Ghoulishly Great Looks

Oct 302011
 

It is the night before Halloween beauties, all through the house,

nothing stirs, not even my computer mouse…

Well that isn’t really true, the keys on my laptop are being stirred as we speak!

But Halloween is fun isn’t it? Tricks and treats, costumes and frights, and those enormous pumpkins with garish faces, who couldn’t love it? Now I know, in Australia Halloween isn’t really a tradition we’ve had much to do with outside the odd TV show, movie or American friend, but these days it seems to be growing in popularity, and hey, who doesn’t want another excuse to experiment with beauty looks?

So in honour of Halloween beauties, I’ve put together a couple of things you can do to get into the…’ahem’…spirit!

You see a lot of tutorials going around blogs and youtube around this time of the year for creepy costumes, full-on makeup and crazy accessories, but I’m delivering a slightly diluted version, just some quick looks you can try to have fun with the holiday, while still going into the office like normal without having to don vampire fangs!

NAILS There are countless fun things you can do with your nails on the 31st of October, but my favourite for the girl on the go are the limited edition nail strips from Sally Hansen, which feature cute themed designs perfect for the big day itself, or heck, any old time you want to spice up your nail routine. You may be familiar with Sally Hansen’s permanent collection of real nail polish strips, if you’re not, you just HAVE to check them out. They are super time saving strips that just adhere to the nail like a sticker, however they are actual nail polish, and if applied correctly, they last a lot longer than a usual mani. The strips come in five limited edition Halloween designs: Hot Wired (barbed wire on a flouro green background), Wishnets (red fishnet pattern), Ghoulie Girl (see pic below), Spun for You (spiderwebs) & Numbskull (cute skull and crossbones).

Here are my talons all ready to go for tomorrow:

Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips in "Ghoulie Girl"

As you can see they’re a super cute ghostie design with rockin’ white and orange baby ghosts on a black background. These strips are only $14.95 and really easy to find at Priceline, Kmart and various other stores. From far away these almost look like a uniquely coloured checkerboard, but once you get up close they become spook-tacular!

EYES

In keeping with the black, orange and white theme, I created this subtle Halloween themed eye look. To achieve something similar, use an eyeshadow primer, then sweep a shimmery taupe over your entire lid. I used Urban Decay’s ‘Sin’ (appropriate name for a Halloween tutorial eh?). Blend a dark olive or charcoal colour into your crease and then apply a pumpkin hued orange to the center of the eyelid and blend out. Work some of the orange colour under the lower lash line and smudge in some olive towards the outer edge of your eye on the lower lash line. Finish with a sweep of black liquid eyeliner and jet black mascara.

What else can you have a bit of Halloween fun with? Why scent of course! If you want to go crazy, a brand called Demeter makes some interesting fragrances including ‘Funeral Home’ ( it’s actually not as awful as it sounds, the brand describes this scent as “lilies, carnations, gladiolus, chrysanthemums with stems and leaves, with a hint of mahogany and oriental carpet”) check out the Demeter Fragrance Library website here.

Alternatively, if you aren’t dying (sorry, – lame, I know) for that fragrance choice, just go with something rich, full bodied and slightly warm and spicy. This year I think I’ll be going with Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Heavenly just to balance out all the sinfulness!

Heavenly is quite a heavy scent with strong sandalwood notes, but it dries down to a slightly floral musky vanilla, with a touch of woodiness. Check out Heavenly here.

So beauties, I hope you have a great Halloween, whatever you decide to indulge in, because really, it’s all about the treat isn’t it?

 

Happy haunting!

xxxBeautyScholar

 

Country is Cool!

Oct 262011
 

Image courtesy of Wesley Fryer

So beauties, I’m not sure how this is going to go down with some of you who may be a little twang averted, but I’ve noticed something recently that I just HAD to blog about.

It’s “Country”.

The style, the music. I think it’s (FINALLY!) getting pretty damn cool.

What do I mean by country? Well it is more than music, it’s an attitude, an approach to life, -  ’style’ – both in both the fashion/beauty sense, and in the way that you carry yourself. I guess it comes from the down to earth nature of country living, but now it seems, country style has plenty of urban chic thrown in.

