Living The Legend.
Not too long ago, I had my hair done by a senior stylist at Renya Xydis The Concept Salon in Sydney’s Paddington, using Wella Professionals BioTouch Straight hair range. No prizes for guessing that my hair looked a million bucks. My, generally, really tortured hair was so straight, so shiny, and super silky soft. Just gorgeous. I kept stroking my hair and stealing glances at it in the mirror. Nearly bordering on pathological it was. Pity, it was only going to look this good for another day at most, until I washed it and did, at best, a poor, poor imitation of such a stellar blow-dry. Yep, I know my limitations. So off I went feeling fabulous and knowing full well this moment of hair glory was only fleeting. Sigh.
A few days pass.
I was feeling a bit delusional on the day I decided to have a go at recreating what was now only the legend of great hair. I grabbed a bottle of BioTouch Straight Shampoo, Leave-In Cream, and Intensive Mask and decided to do my worst. Away I went and followed the directions, blew dried my hair and nearly fainted. No silly, my hair wasn’t falling out, it looked fantastic! Admittedly, not a dead spit of the wonderful job the senior stylist at Renya Xydis did, but close enough for me. It wasn’t the case of only the skill of the ever so talented stylist, but the grand coupling of skill and product. Admittedly, I didn’t have the same skill, but I did have the same fab product and my hair didn’t look too shabby, if I say so myself. Enough of my boasting, as I should give, most certainly, credit where credit is due. Wella Professionals BioTouch Straight with Smoothing Complex and Jojoba Oil completely assisted me in getting the perfectly straight locks I am so into at the moment. BioTouch Straight with Smoothing Complex left my chemically and heat straightened hair, healthy, silky smooth, and full of shine. My hair was left feeling *whispers* much like it did on that magic day at the salon. Could I, quite possibly, have salon perfect hair at home? I looked much like the lass in the picture below in fact- minus, the face, the cheeky glint in the eye, purse of the lip…and…okay, okay! I admit it! The hair! One can only live and dream. Wella Professional BioTouch certainly took me pretty darn close.
Another Global Beauty Bite.
I remain intrigued by the results of Clinique’s Global Survey that provides a snapshot into the truths about beauty that over 10, 400 women in over 13 countries, whose mother tongues span over 15 languages, have. Today, I was particularly interested in the global makeup and fragrance preferences stated in summary of the vast many women that contributed to the survey and thought I would share them with you. According to the survey:
Makeup essentials vary.
-The makeup products that are viewed as essential vary from country to country.
-Lipstick is most essential in the US, China, India, Mexico, Spain, and South Africa.
It was also noted that in the Asian countries of China, India, and Japan, one-third of respondents said there is no item of makeup they wouldn’t leave home without.
Foundation is the most essential in Japan and Korea.
-Almost all women in Japan wear foundation and a majority wear it daily.
-Foundation is also popular in Korea, the US, and the UK.
-Foundation is least popular in India. Only one-third wear it and then only on special occasions.
Beautiful skin looks natural.
-The right colour match is by far the most important quality in a foundation.
-In Italy, Korea, and Spain, the correct level of coverage is most important
Women smell sweeter in some countries.
-Daily fragrance is popular in Australia, Mexico, Russia, Spain, South Africa, and the UK
-Fragrance was not at all popular in Asian countries of China, India, Japan, and Korea. Women in the US, Germany, and Italy are almost evenly split on the use of fragrance daily.
There you have it…another global beauty bite. Are your preferences similiar to the above? I’d love to know.
*Clinique’s Truth in Beauty: A Global Survey was compiled by the Segmentation Company, a division of Yankelovich, Inc., a full service custom research and consulting firm on behalf of Clinique.
Love Your Look.
In May 2007, Benefit launches it’s all new core colour makeup collection: Love Your Look , Makeup to Match Your Lifestyle. The Love Your Look Collection comprises of three colour-coordinated colour solutions to match your lifestyle and personality. Benefit’s key colour stories are based around the looks of Lana (light neutrals), Gabbi (medium neutrals), and Betty (deep neutrals). Whichever gal you are or choose to be for the day, Benefit takes the guesswork out of looking gorgeous (sounds right up our alley.)
