It is that time of year again. The weather is still miserable, the wind still bites, but I’ll be darned if I’ll give in to it. I’m already yearning for the sun on my (sunscreen protected) skin and a scotch in hand, while the days get longer and the parties start to arrive. This is the same time of year I get restless with my wardrobe and start to listen to that little internal voice of inspiration that tells me what I want to be wearing in the coming months.  This time I’ve come over far more casual than I usually do and that can only be a good thing as I need a little more ‘relax’ in my current wardrobe.

Of course, because I always seem to be so far ahead of the curve, it isn’t likely you’ll see looks like this in store for a while yet, but when you do, you’ll know where it came from!

This time, for something different, I’m giving you more of a window to my world and adding the music I’m listening to as well! Just click to listen, and as usual, just click each image to see the details of the what and where’s of each outfit.

These Boots Were Made For Dancing

This isn’t your usual nightclub attire, but then it isn’t for your usual nightclub girl. It is for springtime evenings, house parties, kicking up your heels with friends, closing your eyes and jamming in your mind.

I’m currently dancing to Ezra Lee - Mean What I Say – Ezra Lee From his album “Can’t Stop a Freight Train” available on Prestone Records. I highly recommend you check out Ezra’s Myspace and get yourself a copy of this album!!

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Cocktails at the Saloon Bar

Tell me any eligible eye candy could miss you in this number! Loads of swank, licks of sexy and lots of lucky! Stretch those pins and start smouldering.

Propping up the bar in style to Reconsider Baby – Lowell Fulson.

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Fancy a Drink Cowboy?

I never thought a cowboy hat and I would ever see eye to eye, but after my photo shoot with Helen McLean I may just be having a little secret love affair. This is how you do Country style with an eye for City Chic. There’s nothing dusty about this!

Tipping my hat to That’s Alright Mama

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Country Princess

The perfect Day to Night party transition outfit. Just change up the top, swap your flower for a bejewelled bow, crimson lips and you’re good to go. You’ll already know that denim is huge for this season, and while double denim remains on the no go list for me, this is about the only way I’ll work anything close to it into my look. With a beautiful satin and denim bra top with vintage style.  Yes, it could be a little racy, but paired with a sequined cardigan its all lady out the outside but the business underneath!

Kicking back to Jackson – by Johnny Cash & June Carter a personal favourite!

You just never know where you’ll find fashion inspiration that captures you’re mood of the moment, but one thing is for sure; whatever you wear make sure it captures YOUR mood, not just the prevailing trends.  This is where you’ll find the best answers to your wardrobe dilemmas!

Last weekend saw me kicking up my heels again in Brisbane for Greazefest 2010. A Kustom Kulture festival full of cars, music and really really hot women. What’s not to love!

I was up there both to have a bit of time off and catch up with friends, as well as shoot for a few designers and compare the fashion parade.

Take a look see…

Greazefest plays host to a big Family Day that sees everyone come out in their finest threads for a bit of shopping, dancing and drooling over gorgeous cars.  Boutique alternative labels come from all over the country to showcase their wares, from fashion to homewear, to music and even custom made headstone pillows!

I spent a bit of time shooting the Kitty Von Purr dress (cancer fundraiser) for Bernie Dexter too. Can’t wait to show you the fun photos from that day!

I don’t know if these friends would like me to reveal who’s butts these are, but

The afternoon saw me comparing the fashion parade for all the vendors at the market place. A bit of vintage, a lot of Rockabilly, Psychobilly and some amazing vintage cowgirl wear! In fact there was one vendor who had a complete original 1940’s cowgirls ensemble like I’ve never seen!

Such a well dressed and well accessorised crowd!

Of course there was a lot of random gratuitous posing over the days there, and my favourite thing.. getting to meet so many readers! I love meeting you guys, it always makes my day!

Greazefest taught me one thing though. It may be a freezing 3 degrees when you leave Melbourne, but NEVER forget to pack the sunscreen when going to Brisbane – even in winter!!

If you’re wondering about the outfit details in these shots, the blue and white dress was a film costume from The Natalie Wood Story, found at Circa Vintage. The gingham ruffle shirt is from Route 66 and the awesome pants are my own design and make. The sunglasses are another vintage / retro find and appear to be 1980’s do 1940’s to me. Simple, chic and a nice change from my usual cats eyes.

