helped me with damage control and hooked me up with a product called Magic Peeling. It’s an exfoliating glove that you use in the shower and the dead skin just rolls off. It would be disgusting if it wasn’t so cool.

You need to soak in the shower for about 5 minutes then you slip the mitt on and rub up and down. No soap, no body wash, no circular motions. Pretty simple. It’s made from a soft cellulose fibre so it just feels like you’re rubbing your arms and legs with a soft piece of fabric. Just like that. I am pleased to report I am now patchy-tan-free on all the important (aka visible) parts and ready to stand up in front of a church full of people.

Price: $50 (give or take)
From: I bought mine from Fifty Four Park – they aren’t widely distributed, but I have found them on GirlyEssentials and a stockist list on Feggari (looks like Price Attack stocks it). Check out the Magic Peeling website for more info.
Why you need it: To scrub off your dirty old fake tan and get rid of all your dead skin for a lovely glow.

Picture credit: girlyessentials.com.au

Cool as a cucumber

Someone asked me last week how I could possibly try every single product I write about. I think that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? I have three heads.

Ha! As if. I only have two. But I do try every product I write about. I don’t just wake up in the morning and think ‘I might like to write about this today’. Oh no. I generally make sure I use everything for a minimum of three weeks so that I can give a fair and honest assessment before I commit my opinion to the internet. I will be honest and say that I don’t necessarily pay for everything I try (and thank you to the PR companies who keep me in the loop with new product launches, because I love being in the know) but I won’t review a product just for the sake of it. I only review stuff if I like the product and think you want to hear about (and I mention if it was a purchase or sample).

This all started because I was telling her about the new Olay Total Effects moisturiser with Cooling Essence that I was trying out and enjoying much more than I thought I would. I love a good gimmick and I figured the Cooling Essence would just be their regular cream with an added something. Turns out that added something was mint extract and cool water. I loved it.

I have been meaning to try one of the other Olay creams (Regenerist) for a very long time but I always think of it at the wrong time (like, not when I’m at Priceline). After using this cream, I feel like this is probably a solid indication that a) Olay rocks and b) I should definitely be buying more of their face creams. My skin has been wonderfully hydrated, the cream is a joy to rub on and it’s nice and hygienic with a pump top (I always feel icky sticking my fingers in jars, don’t you?)

Price: $32.49
From: Supermarkets and Priceline
Why you need it: It’s a cheap but effective high quality moisturiser. Plus the Cooling Essence is a nice refresher on those hard-to-get-going mornings.

Picture credit: Olay

(Insert pun about luscious lips)

Stupid change of weather means a change in air conditioning, more wind, rain and basically all the ingredients for dry skin. I loathe autumn for this reason (but I do love the leaves turning, so it’s almost ok). Dry lips is an extension of dry skin and I was most cranky last week when my lips went nutso because I needed them to be all lovely and smooth for my lipstick-wearing occasion.

Lucky for me, the Nougat London Luscious Lip Collection landed on my desk the other week, which is kickass-awesome for knocking chapped evilness on its ass. It’s a set of three lovely little silver tubs: lip balm, lip polish and lip treatment. It’s pretty obvious what you do with the lip balm (you clean your car with it, duh), so I won’t teach you to suck eggs, which, by the way, is a horrible expression and I don’t care that it came from the 1500’s. The lip polish is gently exfoliating, with little grainy bits to scrub away the dry skin, and the lip treatment is like the lip balm but on steroids, perfect for an overnight treatment. Note: The best way to get the scrub working was to warm the tub up between my hands for a minute to warm it up to soften it slightly.

The Collections come in two flavours – sugared fig and sweet rose. I have been using the sugared fig and it is just delicious. I love that it’s an unusual flavour; I don’t recall ever using a fig lip balm before but by jove it’s tasty (that’s me, surreptitiously eating lip balm in the corner). It works, too. My lips scrubbed up nicely (zing) and definitely helped keep my lippie in place on the weekend.

Edit: Kat has been trying the sweet rose set, and while she agreed on the balm, she wasn't so sure about the flavour. She said it had a kind of potpourri vibe.

Price: $39.95 for the box set of three
From: David Jones and some chemists (the fancy ones that sell cool stuff)
Why you need it: The banish the autumn flakys.

