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Cheap, chic and cheerful

March 5th, 2012

With the various Fashion Weeks now a thing of the past, and New Zealand’s own fashion festival under way, there’s plenty of pretty things on the Internet that might be singing your name.  However, we’re not all  Ms Wintour or her well-heeled buddies and therefore we won’t all be buying up large at Prada in a few months daaaaaahlink.

If you do want a cheap and cheerful treat (while keeping things chic)…read on!

Shoes

I actually have these lovelies in red.  They’re seriously high, so they’re not for the cautious girls who want to maintain their ability to walk long term.  However, if you’re okay with a high heel, these are comfy.  I wore them several days in a row without (a) back pain or (b) cramp in the arch of my foot. Winner! And they’re now $99.95…which is a discount of $100!  Go and see the nice girls at Hannahs about it.  It’s not their fault that Hannahs stocks the Kardashian Kollection.

Flatty flat flats, lurvely.  These are very “on trend” and also extremely cheap. They’re currently AUD$20 from Jay Jays. I think that if you are down with buying a pair of shoes that you will wear for one season and then have to chuck away, these will fit the bill. However, I would recommend saving your pennies for a bit longer and getting something that will last a bit longer. Having said that, I’ve bought $40 ankle boots from Number One in the past that are still going strong, about four years later, so…

Alright, let’s have a bargain spa day.

Beauty

Farmers is having a great wee sale on Natio at the moment – any three items for $40!  They have a great spa range as well as normal beauty products (moisturiser, serums et cetera) and a full range of make up and nailpolishes.

If you’re after a wee beauty pick-me-up on the SUPER cheap, then you might like to pop along to The Warehouse and check out their LA Colours range.  The polishes, lip pencils and liquid eyeliners have all enjoyed a little visit to my bathroom cabinet (for research, of course).  The polishes are toluene and formaldehyde free, and dry quickly to a reasonably chip-resistant finish.  These are seriously good, and for some reason my local Warehouse is currently charging just $5 for anything from this company (I suspect they’re selling it down as the rack isn’t being topped up, so get there quickly!).

Maybe you’re just topping up the staples but you want something fun! and new! and weird! Then have a go with the Dove Foaming Make Up Remover:

It’s so foamy! The thick, luxurious-feeling foam can be used over your entire face – yes, even around the eyes – and gets off all the makeup without stripping your skin.  It even gets off my mascara. I think they might be channelling some kind of pixie magic.

Clothing

Baby, it’s cold(er) outside.  It might be time to treat yourself to something cozy and cute, yes?

How about a bobble jumper from the House of G (that’s Glassons, just bein’ fancy):

Maybe you like to be a bit more unique?  That bobble jumper is a steal but this little knitted jumper with cable sleeves from Asos works out even cheaper!

You know what looks adorable with a chunky knit? A floaty little skirt creating a contrast and flipping around in the breeze (wear tights though, cold legs ain’t cute).  This basic number would be a wardrobe workhorse for years, so it’s a double bargain at $49.95 on Ezibuy:

A treat can be as good as a holiday (but a lot cheaper!).  What are you ladies loving from the budget-friendly end of the spectrum?

 

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Posted in clothes, grooming, Megan, nails, reviews, sale

Garnier thinks they invented something: A Review

February 19th, 2012

Imagine, if you will, that you have 15 minutes to kill one night and you are directly outside a supermarket.  If you’re me, this is an invitation to go and cruise the beauty aisle for new products.  Which is how I found myself throwing down $18 on Garnier’s Miracle Skin Perfector.

Garnier calls this a “B.B. Cream Innovation” to which I say: whatever, Garnier, the Japanese invented BB creams ages ago. You are just jumping on their bandwagon – which is totally fine because BB cream is hard to find in NZ – but make it clear it wasn’t your idea please.  If you’ve improved BB cream then perhaps say something like “A New Generation of BB Cream Skincare” (yup, copywriting is not my day job).

For $18 I was willing to give it a go and review it here.  BB creams were designed for people with scarring.  They basically act as a foundation which also heals your skin, i.e. all my dreams coming true in one product.  It is a mystery to me why they didn’t catch on years ago.  However, the Internet has been lighting up with BB cream love in the last year or two, so the big brands seem to be developing their own hybrid products.

About my face: I have some light acne scarring, mainly near my hairline, which is hidden by light foundation.  I suffered with eczema for several years so I am very cautious about products irritating my skin.  In recent years I have been more prone to breakouts.  My skin gets very dry at the start of winter and I am obsessed with dewy, glowing skin.  I can’t really complain but I do anyway.

