How *not* to DIY sauna steam experience

The hot babes from Lush sent me some stuff to try out last week and I was all 'awesome, I love Lush! Their stuff kicks ass'. Cos their stuff does kick ass. I know their stores can be a little overwhelming to visit because there are so many strong scents, but their products are so unique and creative, and way friendly to the environment.

One of the things they sent me was a Token To The Forest Gods Sauna Tab and, me being me, instead of reading the instructions I decided I would use the product how I saw fit. This didn't quite go to plan.

Lush recommend you drop the tab in the water of your finnish sauna, because who doesn't have one of those. However, if you live in reality, you use it as a steam toner by dropping it in a bowl of hot water and steaming your face with the beautiful grapefruit, orange and neroli oils - the ultimate pick me up.

Me? I turned my shower onto super scalding hot, threw the tab on the ground, turned the shower down and stepped into the steam. It worked, kind of. I sat down in the shower to be closer to the fizzing action, and my shower was definitely infused with the fresh zing, but I feel like I probably should have just popped it in some water and concentrated it on my face. There's a lesson in this: dogs aren't meant to eat chocolate. I mean, always follow the instructions. Sure, go crazy sometimes. But generally instructions are there for a reason.

Price: $1.95
From: Lush
Why you need it: To steam the impurities right out of your face! (as long as you do it right)

Picture credit: lush.com - this product was offered to me for consideration

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I got the Power! It smells like sexy man. Not at all like douchebag rapper.

Personally I think 50 Cent is a douchebag and I don’t like to bring him any extra attention – he does a good enough job of that on his own with his twitter diatribes and whatnot (incidentally, check out Queen's English 50c for a hilarious translation service of all of Fiddy’s tweets).

No, I write today because I think the lid on Fiddy’s latest fragrance Power is really cool. It’s a metal disc with nuts and bolts, and a beautiful intricate pattern engraved on the plate in the middle. Tres masculine. I also like the way it smells, but then again I am quite partial to wearing a men’s fragrance. My very first fragrance was actually the men’s Tommy from Tommy Hilfiger – I still have a bottle in my stash and pull it out on occasion.

In fact, the make-up of my beloved Tommy is very similar to Power: top notes of green citrus and fruit, followed by darker woods, peppers and berries, and then dry base notes. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to it. Power has more bite to it though...it lingers on the skin, and I really enjoy the way the oak moss and black pepper dance with the nutmeg and lemon. Sublime. Either way, I had to steal it back off my Fiancé – we both can’t wear the same fragrance, can we?

Price: $49/50mL or $79/100mL
From: Myer, Priceline, Perfume Connection, some pharmacies
Why you need it: It’s a good masculine fragrance without being too masculine (sorry Fiddy) – excellent for girls who like something a little stronger.

Picture credit: lighthousebeauty.com - this product was offered to me for consideration

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Public service announcement

Read this carefully and let it sink in...Batiste Dry Shampoo is going to be available in Coles and Woolworths.

Mark these dates in your diary:
Nov 5 - Blush and Tropical hit shelves
Nov 12 - all seven variants hit shelves (including brown and black! yes!)

Batiste dry shampoo is one of my desert island products, so this has me doing flips. High five, big supermarket chains!

The Four In Hand Dining Room, Paddington - SO good!

It was my darling Fiancé’s birthday last week, so I loaded him into a cab with a couple of our close friends and we trotted off for dinner at the recently-two-hatted Four In Hand Dining Room in Paddington. We did the degustation, but after seeing everyone else in the restaurant being served their 12 hour braised lamb, I was having serious food envy.

That’s not to say the degustation was bad – on the contrary, it was fantastic. All five courses offered something unique and tasty – we’re talking delicate sashimi, lamb done three ways and pigs ear schnitzel. The Four In Hand kitchen has a ‘nose to tail’ philosophy, where no part of the animal goes to waste. They also use seasonally fresh produce – the three different ways the strawberries were prepared in our dessert was testament to that.

