My highlights of style in 2015

Before 2016 rings in, I want to mention a few of my favourite style trends to emerge in 2015. Style is something that constantly evolves and changes as life transpires. Some of my inspirational stylists this year were beauty vloggers like Chloe Morello and Rachael Brook, and sydney trend setters posting instagram shots with lush layouts of fashion, accessories and beauty products.

Of course Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Elle remain constant sources of influence, largely because they dedicatedly present fashion houses collections and keep us informed in all we need to know. Travelling to Europe this year also meant I could see designer collections first hand and see the trends first in the Northern hemisphere, knowing what I could expect to hit down under later that year.

Last but not least, what my friends do with their fashion and accessory choices always inspire me, as well as women I spot in my daily life. I admittedly check out women much more than I do men. People watching gives me some of my greatest style thoughts.

Here is three trends I will be taking through to the new year.

Ear Cuffs

Not brave enough to pierce my ears beyond the school girl pearls in each ear, ear cuffs allowed me to experiment with jewellery not usually for those less adventurous types. Ear cuffs come in all different sizes and placements with different stones, metals and designs. Ornate ones create a dramatic effect and small dainty pieces dress up a simple ensemble.

Rachael Brook - Ear Cuff Amber Sceats

My ear cuff from Mimco

Chloe Morello

Reflective sunglasses

Straight off the runway, the latest trend in sunglass wear in high gloss reflective pieces that will make a statement. Aviator shape, bright colours, loud styles and bold metals, this trend isn't subtle.

Mini Cross Body Bags

Mini.

Long strap or petite handles.

Structured and super cute. May contain studs, tassels or buckles.

THE bag trend of 2015 and it's here to stay.

What trend got you excited this year?

Get Glowing - The Best Highlighters

Highlighters are the jewels in anyone's make up collection and can take your look to a new level of glamour. The highlighters I will share with you leave either a subtle glow or a sparkle that lights up a room. Whatever your desired finish, these are tried and tested favourites. 

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder

A stunning baked powder that can give a subtle glow with a light touch or a glamourous sparkle dusted generously onto the cheekbones. This powder is gold based and is super fine, melting effortlessly into the skin.

Hourglass Powders in Diffused Light and Ethereal Light 

These powders are so stunning and will give your skin a glow that appears to come from within. Hourglass powders are perfect to set your make up with if you have dry skin or don't like a flat matte look. You can also use these powder as a highlighter alone to accentuate cheekbones. Diffused light is yellow-based powder which brightens the skin instantly and ethereal light is a whiter powder perfect for under the eyes.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Heavy-duty highlighting will ensue once you buy this powder. A bright gold colour, this one is not for the faint-hearted highlighters, leaving you shimmery and shiny like a disco ball. Naturally, I love it.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal

If you are lucky enough to hunt one of these powders down (almost always sold out), it should last you a lifetime of highlighting. Similar to Mary-lou Manizer, this powder will give you a fierce shimmer and is probably best suited to those who like a bold effect. Use with a light-hand as a little will go a long way to leaving you as a glowing vision.

Too Faced Candlelight Glow Duo

A mix of a silver and pink highlighter shades, this powder duo can be used mixed together to give a gorgeous glowing cheek or isolated as a highlighter and blush. I love changing up the tones of my highlighters to cool as a change from warm gold tones. Again this is another strong highlighter and will have everyone admiring your skin from afar.

Nars in Albatross 

Another cooler toned highlighter, this pearly white powder will leave cheeks glowing with every turn. Another great powder to use in the inner corner of the eyes and on the tip of the nose.

Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle

This highlighter is so feminine and sparkly, leaving a glittery finish to your highlight. Not as finely milled as the other powders mentioned, this powder will a more flecked shimmer finish. A really pretty highlighter to use for parties or night events.

Valentine's Day Sparkly Pink Rose Scrub DIY Lush Style

Hi my lovelies, I have a recipe for you to make a delicious and super girly scrub for the bath or shower that will leave your skin smooth, nourished and sparkly! Lots of bloggers and You Tubers have been doing Lush hauls for Valentine's Day and it got me inspired to create my own spa treat for the celebratory day.