I have to admit, I’ve been a fan of country music since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I grew up in the country and used to spend hours sitting in front of my TV watching Country Music Television. (*blush*) It’s a little embarrassing, I’m not afraid to admit it.

But now I’m all grown up, and proud of my country roots,  I’m starting to see contemporary country queens like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and many others taking ‘country’ somewhere really special. I recently saw the remake of Footloose at the cinema and the country hottie Julianne Hough looks amazing in this film. I WANT her style!

Check out the trailer:

No longer is country just about boot skootin’ and big hair, it’s classy, creative and a little bit bohemian. It’s the perfect mix of all today’s hot looks like wavy hair and neutral makeup, but it’s still sexy and fun.

Fancy styling up your own country look? The staple clothing item is anything denim, combine this with soft florals, brown leather, boots, layered chain necklaces, and carefree bed hair. Plaid shirts also look cute, and belts with prominent buckles. For a country night out there is room for a bit of bling too, try a pair of cowboy boots with a sparkly dress, a la ms Swift (bedazzled guitar is optional):

Image courtesy of Tomodo89

Country can be girly, sexy or just plain pretty. Above all, country style is about being yourself, and having fun. Country queens aren’t afraid to mess up their hair, get a little dirty or dance the night away. Come on beauties, get down to earth and go ‘country’ – you won’t regret it!

If you’re still not convinced, here is another video for some more inspiration. It’s a song called American Honey by one of my favourite bands, Lady Antebellum. I think the song, and the style of Lady’s lovely Hilary Scott captures the essence of contemporary country beautifully.

xxxBeautyScholar

The Beauty that is Bottega: A knockout new scent

Oct 242011
 

If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know I’ve been tweeting and twirping and chirping like a little birdie about this one, the new scent from Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta.

In a word, this perfume is simply – stunning.

Just like the photograph from their ad campaign:

And no, that isn’t Natalie Portman, although this beauty looks remarkably like her! It’s a 17 year old soon to be star you probably won’t have heard of – her name is Nine d’Urso. This lovely lady’s mother Inès de la Fressange was a model muse of fashion king Karl Lagerfield and is a total style star in Europe. According to Tomas Maier, creative director at Bottega Veneta, Nine is right at her mother’s heels, describing the face of Bottega Veneta’s first scent as a walking embodiment of the ideas behind the parfum. He says, “There is something classically elegant about her, yet she is totally modern, she conveys a sense of heritage worn lightly but with respect.” That’s pretty special praise!

Now, on to the scent, it lives up to it’s breathtaking advertisement. Instead of explaining all the technical stuff to you about how this scent is designed, I decided to whip up this quick (and totally cheesy) graphic for you. Come on’ give me a break… I was feeling creative!

As you can see from my score, I am totally sold on this perfume, it is truly unique.

In a Women’s Wear Daily article from the 7th of January this year, Tomas Maier, the creative director, set this beautiful scene to describe the perfume:“An old house in the beautiful countryside in the Veneto region of Italy with rolling green hills, where we’re from. I envisioned a room with old wood floors, library walls and leather-bound books with the windows open wide, the breeze coming in and cut grass, hay, moss, garden flowers, growing through the room and everything mixing up. That’s where we started.”

That sounds like total heaven to me. And the scent really is something special. It’s rich and decadent, but still subtle enough to be totally elegant. If you like the deep scent of leather (the goods that BV are famous for making) or woody, oriental fragrances, this one will make you totally lose it. I’m also a big fan of the richness of men’s cologne, and I think there aren’t enough women’s fragrances which embody these notes with a feminine twist. This one totally succeeds in that mission. It’s housed in a unique bottle too, made of lovely Murano Glass and decorated with a simple leather twist on the cap.

Finally, I MUST say something about the strength of this perfume. While it’s on the expensive side (EDP 30mL $100/ 50mL $150/ 75mL $180) you only need a tiny splash as it lasts and lasts and lasts! I sprayed it on a shirt, washed it, dried it and the scent STILL lingered! So, you can imagine how great it is on the body. It truly lasts. The only other scents I’ve found that have the power of this are those by Dior and Chanel.

