kevin murphy angel wash and rinse

I fell in love with kevin murphy angel wash and rinse years ago and still have a loving relationship with this product, I know it loves me too because of the results!

I feel like a fairy when I use this, I smell like candy floss and my hair is shiny and well hydrated.

Formulated for dry and fine coloured hair, but I think it would work well on most hair types.

I had been using angel was for months before I read the ingredients on the back and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was one of the most natural products i owned.

Formulated with Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter and Chamomile to moisturise and nurture your fine hair. Aloe, milk proteins and olive esters protect hair from further damage with it's repairing action and low foaming formula. sulphate and Paraben Free

Try it and you wont be disappointed!

LOVING - Blogilates

If you are a 'busy-modern-day-young-professional-woman' like myself (ha) - you may not have a lot of time for work outs (especially now that it is dark by 5pm!).

I hate the gym - the two of us tried so hard at the 'gym buddy' thing - but it just didn't work. I don't want to run in the same place - watch guys stare at themselves in the mirror whilst they flex; nor do I want to touch machines that people have sweated all over (gross!).

I really loved pilates class though - but it was always such a challenge to get out of the office to make it in time.

But I have found something that works for me - blogilates - and I LOVE it! The site is run by California-based pilates and fitness instructor (and mega babe) Cassey Ho - who obviously noticed a missing niche in the fitness industry - and has filled it amazingly with her free YouTube videos.

Cassey is chatty - plans her work outs to all your latest fave songs (call me maybe?) and it honestly doesn't feel like you're working out!

I am really enjoying the little classes -and being able to mix it up so much (she loads new vids all the time!).

In the words of Snoop - soon I'll be toned, tanned, fit and ready... ready for what? LIFE!

Sweet treat: Delish Cupcakes

I stumbled upon Delish Cupcakes one lunch break.

And what a find it was!

Director and cupcake chef Kathryn, is a lovely and bubbly cupcake queen. Her cupcakes are absolutely beautiful and I dare say I have eaten a lot over the years...

Her cakes are light and fluffy and the icing is whipped and creamy - that in my books is all part of the perfect cupcake!

There are may flavours, my favorites being red velvet, jaffa and lime curd!

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Moisturizing Bronzing Power

Part of the sun series with the iconic gold Chanel logo on the package.

This bronzer is a moisturizing, illuminating powder, so perfect for just coming into winter!
Being fair skinned I have had my fair share of bad bronzer moments, some being too brown or too orange.

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Moisturizing Bronzing Power has a beautiful warm shade and lets your inner radiance shine on through!

Although a bit of a splurge, you will find it well worth the extra couple of dollars.

Working girls guide to a speedy recovery

It's that time of year again where we get every darn bug that goes around the office!

I have now nearly perfected my sickness regime to a speedy recovery.

Clinicians Hi-Dose Vitamin C

This is used at the smallest tickle of the throat or if I notice anyone around me constantly blowing their nose! This is a miracle powder, and can banish the first signs of a cold.

Green Tea

Guzzle, guzzle, guzzle. Antioxidants and fluids.

Barley Grass Powder Smoothies

Potent dose of greens to help cleanse and alkalize your body easiest to take in a super smoothie.

I add a heaped teaspoon to a banana, blueberries, a teaspoon of Flaxseed and Linseed powder and one of Manuka honey. I like to use a fruit juice as a base instead of milk or yoghurt, as they can block you up.

Early Nights.

Beauty sleep and recovery.

Get well soon chickas!

Sebastian Professional Hydre

Sebastian Professional Hydre Is a fabulous product for those who need a little extra hair hydration in the tub.

Both of us being blonde, sometimes it can be a struggle to keep our locks shiny and manageable!

Hydre definitely helps with deep conditioning and locking in that all important moisture.

We love the thick formula that leaves our hair silky and smelling like we just came out of the salon!

Nothing beats that professionally treated feeling and now we can enjoy it every week in between visits to the salon.

Nature Girl

I was gifted these gorgeous products and have fallen in love with them!

I tried the Ocean Potion Tangerine salt scrub, which smells better than I can describe! It polishes away dull dry skin to leave a beautifully buffed bod.

the more you use it, the better the results!

After raving about how much I adored the salt scrub I then got given the Nature Love Sandalwood and Jasmine body butter! It is so rich and luxurious with all of mother natures favourite ingredients.

I love these all natural products with beautiful organic and botanical ingredients, I feel like feeding my skin with vitamins.

I can't wait to try more.

