Spring Style Hunt

Spring is soon Sprung
The grass is soon riz
I wonder where the gorgeous beauty and fashion for Spring is!

Here's a way to find it!

Buff Cosmetics is proud to be a part of the Spring Style Hunt starting 22 September: See details below and check out www.beautybanquet.com.au to register. It will be great fun and you could win some fabulous prizes.

Join the Style Hunt and win fabulous prizes. It is easy. All you need to do is to register as a Hunter. The Style Hunt is a series of events which will last for the whole week form 22nd to 26th September. Each day there is a new event for you to join in with. The more events you participate in, the more points you will build up. There will be 7 prizes to win and a few surprises as we go.

The Hunt starts on September 22 with a scavenger hunt. We will release the first clue at 10am on Monday 22nd. Tuesday is Fashions on the Field. (Just wait till you see that one) Wednesday is full of mega-specials for you from our sponsors. Thursday is the Sponsors Hurdle Challenge, Friday 26th is the day where we announce the winners and award prizes.

Along the way you will discover and visit some stunning sites that all have something special to offer you as you develop your own personal style. Keep an eye out for the store specials as you pass through. Sign up for the Hunt and we will keep you up-to-date with what is happening. You can also visit the Beauty Banquet forum for more information.

Have fun hunting!

Flock it!

A very handy tool to add to your mineral makeup kit is the flocked sponge. A flocked sponge is washable and long lasting and made from light, latex-free foam.

You can use the sponge with wet or dry foundation and it is handy for smoothing over areas that may need a little more work than your kabuki brush can offer. It can minimise the look of pores, allows for a heavier coverage if needed and also can concentrate the coverage in certain areas whilst still giving your skin a flawless, natural look. Try applying your foundation with it or alternatively smooth it over after applying foundation with your kabuki brush. I tried this recently and am now a convert.

Ah, flock it! Give it a go!

May Madness!

Businessmums network (www.businessmums.com.au) is having a May Madness promotion. As part of this promotion Buff is offering a $10.00 voucher to everyone who books a party in May (to be held within 3 months) to be used at the party.

Drop me an email and I look forward to speaking with you!

The best thing about going without makeup for days at a time

Nope, it isn't the liberating feeling of feeling good in your own skin. It isn't the feeling of having let your skin breathe. It isn't not having to take it all off at the end of the day. Of course those things are wonderful. It's very nice to be able to leave the house and feel good with just some moisturiser and sunscreen and it's nice to just fall into bed after a quick wash.

But what I think is the best thing about not wearing makeup is how nice it is when you put it on again.

We recently moved house so having spent a few days stuck at home unpacking with only venturing out to do the preschool run, I didn't have time or need for makeup, not to mention the fact that it was still packed away in a box somewhere. But the other day I had to venture out for a meeting so got it all out and put it on.

I felt instantly glamourous.
I felt creative again
It was fun!

It made me realise how sometimes if wearing it every day, it becomes taken for granted. I didn't appreciate how nice you can look with just a smile on your face and how therapeutic it was to be comfortable without it. But the best thing was that getting it on again was so much fun as opposed to a boring chore - same colours, day in, day out - so much so that my madeup face was becoming my new regular face. No wonder going out without it was such a joyful experience - just for an exciting change!

So if you're having a makeup rut and you're a can't leave home without it type of girl, give yourself the challenge of getting out and about without makeup on, even just for a few hours if you can't do it for a whole day let alone a week. Then see how creative you can be, how glam you can feel, and how fun it really is.

Which is what it should be about, really.

Take it all off, Baby!!

With the growing popularity of mineral makeup, many may have heard the taglines of being 'so pure you can sleep in it'.

Could you?

Should you?

Well, maybe not, as it's still makeup and you most likely will not be able to avoid the raccoon eyes in the morning.

On the other hand, as it doesn't clog your pores and if you are way too tired or too drunk (or are taking something else off and are otherwise occupied) to get stuck into the whole cleansing, toning, moisture-whatever, serum-stuff, and you are not organised enough to leave some makeup wipes on your bedside table, or don't trust yourself enough to distinguish between makeup wipes and toilet wipes, then hey, go to bed, sleep in it and try not to scream when you look in the mirror in the morning.

So don't beat yourself up about it, but don't make it a habit!!

(Actually, having a little too much to drink is no excuse as I myself have impressed others through my makeup-taking-off expertise while otherwise intoxicated! But that was a long time ago. Really. And if you are lucky enough to be 'otherwise occupied', then maybe you should think about taking your makeup off anyway or you may not be the one screaming in the morning!)

You can leave your hat on

A hat has been almost permanently fixed to my head in the last week with the warm, sunny days Melbourne has been having. Not only is it to encourage my kids to keep their hats on while outdoors but it also gives a bit of a sunscreen oomph for my face after I've applied my morning moisturiser with SPF 30 and my Buff mineral foundation with it's inbuilt sunscreens. I'm quite prone to pigment spots and dark freckles if I don't take precautions so a bit of extra care in the sun now certainly saves the amount of coverage I would otherwise need from my foundation later on. Besides, although the mineral foundation feels light and will not look too heavy, who wants it packed on layer after layer in the middle of summer anyway!

So pop on some sunscreen (this should be done in Winter too!) , slap on a hat (which should be compulsory anyway!) and enjoy a light coverage of foundation to give your skin a natural glow in the summer sun.

Alert! Alert! Keep a lookout for runaway, feral eyebrows!!!

A lot of women prefer a natural look. But as with many things there is a difference between 'natural' and 'feral'!

I have the sort of eyebrows that if I turn my back on them for more than five minutes they are very likely to jump in a combie and join a commune. Seriously, they are bushy to the point where if I didn't attend to them every day they would be dreadlocked!

Well shaped eyebrows can pretty much make your whole face look sensational, even without makeup on. On the other hand, messy brows can spoil an otherwise beautifully made up face.

So wax, tweeze, thread - whatever takes your fancy. It's best to go to a professional to get them shaped to suit your face which usually gives a better result than trying to do it yourself (trust me, I know these things. Don't ask - it's embarrassing!)

Don't forget that just because your friend's brow shape looks great, it may not be the right shape for you. You may need to go back every two or so weeks but if you can't keep up the appointments you can just get them professionally shaped and then maintain them yourself. I get mine waxed every 4 or 5 weeks (to coincide with my regular leg wax) and just keep the shape by tweezing stray hairs in between appointments.

Some girls may need to trim some of the extra long hairs and/or may need to 'fill in the gaps' with a powder such as Buff Brow Dust, eyeshadow or a brow pencil. Last but not least, brow gel, clear mascara or hairspray sprayed onto a old, clean mascara brush or eyebrow brush keeps the hairs in place.

Oops! Time's up! Better go and make sure mine haven't taken off again!