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You smell delicious and other good lines

November 24th, 2008

deliciousThe lovely Lou from Delicious has sent us some more goodies to try. Remember how we were in the pink and we wondered what it would be like to get the blues? Well, we’ve got the aquas now, and so can you.

Two out of two people in a blind smell test have said that the aqua hand balm would be for boys and the pink would be for girls, but Amy reckons it would be nice as a bodywash for girls too – and the site agrees, calling Aqua Delicious “fresh, clean and unisex”.  One person described the scent as similar to that of Davidoff Cool Water, while someone else said it was a little generic-Lynxy. I say that it smells manly, but you can decide for yourself because that’s right – we’ve got another giveaway! We have the awesome-feeling hand-balm, some fragrance mist and the body exfoliator, and if you want it, you’ve gotta work for it.

In keeping with the manly theme, gentlemen and ladies, we want you to chat us up. Leave us your best pick-up line in the comments before next Monday, and we’ll choose a winner based on whatever we like the most on that day (so personalised compliments could be a go).

Prize will be sent to NZ addressees only, unless you want to stump up for packaging or send us reciprocal products.

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Review: Eliz Arden 8 Hour Cream

November 4th, 2008


Everyone’s raving about Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream Skin Protectant – on the net, in books, mags, friends. It’s a classic skin care product, around since the 1930s, that I’m just cottoning on to. And I managed to get a pretty good deal when I decided to buy. A lot of EA beauty counters have a gift pack on sale at the mo which includes an 8 hour lip balm, hand cream and make-up bag with the 8 hour cream.

The ‘Cream’ is not really a cream at all. It is like Vaseline, which isn’t surprising as the only active ingredient in the 8 Hours is petroleum jelly. Hence it does not soak into skin and has a greasy feel.

It does have a number of great uses though. It protects skin from drying, like any barrier cream. It can be used to sooth chapped lips. You can slick your brows with it. Apply after waxing or shaving to help heal. And use its shine to highlight cheek bones or eyelids.

But don’t try it as a face moisturiser – I was shiny, like really shiny, all over my face for 10 hours when I tried it. And it’s no good as a hand cream either as it’s greasy.

It has been great relief to my legs (which get itchy after waxing or shaving). And is great on any dry patches.

My only irk (besides the smell) is that the ingredients are quite basic (other main ingredients are lanolin, mineral oil, castor oil, and so on) and may not justify the high price. I wonder if Vaseline or baby creams like Amolin work just the same. (Vicky, I think ’baby cream’ was a tip from you for dry lips).

I do love the lip balm and hand cream it came with though.

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Posted in body products, skin care

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Delicious prize for you!

October 22nd, 2008

Jo’s already shared her thoughts on Delicious products, and they get my thumbs up too. I really like the smell, and they’re a great range of reasonably-priced pamper products.

But you don’t need to take our word for it.  You can win yourself a Delicious body scrub and Delicious shower gel by simply leaving a comment on this post telling us what you think the most delicious food is to have with champagne.

Competition open to NZ addresses only. A winner will be drawn randomly on Wednesday 29th Oct.

Delicious

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Posted in body products, competition, skin care

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My, that’s Delicious!

October 21st, 2008

delicious
Recently we were contacted by a New Zealand company named Delicious, asking us if we wanted to try their products. To be honest, neither Amy nor I had ever heard of them before, but we’re always keen to try new things – especially if they’re New Zealand-made and inspired by a bubble in a glass of champagne (that’s where all of our best ideas come from too!), so our reply was a resounding “yes please!”

A couple of days later I got a bulging packet in the mail, crammed full of pink delicious goodness. They’re described as “divinely decadent and sensual”, and the exfoliator, shower gel, hand & foot balm and moisturiser products even smell pink, and I mean that in a good way. It makes a nice change for me, as I normally buy products that have one specific scent (and to be honest, that’s normally just coconut), but these are more perfumey. When my flatmate Smoo tried the hand & foot balm, he said it was probably a bit too girly-smelling for him to get away with (although he liked the way it felt), so we made jokes about how it could be useful in giving yourself a stranger, but my sister’s boyfriend Bambi said the scent was fine for him and his mother and grandmother are the lovely ladies from Herbatint, so we think he is more credible as a judge of beauty products. Both of them however, might prefer Delicious Aqua products, which apparently are “fresh, clean and unisex”.