Trilogy Rosehip Oil

Rosehip Oil is one of the signature products produced by all natural skincare brand Trilogy; and here at beaute camp, we are big fans!

My Mum is a bit of a hippy when it comes to products - (refering to my make-up bag as my 'chemicals'), so I am proud to have such a gorgeously natural product as part of my skincare regime.

This honey-coloured oil is sourced from rosehip seeds - the reddish round mini-tamarillo looking things that are left over after a rose is past its prime. Native Chilean people have been reaping the benefits of this oil for centuries - loving it for its healing and anti-aging properties.

It is the perfect addition to any skincare regime - I use every night to regenerate my complexion, but it has been proven to be your best friend with scars and deep wrinkles too. It's a goodie.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime

I first tried Kerastase Elixir Ultime a year ago, and I wouldn't turn back. Perfect for those who perhaps can't afford the luxury of having lots of hair products - it is a real all-rounder.

Elixir is really nourishing - if you have dry hair it will drink it up. It is great as a pre-blow-dry product (many people saying it cuts their blow-dry time in half!) Along with a treatment if you put it in and leave it in for about ten minutes before you shower.

I use mine mostly as a finishing product applying to my mid-lengths to ends to control frizz.

Priced at $48 - Elixir Ultime it is definitely worth it. As I said I have had mine almost a year, and I'm still not through it. A little goes a long way.

Classic: Nivea Creme

Since launching in 1911, Nivea Creme has become a cult classic in womens skincare.

My Nana swore by it, having used it almost everyday since she was a teenager in the 1930s. At 87 she had great skin for her age, and she credited all to her little Nivea potion.

When I was packing away her belongings in June last year, there sat the pottle next to her bed - and as the beauty lover that I am - it brought a tear to my eye... that creme was there when she was playing hockey for Auckland, going to dances, helping with the war effort, riding on the back of my Granddad's motorbike and on her wedding day. And there that same creme was, as she lay there, having peacefully passed this world.

It made me think, not many products stand the test of an entire lifetime.

It smells gorgeous and has so much nostalgic value to me that I really love this product. And if it made my Nana look that good at 87 - I think it is definitely worth your while.

Sweet treat: Little & Friday Cook Book

Little & Friday has become a fast favourite of ours with its delectable array of yummy treats. We are loving the cafe's new cookbook and being able to recreate all the tasty morsels at home. Go out and get it!

Sweet treat: Sweetarts

Wonka Sweetarts

Adorable little messages for your loved ones... or just yourself!

L'Oreal Paris Beauty Tubes

The use of mascaras can be traced back over 4000BC to the age of the Egyptians with the use of plant-derived black pigments; this process was then passed onto the Greeks and Romans. In more recent times mascara came in a powder cake form, by which the product was applied with a damp brush; then came the cream formulation - with modern applicator wand not being invented until the 1960s.

Mascaras now come in many shapes and forms; offering a multitude of solutions to boost your lash appeal. I am a firm believer in a good mascara - and have tried many brands in the process to finding my perfect one. 

Three reasons love L'Oreal Paris Beauty Tubes 

1. I always get really bad fall-out with mascaras - creating a dark shadow under my lower lash line as the day goes on. Beauty Tubes doesn't flake and stays on beautifully
2. It is so easy to get off... by the time I wash my face at night I'm not in the mood for a battle with make-up remover, panda eyes and black drips running down my face. With Beauty Tubes I simply lather and  the mascara comes off in well..tubes. Done. No mess, no fuss.
3. And of course it looks great. It gives fantastic length and a nice curl. 

Highly recommended!

Yago Hortal

Paintings that make us happy.

No words needed.

image credit

Vision Coconut Oil

I got given this little beauty as a gift recently, and have quickly found it to be hair heaven.

One of the purest beauty treatments out, it is made of 100% cold pressed coconut oil.

Use a teaspoon full as a hair mask, and leave in over night for a nutritious treat for your locks.

My hair is now silky and soft; and smells like I have just had a cheeky island getaway... (if only!)

I found it easiest to apply my shampoo to dry hair, rather than wet in order to get it out. This saved having to double wash.

This product is not just for your hair, you can use it as a butter or oil substitute in cooking.

I have also used it on my eyes and lips as a moisturiser.

Find it online here

Sweet Treat: Venchi Unico Chocolate

We picked these up impulsively drawn to the packaging, from Sabato gourmet supermarket in Mt Eden.

Made in Italy. They look perfectly pretty and lush, not to mention the taste... Hooked!

We tried three flavours:

Pure dark chocolate filled with coconut cream - White package
Better than a Bounty Bar by far.

