Christmas Picks Candles, Soaps & Room Spray : Lucia Festive Collection

Candles, Room Fragrance and Soaps are perfect gifts for a the lovely woman in accounts that you picked in your work Kris-Kringle that puts up with your constant questions, your step daughter who you aren't sure which sub-youth-culture she is into at the moment, your neighbours who bring your bin in because you constantly forget about it leaving it on the street..... They are thoughtful and generous gifts that people really do appreciate.
Lucia is a luxurious line of natural soaps and aromatic home fragrances, which are beautifully packaged perfect for anyone who is afraid of gift wrapping - they look like little christmas orniments! Bless.
The relm of candles is quite scary and can get very expensive, Lucia products are amazingly priced which is why they are my Christmas Pick Favourites for candles, soaps and room spray. The room spray is my fave, the sweet-spicy scent isn't over powering at all and I have been spritzing the christmas tree with it all week.

For your closets stockist visit www.saponesoap.com.au

xxx Nella

Fake Bake your Pins with St Tropez

www.sttropez.com.au

In summer I usually naturally gain some colour to my legs just from day to day fun in the sun, regardless of the generous lathering of sunscreen I wear anyway. My skin is pale but because of father being Dutch I can tan to the colour of many Euro backpackers in Bondi, which is not a cool look. Even though it has been really sunny some days, most days I have been very busy getting ready for Christmas finishing off bits and pieces for work and then when I have a spare hour to go for a swim suddenly clouds gather and it pours with rain. 

I picked up a bottle of St.Tropez Gradual Tan in Light /Medium because it is on offer at Skin Store (see link below!) usually I use the Garnier gradual tan in the orange bottle that smells like apricot biscuits. Feeling so posh with my fancy St.Tropez Gradual Tan, I didn't even hide it in a cupboard and I felt propelled to tell people about my St.Tropez legs for the next week....Yes a week, this stuff lasts. Self Tanning products are a bit daunting if you are very pale or you have never used one before, and they are all different so I have developed a ranking system to help all of us who preferr to Fake rather than Bake!

There are 4 criteria a fake bake can be judged: Smell, Colour, Lasting Power and Removal.

SMELL:

St.Tropez smells like a lovely sweet moisturizer when first applied, that smell lasts for about 2 hours then the fake tan smell does start lingering. My advice is to apply your gradual tan after a shower before bed so you can shower off the smell in the morning or apply when you have the morning at home so you can take a shower couple hours after application. Smell cannot be helped, every single tanning product has a distinct smell some more than others St. Tropez isn't that bad at all compared to some spray tans I have had.

COLOUR:

I used the Light/Medium shade and to be honest I was a bit shocked, it was very dark. I wouldn't recommend this to very pale ladies because it will look very unnatural and patchy on you. The colour was lovely it gave me a very sun kissed tan, it wasn't too orange at all and it wasn't patchy for the first three days anywhere, I did apply it to my whole body (after 3 days is when I start to exfoliate). It mimicked the colour I naturally go when I have been on a tropical holiday which is perfect.

LASTING POWER:

St. Tropez Gradual Tan lasted 3 days of perfect glowy tan, after the third day I started to notice patches starting to form and dry skin. The tan is most noticeable the day after application, so if you have an event you are tanning up especially for, then apply the day before. Also your tan will last longer if you exfoliate really well before applying your self tanner.

REMOVAL:

This stuff requires more than a loofer and a bit of body wash, you need a granulated exfoliatee and take time to scrub anywhere you have applied. I love Lush's Rub Rub Rub $12.95/250gm it is a slimey mess but I really notice a difference when I am out of the shower, there are no dry patches or splotchy tan on my legs.

Wearing Scanlan & Theodore Sandals and The Balm's Hot Ticket Nail polish in That's Red-iculous!

Buy St Tropez products from www.skinstore.com.au - Right now Skin Store has 20% off store wide and free shipping for orders over $50.00 - Sweet deals!

What are your favourite self tanning products? Let me know in the comments.

XOXO Nella

A Fabulously Festive Christmas Giveaway!

OMG! It is Beauté Gazette's Big Fat Christmas Giveaway!