Either way, it made for a very happy bathtime for me to be able to layer the fragrance upon myself, and then upon my clean sheets. I used the shower gel as bubble bath, and it wasn’t a big bubbler (they do make a bubble bath though which is undoubtedly better), but it made for a nice soak anyway, perhaps due to its manuka and olive extracts. I really enjoyed the exfotliator with apricot seeds – it was soft but I still felt like I was getting a good scrubbing. The moisturiser comes in a pretty pump bottle which is really handy, but my favourite product was the hand &; foot balm. It’s a really intense moisturiser with grapeseed and shea butter, and your hands feel so soft after using it it’s not unlike a much more expensive four-part treatment – but in one easy application. The balm went missing mysteriously before I could pass the products on to Amy to try, but as I am a good person I have brought it to her tonight to try. My verdict on Delicious? I’m really glad to know about it, the range is perfect for when you want to feel really girly, and the balm is going on my list of products to carry all the time.

There’s a list of stockists on their website, but for the rest of the month they’re offering free shipping and a free gift, so you don’t even need to get up from your computer to get yourself some tastiness. Or perhaps there might even be a giveaway from us tomorrow – if you’re really lucky…

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I am a hairy feminist and that’s okay

October 14th, 2008

When I went to Samoa, I was going to write a post about how much fun it was to depilitate my thighs, how satisfying it was to see the huge big clumps of hair washing down the drain, and how great it was that the three-minute-shower-cream that I was using didn’t make my legs smell like roast chicken the way creams in 1996 used to. But I didn’t get around to it, and now there’s no way I’m going to. The reason? Veet Wax’s TV ads that say that waxing makes you more feminine. I’m sorry, but what? WHAT? Get stuffed, how dare you tell me what’s feminine and what’s not? And their slogan “what beauty feels like” – oh silly me, there I was thinking that beauty had to do with feeling good, rather than worrying that you’re not hairless enough to wear what you feel like wearing.

I’m not going to stop shaving my legs (to the knee), but I’m not going to apologise for the parts of me that are hairy either. If you enjoy waxing your legs, by all means, keep waxing your legs (I went through a stage of waxing my toes purely because the pain made me feel), but please, don’t ever think that it’s okay for advertising to play on women’s insecurities about not being feminine enough.

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Pretty pretty people: Karyl from Mary Kay

August 20th, 2008

I was raving about the Mary Kay hand treatment we tried out at the last couple of PPP parties. Turns out my friend knows Wellington’s senior sales director of Mary Kay, Karyl Anderson. So my friend jacked up a meeting between me and Jo and the lovely Karyl. Turns out Karyl has led an interesting life and career. She’s such an inspirational lady, we are stoked she responded to our PPP questions…

Karyl

Karyl’s been with Mary Kay for 19 years and joined when teaching nursing and raising a three year old. She also found Pilates 6 years ago and loved it so much decided to train as an Instructor. Karyl teaches Pilates at Hearts & Bones Pilates Studio, Ghuznee Street in Wellington.

What made you get into Mary Kay?

Mary Kay Ash founded the company way back in 1963 & did so because she wanted to empower women. Her philosophies are what sets us apart as a company and that’s what ‘sold’ me on joining. She had taken early retirement because she was fed up with the way women were treated as second best compared to men in sales positions (we’re talking Mad Men times). Started writing down how she would run a company and then decided to do exactly that. She and her mother had used products developed by a hide tanner, for over 10 years and Mary Kay bought the formulations from his grand-daughter.  Our business plan allows women to be as successful as they’re prepared to work for.

What motivates you to stay in the “industry”?

I have a team of 80 independent Beauty Consultants and I love working with, inspiring and teaching them. Mary Kay Cosmetics is committed to enriching the lives of women, we still make our own products, remain a family owned business and are continually improving our product range. The company offer a 90 day, 100% satisfaction guarantee – Mary Kay Ash couldn’t stand the way women would take a product home, realize it didn’t suit, yet couldn’t return it!! I love being my own boss, love the flexibility of being self-employed, love the rewards and sister hood. We have a very special ‘deal’ at the moment – you can join Mary Kay for ONLY $99 instead of $229. Available until the end of August.

What are the constant best sellers?

·         TimeWise our quick & easy 3:1 Cleanser (cleanses, exfoliates & tones) and Age-Fighting Moisturiser. 

·         Our amazing Oil-free Eye Make-up Remover. It’s only $25 & it’s amazing. My favourite!!

·         Mineral Powder Foundation (recently released)

·         TimeWise Day & Night Solution

·         Satin Hands Pampering Set – prettyprettypretty knows how good that is!

·         Microdermabrasion Set

What do you wear/do to make yourself feel good?

I use my skin care twice a day (religiously). I wear make-up every day because I love the way my skin feels & looks. I buff my body in the shower every couple of days because I love smooth, soft skin. I love soaking in the bath and was given some Crabtree& Evelyn La Source Bath Tablets for my birthday last year which I ADORE!  

How would you define pretty?

Pretty’s about feeling feminine or sassy in your own skin: looking after and taking care of yourself.

