Rosemount Australian Fashion Week Day Two (Kirrily Johnston)

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), 2 – 6 May 2011, is Australia’s premier fashion industry event providing a platform for designers to showcase their wholesale collections to the world’s most influential buyers and media.
Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal on the spectacular Sydney Harbour, the five-day official schedule includes on-site and off-site collection shows, The Gallery

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week: Day Two (Nookie)

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), 2 – 6 May 2011, is Australia’s premier fashion industry event providing a platform for designers to showcase their wholesale collections to the world’s most influential buyers and media. Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal on the spectacular Sydney Harbour, the five-day official schedule includes on-site and off-site collection shows, The Gallery

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week: Day One (Zimmermann)

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), 2 – 6 May 2011, is Australia’s premier fashion industry event providing a platform for designers to showcase their wholesale collections to the world’s most influential buyers and media.
Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal on the spectacular Sydney Harbour, the five-day official schedule includes on-site and off-site collection shows, The Gallery

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week: Day One (Romance Was Born)

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), 2 – 6 May 2011, is Australia’s premier fashion industry event providing a platform for designers to showcase their wholesale collections to the world’s most influential buyers and media. Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal on the spectacular Sydney Harbour, the five-day official schedule includes on-site and off-site collection shows, The Gallery

MAC Cosmetics Reviews

www.maccosmetics.com.au
Make-up Art Cosmetics (MAC) was founded by a Canadian hairstylist, make-up artist and photographer named Frank Toskan. He developed his own professional cosmetics because he felt that the existing lines didn’t work well with the harsh lighting used in photography, stage, film and video work. Today, MAC cosmetics are one of the highest demand cosmetic line available.  
MAC

Wonder Woman for MAC

If you are a feminist or simply love female super heroes then M.A.C's latest collaboration is for you. Wonder Woman for MAC is dedicated to the beautiful, powerful and smart women of this world who don't take s**t. Launched Spring 2011 the collection contains 33 fierce and fabulous pieces based on colours and trends inspired by the much loved superhero with a legendary line up of super-sized

M.A.C Cosmetics for NYFW 2011

Do you need beauty inspiration? Are you stuck in a beauty rut? Thanks to New York Fashion Week and M.A.C Cosmetics you can now have not one but twelve fantastic new looks to choose from and they are all exclusively straight off the runway and readily available to you. How good is that! The creative team at M.A.C Cosmetics were flat chat directing makeup shows for amazing designers such as Rodarte

Think Pink!

Honeysuckle has been nominated Colour of the Year 2011 by Pantone! “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”
I couldn't agree more - all Winter and Spring I searched the racks in both Auckland and Sydney for some BRIGHT Summer fashion. Only to be met with neutrals and pastels, and an disturbingly overwhelming glut of 'dusty pink'. I LOVE pink. I have loved pink since I was at the tail end of my 'black from head to toe' period in 1993, when I broke up with a like-minded boyfriend and by way of rebellion and closure, suddenly embraced pink in all it's fuschia glory - Schiaparelli-style. Pink is hot! I will be wearing pink through Winter and hopefully will have some appropriated threads for Summer 2011/12!

I'm not much into Valentine's Day - but it is my sister's birthday! (Check out her cool Blog here), So I prefer to celebrate that occasion. Never the less, here are some of my fave pink things this Valentine's month:

Gaga on Vogue US March 2011

Wildfox 'Burning Bright' Tiger Print Tee


Macaroons


Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb Limited Edition La Vie en Rose


Pink Suede Fringe Louboutins


Haigh's Rose Cream Chocolates


MAC lustre lipstick in Lovelorn


Rayban Wayfarers


Elle MacPherson Intimates Strawberry Pink Boudoir set


My fave Isabeli Fontana in Oscar de la Renta Spring 2011 gown
(worn by Lea Michelle @ the Oscars, here)


Archipelago peony Candles, available @ Superette Store

NARS 'Tainted Love' set incl. new hot pink limited edition Multiple - Angelika

Rosewater Martinis

MAC Peacocky Collection

Tweet
ARROGANCE OR ELEGANCE? The showy display of feathers and undeniable sexual spectacle - peacocks are an interesting bird with the male being the pretty one and the woman choosing her sexual partner for his colourful appeal. Inspired by the large bird which is typically known for its bright blues and greens, M.A.C's new creative collaborations Peacocky is beautiful. Think bright colours

Mad Men

I have finally got around to beginning to watch the much lauded Mad Men - and I LOVE it! I just finished Season Two. It is set at the beginning of the 60's on Madison Avenue, the advertising hub of New York. It's the era of JFK & Jackie, television, martinis, the Rat Pack, Marilyn Monroe and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The corporate Boy's Club antics of long, gout-inducing lunches, smoking & swilling martinis and scotch in the office and lewd treatment of secretaries is interesting. And sometimes not so retro! Don is calculatingly cool and even at his worst, still exudes a hypnotic Clooney-esque charm, even while you sympathize with his long suffering, sweet trophy-wife, Betty. (Although in Season Two, she appears to be growing claws!)
I love the mise-en scene - the 60's furniture, Don's Buick, Betty-Crocker style kitchens and the dark tones, walnut paneling and low furniture at the Madison Avenue offices of Sterling Cooper. As for the fashion - well! Divine! Interestingly, the sets reminded me of the slick, sexy, masculine style of the George Falconer's beautiful 'glass house' in a ‘A Single Man', set in 1962, directed by designer Tom Ford and starring Colin Firth. Then I read on this Blog that Mad Mens Production Designer Dan Bishop has won three awards for Art Direction - and also worked on the set of ‘A Single Man’! Amazing how like attracts like!
I am adoring Betty Draper's polished, glacial Grace Kelly-as-housewife look with her headbands, full skirts and fitted sweaters, with not a flaxen hair out of place. And the ever present cigarette! (I also love the fact that January Jones has not had her teeth fixed with veneers, giving her such a more appealing look).
And of course Joan (Christina Hendricks), with her amazing hour-glass style curves pored into the most fitting dresses. Her flaming locks and fuchsia pink, fire truck red and shocking blue outfits scream are spectacular.
Channel your inner-Joan with pencil skirts, cinched in waists, a great bra, fitted sweaters, ruby-red matte lipstick and swept up back-combed do's.

