Salon Melbourne 2016 Haul!

Hi lovelies,

I'm a little late with this post, which is all about what I picked up at Salon Melbourne a couple of weekends ago! If you're wondering what Salon Melbourne is, it's basically an industry event for professionals like hairdressers, makeup artists etc, but luckily, bloggers are also allowed in. I've already reviewed the event the last couple of times I went (wayyy back in 2012 and 2013, which you can read here and here). It hasn't changed overly much in the years so I won't review it again, but will just jump straight to what I purchased, though of course, some of the brands that were exhibiting have changed.

Salon Melbourne 2016
(image courtesy of Salon Melbourne)

I was a lot more restrained with my purchases this year, so here's what I ended up getting.

Haul from Salon Melbourne 2016.

I picked up 5 brushes from Crown Brushes, to fill gaps in my brush collection. Pictured from left to right, as detailed in the photo below, these are:

Fan brush SS023 ($19) - I'd been wanting a dense, fluffy fan brush for applying highlighter, and this was the softest out of all the choices that the Crown Brush stand had. I've already used this and I'm loving the result I get from this!
Dense powder brush 443 ($35) - This was the most expensive brush I picked up. This is a little like a kabuki, but it's a lot denser than all the brushes I own. I wanted something to really buff powder into the skin after the application of liquid foundation, so I can't wait to give this a good try. I've just washed this and there was a fair bit of dye leaking from it, but this should hopefully peter off after the first wash.
Contour brush C473 ($20) - I own a Zoeva contour brush but wanted something that had a bit more bulk to it. I've also just washed this but have yet to try it out properly. There was no dye leaking out which is good!
Eye smudger SS028 ($7) - The eye smudger brush caught my eye immediately! I've got one from Sigma which I love, but I wanted a dupe as a backup. I've washed this but have yet to use it.
Spoolie brushes x 2 C115 ($3 each) - I had to bin my last spoolie, so I really needed a soft spoolie to help brush product through my brows. Both of these felt quite soft, and as they were $3 each, I figured it didn't hurt to pick up two different ones!

Let me know in the comments if you want to see reviews once I've tried them all.

Keep reading after the jump!

Salon Melbourne 2013 Review.

Hello lovelies!

Last Sunday, I made a trip to Salon Melbourne, which some of you may remember me posting about last year (read about that by clicking here, here and here). In case you're wondering, Salon Melbourne is an industry-only event, focusing on hair, beauty and styling, but bloggers are fortunate enough to receive via a media pass. It was held over Saturday and Sunday last year, but on Sunday and Monday this year as the organisers felt it would allow more opportunity for the beauty industry to attend. It was pretty hard taking decent photos as it was so crowded!

This year, I made the trip with several blogger friends, and I think I got so caught up in the crowd, company and excitement, I actually forgot to take proper photos! 

As I did last year, I had to hit up the Zoya stand, which I did with Kerri, Sarah and Sue. It was pretty hard getting in as it was very crowded, but we certainly did our best picking up a few bargains!

Zoya stand at Salon Melbourne.

It was a great photo until the lady stuck her hand in there. :P

The lounge at Salon Melbourne.

We also saw a great demonstration by some hair experts while waiting for the Rae Morris demonstration.

I thought this hairstyle was amazing! The fringe was painted by the stylist!

More amazing hairstyles on display.

I manage to cram in a quick photo with Sue (bottom left), Jasmine (top left) and Sarah (top right) while we were waiting for Rae Morris to enter the centre stage. You can just make out Kerri standing behind us (in the pink skirt).

I've always been a fan of Rae Morris. In fact, my first makeup book was one of hers! It's amazing how tiny she is in person. It was really fascinating listening to her talk on makeup application.

Some of the wonderful tips she shared included:

• Shimmer shadow can make your skin look old, so be sure to test it on the inside of your arm before applying it to your eyes.
• Avoid arching your brow too much when you wax it as it can really age you.
• To appear more tanned, apply bronzer to your hairline and blend, as it immediately darkens your complexion.
• If you are pale, use a pale rose blush before bronzer to avoid looking orange.
• How wide apart you pluck your brows in the middle (above the bridge of your nose) is how wide your nose will look in photos (eek, will have to take note of this)!
• The perfect nude shade for lips is a shade in between your natural lip colour and your skintone.
• Add a cream shadow in a shimmery nude to your Cupid's Bow to make lips appear more plump.

