♥

I’m not a facial girl by nature. If I have time, cash, and feel like treating myself then I am all over a full body massage. So when I was given a gift certificate for a facial for Xmas, I was hoping I could exchange it for something more my style.

The voucher was for Be Ba Beau in Highgate. A quick Google and I learned that they do not have a website (which always frustrates me), so I couldn’t see the price list for treatments and possible other options. After a few phone calls, messages, and finally a trip down to the actual salon – I had a hard copy of my options as well as the knowledge that the Beauty part of the hairdressers is a separate business- Beauty by Rayne, though the treatments take place by Rayne in the same super cute house as her Mum’s salon.

My previous hatred of facials is only based on 2 experiences to be fair. The first one in London where for the full hour the therapist repeatedly put various smelling stuff on and then immediately off of my face and then in China at a crazy 24 hour spa which was just wholly bizarre in so many ways (email me and I will tell you why) and was a waste of my face’s time.

The anatomy of microdermabrasion.

Rayne listened to my facial concerns and suggested the microdermabrasion was the way to go, as it would be effective in reducing some of my zillions of newly acquired Perth freckles!! I had never heard of this sort of thing and thought that a voucher was a great time to do something I would not usually go for, especially when it would be of great benefit.

Now, there were a few teething problems booking in for my treatment, so when the day finally came I was excited to finally get in there!!

The facial itself was brilliant and worth the initial hassle. It contained all of the nice rituals that one would expect (exfoliation, face and neck massage, hot towel and mask) all done by Rayne who is gorgeous and so good at what she does. The best bit was the actual microdermabrasion which is “a mechanical medium for exfoliation along with adjustable suction to remove away the outermost layer of dead skin cells”. It is a non-invasive procedure and wasn’t painful, nor pleasurable but boy did I see results quickly.

The exfoliation part has evolved from rocks, stones and shells, to crystals, particle-free diamond tips and particle-free bristle tips. Rayne uses a machine with diamond tips as she feels it goes deeper than most, without being too abrasive, she likes to go as deep as she can to decrease the amount of times a client has to come in for treatments. I was told that 1-2 more times would be most effective at this stage for me to really get at those pesky freckles but then I wouldn’t need constant treatments as my skin is in quite good shape.

A lot of women get it every week or fortnight and apparently it is very good for wrinkle reduction, as well as freckles.

This is a different kind of ‘freckle reduction’ hehe..

In terms of my own results… it worked a treat. My husband noticed immediately (a great feat in itself) and my skin looked like it had done during a Canadian winter!! I will now be staying out of the sun religiously and get top ups once in a while as a treat. I think it is not only great for older ladies as wrinkle reduction and skin rejuvenation, but also for us fairer sun babies who are sick of too many dark freckles and sun spots. I can think of a few friends with weddings coming up that may be interested too.

Rayne also informed me that they are in the process of getting a website up too, hooray!!

(But for now you can check out their Facebook if you are interested)

Microdermabrasion and decolletage and full facial: $130.

Be Ba beau Hair and Beauty
455 Beaufort Street, Highgate, 6003

Ph: 93282888

Review by Sarah Devlin, my personal trainer of choice and super cute freckly gal.

Be well,

xoxo

♥ Alison Jade!

♥ First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!

I am Alison Jade, Brow Specialist and Director of Alison Jade Cosmetics. Coffee and beauty product addict. Lover of online shopping and red wine.

Sodashi Eye and Lip Smoother 30ml, RRP $145.20

♥ Tell us about your daily beauty routine.

For someone who works in the beauty industry I am pretty relaxed! I never cleanse in the morning, I usually will wash my face with water. I always wear make up with SPF in it regardless of if I am going outside. At night I cleanse and put on Cosmedix Refine night cream and Sodashi Eye and Lip Smoother.

♥ What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

Spray Tanning! I love it I try to go once a week. My favourite is a new Perth brand Aussie Bombshell.

