Update

Hi Dolls,

I've been a tad pre-occupied lately. My beautiful husband returned home from 6mths deployment in Afghanistan. So of course we've had a lot of catching up to do.

For all those that were asking about the phone cover/holder. They are available from Lee Rowan's Garden World at Warners Bay (Newcastle). They were available in a range of colours, shapes and sizes. Prices started from $15.95.

I'm going to do a review shortly on Rimmel's Pro finish, It has a wide brush to make it mistake free and has a a better fomula. So let's see hopw that goes

High maintanence?

I heard a passer by the other day make a comment about my appearance. To them I was apparently high maintanence. Which got me thinking:

Is the Vintage look really high maintanence?

guess you could say that the 'Bleached Blonde, tanned babe' is our Fashion opposite, so lets compare:

Lets start of with something small, the nails. My nails are kept filed and painted in the classic 'Dita Von Teese" half moon style. The fashion opposite would be french tips, would you agree? Both styles take time to be painted, and can be just as tricky to the unskilled hand. You can choose false nails, Either gel or acrylic. So I'd say the nails for either style are fairly even as far as labour goes. But which one looks better?

Lets move onto clothing. I think Vintage wins here. Yes I agree that sometimes things are hard to find. But what a great feeling it is when you finally come across the vintage dress or coat you have been after for ages. I think we (when I saw we, I mean us Vintage fiends) pick and choose our garments with a lot more care and thought than our modern day counter parts. Selecting items carefully to what suits us rather than buying up big on the latest fashion, only to find that it doesnt suit your shape or size and are tossing it next year to buy the next latest trend. I often see women in dreadful unflattering clothing, who have only bought it because of the brand name and that 50 million others are wearing the exact same thing. I like the idea that the dress I purchased 2 summers ago is still going to be suitable, attractive and stylish in 5 or even 10 years time and regardless how old I get it will still be appropriate for my age.

Now Lets take a look at Hair and makeup. Going darker is less stress on the hair than bleaching. You dont have to dye it as often or use toning products to stop it looking brassy and as far as styling goes, placing your hair in rollers isnt really that hard compaired to strainghtening. A set of hot roller may set you back $40-70 depending on where you buy them, however a GHD can leave you with an empty purse. Make up - The basic vintage look needs only a few basic items of course you can ellaborate on this just as you could with the 'bleached babe look'

I'm no hater of the bleach blonde looks. I've wore the look for a while and I'd have to say I get far more comments (10-1) from strangers now with the vintage look than I ever did with the bleached look. I understand that this is all an individual thing and some 'looks' are suited to some women and while they may look shocking on others. But as far as high maintanence goes I'd have to say. I work less on my 'Vintage' look than I ever did on the 'bleached' look. In the end as the old saying goes "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" BUT who works harder to get it?

But what do you think? I am intersted in your comments!

The war on fashion

As Australian's commemorate there diggers today on ANZAC day I felt it only right to dedicate this one to the women of the war. As a previous member of the Australian Army & the wife of a Soldier I am far too familiar with the uniform. Now less femine that there vintage counter parts. As it once was described to me as a "ladies Army", Women wore, skirts, stockings, heels, white gloves and lipsticks. This was even as late as the 80's. However the styles for women in todays army have been lost to the unisex parade dress, DCPU cams, and the only thing different to the mess dress is women wear a skirt rather than tailored trousers.

A little history:

A.N.A.S:  (Australian Womens Army Service) performed such tasks as clerks, signallers, drivers, cooks, orderlies, typists, telephonists, mechanics and A.A. crews, these women released soldiers for active service. The A.W.A.S. was disbanded in 1946, the newly formed Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, or W.R.A.A.C., carrying on its splendid tradition.

The Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) was established in April 1951 to help overcome a manpower shortage. During the late 1970s female soldiers began to be integrated into the Army at large and in early 1985, the WRAAC was disbanded. The last Officers' Cadet School parade (6 December 1984) on the WRAAC School parade ground saw the Officer Cadets and the WRAAC Contingent marching to the strains of "Soldiers of the Queen". Prior to the formal closing of the gates the WRAAC School flag was ceremoniously lowered and slow marched "off", to be folded and handed over to the Chief Instructor of the WRAAC School for safe keeping. The gates, which had been repainted for the occasion, were then closed by Major Diane McVicker of the WRAAC School and Mrs Gwen Ellis - sister of Colonel Best.

Product Review: Loreal Excellence Creme

Product Review:

Loreal Excellence Creme
Colour: Black 1

After years of being a brunette I decided to go back to black (pardon the Amy Winehouse pun) I've used a lot of colourants and none of them I was truelly 100% happy with. I've used Loreal before, but not the Excellence Creme range. I had heard a lot of good things about it by others so I gave it a go.

What they state & What I thought:

• It covers 100% greys - I have a family history of greying young, so this was important to me, I dont have a lot of grey, but in my late 20's ive got enough to bother me and want to cover it up. Did it cover the greys, YES it did & quite easily too. I was very impressed.
• The protective serum cares for damaged parts of the hair - It came with a cute little tube of fabulous smelling serum that you apply to your lengths and ends before colouring. Did it work? well it seemed to. The ends of my hair feel like just after its been cut, all soft and smooth. Jusst like a trip to the hairdressers.
• Creme colourant is easly to apply - Yes it was. It came with 2 applicator tips, a thin nozzle and a combe tip. The nozzle was great for the roots & then appling the colourant to the lenghts with the combe applicator made it a breeze. There was absolutly no drips. I didnt cover my shirt durring colouring and I had absolutly no colour on my clothing or anywhere else in the bathroom for that matter.

Other Points:

• The smell was actually quite pleasent, it didn't over power you like some colourants do as soon as you open the bottle. Even after colouring my hair didnt have that 'just coloured' smell.
• Being Black it did stain the skin a little but came off very easily with a light shampoo. Now you can't even tell I coloured my hair this morning.
• The colour is rich and glossy. Im very impressed with the shine. There is no muddiness at all.
• The colour actually matched the packet.
• There was plenty of colourant in there to cover all my hair, which is just above my shoulders. If you have longer hair you will probably need 2 bottles just to be sure

The Score (out of 5)

Colour : 5

Ease of Use: 5
Cover Greys: 5
Smell: 4

Please note:

The opinion expressed here is purely my own. I have not been paid for this review, nor am I affiliated with the Brand. I purchased the product with my own money on my own free will. Sad.. but I had to add this.

Stockings, Pantyhose, Tights or Bare?

Arn't we spoiled for choice these days.  We have stockings that come in: lace top, stay up's, fish nets, back seams, cuban heel, plain nylons and not to mention all the colours. Then there are the pantyhose range that comes in all thicknesses, shapes, lengths, some for medical reasons, varicous veins. There are pantyhose in patterns, all types of colours, some for flatter tummies or sexier legs and not to mention all the tights that are available.

So with all this choice what is the right one to wear?

There are a few basic rules that I follow.

1. Never wear hosiery with sandals or open toe shoes. YUK! this reminds me of some fashion deprived old school teacher. Just don't do it. The exception: If you have a very shear hosiery you may get away with a peep toe heel, However try a back seamed nylon to take the focus away from the toe.
2. Never wear high waisted panty hose with low waist cut garment. again YUK! Can you imagine that, walking around with your hoisery sticking out the top of your pants or skirt.
3. If you are going for sex appeal stick with stockings not pantyhose. No potential lover or partner wants to see your knickers all bunched up underneath. It just isn't sexy. Plus its something about the stockings and garter belts that drive men crazy. Just remember to pair it off with a pair of sexy heels.

