Sigrid Agren by Aitken Jolly for Dansk A/W 2011

For me, this is perfect skin. Fresh, slightly dewy, not packed with makeup and none of this photoshop business - just real, pores and all. I’m the biggest advocate in letting your skin breathe, and you know what, it’s not going anywhere so it’s super important to embrace it and make the most of it. I go makeup-free (foundation & concealer especially) on weekends (parties & fancy dinners excluded), the days I’m working from home, on photoshoots, at family dinners & get-togethers with friends, at the gym, supermarket, window shopping and… I think you get my gist. Basically, anytime when I’m not at an event or in the office. Above is my default (skin) look – here are the two steps to getting glowing skin…

Step 1: Exfoliate.

I’ve just tried Grown’s Facial Exfoliant with Peppermint, Jojoba Micro Bead and Juniper Berry and I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up. I find lots of exfoliants dry out my skin (très annoying) but this one was gentle and surprisingly soothing. Also, with no petrochemicals, animal derivatives, silicones, parabens etc etc, how can you go wrong?!

Step 2: Apply oils.

For a divine glow and hyper moisturisation, massage a facial oil onto clean skin. For normal to dry skin, try Clarins’ Orchidèe Bleue Face Treatment Oil, for very dry skin try Ren’s Rose O12 Moisture Defence Serum, and for those with combination or oily skin, use a toner post-cleansing (such as this one) and Jurlique’s amazing Herbal Recovery Gel. Make sure to warm up the oils in the palms of your hand and press lightly into skin, and if you’re planning on heading outside, don’t forget that sunscreen (applied under the oil).

Now take off that foundation and get even more gorgeous!

xx

I was a very lucky girl on Thursday, I was one of the first to get my hands on Jurlique’s latest collection, the Purely White Skin Brightening range. I’ve been testing a bunch of brightening products recently, including a mask and a moisturiser with sunscreen, but none have been compatible with my skintype (which is completely ridiculous, I have ‘Normal’ skin). So you can imagine my excitement when I learnt that Jurlique’s Brightening range, made from ingredients from their farm in Adeleaide, and comprising of a Mist, Cleanser, Day Cream, Night Treatment and an Essence (like a serum), is suitable for all skintypes, including sensitive.

Now don’t get brightening confused with whitening. Brightening products aim to reduce the appearance of discolouration of the skin and dark spots caused by sun damage, pollution and aging, whereas whitening products, well, have a guess what they do. If you know me, or have been reading Liner Notes for some time, you’ll know that I take skincare very seriously. I don’t waste time on products that don’t work and ideally, the more natural the product the better.

The ingredients in the Skin Brightening range are exceptional. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Jurlique’s Vice President of Product Development, Isabella Richards, and really get to know the science behind the products. She came up with a complex known as VitaBrightKX. It contains Kakadu Plum Extract, a source of Vitamin C that contains 50 times the concentration found in oranges, as well as folate and antioxidants. The complex also contains Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Licorice Root which soothes skin, Black Elder which brightens skin and lighten freckles, and Willow Bark, a natural source of Salicylic Acid which promotes cell renewal. All of these ingredients together not only brighten skin, but increase skin radiance as well as protecting against harmful environmental aggressors by providing an antioxidant barrier.

So far, the Cleanser and Night Treatment are my two favourites. The Cleanser thoroughly removes all of the grit from my face whilst slightly polishing it with a mineral exfoliant, and the Night Treatment is a luxe overnight cream that has been leaving my skin soft and smooth. The products are available in February next year, so if you need a little brightening make sure to head to Jurlique! I will keep testing and let you know how I fare.

xxo

Brunch at The Public Dining Room, Balmoral

Launch images from www.beautydirectory.com.au

xxo

Mecca Maxima is a chic, sophisticated store that offers the biggest lineup of prestige, niche, emerging and well-loved beauty brands in one sleek space. There are over 3,000 products (THREE THOUSAND BEAUTY PRODUCTS PEOPLE!!) and one hundred brands including all of my favourites from Mecca Cosmetica (hello By Terry, Nars and Murad), along with the selection from Kit Cosmetics (such as Origins, Kit and Mario Badescu), and beauty classics including Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique and Clarins. It’s your one-stop beauty-shop!