The Love Your Look Collection consists of:
24 silky-finish lipsticks
12 creaseless cream shadow/liners
3 sheer cream blushes
*Go grab you magnifying glass and check out the swatches below (my bad, as I couldn’t display the swatches in all it’s full sized glory as it would have blown out our browser…and we couldn’t have that now, could we? Wink.)
Looks Good. Works great, but…
How on earth are you meant to clean Kabuki brushes? I can remember to the day, when I first asked myself this very question. Talk about one of those cosmetic conundrums. These confounded cuties seem to present even the most makeup brush savvy with a wee predicament. If you dry it on it’s cute little chubby bottom, which seems the most obvious way, the water used to clean your brushes will run down into the ferruled end (the bit that holds the glued hairs to the handle of the brush) and entices mold and all sorts of unmentionables to congregate in the presence of the excessive moisture. Silly gravity. (Yes, I know gravity is very useful, but at times like these, it’s a darn nuisance no matter which side you part your hair on.) Kabuki brushes sat on their end to dry also have a tendency to smell a bit too. Did you wonder what that smell was? They often get stinky because when popping a squat, they just take too long to dry and end up much like clothes left in the washer too long. Pew.
All temptation must be resisted when it comes to blow drying kabuki brushes or even just spritzing them with many of the alcohol based spray cleaners sold on the market. Both blow drying and alcohol sprays can irreparably damage your precious Kabuki over time. We all know what blow drying can do to our hair, if not protected, well multiply that by a bazillion and that’s what you get when a blow dryer is used on your poor defenseless kabuki brush. As for the alcohol spays, non-synthetic kabukis are made up of hair, hairs although not human, are much like our own. I am sure even the most deranged individual would pull up at spraying pure alcohol onto their hair. Talk about a sure fire way to fry your hair. Why are those sprays sold then, you ask? They are largely available as a quick way to sanitize brushes when they are being used between different individuals. Brushes should always be cleaned with gentle baby soap or shampoo, rinsed well and left to dry after their final use for the day when they have been deployed for use on more than one person, but this is not a practical solution between clients. Hence the need for the alcohol based spray.
Beauty Marked! has a couple of ways which will effectively dry your beloved Kabuki and prolong the life of this darling brush. My first suggestion is to take a 15 centimeter or so long piece of sticky tape and place the kabuki brush’s on it’s side with the bristles over hanging the edge of a table ( I use my desk) and sticky tape the side laying kabuki’s handle to the edge of the desk. Most kabuki brushes secured to the edge of a table at night will most certainly be dry by morning.
My second favourite way to dry kabuki brushes is to grab an elastic or rubber band and wind it a few times along the handle of the brush, keeping away from the hairs. I then grab a bit of string (or prettier still, a length of the many spare StrawberryNet ribbons I have laying around) and secure one end to the band placed on the brushes handle and tie the other end of the string in a bow to a door knob. I leave the brush to dry there, dangling bristle end down until dry. If you have lots of kabukis to dry, I’d hang them off the end of a wire hanger after you have secured one end with a bow (a bit arts and crafty, I know, but never pass up an opportunity to beautify). Viola! a gorgy mobile of cute kabukis elegantly suspended to dry.
Hopefully these methods of effectively drying your kabuki brushes will not only prolong their life of loyal service to you, but will woo you to use these useful and gorgeous creatures. Be warned though, kabukis, tend to multiply before you know it. They are a bit like tattoos, actually, once you get one…
Keeping Up Appearances.
As you will soon learn, my interests are varied and quite possibly with each interest more loopier than the next. We all know about my penchant for foiling UFO abductions, but did you know that I have a thing for “All Things Etiquette” as well? Stop snickering. It’s true! It’s very important to know how to eat, drink, and be civilized (within reason of course). After all, talk about how silly you would feel if you didn’t know how to address the eldest child of the heir apparent of the British monarchy (you do know he’s back on the market don’t you?) should you meet him at your local? Or what is the correct toast to say when you raise your glass in sweden? When you raise your glass in Stockholm to make a Loyal Toast (as you do) in the company of His Royal Highness Prince William you will be sure to finish by saying Skøl!, now won’t you? Wouldn’t they be impressed? Lest I digress. Don’t worry, there is always a method to my madness. After all…all roads lead to all things beauty with me, always, so don’t worry.
