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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Beauty news for the man in your life: the arrival of Triumph & Disaster
Taking its name from Rudyard Kipling’s poem of the same name
and its aesthetic from Brooklyn’s rock n’ roll dandies, Dion Nash’s men’s
skincare and grooming range Triumph & Disaster is one impressive beast.
Despite the fact that the company is still in its infancy it’s making some
serious waves in the industry, and not long after sitting down for coffee with
its creator I was soon a raving fan.
The former New Zealand cricketer and 42 Below alumni is passionate
about decent skincare for men that looks good and actually does what it says,
and the high performance ingredients in his small-but-perfectly-formed offering
would put many a women’s skincare brand to shame.
"It's about doing things right to set you up for the
day,” he has said of the range, “The idea is you should clean, shave and
protect your face in the morning. If you do those things before leaving the
house, you'll give yourself every chance of dealing with triumph and disaster
over the course of the day." Products like his soon-to-be-released daily
moisturiser will more than set you up to face whatever the day will throw at
you, and the tester pot I got to have a play with points to an offering that is
set to turn the men’s skincare market on its head. Serious skincare it most
definitely is, as well as giving a healthy nod to tradition in the form of an
old-fashioned shave cream designed to be used with a brush and a shearing soap
modelled on what they used after a hard day in the woolshed.
The Old
Fashioned Shave Cream is my husband’s go-to product right now and he’s a hard
man to impress. Lanolin is its key ingredient – giving it some serious glide –
and a few citrus notes thrown in for good measure give it a scent that is
reminiscent of old school barber shops and the secrets held within their walls.
The products were created in collaboration with a chemist
named Phil, who has a history that includes creating fragrances in France for
major names like Christian Dior as well as developing consumer-focused products
after a move to Australia. “His experience in the industry has been invaluable,”
Dion tells me, “and he really ‘gets’ what I’m hoping to achieve. He’s an
amazing find.”
Oh and if all of this isn’t enough to convince you to give
the range a second look, it’s refreshingly paraben, petroleum and silicone
free. In Dion’s words: “derived from nature, engineered with science,” and I
strongly suggest you check it out now.
Have a closer look at Triumph & Disaster here.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012
In love with: brand new Ecoya Metro fragrances
I’m always excited when Ecoya releases a
new fragrance, mainly because I know how much time, energy, effort and testing
goes into each and every one. It really ain’t no simple thing! My absolute faves are always in the headier realm - think Vanilla Bean and Elizabeth from their Decadence collection - but pretty much anything they do gets my tick of approval.
So it is with great fanfare that I’d like
to announce my first taste of two special new candles for Autumn that come as
part of their beautiful Metro collection, Coconut & Elderflower and Pink
Poppy & Peony.
The former is definitely the one to unleash
on a cold, miserable day as it’s a real trip to the tropics with its cocktail
of fruity ingredients. A riot of white coconut and caramel combined with elderflower
and immersed in a rich background of lime, bergamot, lemon and pineapple, it is
warm and enveloping and seriously my favourite of the two. Pink Poppy &
Peony is for those that love things a little more delicate, with a sweet
vanilla and woody base, topped off with floral notes of rose, lavender and
violet for a fresh, sweet scent.
So there you have it – take your pick and
get burning now!
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Beauty destination: my trip to heavenly Chintamani
By the time you read this I have most definitely bid the
beautiful island of Bali goodbye, but after discovering a very special new
resort run by a wonderful ex-Ponsonby local, you can be sure that I’m already
dreaming of coming back. Savings goal, here I come!
I’ve made a point of making my way to a spa and/or wellness
retreat on a regular basis if I can over the past ten years, and have been
lucky enough to experience the likes of Thailand’s Chiva Som, the Evason Hideaway
at Zighy Bay in Oman and Queensland’s Gwinganna, amongst other beautiful
properties. The chance to relax, re-focus and rejuvenate that these kind of
spots offer are pretty much second to none, so when I had the opportunity to
visit the fabulous Chintamani
Bali Retreat & Spa I was on the plane before you could say “Eat,
Spa, Swim”!
