Last Tuesday ( I know late reporting right) I had the honour to be invited to check out the new range coming out for Quiksilver women. The range is under the Quicksilver brand but has a totally different direction to their other ‘surf store’ style lines. QSW collection is reasonably priced creative genius. It’s a well crafted selection of designs in quality fabrics and with atheistically pleasing prints. Not too much mention comfortable, fashionable and perfect for our Australian climate.

The shoot for QSW high summer campaign was held at Komune Hotel, which only opened its doors 3 days before the shoot. The model Courtney (from Viviens) was a fresh beautiful new face and fit the collection perfectly. We watched her slip into each look and work the camera and the garments with ease.

Unfortunately it was raining on the day of the shoot (we’ve had terrible weather for the past 2 weeks) but the photos still turned out amazing. FTV (Fashion TV) was there to capture all the behind the scenes action. It was a glamorous and easy shoot, something I’m defiantly not used to, all the shoots I’ve worked seemed so much more stressful (maybe the sparkling helped ;) ).

The best part about the collection was how wearable it was. It’s an unfortunate fact when alot of well established brands try to go against their own grain and get creative they can go overboard and mass produce unwearable art. QSW has created the perfect collection for the in fashion woman, who will probably be surprised she is wearing Quiksilver! Make sure you check it out in the following Queensland stockists (if you a local in my area)

City Beach, Le Deux (Burleigh), Country Style (Yamba), Gold Coast Surfer 

As you know I teach fashion and also I am still a studying student at university. So I'm always passionate to help budding students further their careers. This competition held by QueensPlaza Brisbane is an excellent opportunity to practice your craft in a very creative way. If I was studying fashion, makeup or styling I'd defiantly be entering this competition. Do tell me if you enter because the top 20 are up for public vote! 

Are you a fashion, hair or makeup student ahead of your time? Would you like to be? Create your most fabulous avant-garde design and you could fast forward your career with a place on the QueensPlaza stylist team for the 2010 Spring/Summer campaign. And that's not all.

The major prize includes: The opportunity to assist style the Spring Summer 2010 QueensPlaza photo shoot. 

       Have your winning avant-garde design on show at QueensPlaza for 4 weeks.

       $1,000 to spend in Escape Travel for your flights and accommodation to meet Leona        Edmiston in Sydney

Who can enter: Anyone fabulous, who happens to be studying (or has recently finished studying) fashio, hair or makeup.

How to enter: Send some pictures (max 5) of your brilliant avant-garde design by March 17, 2010. It can be for hair, fashion, or makeup. The top 20 entries will be presented for public vote to find the overall winner. 

Additonal prizes: All top 20 entrants will recieve a QueensPlaza gift bag including $100 centre gift voucher.

Visit queensplazashopping.com.au for full details.

I’m a religious moisturizer.  I’ve somehow developed a fear that if I miss a day moisturizing my  body I will turn into a rattlesnake. So you’d think my fear of developing scales would mean it is easy for me to find a good moisturizer, wrong, I can hardly ever find one suiting to my needs.

Problems with moisturizer choices

-       Too much fragrance

-       Too many chemicals

-       Too expensive

-       Too cheap

-       Too greasy

-       Too light

When I was offered the chance to try out Aveeno’s moisturizers I thought I might as well give it a go even though there was a risk I would turn into a reptile.

Luckily I sit here at my computer and type with two human hands as I am not a snake nor a lizard (they both have scales fyi). Aveeno moisturizers did the job. After hopping out of a cold shower and toweling off I popped on my Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion, rubbed it in well and headed out to enjoy my day happy as larry.

Because:

-       It is fragrance free

-       It contains natural oatmeal

-       Its reasonably priced

-       It’s a lightweight formula

-       But keeps your skin soft supple and human like for hours.

To wrap up this article (there is only so long you can blab about moisturizers) I recommend you try it out! Available at Priceline.

Last night I had the honor of being invited to the very first GC Swim event supported by Gold Coast City Council. The event was created cancellation of IMG’s Swim Fashion Week which was set to be staged on the Gold Coast as per last year.

The Gold Coast City Council put on their productive hats and set to work to fill the gap in swim trade shows on the Gold Coast. What I witnessed first hand last night was void successfully filled. GC Swim which comes under the umbrella of GcCFashion Incubator which is an initiative to support local Gold Coast designers, stylists and creative minds working within the fashion industry.

The night started with a delectable drink in the foyer which lead us through to the main parades where twelve of Gold Coast’s hottest talent in swimwear had a chance to showcase their work to media and buyers.

Today buyers and designers get down to business with showings inside the main arena where stalls have been set up.

Designers included (in no order); White Sands, Riot, Mojo, Glamorous Life, Man Eater, Larimar, Kulu, Capriosca, Qupid, Starblu, Finch, Atlantis and Lisa Blue.

Great drinks, beautiful models, innovative swimwear was the perfect recipe for a tasteful and successful evening for the Gold Coast swimwear industry.

Can’t wait for GC Swim 2011! 

