{Sally Hansen Salon Effects $10.99 AUD, Natio Lift Skin Firming Serum, Natio Eye Contour Treatment Gel, Natio Evening Primrose Moisturising Lotion, all from Chemist Warehouse. Soap & Glory Face Soap and Clarity, Clean Fresh Laundry EDP 30ml, Korres Lip Butter in Wild Rose, all from Kit Cosmetics.}

As I was packing for Melbourne, I realised that I had so little skincare product left, there was barely enough to fill my Evolu Travel Towers (I’m being a good green kiwi and reusing the packaging). When I landed, there were so many places to buy from. All the stores seem to compete with the other to offer the cheapest price.

But I decided that the Chemist Warehouse in Prahran looked like the best place to snag a bargain, and walked in to this veritable supermarket of beauty products. Since Mr. J liked his Natio products we bought last year, I decided they’d be a good fit for me as well. I already have plenty of Cetaphil cleanser, so I picked up the moisturising basics and left with a little treat for my nails- A Sally Hansen Salon Effects kit. Since Minx Nails cost $75-85 to apply, these are a budget-friendly version for those who want red carpet nails with little fuss. I’m waiting for a special occasion to slip these bad boys on my fingernails!

The last three items are from a place I could spend stacks of cash in: Kit Cosmetics. They sell only top-quality specialist products from around the world. You won’t find any run of the mill crap on their shelves. The facial wash was stolen by Mr. J, who liked it so much he refuses to share it with me. And even though I bought a Body Shop Morrocan Rose EDT not long ago, I was already growing tired of it’s scent. Actually, I’m tired of perfumes that seem to be all about the power of the scent rather than playing on subtlety.

That’s why I had to have Cleans Fresh Laundry EDP. It smells like no other perfume, it’s as if someone bottled up laundry detergent. When you apply it, people think you’re wearing your clothes straight from the line. Utterly perfect. Mr J wanted to buy the Cotton T-shirt EDP but decided against it as he always forgets to use the one he already owns.

The Korres brand is amazing, but very hard to find in NZ. I heard about it from an ElleTV makeup tutorial, which was touting the Lip Butter as a low-key, soft, feminine lip tint. You can layer on the colour or just apply thinly to soothe chapped lips. I still haven’t made a dent on my first pot of Quince I bought in March, but I wanted a darker shade for night time. It gives me pouty lips and feels smooth and buttery. Fantastic.

I’m very happy with everything I’ve bought so far, but will the Natio products stand the test of time? Will I ever find time to stick those leopard print nails on? And will people wonder why I smell so fresh? I’ll let you know as soon as I do…

{Naked Palette by Urban Decay}

The first reason for wanting this palette was rather superficial. I simply wanted one because Rumi on Fashion Toast had bought one. And buying to keep up with the Joneses is just absurd in this day and age. But when Gracie Lou was auctioning a palette for charity, how could I resist giving to a good cause?

The money I paid is going towards life saving medication for a 20-month year old boy with Atypical Hemolitic Uremic Syndrome. His name is Jethro Morrow, and he’s already had seven surgeries and the medication that could help him costs half a million dollars a year. Who wants that kind of price tag put on their child's life? Thank goodness there are plenty of friends and small businesses who are helping the family raise money.

If you would like to help, please go to Support Jethro Morrow and give a donation, bid on one of the charity auctions, or maybe buy half a dozen cupcakes for a feel-good treat.

{Soft Hands Kind Heart Hand Cream, Moroccan Rose Eau De Toilette}

A while ago I wrote about Cruelty Free Perfumes and I vowed to buy cruelty free after I had used up my two YSL fragrances. Now they’re gone, and I’ve only used a Dove Fresh Grapefruit and Lemongrass deodorant for the last two months. I think my own personal body scent is fine (one of my pet hates are women who drench themselves in perfume) but I do need to smell pretty for special occasions.

So I went to The Body Shop in my local mall and started the time-consuming task of picking a scent that suited me. First I gave all the products on offer a sniff. Then I sprayed the ones I liked onto a piece of card. The majority of the scents were too sugary sweet for my taste, but finally I sprayed my favourite on my body and checked it over the next few hours to make sure that the aroma suited me from top note to base note.

I’m glad I picked Morrocan Rose. It’s musky and spicy yet still retains it’s fresh feminine edge with the rose and orange. I was going to buy the Body Mist, which was small and cheap but Mr. J persuaded me to get the Eau De Toilette instead as it was better value for money. The perfume is very strong so I have to be careful and spray a very minimal amount when applying it to myself. It’s quite easy for the scent to overwhelm me, which is never a good thing. I want to wear the perfume, not the other way around.

And at the counter I signed the petition to Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People and picked up a travel-sized hand cream that helps finance the cause.

I might not like the Body Shop that much (since L'Oreal is their parent company), but at least they’re pretending trying to make an effort.