4. Don't wear shoes lighter than the colour of your nylons. What a tradgic look, dark nylons with beige shoes, it just doesn't work.
5. Too many patterns is a No No. If your garments have a lot of patterns in them wear a plain pair of hoisery or a patterned nylon with a plain garment. But if you are going to wear patterned nylon's keep your shoes plain too.
6. Fishnets to work, This is just a don't!. It looks trashy, not sexy in the office. You may get away with a very tight fishnet.
7. Finally consider pantyhose to stockings at the office. You don't what to be pulling at, or re-attaching your stockings durring an important meeting with the boss.

Where to get them:

• Secrets in Lace 
• What Katie did
• Bra's N Things
• stockingsonline.com.au
• Razzamatazz or Razzamatazz home
• Voodoo
• Pacific Brands
• Dreamgirl Au
• Fantasy Lingerie
• Instyle Lingerie
• Lingerie Australia

1940's makeup

The 1940's makeup was based on 'Natural Beauties', with a little help of course! It was a soft feminine look and really the easiest to re-create.

The base was made up of a foundation 1 shade darker than the natural skin tone, then a powder applied over the top 1 shade lighter than the skin tone.

Rouge was applied in reds, fushia's and pinks all with pinky undertones. Apply to the apples of your cheeks and blend well.

The eye's were kept fairly neutral in tone, with a small amount of eyeliner applied to the top of the lids, remember to keep the line thin. The eyebrows were manicured to perfect arches, you can use a sharp pencil to define in either brown or black. Most importantly the eyelashes. Apply beautifully thick soft false lashes and then a brown or black mascara over the top for the old-Hollywood glamour look. The day time look the eyelashes were kept fairly natural.

the lips were kept full and soft, colours such as red's, crimson, mustards were popular. The top of the lip was slightly exaggerated.

Country Womens Association

First formed in 1922 the country women’s association was formed in Queensland and New South Wales. In 14 years following each state would follow suit. Although there was a group in each state it wasn’t merged as an Australian organisation until 1945 by Mrs Marfell the CWA’s first president. . The first committee considered various aspects of the national bill and its anomalies regarding the issue of women marrying foreigners.

In Adelaide 1946 the first annual conference of the CWA of Australia was held, the next being in Sydney were delegates where appointed to go to the associated country women’s of the world conference in Amsterdam.

By 1985 NSW saw is first member elected to the national office as president, Mrs Dorothy Ross, until then the states took turns in hosting a president. Presidents now are elected for a 3 year term.

Now the CWA is the largest women’s organisation in Australia with approximately 25,500 members across 1500 branches.

They are a self funded organisation, non party political and non sectarian organisation.

When they aren’t submitting legislative changes to government they are partaking in crafts, public speaking, floral arts, and music, computing and of course cooking. They help out victims of natural disasters, war and famine through a range of fund raising. On a small scale they make knitted toys which are presented to the ambulances to hand out to seriously ill children during emergency transports to hospitals. Booties and knitted clothing are given to premmie babies and much more. The CWA have an extensive cookbook collection and now they have there very own scone mix in supermarkets (keep you eye out next time your in the cooking isle) and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a CWA scone!

If you would like to find out more about the CWA or join contact them on:

Website: www.cwaa.org.au

Email: cwaa-nat-pres@bigpond.com

How To: Half moon nails

I’m using:

• ·         Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat
• ·         Revlon 760 Cherry Crush nail polish
• ·         Sally Hansen Nail art pen 01 White

Before you begin make sure you have plenty of time on your hands to do this (and if you have kids wait until they have gone to bed, as I found out)

Im going to show you 2 methods;

           Traditional way

1.       Coat your nails with a base coat and let completely dry

2.       Using the nail art pen draw on the half moons, do the outline first and then colour in

3.       Carefully paint your nails with your colour and let dry

4.       Apply top coat.

My way (I found it much easier after trying the above first)

1.       Coat your nails with a base coat and let completely dry

2.       Paint colour on as you usually do (full nail, and two coats if required) let dry completely!

3.       Draw on half moons as per above

4.       Apply top coat

Problems I came across

The traditional way is very tricky and I found myself going over the white again anyways. The nail art pen will cover the colour easily so you can draw it over the top of the colour and not see any of the dark colour coming through. Depending on what top coat you use I found that the white cracks under the top coat, but was fine if applied over the top. Make sure the paint is completely dry before applying the nail art pen or it just smudges.

