Pretty Pretty Pretty

Manicure Monday April 21, 2008

So today we tried an at-home French Manicure for Make-up/over Monday. My french manicure kit is just one of those cheapies from the pharmacy. doesn’t last too long but good for cheap thrills.

I watched this instructional vid below from youtube a while back and love the way she does her nails. I got sick of using those little white strips that come with the manicure kit, and much prefer painting on the white bits by hand.

The only tip i can add to the video is use a clear acetone (nail polish remover). the first time i tried this i used an acetone with pink colouring in it, so the white tips i painted on got smudged with pink.

Oh, and tonight, in keeping with the ultra girlie-ness of the occasion, i did this watching Girls of the Playboy Mansion. If you have Sky you could try that too.

Clean yo brushes April 20, 2008

It’s a rainy day here in Wellington NZ. The perfect day for cleaning my make-up brushes. Here’s how I clean them…

First off, i gets my face cleanser and olive oil. i run some warm water and have some paper towels handy. oh, and a clean kitchen sponge.

I put a smidgen of cleanser on the wet sponge and gently smoosh my make-up brushes around to foam up the bristles. Rinse. Repeat for all brushes.

Then i get my paper towels to firstly dry the brushes, and secondly to dab a drop of olive oil on. I rub each brush into the oil on the paper towel. even after cleaning with the facial cleanser, the oil still gets out further crud on the brushes. it’s amazing.

Then another rinse under the tap. then dry gently with paper towel. lie brushes flat to dry.

My method probably isn’t the best. you can buy special brush cleaners and stuff. but i got these tips of Pursebuzz, who i trust completely with all things make-up.

btw, i keep my brushes in a thing i made up out of a sushi bamboo thing. i think i got this idea for storing brushes from Pursebuzz too.

Pretty NZ make-up site April 18, 2008

Dearly beloveds, i just found this great cosmetic website run out of Christchurch. They sell Ben Nye cosmetics and tools, which is for professionals in TV and movies, kinda like MAC and much of their refills even fit into MAC containers.

www.minifies.co.nz

Hats anyone?

Splendid readers, you are looking pretty today! In case you didn’t already know, the hatters on Woodward St are having a closing down sale. Hats are all half price. They’ve got some very pretty hats in there….

Harden up April 17, 2008

I’ve suffered with short, chippy, breaky fingernails. For many years in fact. I’ve tried glue-on nails and acrylics for while but i kinda got sick of the hassle of fakes. But i think i’ve found my own solution.
I started taking fish oil supplements because a friend said they’d make me brainy. and at the same time the lady who did my acrylics got me to buy an OPI nail oil for my cuticles.
Now i can’t say i noticed an ignition of my cognition, but i did notice my nails grow much better AND i don’t have dandruff any more!! I’ve had longer, harder nails since a few weeks after taking the supplements and applying the oil. and when i forgot to take the fish oil on holiday over xmas, they started breaking and chipping again and my dandruff came back. They’re both good now after getting back into regularly taking my tablets.

So that’s my tip for nails - maybe it’ll work for you…

(PS i do feel kinda bad about the poor fish that died for my fish oil. is it really unethical do you think??)

Prime and prejudice

Dearest readers,

A while back i discovered make-up primers. If you’ve not used one, it’s just like a paint primer - it prepares the surface of your skin for foundation application. Foundation goes on smoother, glides over imperfections and lines, and stays put longer. So if you’re after that kind of thing, read on.

(Actually, I’ve only ever used Napoleon Perdis make-up primer. I’m really impressed with it, but tell me if you’ve used any other priming products and what they are like.)

So, dear friends, with the discovery of the make-up primer under my belt, i decided to try out an Eye Primer and tell you what it’s like. For this post I chose MAC’s Prep + Prime for the eyes. I don’t usually splurge on such expensive cosmetics, but for you my beloved readers i will stop at no cost.

The MAC sales assistant told me the primer would make eyeshadow last longer and make the pigments appear brighter. Before making any recommendation to you, whom I hold in highest regard, i thoroughly and scientifically tested these assumptions.

This morning i applied the primer to my left hand with an applicator brush. I then applied four colours atop of the primed area with a blending brush. On my right hand i applied the same four colours without the primer. Pictured below is each hand at the beginning of my experiment (click for big version).

(From left to right on each hand: MAC Ricepaper, Clinique Purple Dazzle, Living Nature #5, Living Nature #16)

I found that the colours applied on the primer were much brighter (except perhaps the MAC ricepaper). Without the primer you can barely see the Living Nature colours, but on the primed hand they really pop.