Just opened in April, Chintamani is set on a hectare of
landscaped hillside gardens, alongside the Laing River Valley on the west coast
of Bali, about 30 minutes from Ubud and 45 minutes from Seminyak. It's the
brainchild of fellow Ponsonby resident Wendy Matthews, whose vision was to
combine the pleasures of a luxury resort with a carefully planned wellbeing
program. There are only six bales - or villas - catering to a maximum 12 women,
and the all-inclusive, week-long packages offer daily scheduled activities like
yoga, meditation and spa treatments, but guests set their own agenda and
there’s always time for a trip round the shops or a gin by the pool! Self-improvement,
perfecting the art of doing nothing or a clever combination of the two - the
choice is all yours, and the venue purpose-built for one hell of a relaxing
time.
Set amidst sprawling tropical gardens, lush paddy fields and
lotus ponds, Chintamani even has its own purpose built yoga centre (the perfect
way to end the afternoon), a beautiful swimming pool (that I found it hard to
tear myself away from) and a smaller pool set in a private courtyard alongside
an authentic Balinese Rice Barn. To say the place is heaven on earth would be
an understatement – and the feeling of serenity that washes over you the minute
you cross its threshold truly has to be experienced to be believed. The
seemingly endless massages of course help, and the fruity cocktails… but I
digress!
Wendy has been coming to Bali on and off for 15-20 years and
told me that it has been “a long love affair - the gorgeous food, the fabulous
climate, the lovely people all combine to make it a fantastic place to spend
time in. It's hard to put a finger on what exactly it is that makes people keep
coming back for more but once you've come, you'll know.”
Sitting down to a meal of chicken larb and mahi mahi with
red curry sauce one warm evening at Chintamani and contemplating a day ahead
that includes a coconut body scrub, aromatherapy massage and yoga, I can’t help
but come back to one of Wendy’s previous statements again and again. “It's hard
to put a finger on what exactly it is that makes people keep coming back for more
but once you've come, you'll know.” Watermelon mojito in hand, I think I’ve
just had my own revelation, and feel all the better for it. I’ll most
definitely be back!
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Get yours now: M.A.C Fashion Sets mini-collection
I never need an excuse to pop into M.A.C’s Britomart PRO
store, or any excuse to spend up large there on bits and bobs that I
want/need/just must have! My reason for being there last Friday however was on
“official” business, as in chatting with M.A.C’s Asia-Pacific DOMA, Hong
Kong-based James Molloy.
I’d spent the week before in Sydney at MBFWA with the
charming Brit, watching him in action backstage and at a Master Class in East
Sydney, taking notes all the way. Come Friday we were talking about M.A.C’s
rather fabulous new initiative, the 3-piece mini-collections of Lipstick,
Lipglass, and Nail Lacquer known as Fashion Sets.
It’s no secret that one of the largest emerging beauty
trends right now is the matching lip and polish, so naturally M.A.C have stayed
one step of the pack by making this that much easier for all of us by packaging
up some of each region’s most popular picks.
Think top shades like Rebel in New York, Russian Red in
Dubai, Snob in Sao Paulo, Saint Germain in Tokyo and Morange in Paris for
starters, and then add six more that are so-hot-right-now in those countries.
Perfectly coordinated and regionally inspired, Fashion Sets are the quickest
way to “colour block” your beauty look in three quick steps.
The Asia-Pacific collection on counter in New Zealand right
now is made up of:
Saint Germain: Light cool pink (amplified)
Peachstock: Light peachy nude (satin)
Angel: Light warm pink (frost)
Ravishing: Mid-tone neutral peach (cremesheen)
Razzledazzler: Light cream peach (lustre)
Morange: Bright cream orange (amplified)
Impassioned: Bright warm pink (amplified)
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Friday, May 11, 2012
Giveaway: two bottles of Dusky Sounds delicious Sauvignon Blanc
I've always thought the Dusky Sounds range was one of the
best value tipples on the market, and their super yummy 2011 Sauvignon
Blanc certainly proves the point. The fruit for this wine was carefully
selected from vineyards in the Wairau and Awatere Valleys of Marlborough New
Zealand, and it’s definitely a Classic Marlborough on the nose with lifted
notes of guava, grapefruit and a touch of green apples. A little tropical
and a little citrus-y, it’s as crisp as they come and for a wine lover like me,
a little slice of heaven!