I really liked the concept of the art pen. It was easy to use, good consistency and was happy with the colour. They came in a wide range of vibrant colours for all types of nail arts. They retail for around AU$12.95 and available from Priceline stores.

Carnivals and Regional Shows of times gone by

In light of the Newcastle show coming up I thought it would be nice to focus of the wonderful carnivals of times gone by. Imagine that nostalgic feeling of an old fashioned carnival. As you entered the grounds gates you are greeted with a huge colourful balloon arch and the festive feel of balloons clustered around the grounds. Filled with entertainment of carnival games, circus clowns, a brass brand, and what carnival would be with out carnival food. This all set the stage for an afternoon of family fun.

Can you imagine the entire area is alive with colour and entertainment, fixed attractions, gaming and strolling attractions.

Did you know the first Newcastle show was held on May 19^th 1902 and only paused to run during WW1 and WW2 because the grounds where used for Military reasons.

Now, how to get the perfect vintage look to wear to the show.

1. 1.       Grab a cotton collared shirt and tie at the waist, roll up the sleeves
2. 2.       A pair of Dungarees (that’s jeans to us) remember to keep them dark. Acid wash look didn’t come in until the 80’s, preferably a high waisted set and roll up the bottoms to mid calf. Belly buttons were not shown in the 50’s. If you don’t want to wear Dungarees,  a cotton high waisted pant that comes just bellow the knee
3. 3.       A cute pair of matching ballet flats
4. 4.       Make up – Keep the face simple. Follow my previous blog for make up instruction, but instead of red lips try a soft pink lip gloss.
5. 5.       Large hooped earings - Optional
6. 6.       Pile your curls on top of your head and pin, grab a scarf or bandana. Tie around your head so the bows on top and pin in place or pull your hair back into a pony tail and circle around a pretty chiffon scarf.
7. Women did not usually go about dressed casually often. The 50’s were more a formal time. Outfits such as the one above were suited to picnics and BBQ’s, Teens and Girls however had a bit more latitude and Dungarees were worn by young women, rather than the mature lady.

You can find out more about the history of the Newcastle show and its current events here

Newcastle Show Ground 1930

Vintage Makeup – Doing it on a budget

So you don’t have a lot of cash to throw around. Well neither did our Vintage Diva’s. Think about it 40’s -50’s the world was at war, there wasn’t a lot of money. They had to make do with what they had. So what do you need to re-create that Vintage Diva look? For the basics you’ll need foundation or a base, a neutral Eye shadow, Black Eyeliner, Blush and red lip stick. Of course you can elaborate on this

BASE

·         Foundation – Use what ever you’re accustomed to, Women of the days used pressed powder (hence women saying I’ll just powder my nose)so if you are after a more authentic look perhaps going for a matte finish or even use a translucent powder on top. You don’t want too much of a shine.

EYES

·         Eye shadow – you want to keep the eyes light or as neutral as possible so find one that matches your colouring. I use Revlon Colourstay makeup 12 hour eye shadow – 02 Coffee bean, it’s a compact with 4 shades in it from a pale neutral tone to a dark brown, this one has a slight shimmer but mostly a matte finish, for more of a shimmer try Revlon 14 Nude Elements – But any brand will work. The only reason I am using the Revlon one is (and since we are talking about doing it on a budget) Revlon have promo’s every so often if you spend more than, it think its about $39.00 then you get a make up case with usually an eye shadow compact, blush, mascara, lip stick, nail polish and a sample size foundation, it varies each time. Since the Foundation cost about that much you get the rest for nothing – Bargain. You can also register your email on the Revlon website and they will tell you when its “gift time”. Now where was I? Ohh yes. If you’re using a shimmery eye shadow keep it to evening events and matte for day time. Cover the eye lid right up to the brow bone in the neutral colour. Use a soft brush or a fluffy brush. I use Ecotools – eye shadow brush (sorry it doesn’t have a number)

