IMATS – Interview with Donna Mee

I’m sure you read my last IMATS Interview blog post featuring Elessa Jade. Now on to my 2^nd IMATS interview with keynote speaker Donna Mee.

Donna Mee is a make-up artist who has been in the industry for 27 years (pretty damn long time) and she is making a special trip to Sydney for the IMATS, so how awesome this event is going to be?!

I really love speaking to make-up artists because they always have these great insider tips and tricks for not only make-up but also skincare. It’s also amazing how much about skincare they do know.

So here is my interview with Donna Mee…

NM: Being a make-up artist you must see people without make-up on a lot. Do you find having good skin is more important than any make-up product you apply?

DM: Absolutely.  Most women use makeup to “cover up” what they are not happy about such as uneven complexion, redness, acne/blemishes and dark circles. Sadly, the average woman does not know much about skin, how it works, what its needs are and how they should maintain healthy skin, prevent aging and/or correct their skin issues.  Most women only know what the cosmetic companies tell us to think, when in fact people in the marketing department (who also don’t know about skin) determine that.

I really love this comment from Donna. It’s so true and being in the advertising business myself I know how true that is. Also part of the reason I really hunt to find amazing products.

NM: What are the 5 beauty products every woman should own?

DM: In skin care…A non-foaming cleanser Clean, An alcohol-free toner, Moisturizer, Night cream, Eye cream, Lip balm. In regard to makeup… It depends on whatever her “beauty issues” are.  If she has fair eyelashes, then perhaps mascara is a priority. Downcast eyes? A lash curler and mascara can do wonders. Bad skin? Foundation & concealer is her friend…. Etc.

NM: What is your best skincare tip?

DM: Throw away the foaming cleanser and toners with alcohol!  They just age you faster each time they are used.

Didn’t know that! Awesome tip!

NM: What is your best beauty tip?

DM: See above. ;)

NM: Your book The Beauty Conspiracies is due for release next year. Any sneaky pieces of information about the book you can give away?

DM: The Beauty Conspiracies will cover the "Truth" about beauty and expose the myths, misunderstandings and the plethora of marketing scams and false claims in the industry. But the book is on hold because I was asked to write 9 separate mini beauty books for the Dummies chain that are all due in the next 8 months.   The first one will be Eyebrows for Dummies, followed by Concealing for Dummies, Smokey Eyes for Dummies, etc.

I can’t wait for these books to come out! Donna really knows her stuff so I’m sure these books will each be little gems packed full of great stuff.

How amazing is Donna?! She really seems to know her stuff and has obviously collected so many great pieces of information over her 27 years in the industry.

You can see Donna Mee at the IMATS on Saturday 24^th September from 2:30-3:30pm or on Sunday 25^th September from 1:45-2:45pm.

Nat xoxo

IMATS – Interview with Elessa Jade

As I mentioned last week, I’m attending the IMATS in September as part of the ABBW. If I wasn’t lucky enough to get to attend, being part of the ABBW has also given me the opportunity to interview some of the keynote speakers! Amaze Balls!

Elessa Jade is a famous beauty blogger from the US. Her blog site is http://www.pursebuzz.com/ and she also has a YouTube channel youtube.com/pursebuzz.

It’s always awesome getting the opportunity to speak to successful bloggers because a) it gives you inspiration for your own blog to succeed and also b) they know their stuff and are full of wonderful bits of information that can help you!

So on to the interview…

NM: What inspired you to start a beauty blog?

EJ: I was inspired because I loved reading and watching the food network and video game websites. But I couldn’t find one about beauty…so I was like YES!!! I have found it!

NM: How have you kept your content fresh to keep people coming back?

EJ: New products, new ideas and I’m not afraid to try new ideas. If it isn’t good…move on.

NM: If you could give yourself 1 piece of advice when you first started out what would it be?

EJ: To not be so scared and to just go full on. I recently quit a really good career as a project manager to do this full time but I wish I did it sooner.

NM: What are your top 3 tips for beauty bloggers starting out?

EJ: Be yourself, don’t copy…be inspired and lots of pictures!

So I guess it really is all in taking a chance and following your dreams!

You can see Elessa Jade at the IMATS on Saturday 24^th September from 10-11am or Sunday 25^th September from 11:15am-12:15pm.

