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…

The Shu Uemura eyelash curler is the best! And if you feel like spoiling yourself, you should get the smaller version too to curl those side lashes.

Marloes Horst shot by Miles Aldridge for Vogue Russia June 2010.

I would expect no less from Vogue Japan. Japanese makeup artists and products are known for being beautiful, delicate and precise. The gorgeous full lashes, bleached brows, modernised rococo hair and slightly bitten lip make for a divine, serene scene.

Judith Bedard shot by Takuya Uchiyama for Vogue Nippon Beauty.

Get out NARS Laguna bronzing powder, a blush brush and go wild for a beautiful, bronzed, matte effect. A hint of brown mascara and nude lipgloss will complete this look.

Constance Jablonski shot by Daniel Jackson for Vogue China June 2010.

TOM FORD PEOPLE, TOM FORD!!

I’m so excited! Although not all of his designs are to my liking, his skills and achievements are astounding. And the fact that he was an art history nerd like myself is also pretty cool i reckon. Even if the film is lacking, you know that it’s bound to be stylistically spectacular. Check out the promo picture, Colin Firth looking debonair and Julianne Moore is simply stunning.

Time to whip out the mascara and falsies.

xx

ps. Picture from (and an endearing interview) here.

The last three days at LFW were all about good bases and focal points. Having studied art history obsessively for three years at uni I’m all about focal points. So when my fringe was short is was all about my brows, and now that my fringe is hovering over my eyes it’s all about my lips. I kind of get excited when looks are quite focused and a feature of the face is emphasised. I feel that it allows for more creativity in the choice of colours and designs. Although, if you ask me to be creative when I have ten minutes to get ready, good luck!

The following looks all have these focal points, which are actually really easy to do in ten minutes! As long as you’ve got the base right, you’re set! You really need to invest in a good foundation and to apply it thoroughly with either fingertips or a foundation brush. The most popular one I’ve seen on shoots and recommend to people is the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. It gives a good amount of coverage, has a gorgeous finish, and is perfect for the ever-popular dewy-look, although can easily be matted-down with a touch of powder. It’s not oily or drying, and is really gorgeous over a moisturised face.

Erdem had one of the simplest and prettiest looks at London Fashion Week. A flawless base, mascara and a touch of lipgloss perfectly matched the multi-coloured pansy prints, black lace and china-blue silks. Use a light pink lipgloss and check out this post for mascara hints. Don’t forget to curl those lashes!

To another focal point… lips! Here at the House of Holland and below at Paul Smith, models were given all different shades of lipstick and gloss. The purple above would be amazing with a cute dress on a balmy night. Skip lipstick and head straight to ‘Dirty Shame’ lipgloss by Nars. It’s not sticky, has enough pigment to create the above colour and has a wet-shine so would look super chic at a cocktail party by the beach or pool. The colour below would also be amazing by the pool or on the beach, although this time during the day whilst wearing a bright bikini or one-piece. I haven’t seen a baby blue although I know Shu Uemura make a medium blue in their Rouge Unlimited line which would be lots of fun to play with.

And finally, one of my favourite labels, Luella (below). Bases were perfect and eyes were played up with cream eyeshadows. I wouldn’t bother hunting around the major labels for such theatrical colours, but am going to head straight to Ben Nye. The Ben Nye ‘Cream Colors’ are amazing and are only ten to fifteen (Australian) dollars!! The creams are really well made, the pigment is strong and you can easily mix colours to get your desired shade. Once you’ve got your colour apply it with a brush for that perfect, rounded shape, and then set with a translucent powder. These ‘Cream Colors’ can be used on eyes, cheeks and lips so you could even make your own Paul Smith light blue (as above). You can find these products at most makeup schools.

Now, go and have some fun with those focal points!

xxxx

(all pics from www.style.com/fashionshows/ except House of Holland from www.independent.co.uk & Paul Smith from www.coutourture.com)

This look here at Rebecca Taylor isn’t anything new, but i really wanted to tell you about my current favourite lipcolour, which of course happens to be orange. For the past few seasons everyone has been using MAC lipstick in Morange, but the MAC Cream Colour Base in Orange Alarm is actually where it’s at. It just has this awesome staying power and because of the intensity makes your teeth look really white. Bonus! ps. How cute are those sunnies?

