Congrats to all the super kiwis who are bringing back the medals from Beijing. But let’s not forget the other pretty little athletes that deserve a medal too.
I really love these pics. My favourite pet ever was a little guinea pig, Zelda. I dream of having a little free-range guinea pig farm one day… no joke.
The guys at Gizmodo reviewed this digital make-over tool. It’s for girls, as in children, but the Gizmodo staff seemed to have fun with it!
Hey, girls, are you tired of raiding your mom’s makeup cabinet every time you want to have a makeover? Well then, take things digital and discover your true digital potential.
Now, this isn’t an endorsement - I’ve never been to a women’s lifestyle expo so have no idea what’ll be like. But by the list of exhibitors, there’s bound to be something that tickles your fancy…
The Women’s Lifestyle Expo’s have been well anticipated weekends in New Zealand since 1996. Held as annual events in nine cities around New Zealand, the Expos bring together an extensive variety of services and products aimed at today’s women.
It’s on this Saturday and Sunday at the TSB Bank Arena Queens Wharf, costs $10, and me and Jo will be going along. Please leave a comment if you’ve been to one before. I don’t wanna waste the moolah if it’s crud.
PS does anyone find it sad that Victim Support is an exhibitor at a Women’s Lifestyle Expo? I mean, it’s definitely good they’re there, but it’s a sad reflection on women’s lives don’t you think…
Dearest lovelies (sorry, I’m channeling Jane Eyre again, but indulge me), it has been near a week since my last post, but not without good reason. I was venturing homeward to the Land of Auck, to the warmth of my mother’s hearth and the tenderness of Auckland raindrops. Far from the maddening crowds of the Kirk’s sale, I saw snow for the first time at Whakapapa, feasted on Wendy’s burgers on Queen St, and supped milkshakes at Mission Bay. Oh the time I had!
I saw some very pretty things on my travels too. The MAC shop at the Chancery for one (the Chancery’s poo but the MAC store is fun).
Here’s some swatches of MAC’s mineralize eye shadow duos - which are two complimentary shades in the one compact. The bottom row is the ‘Polar Opposite’ (the silver and black ones) and the ‘Two to Glow’ (the orange and brown).
BUT I wasn’t very impressed with their vibrancy so I compared with MAC’s pigments (in the big pottles) - as shown in the top row. The pigment black and orange are way more explosive, but way more expensive too…
And seemingly unable to escape the sales, I bumped into the Smith & Caughey’s fair. If I had to judge, I think the cosmetics sale at S&Cs was a little better than Kirks, but I didn’t buy a thing. I’ve got way to much make-up at the mo.
I bought OPI nail lacquer in “St Pertersburgundy” from the Kirk’s Sale recently - for only $12!!
I hadn’t tried OPI before, but it is the brand a lot of professional nail technicians use, if that counts for anything.
The colour on my nails was a lot better than I expected from the bottle. It’s far more blood red than the burgundy I expected - which is good because I only chose the burgundy because they didn’t have any reds in the sale.
It’s quite easy to apply. The consistency is smooth and doesn’t glug up quickly like others I’ve used. And it’s been a full 24 hours since application and no chips!
Here’s a little demo vid of how to create a smokey eye look with greens. lots of greens. My video capture is crapola, so sorry for the poor quality. If you would like to see the video with better graphics let me know and I will re-process it better, But I won’t bother if you don’t request it.
I used:
If you’re in the market for some cheap cosmetics and whatevers, now’s a good time to pop into Kirk’s in Welly for their SALE. OK, so ‘pop into’ probably isn’t the best description - more like ‘dash madly to the scrum of purple-rinses at the perfume counter’.
Good luck! Oh and socks are always a good thing to stock up on there too. And if you do go, tell us what your best finds were.
TIP: I used to work at Smith & Caughey’s in Auckland, and for their bi-annual fair they would bring in cheap crappy stock especially for the fair - i.e. not genuine mark-downs. So make sure whatever you buy is a true bargain - i.e. a genuinely marked-down product. If there’s a whole table of a particular style of candle-holder, ask yourself “would Kirk’s usually be selling a table of this candle-holder?”. If not, then they probably bought the stock in to sell cheaply at the sale.
Continuing our series of inspirational people we love who are making good things, let me introduce the wonderful Ginny from Swonderful. I was lucky enough to meet Ginny in person yesterday at Craft2.0 at the NewDowse.
