#THEFRANKEFFECT

Everybody's favourite coffee scrub Frank Body has branched out and launched an amazing coffee infused skincare line for your FACE! Their dirty little secret was revealed at a fun filled pink themed party the other week - think pink walls, pink balloons, pink mini polaroids, pink dressing gowns and pink hoola hoops! Basically it was my kinda party - a pink party!

Social media-ing at the event, a little bit of upskirt action too haha.

Me with some of the models, I don't know what I was doing with my hand, but I do know I was having fun!

All the guests came away with the new range to test out for ourselves, how very lucky! I really love the packaging with the hints of pink and minimal design it's very chic!

As you can see I was very excited to test out the new Frank Body face range! A big positive with the Frank Body range is that it's not tested on animals, as the packaging says it's "only tested on babes" so that gets a big thumbs up from me! I've been using the products for just over two weeks now in order to give you my honest opinion on if and how they work.

First up was the Creamy Face Scrub - made with a blend of freshly roasted and ground Robusta Coffee to scrub away dry flakey skin, White Clay to help detoxify the skin helping to clean, nourish and soothe all skin types, Rosehip Oil which helps to regenerate skill cells and repair damaged skin tissue and Coconut, Grape Seed & Sweet Almond Oils which are rich in vitamins and minerals and are perfect for hydrating the skin. I have very sensitive skin and found this scrub didn't irritate my skin at all which I have often found with other face scrubs - it says in the flyer that it's rough and gentle all at once which is the best way to describe it as it leaves my skin feeling exfoliated yet moisturised at the same time, and after using it for about two weeks now my skin is feeling softer than ever before! And as much as it looks like poo when smeared all over my face this is definitely a repurchase item for me as it really seems to work wonders on my skin!

Next up is the Creamy Face Cleanser.  With Green Coffee Extract which has a high caffeine content that stimulates blood flow targeting psoriasis, eczema and acne, Marshmallow Root & Echinacea Extract which help to reduce puffiness and skin inflammation, Charcoal which you may be familiar with in Asian face masks targeting all your impurities, well the same applies here as the charcoal helps to draw out bacteria, dirt, chemicals and left over makeup (and it really does the job well) as well as the moisturising Coconut, Grape Seed & Sweet Almond Oils that importantly don't clog your pores! This cleanser has fast become my go to of a morning to cleanse away any left over makeup my usual Bioderma missed the night before, and a few times per week I like to use it with my Clarisonic for a really deep clean. I really feel that the charcoal element is what sets this cleanser apart and makes it work as well as I believe it does. Another repurchase item for me!

Lastly is the Everyday Face Moisturiser. This again has Green Coffee Extract, this time the caffeine and high levels of amino acids rejuvenate the skin, improving firmness and texture while reducig redness, Cocoa & Shea Butters are deeply hydrating which is obviously important in a moisturiser, Vitamin E a powerful antioxidant that targets dryness, acne and fine lines and Coconut, Grape Seed & Sweet Almond Oils which help to tighten and tone skin and are great at targeting breakouts.  Personally with a daily face moisturiser I prefer to use a combined sunscreen and moisturiser all in one as I do live in Australia after all and sun damage is a daily battle here. Sadly the Frank Body moisturiser doesn't contain any SPF but I do love that it is an all natural product not tested on animals. I would recommend it for someone who was after an all natural daily moisturiser that does work at reducing those fine lines and it really does leave my skin feeling smoother than a babies bottom. If it did have sunscreen I would love this product but as it stands I'll only use it at night as a night cream.

Thanks Frank Body for letting me get dirty with your new face range. I had a blast at the party and loved trying out the products for you all xoxo

MSFW Boutique - Kawaii Five-O

Wednesday nights MSFW Boutique show was a kawaii affair, with a mix of cute pom pom accessories, layers and mixed prints reminding me of the infamous Harajuku street fashion you all know I love. Melbourne's best boutiques and store owner designers put on a great show of fun accessible fashion.


Obus
Clashing colours, prints and those pom poms. Great accessories with bright backpacks and skinny belts in a variety of shades.






Gorman
I love this bikini, I actually used it in my Fashion Journal cover shoot. Gorman is one of my favourite designers in Australia and they didn't disappoint. Whilst I've already seen the collection in the Sydney showroom it was great to see them styled up on the runway, seeing how they move and work together. The sunglasses are a new collaboration by Gorman with Isson, I tried on a pair in orange back in the showroom and fell in love, looking forward to them hitting stores.






Leonard St


Kings of Carnaby


Nevenka


Dhini




Fat
I really miss Fat in Sydney, its my favourite boutique in Melbourne, their buying is so unconventional. Above is an outfit by PAM.


PAM @ Fat


Marios @ Fat. I love that Fat have brought Italian brand Marios to Australia. I first saw the brand in Tokyo, attending their Ebisu store Marios Left Tanker opening and fell for their quirky street aesthetic. I still regret not getting one of their hair hoodies.


Life With Bird


Green With Envy
Dion Lee Line II @ Green With Envy


Josh Goot @ Green With Envy


Lover @ Green With Envy


Lover @ Green With Envy


Megan Park


Alice Euphemia
Another favourite Melbourne boutique that I miss in Sydney is Alice Euphemia. Alice only buy Australian designers, and they are big supporters of new talent.  Above is  a piece by Romance Was Born @ Alice Euphemia


Kym Ellery @ Alice Euphemia


Emma Mulholland @ Alice Euphemia
Emma is a recent graduate of Ultimo Tafe in Sydney, its great to see her picking up a fantastic stockist straight out of school.


