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I love trying new skincare and when the chance to try something that claims to be “Nature’s Botox Alternative” I got a little excited. Since turning the big 30 last year I’ve been more attentive to products with anti-ageing ingredients to keep me looking as young as possible!

The Lapurete range is said to target all signs of ageing including; expression lines, sagging skin, age spots, dryness, eye bags, dark circles, enlarged pores and UVA damage. Whilst I certainly don’t have all these skin concerns I figure prevention is better than a cure!

Okuru plant being harvested

The magic ingredient that Lapurete use is Okuru, a plant grown in Africa that has been used for centuries for it’s nutritional and healing benefits. Lapurete’s research has found that the peptides contained in the seeds can minimise expression lines in a similar way to Botox, without the need for injections!

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The Protective Day Crème that I trialed contains the Okuru plus Sweet Pea and Marine extracts to increase firmness and elasticity of the skin. The crème itself is light and pleasantly fragranced. It seemed to moisturise and hydrate my skin well without making me too oily. I would say it’s suitable for most skin types, except really oily. Whilst I don’t have any major skincare concerns such as fine lines and sagging I did find that after using daily it did seem to brighten my complexion, freshen and smooth my skin. The two bonuses for me were that it contained UVA defense (if you’re outside for long periods I would still wear a broad spectrum sunscreen!) and it had no nasty ingredients such as parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, and petrochemicals (a super plus for me!).

The full set of Lapurete prodz

Whether it lived up to it’s claim of being “Natures Botox” I’m still not sure yet. Maybe I need to use it a little longer, or fingers crossed it’s because I don’t need botox yet. But I know that I would rather try a topical cream that costs way less than expensive and invasive needles first.

What would you rather do?

Check out the full Okuru range at www.lapurete.com.au and at major pharmacies.

RRP is $59.95.

Review by Hannah L, smoothie-ing her way to good health!

Be well,

xoxo

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When Annette first contacted me to tell me about Pure Poppet, a range of play make-up for children, I must admit I nearly jumped for joy.

With two young girls under the age of 8, make-up and face-painting are huge in my house and even though I know there are so many harmful chemicals in most over-the-counter cosmetics there are more times than I’d like to admit that I just give in to the “just let them have fun” …

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My girls’ eyes lit up from the moment they unwrapped the parcel, which I must say arrived in record time, especially considering it was the week of Christmas, the packaging is bright, colourful and everything a little girl could want for.

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Obviously they wanted to play around with it straight away and I needed little convincing, so armed with their make-up kit and a room full of dress ups they went to work on turning themselves into beautiful princesses.

The colours included in the kit were 5 little pots of powdered colour, purple, pink, blue, green and yellow – all bright and shimmery, application sponges, 2 lip balms and a floral water spray.

Being mineral make-up the powder was slightly messier than the traditional block make-up but nothing a dustpan and a broom couldn’t take care of.

The best thing about it (from a mum’s point of view) was how easy it was to remove that night, warm water and a facecloth and it was taken care of in less than a minute.

My only regret is that I forgot to take photos of the little princesses.

A week later we decided it was time for the face-painting test. As seasoned face-paintees I was slightly apprehensive that my skills would be mocked, or at the very least elicit looks of disappointment, so I spent the first five minutes explaining to my darling daughters that mummy is NOT a professional face-painter and it’s NOT going to look the way it does when they have their faces done by the proper face-painters. I was also very clear that only simple designs would be accepted.

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Thankfully my 8 year old requested suns and a flower and my four year old a caterpillar on one cheek and the butterfly it turns into on the other.

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With a little bit of water mixed with the powder the face-painting was much easier than I expected and smiles were experienced by all, my husband even asked if I was expanding into a new line of work!

It did wear off a little quicker than traditional face-paint, which in my opinion is actually a good thing. And again, the best part to me was the ease of removal.

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I also really like that the emphasis is on play and fun, rather than needing make-up to be pretty.