Pros:

  • it’s a moisturiser and a foundation so you cut out a step in your routine.  This is a winner and buys me about 5 minutes of additional snooze time per day.
  • you can slap it on with your fingers so I don’t have to constantly wash foundation brushes.
  • it is buildable. This was important because I often find tinted moisturisers are too thin and are a pointless waste of my time.
  • it gives you a bit of a glow.  I would say this evens out my skin but it is not high coverage.  It is just enough to look polished at work (two layers) or slightly less pale and uninteresting on weekends (one layer).
  • it’s SPF 15.
  • I honestly think it is improving my skin slightly.  This may be placebo effect but I feel like my skin is loving this.  At the very least I haven’t had any break-outs and the hormonal spots on my chin healed super quickly once I began using this product.

Cons:

  • It only comes in two colours: light and medium. What the hell, Garnier?  I bought light which works well.  It’s number 2 so I do wonder if there is a wider range but we just aren’t seeing it here.
  • It stinks. Not gross-stink but “let’s tip all the perfumes ever into the mix” stink.  I can’t smell it once it’s on, but it is choking in the tube.
  • It slips. If I double-layer it is better but it doesn’t wear as well as foundation.  You cannot touch your face if you want this to last. It took me two days to get on board with this realisation and in those two days I hated this product.

My recommendation?  If you want a quick and easy foundation-esque product then I would give this a try.  It is much cheaper than foundation and is relatively foolproof, so it would be great if you aren’t that into makeup but sometimes need something to give you a boost.  But if you can dedicate yourself to using it everyday, I think you will see results in your underlying skin quality too.  In summary: worth a try.

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Posted in grooming, make-up, Megan, reviews

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Nivea Visage Daily Essentials Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover

December 18th, 2011

I first bought Nivea Visage Daily Essentials Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover (try saying that three times fast) a few months back after I’d finished a mini-sized bottle of Lancome Bi-Facils which came in a gift pack. Now Bi-Facils is a seriously good product but just too expensive for my budget, so I grabbed a bottle of this off the shelf of a local department store mostly because it said “Extra Gentle” on the bottle and it was well priced.

That impulse purchase turned out to be a good thing – I’m onto my second bottle and this is now my holy grail eye makeup remover. As far as I’m concerned it’s even better than Bi-Facils.

Here’s what Nivea say about their product:

“NIVEA VISAGE DAILY ESSENTIALS EXTRA GENTLE EYE MAKE-UP REMOVER is a light, oil free formulation that gently removes make-up around the delicate eye area, leaving no greasy residue.

HOW IT WORKS

NIVEA VISAGE DAILY ESSENTIALS EXTRA GENTLE EYE MAKE-UP REMOVER enriched with Pro-Vitamin B5 to soothe the skin:

  • Gently removes make-up and mascara with no greasy residue
  • Prevents stinging or irritation of the delicate skin around the eye
  • Dermatologically and opthamologically tested

 Your sensitive eye area is gently cleansed and looking beautiful with cared for eye-lashes.”

I don’t know about the ‘cared for eyelashes’ bit, but  I can tell you that it does a really good job of melting away even heavy eye makeup so that it can be wiped away without the need for rubbing; it doesn’t sting my eyes (this is important – my eye area is very sensitive) and it doesn’t leave any oily residue. One cotton pad well dampened with remover is enough for one eye, although I wear non-waterproof mascara so I can’t vouch for how well it would cope with the waterproof stuff.

The water-based formula dries quickly on the skin without needing to be wiped off afterwards and doesn’t leave any residue behind, oily or otherwise. I can apply eye makeup once it has dried without it affecting the application, and I often use this on a cotton bud to fix up over-zealous or just plain bad makeup application.

The product is very subtly and pleasantly scented with what seems to me to be a “beachy” scent – but then I’m crap at scent descriptions so I wouldn’t pay any attention to that!

At around $12.00 for a generous-sized 125ml bottle, Nivea Daily Essential Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover is widely available throughout New Zealand in department stores, pharmacies and supermarkets.

Ingredients: Aqua, Poloxamer 124, PEG-8, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Glycerin, Panthenol, Isosteareth-20, Steareth-20, Dipotassium Phosphate, Potassium Phosphate, Trisodium EDTA, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Benzyl Alcohol, Geraniol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Linalool, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hydroxy-citronellal, Benzyl Salicylate, Parfum. (Note: I couldn’t find an ingredients list online so I typed this up from the back of the bottle. Apologies if there are any mistakes. Also, congratulations on your super reading skills if you did spot any mistakes!)

