Exfoliate with Kate, or ExfoliKate

Did you think I was just being a smart ass with the header? Well, it's the name of the product, so ner.

You know, it's not really fair that I even make this post since it's a product that isn't available in Australia at all (please prove me wrong though. My email address is on the right hand side of the page).

Kate Somerville is a skincare GENIUS. She is well respected in the beauty biz for developing the Skin Health Pyramid and developing her own range of products that she uses on her celebrity clients in her very exclusive Melrose Place clinic (I wonder if she knows Dr Michael and Amanda?).

Kate has dozens of products in her range, but the one in particular that I can't live without (big call) is ExfoliKate☺ Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (yes, it has the smiley face in the brand name). This is the signature product that she uses for her facials. Since ExfoliKate☺is an intensive exfoliating treatment (hence the name), I only use it once or twice a week. It's full of fruit enzymes, which tingle away to remove dead skin and eliminate bacteria and blackheads, while also polishing skin to give a healthy, dewy glow. No kidding, my skin always looks AMAZING after I use this. You rub it in for about 20 seconds and then leave it to do its thang for another 30-60 seconds. I have pretty sensitive skin too, so some scrubs are total chaos for me, but I have never had a problem with this one.

Sadly, you need to wait til your best friend/sister/neighbour/work colleague next goes to America so they can grab it for you, and it is a little exxy, but you use the tiniest amount that I have been sitting on my current tube for months (and ran out last week...timing!)

Price: USD$85 for 60ml or USD$175 for 150ml
From: Sephora, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus
Why you need it: Healthy, dewy skin is never out of fashion

Picture credit: Katesomerville.com

Add some sparkle to your life

You know what really sucks about travelling? Jet lag. You spend the first couple of days of your holiday trying to shake that fuzzy-headed feeling and then when you get home it's hard to enjoy your post holiday glow when you don't know your head from your ass (or maybe that's just me...).

There are lots of ways to beat jet lag (or JL, as the cool kids call it). Obviously if you take a night flight (as I just did), you try and sleep as much as you can. But when you leave Sydney at 7pm and get to your destination at 4am Sydney time, you end up just a little thrown out. Seriously though, I'm in Hawaii. I don't have time to sleep (nap by the pool notwithstanding). I have always been a believer in vitamins and health supplements, so I'm bouncing back by giving myself a goodness injection (which is different to a literal injection; less needles).

FSparkle is a vitamin, mineral and herb supplement designed to boost your energy levels and give your eyes that rude shade of health you often get from relaxing on a desert island. Each little tablet is loaded with vitamins (heaps of the B group), electrolytes (which I know are good from watching sports drink ads) and herbs (like green tea which is ace, and 3 different kinds of ginseng). If you want to get technical and study the ingredient list, they are all listed on their website. Me? I just know they make me feel great. They come in a cute little box that looks like a packet of teabags (looks cute on your desk? tick) and each sachet has 2 tablets in it, which is just the right amount to go with a huge glass of water.

Price: $20 for a box of 20
From: Pulse Pharmacy and other chemists and health food stores
Why you need it: A bit of sparkle and energy? Yes please.

Picture credit: fsparkle.com

Travel in Naked style

If you have travelled in the last year or so, you know what a P.I.T.A. (pain in the ass) it is getting your 30ml liquids into your ziploc bag. I can totally see the point of the exercise, but a ziploc bag is not stylish. I did a 4 week trip last year that involved going through security 7 times, and after the first week my ziploc bag was all yucky and tattered and it eventually tore and couldnt contain my 30ml bottles anymore and...sigh...unglam. Unglam, my friends.

So slightly changing the subject (bear with me, this is going somewhere), have you seen those Borne Naked handbag liners? They are a plastic organiser that slips into your handbag and keeps all your essentials accessible and in order (phone ringing and can't find the damn thing? and where are those keys!!). You would probably recognise the Borne Naked range if you saw them because of the awesome pin-up girl packaging. Delicious.

So, finally making my way to my point, Borne Naked are now doing a smaller sized bag, a.k.a. Baby Borne, which is the right dimensions for travelling. So of course it is perfect for me as I'm going overseas today (hear that? it's the sound of me rubbing it in). One of the other things I love is since it is plastic, I can just wipe it out clean when my deodorant pops with the in-flight pressure and makes a mess everywhere (yes, this has happened to me before. Twice).