Not only are the brands unsurpassable, the layout of the store is genius! It’s super interactive and everything is easily accessible. There are dedicated ‘play areas’ where you’re encouraged to pick up products and try them on, there’s clear signage where you can see what the top picks are, and there is obvious pricing so there are no awkward moments.

Maxima has also gone a little hi-tech on us. With touch screens where you can enter in your concerns and they will pinpoint your needs, there are computers where you can scan your items and it’ll bring up everything you need to know about the product, and finally, there is a twitter section with particular magazine’s and people’s favourites.

The shop is divided up into sections, such as the fragrance one as above. That’s right, Acqua di Parma alongside Prada alongside Serge Lutens. I can definitely get used to this!

The best idea in forever: a ball of hair bands. There is an accessories section with items starting at $1.50. There are tweezers, nail polish wipes for on-the-go, eyelash curlers, and this great Bumble & Bumble ball. It’s so clever and just what I need as I’m always either breaking or losing elastics!

My super lovely Mecca Maxima specialist Brittany. I am so stubborn when it comes to buying makeup for myself but she encouraged me to try a new lipstick which I have worn everyday since! A big big thank you!

Ooh! Also, the screen above shows you how to do chic hair-dos in no time. A very cool idea.

And finally, Nars. So much Nars! <3

The store’s well thought-out, spacious, upbeat, and because of that it’s not intimidating in the slightest. When you’re next in Melbourne, or if you’re lucky enough to live in one of the coolest cities in Australia, you must go in for a play. The address is Shop 54/55 Ground Floor, Latrobe Street Building, Melbourne Central Shopping Centre.

Have fun! I know you will!

xxo

ps. I was very spoilt at Mecca Maxima and left with lots of new goodies in hand. I’ll be sharing them with you in the coming posts so stay tuned…

I generally like to use fairly natural products on my skin as it gets a decent workout from the makeup I wear. Recently though, I’ve found my skin to be really uneven so I’ve upped the ante. By recommendation of the lovely, fun and amazing Noni Smith, I’ve been trying out the powerful Murad cleanser and have found that the Salicylic acid and other ingredients have really smoothed out my skin and kept the spots at bay. Thank you so much Noni!

After gently patting my skin dry, I lightly spray my face with a hydrating water, whatever’s laying about, rosewater, lavender, or even chamomile – it depends on my mood. I’ve been trialling the Skin Perfecting Lotion by Murad, a lightweight, oil-free moisturiser which clears pores and soothes irritation, and that it does, however I don’t think it’s anything to write home about. I then use my super special Chanel eyecream (thanks Mum for spoiling me!), softly tapping it around my eye to get circulation flowing and then finish my morning routine with sunscreen, the most important of all products!

What do you use? Have you got any favourites I must know about?

xxo

xxo

xxo

The most beautiful makeup look of the day was at threeASFOUR. The choreography of the show was inspired by Yoko Ono’s performance artwork Cut Piece and the music was from her latest record. The easiest way to achieve this makeup look is by using a glitter eyeliner pen (such as the Stila one) and creating the desired shapes on your face. Otherwise, if you didnt want the sparkle-factor, use MAC ‘Fluidline’ in Blacktrack and the back of a small brush/blunt toothpick/or anything else that is tiny and round, and get all pointillist on us!

This look here, at Calvin Klein, has got me most excited about summer! When the days are long and hot, I carry with me my Jurlique ‘Lavender Hydrating Mist’ and spray whenever it’s all getting a bit too much. Not only does it cool you down, it’s hydrating and it’s smells amazing! It’s not just to cool you down though, you can incorporate it into your morning routine after you’ve cleansed and before you moisturise. It might seem a bit unnecessary, but those few moments when all I’m thinking about is lavender are often the best parts of the day.

Alrighty, so that’s it for New York. Next week it’s London! See you there!

xx

(all pics from http://nymag.com/fashion/)