Keeping posts this week short and sweet as it’s my first week back at university for the year. I only have this semester to go and then I’ve finished my Bachelor of Communications, come on!

Due to flash flooding on the Gold Coast (and tsunami warnings!) the Gold Coast has become quite bleak. So bleak it feels as if winter had arrived 2 months early. So naturally I’ve been zipping up in boots and stockings and dreaming about all the great new A/W 2010 collections hitting the stores at the moment.

Bettina Liano  winter collection has got me pulling on my winter boots and unpacking my beanies and scarves to pop on with ‘Lady Punk’ the A/W 2010 collection.

The look brings together romance and pretty punk by extracting the key elements of each of these themes to create feminine pieces.

Sophisticated tailoring meets 1940’s Silver Screen glamour with fit-and-flare Peplum jackets, skirts and dresses, corset paneling and cinched waists softened with organza trim details.

The collection also includes heavy oversized knits that will keep you cosy out in the cold. Other fabrics include cashmere, silks, denim, merino wool, tencel and velvet.

Don’t just take my word for it! The collection is in stores now!

So many hair care products on the market claim to deliver ‘in salon’` results.  More often then not we find ourselves severely disappointed from false promises. 

Now imagine a hair care label that promises to deliver in salon results without using any of the harsh chemicals.  Impossible? No, because Australian label Original & Mineral (O&M) have achieved just this.

We have so much access today to information about healthy living and the danger of chemicals. Too often we apply this advice only to what we put inside our body. It’s so important to remember the chemical ridden products we use on our hair and skin can be doing just as much damage.

The O&M product range is sulfate free and does not contain Parabens,  MIT, Proplene Glycol, Phthalates or Triclosan which are all harmful chemicals which are damaging your gorgeous locks.

I recently had the opportunity to test O&M ‘Seven Day Miracle’ treatment. I have used many low chemical, organic and natural hair products and O&M defiantly delivered the most pleasing results.

Original & Mineral have supplemented nasty chemicals with essential oils and natural botanicals.

My hair is quite unruly so I use heat styling products on my hair usually every other day. We all know how straightners and curlers can dry out your hair and create damage that is hard to reverse.

After using O&M ‘Seven Day Miracle’ for the first time my hair immediately felt healthier, happier and shiny. My normally dry locks had a softness to them I haven’t felt for a long time.  Days have gone by now since I used ‘Seven Day Miracle’ and the results have carried through to the next week. My hair is more manageable, glossier and softer, everything a girl wants her hair to be.

O&M ‘Seven Day Mircale’ is a product that will be a regular on my bathroom shelf for a long time to come. Because really who could deny themselves from healthy, shiny chemical free hair! Love your health and your hair. x

New York Fashion Week has now come to a close and London Fashion Week is shaking its tail feather. Luckily their is no down time so fashion week depression doesn’t have a chance to settle in.

Anyway I've been watching all the wrap up videos by Nylon TV on Youtube, they really have done a fantastic job of collating the best parts of the shows into short 2 minute videos. 

Some of my personal favorite collection were Anna Sui for her Bob Dylan inspired collection, Calvin Klein for sticking to their minimalistic on trend pieces and of course Marc by Marc Jacobs.

My absolute favorite show of the week was Karen Walker. Now I know I may be completely biased because she is from my end of the woods (New Zealand we are claiming your talent! Kidding ;) )

Karen Walker’s collection has been described time again as effortless chic streetwear which is exactly what she delivered at New York Fashion Week.

Style.com wrote an excellent review of the collection which I’ve posted below. Believe it or not their words are a bit better then mine. ;) Enjoy!

"By Meenal Mistry

Karen Walker approaches each season almost like a jazz musician. She introduces an idea, evolves it in a few directions, and then loops it back around to a fully formed composition. She called the Fall collection Salzburg, USA—an imaginary place where an American take on old-world European wardrobe traditions resides.

She opened with a matched look of puffy jacket, blazer, button-front shirt, and skinny cuffed pants all cut in a faded floral that looked like a descendant of the Von Trapp children's curtain couture. The looks that followed seemed to ask, "Just how would Americans dress for the Alps?" Well, if they had Walker's quirky-smart sense of chic, in oversize sheepskin collars, matched jacquard sweater-and-skirt sets, or a kicky, boyish loden suit. Or perhaps they'd turn the tables with a college sweatshirt, corduroys, and a balaclava that approximated either an old-school football helmet or a medieval hood. That last look is from Walker's brand-new casual line, called Runaway, which now encapsulates all her denim, T-shirts, and, from Fall, corduroy pants and sweatshirt pieces with wild, woolly fringe. About half the clothes on the runway were from Runaway.

 But this isn't Walker's only bit of business news. She recently opened an alternative department store in her native Auckland, New Zealand, that stocks her collection, among others, as well as beauty and housewares. She's also looking to open a second store in Asia. This being her eighth season in New York, perhaps the next stop is Manhattan."