There are so many options to dispose of unwanted clothing, but not unwanted makeup. I had bought a whole lot of cheap war paint from warehouse sales and the like, but compared to the quality and price of Topshop cosmetics, they just aren’t up to scratch. I wanted to get rid of them, but as most of them hadn’t even been used, it felt like a terrible waste. But what to do? I decided to ask the all-knowing Google, and these are the options I was given:

• If you have the receipt, return the items back to the store you bought them from.
• Give to young girls so they can experiment with makeup.
• If it’s still wrapped up in packaging you can try to recoup your costs by selling it on TradeMe/eBay.
• Clean out lipstick tubes and use it as hair pin storage.
• Share with friends/relatives/colleagues who share the same taste in cosmetics.
• Donate anything unused to a local women’s shelter.
• Let children use the lip liner/eye liner pencils to draw pictures.
• Use old nail polish (preferably clear) to paint the inside of rings/bracelets that leave green marks on your skin.
• If you’re a creative artist, use eye makeup/lipsticks/powder as art supplies.
• Cover up scuffed shoes with matching coloured mascara.
• Give old nail polish to the man in the house to mark his tools.
• See if your local pharmacy or makeup store  have a recycling program for empty cosmetic cases.

M·A·C Cosmetics recycles used containers for all of its cosmetic products (only in U.S.A/Canada), and if you donate six containers they give you a free lipstick for your troubles. Origins have a similar system but their recycling program doesn’t operate in NZ.

If these options I’ve suggested don’t work for you the only thing left to do is throw your cosmetics in the general rubbish. They are not toxic so will not affect the environment negatively. If you want you can separate the contents from the containers and put the containers in the recycling bin. Hopefully after that you will have a neat and organised cosmetics case like the one below!

So I decided yesterday to do my stock-up of beauty products for next year, so I bought two hair masks , nail polish remover +  anti-chipping topcoat + quick dry spray, and a humidity blocker spray to stop my hair frizzing out whenever I take walks on muggy days. On the right I have a body shimmer brush, a body scrub, two eye shadows (at the moment I only have one in brown), Biore serum + eye gel pack, two lipsticks, sunscreen and four decorative lip-glosses .

It was also time for the man of the house to buy his beauty products for next year, so he bought a whole bunch of Natio stuff for him to use, me to steal, and to give as gifts for Christmas. And it only cost $50 for the entire range!

And of course the stupid thing is I really needed a day/night moisturiser, and that was the only thing I forgot to buy. Argh!!!!!

It’s not enough to condemn perfumes that use animal testing, because anyone can do that. I needed to take it a step further, and look for alternatives that my readers and I can use.

I’m splitting my finds into three sections, the first one being companies I know are cruelty free. Starting with The Cruelty Free Shop, which has three 100ml fragrances at $30 each, a little expensive for the amount but could work if you’re buying more than one item on the online store. Next is Dolphin Clinic’s solid perfume sticks, which looks like a lip balm and contains no parabens, sulphates, phthalates, or alcohol- all you need to do is find a stockist. After that is Lush, who have a great range best seen instore. If you want designer-style fragrances, you can check out Le Reve / House of Scents in Greenhithe. The four most expensive options are MAC Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown,  L’occitane and Jo Malone, but their stores are easy to find and at Jo Malone you can create your own signature scent.

Coming in second are anti-animal testing subsidiary companies whose parent companies pursue testing with no apologies, or use lawyers lingo to soothe the masses, but don’t actually admit they don’t test on animals or contract with companies that conduct animal tests on their behalf. The best example I can find is The Body Shop (parent company L'Oreal), but their fragrances are good value, and probably will be my first choice when I buy another perfume. I know it’s not very ethical of me to do so, but they do support some good causes.

Then coming in third, there's two companies I’m undecided whether they’re cruelty free or not, Avon and Estee Lauder.

It’s not hard (or expensive) to switch to animal friendly products. Here’s a Choose Cruelty Free list to look at to see if you’re on the right track.

Natio Delicate Eye Cream , Boots No 7 Gentle Renewing Exfoliator, Biore Restore Skin-Boosting Night Serum, Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Biore Rejuvenate Cooling Eye Gel Total Price: $44

I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with my eye creams, and I still haven’t found one I’m sweet on yet. This month I was just going to buy something budget to get me through (The Body Shop Vitamin E Eye cream) until I could save up for a luxury eye cream, but I did some research and ended up getting the Natio Eye Cream as it was slightly cheaper (on sale at Pharmacy Direct) and is made specifically for people with sensitive skin (like myself).

I also haven’t had a good facial scrub, all the ones I’ve bought are supermarket brands that just don’t cut the mustard. So I was waiting for my old man to arrive in Onehunga, and I decide to wander through the Postie store. I don’t like their clothes, so I took a look at their cosmetics area, and found they have a whole range of Boots products, especially the Botanics Range (for those not in the know, Boots is a budget brand in the UK). I went home, did some research, and the next week I bought the scrub feeling confident that it would work.