I wanted to do a Christmas giveaway for all of YOU - my lovely readers who have continued to read Beauté Gazette tolerating my annoying spelling mistakes and laughed at my beauty adventures throughout the year. Let me stuff your stocking this Christmas with some really cool products that I couldn't live without during the festive season. Beauté Gazette's bountiful Christmas prize includes:

CoverGirl Outlast Double Lipshine in 270 Candy Apple:

One side is sweet milky red gloss with a subtle shimmer and the other a super shiny gloss, it will totally stay put throughout plenty of cheeky Christmas tipples and mince pies.

CoverGirl Outlast Lip Colour in 507 Ever Red-dy:

I love this colour it really is a true super shiny 'Christmas Red' which will match all of your sexy Mrs Clause outfits!

*Please don't wear any Mrs Clause outfits.....they are defiantly are not sexy.

CoverGirl Outlast Lip Colour in 521 Eternal Flame:

I really hope this lippy was named after the Atomic Kitten Hit 'Eternal Flame' - because I really love that song. Shimmery and festive people may mistake your lips for a Christmas bobble.

Max Factor Colour Elixr Lipstick in 715 Ruby Tuesdsay:

Because you can never have enough lippies - seriously a different red for everyday of the week is absolutely necessary at this time of the year. This red lipstick is my current go to for a quick festive pick me up when I am not feeling festive at all and I just want to stay in bed.

Make Up Stores Nail Varnish in Silje:

A classic red nail varnish to keep in your top desk draw to give yourself a speedy lunch time mani when 'Tim' from accounts emails you an invite to yet another Christmas party on you and you only have 10mins in the office bathrooms to get ready in after 5pm.

Trilogy Face Care Eye Contour Cream:

Lather this liberally under your eyes before bed, and no one will notice those 12 million glasses of champagne you had at your annual book club chrissy do the night before.

How do I win this amazing Christmas Giveaway you are asking yourself at this point....It is totally easy!

Step 1: 'LIKE' Beauté Gazette on Facebook 'HERE'

Step 2: Email Beauté Gazette with your Name, Postal details & Contact number 'HERE'

Do these 2 really easy-peasy steps before Friday 21st December and you are in the running to win the totally festive Beauté Gazette  

THANK YOU MY LOVELY READERS!

xxx Nella

Christmas Picks: Glitter Edition : Make Up Store

www.makeupstore.se

What  do you get a glitter or sparkle or tinsel obsessed makeup Girlfriend / Mother / Best Friend / Wife? 

Here are my top picks from Make Up Store:

Medium Makeup bag in 'Twinkle Hot Pink' $37.00

This bag is super cute with two-tone red and silver sequins, it is also a great size to fit all your essentials. Makeup bags are so important to girls, it is the height of embarrassment if you are in a public bathroom and you whip out a stained rag of a makeup bag. 

Nail Polish in 'Greta' $26.00

OHHHHH MYYYYYYY GOOOODDDD!!! This nail polish is the coolest holographic sparkley colour, it shines bright like a diamond for sure.

Eye Glitter in 'Scorpio' $28.00

Instant party eyes! Why bother with anything matte 'tis the season to sparkle!

Lipstick in 'Crisp' $35.00

The perfect crimson red, not too bright and not too vampy - just perfect for day and night during the holidays.

This is my first of a few last minute Christmas Picks, if you are anything like me you are all over the place and you have left your Christmas's shopping right up to the last minute.

Lots of Christmas Cheer,

Nella xoxo

Also keep reading tomorrow there will be a very special Christmas giveaway!

Beauté Gazette LOVES Chloé Intense

Chloé Intense AU$90.00 / 50ml available from David Jones Australia wide and www.strawberry.com

Let me start by saying I am not a big perfume junky, I cannot stand a perfume which gets on your clothing and stains it with smell or a perfume that lingers on your skin and you get a woft of it throughout the day. Basically I like a subtle scent that is almost un-noticeable to myself after applying, nothing too pongy. 

Classic and pretty scents are usually what I gravitate toward always with a rose or floral undertone. Chloé Intense is a womanly grown-up scent for me not ditzy and overly sweet like I would have LOVED when I was a teenager and not heavy with dark oils which give me a headache, Chloé Intense has a happy soft simplicity about it. A well rounded clean scent without obvious top notes, with base notes of muted rose and also plenty of subtle woody-honey notes which create depth. There is the slightest amount of amber which lingers making it a lovely scent to wear at night also.