♥ Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

I am a total nutcase when it comes to my hair! I have been to every hairdresser in Perth I am sure of it! I go to a salon in Shenton Park called La De Da for my colour. It’s a small boutique salon and Chesnie always gets it right! Also, there is an awesome clothes shop next door which I go to (foils and all) so I am never bored when I go there. I then have it cut at Cision in Claremont. Fantastic place and by far the best blowdry you will ever get.

♥ Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

DIY Body Scrub, cheap and super easy! Ground rice, hemp oil, geranium essential oil.

♥ Moroccan Oil, RRP $49.50

♥ Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

1. Moroccan Oil – this stuff should be worth its weight in GOLD!
2. Lucas’ Papaw Ointment.
3. DuWop Revolotion – moisturizer that contains SPF 15 sun protection along with bronzing pigment and subtle shimmer.

♥ Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

Eye drops and Illuminator! Plus lots of water. I always get bags under my eyes if I am dehydrated.

♥ Pilates in action.

♥ What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)

Pilates! I have been dying to try it but haven’t had the time. I finally booked and have my first lesson in 2 weeks!

♥ Describe a typical day of eating for you.

I will usually have eggs or muesli for breakfast. Lunch is either a salad or sandwich and dinner always lean meat and veges.

♥ Describe your fitness routine.

I try to go to the gym for weights and strength at least twice per week. I have recently started swimming again and hoping to add pilates into the mix as well.

Fish oil.

♥ Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

I only take Fish Oil. If you can’t get the nutrients you need from the food you are eating then you should rethink your diet.

Alison Jade’s eyebrow salon is located:

Suite 3/525 Stirling Hwy
Cottesloe, Perth WA 6011

Ph: 08 9385 5544

Email: info@alisonjade.com.au

Any questions or comments? You know what to do! 🙂

Be well,

xoxo

A slightly more relaxing portrayal of Omnilux.

I’ve been intrigued with Omnilux for quite a while now, but nothing quite cemented the interest like hero dream-bebe Zoe Foster and her unforgettable words at the PRIMPED look book event last year:

Well then. We by no means suggest you do such a thing, but it’s good to know the option is there.

With this little thought wailing around in my brain for the past 12 months, along with some unshakable pimples and a desire for clearer skin – I bit the light therapy bullet and booked in for a sesh of Omnilux at Skin Deep Medi Spa in the CBD.

A photo of me having my Visia Analysis done… 😉

First up though, I had my skin analysed by Lauren, the spa manager, with a Visia Skin Analysis machine. For those of you who hate close-ups, you’re not going to like this! However I see it as a necessary evil to help uncover what the main areas of skin concern are. So a bunch of photos are taken from all angles with your head in the machine and once finished you’re shown the pics and talked through the problem zones.

My personal areas of concern were dehyrdation around the eyes, uneven skin tone and acne bacteria, mostly on the chin 🙁

A regime of both Omnilux red (collagen & lymphatic stimulating & healing) and Omnilux blue (acne bacteria destroying, pow pow) is recommended, as well as some light chemical peels and exfoliation suggested (but I don’t think I’m quite ready for the peels yet!)

Twenty four hours pass and I’m back in the medi-spa for my first Omnilux treatment (the red one to start with)…gulp!

A hop, skip and a double-cleanse later, I’m lying on the treatment bed with my hair in a disposable cap waiting to make friends with this piece of machinery that is promising me pretty skin.

The first thing to note is that the lights sit just a couple of centimeters above your skin, unlike in the image above where it’s shown to be about 30 centimeters away. I’m a bit claustrophobic so I asked the therapist to stay with me during my first treatment and she was more than happy to do so. As it turns out, if you feel that it’s too close they can move it back a bit, or you can wiggle down out of it for a minute.

Secondly, even with little goggles on and my eyes closed – THE LIGHT IS SO BRIGHT! It gets better after a few minutes but I hadn’t read about that anywhere so was surprised.

