Go shopping in style!
Posted by: baublesb on: February 3, 2010
We are introducing the “SAKitToMe” bag into our E-Shop, soon. It is the stylish and convenient yet environmentally friendly way to shop! Instead of lugging those green shopping bags around with you, why not have some of these in your bag instead? They come in a small pouch with a key ring attachment and are designed in beautiful prints! These bags can carry up to 10kg, which is approximately 2 to 3 full plastic grocery bags. For extra strength, there is a gusset at the base. This bag is lightweight and can be hand washed and line dried quickly! What a better way to shop in style! And save the earth at the same time! To order your “SAKitToMe” shopping bag, simply go to our E-Shop and pre-order TODAY!
The blushing cheek…
Posted by: baublesb on: January 18, 2010
Why use the blusher? The blusher or rouge adds radiance and glow to your face. It completes your make-up. To apply blushers, a tip I learned from a make up artist at Kit Cosmetics is to smile and apply at the ball of your cheekbones ie, the highest part of your cheeks when you smile – the part that “goes up”. Remember to use a broad brush and tap any excess before applying it to your face. Apply going outwards. There are also other tips on how to apply blushers effectively on different shaped faces. For those with round faces, accentuate the shape of your face by applying the blusher on the cheek bones. In order to make a narrow face rounder, apply a darker tone at the tip of your chin. Apply a brighter coloured blusher in circular movements at the top end of your cheekbones. To accentuate a square face, simply apply the blusher higher on the cheeks and not too close to the nose.
Colours to suit you:
Winter & Summer : Those classified has having Winter colouring ie: skin with blue or blue-pink undertones, dark hair, white-blond, dark brown, salt and pepper, medium ash brown, eyes – dark red-brown, hazel, grey-blue, dark blue, grey-green, black-brown. Summer ie: skin with blue undertone, with visible pink under their skin, usually pale without blushers, some also have rosy beige, rosy brown or very pink skin. Their skin also have a translucent quality. Most Summers are blonde or brown with an auburn cast, their eyes are usually blue, green, soft grey-blue, pale clear aqua or hazel.
Cold Berry - For those in Winter family colour group
Cold Peach - For those in the Summer family colour group
They are more suited wearing blushers from the rose family. This ranges from blue-pink to burgundy.
Autumn & Spring: Those with Autumn colouring would often have skin with golden undertones. They can have ivory, ivory with freckles, peach, golden beige, golden brown skin. Their hair could be red, coppery red-brown, auburn, golden brown, golden grey or strawberry blonde and they would usually have dark brown, golden brown, amber, hazel, green, olive green, teal or steel blue eyes. The same goes for those in the Spring family. They would have creamy ivory skin, rosy cheeks, peach or pink skin and those with golden undertones. They are usually have flaxen blonde hair, honey blonde, strawberry redhead with eyes that are blue, clear blue, aqua, tael or green with golden flecks.
Warm Berry - For Autumn Colour Family
Warm Peach - For Spring colour family
The people in this colour family are more suited to wear blushers in orange tones, like russet, ginger or tawny peach.
Working with layers
Posted by: baublesb on: January 14, 2010
Fragrance layering. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. If you haven’t well, it’s basically building up the scent of the fragrance that you are wearing, making it longer lasting. The basic rule of wearing fragrances – you want to leave a good lasting impression NOT overpower the scent with too strong a scent. Another rule of thumb, stick to the same fragrance while layering. Mixing different fragrance might have you end up smelling weird instead of nice. Now, that’s NOT an impression you want to leave behind.
- Shower gel/soap – start of with showering, using shower gel or soap from the same fragrance. This “sets the scene” by gently scenting the skin.
- Like make-up, the foundation or base of your fragrance starts with the body lotion. Not only does it hydrates the skin, but it also helps the fragrances adhere to your skin.
- Next comes the fragrance itself. Apply the perfume on your pulse points – insides of wrists, sides of neck, behind the ears, knees or between the breasts. Remember NOT to rub in the scent onto your skin – this will only “squash” the scent. Using a deodorant in the same fragrance is also a good option. Or you could just use a neutral/no scent roll on instead.
Also remember, stronger fragrances are best used at night. The best way to store your fragrances are in a cool and dry area, out of the sun. Fragrances DO have a shelf life. You will notice a change in scent once it has gone past its expiry date.
Bags – the essential accessory
Posted by: baublesb on: January 11, 2010
Besides having a bag as a useful item to put your belongings in, bags are also an essential part of your wardrobe. Imagine wearing a plain coloured outfit, say white or a colour that’s even more popular – black, and carrying a neutral coloured bag, let’s say black or brown. Drab isn’t it? Practical yes, but why not spice up that outfit with something a little more unique? A casual t-shirt and jeans outfit could look more interesting with a carved leather sling bag. Not only is the bag a useful tool, but now it is also an accessory!