Luckily for you I like to share, and have two bottles of
this delightful little number to give away to readers over the age of eighteen.
To enter email helene@mshelene.com with
your name, address and date of birth before Friday, May 18. Go to it!
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
Beauty news: Pure Fiji’s first skincare range AKA “paradise for your skin”
For many a year now, the kind people at Pure Fiji have been
creating absolutely beautiful bodycare that transports you to their sunny
shores in minutes without even needing to board a plane. Each and every product
in their collection smells incredible and works a treat on your bod too, so it’s
no surprise that they have at long last expanded their range to included a
simple but rather special skincare offering as well.
Called Pure Fiji Face Care Solutions, it is fair bursting
with a bounty of fresh and natural ingredients like exotic drift nut oils straight
from the tropical isles, and is designed with century old Fijian beauty traditions
in mind. It also uses hydrosols rather than water as a base, which enhances the
performance of the products and means your skin is absorbing the benefits
rather than just water.
The three core products included in the range are a simply
magical Purifying Cleanser (my favourite at the moment), a Balancing Toner that
uses cucumber, passionflower and witch hazel extracts enriched with green
coconut water to re-mineralise, nourish and energise cellular exchange, and a Multi-active
Day Crème (pictured) that is power packed with essential nutrients, vitamins and powerful
plant actives.
Like their bodycare, Pure Fiji’s skincare range is
definitely more than just a collection of pretty products with a yummy smell –
it’s designed to actually “work” for your skin, and work it does. Well worth a
try in my opinion, you won’t be disappointed.
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Love: Sodashi’s Brightening Marine Mineral Mask
It is clearly obvious that I’m in awe of pretty much
everything that Sodashi skincare’s Megan Larsen creates, so I was pretty damn
excited when I heard that the brand would be launching a new mask that inevitably
would end up in my list of ‘must haves’. They definitely aren’t a company that
throws out something new on a weekly basis, so for a new product to be ready
for release it will have to have been trialled and perfected for a very long
time.
In the case of Sodashi's new Brightening Marine Mineral Mask
it has most definitely had a fair whack of testing in the spa arena as it was
created in response to repeated requests for a pre-blended version of their
professional Brightening Marine Mineral Mask, which is a truly amazing beast. I
couldn’t wait to give it a whirl and wow – was I impressed!
The mask is a powerful detoxifying and firming treatment,
making it ideal to apply to my skin after a few weeks of air travel and
not-ideal nights sleeping in air-conditioned hotel rooms. The
vitamin-and-mineral- packed mask plumps up skin, evens skin tone and restores a
healthy glow, and re-energises dull or stressed skin such as mine is right now.
This makes it perfect for use in the winter months, during periods of travel or
before a special event to restore radiance, and its key actives include:
- Australian Yellow & White Clay to improve skin colour & vitality
- Australian Zeolite (an ultrafine clay derived from volcanic mineral ore) for a powerful detoxifying action
- Seaweed to help maintain the skin’s natural moisture balance and improve skins elasticity
- Spirulina, which is rich in phytonutrients and has excellent skin firming properties
- Rosewood Oil to support skin cell renewal and strengthen collagen
All in all a powerful punch, and a perfect choice for a weekly
treat that will help you get your glow back. After cleansing and moisturising,
apply a small amount of the mask to the face, neck and décolletage area and
leave on for 10 to 20 minutes. Remove with a warm, damp face cloth, step back
and marvel.
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Beauty news: the legendary ghd IV Styler gets a super glossy makeover
When it comes to a good old-fashioned glamover, it’s all
about making something already seriously great just that much more vibrant, and
ghd have done just that with their original styler.
The professional hair styling brand has just released the very
covetable ghd IV Gloss Collection, which is as gorgeous as it is high
performance – like pretty much everything that comes out of ghd’s creative hub.
Available for a limited time, the ghd IV Gloss collection
sees the ghd IV Styler available in two glossy finishes: patent black and - my
personal favourite - a sassy poppy red. Both are retailing at an affordable recommended
retail price of $279, and come with the usual essential features such as curved
barrels for ease creating curls and movement, a sleep mode, universal voltage
and temperature control.
If you’re thinking of updating your hot tools then I
sincerely recommend a trip to your nearest ghd salon for a set of these
beauties, your locks will love you for it!
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