Throughout the treatment I’m aware of a slight warmth, but it doesn’t feel hot.

The twenty minutes pass pretty quickly with chatting, and you can probably bring in your iPod if you like, or just relax to the peaceful music that is piping through the spa.

A vitamin B serum is applied to my skin, which apparently helps, as well as a moisturiser. For Omnilux to be most successful, you need to have two treatments a week for a month, and then you can dial it back to once a month. It takes a few sessions to really start seeing a difference, but today I’ve felt that my skin might just be looking that little bit better already…

Zoe.

Time will tell though, and I’m excited to continue on my journey to Zoe Foster worthy skin.

Omnilux revive (red) is $95 a pop & Omnilux blue $75, they’re not cheap, but if they do as promised I’ll be more than happy to keep making the room in my budget.

I went to the Skin Deep Medi-Spa located at:

Shop 4 Central Park Building
777 Hay Street, Perth
Western Australia 6000
T. (08) 9226 2997

Or you can find another salon in Perth that provides Omnilux here!

Have you tried Omnilux yet? Would you? Do you have any other questions for me? Comment below!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

♥ Yummy Mummy Pregnancy Day Spa ♥

I have an admission – I had never been to a Day Spa before. Considering the fact I’m entering my 27th year on this planet and I have friends who are experts on this matter, this is quite a feat!

So not only was this itself a scary concept, throw in the fact that I am 35 weeks pregnant and incredibly self conscious at the moment, what a better time to take the plunge.

I visited Yummy Mummy Pregnancy Day Spa in Leederville thanks to a gift voucher from my sister and found it to be very welcoming. A friendly smile to greet me, peaceful decor, water offered, I began to feel at ease which was appreciated seeing how nervous I was. The chill out area had comfortable chairs, music and water with freshly cut strawberries in it, why hadn’t I tried this before? I could get used to this!

I had chosen the Aroma Massage and was taken to my treatment room by a friendly masseuse. The room was very discrete and I felt at ease making my own way to the pregnancy friendly table – complete with hole for my belly! This might have been one of the most novel parts of my morning, being able to lie face down. How you take the little things for granted.

It didn’t take me long to ‘let go’ and enjoy the massage. How could I not with the soft music, lovely massage oils and warm towels? For somebody at a time of incredibly vulnerable body image, I didn’t have a problem with a stranger touching me. My poor swollen body sure appreciated it. It was also relaxing to have confidence in the masseur and that everything they were doing was pregnancy friendly – something very important to me.

The time passed quickly and unfortunately my first experience at the day spa came to an end, but it was thoroughly enjoyed and has given me the confidence to treat myself to another! I am sure I will deserve it come 5 weeks time!

The Aroma Massage has the following price points:

50 min -$120

80 min – $160

110 min – $210

As well as an article by Yummy Mummy with some FAQ about pregnancy massage, including benefits and addressing any concerns you may have 🙂

Yummy Mummy Pregnancy Day Spa is located at:

253 Oxford Street
Leederville WA 6007

Open Hours

Monday to Friday 10am-6pm
Saturday 9am-5pm

Phone: 08 9201 1077

Review by Krystle M, heavily pregnant and newly converted to the wonders of massage!

Be well,

xoxo

I LOVE themed parties! Give me an excuse to get into costume and play a character for the night and I will be there with bells on; and in this case Swarovski crystals as well.

On this occasion the theme for the party was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The look I wanted to go for was an “ethereal woodland fairy”, much like the mischievous characters from Shakespeare’s play.

I designed the outfit myself. The top was made out of a satin and organza skirt that I shredded into panels and draped strategically over my torso, leaving my back and most of my midriff bare. The flowing, long, white skirt complimented the baby pink top and I painted my toenails with a shimmering polish and went barefoot.

For my hair and make-up, I called in the professionals.

Slajana Spaseski is the founder and owner of the Perth based business, Make-up by Design. She arrived at my house equipped to completely transform me, and efficiently went about turning my bathroom into a salon.