Price: The cost for the kit is $39.95 plus postage, which is great as these pots will last for ages. Available from the Pure Poppet website.

I’d love to know how you feel about the chemicals in your child’s play make-up, is it a big concern to you? Or do you think it’s not that big a deal?

Review by Chizelle S Salter, Mother of 3 beautiful girls, Writer and Hostess of Chizelle TV

Be well,

xoxo

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For someone who runs a website like this one, I really am quite abysmal at getting my hair cut and maintained to a pleasing standard. Massages, exercise classes, buying my lunch and restaurant dinners seem to drain the majority of my “extra money”, while my hair gets left being swooped up in a simple high pony tail day after day, only occasionally being privy to a hair straightener.

This year, I’m determined to make an extra effort to have “babe hair” more often than not, so with that in mind I headed down to Element Aveda Concept Salon in Subiaco for a cut, colour, blowdry & style AKA a complete overhaul. I had a 60’s themed night out planned too, so I was especially excited to have my hair styled.

When I phoned up to book the appointment I was a bit nervous, as I always am with hairdressers, but the guy who answered the phone was great and managed to book me in with Bree, the Creative Director for my whole sesh. Note to the uninitiated: seeing the Creative Director usually costs a bit of extra moolah, luckily for me it was worth it in this case!

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With my long scraggly mop in tow, I was greeted with cups of Aveda tea (so yummy once you get used to the unique taste!), hand massages and the signature “blue oil massage”. Bree and I decided to go with a chestnut colour, which has the gentlest of red tints to it, similar to my own hair colour but just a bit more oomph. Love the colour, but next time I think I will be a little more daring!

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For the cut, I wanted quite a bit off, but still a longish side fringe and the ability to make it a lil wavy. Check, check, check. Bree delivered all this and more and was fun to talk to. I ended up with an Alexa Chung-esque long bob with waves which I digged, and she even gave me a mini lesson on how to create GHD waves on my own… which I’ll try soon!

The whole experience was about 2 & 1/2 hours, and everyone was super friendly, I was kept hydrated and…THERE WAS A PUG IN THE SALON!

This certainly was a plus for me as I am wild about pups.

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I purchased the Aveda Brilliant Hair Spray ($39.95) which makes hair super shiny, gives a medium hold & contains black tea, certified organic chamomile, aloe and more! I found it kept my waves in well throughout a night of 60’s dancing!

So without further words…

Tah dah. New hair.

The total cost for my wash, cut, colour, blowdry/style & Brilliant Shine Hairspray was $265.

I will definitely be back!

Element Aveda Concept Salon
17 Rokeby Rd Subiaco WA 6008
(08) 9382 3004

Do you like the short hair or the long hair?! Love to hear your thoughts!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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Have you, like me, made a New Year’s resolution that involves getting healthier, fitter and avoiding stuffing your mouth with sugar/junk/fun stuff?

If so, here’s a product that can help satisfy those pesky cravings for a Cadbury family block just by licking your lips.

Jane Iredale does lovely make up that is kind to your skin and packed with loads of ingredients that are easy to pronounce (a great sign you’re not working with nasty chemicals).

Now Jane Iredale has combined two of my favourite things: natural skin care and chocolate.

The Chocoholicks Lip Palette is packed with natural ingredients like avocado oil, shea butter, cocoa extract and jojoba seed oil.

Everything about these little beauties is so “sweet”! As the box says: “révélez votre sensualité” or “unwrap the decadence”. Oh I will, Jane, I will.

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The Chocoholicks “bar” I got had some classic chocolate combinations:

♥ Chocolate & Blood Orange – A coppery tone
♥ Chocolate & Espresso – A reddish brown which would look hot over nude lips on olive skin
♥ Chocolate & Berries (drool) – A plum tone
♥ Chocolate & Chilli Pepper – A pinky red tone for the snow queens out there

They come in a handy purse-friendly palette with a lip brush so you can smother on the good stuff wherever you are.

What I loved about these was that they smelled so true to the real thing! Each flavour was so distinct and scrumptious before they’d even hit my lips.