Pros: it will last longer than a ziploc bag; it can be wiped clean; it keeps my documents and personal affects neat and tidy; it looks glam

Cons: you can write on ziploc bags in permanent marker

Price: $24.95 for the small size, $29.95 for medium (handbag size) and $34.95 for the large size (tote bag or beach bag)
From: Hart & Heim or any of the other stockists listed on the website
Why you need it: I figure if you look stylish going through airport security, they are less likely to think you are a terrorist. Yes?

Picture credit: Borne Naked

Get liquored with lychee!

Bottom's up! The bar closest to my workplace is currently serving Paraiso Bliss as the cocktail of the month and YUM! Also known as a Midori Bliss, this tasty treat is Paraiso lychee liqueur, Midori melon liqueur, orange juice and cranberry juice. You know that yummy Golden Circle breakfast juice? It tastes just like that. Which is of course dangerous when you are consuming alcoholic beverages. When it tastes good and doesn't taste like alcohol, you can consume far too much (not that I have done that...erm).

The recipe, if you are that way inclined, is as follows:

30ml Midori

30ml Paraiso Lychee Liqueur

45ml orange juice

45ml cranberry juice
Build over ice

No mixers, shakers or fancy glasses required. Talk about idiot-proof!

Everyone knows about Midori (I assume you've seen the Welcome to Greenland ads?), but Paraiso isn't as well known. Definitely one you should hunt down before summer. Lychee is the perfect flavour for warmer weather so I'm predicting big things! Can you imagine Lychee liqueur over ice with cranberry or pineapple juice? Drool...

Price: Paraiso - $35-40 depending on where you purchase
From: Dan Murphy's, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars or First Choice. Your local grog shop can also order it in.
Why you need it: So that you can pretend summer is already here (or if you live in Qld, that may well be the case)

Picture credit: Suntory Australia

Fruitylicious fingers!!

You know what I did on my lunchbreak today? I ate a salad, bought a Travel Ten bus ticket and spent $75 on nail polish. What's so special about that? Well, a Travel Ten saves you 10% on the price of bus travel! Ha! I kid. It was a really great salad though (poached chicken...and I added some pear for extra zing).

So the nail polish thing...Revlon released their brand new super shiny, fruity, delicious range of limited edition nail polishes today. So what? People put out new nail polishes all the time? Dude! These are scented! Remember those smelly textas you had as a kid? Like that, but way more grown up.

There are 8 different colours and they come in packs of 3 (which means I have two of 1 colour, but I can deal with that). The packs are valued at $41.85 but save your pesos, because they are retailing for $24.95. Get in super-quick though, because they are li.mi.ted e.dit.ion.

Each set is themed; Sweet Treats, which is Coconut Crush (pearly white), Sublime Strawberry (girly pink with a hint of glitter) and Raspberry Rapture (kick ass raspberry pink); Fruit Salad, which is Mad About Mango (coral), Pretty in Papaya (an orange-y pink) and Mon Cherry (cerise-y cherry) and finally Berry Burst, which is Raspberry Rapture (as before), Passionate Fruit (vivid purple) and Not So Blueberry (pearly purple with blue tones).The scents should be pretty self explanatory from the names (like Pretty in Papaya would totally smell like chocolate...). The nail polishes don't smell in the bottle, oh no. Take a whiff and you get a nostril full of regular old nail polish stink. But as soon as the brush hits your nail the fragrance is released. Right now my nails are a rainbow of colours and each time I move my fingers close to my face I catch a whiff of fruity goodness.

I'll be honest - I have no idea how long the fragrance lasts. But I do know that you can smell the polish through a top coat. The weirdest thing about scented nail polish? People smelling your fingers.

Price: $24.95 for a set of 3 (with 3 sets in all)
From: Priceline
Why you need them: To inject some fruity fun into your life with some tropical summer colours (to match this weird summer weather we are having?)

Picture credit: the greatest photographer in the world...me

Do you live on Avenue Q?