Pure dark chocolate filled with milk cream and candied orange - Orange package
Zesty, you can taste the real orange pieces.

Pure dark chocolate filled with milk cream and candied blueberries - Blue package
The sweet blueberry balances out the dark chocolate.

Classics: NARS

NARS Laguna Bronzer and NARS Orgasm Blush are two beauty products with endless reviews.
Seemed only fitting for us to do our own.

Love the Laguna Bronzer, I use it as my contour powder for my cheeks, temples and under my chin. I like that it has a matte finish, so its perfect for day time and the beach.

When picking up my Orgasm blush, I couldn't tear my eyes away from Super Orgasm! It's the Orgasm Blush, but just more super!

By super, I mean sparkly. Beautiful pink base with gold flecks. Love!

Sweet treat: Happy Easter!

If you're anything like us - you have plans that involve a lot of yummy treats this weekend. Chocolate bunnies, hens and eggs; the smell of hot cross buns wafting through the air - there is nothing like Easter weekend.

We will be heading to the beach and enjoying Easter egg hunts with family and friends. Even though we are grown up now, there is nothing better than a treasure hunt... x

Miss Pretty: Ashley Olsen

Ashley - we LOVE everything about her. Having grown up adoring her in Full House; then of course their movies like How the West Was Fun; New York Minute - and now their amazing collections Elizabeth & James and The Row. You can't beat Ashley Olsen- she is gorgeous, stylish and a savvy businesswoman.

Fairy Fingers

At beauté camp we love our sparkles, and have been wearing out nails like this for a while.

You can use any colour base and glitter: Some of our faves are:

• baby pink base with gold glitter
• mint green base with forest green glitter
• lavender base with black glitter

...the sky is your limit!

Today we are doing the pink and gold version.

You need: fine gold glitter from the $2 shop, baby pink base colour, we used OPI Pink-ing of you and a clear polish, we used Orly Top2Bottom.

1. Apply 2 coats of pink base colour and let dry.
2. Apply a coat of clear polish to one finger. sprinke a little glitter over your knuckle and blow towards your nail. This spreads the glitter from cuticle to tip giving a gradient of glitter. Do each finger one at a time so that the clear polish does not dry before the glitter gets to it.
3. You will end up with glitter all over your fingers so after about 5 min run your hands under running cold water and the glitter will come off your skin easily. Apply a final top coat of clear polish to seal it all up!

This should give you up to a week of fairy fingers!

Toes work well too, just a but harder to blow that glitter!

Quick Snaps

A couple of highlights from our week - apart from launching our brand new blog of course!

1: Out the other night, snapped this cute table setting.

2: Home made Afghans, so quick and easy to make!

Have a great weekend!

Kevin Murphy COLOR.BUG

I love changing up my hair, but I don't think I'd be brave enough to do it permanently - so when I heard about the Kevin Murphy COLOR.BUG - I knew I had to have it!

This is a great little product - it's like make-up for your hair and washes out (I have platinum blonde hair and it needs a bit of extra shampooing at the ends, but otherwise it comes out pretty easy).

Perfect for a fun night out or a cute festival look - the COLOR.BUG is a great buy at just $25.

It is really easy to use - it is a sort of chalk that easily rubs onto your hair. Make sure you pop a towel around your neck when you apply it though - as you don't want to get it on your clothes. I would also pat it down a bit after you apply to get off any excess. I probably wouldn't recommend wearing white with it just in case of colour transferring... But all in all - highly recommended :)

Sweet treat of the week: Lindt Blueberry Intense

It's pretty much good for you since it's dark chocolate, blueberries and almonds; and the squares are the perfect portion size to curb a sugar craving.

The blueberry pieces have a candied sugar texture which contrasts perfectly with the smooth chocolate, whilst the almond slivers give a good crunch.

Bliss!

My two cents on scents

Smell and memory are so closely intertwined in our lives - the slightest whiff of something can bring back a flood of emotion - be it tears, smiles or just pure nostalgia. Choosing a perfume is quite an intimate process - as you are choosing the scent that will define not only moments in your life - but moments to those around you.

I look back over the perfumes I have had so far and they bring back vivid images of my life; it's quite incredible what scents can do - that's why you have to be so careful when choosing one.

DKNY Be Delicious smells like fourth form - the first perfume I ever had. In its green apple shaped bottle. It was the fragrance all my friends had, and as you wanted to smell like everyone else.