The dress that stole the show (in my opinion). Another great piece by Emma Mulholland @ Alice Euphemia.

Fake cosmetics

In the video above I share with you my first ever experience (to my knowledge) of inadvertently purchasing fake cosmetics. I bought my Mac Cosmetics Eyeliner in Smoulder at StrawberryNET for $15 which included free postage. That is less than half what you would pay in Australia, and sadly it turns out it was too good to be true. I go through the steps we took to see if it was indeed a fake. Have you had a similar experience with buying fake cosmetics, or clothing for that matter, online?

Nokia Saves a Stylist: My Nokia N97 Review

Ok remember I was working in a call centre? Well I had to scrap that job pretty much as soon as I wrote about it on my blog because I got so busy with shoots and other freelance work. You wouldn't believe how intense the past two weeks have been, with an all day beach location shoot in 40 degree heat and then other shoots lasting till midnight, never ending days of pick ups and returns and constant emailing and phone calls. Do you know what saved my life? This phone:


The nice people at Wom World Nokia in the UK sent me this Nokia N97 to trial, and boy did they send it at the right time. I seriously would have been stuck on so many occasions without it. Styling is as much about logistics as it is about actual styling. You need to make sure everything comes together, that all the clothes arrive from wherever they are being sent from, that you make appointments in showrooms on time but also respond to questions in a timely manner. To add to my stress the major shoot of the week was a Fashion Journal 5 page spread with not one, not two, not three but FOUR models to dress. Make them all male (most of my contacts are for women's fashion), in a band (Miami Horror) and different sizes and the fact I needed 4 x 7 outfits (as in 28!) you can see maybe why this was such a logistical nightmare to organise. Oh and at the same time I had other shoots to organise, street photos to take and edit, a sick dog who had to have an operation today to fix a dislocated knee cap and, well, a life to lead too. Not that I'm complaining, it was actually exciting just running on adrenalin to get through it all.


So how did this phone help? Well most of you probably already have phones with email, internet and a camera, but I don't and haven't been able to afford one even though it would have helped on numerous previous occasions. My regular phone is as basic as they come, so the simple fact that this phone, with its ever helpful full keyboard, could send emails was a life saver. Also every time I receive a new email I get a little beep telling me to check it, which is so handy. Again you all probably have had this feature on your phones for a long time but for me it was amazing. Mind you my phone in Japan back in 2006 could do all this and more, I wonder how much more advanced they are now?


Another feature of the phone is it has a 5mp camera (my phone in Japan in 2006 had a 6mp camera btw, ha, Japan you are so technologically advanced it isn't funny) This has been so fun because I can finally twitpic while out and about, on shoots like below, or maybe at the upcoming LMFF??? Too bad the trial is only for 2 weeks and ends this weekend.



So here is my honest review of the phone:

I am not tech savvy so it took a little while to get used to. I still can't work out some features but honestly it doesn't matter because all I want it for is for email, twitter and of course to make calls and I've worked all that out now. The facebook feature is fun but maybe I don't need it on the front screen as I don't really use it, only thing is I don't know how to move it. Well I probably could work it out if I tried. The camera is great for a mobile phone camera, it has a flash and a zoom. The touch screen can get a little grubby but is mostly easy to use and responsive, however my nails are a bit too long for it to always respond to my touch, which is especially annoying when trying to answer a call as I keep missing people madly trying to touch answer. The battery doesn't last as long as my other phone, but that doesn't really bother me if I remember to charge it every night as it does have a lot more features going on I understand why it seems to drain so fast. The keyboard is heaven to type on, I'm almost as fast as I am on a normal computer keyboard. The best thing about the whole phone is the email side of things. I can look at attachments that are sent to me, respond to important emails on the run and also have multiple accounts set up (I have separate accounts for work and my blog as well as my personal email account). All in all I would say I LOVE this phone and I don't want to give it back. The simple fact is it has made my life so much easier. I was able to get everything in order for the Fashion Journal shoot (below)



and the most recent The Vine look of the week shoot (with its Valentines Day theme, please check it out and tell me what you think xxx Oh and Alicia from Sea of Ghosts modelled again) Not to mention the other secret shoot from first twitpic behind the scenes photo.


The end of the trial is almost up so I guess I'm in the market for a new phone now as this one has opened up my eyes to exactly how much I need access to my email at all times and how I simply can't go back to my old shitbox phone (seriously its bad). The thing I do now know after this trial is I can't do an iphone or an all touch screen phone because that is the only part that sometimes annoys me on the Nokia N97, I like to be able to navigate with arrow keys when my fingernails get in the way. The phone seems like it was designed for people like me, a fashion blogger/stylist/street style photographer who is always on the run and addicted to twitter. The only problem is, as Henry see's it, there is never a time when I'm away from "the office", but that's the life I have right now anyway, without the phone I would be cutting short dinner to rush home to check my email especially if there was a shoot on, so really being able to check it while out means I have more time for him. Ok enough already, I love the phone and I thank Nokia for allowing me to trial it.