This isn't totally new so I almost wasn't going to post this. Almost. I just can't stop raving about Avenue Q. It was simply hilarious, heartwarming and fun fun fun. Think of it as Sesame Street all grown up. It's a mix of muppet puppets and humans living on the fictional Avenue Q in an outer borough of New York City. It is also full of "very adult themes" so not appropriate for the kiddies (don't let the puppets fool you).

Loosely based on some of Sesame Streets original residents (Bert & Ernie, Cookie Monster, Prairie Dawn...), the residents of Avenue Q are in their 20s and dealing with life issues like finding their purpose (hard to do with a B.A. in english) and relationships. Some of the most well known songs include 'The Internet is for Porn', 'Everyone's A Little Bit Racist', 'It Sucks to be Me' and 'If You Were Gay'. I have had 'The Internet is for Porn' stuck in my head alllllll day.

I was so impressed by the cast as well. For the puppeteers, not only do they voice the character, but they also control the puppets mouth and movements and then become an extension of the puppet and act themselves. Michala Banas (McLeod's Daughters) is so super cute and loveable as Kate Monster, and boy can she sing! Honestly though, the show belongs to Mitchell Butel who plays Princeton and Rod. He is on stage 90%+ of the show and is so animated and engaging that I think I fell a little bit in love with him. Just don't tell my boyfriend.

Price: from $64.90 or $44.90 for students/seniors on weekdays (more on Fridays and Saturdays)
From: ticketek.com.au
More details: Theatre Royal in Sydney until Sep 20 and then 20 Nov - 20 Dec in WA (prices vary)
Why you need to see it: It's funny and great with catchy tunes. You will laugh out loud and have the songs stuck in your head, which is always the mark of a great night out.

Picture credit: avenueqthemusical.com.au

Lindt-y goodness and vice versa

Do you remember Vice Versas chocolates? I have searched high and low (aka: youtube) for a copy of the ad, but it seems I'm out of luck. It was a catchy tune "they're brown, they're white, they're brown, they're white, no no, they're brown, they're white, they're brown, they're white...they're brown, they're white, they're brown, they're white". That's some advertising genius right there. Anyway, they were amazing little chocolates; like giant m&m's with a milk shell and a white filling and then vice versa (white shell, milk filling). Is there anything better than mixing milk and white chocolate? As a fan of Top Deck, I say no.

So imagine my sheer and utter delight that Lindt are now doing a Lindt Ball that is milk on the outside with that special gooey Lindt ball filling of white chocolate on the inside. Imagine!! So good. The white balls always seem to be smooth and soft on the inside, while sometimes the milk and dark go harder in cold weather. Do you find that?

This is a limited edition line (although how limited is limited?). The box is a pastel green and the wrappers on the balls are a minty green with little flowers. Tres cute.

Price: $12
From: Supermarkets
Why you need them: They are so so yum! They would probably make a great gift, but that's assuming you don't eat them all before you gave them away.

Picture credit: lindt.com.au

I run this town B**ch

I'm only posting this because I LOVE Rihanna (and want the necklace she wears in this clip)

Jay-Z - Run This Town feat. Rihanna and Kanye West



Price: $2.19
From: iTunes
Why you need it: it's a HOT track (do I sound 15? I feel 15 describing something as hot. Whatever. Just go and download it)

I heart Marc Jacobs

Truly. I heart Marc Jacobs. Me and MJ...we're tight.

This is definitely one of the most exciting purchases I have made in a while. (Fickle? Me?) Every season Marc by Marc Jacobs puts out a seasonal collection catalogue and a tote bag with it. So you get to own a Marc by MJ tote for cheapsies! I have been toting (ha) around my Spring/Summer 2008 tote for aaaaaages (the black and white one on the left). I use it to carry my lunch, haul my gym gear and even as a handbag every now and then. So SUPER EXCITEMENT +++ that the new 2009 Fall/Winter collection magazine with tote bag is now available. It really doesn't matter to me that 95% of the magazine is in Japanese (that's the mag just below with the flowers on it). So what? The pictures are pretty. It's their most recent ads, the new collection, pics and bios of the M by MJ staff and some other stuff which I'm sure is very interesting. Total visual fashion porn. On that note, let's make this post less about words and more about pictures.

