Nice Day For Ducks…

I don’t know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but in Beauty Marked!’s, it’s been pretty abysmal. Light showers one minute, scorchingly hot and humid the next followed by hail, threats of hypothermia and hideous torrential downpours. The weather has just been unreal and more labile in the shortest space of time than most makeup maven’s FOTDs can, quite possibly, stand. This crazy, ultra changeable weather reminds me of a fun, spirited article I once came across on the web titled, ‘makeup for a monsoon’. Gotta love the web. Oddly enough, I recall it offering some pretty good tips to keep in mind and the stellar pearls were pretty much in accord with anything I could come up with. Lets see…from memory, the monsoonal makeup essentials were:
Waterproof mascara
creamy lipstick in a trans lip/cheek type colour
Long last gel eyeliner
Powder eyeshadow or loose pigment
Cream blush
Powder blush
Makes sense to me. The only things I recall not on the list, but would be an ever-so-useful BM! addition to the Makeup Mavens Monsoonal Makeup Essentials would be:
Lip and Cheek stain
Mineral Makeup
Colour-free Lip balm
With these three added items, you’d be pretty sorted. The lip and cheek stain would be a fab base for when everything else either melted or blew off in all wonky weather. Mineral makeup is generally pretty water resistant, easy wearing, lightweight, and protective while offering you a medium coverage for the most part and doesn’t tend to go manky with heat, sweat or rain. Lip balm…well this ought to be everyone’s staple beauty item as it can be swung in a great many directions with masterful effect for the most part. What other beauty product can you think of that can double or even treble as a hair styling product, cream eyeshadow and blush when mixed with pigment, and function as a spot makeup remover in a pinch? Lip balm can freshen up most makeup when tending to running repairs, all the while acting as a sneaky bit of moisturizer for those rogue ashy patches that can become manifest in the mayhem of the weather of the moment. *idea*
I don’t know about you, but I think you’d be better than sorted if you battened down the hatches with these beaut meteorologically inspired bits of makeup magic in your arsenal. In fact, you’d be one darling ducky indeed.
What’s A Bad Hair Day?

A few months ago I had my hair titivated with several Original Diva Exclusive Hair Inserts and gosh was that ever fun. When the near OCD-like shaking of the head and the shameless reflection gazing subsided somewhat, it dawned on me that with these nifty, clip-on, Silk Remy human hair inserts, there is really no longer a need for there to be such a thing as a “bad hair day” ever again. I’m liking that notion, absolutely! Original Diva offers you a “great hair day” with their three, Original Diva 100% Human Hair Extensions options:
Single Clip-on Highlights Offers you a burst of colour or a subtle high or low light to complement any hair tone.
Original Diva In a Box This is your full head of hair in multiple clip-on tracks of inserts that can be used as often as desired and inserted and removed in minutes.
Permanent Micro Ring System Original Diva’s Permanent Ring Micro System offers the wearer a keratin tipped end sitting close to the scalp attached with soft teflon coated beads for reduced scalp irritation. As your hair grows, a professional stylist can easily reposition the beads to the roots of the hair for ongoing wear.
Original Diva products are sold throughout Australia’s leading salons, but do be sure to visit the Original Diva Online store for so much more! *still flicking*
C{4U and For Me.
As many of you will know I am a flat iron hound and am always on the lookout for a marvelous shampoo and conditioner to nourish my naturally curly hair that is very often being cajoled (read: shamelessly coerced) straight. Well I have found the most unsuspecting ally in what has seemed a never-ending pursuit to keep my tresses in trim. The proudly Australian PPS Hairwear company has created the C{4u line of shampoos and conditioners of which Beauty Marked! has been absolutely digging the magical C{4u Curl Cure Shampoo and Conditioner. Who would have thunk it? A shampoo and conditioner designed especially for curly hair that works a treat to support the hair of the likes of this serial straightener. C{4u Curl Cure’s moisture intensive curl complex of apricot and olive oils and vitamin E, not only leave my hair protected, but smooth, hydrated, strengthened and criminally supple to boot. *whispers* Not a bad preparative foundation for a flat iron now is it?
C{4u Shampoo and Conditioner sets are also available in Colour Addict, Expand, Frequent Shampoo & Frequent Conditioner, Revamp, and Thermal varieties. With PPS’ C{4u, you are assured of finding a fabulous bit of hair care just for you!
Is There Such A Thing?
I know that there are laws about smoking in public places and that the designated smoking areas are getting fewer and fewer. But this post is not so much a commentary on the lack of places to smoke, as I am a non-smoker, but more to do with the fact that even with the quasi-rigid anti-smoking laws, I still seem to get the uninvited and ultra tenacious smoke smell in my hair when I go out in public. How’s that work? What we really need is a shampoo, conditioner, or styling product that will transcend cigarette smoke. No point in going for the gorgeous hair spritzes that wonderfully scent your tresses as even they don’t seem to be able to keep the upper hand on those wayward wafts, because Lord knows I’ve tried them. What do you reckon Lovelies? Is there such a thing as a super duper cloaking device that will protect our precious hair from passive pong? Do be sure to let me know if you learn of one. In the meantime, off to the shower I go…Again.
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Eep!…Hair Product Buildup?

Here’s a nifty little number to rinse through your hair, around once a fortnight, to get rid of any styling product buildup that refuses to take leave in the face of regular washing:
Rinse your hair with half a cup of Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda) mixed into a cup of warm water.
Ta da! Now you can relax because it’s as easy as that.
Wonderfully Wacky-Do and Hair Free Too!

I received an email the other day that made me giggle a bit, absolutely smile an even bigger bit, and ever so pleased to be a bit “Out There”. Here’s an excerpt from the most excellent email below:
Hello Beauty Marked!,
“I have to say that your rather well informed, albeit unorthodox approach to beauty is really refreshing and always a great read. I wasn’t too sure I’d get into the daily beauty affirmations or enjoy the beautiful quotations you have posted as much as I have. They are just so different. But I think the thing I am most pleased about is your inspirational quips that you liberally share. I also love that you are so wonderfully wacky-do, but in the coolest, most well groomed way…”
i just had to share this gem of an email and weigh in to say how much I so appreciate and embrace my card carrying Groomed Wacky-Do status and that I couldn’t ever consider passing up an opportunity to spritz on a fine fragrance, slick on a gorgeously-rich red lippie, have a mani, pedi, blow-dry, brow shape, wax, facial, to meditate, re-align my chakras, have a massage, or to commune with a magnificent crystal. No way José! But the best bit about this email is that you lovelies obviously know it too. I love that! Thanks for noticing and an even bigger thanks for being you!
-BM! xx
Some Fabulously Fun Facts About Our Hair!

Did you know:
- Combing is less detrimental to hair than brushing?
- A male’s hair grows quicker than a female’s?
- The average lifespan (if you can call it that) of hair is between 3 to 7 years?
- Thyroid imbalances as well as iron deficiencies are reversible causes of hair loss?
- The average individual has around 150,000 hairs on their head?
- It is normal to loose up to 100 hairs a day from your scalp and that you need to loose about 50% of all your hair before it is noticeable?
- African hair is more fragile and grows more slowly than caucasian hair? Asian hair grows the fastest?
- The one thing scientific tests cannot reveal about you from your hair is your gender?
- Most hairs grow only .03 mm to maximum of .05 mm per day?
- Physical stress, emotional stress, hormonal changes, some medications, major illness, and sudden weight loss can cause hair loss?
- Less than 4% of the world’s population has naturally occurring red hair?
- Hair is made up of dead Keratin cells?
- Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the body, second only to bone marrow?
So amazing!