So after all that, can you see why I’ve declared August Relaxation Month?! Make sure you check out yesterday’s post and leave me a comment as well as register to win your own super relaxing experience!

Next up… The Secrets to Glamour When You’re Sick!

* FYI, I approached OSIM about their products for Relaxation Month ’cause I loved them so much. They were kind enough to send me something special to write about and share with you.*

The schedule I’ve been keeping for the last few months has left me a bit weary. In truth, actually very weary and possibly with a hump… I’m suffering from a lack of sleep, not eating properly, running out of clean washing and I think one shoulder is almost touching my ear from mouse induced cramps.  High time to call a “Time Out” I think.

While I can’t put my life or my business on hold, I can make a concerted effort to change my ways for a while and so I’m calling in a Relaxation Month. A week to re-group, to get to bed early without guilt, to find those things that will restore the balance in my universe. And I want you to come along too.

So to kick off the week I decided to do something that had been on my list for a very long time. Find myself a personal masseuse. Oh the luxury! But reality is that the cost of getting a masseuse to rock up to my lounge room each night might just have put me into the poor house, and I’m not sure that they do 1am call outs.  Although perhaps this guy does..

It was then I had one of those “well duh!” moments, and remembered checking out the OSIM store and all their at-home massage products last time I was in Singapore.

OSIM make those massage chairs that are the rolls royce of at home relaxation indulgence. Sitting in one of those to try out in store elicits an almost indecent response from its occupants. But I’d forgotten until recently about all the other goodies they make. So wanting a champagne experience on my beer budget, I hunted out the OSIM uPapa Hug to fix my back and shoulder woes.

The uPapa Hug is built kind of like a shawl type arrangement. It goes over your neck and shoulders and is weighted to stay put and create the best contact with your body. Inside it are tiny little men with great big hammers that give your shoulders a total work out. (They may be motors or something but I prefer to think of the little men in there).  It is a simple plug it in to the wall and press the button to go, type of system. You can choose a Relaxing program or a Power program depending on what you feel like, but you don’t have to set anything complex or strap it down to a chair.

Unlike other at home massage products on the market I tried, it doesn’t rely on electronic muscle stimulation which I actually find rather exhausting in itself. It feels exactly like someone standing behind you giving your shoulders either a gentle or vigorous pummelling. As it cycles through its program you can feel the whole area warming up and your muscles melting into a softer, smoother release. Like giving a big sigh.

The other thing that sold me on the uPapa Hug, is that you can move it around all over your body. Down around your lower back, over your thighs, heck even wrap it around your butt if you’ve been doing too much stair master! I’ve been trying for a while to get my back and shoulders into shape as all this time at the keyboard is doing me in. $130 for each physiotherapy appointment (eek!), $90 an hour for a professional massage and even $45 for half an hour at one of those shopping mall massage places…. At those prices I just can’t give my back the constant attention it is so sorely needing.  So coming in at $288 RRP, the uPapa Hug was going to pay for itself it no time at all!

With all this in mind, and leaving their store mightily impresses, I contact OSIM to tell them about my plan for Relaxation Month and to see if they might be able to offer my readers something to help us all take a load off this August. They kindly offered to be a sponsor for Relaxation Month, and sent me my own uPapa as well as one to give away!  And not only that, they are offering 10% off for each and every one of your who’d like one of these for your own.

So if you’d like the chance to WIN your own uPapa Hug all you have to do is go here and register your details to be in with a chance.

And if you want one all for your very own self (or even to share with all the family) you can get your 10%off voucher here. Just register here and your voucher will be sent directly to you.

Make sure you leave me a comment letting me know you’ve registered (to help me keep track) and also with any of your favorite relaxation tips! Over the month I’ll link back to you and you favorite relaxifying treats!

If you’d like to check them out in store and give them a thorough trial for yourself, you can find a list of Australian OSIM stores here.  They have locations in Victoria, NSW and QLD or the online store has loads of options and information.

Over the rest of August I’ll be writing all about my journey for a bit of rest and relaxation in true Glamour Girl style. How I’m managing to do it or otherwise, and re-charging those batteries to keep creating. Yes, there will still be Daily Outfits and lots of other updates, but also lots of hints, tips, trick and recommendations to help you beat the mid year slump that we all too often fall into. After all, one can’t keep their groove without their mojo!

