by Annette @ Wellness WA | Oct 27, 2011 | Products, Reviews
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One of my absolute favourite things about make-up is the fact that you can use it to express yourself creatively. It’s your face and quite frankly you can do anything you want to it…and then wash it off later. For me, this includes the nails. If it were practical, I would get those super long nails that you can paint all kinds of nail art on to- sunsets, space scapes, mountains, animals- but I would be rendered pretty much useless like that so I have to look for another option for my much shorter nails.
What about the b nail polish collection by Bloom? Aside from having every colour under the rainbow designed to help celebrate your bold spirit (ahhhhh right after my own heart!) they now have a Crackle top coat in Black.
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The possibilities here are endless. Paint your nails any colour you so desire (you need some polish on your nails for it to work even a clear base coat would be fine as long as there’s something there), I painted mine green on one hand and half purple/half pink on the other hand, and then you paint the Crackle top coat over it and watch the magic. As the black coat dries it quite literally cracks revealing the colour you painted underneath. Over the green it leaves my nails looking like lizard skin and over the pink and purple my nails look like delicious little Easter eggs. I had to try more! Over red my nails look like volcanic lava, over yellow it looks like graffiti, over silver it looks like the moon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I can achieve that space scape after all? The best part is you don’t have to be super neat in your application of the Crackle top coat because it’s going to crack when it dries anyway leaving a pretty rustic kind of look. My only tip would be that after you apply the Crackle top coat you should apply a clear top coat because the black does look a little bit dry and can be a bit rough after it cracks. This just makes sure that your lava graffiti moon manicure lasts a bit longer!
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I cant wait for this Crackle top coat to come out in more colours (I hope you do this Bloom), especially pink so then I can paint it over red to wear my favourite colour combination around on my nails all the time. And then I can’t wait for white. And then neon orange. And then EVERY colour. Imagine the possibilities then! AND, Halloween is coming up, maybe to get in the spirit you could paint some of the black Crackle top coat over orange, maybe then your nails will look like pumpkins!
It’s such a fun way to do something a bit different with your nails, try some over your favourite nail polish shade to give your manicure a new lease on life.
I’ve really only skimmed the surface here…what other colour combinations can you guys think of that I’ve missed?
b Collection by Bloom – Black Crackle
Price: $12.95
Where: Exclusive to Target
Review by Adriane Daff, colour enthusiast, nail polish lover, excitable human being.
Be well,
xoxo
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Oct 26, 2011 | Products, Reviews
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My Dad has always said, ‘people just look better with a tan’, and maybe he’s right- a little bit of colour can give you that confidence you need when it’s time to shed the winter layers. BUT, and this is a big but, my Dad has also had more than his fair share of skin cancers in the past decade. Hm. So if you are curious to see whether or not you really do look better a different colour, fake tan is really your only safe option.
♥ Jane Iredale Tantasia – $54
And it’s not so bad! Fake tans have come a long, long way from the streaky orange cream days and there are so many on the market that surely there will be one out there for you. But whose got time or the desire to try them all? ME. That’s who. Recently I tried out Jane Iredale’s Tantasia, a self tanner that claims to build ‘your own tan’. This idea seemed intriguing, how would this seemly standard bottle of auto-bronzant know what my tan was? How? Was Tantasia going to magically, fantastically, intuitively know what colour to turn my pale, pale skin?
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To start with I prepared my skin for the tan (very important) with Kit’s Tan Prep Body Scrub ($29.95), a grainy scrub of shea butter, beeswax and Australian sea salt. It’s scented with a light coconut fragrance that smells very summery and instantly transports you from your bathroom to a tropical beach somewhere, no complaints there. The scrub is very effective in getting rid of dry patches and evening out your skin to provide the perfect canvas for your tan.
