Tag Archives: nail art

Great beauty week…..

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My past week has been a really exciting beauty week

Started off the week by deciding that my hair colour was really too dark, so I visited Nico – my wonderful hairdresser for the past decade – for some very blonde foils.  I'm not so good on the selfies, but hope that this gives you some idea (of the hair colour – not my photography prowess). 

On Tuesday I did a Priceline run, and came home with the haul below of Nude by Nature products.  

Total cost – $19.95 for the Pore Refining toner, $29.95 for the 24 hour Anti-Aging Moisturiser and $2.50 for the little hand cream to take me over the $50 mark to claim the other three products as a GWP.  Inside the gift bag were a 50ml Natural Tinted Mineral Moisturiser, 4g Virgin Blush and a 20ml Nature's Soothing Eye Cream. 

Since trying the BB Cream, I've been impressed with Nude – a company that claims to take the concept of minerals to the next level, taking out the bismuth that can irritate sensitive skin and appear cakey on the skin.  Nude claims to leave only the ingredients that help to create the perfect, flawless, airbrushed complexion, NATURALLY!

 

Then on Thursday night I went to the opening of The Laser Lounge in Morningside, Queensland.  This is the fifth Australian salon for sisters and co-founders Gita Coorey and Bita Beyzaee  – two in Sydney that Katherine has written about before, Paddington in Brisbane, a recent opening in Adelaide, and now our second one in Brisbane.  

The Laser Lounge is a boutique laser clinic, specialising in laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation and non-surgical cosmetic enhancements.

The night began with a Danne-Montague-King (DMK) Enzyme Therapy Treatment demonstration.  Then Tamara from Palomar gave a presentation on the latest news and technologies in laser hair reduction, focusing on the launch of Australia’s first Palomar Vectus Laser at The Laser Lounge, Morningside. 

For more on the great night click here. I think I will be indulging in many of the great treatments offered by The Laser Lounge.  Who doesn't want great skin, and a hairless body?!!

I am going on Tuesday for a DMK treatment and will post you more on this later in the week.

And on Friday, after a big lunch, I went to have my fortnightly nail gelling.  Sue is a fabulous nail artist, who's creative talents until now have been wasted on me.  Here is a sample of some of The Nail Den work on others more brave than myself, from their Facebook page.

But on Friday Sue got me after I'd had a couple or three drinks.  And I came out nail arted – sort of like when people drink too much then go and get a tattoo – but mine is not so permanent!!

What do you think though?  I think they are very pretty – subtle – and not too over the top……..

Topped the week off by having someone tell me on Friday night that they thought I looked just like Quentin Bryce.  Quite a compliment!!  Especially in the week of International Women's Day, and our Governor-General is such a beautiful and inspirational Australian woman.  (Personally I think it is just that we have similar hair styles – she's far classier than me, a fair bit older and much slimmer).  Would you have been flattered or offended?

So, did you have any great beauty insights this week?

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Nail Art Experiments

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I have been seeing some INCREDIBLE nails around the beauty blogosphere lately – special mention to LabMuffin, Nail Romance,  So Nailicious and the queen of nail art, Zooey Deschanel – and decided I needed to step up my game a bit.

Can I just start by saying that DIY nail art is HARD. How do you get straight lines? How do you you do your right hand if you're a righty? How do you make every nail look as identical as possible (if that's what you're going for)? All questions I am yet to answer and probably won't be able to help you with (I suggest you ask the aforementioned experts).

All the same, here are some experiments I've tried out lately.

The last one is washi tape that I cut to the shape of my nail and then put a clear polish over. It worked surprisingly well for paper tape (I had just had a shower before taking this photo). I believe that is a tip for you, there you go, this post wasn't COMPLETELY unhelpful after all.

Are you game to art it up? Do you have any specialties or tips you'd like to share? Go on, tell me your secrets in the comments below!

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Hello Darling – Rockcandy nails

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So the other week I mentioned my dilemma in trying to decide on which Rockcandy manicure to try. I ended up going with Millions and Billions because it reminded me of Fairy Bread and the pink nail polish that accompanied it was such a vibrant pink, I couldn't really go wrong.

When it arrived, in a matching bright pink bag, I busted it open to have a crack at the Rockcandy mani. I was a little nervous at first, fancy nail art is certainly not my forte, so I went to the Hello Darling blog where I discovered a handy Rockcandy tutorial (that was accidental but too awesome to change).

