One of my new year’s resolutions was to quit spray tanning. At what time in her life should a woman stop displaying the awful ‘leftover’ tan patches on her legs? Fake tan is the most wonderful thing… for the first three days… and the most embarrassing for the rest of the week.
I personally associate ‘the patches’ with orange teenage girls that I see on the streets of Sydney in abundance all year round. Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us. No tan and no girl is ‘patch resistant’ and no matter how hard to try to avoid the awful patches by applying tinted moisturisers, the shedding day will come. It might come a day or two later but it will come.
Having crossed the quarter-life barrier I know question whether it is appropriate for me to leave the patchy army…
I don’t like tanning. I hate sun spots. I love spray tans. They have an amazing ability to make you feel skinny, sexy and overall better looking. They also make you smell… That distinct smell of a freshly applied spray tan! These days even our boys are familiar with it. To be honest, it always makes me feel a little self-conscious. And I REALLY don’t want to be associated with the orange teenagers.
After having tried to scrub off the tan on the third day (and having lost three layers of skin) I came to the conclusion that maybe its time for my relationship with spray tan to end.
I felt very mature about not following the herd and being natural (and saving the cash), until I was at my friend’s place for a low key soiree a couple of days ago. There I found a group of super-tanned guys in one corner (their tan was actually real as it is mostly a product of surfing, jogging and various other summer sports) and a group of beautiful tanned girls in the other corner (this was a mix of fake tans and legit ‘baking’ with a tinge of red). And then there was poor pale little me…
A couple of people questioned my ‘moon tan’. Luckily I’d just come back from Europe where it was snowing non-stop and the excuse worked. What I didn’t tell them is that I had planned to stay this way for the near (and not so near) future.
My self-confidence levels were down while self-consciousness levels were soaring. I left the party feeling pale and ugly and with a thought that something needs to be done about this situation asap.
The next morning it occurred to me that there is no escape from this hell! I will either be pale and ugly or hot but smelly and patchy… to tan or not tan – that is the question…
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
on beauty...
so “a friend of a friend of my cousin” is opening a clinic which will specialise in laser treatment (hair removal and what not). In addition to laser, there will also be a couple of other procedures one of which is lip enhancement with dermal fillers such as Restylane.
They have commenced interviews for staff for the clinic and a brilliant idea to try out the talent, first hand so to say, came to mind.
The procedure was lip enhancement, which the friend of a friend of my cousin (aka the clinic owner), has had done previously.
Minor, non-operative procedures such as dermal fillers (and a bunch of others) have become common and almost day-to-day in the last decade. I myself may or may not have tried a couple.
Of course one of the major points for me is secrecy… I don’t see the point of getting something done and having other people question it as ‘fake’.. when it is much easier to keep that to yourself and pretend you were born with it until someone asks. At that point you have two choices: to lie or not to lie.
The scenario is simple: run into the clinic on Friday night (preferably a long weekend when everyone is out of town), 30 minutes of hell, tip-toe out of the clinic in the shadow of darkness and lock yourself in the house for the weekend until the swelling, redness or skin-shedding finally goes away. Monday morning – back to work in full glory!
Over the years the perfected scenario has become so familiar that you stop taking it seriously and it becomes something similar to a manicure where you wouldn’t think twice about it.
BUT! All of this is only possible if the person performing the procedure is good at what they do.
Alternative scenario: you try out a new staff member at your own clinic, and end up with uneven lips, excessive bruising and swelling, you cancel your meetings for that afternoon as you do not want to scare other people with your appearance. You curse the f*cker and promise yourself you will never get your lips done again. You fire the f*cker.
Needless to say, the moral of the story is to look for those clinics that have a good reputation and that you know (or have seen on others) do a good job at whatever it is you are wanting to get done. Extra couple of hundred dollars for the quality of the job done will go a long way in the aftermath of the procedure. Quality anaesthetic and genuine products be it Botox, Restylane or Juviderm as well as the skill of the person performing the procedure are vital in getting the best results possible!
So far Skinmedics in Pyrmont has been my clinic of choice (I have been there at least 3 times for different procedures and once they turned me away because they didn’t think I needed the procedure that I was wanting to get done) but my research of clinics is ongoing.
I am yet to visit the friend of a friend of my cousin’s clinic. Will report!
M x
They have commenced interviews for staff for the clinic and a brilliant idea to try out the talent, first hand so to say, came to mind.
The procedure was lip enhancement, which the friend of a friend of my cousin (aka the clinic owner), has had done previously.
Minor, non-operative procedures such as dermal fillers (and a bunch of others) have become common and almost day-to-day in the last decade. I myself may or may not have tried a couple.
Of course one of the major points for me is secrecy… I don’t see the point of getting something done and having other people question it as ‘fake’.. when it is much easier to keep that to yourself and pretend you were born with it until someone asks. At that point you have two choices: to lie or not to lie.