So it’s tan time. The texture of Tantasia is not as creamy as others, it’s quite a light lotion which means you work a bit harder to rub it in, but it makes up for this by going on as a colour so you can see what you’ve tanned and what you haven’t, which of course prevents streaking. The colour of Tantasia is quite an orangey brown, which had me a bit concerned. I certainly didn’t look like a carrot or anything like that but it wasn’t as brown as I had expected. The smell on application had a faint citrus scent but a couple of hours after I was getting waves of that normal fake tan smell that you get from nearly very fake tan (to be honest I don’t think any product out there has successfully eradicated this smell and I think we’ll just have to live with it for the time being).
Kit Tan Prep Body Scrub – $29.95
The last thing I did once I had finished applying the tan was wash my hands. They always suggest you wash your hands ‘thoroughly’ and I really take that advice on board, washing mine almost obsessively because my hands are so pale and quite dry. There is nothing worse than orange hands- it’s almost enough to make you throw in the towel on fake tanning completely, so this time I used some of the Kit Tan Prep Body Scrub on my hands just to make sure it was all gone and it worked a treat, I don’t know why I had never thought of that before. They should really consider calling it a Tan Prep and Post Body Scrub. Although I guess that doesn’t have the same ring to it.
None o’ this thanks
The next morning, I very pleased to discover that any concerns I may have had about orangeness were gone. The colour of the tan was a very light golden sort of brown, dare I say- the same colour that the real sun would turn my skin if I were to lay out without sunscreen. Hang on a second…does that mean that Tantasia really did help me build my own tan?! YES, yes it does. Oh Tantasia, you’ve done it again. And although I was happy with the colour one application gave me (remembering how pale I am here guys) you can apply Tantasia everyday until you get a shade that you are happy with, it’s all about finding your own tan, wherever it may be out there, to see if my Dad was right.
What do you guys think; do people look better with a tan?
Tantasia is available: here for $54.
The Kit Tan Prep Body Scrub is available in Kit stores or here for $29.95.
Review by Adriane Daff, Queen of the Pales, lover of the beach, daughter of a man who doesn’t understand the dangers of the Australian sun.
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Oct 25, 2011 | Products, Reviews
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Honestly, you won’t want to share this. I’m just going to say that right up front. It’s effective and (more honesty here) it’s expensive. You’ll want to set an alarm and get up in the middle of the night to use it if that means you wont have to share it. Sure, you’ll recommend it, you’ll even perhaps have conversations about the EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor, more on that later) because it’s interesting and perhaps the futuristic side of skincare but you wont want to share. Let’s just be honest about that right away.
Sif Cosmetics are the smarties behind this EGF Serum that goes simply by the name of BIOEFFECT. The key ingredient in the serum that sets it apart from others are cellular activators made in plants, barley specifically in this case (no bacteria and no animal cells!), that mimic that action of the cellular activators found naturally in humans and have the ability ‘to speed up the rate of cell turnover within the skin’. Let’s recap; there’s no human bits in this (don’t laugh, I thought that at first glance), so the EGF which only makes up for 0.9% of the serum is all barley and you use it to help your complexion appear fresher, revitalized and glowing.
An anti-ageing treatment that battles the skin’s problems by getting it to repair its own cells is a pretty nifty concept, and although it might seem like the product of a ton of research and development (and of course it is) its also quite a simplified product- only nine ingredients and no preservatives, no fragrances, nothing unessential, it seems to me to be a harmonious mix of science and nature. Ah, let’s touch on the science for a moment and allow me to point out that this product does involve some genetic engineering, a fact I think the consumer should know, namely in that the barley in the serum is genetically engineered. I don’t claim to know a whole lot about genetic engineering but in comparison to other products, BIOEFFECT does not contain EGF from genetically modified bacteria or hamster cells. It’s all barley. Which made me feel good about it. BUT of course if you think you might like to use a product with EGF in it you can make the decision as to which one would be best for you.