Stay tuned for more IMATS interviews…there are 2 more to come! I know, I’m excited too.

Nat xoxo

IMATS

In a month I have the pleasure of participating in the Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend (or ABBW). For those of you that don’t know, the ABBW is a weekend long event for about 80 beauty bloggers here in Australia. Since numbers are limited I really do feel special lucky to get to attend. I know just what my ego needs!

Anyway it’s going to be an amazing event with some amazing beauty bloggers!

Part of the event is going to the IMATS or International Make-Up Artist Trade Show. This is going to be fab because it’s pretty much a whole bunch of make-up crazy people and brands in the one place together. As well as being stalls from a number of different companies, there are also keynote speakers, a make-up museum and even has its own after party.

Some of the speakers are amazing. Napoleon Perdis, Donna Mee, Rae Morris and Nicole Thompson will keynote speakers. How awesome it that??

I’m personally really excited by some of the brands/companies that will be there! I will definitely be checking out:

MAC

Inglot

Napoleon Perdis

Naked Cosmetics

Smiink

No doubt I will find a lot more things to entertain myself once I’m there as well. Just want to make a special call out for Smiink. They do fake eyelashes. I have used them before and they are awesome! And they wear really well.

The IMATS is an international event that is held in Sydney, Toronto, London, Vancouver, New York and LA. Lucky Sydney is part of it all! Check out the images for each city:

Sydney

Toronto

Vancouver

New York

London

LA

How amazing are they?? Personally I love New York and Vancouver. Really such amazing work. If these images are anything to go by it really is going to be an amazing event!

The IMATS will be held on the 24^th & 25^th of September and for a 1 day pass it is $40 and for a 2 day pass $65. Personally for an extra $25 I think it’s totally worth going both days since there is going to be so much to see and do.

Hope to see you all there!

Nat xoxo

Trend Alert: Skittle Nails

So if you read my blog yesterday about my outfit on Sunday, you would have seen that I mentioned Skittle Nails.


I first head about this concept at the International Beauty and Spa Expo when I was talking to some lovely make-up and nail artists. Basically the idea is that your nails don't match. So you can have each nail a different color or a few different colors on each hand.

The main point of it is to have your nails clashing. What Mandy (who I spoke to specifically about Skittle Nails) said is that it's all about mixing different types of colors and textures. For example having brights with pastels or mixing matte and glitter finishes. So think glittery black with a matte hot pink or pastel purple with a deep green.

Here is a re-cap of my attempt at skittle nails!

I've still got my Minx Gold color on my pinkie (my bf calls it my "grill" lol) and I'm also wearing Essie's Sand Tropez and OPI's Bastille My Heart.

Mandy did say that the best nail polish brands are Illamasqua and OPI, although her favorite is Illamasqua because they do amazing textures.

So what do you think?

Are you a fan of the skittle nails?

Nat xoxo

Outfit: New Shoes Take On “The Big City”

Since I got 2 new amazing pairs of shoes on Friday, I thought I should honour the occasion by wearing a pair out yesterday for my friend Soph’s 30^th Birthday.

Said birthday was being hosted at Café Sydney in the city, so just a little bit fancy. But I thought my Matiko’s were up for the challenge. They really made the outfit go from “wow” to “WOW” (well in my mind anyway…)!

Black maxi with a sequence top, vintage red belt and vintage beige blazer.

I’m really in love with these shoes. They are so amazing.

House of Harlow ring.

Skittle Nails – trend alert! Pretty much make sure your nails don’t match.

I LOVE my vintage croc skin bag. I bought this in Vienna at a flea market a few years ago. Best purchase

They say no feet on the seats, but clearly they can’t mean my amazing Matiko Leopard print wedges!

The shoes were the star of the day, with complements being thrown at them left right and centre. Also special shot out to my maxi Forever 21 $13 dress. Best purchase and the CPW (cost per wear) is excellent!

Nat xoxo

I was having a bad week…

When I got an awesome package arrive in the mail!

So last week wasn’t great for me. I was uber stressed with uni work. I got a phone call from by bank saying my card had been used in Brazil for over $500. And work almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown. So all in all I was ready to jump off a building.