Secretary Chic by LoulouBlue

A lot of MAC makeup is used for the Mad Men women, as explained here. Great to see that Joan's dramatic cat eyes are created by one of my fave MAC liners, Blacktrack. Black eyeliner, matte lips and cinched in, tailored suits will never date!

2011 MAC Viva Glam Campaign

Tweet



Lady Gaga for MAC Viva Glam 2011.
Image courtesy of Primped.com.au
Since its conception in 1994 M.A.C's Viva Glam cause has raised more than $190 million AUD for AIDS research and each year M.A.C choose some of the world's most famous or influential spokesmen and women.
Their renown line of celebrities (in the order of past to present) include RuPaul, KD Lang, Mary J Blige, Lil Kim,

Smoke gets in your Eyes

I LOVE a smoky eye! One of my FAVE models, the sultry Isabeli Fontana rocks the smoky eye well, above & below.
LOVE this Amy Winehouse inspired editorial by the brilliant Peter Lindbergh.
My friend, uber makeup artist Owen Allison recommends that "This Spring, team dramatic liquid liner with a bright raspberry red mouth and nothing else". Fabulous!

I think my earliest inspiration with with black eyes came from my Mum's old modeling pics from the 60's (Mary Quant style), Lulu, Judy Geeson & the 60's rocker & mod chicks in To Sir With Love (a fave movie - cried my eyes out at the end & the song still brings a tear to my eye!) and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. Alexander McQueen's fantastic Mac line was inspired by this spectacular look - and Liz continued with the Egyptian kohl eyes look ever after the film.
As this is a look I've rarely strayed from for the last 20 years, here are my LATEST fave smoky eye tools...

Mac Liquid Last Liner in Point Black. This is truly one of the only liners I've found that stays on like a Vivid (or as you say in Oz, a Texta!). It has a little brush that works well when laid flat against the eye-line to form a guide. I actually just go from the outer corner of my eye for one flick - and only carry on across the lid if I have time/for nights out. Only a good eye makeup remover will get rid of this baby - the same is also required for fixing up mistakes, dabbed on a cotton-bud.
Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack is great to get an all-over thicker line when doing the whole lid, a-la Amy Winehouse.
When I have no time I'll opt for my soft Mac Eye Kohl in Smolder with a smooth pearly finish & just draw across the lash and in the inner lower lid, smudge the lid with my fingers, and go! (My makeup artist friends may balk at using fingers - but it's easy!) Some eye-liners are so hard, you may as well take an HB pencil to your lid - ouchie! Soft smooshy liners enable you to do this and with a thick lashing of mascara, this is an easy quick-fix!

CoverGirl Smoky Shadowblast is a fab product for beginners - just slick it on for a nice easy smoky look that has a bit of sheen, perfect for nights out - easy breezy!
CoverGirl Lashblast Volume is one of my latest faves for a great, long, thick Bambi-like lash!

Here's a good little smoky-eye guide from Covergirl. Try not to go too overboard under the eye or you'll end up looking like Taylor Momsen! The panda look is not good.

And for a raspberry mouth - love Stainiac by The Balm and Benetint by Benefit!

Nude, dude

I'M LOVING nude at the moment. Honey beige swathes of fabric like that favourite Donna Karan dress I had in a previous post, that Jennifer Aniston wore.

I have also been banging on about these delicious Fendi heels, and have since seen an Olsen AND Jada Pinkett Mrs Will Smith wearing them. Jada wore the wood-soled version on Oprah ( -she was very impressed). Personally I prefer the lucite heel - natch! These babies must be the stylist's shoe du jour.

Also creamy nude lips with a devastatingly smokey eye - now I can rock a smoky eye but unfortunately, the nude lip does me no favours. But on some, it looks STUNNING! Miss Angelina is Queen of this look.
JLo is another who has totally perfected this look. A makeup artist in Barney's told me she is one of the few celebs he has seen sans makeup who is STILL stunning! (He wasn't a fan of Beyonce - eek!).

Also adoring Eve's look here pairing a stunning, shiney nude lip with MAC electric blue eyes.

But my latest FAVE is nude nails - and by nude I mean tan. Beige. Taupe. Latte. Putty. Creamy neutrals. I was hunting for a shade earlier this year but as things tend to crawl towards NZ at the rate of molten lava, hopefully the trend will hit our shores SOON! Check out some great shades recommended HERE at Beauty is a Religion Blog.

The beautiful Eva Mendes rocking a nude nail