I really enjoyed using this (I dramatically screamed out ‘NOOOOOOOO’ when I accidentally dropped the little bottle on the floor and it rolled into the abyss under my bed, don’t worry it was fine) and I am dreading the day the last drop runs out. I’ve gotten lots of compliments about my skin since I started using this, mainly about it looking clear and even ‘glowing’ and I noticed a real improvement in the texture and an evenness in the tone of my skin and I guess what I am really trying to say here is, how am I going to go back after this? HOW will I go back? Please little bottle, don’t end. Please be a magical bottle. Because in the real world buying BIOEFFECT is going to be an every now and then special treat purchase for me because of the price unless I figure out how to tap into the properties of barley all on my own. So considering the likeliness of that I think it’s better to put my bet behind the possible magic properties of the bottle.
C’mon bottle, what do you say?
BIOEFFECT is available online at http://www.bioeffect.com and is $180 AUD for 15ml.
Review by Adriane Daff, barley skincare babe.
What are your thoughts on genetically modified skincare? Would you do it if the results were incredible?
Be well,
xoxo
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Oct 24, 2011 | Interviews
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♥ First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!
I’m a fashion blogger, freelance journalist and law student from Perth, WA. Writing and fashion have always been my two passions, and now I am able to indulge them through the same avenue! My blog, Bonnie Friday focuses on mainly Western Australian designers, boutiques and personalities. Recently I was flown to New York to cover New York Fashion Week for Nokia and Elle.com! Since then I have realized that fashion media is what I really want to get into. Now all I have to do is chase the opportunities!
♥ Tell us about your daily beauty routine.
I’m a person who is starved for time. Between working, studying and trying to build a journalism/styling portfolio, I don’t have time for a lengthy beauty routine. In the shower I use Bliss body wash which I bought in New York and a Nivea facial toner. After my morning shower I moisturize with an Olay cream and if my skin needs a little bit of extra TLC I use a Lancome moisturizing and de-stressing gel or the SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 gel. In the evening I repeat my shower beauty routine and cleanse my face with a Clearasil cleanser. I also use the Garnier eye roll-on day and night to control puffy circles.
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♥ What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?
I can’t live without eyebrow shaping. I believe it’s a simple treatment that can make a huge difference when it comes to framing your face. I have my eyebrows shaped at the Benefit Eyebrow bar in Myer. The ladies there take it seriously and are really professional. I’ve never been anything less than 100% satisfied!
♥ Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?
I get my hair done at Bangs Salon on Murray Street. My hair stylist Naomi has just left for Melbourne so I am a little distraught, but everyone there is amazing. They know exactly what I want even when I say things like “you know, I want hair like Lara Bingle” and the prices are really reasonable!
♥ Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?
You don’t have to spend a lot on treatments for your hair. There are so many products out there that provide the same results at home as the salon! I deep condition my hair with a Schwarzkopf deep condition about once per month. The results are amazing and I bought the tub for around $10 a year ago!
♥ Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?
I live for my Bliss body wash. There is something really soothing about stepping out of the shower, feeling clean and smelling like orange blossom! Maybe it is also because it reminds me of my trip to New York! I’ve also just run out of my SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 Gel which is like liquid gold! I have never found a product that has been so great for my skin. Thirdly I have issues with puffy circles around my eyes. Since trying the Garnier eye roll on I will never go back. I know some people are dubious about the benefits but even if the caffeine has no effect, the results are soothing and hydrating. I have noticed a marked difference in the skin around my eyes!
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♥ Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?
Drinking lots of water and eating well is essential for looking and feeling great, but it is no secret! I suppose I try to be positive as much as I can. I think that makes a huge difference in how you look and feel. Happiness is by far the best beauty therapy!
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♥ What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)
I would love to try Bikram yoga because I have heard so many great things about it. I’m not sure though if I would be able to handle the heat… literally!
♥ Describe a typical day of eating for you.
I usually get breakfast with my morning coffee in the city to save time at home. I’m a little bit naughty and will often have a muffin or a croissant! Lunch depends on whether I am at work or uni. At work I will often have an avocado roll or a pesto chicken wrap from Croissant Express. At uni I can’t go past the rice paper rolls at Café 55 in Fremantle! I try to cook every night and keep it as diverse as possible. A couple of regulars are rice with butter chicken, and veal ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce!
♥ Describe your fitness routine.