But then I got home on Friday to discover my Solestuck package had arrived with my new shoes! Nothing puts me in a good mood like an awesome pair of shoes, and this package contained 2 pairs so WOOHOO!

How awesome are the Jeffrey Campbell boxes?!?! And yes that's a really crossword!

I took an up close photo to show that there is fur on the wedge. I had no idea when I bought them that it would have fur,  how amazing!

Now I don’t mean to brag but these shoes are pretty damn awesome!

So thank you Solestuck for the amazing shoes that saved my from a 100% crappy week.

Nat xoxo

International Beauty and Spa Expo

I’m a little bit behind in blog posts! This week has just been crazy; I’ve had so much to do and I can’t believe it’s Saturday night already!

So last Sunday, after the City to Surf, I went to the International Beauty and Spa Expo. It was pretty epic and there was so much there it was hard to take it all in (especially after a 14 km run too!), but I did manage to find out about some awesome things!

Some of these aren’t new to market, but I thought I would mention them because…well because it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want! JKS! I did think they were awesome and hopefully you don’t know about them yet so you can have an awesome “WOW” moment like I did last week.

Like my new fancy artwork?! I downloaded Gimp (like Photoshop, but free!). I may warn you now that there will be some armature Photoshop style images coming up over the next few week… I know you are excited, so am I!

First up is Naked Tan. I mentioned Naked Tan last week because we got Goddess Bronze in our 1^st 

Lust Have It packs. Now I found out at the expo that they are lunching a Bronzing Mouse! How exciting is that! And what is even more exciting is that they were selling them at the expo so I bought it.

See I really have gone crazy with the artwork!

I tried it out today and so far I love it. Because I’m so pale I have to be really careful with fake tanners since they have a tendency to turn me orange. But Naked Tan gives me a lovely natural color.

The second thing I discovered was Minx Nails. Minx is a new nail technology that uses paint strips and heat to adhere the strip to the nail. So kind of like the Sally Hanson strips, only better. I got my pinkie finger done an awesome gold.

What do you think?! Pretty kool huh?? A full set of these will set you back $45-50, but it’s quick and easy plus I’ve had mine for a week now and it hasn’t chipped or anything.

Third is the Beauty Pod. Now this isn’t new, but I haven’t tried it yet so I thought it was worth a mention. It’s a special sponge that is designed to apply foundation and concealed. If you haven’t heard of this one, maybe you have heard of the Beautyblender.

Anyway if you haven’t tired the Beauty Pod I do highly recommend; it’s fabulous. I don’t wear liquid foundation much, but when I do I like it to look natural and the Beauty Pod does a great job of making it look natural!

The final thing that I wanted to mention is Rae Morris’ launch of her brush collection. I had a look at these and they look AMAZING! 

However a set of 26 brushes will set you back $899. Personally I don’t have that much money to spend but you can be sure they are going to be amazing!

And That’s All Folks! Hope you liked my sassy artwork!

Nat xoxo

Lust Have It! – August Luxury Lust Pack

So I’m sure you are all aware by now that Lust Have It! Launched (and if you’re not check it out here). And last week we got sent our 1^st Luxury Lust Packs! YAY!

I personally was a little excited; in that crazy unhealthy way I get about way too many things. I really do get too excited about things. I sometimes freak myself out…

Anyway digressing…back to the Luxury Lust Pack! I got my lovely little box in the mail on Friday (I was really hoping for Thursday because I was home on Thursday so could have blogged about it then). I have already done a YouTube Blog (1^st YouTube post WOOHOO) about it, so if you want to check that out too please feel free J.

And here’s what it looked like…

And here’s what we got…

Dermalogica’s Daily Microfoliant – I have wanted to try this product out for ages, so I was really happy that this came in our box (and I already knew that it was in our box too hehe). I have used it for the past few mornings in the shower and so far LOVE IT!

Bioeffect’s EGF Serum – If you watched my video you will know I was pretty excited about this product. The EGF, or Epidermal Growth Factor, is a Nobel Prize winning ingredient, so you know it’s good! They don’t just give anyone a Noble Prize you know. My Dad has a Noble Peace Prize, no joke, it’s hanging on our wall in the living room. He worked for the IAEA and the whole company got one, but still GO DAD! Back to the EGF Serum, I haven’t tried it yet, but I will ASAP!

Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Crème – This is really good! I have uber-dry hands so I always have heaps of cuticle tears, but I have been using this for the past few days and I’ve already noticed a difference. You can’t go wrong with Burt’s Bees can you?!

Naked Tan’s Goddess Bronze – I’ve head heaps of amazing things about Naked Tan products, but am yet to try any so I was pretty excited that this came in our Luxury Lust Packs. I’m really pale (if you have seen a photo of me you know what I’m talking about), so pale in fact that you can see all my veins. So tanning products and my skin don’t mix very well. However, a friend who is also pale, swears by Naked Tan. So while it’s still jeans weather I’m going to give it a go!

Mirenesse’s Velvet Lip Plumper – I’ve never tried any Mirenesse products before so I was curious about this one. The color that I got (dark nude shade) is really lovely. I’m actually wearing it right now and I have to say I’m a fan. It’s a really nice lip-gloss. I’m not getting much of the plumping effect, but it’s a nice color.

I also got an Armani Sport Code perfume for men, which wasn’t on the card, so I have given that to my boyfriend to try out.

So that was my 1^st Luxury Lust Pack and so far I’m really impressed! I can’t wait for the September Pack!

Nat xoxo

Outfit Today: Black and Yellow

Well that’s a bit of a lie because it’s more black and beige.

This photo makes my blazer look more yellow! A very pale yellow but yellow none the less!

I’m wearing my ‘new’ (aka stole from Mum’s wardrobe) beige (or Yellow for the purposed of this blog post’s title) blazer, black skinny ‘second skin’ jeans and black shirt. I really love this black shirt because it’s a nicer option then a t-shirt and it also fits really nicely. It was a little European Zara purchase a few years ago and I have gotten some good mileage out of it.

I was a wee bit tired this am because I had the City to Surf yesterday, so I didn’t attempt to do anything crazy as I was sure if I was going to get it wrong it would be today.

What do you think of my ‘safe’ clothing option today?

Do you think my blazer can fall into a weird yellow category?

Nat xoxo

Some more nail art!

Last week I tried something new with my nails, and tried wearing 2 colors at the same time.

So today when I cut my nails, I thought I would try something else a little bit different. And this is what I came up with!

I tried out the last color in my Swiss mini collection called “Yodel Me on My Cell”. This color is pretty amazing, from the amazing name (how awesome is it!) to the superb glittery aqua hue! In fact I would describe it as a deep Tiffany blue, and who doesn’t love a little bit of Tiffany blue! Especially when it’s in the form of a box and there is some delightful jewelry item inside :D!

And I digress.

I thought I’d add a little something extra, and would paint my thumbs anther amazing classic OPI color, “Black Onyx”. It really is the prefect classic black nail polish.

Overall, I really like it! I really like using multiple colors to paint my nails with; it keeps life interesting. I’m going to try to paint each nail a different color next but I’m still working out my color theme.

So what do you think of my latest nail invention?

Nat xoxo

Shopping tips from me to you…

If you read my blog, you would have read my rant about the cost of products here in Australia and why said mark-up pretty much has me laughing when the press cries “poor retailer!”…

So in order to stick it to the man (70’s fashion is back why can’t 70’s attitudes follow), I’ve decided to do another post on how you can buy products cheaper! Now because I’m not pure evil (I’m only the diet coke of evil…well maybe the coke zero of evil) I will also mention some tips when buying things from retailers here in Australia (well 1 because that’s all they get! See this is where the evil comes in).

If you have a favorite brand, check out their website! With e-commerce taking off over the past few years, many brands are cutting out the middle man and selling things directly off their website. This is really good because it means that the brand controls how much things are, so it’s worth checking out. As I mentioned in my last post, I buy all my NUDE skincare products from their website because its about 50% cheaper.

Don’t forget ebay! A lot of companies are starting little shops on EBay because it’s more cost efficient to sell things there. So I highly recommend jumping on ebay if you are after something. People are a bit skeptical about this because people do sell fakes. I always check out the rating of the seller and see if they have any negative comments. Also once I find a seller I stick with them. I’ve saved heaps of money buying things off ebay!

Check out overseas department stores! Some of the big department stores in the US ship to Australia, such as Saks. It’s really worth checking out because you can buy things so much cheaper then here.