More than the affordable and tasty food, what I loved most was the warm and cosy atmosphere. The staff were friendly and inviting, making us feel welcome in their little corner of the pub. So often I have been at expensive restaurants and felt awkward, like we were an inconvenience to the staff, but the guys and girls here made us feel really comfortable. The restaurant is a really sweet little dining room and you can’t help but feel at home.

We will definitely be heading back for that lamb, and another round of the cheese platter. Damn, that was some good cheese!

Price: Degustation is $85 for 5 courses or $110 for 8 courses (plus $50 and $65 respectively for matching wine)
From: Four In Hand Dining Room – 105 Sutherland St Paddington
Why you need to go: To enjoy a beautiful meal in beautiful surroundings.

Picture credit: fourinhand.com.au

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Thick, healthy, shiny hair has never been so easy!

Have you always wanted thick, healthy, shiny hair? That’s a pretty dumb question, right. What about longer hair? Me too. My amazing hairdresser Jade at Atlantis has put me onto a ripper of a product. I have been using Activance for four weeks and my hair is in the best condition it has ever been.

Taking a step back, your hair has a natural essential hair molecule called rhodanide. Lifeless and damaged hair has significantly lower levels of rhodanide than healthy, shiny hair does. Rhodanide gets worn away through things like washing, blow-drying, straightening, health and the environment, so you can imagine a pretty hardcore routine of blow-dries over winter has left my hair feeling a bit dull.

After four weeks of spraying Activance through damp hair after a wash, my hair has never been in better nick. I have even been getting compliments on how thick and healthy it is looking – virtually unheard of considering I'm the mayor of Limp Town (where hair is always lifeless)! AND I had it cut 4 weeks ago and it has almost grown back to the previous length (I can judge this by my top-knots). If you want your hair to be healthy and shiny, then for the love of chocolate milk get yourself some Activance!

Price: $55 (one bottle should last you three months)
From: The Activance website has a list of stockists, or you can order online (+$10 shipping)
Why you need it: Healthy hair is never out of fashion

Picture credit: catwalk.com.au

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Sweet Tarts, Ring Pops, got that candy bling - thanks Mariah!

Embarrassing confession time: one of my all time favourite songs is Fantasy by Mariah Carey. It reminds me of a really good time in my life, it’s a fun song and whenever I hear it I can picture the video clip with her rollerblading along in little short shorts.

You may have figured out by now that I have a total sweet tooth, so when Mariah’s three new Lollipop Bling fragrances landed on my desk I was on them with the kind of voracity I usually reserve for a bag of Party Mix. Sugary-sweet candy perfumes make me happy. It’s a simple pleasure and not necessarily the most sophisticated of fragrances, but they are fun to wear and they make me feel good. That’s what beauty products are all about, right?

Honey (yellow bottle) is a bright and sunny daytime fragrance with a mix of honey, pineapple and freesia. Freesia is one of my all time favourite flowers and perfume ingredients, and it blends perfectly with the sweetness of pineapple. Yum!

Mine again (red bottle) has chocolate and raspberry top notes and a subtle middle note of magnolia. I think it’s the most ‘adult’ of the three and would be appropriate to wear out at night.

Ribbon (blue and pink bottle) is the most candy of all of the fragrances, with the sugary scent of blue raspberry and a hint of floral. This one is (apparently) based on the blue ring pop that Nick Cannon proposed to Miss Mariah with. How romantic!

All three of the bottles have Mariah’s signature butterfly on the top, and the boxes are covered in holographic candy, butterflies and swirls. I love that Mariah doesn’t ever want to grow up – as long as she keeps producing confectionary fragrances and bubble-gum pop tunes, then I’ll keep lapping them up.

