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Ok, ok. So it’s not the greatest pun I’ve ever made. I worked back late last night and I have the headcold from hell; I’m allowed an off day!

Australis - Speck-tacular layered over Blackmail

Head cold or not, I just wanted to share the nifty little duo of Crystal Colour Top Coat in Speck-tacular and Blackmail nail lacquer with everyone after the fun of last week’s Australis nail post. Speck-tacular is a new addition to the Australis nail line, a holo flakie top coat that adds reflective dimension to a basic mani. I’ve layered one coat over Australis’s Blackmail, a basic black creme that applies in two coats.

The holo really spices up a basic black mani – and we all know how much I love a good basic black lacquer! – but it’s not as showy as a full glitter or metallic polish. If you want your nails to be a little fancy without going into full showgirl glitter-o-rama territory, Speck-tacular is it and a bit. I’m doing to try it over a seafoam green polish next to create a sunlit lagoon effect… in theory, anyway. It’ll be pretty regardless!

Australis - Speck-tacular, Blackmail

Crystal Colour Top Coat in Speck-tacular is AU$8.95 for 10ml. Blackmail nail colour is AU$7.95 for 10ml. Australis products can be snaffled in Big W, KMart, Target and selected pharmacies, so getcha holo on!

These items were a kind gift from Australis.Tweet

Things I am digging right now: Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colours, waterproof eyeshadow crayons that that the concept of an easy smoky eye to new and dizzying heights of laziness.

Laura Mercier - Caviar Sticks in Amethyst, Smoke

Laura Mercier - Caviar Sticks in Amethyst, Smoke

Smoke is a deep charcoal with just a little shimmer. Amethyst is a slightly pink taupe with lashings of silver shimmer. Both Caviar Sticks are creamy and easy to apply, but they dry quickly and are rock solid budge proof. It took a little trial and error to work out the best way for me to use them, but it turns out that swiped directly onto the upper lid and blended off/applied to the lower lid with a fine angled brush is the perfect working combo for me.

Laura Mercier - Caviar Sticks in Amethyst, Smoke

I’ve been wearing essentially the same eyeshadow look ever since the Smokey Eye collection hit Laura Mercier counters in early December. That’s two months of tried’n'tested five minutes or less smoky goodness, so you can rest assured that I’ve trialled the heckola out of these babies!

• Swipe Amethyst all over my eyelid, blending off any hard edges with a fingertip.
• Dab Smoke on the outside corner of my lid, smudging with a fingertip until soft, smoky, smudgy and slept-in.
• Go to town with lashings of eyeliner and mascara, groom my brows and call it a day

Voila! Five minutes or less and you’re ready to smoke up your day. No mess, no fuss.

Laura Mercier - Bare Baby

Laura Mercier - Bare Baby

Laura Mercier - Bare Baby

I’ve been complimenting this look with a Lip Glacé also from the Smoky Eyes collection, a sheer peachy pink called Bare Baby. No lipliner, no fuss, just a swipe of sheer pink onto bare lips to help balance the smoky intensity of my eye make-up.

Laura Mercier Lip Glacés are AU$39 for 4.5g, Caviar Stick Eye Colours are AU$39 for 1.64g. Laura Mercier products are available from Laura Mercier counters at selected Myer and David Jones stores, and from Adore Beauty.Tweet

I was a latecomer to nail polish. I bit my nails well into my late teenage years, and it was only when I started dabbling with lacquer that I began to give a damn about my nails. The first colour I ever claimed as a signature shade was a brilliant watermelon pinky-red cream that came in a stout glass bottle with a silver lid.

It’s that memory of first exploring the world of nail lacquer that made Australis Knickers In A Knot catch my eye (I mean, apart from the fantastic name!). It’s exactly the same as the polish I remember, complete with memories of painting my toes and admiring their lacquered perfection sparkling in the brilliant summer sunlight.

Australis - Knickers In A Knot

Knickers In A Knot is a pinky-red cream with no shimmer, glitter or pearl to distract from its clean, juicy watermelon colour. Shown above is two coats with saturated full colour coverage. I could’ve maybe cheated with one coat but, as always, my shaky hands made that an impossibility.