While I’ve been posting about some of my Secrets to Perfect Skin, some of you have asked me to come up with product alternatives that are more suited to a tight budget but still do a great job.  This isn’t always an easy ask as there is just so much on the market that is ‘cheap’; but effective and inexpensive don’t always go hand in hand.  So I’ve been doing a bit of research, using myself as a guinea pig and have found a few simple solutions that are both affordable and give amazing results.

First up the skin care system.  While I’ve been using Sothy’s for a number of years now, it isn’t always an affordable option depending on what else I’ve been doing with my credit card that month. (Damn you Etsy!) One of the things I knew was that finding something that had quality ingredients for a smallish price was not going to be easy. So I took my list of nasty’s and no no’s shopping with me, and spent ages pouring over packaging to make sure that I could narrow the list before subjecting my skin to any distress.

The long and short of all this is a range that gets a tick in every box.  The Trilogy range is a New Zealand based company that uses all natural ingredients and actually has an easily accessible and understandable list of ingredients available on each product. Not hidden away, but even searchable in alphabetical order on their website which impressed me.  First up I had been using their handcream which gave me near miracle results. Smelt great, went in well and had a very soothing, therapeutic effect.  So after reading what was and wasn’t in their products, I decided to give it a trial run while I was on my last trip away.  They happened to have a good special at the time on their travel minis which meant that I could get the whole range that I needed at a fraction of the cost – perfect!

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The results I got from these products was fantastic.  I’ve been suffering from regular hormonal breakouts along my jaw line which no amount of regular facials was helping. I’d been steaming, cleansing, masking all the usual, but I couldn’t seem to improve it very much.  After a week of using the full system, (cleanser, toner, moisturiser) the bumpy bits were gone.  I should also tell you that while I was testing this skin care I was getting about 4 hours of sleep a night, partying to the wee hours and working all day; so it had a heck of a lot to cope with!

From the research I’ve done on their website, it also appears that none of their products contain parabens either, which is a bonus as I know a number of readers are severely allergic to these too.  The price for each full sized bottle is around the $38 mark, but they also have regular specials. I picked up the whole system at the Myer stock take sales just this last week.  I think my favorite product has to be the spritzing facial toner as it has the most divine scent and is so refreshing. It know it is only psychological, but somehow the spritzing action makes me feel cleaner.

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The next thing I wanted to address was the whole gentle exfoliation thing I’d been asked about.  Given that every-one’s skin is different and exfoliation is usually something recommended as a weekly activity only, it is hard to give specifically general advice (see what I mean?).  However,  removing all traces of makeup with a washcloth is one way of tackling the daily exfoliation challenge.  It isn’t about a scrub, but just about making sure there is no crap left on your skin and increasing the blood flow to the surface.  And yes, you can use a standard flannel washcloth but I wanted to find something a little bit different that would only be used by me and not end up becoming part of the morning ‘wheat-bix off face removal’ system. (Anyone with kids knows what I’m talking about here).  Here is the super cool and very cute tool I found for just such a task.

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This is a Jelly Cleansing Puff. Found at a Korean beauty store, I’m sure my Asian based readers will have seen these before, but they certainly aren’t common here in Australia. But they are fantastic!  The texture is actually like squishy, wet but firm jelly, and they can be washed and squeezed out as you go.  It is an almost sponge like texture, but has enough texture to help remove any remaining makeup and if you rub gently on the skin, helps to increase the blood flow without any rough edges or scrubbing. Maybe these are just another gimmick, but they are fun to use and so far after a week of using it, I have seen an improvement to the clarity of my skin.  Have any of you used these before? Do you know anything about them?

The other thing that is huge in Asia right now, but hasn’t made it to mainstream here in Australia, is BB Cream – Blemish Balm Cream.  Basically it is a tinted moisturiser with an SPF, but has much more coverage than any other tinted moisturiser I’ve found to date.  The reason I started using this is that during winter, my skin becomes even paler and I often find that my foundation is just too dark. Even the palest porcelain colours still just don’t work.  But this BB Cream from The Face Shop is EXACTLY the right shade for my skin and gives me amazing coverage!  I use it over my regular daily moisturiser like a foundation, then set it with a clear, loose translucent powder.  It is more dewy than the mineral foundation I’m used to, but can be powdered to a matt finish.   I can’t find this exact cream on their website, but it is in store and comes in at about $52 for the tube.  I’ve been using it solidly for about the last 3 months and haven’t finished it yet.