Each colour is unique with a bit of sparkle. The shimmer is noticeable but doesn’t look like you’ve dipped your lips in glitter. However, if you really hate the grainy feeling shimmer glosses give when you rub your lips together, these probably aren’t the glosses for you.

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While the colours are technically sheer, over a nude pencil they work a treat, (I’m currently loving the look of the Bobbi Brown Lip Liner in Sandwash Tulle). I also found each flavour gave my lips a little zing which felt refreshing!

The palette contains colours suited to most skin tones. Considering I’m pastier than Casper, I wasn’t sure the rich browny orange tones would work with my skin. For me, a sheer slick of Blood Orange and Chilli Pepper suited me best, while Espresso and Very Berry would probably suit darker and/or warmer skin tones.

No matter what your flavour is, these glosses will get you through the new year with a lip-smackingly natural pout!

Available from Adore Beauty – even better, it’s on sale for $35 down from $50 as at posting! Yippee!

Review by Gemma Clark, member of Chocoholics Anonymous and lover of all things deliciously natural.

Be well,

xoxo

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Body grossout is the best kind of high school fun – remember that scene in The Breakfast Club where Ali delights in shaking her dandruff out onto her notebook?

As a high schooler, I myself would take great joy in ignoring the ineffectual ramblings of my teachers and focusing on more mesmerising activities, like pinching my thick black girls’ school uniform stockings and watching bits of dead skin come through the stockings’ porous fabric. Nothing pleased me more than watching the tiny white particles explode and mingle with all the dust already in the air.

Nowadays, I have the increased body self-consciousness one lacks as a 16 year old: the thought of dry, scaly legs certainly doesn’t delight me in the way it did back then, in fact, probably quite the opposite! I pretty much always have a pump pack of affordable moisturiser in my bathroom I slather on my pins post-shower to avoid scaly legs. I like moisturisers that are not too thick so they spread easily and absorb quickly, so you can pull on your leggings without them sticking mid thigh to your slimy legs. As you can see, I equate keeping my skin hydrated with light moisturisers – I had not, until recently, considered using a body oil for the same purpose.

Rosehips!

I recently trialled Busby’s Pure Tissue Oil, a mix of grape seed oil, rose hip oil, vitamin E and avocado oil, and am definitely more appreciative of the beneficial properties of oil, in my case, in the place of a moisturiser.

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I tested it on my legs (dehydrated skin) for just over a month, and also used it on my chest area in the hope of reducing some minor stretch marks. The oil comes in a pump pack (which made me happy – I don’t have enough ‘getting ready’ time to put aside for a screw top! The packaging is fully recyclable, too) and is really light – I would say it absorbs just as fast as my regular body moisturiser. While it does leave a nice sheen on your legs, it’s not a slimy one, nor one that soaks into your pants – it soaks into your skin only.

After using the oil for over a month, post-showers, the condition of the skin on my legs is pretty great – taught, smooth to the touch, hydrated. As to the stretch marks, I’ve experienced only a minor reduction in their appearance – but perhaps upping the application to twice a day or more might be more effective.

Something definitely worth noting in regards to the Busby Pure Tissue Oil is that it’s super natural: it’s not tested on animals, contains no animal derivatives, no artificial colourants, no parabens, no petrochemicals and no preservatives. I am a regular user of Bio-Oil, which I have found very effective in reducing a problem blemish area on my chin, as well as tightening up and reducing cellulite on the skin on the back of my thighs. However, for its many great properties, Bio-Oil does contain mineral oil, which is a petro-chemical derivative and is harmful to the skin. The Busby oil, however, contains no petrochemicals or mineral oils, so it’s definitely worth looking into as a substitute for Bio-Oil if you’re a fan of the latter.

Busby Pure Tissue Oil is $17.95 for 100ml and is available at most pharmacies or call 1800 655 841 for stockists in your area.

Review by Danielle M, editor @ The Thousands Perth City Guide.

Be well,

xoxo