♥ Slaj gives me the tip “during the day it’s always best to work in a room that has natural light”.

Julia before makeup.

Julia after makeup.

Over the next 3 hours, we planned and executed the complex transformation as you can see from the before and after photos. Slaj deftly moved from product to product and so I asked her to give me a rundown of just how she created this design.

Here is a step by step guide you can follow yourself:

Base

♥ Always begin with a clean canvas (baby wipes are best to clean the face because make up wipes often leave an oily residue which can make the base unstable).

♥ Apply a primer to the skin with a foundation brush. The primer will prep the skin for the foundation and will also make it last longer. I used Jemma Kidd Primer. It has light reflecting particles in it which give the skin a youthful glow.

♥ Next I applied Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation (Available online at StrawberryNet) all over the face.


Cheekbones

♥ Julia is naturally gifted with very chiselled cheekbones (thanks Slaj) and so I merely accentuated them by using a peach powder blush on the apples of her cheek.

♥ Then, from my Smashbox Contouring Palette I used the darkest colour powder in the hollow of her cheek and my Smashbox Mosaic Highlighter Palette to accentuate the cheek bone.


The Eyes, Eyebrows and the Mask

♥ I began by lightly dusting the entire eye area, up to the mid forehead, with a baby pink loose pigment.
♥ I then drew in the cat eye with a M.A.C eye crayon, extending the wing to the temple.

♥ The eyelashes were then curled using a heated eyelash curler (I loved this! I am going to pick one up from Priceline for about $12, much nicer than the old school eyelash curler!), following by lashings of black mascara.

♥ I applied false eyelashes with a pair of tweezers and Duo Glue.

Benefit – Brows a Go-Go!

♥ While we were waiting for the glue to dry, I gave Julia her dramatic eyebrows using my Benefit Brow Kit . I used the eyebrow wax to set the hairs into place and plot the desired shape. When I was happy with the shape, I accentuated the brows using the darker brow powder applied with a 266 Mac Eyebrow Brush.
♥ The mask was given some depth by drawing in both silver and black streaks using Kryolan paint.
♥ I then glued Swarovski crystals randomly within the mask using Kryolan Spirit Gum.

♥ The feathers were glued on the outer corners of the eyes using spirit gum to accentuate the winged eye make-up.

Lips
♥ The lips were lined with a neutral pink lip liner by Napoleon and filled in with a shimmer lip gloss by Modelco .

The tool kit!

Hair
♥ The hair was roughly blow dried and lightly sprayed with hair spray. Each section of hair was sprayed again prior to rolling with with Babyliss hot-rollers.

♥ When the make-up was finally finished it was time to pull out the rollers.
Each section was carefully removed so as to not disturb the curl. Each individual curl was then sprayed to hold.

Body
♥ Julia’s body was bronzed and glowing thanks to the application of Chi Chi Solarium in a Bottle.

It was a wonderful experience to get pampered at home and Slaj was very conscious of the time and making sure that I was able to get dressed, have something to eat and take lots of fantastic photos before heading out. The look was very dramatic and caused quite a stir at the party.

♥

People were surprised at how completely unusual I looked. I have never had curly hair and so I was very excited to get the ringlets.

If you want to learn how to create theatrical or natural looks you can attend one of Slaj’s workshops. Find out more here: http://make-upbydesign.blogspot.com/

Make-up by Design is a completely mobile business so Slaj can come to your home or hotel to prepare you for a big event. She says that now is the busiest time of year with parties and weddings in the warm weather.

She does everything from weddings to photo shoots for clothing labels.

Check it out on Facebook or contact Slajana on: 0433967900 or Slajanamake-upbydesign@hotmail.com. She is on call 7 days a week.

Review by Julia Hern, personal trainer and event junkie who loves to swim, but doesn’t need water to make a splash!

Be well,

xoxo