Yes To

We all know the feeling of too much week, not enough paycheck. I mean a girls gotta save for the important things in life... the hottest new lip shade, a new summer shoe, a Parisian holiday.

Looking for ways to save on essentials is just plain smart and so I was all 'YAY' when the latest product to hit the shelves crossed my desk.

'YES TO,' that's its name, and it comes in 5 tasty collections: YES TO Carrots, YES TO Cucumber, YES TO Tomato, YES TO Baby Carrots and YES TO Blueberries, caring for the world's varying skin types.

The range was created by two good bro buddies wanting an effective, natural skin care line that's both affordable and ethical. YES TO combines organic fruits and veges with a mineral elixir sourced from the Dead Sea.

They do not test on animals, they all have recyclable packaging, and contain at least 95% natural ingredients, free from parabens, petroleum, and other nasties and all made in San Francisco.
YES TO help make a difference in the lives of others through sustainable agriculture with a portion of all sales dedicated to the YES TO carrots seed fund.

I tried the YES TO Carrots range and I'm currently loving YES TO Carrots Daily Cream Facial Cleanser. It has an amazing creamy texture and is seriously effective, leaving my face soft and hydrated. Plus the bottle is nice and big, and affordable $19.99 for 170mls.

Also YES TO Carrots Nourishing Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF15, is light and quickly absorbed but felt a little dry. That would be the zinc oxide mineral that acts as a sunscreen so with that in mind definitely something I could get used to it at $29.99

Possibly my favourite of the bunch is YES TO Carrots Nourishing Super Rich Body Butter. It has a light soufflé-like texture, it must be those dead sea minerals that rejuvenate your skin in seconds and leave you with a satin-smooth healthy glow. Also $19.99.

It's stocked through out the USA in the iconic beauty superstore Sephora, but you can get it here at Countdown from Oct1st. Exciting!

xxMimi

Aristocrazia... Our Latest Collection

Killers commercial collection of wearable but special occasion styles inspired by the aristocratic women of Europe pre-WW2. Born from Mimi's obsession with period drama characters like TV's Upstairs Downstairs Lady Agnes Holland and Ella's true vintage style.

Women's lives, even those of great privilege were very different from what we experience now. A lady's standing was only as good as her reputation and scandal was avoided at all costs. There was a true essence of femininity, an inner strength with an outer softness. How different from salacious gossip magazines and sex tapes that shoot women to fame now, only 70 odd years later. We wanted to bring this "Lady" back to life, keeping her undeniable elegance giving her a modern disheveled edge.

Hair - Killer Art Team

Photographer - Jessica Sim

Make-up - Nicola Harvey 

Styling - Lulu Wilcox

Models - Victoria and Lily from Clyne, 

Emily and Annaliese from Nova and Sinead (unsigned)

Strong but sweet, a natural redhead with strong centre parting and imperfectly perfect waves.

Her long hair formed into a victory roll at the nape. 

Bouncy curls with a rough edge and rose gold coloured roots drifting into pretty creamy blonde. Smooth, textured and flirty. 

Shanghai Lily. Textured with wine coloured pieces creating a smoky haze thru the front adds intrigue to her dark, boxy cut. 

Smooth from the part into rolling waves and curls, Creating a river of copper, red and mahogany richness. 

A modern take on the Gibson girl look. Rich Chocolate smoothed up into lilac pieces breaking up her light ends and hair is sewn into place with embroidery thread giving a tossed up and easy elegance. 

All Hail The Brows!

Your eyebrows, always there, staring out from your face and either doing you justice or committing a crime. The brow though small, has a big job. They frame your face and in this they trick the eye into seeing symmetry, or create an imbalance that at in some cases can age you and have your features looking off.

I got all this information from Lisa at OFF wax and brow bar located in Newmarket, Takapuna and soon to be Britomart store. I gave OFF a call after a long hard look in the mirror had me thinking my wannabee Linda Evangalista eyebrows that were last shaped some time ago. Rather than plucking things up, I thought I should call the professionals.

Before my appointment I let them grow for 3 weeks and thank you fringe because it ain't easy. Lisa started by brow mapping, this is taking the markers from my facial features to create points at which my perfect brow would start, arch and end. She then looked at my new g!rowth and hooray it wasn't too late, I had new growth were my true brow should be and so a new more natural shape was possible.

We discussed how the perfect brow for any face is the true natural shape trimmed, and any stragglers gently waxed and removed to create a clean and beautiful brow.
Now as a blonde I normally lighten my natural brow just scared of a 'papa don't preach' Madonna look, but Lisa talked me into defining my new shape and going a touch darker which worked wonders. I still have a little way to go to growing back in my high arch but while I wait I'm lightly filling them in with some brow product and I'll see Lisa again in three weeks for her expert opinion to get me where I want to be.

So much has been made of the brow on the runway and in editorial. We see big and full brows which is as nuts in real life as over plucked thin and scary ones. If you feel your brows could be better I tell you nothing will change the way your face looks back at you as much as getting it right. I left OFF and returned to the salon where staff were saying 'wow they look great.' A new brow shape in 6 weeks is not so hard really. www.offwaxbar.co.nz

X Mimi