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Posted in reviews, Selina, skin care

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Models Own Purple Rain: otherwise known as my new favourite nail polish

December 8th, 2011

I confess I hate the name of this polish, because I immediately start singing the Prince song of the same name. I hate that song. With a fiery passion that burns brighter than the sun. Or something. Ok maybe not that much, but I don’t like the song, alright?

Lucky for this polish its awesomeness more than makes up for the earworm.

Stunning – a gorgeous dark purple creme. In low light it looks almost navy, in sunlight it leans less blue than the photos show.  Application was fabulous, two coats to opaque and it went on like a dream.

Models Own nail polishes are available from the Models Own website for £5.00 each.

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Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes

December 7th, 2011

I’m pretty sure all of us are aware of the importance (both for our skin and our pillowcases) of removing makeup before bed. But if I asked for a show of hands I can guarantee 99.9% of you (myself included) would admit to at least occasionally letting your heads hit the pillow with a full face of slap still on. Because sometimes  the multiple steps involved in makeup removal are just a few steps too many at the end of a long day.

This is where makeup removal wipes should be a godsend – take it out of the packet, smoosh it around your face a bit and throw it in the bin. Job done. Except so many of the cleansing wipes I’ve tried (and I’ve tried more than a few of them) have disappointed. Either they’ve moved the makeup around my face instead of actually removing it, made me breakout, left an oily film on my face that required another cleansing step to remove, made my eyes sting something shocking, or smelt so strongly of alcohol that my eyes started to water as soon as I opened the product. Or sometimes all of the above.

Thank goodness for Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes.

Simple’s ethos is “No perfume, no colour, no unnecessary or harsh chemicals so it won’t upset your skin”, and the first thing you’ll notice about the wipes is that there is very little discernable scent to them. If I try really hard I can detect a not-unpleasant background scent of what I can only describe as ‘cosmetic ingredients’.

The wipes themselves are a good size and well-moistened, and they do a good job of removing my makeup without having to rub excessively hard at my skin. One wipe will generally suffice on a normal makeup day (which for me is foundation, eye makeup, blusher and gloss). My eye makeup comes off easily without any stinging of my eyes, although I should qualify this by pointing out that I don’t wear waterproof mascara so I can’t vouch for how well these would cope with that. They are advertised as being suitable for waterproof mascara removal.

My skin is left feeling slightly damp after use but not oily, and within a few minutes this has dried without leaving any residue. On the occasions when I’ve made a boo-boo with my makeup application and used these to remove it I’ve been able to re-apply without an extra cleansing step.

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes have become a standard in my skin care regime. Most nights these are my cleansing step, followed by moisturiser, and my skin has not suffered any negative effects. In fact quite the opposite, they leave my skin feeling cleansed without over-stripping it.

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes come in packets of 25, and are widely available in department stores, pharmacies and supermarkets around New Zealand. They retail for around $10, and I would advise shopping around as I’ve seen price variations of up to $5 between stores.

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes ingredients:

Aqua, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth-20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Disodium EDTA, Ceteareth-12, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Propylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid

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Posted in make-up, reviews, Selina, skin care

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Kimi Organic Hydrating Facial Cream: a review and a chance for you to win!

November 23rd, 2011

kimi facial creamA little while ago (longer ago than I should admit to, actually), I was contacted by Kim Girbin, the founder of Kimi Organic, a vegan-registered, certified organic skin care range and holistic New Zealand company, who sent me some products to try. I received two full-size bottles of the hydrating facial cream, and a sample each of the body wash and the face wash. I’ll be straight with you – the sample size didn’t really allow me to try the body wash at all (there’s a lot of me), and I rubbed half the face wash into my hair because the hotel I was staying in for work didn’t have any shampoo. What the? Exactly.

So let me talk to you about the facial cream instead. I really like it. Let’s take a look at the ingredients:

Chamomile Extract, Sunflower Oil, Shea Butter, Cetearyl and Sorbitan Olivate, Cetyl Alcohol,Vegetable Glycerine, Fragrance, Macadamia Oil, Avocado Oil, Guar Gum,Potassium Sorbate,Peppermint Essential Oil, Rose Otto.  (certified organic ingredients are listed in bold)

I know what all of those things are. I could eat most of those things, so I feel pretty good about putting them on my skin. Although I don’t follow a vegan diet, I like that Kimi Organic is vegan-certified, and I appreciate the straightforward approach of their trees for life programme.

Of course though, what you’re probably wondering is what the cream is like. Despite ‘frangrance’ being on the list, there’s not really much of a scent to it, which is nice, just a vague suggestion of chamomile tea. It’s a runny consistency, which is fine, and initially when you put it on, your face might feel slick for a minute before it sinks in. But then my face feels impossibly soft, and also at the same time pleasantly tight – which I might put down to the peppermint, although I could of course be talking out of my ass. I feel like it makes my face glow a little. It is a very nice moisturiser to use.