I’d love to offer your prettyprettypretty ‘readers’ a free beauty appointment with Mary Kay. They can have that one-on-one or with a small group (4-5) of friends. No obligation. My numbers (04) 383-8393 027 4344-566 or e-mail me karylanderson@xtra.co.nz

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Posted in body products, make-up, people, skin care

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Win the ultimate Skinfood prize pack

July 31st, 2008


Oh my stars we are so very very very excited about this. You know that we’ve been loving on Skinfood‘s body-butter since before we started this site, right? Well the lovely Stephanie from Skinfood has given us a set of every Skinfood product to give away! I think that deserves a few more exclamation marks. !!! That’s a $85 retail value, because their products are so reasonably priced. There’s bodybutter, moisturiser, scrub, a masque and more (and unfortunately, I left the box of goodies on my desk at work, I’ll update when I can), and part of the awesomeness of Skinfood is that it’s Unisexual, so both boys and girls can share the love. We kind of don’t want to give this away, but on the other hand, we do love to share the goodness around. So, how can you win the pack, or our runner-up prizes of giftboxes from the first PPP party? The rules are after the jump.
» Read more: Win the ultimate Skinfood prize pack

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Posted in body products, competition, grooming, ppp, skin care

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Your homework for this weekend

June 13th, 2008

1. Get yourself a copy of the latest Bust magazine featuring my role model Amy Sedaris on the cover jumping out of a cake, or some other very good form of reading material.
2. Put clean sheets on your bed, preferably 100% cotton, 400 thread count or so.
3. Run yourself a nice hot bath and make sure you put some luxurious products in it (or even just some milk powder, almond oil and a drop of your favourite smelly). Before you get in, apply a nice face mask. Have a jolly good long soak.
4. Scrub your feet with a brush, some pumice, some foot scrub or a combination of all of the above.
5. When you’ve dried off, and removed the mask, slather yourself all over in some glorious thick body butter. I cannot say enough good things about Skinfood’s body butter – they’re a New Zealand company, most of their ingredients aren’t all chemically, it’s rich and lovely, it’s cheap and easy at around $14 a tub in most supermarkets, and if you want further proof of its awesomeness, every time I apply it, my cat licks my hands for ages. So that has to be a good thing, right?
6. Get into your nice clean sheets. Feel blissed out. Perfection!

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Posted in body products, girlie party, Joanna

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Review: Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion

June 4th, 2008

aveenoI was browsing NZgirl.co.nz the other day, because while every single word on the site is advertorial, they do have a lot of competitions that just require a click to enter, and so I managed to get myself sent a free sample of Aveeno Daily Moisturiser. They sent me some vouchers and a 25ml bottle, which is great, because I am a handcream addict and always have to carry some moisturiser around in my bag, so this is a good size for that.

As far as the product itself goes though, I’m a little less convinced. It claims to last for 24 hours, which I think is ridiculous, because surely you’ll be washing your hands a couple of times during that time. It does a good job of coating your hands in what feels like protective gloves though, and definitely lasts a couple of hours, which is much longer than any most other products. It feels a little greasy going on, and the grease feeling intensifies if your hands heat up. Also, it’s apparently fragrance-free (which is another reason why I don’t like it), but smells kind of vaguely hospital-ish. Oh, and it’s a Johnson & Johnson product, and I prefer to buy from smaller companies, because I have an innate distrust of large chemical corporations claiming to be all about the natural oatmeal properties, when neither the sample nor their website will list the ingredients of the product.

But, you know, if you’re in the market for a really thick hand cream and you don’t want it to smell like cocoa butter or coconut, this could be the product for you. The guy and girl I was with at the pub who tried it with me didn’t have whole lot to say about it, except that it was okay. I’ll keep the bottle around for dry hand emergencies, but won’t be purchasing it.

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Our favourite things: body-brushing

June 2nd, 2008

I’ve read in many publications that body-brushing is really good for your skin and circulation, and so I decided to give it a go. The idea is that you give yourself a thorough dry rubdown before you shower evert day, but given that I shower in the morning, approximately 30 minutes after I am supposed to be at work, I don’t have time for that, so it’s generally a weekend-only activity.

What I like best about my brush though, which is made by QVS and was $15 from Farmers, is not the synthetic bristles which are a little too soft, but the fact that it’s got knobs on the back. Ooooooohh yes. This is the perfect thing for feet. Soak them for a while (tonight Amy and I soaked our feet in the bathbombs we made a while ago) and then rub it all over your heels, toes, sides of your feet and oh boy oh boy, it feels good. Your mileage may vary as to the faces of delight it might cause. Mmmmmassagey.

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Posted in body products, Joanna, our best tips ever, reviews

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