The next look here is at DKNY. Go on.. try some new mascara colours! YSL just brought out a mascara in “Sublime Grey”. Grey! People! Grey Mascara! (Refer to previous post about my favourite colours and the excitement will make sense..)

And very excitedly, IT-boy Alexander Wang’s collection. It was very athletic (hence the old timey Gridiron helmet – i think?), very tonal and very chic. The hair.. I looovvvee the hair, so easy to work into real life. The makeup however, didnt really do it for me. It just synced in nicely with the collection (which is totally fine and makes the show all about the clothes) as opposed to lifting the collection. My favourite thing on the face though, was the attention to detail on the brows. Very cute!

Til tomorrow! xx

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

Above, at Charlotte Ronson, fierce outfits were contrasted with really delicate looks. Baby pink was used on the lids and lips (a lipstick with gloss on top), and a peach powder on the cheeks that is then taken up to the temples. What really completes this look however are the lashes. The top row has been curled and given two coats of mascara, and the bottom are left untouched. This is a good trick to use everyday as it’s very effective in drawing people into your eyes!

The makeup at Cynthia Rowley was divine, and absolutely perfect for Spring. I find the best way to get the eyeshadow in this diffused manner is to use a fluffy, shading brush, such as MAC #239 or #272. Generally you apply shadow in a sweeping manner, though for this look, press the shadow onto the lids and move the brush in little circles. It’s best to start off by putting a teeny amount of eyeshadow onto the brush and then create the desired shape. Go over the areas (eg the contours and wings) that you wish to darken, and voila! Tres belle!

Finally, at Jason Wu, the look was very soft, simple and classic. As the focus was the lips (obviously!), the rest of the face was very subtle. It was created with a maximum of two other colours: a light bronzer (very possibly Nars ‘Laguna’) was used on the eyes, as well as to contour the nose and under cheekbones, and a very light gold (such as MAC eyeshadow in ‘Ricepaper’) was used in the inner v of the eyes to make them open up. Now, the lips… The best way to get such gorgeous lips is to use a sharp pencil and to take your time in lining them and colouring them in. Apply your lipstick and now, you’re more than ready to frolick the day away!

xx

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

These are my faves:

The Shu Uemura Luxe false lashes in Black. The layers of lashes plus the crisscross pattern give you the fullest lashline but they aren’t obvious. It’s ahhmazing.

You know, in an ideal world, we’d wake up at 7am after having gone to bed at 3am because of some magnificent, exclusive event, do yoga and spend an hour getting ready, false lashes included. But seriously, I’d much prefer the sleep-in. Furthermore; I can’t imagine all of that lash glue (albeit super-sensitive surgical glue) to be too good for those wee eyes of ours, so our next best bet is mascara.

In my kit I have eleven mascaras. Yep, ELEVEN! They all have different textures, consistencies and colours and I really couldn’t live without all of them, but right now for the sake of this post and your sanity, I’ll stick to the black ones. I must have tried and tested hundreds of mascaras (ok, maybe 50?) and these are my current faves..

For lashes at the beach, out all night, at weddings or sappy chick flicks, you need waterproof mascara. Easily the best, and the one I know most great makeup artists have in their kits is the “Maybelline Full ‘N Soft Waterproof Mascara” in Very Black. You can buy it from Coles or Woolies, therefore it’s cheap. Bonus!

For good daytime natural lashes that won’t flake and create little craters of black under your eyes, and super easy to remove, I love the Shu Uemura “FibreXtension Mascara” in Xtra Black. It also just seems to disappear (not run, panda eyes)  when you cry or remove with water. Amazing.

And finally, for a sexy rockchic, clumpy, heavy lash, there is no better than “L’Oreal Paris Original Voluminous” mascara in Blackest Black. The consistency is really quite runny, the first coat extends the lashes and grabs them together and the second really makes them heavy, so it’s so exaggerated it looks like you blink in slow motion. Crazy.

Are there any others I should be trying??

annixx