You can pick this fragrance up exclusively at David Jones.

Let me know beauties, do you have a favourite new scent? Have you tried the Bottega Veneta Parfum?

xxxBeautyScholar

ABBW 2011 You ‘Nail’ed It !

Oct 172011
 

A few weekends ago, in not so sunny Sydney town (it was raining!) a virtual barrage of Aussie beauty bloggers descended to take part in the very first Australian Beauty Blogger’s Weekend.

As a lucky attendee I got to take in all the sights, sounds and swatches on offer, and over two amazing days I learnt and laughed with some amazing people. Not only did I meet a whole bunch of my truly beautiful fellow bloggers, I also got the chance to meet with various beauty brand reps, hear inspirational presentations from industry insiders, and get my hands dirty, sparkly and sweetly scented with a whole bunch of beauty toys which I can’t wait to talk to you about over the next few months. Here is a pic of the lovely Megan (right) from Beauty in the Sky and myself at the Maxted Thomas Beauty Blogger Gala which was a whirlwind of wonderful!

Image: Liz Giacco for The ABBW

Now from my twinkle toes to the tips of my fingernails, I was probably most excited to try some super new nail supplies during this weekend. I fancy myself as a little bit of an experimenter in the nail art department  so I’m always keen to get new colours into my collection.Prior to ABBW I experimented with some patterns and came up with a wild and wacky animal print rainbow combination for my nails to be my signature ABBW look. My fellow bloggers seemed to like it, so I thought I’d recreate the look and do a tutorial with some of the polish brands that were featured during the love fest that was ABBW. ORLY, Australis, and Ulta3 all sit front row in this tutorial and were kind sponsors of the weekend.  * * Snaps to them!! * *

Here is a list of the polish colours I used to recreate my ABBW nail look: ORLY Charged Up, ORLY Blue Collar, NYC Color Honolulu, Ulta3 Tangelo, Australis Bombshell.

For those of you who are feeling the visual vibe, here is a super fast video tutorial which will give you an idea of how to layer the colours for the rainbow base.

Read on for further instructions and pics…

(1) The first step is to shape your nails and apply a base coat. I used Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and filed my nails into a square shape, with slightly rounded corners.

(2) Apply your first colour. I started with purple ORLY Charged Up. Apply the polish to the base of your nail in a horizontal motion, painting from left to right. Dab carefully to avoid working the colour too far up the nail. It’s also important to use minimal amounts of polish so it dries quickly and doesn’t spread. Big globs of lacquer will not work. Don’t worry if you get your colour all around the nail as you paint, you can clean that up later!

(3) Let the first colour dry, then go back and apply a second coat if needed by repeating step 1.

(4) Continue building your rainbow by repeating steps 2 & 3 for each colour. I used Blue (ORLY Blue Collar), then Yellow (NYC Honolulu), Orange (Ulta3 Tangelo) and Pink (Australis Bombshell).

(5) Allow all colours to dry completely and then finish with a clear top coat. Let dry.

(6) Time to earn your stripes! Using a nail art pen or a cuticle stick dipped in black polish, draw lines to resemble animal print over the nail. If you’re a little nervous about this practice on some paper beforehand and figure out what looks best to you:

As Sylvia Plath would say “Perfection is terrible,” so don’t worry too much about this, just have fun with it! If you find it really difficult just draw stripes from the outside into the centre of the nail which start out thicker and get thinner towards the centre. Alternatively draw sideways V shapes – or a combination of both of these!I find it helps to have a picture with you, so copy my patterns above or Google ‘animal print’ for some ideas!

If tiger stripes aren’t your thing you can add stars, polka dots or anything else with nail art pens to add extra pizazz. Alternatively try keeping your nails just with rainbow print, or add a layer of glitter top coat!

(7) Finish your nail art with another coat of topcoat and clean around the edges of your nails with nail polish remover and cotton buds.

Congratulations, like ABBW 2011 you just ‘Nail’ed it too! Now go rock it wild thing! Don’t forget to email me pics of your efforts!!

xxxBeautyScholar

Styles of the Sixties…Hair with Flair

Oct 012011
 

Not too long ago the television break-out hit Mad Men brought styles from the Fifties and Sixties back in to the limelight. Pearls, curls and lady-like red lips emerged from Grandma’s musty cupboard, and were soon seen all over the red carpet.