Australis - Knickers In A Knot

Australis lacquers are AU$7.95 for 10ml, available from Priceline, Big W, Kmart, Target and selected chemists. Grab a bottle, start lacquering and transport yourself back to the heady days of your teenage years!Tweet

So it’s no secret that I’m a bit of a fan of Original & Mineral. The idea of the brand – that irritants and nasties should be out of haircare without sacrificing on quality and care – is dear to me, particularly now that I’m getting a little older and my skin seems to be getting more and more reactive with every passing month. It doesn’t hurt that the brand is run by some really lovely folks who have patiently looked after my tresses for a year now and answered all my endless silly questions about the hows and whys of styling and haircare.

Before

Which brings me to this little lovestory. A week ago I had to style up for a costume day and to match my gutterpunk leather glam outfit, I created this towering confection of hair with the help of a tail comb, some hairspray and a lot of hairpins. It lasted all day, it looked completely insane, everyone loved it to bits. Nice!

Well, nice until that night when I had to undo all that ratting, spraying and pinning. Original & Mineral to the rescue!

Original Mineral - Original Detox shampoo and conditioner, Frizzy Logic shine serum

Original Detox shampoo & conditioner (AU$29.95/350ml) are designed to clarify hair that is a bit under the weather due to product build-up, salt and chlorine exposure, or just letting your hair go a bit feral and in need of a deep clean. The shampoo is surprisingly gentle on coloured hair, and the fresh-scented gel (cucumber and grapefruit!) lathers up easily. The conditioner is a light creme-gel with a fresh mint and tea tree scent. It’s hydrating without being heavy, but my hair is dry on the ends and needs an extra drink of water. Excellent scent, but not quite enough oomph for me.

After

Which brings us to the after shot! I towel dried my hair and worked a little Frizzy Logic shine serum (AU$31.95/50ml) across my crown, then attempted to blow dry my hair with a little bounce in the ends. My skills at blowdrying leave a lot to be desired, but the addition of Frizzy Logic calmed down a lot of the flyaways around my part and made everything much less of a big dumb mess. Frizzy Logic takes a little bit of practice to get right – lesson one: however much you think you need, halve it – but it makes my fine hair much easier to work with when I get that product sweet spot just right.

In related hair news, next week I’m going back to Robert at Atlantis Hair to start the process of lightening up to strawberry blonde. If everything goes to plan, I’ll look like a whole ‘nother person by Friday! Mucho excitement.

The Skinny:
Original & Mineral Original Detox Deep Cleansing Shampoo – AU$29.95/350ml
Original & Mineral Original Detox Deep Cleansing Conditioner – AU$29.95/350ml
Original & Mineral Original Frizzy Logic – AU$31.95/50ml

original & mineral / atlantis hairTweet

I adore Daphne Guinness. I think she’s fab. My sense of delight every time she appears in the rag press is partially because I’m crazy for her hair but mostly because she epitomizes that brand of otherworldly otherness that most fashionistas can only hope to emulate.

Daphne Guinness for MAC - Hyperion nail lacquer, Warp Speed Pro Longwear Lipcreme

She’s not eccentric. She’s just out of this world.

Daphne Guinness for MAC - Hyperion nail lacquer

Hyperion nail lacquer is a hard colour to describe. It’s not grey, not blue, not duckegg, not Tiffany. It’s a cloudy overcast morning kind of muted grey-blue; a pastel without the twee softness. Think of it as the blue-toned twin to OPI’s Skull & Glossbones.
Application of Hyperion seems to be extremely YMMV from person to person. Some people have said its hard to work with but I found it very easy to apply, and more forgiving to a lot of other pastel shades. I used two thin coats to achieve a full finish and topped it with a gloss coat for extra shine.

Daphne Guinness for MAC - Warp Speed Pro Longwear Lipcreme

Warp Speed Pro Longwear Lipcreme is the love child of a lustre pearl lipstick and a long wear lippie. Despite its otherworldly silver appearance it’s actually a sheer cool pearl glaze, enough to add some pearl sheen to bare lips or add a shimmer to a lip stain or lipliner. I’ve been wearing it with MAC Rebel lipstick, a deep midnight fuchsia. Dabbing a little Warp Speed to the middle of my lower lip adds extra dimension and shine without actually wearing a gloss and losing my lipstick staying power.

Daphne Guinness for MAC - Warp Speed Pro Longwear Lipcreme

Warp Speed Pro Longwear Lipcreme is AU$40 for 3.6g. Hyperion nail lacquer is AU$22 for 10ml. The Daphne Guinness for MAC collection is available now from MAC stores and counters at selected Myer and David Jones stores, as well as from maccosmetics.com.au. Happy lacquering!Tweet