Shanti Leather Sling
Or if imagine if you were wearing a white floral dress or those maxi dresses that are so popular right now. Wouldn’t it make your outfit a lot more eye catching if you added a bag that has some sort of detail instead of just a one coloured bag? You can still stick to the neutral colours, as a point of difference have a neutral coloured bag with 2 different neutral colours instead.
Tan & White Baguette
Pastels are good too, especially in Summer. With most Summer outfits being light pastel colours or even white, introduce some nice patterns with your bag. A bag with a nicely patchworked theme or nice embroidery would go nicely with most dresses.
Patchwork Tote
So remember, don’t just treat your bag as a useful item. It’s an accessory. Accessorise your outfit with a bag. It’s versatile and you can usually mix and match it with several other outfits!
Making Up is not so hard to do!
Posted by: baublesb on: January 10, 2010
With the launch of the make up range in our E-Shop sometime in February, I have decided to include some posts on the basics of make up. Yes, I’m no expert, so I’ve actually taken these tips from make up artists who actually know what they are talking about. Basic stuff that everyone can follow and also to demystify and hopefully help scare away the fears of wearing make up.
First basic rule of thumb: always apply make up on a clean face. Imagine your face as a blank canvas. Then apply some moisturiser to help the make up glide easily upon application.
- Coverage
Ok, so this is usually a hard one, even for me. there are so many out there in the market, concealers, base coat, powders. What colours would suit me, what comes on first? Basically, for coverage, we use concealers and yes, once again it comes in various colours and types, liquid or crayon – sounds so much like an art class really. What exactly is a concealer? Concealer is used to cover up your blemishes – dark eye shadows, skin pigmentations and even out the skin tone. There are two schools of thought as to when we put it on, before or after the foundation ie base coat. Some say it goes on before we put on the base coat and there are others who say after. The reason for putting it after you have your base coat on is so that you won’t have to cover too much seeing that you have already covered the face with the base coat. Get it? I personally follow the latter. I find that I use less concealer when I do it that way.
Then there is the type you can use. Liquid or crayon/creme’? It all depends on the application you prefer really. With creme or crayon I find it easier to blend and control the amount I put on. With this, I usually use a flat brush. With the liquid concealer, you would have to dip and place some onto the top of you hand and with a flat brush pick up what you would need and apply as you go along.
- Base
Foundation works as a softener on your skin, it evens out your skin tone and texture, therefore making it easier for you to apply your colours. To test the correct colour for you skin tone, always test it on your jawline, not on your hand. Remember, the foundation goes on your face not your hand and usually there is a slight difference between the colour of you skin on your hand and face so why test it on your hand? To apply the foundation, dot the foundation on the back of your hand. Using either a make up pad, your fingertips (not hand) or a foundation brush, simply pick up the foundation on your hand and apply it from the centre part of your face going outwards.
- Powder
To set the foundation, you can either use loose or compact powder. If using loose powder, use a large brush. Instead of dipping the whole brush into the loose powder, shake some of the powder onto the inside of the lid. Then dip your brush in that and give it a shake. And then brush the powder all over your face. Remember to also brush it on your lips for a longer lasting lip colour later on. You can also brush a little extra under the eyes and once you have applied the colours for your eyes, you can simply use a clean brush to brush of the excess eye shadow and powder from underneath your eyes. To accentuate the shape of your face, you could use some bronzing pearls or powder and dust it on your jawline and cheekbones. I personally dust some bronzing powder on my jawline, cheekbones, forehead and the nose. Just to give it a little umph.
These are just the first few basic steps of make up application. Follow our blog for the subsequent tips on eyes, lips and cheeks!
Last minute gift ideas
Posted by: baublesb on: December 19, 2009
If you’re stuck on what gifts to get that special lady in your life (your mum, sis, daughter, best friend or even yourself!) here are some ideas to get you going. And we will ship it for free AUSTRALIA WIDE until 22nd December 2009. All purchases will sent via Express Post.
Sterling silver red coral pendant
Christmas Wreath Clip Art
Accessories Set 1 – AUD$64.50
Antique Centre MOP pendant
Christmas Wreath Clip Art
Red Faux Pashmina – AUD$30.00
Surviving Christmas Parties
Posted by: baublesb on: December 16, 2009
It’s that time of the year again. Parties, get-togethers, Christmas catch-ups, which also means lots of drinking and eating. This is the time of the year where people often over indulge themselves and then pay for it later – as in feeling crappy from drinking too much alcohol and eating too much deliciously indulgent foods. Well, it doesn’t need to be that way. You can still have fun and stay sober, and enjoy the food. Here are some very easy to follow tips to keep you in good form.