Ginny runs Swonderful in Brooklyn with her mum, writes a blog and creates awesome fashion, accessories and pretty pretty things.
1. What made you open Swonderful?
The shop was an idea we had been toying with for a long time. We finally decided to do it when the perfect space came along & the agony of our 9-5 jobs got too much! We love shops like ours- that sell lots of different bits & pieces & it was kind of a dream to open one of our own. We were both working jobs we didn’t really like while trying to start our label Papercup & in the end the desire to risk it all & open Swonderful was too great!
2. How do you decide what to stock?
Our stock is about 60% stuff we make ourselves, So I guess that’s the major deciding factor. The beauty of it is- it keeps our prices down as there is no middle man. The rest of our stock is either products we have admired for a long time or things we come across through friends or the internet etc. We have quite a few people come in & approach us with their wares too. We have quite a specific aesthetic direction so all our products complement the “Swonderful style”. We try to keep most of our stock local & like to support emerging designers, We do however stock art prints from the States & Australia.
3. What are the constant best sellers?
The Bro Brooklyn tee! I think just about everyone in Brooklyn has one now! It’s pretty much the uniform of Brooklyn school! Our high waisted skirts have been a real winner this season too along with The Lily Rosemary owl necklaces & world sweet world magazine.
4. What do you wear/do to make yourself feel good?
Wearing heels & having clean hair. I can’t stand the feeling of greasy hair, even though others probably wouldn’t notice I can feel it & it’s nasty! I recently got a pair of shooties & I love them! They make any outfit feel finished. I’m also loving my black pleather jacket, it makes me feel like a cool rocker chick & I love how it contrasts with pretty frocks. Oh & if I’m feeling kinda blue all I need is some Flight of the Conchords to make me feel chipper again.
5. How would you define pretty?
Pretty is girlyness, cupcakes, having “done” hair & lipstick on. Pretty is wearing a frilly apron while cooking & having all your perfume bottles neatly lined up on your dressing table. Embrace it!
Visit Swonderful at 54 Cleveland St, Brooklyn, Wellington
I recently purchased a fabulous concealer from Minifies.co.nz. I haven’t had the time to do a proper comparison of this product with other concealers, but my feeling is this one’s a winner.
I buy concealing products for just one reason - dark circles under the eyes. They are impossible to get rid of, though I’ve spent years trying. And no concealing product will erase them completely, even for a short time. Below is pictured the raft of concealers I currently have for my dark-circles - but over the years I have owned many more.
The minifies’ product is the Ben Nye Blue Corrector (pictured top right, in round pottle). It’s peach-based which counteracts blue-tinged dark circles. It works really well. And I wonder why other cosmetic companies don’t recommend peach for dark circles. The Lancome palette pro compact pictured recommends yellow as a base for dark circles. The YSL touche eclat uses ‘light reflecting technology’. The Estee Lauder cream concealer to the left is a white-mauve recommended by a stranger at the EL counter. And the EL cream concealer on the right is a shade lighter than my skin tone - which is often recommended by cosmetic counter brands.
Here they are on my hand:
From left to right - YSL touche eclat, Ben Nye blue corrector, Estee Lauder in ‘barely-mauve’, Estee Lauder in ‘light’, Lancome yellow base.
The Ben Nye is one of the best concealer of dark circles I’ve used. It’s really hard to say “the best” until I do a proper comparison where I photograph my eyes with all my products. Which is what I’ll do real soon. In the meantime, if you’ve any experience with concealers please comment - maybe there’s a perfect product out there you know of.
We is at the PPP party we’ve been waiting oh so long for. We’ve eaten cupcakes, jellybeans, vodka jellies, cheese (kelly cut the cheese) and crackers, and the PPP signature cocktail (parfait amour and vodka). We’ve painted each other’s nails, had foot spas, swapped clothes, swapped cosmetics, and distributed the PPP giftpacks (full of Jo’s own handmade goodies).
Shirley says “great food, great drinks, great japanese jeans. I’m going home with better stuff than i came with.”
Karen “I got a top!”
Gabrielle “I’m gonna be wrinkle free next time you see me thanks to the “Frownies” from Kowhai”.
Jo says “like f*cken sh*t it’s awesome - thanks for coming guys. Now for the Brazilians!”
Megan says “I have the hands of a six month old.” (thanks to the mary kay hand treatment).