The scenario is simple: run into the clinic on Friday night (preferably a long weekend when everyone is out of town), 30 minutes of hell, tip-toe out of the clinic in the shadow of darkness and lock yourself in the house for the weekend until the swelling, redness or skin-shedding finally goes away. Monday morning – back to work in full glory!
Over the years the perfected scenario has become so familiar that you stop taking it seriously and it becomes something similar to a manicure where you wouldn’t think twice about it.
BUT! All of this is only possible if the person performing the procedure is good at what they do.
Alternative scenario: you try out a new staff member at your own clinic, and end up with uneven lips, excessive bruising and swelling, you cancel your meetings for that afternoon as you do not want to scare other people with your appearance. You curse the f*cker and promise yourself you will never get your lips done again. You fire the f*cker.
Needless to say, the moral of the story is to look for those clinics that have a good reputation and that you know (or have seen on others) do a good job at whatever it is you are wanting to get done. Extra couple of hundred dollars for the quality of the job done will go a long way in the aftermath of the procedure. Quality anaesthetic and genuine products be it Botox, Restylane or Juviderm as well as the skill of the person performing the procedure are vital in getting the best results possible!
So far Skinmedics in Pyrmont has been my clinic of choice (I have been there at least 3 times for different procedures and once they turned me away because they didn’t think I needed the procedure that I was wanting to get done) but my research of clinics is ongoing.
I am yet to visit the friend of a friend of my cousin’s clinic. Will report!
M x
on globalisation...
I have tried. But I just cannot come to terms with the fact that Lily Allen is the new face of Chanel bags ad campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Lily Allen, but I somehow cannot get used seeing this Brit head-to-toe in Chanel and with a tiara on her head.I am not saying that Chanel is purely a French brand and hence should only use French celebrities in their campaigns, but I do feel betrayed by the fact that my most adored and ever-unattainable brand, which oozes elegance and represents status is represented by the victim of the recent ‘magic make-over’ who is famous for her catchy songs, that go something like this:
“I lay here in this wet patch
in the middle of the bed,
im feeling pretty damn hard done by
i spent ages giving h**d.”
And yes, I get the idea, she is a self-made woman, rebellious, young, whatever… still doesn’t cut it.
A couple of days after I discovered the ‘Lily Allen for Chanel’ phenomenon… I have also discovered the ‘Kate for YSL’ ad campaign.
Kate Moss, aka ‘the love of my life’, the most stylish, my most admired is in the new Parisienne fragrance campaign.
I had mixed feelings when I saw this. On the one hand, I love Kate Moss and she can do no wrong. On the other hand, I laugh at the fact that Kate, the ultimate Brit, the ex-face of Burberry (i mean, how more Brit can you get?!) is now also the ultimate Parisienne?!
I don’t really care if the message YSL is trying to send is ‘anyone can be a Parisian’ or ‘its your style that makes you Parisian’ or whatever it might be… I say – DOWN WITH THIS FASHION GLOBALISATION!
M x
[image: Chanel web-site]
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
on New York..
recently returned from a holiday to new york..
the first trip to new york had to be nothing short of amazing! the expectations were high and the outfits outrageous.. afterall every girl and her gay friend imagines herself as a carrie..and i'm no exception. the outfits had to go through a rigorous selection process to make it into the suitcase, to ensure the high level of fabulousness was maintained at all times.
weeeell.. let me tell you! the city was everything i imagined it to be and more. my clothes were far less impressed.. a couple of "carrie" outfits didnt even make it out of the suitcase as i felt i would stand out too much in the darkness of the new york streets. literally. everyone was wearing black. head to ankles. the louboutins were the pinnacle of the otherwise all-black outfit.
new york was in autumn - granted, yet somehow i expected a little more colour on the dressing front. although, i must admit that toward the end of my trip i embraced the concept of "the new black".
the marc jacobs store... interestingly there is still only one store in the whole of new york which is pretty amazing considering the size of the company. i like it that mj keeps the 'boutique' feel to the brand. couple of doors down is what i labelled the 'cheap mj' store which was an absolute lifesaver for purchasing gifts for those friends who just should not be getting the 'big-apple' keyring as a souvenir.
one thing that i found interesting (or didnt find because i wasnt looking in the right places) is the seeming lack of the smaller labels. it is something that i also noticed about some countries in europe. whilst australia offers quite a wide range of clothing starting from the very 'public' brands such as supre right through to the small brands such as stylestalker (yet still at a reasonable price), new york seemed to be very polarised in that sense. the big brands like zara and h&m on one end and the couture on the other end with nothing in the middle for someone who is looking for a unique style but cant necessarily afford it...
xx M
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