Let's talk packaging and branding because to be honest that is more than half a reason I like or purchase a fragrance, the bottle is almost everything. Chloé as a label is known for it's femininity as a brand, beautiful classic tailoring and silks of soft peach-greys and perfect nudes. The Chloé fragrance campaigns fronted by modern blonde beauty's Clemencé Posey, Chloé Sevigny and most recently Imogen Poots - perfect for a blonde like moi! The heavy classic ridged glass packaging is beautiful, perfect to display on your dresser or night stand, which is where a woman's perfume should be not tucked away in a cupboard.

Perfume should not be a polarising extreme part of your beauty routine, it should enhance your mood and be soft and subtle as to not offend anyone and not so strong it wilts flowers and gives you a headache.

What is your signature perfume? And why are you drawn to it?

xxx Nella

Make Up Store : Bon Bon Collection and Beaute Gazette's Christmas Picks!

www.makeupstore.se

It was a steamy Sydney night last Tuesday, as I walked from Surry Hills all the way to the Make Up Store in Paddington which takes about 20mins. Me and my Isabel Marant Betty sneakers almost passed out TWICE, lucky the Make Up Store put on a delicous spread. Make Up Store orginiated in Sweden and if you are like me and frequent Swedish and Norwegian fashion blogs - way too much - you would have seen some of the products in posts I'm sure. Basically we were in makeup heaven, free to play with makeup all night long whilst the lovely helpful makeup artists gave us all make over's explaining how to perfect new trends like bright winged liner. Cutie Adeline (above) tried the most incredible orange lips she has a great blog too - 'Through Beauty Eyes' check it out HERE!

The Bon Bon collection is made up of beautiful products, which are all extremely wearable all year round. The Australian Makeup Store Artistic Director Maria demonstrated how to acheieve the incredibly complex eye look in the posters for the Bon Bon Collection, but if you were only going to splurge on a couple of items from the collection her picks are the Chocolate Cheese Cake Eye Pencil $34.00 and the Loose Eye Dust in Chocolate Fondant $33.00.

My favorite products I got to test out were the amazing Tri-Brow Palette's $39.00 which blended can match every tone of brow ever needed - Perfect for ladies who like to switch up their hair colour frequently! Also on my shopping list is the Skin Serum $80.00 which is silicone based and fills in pores and creates a smooth base to apply makeup onto, my pores are welcoming in summer a little too excitidly and have been so annoying lately. 

If you love Make Up Store products as much as I now do, keep reading Beauté Gazette because next week I will be giving away some gorgeous festive Make Up Store products in my Christmas Giveaway. 

Holographic Nail Polish $26.00 in Greta & High Tech-lighter in Pandora $32.00

If you love Beaute Gazette's kawaii pictures you should really follow me on INSTRAGRAM:

nellavanveenendaal

What are you waiting for? Just do it!  xxx

Weleda Wild Rose Body Lotions

Wild Rose Body Lotion $33.90/100ml and Wild Rose Pampering Body Lotion $36.90/200ml

www.weleda.com.au

Rose is a very polarizing scent you either love it or hate it (just like 50 Cent) I fortunately LOVE IT! My idea of a fun time is browsing the isles of my local health food store - I know, I am totally sad and should probably get some new hobbies. Weleda is one of my favourite organic skin care brands, and I have been recently loving the Wild Rose range paticuarly. During the heat of summer I find wearing perfume can really annoy me, it is just too over powering and distracting so I tend to wear a scented body lotion and thats it. The body lotion is amazing for lathering up your legs after shaving, it contains lots of oils and is more of a gel consistancy and rubs in like a dream perfect for quick leggy lubrication

as you are running out the door. The Pampering Body Lotion is a thick cream, and more suited for before bed application all over, letting it absorb into your skin over night so you wake up super soft and the rosey sweetly scent sends you off into dreamland. The most annoying thing with some body lotions  is when you rub them in they make these little white almost pilling crusty things on your skin - dont know what those gross things are but the Weleda body lotions don't do that.

Please let me know what your favorite rose scented products are in the comments below.

xxx Nella