The two Biore products and the Norwegian hand cream were all $5 each at the Life Pharmacy Outlet in Onehunga. I was rather annoyed I found a $5 eye cream when I paid four times the amount to have one sent to me. Argh!

Redwin Sorbolene Moisturiser, Organic Care Fine Fullness Shampoo & Conditioner, Cetaphil.Total Price: $44

My previous body moisturiser was the same brand, but was 1L for $10 from the Warehouse, and I found 2L of it in Kmart for $13. I’m not fussed about fancy packaging for body moisturiser, as I apply it almost every second day and the nice stuff only lasts a month or so and usually does jack all for my skin. The only con with this product is that it can have a slight medicinal smell in the bottle (probably because it’s fragrance-free) and it takes 5mins to sink in. But it’s great value for money, my skin is always soft and smooth, and I won’t run out for at least six months plus.

Thanks to an article on Organic Haircare, I was directed towards Natures Organics, an Australian brand that is stocked in The Warehouse, which is great because it’s easier to get my hands on and I don’t have to walk into a pretentious salon to purchase it (I’d rather crawl on broken glass than do that). I picked the Fine Fullness Shampoo & Conditioner because I’m trying to inject some body into my limp, fine hair and I don’t want to be massaging mousse through constantly.

The one naughty thing about Nature’s Organics is that they use Palm Oil, but this is what they wrote:

Natures Organics share your concerns with the supply shortages of Palm oil and the impact this is having on old growth forests in Indonesia.

We are always keen to look into alternative materials but our choices are limited to what is commercially viable and readily available in the global market. At present, the only substitute ingredient to palm oil is a form of animal fat.

Natures Organics have approached the use of this ingredient extremely ethically as we are very stringent in communicating to our suppliers that we will not accept materials that compromise our cruelty free policy.  This is a fundamental requirement that any supplier must satisfy before we consider doing business with them.  We source all of our Palm oil from Malaysia, the practices for cultivating is damaging in Indonesia because they are destroying and burning old growth forests to make way for Palm plantations. We have written assurances from all of our surfactant suppliers that they do not purchase any Palm oil from the affected areas and that if they do they will lose all business they have with Natures Organics and face legal action for misrepresenting themselves.

We are in the process of reformulating all of our products with new Sugar and Corn derived surfactants but this takes time and these new ingredients have only become recently available. Unfortunately at this present time we cannot get away from the fact that all surfactants and detergents come from either Petroleum derived or Coconut and Palm derived ingredients

All the ingredients are stated on our labels as we choose to do so. This is not a mandatory requirement for these types of household products, hence, many manufacturers do not provide such information on the labels of other products.

Natures Organics can assure you that we aim to protect the environment and its creatures.

I’m impressed that they admitted their usage of Palm Oil, and straightforwardly told the public that they will try to change their ingredients.

And last but not least, I got myself the perfect cleanser- Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. It will be part of my permanent skincare regime from now on, and it makes a great makeup remover. It’s fragrance-free, doesn’t strip the oils from your face, and doesn’t unbalance the pH levels of your skin.

So that’s my beauty buys this month, all I need now is a soothing day moisturiser that works for me…

Torture for the cosmetic industry

Death for the cosmetic industry

Victim of the cosmetic industry

NOAH is a German organization devoted to the prevention of animal testing. These ads are from February ‘09 but I came across them yesterday…and they’re so gruesome and shocking it’s made me think twice about what happens to my perfume before it’s sold to me. I’m sure many of us see advertising like this in magazines or on billboards, with beautiful photography and fancy French wording, but the repulsive testing isn’t attractive at all. I think when my YSL perfume runs out I’ll be looking into an animal friendly alternative…

If you'd like to help animal welfare in New Zealand, check out SAFE’s website for ideas and take a browse through their store.

Angelina

I was very excited to read in Thread.co.nz (love the horse-based puns in the article) that BLAZE and Glassons are collaborating to bring express blow-dries and up-do’s to chain store shoppers at affordable prices.

Brooke / Marlene / Lauren

There are eight hairstyles to choose from, and they change techniques every season. It only takes 30 minutes, and the price? A whopping $35.

Charlize / Gloria / Scarlett

Perfect for shoppers who want to buy a party outfit and get their hair done for that special occasion (or at that price, any occasion) and still afford a fancy cocktail (or three) afterwards.

Cindy

Pony Xpress will open inside Glassons @ 237 Broadway, Newmarket on 20 August 2010. I’ll be ordering the ‘Cindy’!

Shoes are scuffed but don’t have any shoe polish? Just use the inside of a banana skin to polish your shoes, and allow them to dry. When dried buff clean with a dry cloth.