I left the swatches on my hand for a number of hours. The primed hand definitely lasted longer.

On the Pretty Rating i give this eye primer 3 out of 3 Pretties!!

How to handle heels April 16, 2008

They hurt like frig, but boy are they pretty. I bought these hot-mama heels from Eyeball Kicks a little while ago. They weren’t the best fit but they were on sale! I’ll cram into a smaller size if it saves me 50 bucks (that’s my only fashion motto).

Anyway, their first big night out on the town was at the last xmas work party. They hit the dance-floor (or dance-table as the case may be) at about 6pm and stumbled home 10 hours later. When I woke up my feet began to tingle, and didn’t stop tingling for about a week, so I went to the podiatrist fearing my toes would have to be lopped off.

It turned out I had crushed my little feet nerves, but they did get back to normal. And the foot doctor gave me some good advice about heels.

• Know your limits. Wear heels if you want but plan to take them off after an hour or two or when they start to get sore. I carry a little pair of flats in my bag now when I go out.
• Buy shoes that fit your feet. Antipodeans have a different shaped foot to Europeans and Asians. They’re much wider. But most of the shoes in shops are from Europe or Asia. NZ-made tend to be more suited to our wide feet – try Minnie Cooper. Either way, make sure they are a good fit when you buy them and you’ll be able to wear them longer.
• Stop blisters with Duct tape. Duct tape is much more effective than band-aids. It stays on your skin longer and covers as much skin as you need. PLUS you can buy Duct tape in different colours to match your shoes.

If you’ve got any tips for wearing heels please leave a comment – I’d love to learn more…

Product review: face masks April 14, 2008

For our first Make(up/over/under) Monday (we aim to get together regularly on Mondays to play with girlie products), we decided to do joint reviews of face masks.

Amy: Totally Juicy Grapefruit Peel-Off Mask
Farmers, 150ml, $10ish

“Amazingly lifts out dirt and impurities to purify pores.”

I had fun with this one - it was cooling and sensual to apply and weird pulling it off. It’s a clear gel that tightens as it dries so you peel it off like sunburned skin. It’s a bit stingy to peel off but it made my skin super-soft feeling - no dry bits. PP/PPP

Jo: Ultra Organics Ginger’n Coriander
Farmers, 30ml, $2.50

“Moisturise and revitalize damaged dry pores effectively with this high quality rise off face mask and re-capture your skins [sic] natural sparkle!”

This was tingly when I first put it on, and continued to be a feelable presence, with a little tightening as it dried. It washed off pretty easily in warm water, leaving my face feeling smooth, but for all it moisturisy nourishy claims, I really do feel like I need a separate moisturiser now.

I’d use it again, since I own it now, but I’m glad it’s a small tube, because I don’t intend to marry it or anything. Perhaps I should have gone for the peel-off instead. No P/PPP

What is fashion anyway?

Hi, I’m Joanna. You might know me from all around the internet in places like Hubris and the Wellingtonista, and you might wonder why I feel the need to contribute to yet another site. Well, here’s the thing. I am a woman of contradictions. As I’ve just written on our About Page, I hate most fashion magazines. Yet I still really really like make-up, and clothes, and jewelery, and shiny things.

So for me, I’m hoping that Pretty Pretty Pretty will be a place to promote nice happy good things, things that make you feel good to wear, rather than a horrible magazine giving you complexes about things you can’t afford, or 4 inch heels that you would break your ankle in if you were ever to wear them (Full disclaimer: I have a pair of 4 inch heels. I wear them only if I am posing in front of the mirror by myself, and even then only for ten minutes at the most). I want to talk about how to get nice things that will make you smooth and soft and smell pretty and not pay the earth for them. I want to talk about where you can actually buy nice clothes for people who are over a size 16. I want to teach and to learn about how to wear eyeshadow to almost drag-queen levels and still totally rock the hell out of it. And so that’s what I’m going to do.

How i became a woman

I used to dismiss anything girlie as superficial, trivial and dumb. But a few years ago I had a life-changing experience. In the space of week I went to my first tupperware party, i saw the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice, and i made my first Ezibuy purchase. The planets had aligned and i found out i really liked these womanly pursuits. and i cared less and less what people like the old me thought of people like the new me. I loved being a girlie girl. Since then i have delighted in finding out more about what it takes to be a real girl. I’ve learnt how to straighten, curl and crimp my bangs, how to prime, highlight and blend with eyeshadow, how to buff, strengthen and french manicure my nails. And now i want to share my learnings with you…