Top South African Lifestyle Blog
My beauty pick of the week features my latest summer Essie Nail Polish, Pink Diamonds. A very pretty sparkly pink shade, in keeping with my pink theme for Breast Cancer Awareness! The colour is a very girly-girl pink, reminiscent of cotton candy and although the pearly frosted effect, is not always my favourite I simply love the gorgeous pinkness of it all!
Essie is available from DisChem and all major pharmacies and retails for approximately R99.
I recently received a sample of the new Lady Gaga fragrance, Fame, from the Beauty Bulletin, to review. This exciting new fragrance is the first of its kind in fluid technology; the black fluid turns transparent once it is airborne – freaky right! We would expect nothing less than off-the-wall, from the pop Diva!
The technology behind this magic show is called “push-pull technology”, where the ingredients interact together to highlight different olfactory aspects of each note at the same time, resulting in complete harmony. The scent has three main properties being: dark, sensual and light.
The dark component comes from the mysterious Belladonna, the deadly nightshade, which evolves into a sensual combination of dripping honey, saffron and apricot nectar. To round off the scent crushed Tiger Orchid and Jasmine Sambac bring in a lighter more floral note.
When sprayed on the skin you can actually see the fluid change from a black to translucent which, truth be told, is rather amazing! The actual scent is warm and very sensual, pretty much my favourite type of fragrance. It is very sultry and the epitome of sophistication, perfect for wearing out in the evening to compliment your sexy little LBD.
For me the scent is as important as the bottle it comes in and this is one really sexy bottle, I received the tester bottle to review and would love to see the full size bottle in “the flesh”! Fame is definitely going to be appearing on my Christmas or Birthday list!
Thank you to the Beauty Bulletin for the opportunity of trying this amazing new fragrance!
* 30ml of Fame R400 and 50ml R500, available in retail outlets in South Africa.
I was very excited to receive a wonderful range of products from Kiehl’s South Africa last week. Kiehl’s recently launched their first store on Africa soil, in Edgars Sandton City in Johannesburg.
Kiehl’s was originally founded as an old-world apothecary in New York’s East Village over 150 years ago, they opened their doors in 1851 as a community pharmacy on New York’s ‘Pear Tree Corner’ . Kiehl’s extensive experience has resulted in a unique blend of cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal and medicinal knowledge developed over generations. The Kiehl’s philosophy believes that ingredients are the single most important component of their products, only formulas with ingredients that are truly beneficial to the skin are selected.
The Mission of Kiehl’s” is a tribute to our belief in giving back; in supporting both the local communities in which we serve and the global community in which we live and thrive. Underlining the Mission, we have developed a number of Fair Trade partnerships, plus lent our support to non-profit, charitable organisations around the world, primarily in three areas: AIDS research, cure and care; environmental conservation and sustainability; and outreach programs to benefit children and/or local communities.
I am really looking forward to trying out the Kiehl’s range, which is rather extensive! They have sent me items from their mens, baby’s, skin care and body range. The one product that I have heard so much about is the Creme de Corps, which is a rich hydrating body moisturizer and has been a firm favourite for over four decades. I have also been on the lookout for a new sunscreen, which does not irritate my rather sensitive skin. I will be trying out all the products, well in exception of the Mens range (I will leave those to Mr) and I will report back on my thought on the products.
To keep up to date with Kiehl’s in South Africa and find out about when a store is opening near you – follow them on Twitter.
As you may have guessed by now I have a bit of a shoe fetish but it can be quite an expensive hobbie to have. As with the rest of my wardrobe, my general rule as far as shoe buying goes is that I can justify spending a bit extra on classic pieces and buying good quality brands but fashion is a different story! Fashions change so quickly and colours come and go, so when I buy fashionable shoes I tend to look for the less expensive pairs that I wont mind getting ride of next season, if they are no longer the “in-thing”.
I recently found these gorgeous aqua, über high heels, from Rage, they are bang on trend colour-wise as well. I must admit they are very high and I certainly will not be running anywhere in them, so these will be reserved for the evenings, when all the walking I will be doing is from the car to my table in the restaurant!
I got a bit carried away with the photographs but they are so pretty! They look amazing with white jeans and the punch of red from my pedi complements the aqua beautifully. The colour on my toes is Silken Cord by Essie, also a perfect colour for summer.
Heels – R295.00 from Rage
Last week I attended the media launch for Lush South Africa’s store in the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. What a super afternoon, spent being pamper by all the luscious goodies on offer at their flagship store in South Africa. The wonderful fruity aromas heightened all my senses – from fun Bath Ballistics to Bubble Bars and Solid Shampoo Bars they have it all. The amazingly enthusiastic Lush staff happily guided our experience explaining all the various products in great detail.
Fresh Soaps are beautifully displayed in a Deli-style selection, the choices are quite over whelming but there is definitely something for everyone – my favourite is “Honey I Washed the Kids”. The Soaps are made from predominately natural ingredients which makes them very mild and gentle on the skin and they smell awesome!
We also got to experience the making of the Lush “Fresh Face Masks”, first hand! The masks are made fresh every week and kept fresh and chilled, in store, on a bed on ice. I received a sample of the mask made at the launch which is aptly named “Catastrophe Cosmetic”, to take home and try. This mask is made with fresh Blueberries, soothing Camomile, Irish Moss and calming Calamine – to help calm and cleanse the skin. I tried the mask on Saturday evening and it truly left my skin feeling calm and silky-soft.
I really enjoyed the afternoon at Lush, we were also treated to a wonderfully goodie bag of Lush items to take home with us! I also bought a few additional items that caught my eye, which I will let you know more about once I have tried them. The one I am most keen to try is a Massage Bar called “Shimmy Shimmy”, which in the shape of a heart with sparkles in it!
A big thank you to the Lush SA team for a great afternoon and if you have not visited the store yet then you must definitely get there soon, there are so many amazing products on offer! The Lush store is located on the V&A Waterfront on the ground floor opposite the iStore. If you would like to be kept up-to-date with all the Lush happening you can follow them on FaceBook & Twitter.
