You know we’ve moved right? We’ve got the site set up now, a newsletter and Facebook page, so come over and subscribe. Like us on Facebook and you could win a cool ring 🙂
Here’s the link:
Ch-ch-changes: Very Important
PIC FROM SAMANTHA WILLS.COM
HELLO EVERYONE
Today I have some exciting news – we have moved: hook, line and sinker – to a more personal site. And please note the spelling has changed. We’re still Gorgeousosity but with an S not a C and we have fab logo etc. So that’s WWW.GORGEOUSOSITY.COM just in case you missed it 🙂
Some of you will have transferred over automatically, but some will need to resubscribe, particularly if you get our posts through Bloglovin. The good news is, It’s easy!!!!
Simply go to gorgeousosity.com (this will redirect there automatically) and click on one of the buttons. RSS is good. And be sure and sign up for the newsletter and Facebook and Pinterest while you’re there.
LIKE us on Facebook, and you’ll go in the draw to win a beautiful Samantha Wills ring like the one Eva Mendes is wearing above. It’s the one the model is wearing on her top hand below.
I NEED 1,000 LIKES SO PLEASE JOIN ME!! XX
The Beauty Times They Are-A Changing
This pic is from Treehugger.com – the site dedicated to green living
It’s interesting the changing world we live in. The internet has brought us together, and our voices are able to boom – in a collective way – louder than they ever have before. That’s why the rumblings that have been going on in the beauty world for a while are starting to gain strength.
We have such an awareness now of ingredients, and we question what we put on and in our bodies. The call, more and more, is for natural beauty booty that works.
We’re starting to say no to ingredients such as mercury, formaldehyde, lead, and a host of other potentially harmful ingredients.
In response to this, the US Energy and Commerce Committee are holding a Congressional hearing tomorrow, to discuss the need to strengthen federal cosmetic regulations.
I wonder what the outcome will be. It’s a pretty safe bet it will go in favour of being stricter on risky business and controversial ingredients (hurray!).Whatever happens, it will filter out to the rest of the world too I’m sure.
What do you think? Do you feel strongly about the ingredients you use?
Thanks for visiting us – we’ll keep you posted!
My Sister’s Keeper
I was a bit hesitant to write this post. However, I want to recommend the movie adaptation of the book, My Sister’s Keeper to those who love a deep and meaningful tale!
Jodi Picoult is an amazing writer and she often tackles tricky, controversial issues. And how!! I love them, but I’ve never read this particular book and I made a point of not seeing the movie. It centres around a young girl (Kate) who dies from Leukaemia and her sister (Anna), who is conceived as a donor to help her sister. I didn’t feel I could cope with it.
Then, by chance last night, I had a solo night at home and saw the movie was screening on television. I watched it. It was beautiful. The tears flowed; it was heart wrenching (to me anyway!), yet it was sensitively done.
At the end, Kate had died, and the family came together for their annual ritual of remembering Kate on her birthday. Anna says: “I don’t know why Kate had to die and I got to live, there’s no reason I guess. Death is just death. The point is I HAD a sister and she was fantastic. One day I’m sure I’ll see her again, and until then our relationship continues.”
Here’s a link to that scene: http://youtu.be/BsUfB-h_tq4
Beautiful huh? The irony for me was that yesterday was the 24th March. It was my sister’s birthday. Cathy died aged 16 from terminal illness. And the funny thing was my Dad used to call her Kate. So, I hope after all these years; Jodi won’t mind if I take Anna’s words for my own.
Kate: Sofia Vassilieva
Anna: Abigail Breslin
Mum: Cameron Diaz
Dad: Jason Patric
Aunt Kelly: Healther Wahlquist
Brother Jesse: Evan Ellingson
Black and White Inspiration
design-decor-staging.com
design-decor-staging.com
pinterest.com
Anyone that knows me knows that I love a good bit of black and white stripe. What do you think?
What about with that shot of chartreuse mixed with the black? I’m a bit of a pink girl myself, but that black with the chartreusey-yellow is inspired (in my humble opinion)!
Origins Plantscription Anti-Ageing Serum – Feedback
I gave a friend a bottle of Origins Plantscription Anti-Ageing Serum at Christmas time. She lives in Sydney so I don’t see her all the time. Then what-ho, I got a text from her yesterday extolling its virtues. I just had to share it with you! It’s a true review…
“OMG, have I just discovered the best serum on the market? My face is thanking me every morning! It’s from Origins. Never before did I understand why one would use a serum followed by cream. My face feels a lot fresher and, being in an air-conditioned office all day, isn’t as dry either. I’m addicted. Thank you so much from my skin :-)” – Alicia Newton, Sales Manager Cosmopolitan magazine.
Moi: Don’t you just love that? Hope it helps you. FYI serums use very small molecules of potent ingredients and absorb easily. Use them before moisturiser. They’re not meant to take the place of your daily dose of moisture but are an addendum. That said, I’ve heard some say they only feel the need of a serum and if that works for you, great.
$97.00 NZD from http://www.meccacosmetica.co.nz
Mr Thomas Edison Speaks…
EAT WELL PEOPLE
HE WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN SO MANY WAYS….(1847-1931)
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.”