While reading The Penguin Book of Etiquette: The Complete Australian Guide to Modern Manners, by the etiquette guru, Marion Von Alderstein (Penguin Books Australia © 2002), I stumbled across (in the most lady-like way of course) a great section on Beauty-Box Maintenance. From the chapter on Keeping Up Appearances:
“Bags gather dust. Pots of eyeshadow get smudgy. Brushes and combs gather hairs. Sponges and applicators show their recent history. Wear and tear on the contents of our bathroom cupboards and makeup bags is considerable and it’s easy not to notice. Others do, though, and to an outsider it’s not attractive. Housekeeping on your personal products is as important as it is on your house. Try and have a clean-up every so often.”
So there you have it. Priceless. A gorgeous South Sea pearl of wisdom from the Marchioness of All Things Well Mannered, Marion Von Adlerstein. Enough said.
I don’t know about you, but I’m off to organize a Bobcat and get started now. Toodle-oo!
What In The Heck?
I am sure I didn’t reach for that colour blush this morning? I mean, why would I wear pinky red blush with peach coloured lipstick? Have I lost the plot, again? I’m sure it’s pink that I am wearing now. *cue the Twilight Zone music* I wasn’t drinking at 6:30 this morning when I applied my makeup or even on a bender the night before. What in the ham fat is going on here? Who would wear that blush with this lipstick… on purpose?!
*fade freaky music*
What has happened, quite possibly, is that you’ve fallen pray to the call of nature and your naturally flushed cheeks have transcended your makeup and reclaimed your look. This happens to so many of us. So despite your best efforts, your rosey cheeks stand their ground and demand to be noticed. Fair enough. But what if you don’t want them to remain the dominant force? You actually want to wear a gorgeous peachy orange lip and coordinate your overall look to perfection with a suitable cheek. Think of your naturally flushed cheeks as a blessing. A blessing that can be made more or less prominent to suit the look your after. To make your flushed cheeks less noticeable, pair them with a yellow based blush (peach, orange, bronze, coppers and golds). The yellow tones in the blush will hopefully counteract the excessive redness naturally occurring on you cheeks. If that’s not quite able to harness your natural flush, try a tiny smidgen of yellow based concealer on your cheeks first, lightly powder to set and then apply your chosen blush colour. If that’s not enough, add yet one more step to the equation and use a creme blush that is set with a powdered blush. Not only will your chosen cheek colour last longer, but will add just another layer of colour correcting magic for your natural flush to push through. This additional step usually shows your flush who’s boss. After all, there aren’t too many flushed cheeks that can overcome that multilayered approach. See how how go. Good Luck!
Go Hard or Go Home.
Yep. Today, I’ve had to pull out the big guns. After having, for what seems like an eternity, a flu that just won’t quit, I now find myself needing to play hardball with the dreaded post lurgy pallor. Yes, that’s the one. That dusky gray caste that just screams lackluster. No point trying to alter it by reaching for a darker foundation colour than you usually wear, because that only adds insult to injury, by leaving you looking just…well…wrong. No point in going the full on faux tan because you don’t have time to wait for your colour to develop and your colouring is bound to right itself eventually but eventually is a bit longer than you have at the time. I know you can relate. So today, I’ve gone the Glamazon! Glamazon, by Benefit Cosmetics, is just the ticket in situations like these. Glamazon liquid bronzing tint gives just the perfect natural, rosy and ever so alluring, barely sun-kissed tan just when and to where you need it. Glamazon works best when applied soon after moisturizing for the smoothest application. I just brushed Glamazon onto my face only where the sun would catch me naturally, blended, and viola! Natural colour that lasts the day. Glamazon can be layered on if desired, if you really need to kick it up a notch. Thank goodness, I no longer look as green around the gills as I still feel. I was starting to get concerned that I may be frightening small children.