The bag itself is black canvas with a cute apple and heart pattern and an inside pocket (see just above on the right). It's bigger than the previous bag I had too, so will be beach appropriate as well as gym, shopping and generally just being awesome.

Honestly, where else could you buy Marc by Marc Jacobs so cheaply?!


Price: $29.68 (yes...68c)
From: Kinokuniya (so 10% off if you have a K card)
Why you need it: for the Marc by Marc Jacobs tote! Oh, and I'm sure it's an awesome read if you can read Japanese.

Picture credit: my Canon Ixus 85IS and awesome skillz (yes, skillz with a z)

Currently looking forward to...

• Jurlique Love Balm - I love a multi-purpose balm
  
• Clinique Almost Powder Makeup - I'm normally a liquid girl, but I can't wait to give this a crack
• Mama Mia by Mia Freedman - It comes out the day I leave for my trip so I have to make sure I get my copy in time to read on the plane
  
• ExfoliKate by Kate Somerville - the problem with being addicted to a product you can't buy in Australia is the depression you have to deal with when you run out, but thankfully...
  
• Going to Hawaii next week

It's the little things that keep you going sometimes☺

War and Peace? No. Wall and Piece.

How much do you know about art? I'll be honest...I don't know my impressionists from my surrealists, but I know what I like and I can appreciate talent and passion. My walls are a mixture of photos I have taken myself, a canvas I painted, some vintage and retro posters and an art print that I couldn't tell you how it was done but I know it looks great on my wall. One of my favourite forms of art, and something that is sadly lacking from said walls, is street art. And of course the ultimate in street art is Banksy.

I'm not going to give you a lesson who Banksy is (not many people truly know) or what he does. I'm not great with art writing...I get the heebie jeebies because my year 8 art teacher hated me and thus made me hate writing about art. Weird, I know. But suffice to say Banksy is the man who spurned a thousand copy-cat street stencilers. His work is witty, creative and always has an underlying commentary on political or social issues. Essentially, his work is still illegal (it is "vandalism" after all) and yet he raises property prices and brightens communities with his work. The ultimate paradox; he fights establishment and yet publishes his book through Random House.

Anyway, Wall and Piece is a fabulous coffee table book. A complete, comprehensive collection of Banksy's catalogue from all over the world with commentary that gives you an insight into how his mind works.

Price: $40.95
From: Borders
Why you need it: To be inspired and astonished. Although hopefully not enough to go out and illegally vandalise a building yourself. That's probably not the best idea.

Picture credit: borders.com.au

Current Obsession - Sequins

Can I just say...well duh. I am insanely attracted to anything shiny. It could be a disease. My piece of the season is a LIFEwithBIRD singlet with some really unusual black laser square sequins on the chest (more on the amazing LIFEwithBIRD collection some other time) but right now I'll take anything with a bit of a shine and a flash of colour. In fact, inspired by the LIFEwithBIRD singlet (and while I am saving up to buy it), I went to Photios Bros on Druitt St in the city and bought a few bags of sequins to embellish a couple of singlets I bought the other week that were lacking in personality. You don't even need sewing skills to put sequins on things - buy a bottle of Gem-Tac and stick them down like I did. You can get sequins in all sorts of shapes and colours so you will no doubt find something. Plus, going to Photios Bros is like stepping into Olivanders Wand Shop in Diagon Alley (yes, that's a Harry Potter reference). Photios is this amazing old store that has been on Druitt St since the 1950s (it's a family business that started in 1920) and is an integral part of the fashion industry throughout Australia. They shut for lunch between 1-2 and you usually have to wait because they are always busy but it is worth it. I remember going to Photios as a kid to pick out crystals to put on my dancing costumes. Memories. Speaking of crystals, they stock a HUGE range of stick on and sew on crystals of varying qualities and colours (over 60 colours, regular and AB!). I bought some crystals to bling out my sisters phone - sure, phone bling might be so 3 years ago but that isn't up for discussion right now.

Price: sequins from $5.50 depending on size and colour (the black laser are from $6.50); Gem-Tac is $9.50
From: Photios Bros - 66 Druitt Sydney
Why you need them: to add a bit of sparkle to your day

Picture credit: photiosbros.com.au