- Never go on an empty stomach. Have something light for instance some dry biscuits. This will stop you from going straight for the heavy foods as you know that’s what you would normally head for when your stomach is empty. This will also help line your stomach for those before dinner drinks.
- Keep your alcoholic drink ratio 1:2 as in 1 alcoholic drink to 2 glasses of water. Keep yourself hydrated while drinking.
- Do not mix your alcoholic drinks. If you’re having wine – stick to that. This will lessen the chances of you getting a hangover.
- Limit the number of alcoholic drinks you can have. Sip it slowly – enjoy what you’re drinking.
- You can still eat the rich foods on offer, but balance it out with salads – this will often fill you up so limiting you from eating too much of the more indulgent food.
- Eat slowly. Enjoy the flavour and taste of what you eat.
These are pretty basic tips that would hopefully keep you from feeling crappy the next day and yet still let you enjoy the party!
Service is not just a word.
Posted by: baublesb on: December 14, 2009
I love shopping. Even if it was only window shopping. Don’t ask me why, I just do. Maybe I got it from my mother, or maybe it’s just part of my personality. What I love even more about shopping is when I receive good, just good, no need to be excellent; service. Apparently, it’s getting harder to come by nowadays. So much so, I would rather shop online, where in most cases, I get served almost immediately and my queries get answered promptly – in most cases. Why do people who look like they don’t feel like serving or working for that matter, work in sales? Do they realise that part of their job description includes customer service and not just rearranging, re-stocking, or even reading magazines, while being in the store – working? Why not just choose a job that do not require any face to face contact with anyone but their colleagues? Work in a store room or something. Go face a wall, just don’t work in an industry where customer service is the first and most important thing that’s required as part of the job.
Here are some tips on what I label as good service and what is required from a sales person. Now, it might seem as if I am asking too much, but seriously, I used to work in boutiques and these were expected of us then, so I don’t see why things should change.
- When there are no customers around – don’t just sit down at the counter reading a magazine, that is when you do the re-arranging and re-stocking. If you have nothing to rearrange then at least pretend to do some paperwork. Chit chatting and checking each others outfit out is a big no no, as potential customers might be standing outside looking in and you really don’t want them thinking business is so bad that you have nothing better to do than stand around.
- If you were in the middle of re-arranging or re-stocking and a customer happens to come in, don’t just ignore them. Acknowledge them and keep an eye out just in case they might need any assistance.
- Greeting a customer when they step in is great. And be sincere about it! We can tell when you’re being fake. Give them a few minutes to browse and pay attention to their body language. Remember not to judge a customer by how they look or what they are wearing. Without customers – you have no job!
- Besides helping the potential customers by putting the pieces they are interested in into the fitting rooms, make sure you assist them by staying outside and asking (after a few minutes – gauge yourself) if they were all right with sizes. Suggest something else if they find the item unsuitable. But, don’t be pushy. Asking what they have in mind might also help you with suggesting what you might have that is close to what they were looking for.
- If they really like the item but you run out of size – check with the other stores. Or if you know the item is out of stock everywhere else, let the customer know.
- Even if you cannot find something suitable for the customer and end up with no sale – thank your customer. You never know, they might come back next time because they love your service so much. Or might even recommend your store to their friends and family members.
To the MAX
Posted by: baublesb on: November 29, 2009
Maxi dresses are all the rage right now. Especially with Summer fast approaching. There are many different styles out there, but the general rule is – if it doesn’t sweep the floor, then it’s a no go. So, not only is it a great way to keep our streets clean, but why not do it with style! Here are some ideas on how to accessorise your maxi.
AFTERSHOCK dress, 250 GBP
Steve Madden shoes, $45
Faux snake skin gold clutch
Antique Centre MOP pendant
Tibi Ny dress, $354
Shoe Box Shoes – Fifi2
Faux snake skin black envelope…
Black Onyx Stretch Bracelet
Arden B dress, $68
DKNY shoes, $245
Mock croc clutch (dark brown)
Sterling silver red coral…
Colour Power
Posted by: baublesb on: November 23, 2009
With Summer fast approaching, the new trend we are seeing are colour blocks. Brightly coloured tops, bottoms and even shoes! If you are not too game on standing out for the wrong reasons, here are more subtle ways you can use colour in your wardrobe this Summer.