Picture credit: Nougat London - Sweet Rose pictured

The power of twitter

I was having a whinge on twitter the other week because a hair styling tool I had been sent to review for the Primped VIP club had absolutely fried my hair and it needed help, fast! As an aside, I was reviewing the VS Sassoon Goddess Ionic Conditioning Steam Straightener and I was not impressed one little bit. I’m torn as to whether to review it here or not, because on one hand it would be a negative-ish review and I try to be positive, but on the other I don’t want anyone spending $200 to ruin their hair like mine was. Please let me know what you think.

Anyway, I was publicly lamenting my dry and angry hair when the fairy godmothers from Terax stepped in and sent me their lovely hair products to try. Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment and Serum – high five, Terax!

The Collagene shampoo with soy protein (strengthening and repair) and quince seed (moisturising) is specially designed for dry to brittle hair (that's me!). At first I wasn’t sure about the scent of it, but I think I am so conditioned to think that shampoo = fruit or flowers that it took me a little while to adjust. It smells kind of like coconut, so I can deal.

The Life Drops are a leave in protein conditioner (there’s that silk protein again), and it’s also for strength and softness. The Gloss is a finishing serum with vitamin E designed to make hair shiny and tame random flyaways. My advice is don’t use both the Life Drops and Gloss at the same time – one or the other only, because otherwise hair becomes too heavy and lank. Lank is not what we are going for.

The real hero product though is the Original Crema conditioner. This baby has won all sorts of awards and accolades because it is GOOD. It’s a hardworking conditioner that meets all the claims it makes – detangling, elasticity, reducing static buildup and banishing frizziness. Leave it in for 2 minutes for regular conditioning or for 15 minutes as a treatment. If you want to go real hardcore, wrap your head in cling wrap (hair only, not face). I will admit I tried to do this and failed pretty dismally, but not everyone is as clumsy as me.

I give the Terax range two very enthusiastic thumbs up. The only positive that came out of using that nasty tool is that I was introduced to the Terax range and my hair is in better condition now than it was before.

Price: Shampoo – $24.95 (355mL) Conditioner – $29.95 (200mL) Serum – $24.95 (30mL) Treatment – $29.95 (200mL)
From: Adorebeauty, David Jones
Why you need it: To give dry, brittle hair the flick. Silky and smooth is the name of the game.

Picture credit: teraxhaircare.com.au

Chocfest 2010

Happy Easter my lovelies!

No updates until Tuesday. You may recall I am going to a wedding today (did I mention it? I may have mentioned it once or twice recently) so I'm taking a well earned break tomorrow, as should you. Be sure to eat as much chocolate as humanly possible today. You can exercise some other time.

By the way, I made those cupcakes. It was a $3 packet job (Coles brand) and they turned out perfectly. I love the little choc rocks on top - they feel kind of fun and easter-y without being eggs. Don't you agree?

Havagoodone! x

I've got my eye on you

If I’m doing bold lips, then I need to do muted eyes, right? I found the perfect duo palette, which means only needing to carry one eyeshadow in my purse. Bad news – there is no brush in the palette. But I can deal with that.

It’s the Kuala Lumpur duo from the new Nars Spring 2010 collection (American spring, natch) and it is soft and sexy. My ‘everyday eye’ is gold/bronze/brown, so I feel like I’m in my comfort zone with this lovely wash of rose gold all over the lid. However, it’s not all browns – I’m doing the outer corners of the eyes with the boysenberry side. Talk about living on the edge.

I had considered wetting the shadows to give them a deeper, more striking colour, but a softer wash means I will look polished without being OTT. Agree? Nars shadows are a) really good quality and b) highly pigmented, so a light wash literally means a light wash and you still get colour.

ALSO I am putting a couple of false lashes on the outside corners. I have some KIT individual lashes and I bought the DUO adhesive from MAC, which is apparently the best one on the market, according to the Governing Body of Fake Eyelash Glue (or GBFEG for short). I have only used it once so far, so give me another couple of goes and I’ll keep you posted.

If you have any other suggestions, I’m always open. Unless it involves kittens and merry-go-rounds, and then I’m out because that has nothing to do with eyeshadow.

Price: $78
From: Mecca Cosmetica
Why you need it: For a neutral eye that isn’t your same old brown. Spice it up! Mix it around! (yeah, go from one neutral eye to another...such a rebel, Elise)