Price: $49
From: Myer, Perfume Connection
Why you need them: To sweeten up your day

These products were offered to me for consideration

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Tiptoe through the tulips with Portmans

Have you been into a Portmans store recently? Amazing. Sydney just got a big new Portmans in Pitt Street Mall (which I think might be a flagship) and it is G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. The racks are overflowing with sugary sweet floral confections for summer, and the store is full of lovely vignettes that inspire (me to open my wallet). Pop over to Sassybella and check out the campaign imagery for the Spring campaign – sad that an illustration is way hotter than I will ever be. 

I haven’t been a floral dress wearer since I was about 12, but after the success (read: compliment magnet) of my orange Urban Outfitters dress, I was ready to take that plunge again (twice – I’ll tell you about the dress I got for my engagement party soon).

I went out on a limb and bought a white dress with pink and purple-y grey flowers. White means I need to be fairly vigilant with my fake tan, but I have a cupboard full of new tans that I’m trying out at the moment. Or, will try out when I get the motivation. Are you a floral girl? Have you been into a new-look Portmans yet? Are you looking forward to fake tan season?

Price: $99.95
From: Portmans

Why you need to check out their stores: It's like running through a field of poppies!

Picture credit: portmans.com.au

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I took all your recommendations on twitter and tried out Parlux. WOW!

Just putting it out there...I’m a total blow-dry loser. I cannot for the life of me blow dry my hair. But apparently it wasn’t me, it was the piece-of-sh!t leaf blower I was using before. They say a good workman never blames his tools (but a bad workman does, so bring it on).

The girls at Parlux know what a nozzle novice I am and hooked me up with the new Parlux 3800 Eco Friendly Ceramic & Ionic Dryer. Honestly it’s like going from a 20 year old Mazda to a sweet Audi. They sent it to me to try for just 2 weeks but it has changed my life and my hair so much that I’m going to buy it off them. There are so many good things about this dryer that I don’t know where to begin.

It’s easy to hold. It’s light. It gets my hair to 80% dry in about 90 seconds. My frizz has definitely reduced. When I blow dry it straight, it stays straight. But most of all, my hair doesn’t feel dry and brittle like it used to. This could be a combination of the dryer and another miracle product I am currently using (which I’ll tell you about soon, I promise!) but my hair has been soft, sleek and shiny these last 2 weeks (apparently that’s the negative ions). It locks the moisture into the hair rather than blasting it out. Smart.

Bonus: this baby is good for the environment. We’re talking recyclable materials, low energy consumption, ozone friendly and cute recycled paper packaging.

Price: $189.95

From: Check the Dateline website for stockists, but you need to hit up Hairhouse Warehouse and Price Attack

Why you need it: This is 2 speeds and 4 temperatures of pure power, baby. Considering all I did before was flick ‘on/off’, you should be really impressed right now.

This product was loaned to me for review, and I was so impressed I bought my own.

 

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Purple power with blackcurrant Eclipse mints!

If your school experience was anything like mine, you weren’t allowed to eat in class. BUT you could get away with eating Soothers and Butter Menthols because they were ‘medicinal’. Ha!

I used to chew through blackcurrant soothers like they were lollies, which is probably why they have absolutely zero effect now when I have a sore throat. 

I still love blackcurrant lollies and I was stoked to stumble across blackcurrant Eclipse Mints. So much win! They’re a sweet burst of juicy blackcurrant with a hint of mint – very much like a blackcurrant Soother. Plus, the packaging is a sweet metallic purple which would look amazing as a nail polish (see: OPI for Sephora Rocker Chic collection Just A Little Dangerous purple)

Price: Around the $3 mark
From: Convenience stores
Why you need it: Live it up! Peppermint is so yesterday (literally)

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Start your day with a minty fresh burst!

I’m going through a pretty crazy peppermint phase right now. I have always been a spearmint girl (green eclipse mints > blue eclipse mints, and don't try to tell me otherwise) but in the space of 2 weeks I came across three different mint body washes which are making me feel more peppermint than peppermint patty.