Use this scrub as part of a relaxing night in or as a prep for a date night. I found some of the ingredients at a speciality cake store but you can use what you can find or omit certain ingredients if necessary.

Valentine's Day Pink Rose Scrub

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of coconut oil/almond oil
• 1 teaspoon of natural pink food colouring
• 8 - 10 drops of rose oil 
• 4 - 6 drops of strawberry essence 
• 2 teaspoons of edible pink glitter
• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons of white rice

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the oils, food colouring and essence. Pour in the sugar, rice and glitter and stir to combine. 
2. Transfer to a clean jar to store. You can decorate as you please to give as gifts or to use just for yourself!

Note: When you use the scrub, you will get glitter on you which will come off in a day. If you don't want to be glittery, omit the glitter part. I used rice in my scrub because I like the different texture for exfoliation and I also think it looks pretty. Feel free to experiment with what you have!

Learn Make Up Secrets: My Top Five Favourite Beauty Bloggers

Lauren Curtis

She's one of the most popular beauty bloggers on You Tube, Lauren Curtis is an Aussie girl who has captured over one million subscribers who avidly watch her videos on make up techniques, looks and product reviews. Lauren was one of the first beauty vloggers I started watching and taught me how to contour using bronzer and highlighters. She's also responsible for helping me to realise what I was doing wrong (watch her Make Up Do's and Don'ts). Her bubbly personality and self-confidence have me returning to her channel every week.

Shannon Harris aka Shaaanxo

Shaaanxo is a New Zealand beauty vlogger who loyally posts videos for her one million subscribers every week. Shannon has taught me tonnes of amazing make up tricks like how to make your lips look plumper and she always has the best suggestions for affordable make up products. Her work ethic is obvious in her well edited videos, constant video updates and thorough product reviews. Having a true love for makeup means Shaaanxo creates heaps of different looks for you to try and has created her own line of false lashes entitles XO Beauty to help you get her look.

Karissa Pukas aka SatnightsAlrite

She's a Canadian girl living in Australia with her boyfriend and super cute Chihuahua Lola. Karissa does a mix of videos that goes beyond beauty including outfits of the day, hair tutorials and general chit chat. She's fun to watch and helped me figure out how to curl my hair to get big bouncy waves and not tight little ringlets! Hop over to her channel if you like some chattiness to your tutes.

Make Up by Gio

Gio (a New Zealand vlogger) is my absolute fave you tuber for flawless make up looks that have me gasping every time she posts a video. I am obsessed with her recreations of J Lo and Kardashian looks with chiseled contours and smokey eyes. Stunning make up recreations will have you losing a few hours once you jump onto her channel.

Chloe Morello

Another Aussie beauty, Chloe has posted one of my favourite videos ever on a Victoria's Secret glamourous glowing look that I think every girl should know how to recreate. She's a super talented winged eyeliner applier and knows all the tricks in enhancing your features. If you like high end make up, Chloe is a big collector and will give you the heads up on the best new products out there.

Vintage waves inspired by Veronica Lake

Learn how to do amazing, gorgeous vintage waves courtesy of Lauren Conrad's gorgeous beauty blog. All you need is clean and dry hair to start and a curling iron, preferably in the number 1 size. Follow the pictures in this post for a step-by-step guide. 

Megan Fox does this trend perfectly

Veronica Lake

Highlights from the Met Gala 2012

O M G this look is so fabulous. Karolina Kurkova wowed the crowd at this year's recent Met Gala in an amazing Rachel Zoe creation. I can only imagine Miss Zoe described it as 'I die..'. This isn't a look that many could pull off, but Karolina's supermodel status helps her to carry this mass of sequins, teamed with a matching turban. I am a bit obsessed but don't think I will attempt this look at home. A way to take inspiration from this look is to use a sequinned clutch, skirt or top as part of your usual Saturday night outfit combination.