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Of course, every time I shop at The Face Shop I pick up a few other nick nacks to try out and this time I picked up their 3/4 lashes to try.  These have fast become my new everyday favorite lashes with a good length, spread and thickness.  They also have a decent width base to apply the glue to.  They are easy to clean and remove the glue from to use over and over again, in fact I’m still on the same pair after five weeks. Which at approximately $4 a pair makes these crackingly good value!

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So there you go my friends, affordable, effective alternatives for creating a simply beautiful face!

The lovely Violet Le Beaux and Valerie of Dweam, have recently been writing a series of Sunday posts called Sneaker Sunday.  The idea is that once a week we should give our feet the treat they so badly deserve and spend at least one of the seven days in sneakers.  Given that we three are known for wearing elaborate and often sky high heels, this seems like a most sensible plan, however, unless I’m on a treadmill or climbing a mountain, I don’t wear sneakers. Generally I wear ballet flats for running around the house, but these don’t offer much in the way of support and often leave my legs aching worse than when I wear heels. I was determined to find a suitably SKM style solution, so I went on a quest.

A quick street snap of Violet Le Beaux and I on Sneaker Sunday heading out for clay pot lunch. Yum!

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Before I hit the shops wallet in hand, I decided I needed a plan of attack. I needed a rough idea of the sort of shoe that would work with my vintage-y outfits, the level of quality and support they would need to have, the sort of activities I wanted to do in them and just how much I was prepared to spend.

Firstly, what was I going to be doing in these shoes? Well I figured that I needed something I could walk in for hours on weekend shopping excursions, something I could dance in (I’m told that learning Swing Dancing in heels is not usually the thing and I’m a bit of a freak like that), and something that still looked good while doing all this.  The trick about flat shoes and me is that while they may *feel* comfortable on, they also make me feel like I’m a three foot tall lump. So to pass the psych test, they would have to be pretty special.

I knew that looking in sports stores was out of the question so I decided to look somewhere totally unattainable first. My 1940’s Sear’s footwear catalogue! Yep, totally unachievable because they don’t even make them anymore. But, what this did do was give me a strong mental image of the sort of shoes I wanted, the silhouette, the colours, the support style. It also told me that in order to find anything remotely like this in stores I needed to resort to my previous summer sandal hunting technique and target stores that catered for a much older (read retirement home) market. Here’s where I went…

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I headed to the Kumfs store at Westfield Doncaster.  Kumfs are a New Zealand brand known for their comfort shoes and quality construction. They are also known for not being particularly high trend but more classic, so perfect really.

And here are the those that have won the title of my “sneakers”. The “Bromley” from Kumfs.

These are without a doubt, the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. They have amazing support and cushioning, good width, and a nice lower cut around the ankle which is more flattering on me.  A few of you who saw the photo of Violet and I on the weekend asked for details on the soles and their suitability for dancing.  For me these are perfect. They have no grip to speak of, but also aren’t as slippery as dancing on suede soles. It also means I don’t have to change shoes when I get to a dance as I do hate carrying shoes around.  They didn’t come cheap and from memory were about $240 AUD, but I am told they are currently on sale in store so there may be bargains to be had.  The thing that totally sold me on these though was that Kumfs has a 30 day,money back comfort guarantee! Who does that? Wear them for one month and if you don’t like them, they take them back and refund your money. The shoes also have a 12 month warranty, so spending good money on shoes I know I’ll wear for years to come seems like a very good investment to me.

While I was in store I was also on the hunt for another pair of shoes that could take the place of heels on days out where I have lots of walking to do, but still look good when I’m quite dressed up. And then I found them there too!  I came across these faux skin, wedge heels that have a distinctly 1940’s ‘cockroach stomper’ feel about them.  Once again these have a comfort factor of 100 and still look fantastic with my seamed stockings.

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Even though I have been wearing these with almost alarming regularity this last month, I don’t have a single outfit photo on file to show them to you in action!  (Must remedy that this week) they are called “Krista” and were also found in store at Westfield Doncaster.  Sadly, I haven’t found either of these models online to link you to, but it might be a case of calling your local store to see if they have them if you’re on the look out.

So there you go. Now each week I can participate in Sneaker Sunday, even if I don’t have a huge variety of ’sneakers’ to showcase. Check out Violet Le Beaux and Dweam’s blog for more on Sneaker Sunday.