Sudz Pure Goats Milk Soap is made right here in Sydney (bigs up to the 02) and it’s totally gentle on the skin. It’s a cake soap and it has fresh goats milk, olive oil, coconut oil and sweet almond oil – good enough to eat, right? The peppermint cake is a scrub, so it’s full of grainy bits for sloughing away your winter skin and starting fresh for your fake tan. I’ll be honest, the scrubby bits aren’t that gentle so it’s probably not suitable for you if you don’t like hardcore scrubbing, but I like to feel the skin being scratched off my legs. Peppermint scent rating: 8/10 – minty, but doesn’t linger.

Wash With Joe is the perfect hit of java for those who don’t drink coffee but still like a caffeine rush (like me). This is a big foamer – lather is up with a puff and go to town. It might be called Coffeemint, but it’s more mint than coffee (I think it also has a hint of chocolate, but perhaps that just wishful thinking on my part). Did you know coffee is a natural deodoriser? Yep – perfect for neutralising sweaty bodies. Pass it on to your man. Peppermint scent rating: 9/10 – a powerful mint that stays on the skin. 

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps are kind of weird. The liquid soap is very liquidy, so you have to be careful when you’re pouring it out of the container. It doesn’t sud up (emulsify) quite like normal soap, so you have to work quickly and spread carefully, but it does leave skin really soft and clean. It’s all organic, with extra virgin olive oil, jojoba, palm and hemp oils, and 2% of it is pure aromatic essential oils. No wonder this one gets 10/10 on the peppermint scent rating scale – it punches you in the face and then hangs around just to kick you in the nostrils some more.

Sudz Pure Goats Milk Soap
Price: $7.90
From: Health food stores and the Sudz website

Wash With Joe
Price: $34.95/473mL
From: The Tukk website

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap
Price: $7.95/236mL
From: Health food stores and the Dr. Bronner website

Picture credits: drbronner.com.au, sudzsoap.com.au - These products were offered to me for consideration

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Cob’s sweet and salty popcorn is poptacular

The slogan for Cob’s Natural Popcorn is try it just once, we guarantee you’ll be hooked!

There is truth in advertising. This is definitely the tastiest snack food I have ever eaten (and I eat a lot of snacks. A LOT.) It somehow manages to be both sweet and salty at the same time. How do they do it? Sweet AND salty together!

Cob’s have 5 flavours of popcorn - original and sea salt organic, original and sea salt natural, and natural cheddar cheese. I don’t understand what the difference between organic and natural popcorn is, and I haven’t tried the sea salt so let’s just assume it’s a bit saltier, hey? Details that I could probably go about my daily life not knowing.

But my goodness...the natural. This is like the Rolls Royce of snacks as far as I’m concerned. It’s incredibly moorish – I challenge you to eat just one handful. There is of course the ever-present danger of kernels getting stuck in your teeth, but it’s a risk I am perfectly happy to take. I am so addicted.

Price: $4/125g bag
From: my local green grocer (Maloney’s on Crown Street)
Why you need it: It’s a healthy snacking alternative

Picture credit: cobspopcorn.com.au

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For all my sensitive sisters out there

I get horrifically sensitive teeth (it’s just one of my many ailments) and I normally use Sensodyne toothpaste to keep the ouchies at bay. I saw the ads for the new Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief and decided to get one of the samples they were offering. I’m such a sucker for advertising.

It tastes like bad breath. Simple as that. I don’t think it’s any better or worse than Sensodyne in terms of sensitive protection, but it tastes like bad breath. Far be it from me to tell a toothpaste company how to do their job, but wouldn’t you go for minty-freshness? I don’t even mind the cinnamon toothpaste I usually buy when I'm in America. But yeah, bad breath flavour seems a bit counter-productive.

Has anyone else tried the new Colgate Sensitive? Do you get sensitive teeth? Think bad breath flavour is a good idea?

Price: $10.89
From: Supermarkets
Why you need it: Well...let's discuss that, shall we?

picture credit: colgateprofessional.com.au

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