EYELINER

·         Depending on how dramatic a look you want you can use either a Pencil, Liquid or gel liner – what ever you are comfortable with. I’ve been using (and again its because it came with a buy it get something else free deal (you just got to love free things) for a liquid liner Rimmel Glam Eyes Professional Liquid liner in Black. I’ve also used Rimmels Soft Kohl Kajal eye liner pencil – Black or Revlon’s black line, it has the smudging tool on the end. Draw a line on the top starting from mid eye and take it out to the end of the eye. Then kick it out to the side just a bit. For a more 40’s look keep the line thin with just a slight kick, 50’s thicken the liner above the eye a little but keep the kick thinner and stretch that kick out a little more, for a 60’s look thicken the liner up to marry with the top of the kick (see diagram).

MASCARA

·         False eye lashes were big with the movie stars. There is a huge variety of false lashes out there. Find ones that you feel comfortable wearing. Or if you don’t want to where false ones, opt for mascara that gives you thickness and more definition. Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express – Glam Black, Rimmel Glam Eyes 001 Black or Revlon Lash Fantasy Total Definition Blackest black – this one has a primer that goes on white and then the black mascara that goes on over the top. Coat the top lashes only

BLUSH

·         Use something with more of a slight rose’s vintage pink tone to it, but nothing to strong. I use Revlon 05 Berry Rich, Revlon 004 Barely Buff, L’Oreal Glam Rose’ Blush Duo. Take a big soft brush, tap off the excess and in a line bring it down towards the corner of your mouth and blend in any lines.

THE LIPS

·         And of what Vintage Diva is without the trademark red lips. There are a few different products that I like to use; it’s really hard to find a really good red. Now firstly I line the lips to stop bleeding, this is up to you it you want to line the lips. I use Rimmel Exaggerate Full colour lip liner definer 024 Diva red (only because it was a buy 1 get 2 free deal with Rimmel) use what ever brand you are comfortable with. For the lips I use a lipstick and a gloss. If I'm after a more casual look I use a gloss, Rimmel Volume Booster lip plumping gloss 054 Allure. This one plumps up your lips. You will need to have clean lips before using this product. It will also give you a bit of a tingle for a while, but nothing uncomfortable. You can feel it plump your lips; basically it feels like your pouting a bit. It has a brush applicator and has a bit of shimmer to it. Now I use two different reds, Revlon Colourstay 345 Red Velvet. It’s a more bluey red. I really like this colour. If I want to vamp it up a little more for evening, I apply the Rimmel gloss over the top. I also use Revlon Living Lipstick Rich Raisin Frost 741 its more of a darker red wine red, it has a smell that reminds me of my grandmothers make up. This was a free One in Revlon’s “gift time’ bag.

You really don’t need to be going out buying loads of expensive make up. With the above basic pieces you can create your look. Watch out for sales and deals. My make up bag is over flowing and the only thing I’ve paid for is Foundation and the odd Nail polish or Mascara, the rest all came with the purchase. David Jones & Priceline are great places for deals. If you were more expensive make up Estee’ Lauder and a few of the other Brands usually have a gift time as well. If you spend so much in one transaction you get there gift pack free. It’s worth a look.

Eyeliner Diagram:

For a 1940's look keep the liner simple

Bring it into the 50's with more of a kick

And glam it up with a retro 60's look

Do you have a Vintage Makeup tip or Favorite products? Share it with us - Write a comment!

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