 You can check out the rest of the collection at style.com! 

courtesy of hotbeautyhealth.com

Everyone who is on the web generally has their favorite links, their RSS feeds and bloggers have their blog rolls. How many of these links do we actually read on a daily basis? Yes we might really admire a few websites, or turn to them when your after some kind of advice, but its hard to know who actually reads what daily. Anyway so I thought I’d show my cards and let you know the blogs and websites I read daily for my fashion fix. I’m not doing this to promote anyone but simply because I respect their work and want to share with you what inspires me to love this industry everyday.

Christian Gal in the City: Something I’ve never really talked about on An Australian Wintour is my relationship with our Creator. About 1.5 years ago I met my dad Jesus who gave me everything that I had. When I started seeing life in a new light I was so excited to find this funny witty and fashionable blog. Selena writes about her journey as a friend of God’s destiny for us and her everyday trials and triumphs as a budding journalist. Love it!

Sassybella: Sassybella offers a daily deliverance of hard-hitting fashion news (if there is such a thing) This Australian based blog has been running for several years, which is evident in the construction and journalism qualities of the site.

The Zoe Report: (picture top of article) A daily newsletter sent out by Rachel Zoe, stylist to the celebrities and reality television star. As much as Rachel annoys me in her show, this newsletter is fabulous. Everyday it features a fun new fashion or beauty accessory to check out. Today’s newsletter featured a super L.A.M.B jumpsuit, reason enough to subscribe!

Girl with a Satchel: My favorite blogger and ex Girlfriend magazine beauty editor! The lovely Erica Bartle is a magazine industry insider put her knowledge to use by reviewing the latest magazines everyday! I am so blessed with the fact Erica lives in my neighborhood and has been a great personal encouragement to me with blogging!

Taste.com.au: Probably the best cooking website in existence. I recently moved out of home (about 5 months ago), I wasn’t a bad cook, I do have skill but the problem was I never knew what to cook! Stir-fry is probably the only dish I know off the top of my head. So Taste.com.au came in handy basically every night when I was looking for something delicious to cook. It links similar articles together, allows feedback and comments on recipes and has a fun colorful layout.

There is so many websites I frequent daily but this is just a small taste of my hot picks! Will update with more soon!

Image courtesy of www.sassisamblog.com

I have to admit, I’m a bit of a hypocrite writing this post. I’m not so brilliant at my own nail polish up keep. I often end up with nude nails but not from laziness more from sheer boredom with my nail polish colour selection. I have about 10 different colours on high rotation at the moment (see below my dodgy iPhone photo) but the majority of these are simply pinks and reds. How typical!

It was as if the beauty gods (make that goddesses!) were looking down on me and shot me through an email from Kit Cosmetics to let me know about their limited  edition online nail polish collection! Every week for the month of March Kit’s online store is filling up tiny nail polish jars with hot hues for the last days of summer. This week you can snap up ‘Island Hopping ‘ I think it’s the perfect shade to get me back into uni (I start back in 2 weeks eek!) The nail colour will remind me of my amazing summer by the beach (or will this be depressing? Hmm)

To add to my excitement I noticed that my favorite nail polish brand OPI were off trend setting again. They have launched a collection of mystical nail colours to coincide with the upcoming release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The dark and moody collection is perfect for a night out on the town  the colours shimmer in the night light. (picture at the top of article!)

Bloom cosmetics is a Aussie girl’s favorite with their ever extensive line of cosmetic and skin care products. Most impressively is their nail polish colour range is enormous! The lovely Bloom team will defiantly have a colour to suit your tastes. I’m loving this deep lilac entitled Alex – which is my flatmates name…I wonder what she’s going to get from me for her birthday!

After my blab about colours I love here is a quick guide to making sure your colour turns out perfect.

1. Remove any old colour
2. Apply a lovely cream to your hands but not your nails
3. Shape your nails to your preference
4. Apply a quality base coat (I use Sally Hanson)
5. Wait an episode of Sex and the City
6. Wait an episode of Sex and the City

10. Apply a top coat.

11. Wait the entire Sex and the City movie before washing your hands

These steps are just my methods! I’m not a trained technician.

Love your hands this week and love yourself! x

The 2010 Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit edition is now on sale! Confused why this should interest a fashion blog?

Well hold onto your beach bucket hats Aussie girls because our favorite and iconic swimwear label Seafolly has earned themselves a double page in the 35^th birthday edition of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. This is the first time Seafolly has been featured in swimsuit edition and we’re super excited they made it in 2010! Isarel supermodel Bar Refaeli was photographed wearing Seafolly’s ‘Cyber Bikini’ that is still available in stores. Bar is a Sports Illustrated favorite having featured in the swimsuit edition since 2007. In 2009 she was the cover girl for the swimsuit edition. Bar is probably most famous not for her acting or modeling career but for her ties with Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo Di Caprio, their relationship ended in late 2009 but reports look like they might be rekindling the flame in 2010! Leo must have had second thoughts after seeing her in the Seafolly bikini! Rush to stores girls to grab yourself a piece of Seafolly history.