Name: Karl Angela
From: Sydney
Beauty Signature: The ‘no make-up’/‘less is more’ make-up philosophy. It’s definitely simple to do, making it suitable for girls who are on the go but still want to look fresh and pretty.
Beauty Icon: Miranda Kerr. All-simple, all-natural Australian chic. She is breath of fresh air amongst models who drown themselves with too much beauty products.
All-Time Top Buy: Dior Diorshow Black Out Mascara ($51 from department stores). I have no regrets buying this product as it delivers ultimate black kohl pigment and it makes lashes instantly volumised. (more…)
I have never had so many questions emailed to me about how to fade freckles. My freckle stance is firmly pro (I’m a Pippi Longstocking fan from way back) – although in the spirit of freedom of information, you can click here if you do want to do something about them.
The other day, I interviewed the team behind Olay Definity, the new skintone-evening range. Dr Bernard Fink, an evolutionary biologist whose particular area of interest is beauty, found through one study that discolouration and dark spots can add 10 years to your look – research that inspired Olay to create a brightening range. The issue is not one of skin colour, Dr Fink was quick to make clear, but one of contrast within the skin. The study found that men and women were equally attracted to faces with minimal to zero contrast. When I mentioned that one of my most exquisite-looking friends has a face full of freckles (oh and hello, let’s not forget the likes of Julianne Moore and Lily Cole), and asked him how that fits within his findings, he explained that his study presented subjects only with images of faces with standardised features, the only differences being in skintone. (more…)
In beauty writing, it’s easy to get a bit, well, obvious with your expressions. There are only so many ways to swing a cat when talking about blush, for instance. Or is it skin a cat? I’m really bad at getting things like metaphors and analogies right. And when I get extra-lazy I can fall into what one editor used to call ‘kliché korner’ (our work would often come back to us with menacing-looking KKs scrawled in red all over it). And one beauty expression so common that it’s reached cliché-status has to be: “Smile before applying blush”. We beauty writers trot this one out until the cows come home (I just couldn’t resist). And sometimes you don’t even think about what you’re advising, you just blindly repeat something a makeup artist has said, and before you know it, women all around the country are smiling before applying blush.
Well, you can stop smiling, ladies. Seems I was wrong. (more…)
Beauty and intoxicants have an interesting history.
Yves Saint Laurent launched a fragrance called Champagne back in 1993 (it’s now been renamed Yvresse – a play on the French for drunkenness - because of the laws covering the use of the word Champagne). Fellow French beauty brand Caudalie (not available in Australia at the moment) launched a whole industry and obsession when it found that grapeseed extract, a by-product of wine production, was high in anti-ageing antioxidants. And Italian bath and body range, L’Erbario Toscano, now has a deliciously indulgent red wine collection (click here for details). (more…)
The other morning in yoga class, our teacher told us to “let our tummies hang out.” A few second later: “No, really push them out, so it looks like you’re pregnant.” We tried again but failed miserably. “Women especially are so used to holding their stomachs in that it’s hard to really relax,” he explained, and then proceeded to take us through some breathing exercises until we were all sitting there like rolly-poly happy little Buddhas.
“Isn’t it liberating when you can finally fully relax and let go of all the tension?” he asked. And boy was it ever. I don’t think I have ever let my tummy bulge out (well, when I didn’t have to). I have been in a perpetual state of self-corseting until now without even knowing it. Since that yoga class, I have revelled in my new-found potbelly-ness. I have sat around contentedly like an old great uncle about to pop open his top button after a big roast and crumble dinner. And it has felt so amazingly great. So much so that I am a little bit worried that I love the feeling so much that I won’t be able to ever suck my stomach back in again. Well then, it might just be time to buy some new floaty frocks for spring.
PS: Winners of last week’s Himself27 Father’s Day competition: Anita Dovell, Marina Cook, Nhi Thuy Thi Le, Cayley Hickmott and Amy Wolfe. Your skincare sets will be sent out today.
I met with Trilogy co-founder Catherine yesterday. She was glowing even more than her usual rosehippy self. Possibly because the natural-loving New Zealand brand has just been given a huge green-thumb up in the new book, The Green Beauty Bible. Top English writers, Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley (she of Green & Black chocolate fame and she who is very responsible for my waistline), review and rate a range of natural products. And five of Trilogy’s products are raved about, including the Botanical Body Wash ($25.95, available from Myer and selected health food stores), which scores a very well deserved 9.1/10.
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… and it was quite the beauty revelation. Now for some of you, you’re probably thinking: “Well, of course you used a lip brush. You’re a beauty editor. That’s what you always say to do.” But others of you will know that 1) I rarely take my own advice and 2) I can be a lazy old beauty cow. I’m not sure what inspired me to dig out the lip brush in the first place, and skip my usual finger-smudging lip-gloss technique. But I’m so glad I did, because I remembered that brushing on lip gloss (or lipstick, for that matter) is soooo worth the effort. Because: (more…)
This week is not the happiest week chez Kat. I am on the verge of the flu. I have spots. And I have to pay my BAS, my accountant’s invoice, two phone bills, water rates and strata fees. Joy.
So there I was last night, under a very dark cloud under my doona on my couch, eating my weight in the Lindt dark chocolate in the mint flavour (warning: don’t go there, you’ll never stop), and getting depressed by the car crash that was Australian Idol. (Why oh why do people not know that they sing like a dying cat? It’s beyond). (more…)
I went a little nuts in the beauty section of Target the other day. It’s not often that I actually get to go beauty shopping. When you write about beauty, you mostly sit on your butt while the products magically turn up your desk (thanks, beauty fairy). And while I’m hardly complaining, it’s nice to get back into reality and remember the fun of shopping, not to mention burn a few kilojoules for once. It’s also easy to justify as an exercise in market research. For instance, I often wander into a Priceline to watch what’s flying off the shelves and what’s left behind. (Sorry to anyone who thought I was some crazy stalker girl). (more…)
Beauty Icon: Miranda Kerr. All-simple, all-natural Australian chic. She is breath of fresh air amongst models who drown themselves with too much beauty products.