Pic from Wikipedia
The Beautiful Langham Hotel’s new luxury anti-ageing facial at Chuan Spa
Brand new luxurious anti-ageing facial at Chuan Spa
Perhaps THE most beautiful spa in Auckland, Chuan Spa at the Langham Hotel (love the Langham), prides themselves on their spa treatments.The new Thalgo Silicium Super Lift facial is their latest addition and is superlative. It uses marine hyaluronic acid molecules (and don’t worry that’s intense hydration not acid), and marine silicium to restore the skin. A special Thalgo resurfacing cream and lifting massage helps fade wrinkles and life the features.This is followed by the application of a Collagen Hyaluronic mask to the forehead and eye area designed to plump and fill and a warming Cryo-Sculpting mask for the neck and chin area (designed to lift and shape).Finally, a complimentary single collagen booster – a nutritional supplement to firm the skin – and a Chuan Spa snack and fresh squeezed juice completes the appointment.“This facial has been a huge success throughout Europe and I am really excited to be able to bring this much awaited treatment to our valued clients at Chuan Spa in Auckland,” says Amanda Heger, Chuan Spa Manager.
Available from 21 March, the 75 minute facial costs $280.
Take An (Eye)Brow
image from smh.com.au
You might think of your eyebrows as non-important. They’re just there. But the truth is, a beautifully groomed pair of brows can give you an instant ‘lift’ and make an enormous difference to your face.
From a practical point of view, they’re there to prevent sweat, water et al., from falling into your eyes. From a beauty point of view, however, they can open up the eye area and add a frame to your face shape.
Great brows are a beauty trend right now, and many women go and get them threaded, waxed or plucked by a pro. There are even boutiques dedicated to the art. Studio Brow in the US is one I know of (because they follow this blog! Lovely to have you on board Studio Brow J), and Brow Bars are springing up all over the planet.
Browtician Tweezers, $18.99
QVS Angled Brush, $10.99
How to pluck your eyebrows:
- Put your face in good light – very important.
- A magnifying mirror is a very useful tool for this task.
- Remember the three keys: the start, the arch, the end.
- A slight arch is essential to a beautiful brow. To find yours – or where one should be – take a pencil or make-up brush and hold it vertically around where your pupil is. Where the pencil/brush sits on your brow, is where the highest part of your brow (and arch) should be.
- Use this same technique to define where the brow should start and end. Take the pencil/brush and hold it vertically by the widest side of the nose. Where it sits on the brow, is where it should start.
- Swing the pencil/brush to the end side of the eye and this will show you a good place for the brow to end.
- Take your tweezers and pluck the hairs you want to remove in the growth direction.
- To minimize discomfort pull the skin taut.
- You don’t have to go crazy (unless you have super bushy brows then definitely go to a pro), just tidy up along the natural line.
(Angelina pic is from howtoshapeyoureyebrows.net. Visit them for more info).
Top Tip: Remember less is more. Go easy. It’s better to under pluck than over pluck. You can’t put the hairs back!
A Word of Advice: Don’t pluck (wax or anything) in the few days before your period. You’re more sensitive to pain at this time.
Helping Hand
Worried you won’t get the shape right? If you want to DIY for whatever reason, it’s a good idea to visit a professional initially and then follow their work. Or, invest in a BROWTICIAN. This is a great little kit featuring the fab tweezers above and user-friendly shape stencils ($9.99 NZD). Gold star BROWTICIAN!
Find them at:
It’s All Good
When herbalist and naturopath, Megan Douglas, set out to create her skincare brands – ECOCERT River Veda and The Organic Skin Co. – she had a goal. To create organic skincare and internal remedies, which were authentic and delivered superb results.
Megan Douglas
It was a long journey from concept to end product and she nearly gave up! Initially wanting to manufacture in New Zealand she found she couldn’t get the certification she was after, which presented a challenge. Then, somewhat fortuitously, she met an Indian gentleman at a trade expo in Hong Kong who introduced her to supercritical (read: powerful) herbal and flower extracts. These wonderful ingredients underpin most of the products.
Most of the organic plant and flower extracts in the formulations come from Maharashtra, India (Megan actually lived in the country for three years during her 20s) and she uses cold pressed oils from Ashburton New Zealand. She works closely with the Maharashtra farms, and, a firm believer in giving back, World Organic is paying 10% over market rates in the company’s initial stages. As they grow, they’ll contribute even more to the community.
Third from left, Megan in Maharashtra
In her teens, Megan was a successful model and went on to become a well-known fashion designer in London. But after time out living in India, she returned to New Zealand, is raising two children, and has become a sixth generation herbalist. It makes for an amazing story huh?
This is one of her awesome designs on the cover of UK Marie Claire no less!
Megan is one smart cookie and her business model is based on direct selling and party plan. She chose to go this way in a bid to empower women who are tied to the home. It gives them a chance to earn some personal income and contribute to the family coffers while still being available to mind hearth and home. With her partner involved in the business and her brother and sister-in-law returning home from the UK to join the company too, World Organic is looking to expand around the globe and have already landed in Australia. The core of World Organic lies with the intention of creating healthy skin, healthy bodies and enriching relationships. Nice.
This pic is from healinghaven.co.nz
River Veda (left) is the company’s luxurious rejuvenating brand; it’s based on the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda (knowledge of life). The Organic Skincare Co. line (right) is an affordable everyday range. To learn more about the products, get your hands on some or join the team, visit http://www.worldorganic.co.nz
gorgeousocity 