Winter Facials by Guinot

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Laura Pritchard of Guinot (pronounced Ghee-no for those new to the brand) to experience a Liftosome Facial, one of two Winter treatments (the other being the Hydralift Treatment) available from Guinot that lifts and firms the face. So off to Outshine Beauty Salon and Medi spa in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane I went to check it out.
Outshine is a chic little beauty haven nestled just off James Street where you can easily spend a day exploring some of Brisbane's best shopping. I've recently rediscovered this little nook down the hill from Fortitude Valley and love it to bits!

The Liftosome Facial from Guinot

What makes this facial so special?
Featuring a serum that includes four star ingredients (Pro Collagen, Alaria Esculenta, Vitamin C and Bio-peptides EL and CL) the treatment will take around 45 minutes. During the process they also apply a special clay mask that heats up to a gentle warmth to ensure that the applied product works its way deeper then usual into your skin for even better results. I asked to have a look at it afterwards, and it was interesting but also a little scary to see just how thick it was! It didn't feel that heavy at all.
Your beauty therapist will then massage your face, neck and decollete with the serum. This was my favorite part of the treatment, it's so relaxing to have an expert treating your skin with such care and excellent technique.
You also get some amazing results after just one treatment with firmness increased by 26.5% and wrinkles diminished by 20.4%
The end result is firmer, brighter skin with added perk. This is an ideal treatment for a special occasion as the results are quite immediate, but will get still improve even further after a short program of facials. I was really stoked with the results but felt even better about them when a friend of mine who didn't know I was going for this facial commented that my skin looked amazing two days later. She wanted to know what I had been doing differently lately!

For those who are interested in the Hydralift Treatment, while I didn't experience one firsthand I can tell you that it is an effective method to exercise the muscles in your face. Much like your body, your face benefits from working out too to give you a youthful look. By draining toxins and stimulating muscles the treatment reshapes, tones and firms, while minimizing fine lines. Products used during your Hydralift session will be tailored to your skin type with a choice of half hour, full hour or two hours for your treatment. Further sessions have the added benefits of being even more effective in banishing wrinkles and lifting the eye area.

For more information, please visit the Guinot Australia Website where you can also find your local Guinot treatment supplier.

Please note that while this service was complementary, the above opinion is purely my own and in no way swayed by any third parties.

Cheap trick to make stockings last longer

We've all had it happen to us, you're going about your daily business when something catches your stockings and ping, you have a great tear in them. I used to be pedantic enough to carry a spare pair whenever I was wearing them, but I was told this quick and simple trick to help them last longer. Brilliant for your gorgeous expensive finds like silk stockings, fully fashioned styles or ritzy brands like Wolford. You just need three items, and your chosen stockings

Gather your supplies: Hairspray, a sealable freezer bag, a freezer and your stockings.

Spritz stockings lightly with hairspray.

Place stockings in sealable bag and squeeze excess air out, I found rolling really helped.

Freeze overnight.

Pull out of freezer 15 minute before wearing to allow them to warm back up.

Put them on and go!

You will have to repeat the process for every time you wash them, but the hairspray and freezing help make the fibres stronger against snags, and will even stop runs from being as bad as they would be otherwise. But I've found it a treat for helping to keep my pricier pairs in better nick for longer.

Have you tried this trick before? How did you find it worked for you?

Update

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to stop leaving my wonderful readers in the lurch. I have been very slack with Bought by Birdette lately and I sincerely apologize. I'm not going to make excuses, I lost my drive to write. At this point in time I actually have quite a nasty hand injury that is hampering many everyday activities. (You should've heard me squealing in pain when my memory laapsed and I went to open a jar, ow!) So we'll still be slow for a little while, as typing isn't too bad, photo editing is another kettle of fish.
I've been thinking about introducing a few new topics into the fray to help reinvigorate my drive to write, so you may see more craft and cooking popping up, turning Bought by Birdette into a more lifestyle based blog until I truly find my niche. Also most certainly more personal style posts, I love doing these, I just need to find my confidence in front of the camera!
Otherwise, I would love to take this opportunity to ask all readers to please let me know what you like and don't like, do you have a particularly favourite post that I've done? Have I taught you something new?
I' really hoping to bring a lot of readers out of their bubbles on this one, and I'm aiming to get at least 20 responses. Don't think I wouldn't love to hear from you because really I would!
Thank you for reading.

So I went for a Sidecut

Admittedly I have been off the radar for a the last few weeks, I guess I got myself into a little CBF funk that I'm now digging my way out of, ever have that feeling that's there's just so much to do that you don't know where to start? Yeah had that. Big time.

But I've felt myself come out of that little sooky corner of my mind this week, and after a chat with some of my most honest friends I went to the hairdressers and did something I've been pondering for months now, and had part of my head shaved.

This may well be the first time in my blog I've actually shown my face

Earrings: Lovisa
Top: Dotti

And I love it!

I based it on recent photos of Rihanna, it's easy enough to hide in my corporate day-job, but I've found it no problem so far. But for visiting Nanna all I have to do is change the part and then it only shows a little when I tuck my hair behind my ear. I went about the office quietly thrilled with myself and no one being the wiser on the day I had it done, until I excitedly revealed it to a few of them ...

What I find really curious is that the vast majority of people love it, and because I'm certainly not the first to do it in recent times, I'm not getting many stares on the street. A friend of mine warned me that doing something alternative can make Joe Average really judge you, but in this town of Brisbane where I happen across someone almost daily who is twice my age and has brightly coloured hair, perhaps society is becoming desensitized to the alternative and odd?

Even though I know it's prettymuch done it's round in fashion, with the nineties Grunge Trend taking off in a big way this season it's still relevant to fashion. while the clothes of the nineties don't really appeal to me, I find this haircut makes me happy.

Have you ever done something drastic to your hair? What was it? Did you love it or hate it?

100 Days of Thrift - Complete

Check out the rules of the Thrift Challenge here!

I uh, sort of left this alone for a while didn't I?
We had ups and downs, but I think I learnt some really good tricks out of it, and can count off all of the beauty and fashion items I have bought in the duration.
So in no particular order:

These amazing boyfriend jeans from ASOS 
I had not found a better pair in previous hunts, being just on the cusp of sizing and sometimes needing a size 16 it can be shit to go shopping in person - a lot of brands end on a size 14. (Talking Australian sizes here of course!) Since buying them they've been worn at once a week, in fact I'd consider buying a second pair.

Maybelline Lipstick in Coral Crush
How cruel would it have been to let me go the rest of summer without a gorgeous bright shade of lipstick? Very! I didn't entirely cheat with this one though, I received a gift voucher in the mail from the Priceline Rewards Program and off I went. See, technically not cheating!

This gorgeous clutch from Colette
I've had a longing for a go with anything clutch with a cute handle you slip your fingers through, brilliant go with anything colour and I bought it on sale though so there's some credit due there.

That Leather bag from Colette I had my eye on ...
50% off, boom!

Also some grey area items, I bought Bourjois 1,2,3 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla and L'Oreal Lumi Magqiue Highlighting Pen in Shade 2 I call these a grey area because I stipulated basic, non-colour cosmetics were allowed if I ran out of them.

I'll be writing some posts on other aspects of the Challenge over the coming weeks,  I have some good advice to give to readers after this.

Also if anyone has any question about the challenge I'd love to answer them, just leave me a message in the comments and I'll get back to you!