If you want to buy something wait! This is a little tip for buying things in Australia. Things go on sale all the time! For example I saw this top in Sportsgirl that I wanted to buy, went back the following week and it was on-sale. If you do find something and you really love it, can’t live without it then I would recommend just buying it, but if you can hold out for a few weeks do and see if it goes on sale.

Check out a shipping website like HopShopGo! HopShopGo is a website specially designed for buying things in the US. They supply you with a US shipping address and then for a small commission and postage costs they send your shopping to you. There are a few of these around but I’ve been told HopShopGo is the best.

So I hope you like my tips and hope they help you save some money!

Nat xoxo

Shoes: Yep I’ve bought more…

And they are amazing! I thought I’d made the most out of my amazing tax return and buy some more shoes when I had some extra money. I know I could have put more into my savings, but what’s life without a little frosting!

Ok, on to the shoes! I did have some self-control and limited myself to 2 pairs of shoes. A friend recently told me about this amazing website called Solestruck, which was bad for me because there are about 50 pairs of shoes on this website that I want. So I thought limiting myself to 2 pairs was very good.  

The really hard part was narrowing down the selection down to 2, but I got there in the end.

And the 2 pairs I bought were…

Matiko’s Cavala. I really love these because they are a wedge and are both black and leopard print. I’m loving both wedges and leopard print at the moment. It really transforms these shoes from just another pair of black heels into something that pops! I’m already planning all the things I can wear these with…hummmm the possibilities!

Jeffrey Campbell’s Darian. I’m a little bit obsessed with Jeffery Campbells at the moment. There were about 5 pairs that I REALLY wanted to get so it was hard to narrow it down. I really love these shoes because they are just plain awesome! Metallic gold, silver weave front and sling backs…perfection!

These will look amazing in Spring/Summer and there are so many outfits these will work with. I have this really great medium/dark blue silk dress with white detailing that these are going to look amazing with. They will also look great with this amazing block color skirt that I have. I really can’t wait until they get here!

What I also love about both of these is that platforms. I absolutely love platforms! They add height without killing your feet and they also just look amazing. Anytime I’m wearing a pair I always get a compliment or comment on them.

What do you think of my purchases?

Nat xoxo

How much do Australian retailers really want our money??...

Talking about the economic state of the country isn’t something that I normally make a point of discussing in my blog, but something has really been plaguing on my mind.

For the past few years, I’ve noticed the press always seem to be bagging on about the negative state of the Australian Retail Sector (I guess sector is the right word). This obviously has a big link to the overall state of the economy. We’ve seen retailers try to do whatever that can to get us to buy, whether it’s discounts, sales, loyalty rewards, you name it they’ve tried it. We also saw the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd give us a delightful $900 to try to get us to spend spend spend!

There is one thing they haven’t thought of, maybe they should “correct” the price of so many items sold in Australia Retail Chains. Anyone who has left the island of Australia will know how much everything costs here. You can buy the same products/brands in the US or the UK for about half the price. Why would I pay $150 for my Nude moisturizer at Mecca Cosmetica when I can get it for $70 from the UK? It doesn’t make sense.  And with so many brands’ websites shipping internationally and websites like HopShopGo starting up the options are limitless (and lets not forget the beloved family member who travels overseas and asks “is there anything you want?”).

Whether it’s make-up, jeans or shoes, everywhere else in the world seems to be selling it cheaper; and I’m not buying the ‘quality’ isn’t as good because it is (I know I’ve bought it).

There are a lot of people who say, “we need to support the Australian economy” and “we have to support the Australian retail business”, but I say why don’t the retailers support us, the consumers? Why shouldn’t we be able to afford what they are selling? I for one would love to support the Australia retailers, and I will as soon as they pull their finger out and realize that now the Australian dollar is stronger the prices of our products really need to change.

Personally I don’t think people are going to start spending big even if they have the cash to do so; and with all the alternative options why would they. I really think if the retailers want things to change, this country needs to make some changes on product prices stat!

Oh and just to prove my point, I spent my $900 from the government on shoes…when I was on holidays in Europe. Thank you Kevin Rudd, my irregular choice shoes (which you can’t even buy here) and I thank you.

Nat xoxo