About to begin it’s fifth season in the USA, it doesn’t look like Mad Men will be slowing down any time soon, but this year it will have some competition on the Mid-Twentieth Century TV scene.

Two new shows, the ABC’s much anticipated Pan Am starring Christina Ricci and NBC’s slightly skeezier, The Playboy Club debuted last week in the US, both of which are dramas which follow the lives of Sixties babes, and perfectly polished ones at that.

Pan Am, set in New York in the Sixties is about a group of “glamourous” Pan American Airline stewardesses, trying to balance the burden of girdles and pantyhose with ‘high flying’ drama. The Playboy Club, set around the same time chronicles the happenings in the original Chicago Playboy Club, and the nasty things those bunnies and their brethren get up to.

While I’m not sure when these shows will hit Australian tellies, I’ve had a sneak peak at both and from what I can see, Sixties looks are about to make a second and even stronger comeback on the style scene.

Here are the hair looks the gals from Pan Am are rockin:

As you can see, volume, fringes and flicks along with tight sixties curls are takin’ it to the sky for these ladies. And what about the bunnies? Well, besides the ears, I don’t mind their hairstyles either:

Curls, curls, curls! Volume… and more fringe!

So, how do we recreate these looks at home and rock it Sixties style?

Try some of the tools below and you’ll get the look in no time.

First and foremost I’m loving the VS Sassoon Big Hair Styler for volume and getting those rounded waves throughout the lower ends of the hair. If you haven’t seen my video on the styler, check it out here. Basically this nifty little gadget is a hair-dryer and brush in one, it rolls and dries your hair while adding lift, shape and shine. Depending on how you position the styler in the hair you can pump up your fringe or get all over volume.

Here’s what the styler looks like:

I’ve raved about this tool so much already in posts and on Twitter (because it’s awesome!), so I’ll move on to a more old school method of creating sixties tresses.

Rollers!

Yep, these gadgets aren’t just for your nanna, they’re a great little addition to your beauty booty, and the traditional way to add the texture and waves seen it the pics above. Lady Jayne makes a few different sizes that are self holding (meaning they have velcro like edges that stick in the hair so you don’t need clips or pins to secure them in place). You can get a set of six medium Lady Jayne rollers (pictured above) or four larger rollers for around $8.99. Check out the Lady Jayne website here. These can be rolled into damp hair, then you can air dry or blow dry then remove gently to release sultry sixties texture.

The coolest thing about rollers is you can whack them in, then do your makeup, wash the dishes and jog around the block while they’re setting. They’re the ultimate beauty tools for when you’re in a multi-tasking mood. Heck, you can even do it up true sixties style and set them in your hair before bed, then wrap a scarf around them and sleep on them to wake with wonderful waves. Might be hard to resist the pillow talk with Donald Draper if you take it this far though…

For getting that extra oomph these sixties hairstyles often require, you can embrace the rage that Southern Belles have long been taking advantage of, and go for some Big Happie Hair “Bump-Its”.

What in the world are these? Well they look like this:

They’re basically rounded chunks of plastic with tiny little teeth that you place in under layers in your hair to add uber-height to styles. Sold as “Volumizing Hair Inserts” in packs with several different sizes, Bump-Its are pretty versatile. The little mini ones are good for pinning back fringes and the larger ones can be placed on the crown for height in up-dos or behind headbands. If you’re still scratching your head about Bump-its, check out this website. You can pick these up for a few bucks on Ebay, and I’ve also seen them in Target and dollar stores like The Reject Shop.

Finally, no Sixties hairstyle would be complete without a good strong coating of hair spray, you can use this to build volume as you go by spraying into roots and teasing as you style. For great staying power without stickiness, try Clairol Herbal Essences Set me Up hairspray. You can get this for under ten dollars just about anywhere, including supermarkets.

So, what’s the verdict Beauties, could you see yourselves trying any of these Sixties TV hair-styles out for yourselves?

Any interest in some tutorials on how to get these looks?

I’d love to hear what you think!

xxxBeautyScholar