Britney Spears Curious - Yes. Again - fourth form, and I honestly love this scent. It is so fun and playful - desptite the slightly (or not so slightly) garish bottle.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle - My neighbours had gone home to France for a holiday - and they came back with gifts. To me - their fifteen-year-old neighbour/ babysitter they gave Chanel Coco Mademoiselle - "all the women in Paris wear this darling, I thought you might like". Unaware of the price tag on this little bottle... I used it like Impulse. This scent brings back high school like no other - and makes me smile every time.

Calvin Klein Euphoria - This still remains one of my favourites, it is a sensual musky scent that I love. I wore this through sixth form - I am trying to remember what exactly happened in sixth form... but if I had a bottle of this here and I could take a sniff, I'm sure it would all come back to me.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb - Probably like every girl on this planet I have owned the now iconic Flower Bomb. I would almost say that this fragrance has defined my generation - it smells like university, a gorgeous boy with curly blonde locks, and falling in love.

At the moment I am swapping between two fragrances: Oh Lola! by Marc Jacobs and Lancome Midnight Rose Tresor.

Oh, Lola! by Marc Jacobs is slightly lighter than the original Lola, and I agree with the official copy on the product that it is 'flirty and fun'. I love it for a night out - but it is still heavy enough for work.

However, my absolute favourite at the moment is Lancome Midnight Rose Tresor. It smells so scrumptious - I always get comments on how yummy it is, even by total strangers. It is like raspberries lollies - and I hope when I get a whiff of this scent as someone walks past me in a few years it brings back memories of nothing but smiles.

My tips on choosing a fragrance:

• Really think about what you like on other people and why - but don't buy something a person you see regularly already has. Make your own story with your own scent - there are so many out there. Instead focus on what you like about your friends fragrance - is it fruity? Floral? Musky? Sweet? And go from there...
• A scent is a very personal thing - but it doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive thing. One of my favourite scents is a Body Shop vanilla perfume that is only thirty dollars.
• If you have gone through something and are ready to move on - or want to start over. Buying a new perfume is a great way to begin your journey. Set the mood for the new you - you don't want to get up and spray on the scent of your past life.
• Don't buy straight away - particularly if you are prone to sinus-y headaches. I personally can't handle Coco Mademoiselle any more and will have a migraine within an hour of trying it on. So do try before you buy otherwise you could be in for an expensive headache!
• Another reason to try before you buy: Different perfumes evolve differently on different people. What you may have smelt on someone else may not smell the same on you. I have found that some perfumes I really loved first off, but as I wore it and the original top notes wore off - I wasn't too fond of the base notes; which in the end is what you are left with. Walk around and smell all the different options - once you have settled on one you are interested in ask the assistant if you can wear it. Ask what your friends, partner etc thinks - and if you still like it the after a day of wear - go swipe that card!

Garnier BB Cream

BB Creams came about in the 1950s when a German dermatoligist invented an ointment to help the heeling process of patients whom had undergone chemical peels - he later realised it also reduced redness, and later commercialised the ointment calling it a 'blemish balm'. These blemish balms have recently gained immense popularity in the Asian markets - and are now slowly making their way into the western world.

When I first heard about this product - I wasn't really thinking this would become a 'miracle product'... but oh was I wrong.

I don't wear foundation during the day any more. Garnier's BB Cream has taken over my beauty regime. I apply the BB Cream straight onto a clean face - no need to prep or prime the skin... I just pop it straight on. It has a much thicker consistency than other tinted moisturisers I have used - but it spreads really easily. I like to slowly layer it onto my skin with my fingers and build it up in areas I need extra coverage like under my eyes, my nose and my chin.

It is so light to wear and I really feel it works to allow your skin to breath. It leaves a gorgeous dewy finish and still lets a few of my freckles shine through - which I love. It also contains an SPF with is essential when playing under the hot New Zealand sun.

At under $20, and available from supermarkets... you can't go wrong.

Hi, we're beauté camp

The two of us go a long way back, having met as littlies at kindergarten and becoming fast friends.

On Christmas Day 1993 I got given some 'make-up' - shades of bright pinks and blues,and tiny little pearlescent lipsticks all set in a purple plastic palette.

That summer, I remember the two of us sat out on the driveway mesmerised by the colours. I remember referring to blush as 'rouge' - I thought I was very grown up. Lipstick on our noses - eye shadow on our cheeks; but this is my earliest beauty memory. Covered in colours, in fits of giggles - sitting out on the hot concrete in the summer sun.

Almost 20 years on; we decided to create this blog - discussing all the things we love in this world - from flowers, to scrumptious treats, cute animals, favourite eating spots - and of course our shared love of make-up.

Love A & B, beauté camp