I'm actually really impressed with the Hello Darling nail polish. You know how you can just tell a great quality polish? Well, Hello Darling definitely falls into that category, I cannot wait to try more.

And then I tried a more modest version, so I wouldn't look too crazy in my new corporate office.

I loved how it turned out and I imagine you could easily do every nail for a special occasion to really stand out.

After about about five days of doing my nails, the polish is still perfectly in tact. The little beads, however, are a little worse for wear. They have almost all fallen off and left little coloured divets in my nail polish, I think it will take a bit more practice before I get them to stick better. And, if you are anything like me, you will keep finding them all around the house. But they are so much fun, they are definitely worth trying!

With my new discovery of the awsomeness of Hello Darling nail polishes, it was brought to my attention today that the newest Hello Darling Spring ranges are about to be released. They are called Not Your Nana's Nightie and Crazy in Love and they're about as different from each other as they sound and just PERFECT for my favourite season.

 

Not Your Nana's Nightie is a collection of gorgeous pastels (swoon) and Crazy In Love is the complete opposite – a range of neon brights (gorg!). I don't know about you, but I will be mixing up between the two different styles for Spring because I love them both!

Rockcandy is available from Hello Darling for $24.95 and the new collections are currently available in the presale for $18.95 (or 20% off if you buy the whole collection!)

Have you tried a Rockcandy mani yet? How did yours go? What do you think of the new summer colours?

 

Disclaimer: I bought Rockcandy with my own money and my opinions are my own. I was in no way compensated for this post, I just had to share my excitement over my new love of Hello Darling!

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Sydney International Spa and Beauty Expo 2012 – Pre-Expo Media Event

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Just when I thought not working couldn't get any better than sleeping in and going out for brunch like a lady who leisures, my time off aligned perfectly so that I could attend a pre-expo event for this year's Sydney International Spa and Beauty Expo.

The event was held at FiftyFour Park St Health Club & Day Spa in the Sydney CBD and showcased some of the speakers and industry professionals who will be featured at the expo on the 11th and 12th of August.

Firstly, can I start by gushing over the luxurious Fifty Four Park St? What a hidden gem in the middle of the city? The spa is on three levels and features every kind of massage and facial you can imagine, there is a nail and beauty treatment area, a room for exercise classes, a gym area, and the most magnificent indoor pool I've seen up close! This is definitely a place to be pampered and I think I'll have to visit Fifty Four Park St again some time soon!

When we went downstairs, we were treated to macarons, cupcakes, and champagne – I could get used to this – before the Expo Event Director, Julie Erben started proceedings and gave us the history of the expo and what to expect this year. It's going to be a great weekend, with over 10,000 industry professionals expected to attend. If you love beauty or are involved in the industry at all, this is the event to check out!

Mia Cassin, Media Manager of True Solutions, spoke after Julie as a representative of the exhibitors and made particular mention to the movements in the beauty industry over the past few years and how consumers have become the driving force of all things beauty in difficult economic times.

Melinda O'Rourke, Director of MO Luxury concluded the information portion of the event, discussing the business summit that is taking place at the expo. Melinda's brief mention of the importance of differentiating your business, customer service, and a strong online presence were enough to make me think that the business summit would be a valuable event to attend for anyone involved in business.

 

After the speeches commenced, we were treated to some demonstrations from some other contributors to the expo. Senior Makeup Artist for Becca Cosmetics, Megan Armfield provided makeup touch ups and some very valuable tips to everyone she spoke to. I learned so much from just standing near by listening in, and when it was my turn, she shared some excellent knowledge for my specific skin with me. I haven't tried Becca before but after seeing my skin, I will definitely have to!

Brow artist Jass Sampling gave some tips on eye brow maintenance and Nail Competition Coordinator, Tracey Boyle, showed some examples of gel nail polish.

The lovely ladies at FiftyFour Park St also indulged us with arm massages and manicures. I chose an OPI colour from the new Holland collection, Wooden Shoe Like To Know. A very different hue from what I would usually choose, but that's the point of trying out new things!

If the Spa and Beauty Expo is anything like the preview yesteday, it will be a must-see event! The expo will take place at the Sydney Convention Center and run over two days on the 11th and 12th of August. For more information and a guide of the event, check out the Sydney International Spa and Beauty Expo website or head to their Facebook page.

Let me know if you're going and hopefully I'll see you there!

 

 

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