Some other stunners at the Met Gala this year (well my favourites at least) were:

Emily Blunt (see her cute actor husband on the side) in Calvin Klien looking super sophisticated

Dianna Agron in Carolina Herrera (I love the green colour and her make up)

The amazing January Jones in Versace

Tanning slim tricks - my favourite tanning products

There is no question that a tanned body is a slimmer body and with the thousands of fantastic tanning products out there, it is easier than ever for anyone to have the perfect golden tan. I more than any know the perils and triumphs of fake tanning, and over the years I have discovered what works best for me and my skin type. I am very fair and luckily don't have too many freckles but I do wear a lot of sunscreen and stay out of the sun to maintain my clear skin. What is good about many tanning products is that they come in varying degrees of strength, so I may get a stronger product because my skin is very light but if you already have brown/olive skin, you probably will only need to enhance your glow. The products I talk about in this post are my traditional favourites and some new finds. Let me know what you think are the best products out there or if you agree with mine.

Most of the St. Tropez range is amazing and I think they are probably the superior fake tanning products. This new range (on the left) from the brand is a natural fake tan made with vegetan. It gives the most amazing gradual colour, smells fantastic and is very easy to apply, very similar to a light moisturiser, which also makes it very nourishing for the skin.

Another fantastic product is this St Tropez bronzing lotion (pictured on the right). This is a good product to use if you need some instant colour. It does look super dark when you squeeze out some lotion, but it will quickly blend into your skin. I often apply two layers if I need a deeper tan. This product is also good to use for beginner tanners (or tired tanners) because you can see the product going onto your skin and can blend any streaks straight away. I have this in the bathroom at all times.






Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs is such a great product and I have been using it for years. It is extremely versatile, comes in a range of colours and is easy to use. I usually buy the tan glow colour and use it on my legs, arms and chest. I sometimes even mix a little into my foundation to make sure my neck and face are blended with my chest. To make sure the colour goes on evenly, I mix the spray with a small amount of moisturiser so I can coat my skin with the colour. If spraying directly onto your skin, make sure you cover the area in old towels or newspaper because this is like liquid make up. It's basically like airbrushing the perfect tan colour all over - I love it!





There's a lot of different spray tanning cans on the market, but many even I find difficult to use to achieve an even colour. I think it's easiest to use one that has instant colour, that way you can see where you have sprayed, and where you haven't with no nasty surprises the next day. I actually think most of the supermarket brands of spray tanners like L'oreal Sublime Bronze are the easier to use as opposed to buying the Model Co. tanning sprays or St.Tropez, which I find both hard to use. This L'oreal one sprays on evenly, you can easily spray upside down and I rub it into my skin afterwards to make sure it's all blended. These are a great way to tan your back if you don't have an assistant on hand :)











I think my favourite bronzing powder would have to be the Model Co. Glow Bronzer Powder. It has the best colour when applied to cheek contours, nose and collarbone. It also lasts on your skin for a good few hours and you get a lot of product in the compact with a generous sized mirror for on-to-go applications.

How to do rainbow hair the temporary way

Want to try this cute tie-died hair trend but don't want to wake up tomorrow and be over it? Try these easy and temporary ways to colour your locks.

Clip-in extensions: pick up coloured extensions from fancy dress shops, Ebay or buy blonde extensions and dye them (with your colour of choice). Coloured extensions are also stocked at some hairdressers or wig shops. This is a good approach to take if you have hair that is in poor condition (you don't want to stress it out with more colour, even if temporary) or if it will be a hot and sticky environment and you don't want 'your colour to run!'. 

Spray In Colour: I'm talking about those little spray cans of colour you may have excitedly purchased in your school days to experiment with colour in the only way you could without your parents having a heart attack. These are the kind of colours that wash out straight away. Try Stargazers Colour Spray in pink (which you can buy via Amazon) or search in your local dress-up shop for coloured sprays. To do this properly, first pop on some rubber gloves, and make sure you're not near walls - just in case that wasn't obvious... Cover the floor around you in some old towels or newspaper. Use another towel and place around your shoulders and have it styled by this stage (it will be a disaster if you try to curl your hair after doing this activity). Start by sectioning the hair in half and bring it around to the front and leave the strands flat against your shoulders, then spray colour onto the ends. Voilà!