On a good day I’ll try to do 30 minutes of cardio on top of my daily running around. I never drive to work so that means I get at least 40 minutes of fast walking each day. When I get home I play with the dog in the front yard or workout to the Zumba video I got for Christmas.
♥ Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.
I take a Vitamin B supplement which helps me to keep my stress under control and seems to put everything into perspective. Whenever I call my Mum to tell her about an issue I’m having she asks me “Have you had a Vitamin B lately?” It may sound silly but it’s true, Vitamin B is really important for me to ensure I balance my stress!
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♥ How do you like to relax? What are your favourite ways to de-stress?
Nothing beats a holiday to Rottnest. I can never be stressed on Rottnest Island – lazing around in the sun, riding my bike around the island and swimming in the crystal clear waters! That’s rarely an option though so for day to day de-stressing I take a deep breath, go for a walk and have some “me” time. I also think it’s important to spend some quality time with my family and partner when I’m feeling stressed. Sunday is my ultimate relax day because I lounge around with my partner and our dog watching movies and talking about our weeks!
Thanks to Bonnie for sharing her beauty & wellbeing routine!
If you’d like to ask Bonnie any questions, you can do so in the comments below 🙂
Be well,
xoxo
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Oct 21, 2011 | Alternative Therapy, At Home, Cheap / Free, Exercise, Products, Reviews
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A little while ago I did a callout on Facebook to rustle up the names of some of your favourite yoga dvds, as I’ve long been yearning for a home practice for those days that I don’t feel like venturing back out of the house after work.
One recommendation really caught my eye and since receiving the DVD’s I’ve been unashamedly having a bit of a love affair with them. Meet the first two members of my yoga video library (which I hope will grow with time!) – Yoga Easy and Yoga 2 Easy by the lovely Yolanda Pettinato.
Yolanda is truly inspirational, having overcome obstacles in her life that would defeat most people, she is the glowing example of everything that yoga represents – tranquility, wisdom, inner peace and honouring your body.
What you will need:
♥ Yoga Mat – I use my Mukha mat (which I wrote about here)
♥ The desire to stretch and strengthen your body, calm your mind and feel fantastic! (And who doesn’t want that?!)
That is ALL you need, and the DVD of course. If you want to ramp the relaxing factor up a notch you can also throw in:
♥ Oil burner with bergamot oil, my favourite
♥ A dark room
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Yolanda has a gentle, soothing voice and she comes across as a real sweetheart. For a woman in her late 50’s, she has a body that most women would in their 20’s would envy. I can feel her encouraging kindness traveling through the screen and into my living room when she softly says “good, that’s good” after many of the sequences, and I find it a comforting and reassuring addition to the practice.
The practice on both of the DVD’s is quite short – 30 minutes – but is enough to wind me down after a stressful or tiring day, it can also be used in the mornings to set you up for the day ahead and is a great way to ground yourself. In fact the length of the session is one of the best things about it, if you’re anything like me it can be hard to find an hour / hour and a half to head out to a yoga class, and that doesn’t include driving there and back! 30 minutes is just enough to be easily manageable, but also gain real results.
While this is by no means a cardio workout, there are some sections focusing on strength that are challenging, and the great thing about yoga is that because you’re working with your own strength and flexibility, there is always room for improvement as you begin to get stronger.
As Yolanda says “just do your best, and your best will get better” – I love that phrase!
Doing either of these yoga DVD’s leaves my whole body feeling stretched and relaxed, with a sense of peace and stillness of mind that I really look forward to. The class flies by and before you know it you’re lying in Savasana thinking how lucky you are to have this wonderful experience in your life.
She also has some meditation CD’s which are no doubt great (she has the perfect voice for it) and even her dogs have been convinced by her to try meditating 😉
Cost: $24.95 each, free shipping if you purchase more than one item
Suitable for: Beginners – experienced who are looking for a relaxation based yoga class with strength elements
Where to buy: http://www.yolandapettinato.com
If you have any questions about the DVD’s please let me know, I would be only too happy to answer them as I think I’m Yolanda’s new biggest fan!!
Be well,
Annette
xoxo
