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!
If it’s not on, it’s not on.
Think of this blog entry as a Beauty Public Service Announcement. Sunscreen should be worn everyday. Rain, hail or shine. After all, If it’s not on, it’s not on. Seriously folks. My heart is breaking here. So many beautiful faces and decolletes prematurely ageing (not to mention that other thing) all because not a skerrick of sunscreen has had the pleasure of routinely being in the presence of your grace. So many great foundations have decent SPF in them these days, primers are also cashing in, heck, even lots of lovely moisturizers have a SPF of 30+ in them now. Never mind the plethora of really suitable, good old-fashioned sunscreens currently available, which are devoid of the oily preparations and white casts of yesteryear. There really is no excuse. You are quite spoilt for choice when it comes to sun protection these days. The best thing to do is just put on sunscreen regardless, everyday, as part of your cleanse and moisturize routine. Before long, it will become automatic and everyone, yourself included, will remark at how gorgeously pristine and youthful your skin is. Promise.
We’d Rather Be Red Than Dead.
In Sydney, on the 22nd of March, 2007, Elizabeth Arden International joined the World Heart Federation in its new Go Red for Women international campaign to fight cardiovascular disease, the number one killer worldwide. The Go Red for Women campaign is being launched across more than 30 countries to raise awareness about heart disease and stroke in women. Heart disease and stroke kills 8.6 million women annually, globally. This figure is higher than HIV/AIDS, all cancers, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
In June, 2007 Elizabeth Arden will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their specially designed Limited Edition Colour Intrigue Eye Shadow Quad to Go Red for Women Australia. The Go Red for Women campaign was created by the American Heart Association in 2004 to empower women with the knowledge and tools to take charge of their heart health. The Go Red for Women campaign is supported by Oscar-winning actress, and face of Elizabeth Arden, Catherine Zeta-Jones, who said,
“I’m proud of Elizabeth Arden’s involvement with the Go Red for Women program. Go Red for Women is an ongoing global program, promoted by the World Heart Federation, to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke in women, helping women to be healthy and beautiful”.
The design of the special LE eye shadow compact was inspired by “The Pageant of Beauty”, a 14-panel mural, commissioned by Elizabeth Arden herself in 1935 to celebrate the universal beauty of women throughout the ages. The compact features a vignette from the mural – the Twentieth Century Woman, the ideal of modern beauty in the 1930s.
In Australia, the very special Go Red For Women Limited Edition Color Intrigue Eye shadow Quad is available at Myer, David Jones and selected pharmacies from 29 April 2007 and will retail for $58 AUD. Do visit www.elizabetharden.com for your local stockist details.
The Good Oil.
We’re talking jojoba oil, in fact. Jojoba oil (Simmondsis chinensis) is one of the more underrated oils for use in skincare, but amongst the most versatile. Jojoba oil isn’t really an oil in the strictest sense. It’s largely made up of unsaturated wax esters therefore, it’s really a wax. Since jojoba oil is a mostly wax-like, all be told, it can be quite resistant to going rancid. That’s got to be a good thing. It has a reasonable shelf life too and can be used effectively in many skincare preparations and is even highly effective neat. Jojoba oil is an awesome facial oil. A favourite Beauty Marked! way to use jojoba oil is as a facial serum on freshly washed, yet still damp skin. Divine. A drop or two only, gently patted on your face will absorb in no time and leave your skin nourished. Since jojoba oil, most closely of any of the oils, resembles the skin’s natural sebum, there are no worries that the face will become excessively oily.
Jojoba oil is also used effectively to condition the hair too. Many shampoos and conditioners contain this gem. Try a drop or two of jojoba as a styling aid. Hair caressed in the thinest amount of this oil appears so healthy and has the most radiant shine. Native Americans of the Sonora Desert were the first to get hip to jojoba oil and it’s magnificent cosmetic properties. It is certainly worth grabbing a bottle of jojoba oil (especially certified organic if you can) to keep in your beauty arsenal. After all, it might just be that gorgeous little elixir of life you’ve been looking for. Wink.