But don’t just take my word for it! Since I got two bottles, I’m going to give one away! Leave us a comment telling us what pretty pretty pretty things you’re going to be asking Santa for this year, and I will draw one winner at random next Friday. Hurray!

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Posted in competition, reviews, skin care

I’m calling it: it’s summer

October 30th, 2011

Look, I had my legs out today and I didn’t need a jacket. That’s summer around these parts, so I am going to write this post and knock on wood, because if I don’t get to start wearing my nice summer shoes and dresses soon then I may cry.

 

The great thing about winter is being able to hide under layers of clothing and blame the wind and lack of sunlight for your pallid girl-from-Twilight complexion.  But those days are over, and now you may want to defoliate, exfoliate, and paint those toesies a pretty colour. If not, then you are going to have way more time than me this summer to make cocktails and organise pool parties. I salute you.

 

If however, like me, you wish to have a (fake) tan and just generally have an excuse to buy fun new things from our friends at Farmers, please read on.

 

Summer = tan. But tan = early death. So the first product in my summer arsenal is always fake tan.  I’ve used Piz Buin a lot, since my Mum used to use it and introduced me to it, but since the arrival of gradual tans things have gotten a lot more convenient. So much so that I don’t think I would trust myself to do a proper fake tan job now.  I’m currently using:

 

Now, the colour is good, it’s non-streaky, I don’t mind the smell too much, but the spray thing is useless.  I spray it into my hand and then apply (I paid good money, I will use it up).  So it might pay not to buy the gimmicky spray version.

 

In summer I also want to look well-rested and “glowy”.  Get ready for my number one product of all time (and not just summer, all year round) – I recommend this product 100%. It is:

 

This is the Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi concealer. It is wonderful. It brightens, it doesn’t crease, and it’s basically the best concealer I have ever used. It makes me look awake even when I’ve had five hours of sleep.

For additional glowy-ness, I recommend a good highlighter. This product is ridiculous, I know. But trust when I say that it does make a difference for night-time “yes, I look naturally fabulous” makeup. The one I love is discontinued (dang it, Natio) but for overall glowy-making goodness, I hear Mac’s Strobe Cream is good.  Someone try it and tell me whether I should buy it.

This summer has a very distinct beauty trend, which I plan to embrace whole-heartedly, even though I think beauty trends are dumb. Get the chapstick out girls and drink plenty of water because it’s time for a bright coloured lipstick.  My personal summer selection is:

 

Revlon's Love that Red

Rimmel Funtime Fuschia

 

Chi Chi Lah de Dah

 

Yup. Red, hot pink, and a lipstick that is bright orange regardless of the outrageously poor photo quality above.

 

We gotta look after the tresses and with my curly mop this is particularly important.  I already use Kerastase’s Ultime product which I highly recommend. It smells amazing and it is the reason I haven’t had a cut in 6 months and don’t have any split ends. Hooray! Summer is a great time to start using a good quality conditioning product as your hair gets pretty dry from the sun and salt water combo.  V05 oil treatments are really good too, and are super cheap times which is cool if you have masses of hair.

 

Finally, don’t forget the sunblock on your face AND your decolletage at a minimum, and break out the waterproof mascara because you never know when an impromptu after-work swim will happen. Have a FAB time this summer and remember that having fun and enjoying all the good stuff out there is what will really enhance how gorge you are!

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Posted in body products, grooming, hair, Megan, reviews

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Wipe that dirt off your face

July 4th, 2011

Ages ago, I was sent some Wotnot Facial Wipes for review. I’d never heard of that Australian company, so I was very intrigued. I was pretty skeptical, because facial wipes seem to be just another product that all beauty magazines started chirping about at the same time, and because hey, don’t we all have access to facecloths and water anyway?

Then I moved into a house with a tiny sink that’s wedged in an awkward corner and has no hot water. And I started drinking a lot. Well okay, I’ve always been a drinker. But being able to take your makeup off without having to get all twisted up and splashed and soaked as one does? Genius. I have to admit, I am not a facial wipe expert, but these are soft, smell good and don’t leave my skin screaming to be moisturised – although I do follow up with moisturiser, because my face skin is pretty dry.

WOTNOT knows this and has produced a facial wipe so natural your skin will love it as much as you do. WOTNOT facial wipes use a 100% natural cloth which is luxuriously soft and pampering. Our formula is enriched with all natural ingredients including Australian certified organic aloe vera to lubricate and repair, certified organic sweet almond oil to restore lost moisture and calm itch and inflammation, and certified organic rosehip oil for skin regeneration and moisture re-balancing. The certified organic jojoba oil base is easily absorbed to condition skin and eyelids making lashes more lush, while the naturally sourced nutrients like Vitamin E help to heal, nourish and protect leaving the skin smooth, supple and glowing.

