Beauty travels of a middle aged Fashion Editor
Fashion writers’ beauty loot can be somewhat random – products usually come from a showbag or are gifted by a sympathetic PR.
I’m of a rare species – the middle aged Fashion Editor. You won’t get any anti-acne reviews from me – but I will tell you honestly if any anti-aging product seems to make a difference, and I’ll spot a time-saver or a life-enhancer at 1,000 paces.
Magic Tan and Beauty's Petrina Martin and her assistant, backstage at New Zealand Fashion Week – helping middle aged Fashion Editors everywhere, stop the rot! Picture: Julie Roulston/SONY NEX
label. M Dry Shampoo
$29.99
Dry Shampoo sat on my shelf for many months before I really figured out how wonderful it is. Here’s the thing: you have a gorgeous blowwave that cost you an arm and a leg and has transformed you from tired/frazzled to ravishing. You want that to LAST, right? Spray a little dry shampoo in to the roots only, on day 2 and even 3, and you get to keep the style, and keep it looking fresh.
But wait, there’s more! Want to put your hair up, but it's too squeaky clean? Dry Shampoo used through the length of your hair will give it a matte, controllable texture. Magic!
label.m Professional haircare is Toni and Guy’s new range, and is available exclusively at Toni and Guy Hairdressing (51 High Sreet, Auckland CBD PH: (09) 300 6016). But if you can’t get there, we’re sure that comparable brands will perform.
Veet EasyGrip Ready-to-Use Wax Strips
Chances are that like me, you have tried several home waxing products over the years and decided that waxing is best left to your beauty therapist. Well, these strips from Veet show a serious advance in home waxing technology. One pack has seen me successfully and easily wax my own lower legs twice. RAPT to have found an effective product. Will still go to the beauty therapist before special occasions – but Veet offers an excellent between-therapist alternative.
Nail Art
Magic Tan and Beauty
Petrina Martin and her team have worked very hard to establish themselves as the go-to girls for fashion nails in New Zealand. She emailed me before Fashion Week to say, “Nail art has really taken off significantly in New Zealand over the last 3-4 months. We have seen women who have previously opted for the classic French manicure, asking for all sorts of wild designs for their nails. Women are even considering nail art for their weddings!”
Petrina continues, “The demand for nail art has become so great that we have had to stock our kits with an array of glitter, beads, multi sized brushes and artists’ palettes.”
Check out this beautiful nail art for Cybele at New Zealand Fashion Week, using the new M.A.C nail colours. Self-expression reigns in these street-style driven days, and what are nails but tiny canvases?
If you’re more of a DYIer, how cute is this Halloween kit from the ever-fabulous OPI? It comes with ‘colourful skull decals’ and retails at $39.90 for the set – visit www.globalbeauty.co.nz for stockist information
OPI 'So So Skullicious' Mini Lacquer Set
Bella Vi (Mineral Makeup) Loose Foundation
RRP$55
This was my first encounter with mineral makeup – (nice that Bella Vi is a New Zealand company). I really like the control of applying the loose foundation with a brush. I don’t wear foundation all over my face, and this blended easily into my ‘naked’ skin. I like the light cover and little bit of extra radiance it seems to lend to the face. My only negative – I think the natural beige I selected was slightly too light a tone for my complexion, I’ll go a tiny bit darker next time. Bella Vi owner Melissa tells me that a little bit of bronzer would make a difference – she also wants FashioNZ readers to know that while mineral makeup is great for those wanting a light coverage, if applied in layers it can also give excellent full coverage lasting all day.
Hailwood for Redken limited edition vanity bag
I don’t know any woman who doesn’t love a little added value with her shopping. For a limited time, if you buy any Redken shampoo and conditioner at Rodney Wayne salons or Shampoo N Things stores, you get the Hailwood bag free. AND, on the purchase of the shampoo and conditioner, you can also have 50% off any Redken favourite (choose from All Soft Argan-6 Oil, Extreme Anti-Snap and Powder Refresh 01 dry shampoo – see my rave about dry shampoo above).
Redken is one of my favourite hair brands, whose high fashion nature is even more apparent internationally, than it is here. Logical then that Redken would choose hailwood – he’s always been both an innately cool designer, and one who “knows how to dress his girls” (Women’s Wear Daily). You’ll love the little touches on the vanity bag, like the signature gold horse head zip pulls, and the quirky/feminine moisture-proof print that lines the bag.
– Julie Roulston