Eggceedingly Beautiful!
Just how beautiful are the faces of the children as they race around hunting for eggs on Easter Sunday or when they happen past the tell tale signs that the Easter bunny was on the hop just for them (a trail of talcum powdered paw prints at our place)? What about when their gorgeous little selves discover their Easter basket is filled with Easter goodness (read: chocolate crack) and their food colouring stained fingers (from egg dying the night before) reach skillfully for the biggest chocolate bunny, duck, or egg they can find, whip off the foil wrapping and decapitate that poor chocky creature in one deft bite. Wrappers are flying left, right and centre, like a colourful tornado of fabulous foils blowing through the room. It’s amazing! Yes amazing, until the sugar shock sets in. Then the mind quickly shifts to thoughts of Ritalin Easter eggs and why you didn’t think to purchase any of those (another one of life’s classic blunders). Never mind. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Just another opportunity to take in the abundance of loveliness in our beautiFULL world.
Good Rabbit Pie Day.
I don’t know about in your neck of the woods, but in mine, everything is shut or simply not interested today. After all, it’s Good Friday! What a perfect day for beauty maintenance. I’m thinking more along the lines of facials, manis, pedis, waxing, and eyebrow sorting. You know, those things we often don’t get time to tend to during the week, but wish we had. Yep, that’s exactly what I mean. Since there’s not much else to do, but perhaps get stuck into those house chores that have been niggling away at you…nah, they’ll keep, so why not? Give that nail polish colour a go. Refresh your brow shape. Get those toes a twinkling. Pamper yourself, for no other reason than you deserve it! Enjoy!
Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run…
It’s not true. Don’t listen to them.
What? Well it’s not. Good things don’t come to those who wait. This is especially so where beauty is concerned.
In all things beauty, being proactive is the key to getting even more gorgeous. Everyone’s beauty has to be claimed. No point in hanging around waiting for that first pimple or wrinkle to appear before we start looking after our skin. Get stuck into a great skincare routine that suits and without a doubt includes a sensational sunscreen. Start early or just get started.
So many of us never gave an effective skincare regime a thought prior to our first blemish outbreak of the most catastrophic kind. Be it an onslaught of adolescent acne, hormonal eruptions, pigmentation, flakies, or rogue patches of redness for starters, head troublesome skin off at the pass.
So where and when do you start? By simply cleansing the skin at least once daily, but preferably twice a day (morning and night), moisturise each time you cleanse, exfoliate responsibly (which means weekly by the way), and wear sunscreen every day is a perfect way to start. These skincare basics will certainly hold you in good stead when it comes to claiming beautiful skin. Drinking loads of water works a treat too! I am really fond of throwing a fabulous clay mask into the mix once a week also. Pre teens or “tweens” of both varieties, can really benefit from being educated in and commencing even the very basics of skincare. After all, we are fastidious about things like teaching our young ones about oral hygiene and think nothing of keeping them clean and bathed, from early on, so why drop the ball now?
In Australia, a few months back, Bellaboo™ skincare range was launched. This funky skincare line is aimed at young girls and offers them an effective skincare option that is packed with loads of great botanicals like Sea Buckthorn berry and devoid of all those chemical nasties that only serve to irritate and prolong our deserved beauty. You can check out Bellaboo™ at her website: www.bellaboobabe.com and groove your way onto getting more gorgeous!
www.zitshappen.com.au is a great offering by Clinique. The zitshappen website chronicles the journey of 3 teenage volunteers that are trialling Clinique’s Anti-Blemish Solutions 3-Step System over a four week period as they combat their pimple problems. You can find loads of tips from the experts and beauty editor types (like yours truly) and share in the real life experiences of the girls as they blog their way on the journey to claiming great skin.
So, don’t wait around to get even more gorgeous…go for it now!