They don’t actually remove all makeup – my Maybelline eyeliner and mascara are both apparently made of platinum or something, because I’ve gone swimming for hours in them without it budging, but I like the look of second-day eyeliner anyway. So if you’re looking for an easy way to clean your face that doesn’t make you feel like you’re cleaning a baby’s ass, I definitely recommend these Wotnot wipes.

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Posted in Joanna, make-up, reviews

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Today’s nail: O.P.I. Stranger Tides

June 6th, 2011

I very rarely buy O.P.I. polish in New Zealand stores, because I strongly believe we pay far too much for it compared to overseas prices. Generally I’ll either buy it online or wait for in-store specials.

Sometimes however I can get sucked in by a counter display – in the same way that small children are attracted to lollies at the supermarket checkout -and this is exactly what happened at the pharmacy the other day. Waiting for the lady to ring up my purchases (eyelash curlers, Batiste dry shampoo, Cetaphil cleanser and throat lozenges; since you asked) my eyes fell upon the O.P.I. Pirates of the Caribbean display and like a naughty toddler my grabby hands were all over it.

I did manage to restrict myself to one particular polish that I’ve been lusting after though, and this is it:

Stranger Tides is what I think of as an “Ugly Pretty” colour. The grey/green colour reminds me of that guacamole dip which comes in a jar and contains not a trace of avocado.

Unfortunately the weather is a bit on the cloudy side today so my photos don’t quite bring out the green – in real life there’s more of a green tinge to it. Application was better than I expected for what is really a pastel colour (pastels are a notoriously finnicky lot to apply) – two coats for opaque coverage; the formula was a little on the gloopy side and not self-levelling but my top coat levelled it out nicely so you won’t hear me complaining.

I love Stranger Tides, and there’s a couple of other colours in the Pirates of the Caribbean collection I wouldn’t mind getting my paws on. What about you lot? Have you splurged on any from this collection and what did you think of them?

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Posted in nails, reviews, Selina

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My name is Selina and I’m addicted to nail polish

May 29th, 2011

Hi all, I’m Selina and I’m thrilled to join the team at Pretty Pretty Pretty. Some of you may have followed me here from my other blog Pretty Clever, where I blog about pretty things (shameless plug: go check it out). I’ve previously shared my reviews and photos of nail polish and beauty items over at Pretty Clever, but when Joanna approached me and asked me to write for Pretty Pretty Pretty it seemed an opportune time to change the focus of Pretty Clever to the fashion side of things. So from now on you’ll be able to read about my adventures with nail polish and all things beauty here.

You may have already gathered I’m a nail polish addict. In fact I’m a makeup addict, but nail polish is my drug of choice and I have a large collection. I mean large. We’re talking in the hundreds here. So my first post for Pretty Pretty Pretty is, of course, about nail polish.

Color Club has long been one of my favourite brands of polish – for their quality, color range and price – and when they became available in New Zealand a couple of years ago I literally jumped for joy. There may have been some hand clapping and sqealing too. The lovely people at Color Club NZ were kind enough to send me out some polishes for review, and the two I have for you today are from the Pardon My French Collection.

Pardon My French is a collection of polishes designed for layering and comprises four sheer cremes and three glittery topcoats. It was released in the Northern Hemisphere for Spring 2010.

In the photo below you can see Oh Naturale, with Turn the Other Chic layered over it on two nails.

 

Now as I said, these polishes are designed to be layered, so the creme bases on their own can be a bit of a pain if you prefer your polish not to be sheer. What you see in the photo is four coats of Oh Naturale – it took that many to get it fully opaque and streak-free. Oh its own Oh Naturale is a lovely peachy orange, but it totally comes into its own when Turn the Other Chic is applied over the top.

Turn the Other Chic is a orange jelly base jam-packed full of glittery goodness. The consistency of the jelly polishes in the Pardon My French collection is like no other jelly polish I’ve ever encountered – it’s super thick and reminds me of jelly that’s been left to half set. Application is more a matter of ‘spreading’ it over the nail rather than brushing it on, so it can take a bit to get used to but it’s so worth it for the end result.

I have a couple more Pardon My French combos to show you soon, but in the meantime have any of you tried the polishes from this collection, and what did you think of them?

Color Club polishes are available in chemists throughout New Zealand, and a few other stores too. Online in New Zealand they can be purchased from USA Nails Online.

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