I really learnt a lot from listening to her and have been experimenting with some of her tips this week.

Rae demonstrating some eye makeup techniques.

The amazing Bioderma cleanser also made its first appearance at Salon Melbourne this year! This really is an amazing cleanser that you should try if you haven't already. There's a good reason it's in every makeup artist's kit!

Bioderma stall.

I was also thrilled to visit the Heart Beauty magazine booth, which I blogged about here. The launch edition is out, so be sure to pick up a copy! I loved mine.

There was also a very talented makeup artist doing some body painting on a very patient model. She reminded me a little of Mystique from the X-Men!

Body Painting.

We also came across some gorgeous hair and makeup on display.

There was also a great ORLY display, but I somehow managed to refrain from purchasing more polishes. Truth be told, I think it's only because the stands were mostly empty by the time I went back to get some polishes.

Joey Scandizzo, winner of the 2012 Hairdresser of the Year award (pictured in the blue pants below), was also holding a demonstration with his team. How amazing were some of the hair designs?

I was especially fascinated with this one which looked a bit like the model had balls of yarn in her updo.

I also met the lovely Dean Nixon from Master Makeup, but got so carried away chatting with him I completely forgot to get a photograph! He's lovely, he spent 2 years putting together his brush line and took feedback from his makeup artist friends into consideration before finalising the designs. They are some of the softest, plushest brushes you'll ever find, so do check his website out!

Jasmine and I managed to get a photo together at the end of the day.

And last but not least, I leave you with a photo of my restrained Salon Melbourne haul. I picked up 10 polishes from Zoya, and a detangler that looks a lot like the one I own from Michel Mercier. I'm planning a review post soon so stay tuned! I'd actually wanted to buy some Kryolan too, but sadly, they had run out of the very shades I'd desperately wanted (and wanted to charge me additional shipping even if I'd purchased on the day but had it shipped to me), so I decided it just wasn't worth the trouble. I think I'd definitely have bought more if it hadn't been so crowded, but had heaps of fun hanging with the other bloggers and looking at all the displays. I can safely say I'd love to go again next year if I can!

I hope you enjoyed that post, lovelies! Did you go to Salon Melbourne? If you did, leave me a comment so I can drop by and check out your post!

Much love,

MM.

x

Salon Melbourne - Fashion Show

Hi lovelies,

I do apologise for the long delay in between posts. I have been a bit unwell and in a lot of pain, so I haven't been able to get on my laptop. I didn't even manage to get to work this week, so you can imagine how unwell I was! It seems to have improved a bit today, although my doctor did frighten me a bit when she told me to go to the Emergency Room over the weekend if things got bad again, but I'm going to try and think positive and hope it won't come to that, since I'm actually feeling a bit better now.

Anyway, enough about that. Here's my last post regarding the Salon Melbourne event. I have previously blogged about the Salon Melbourne overall experience here, and updated about my Salon Melbourne haul here, if you missed it. We had the opportunity to see a fashion show whilst we were at the expo, so I thought I'd share some photos of the clothes, make up and hairdos the stylists used on the runway. I do apologise for the quality of the images, I had to downsize them for uploading purposes and didn't realise that they turned out a bit blurry.

I call this the 'lingerie-with-cape' look.

The male model (yes, you heard read me right, THE, as in single male model in the entire show) was kind of boring as he only changed his top, he mainly wore the same shoes/pants for the whole show!

It makes me think of Mad Men for some reason...

I thought this outfit was quite cute and something I might have worn, had it been just a teensy bit longer.

This would make a nice autumn/winter outfit,
paired with stockings and a nice pea coat IMHO.

I'd have to say this outfit would take mega cohones to wear in public. The model actually wasn't wearing anything underneath, but I actually think this outfit could be worn in public with a tank top or black bra underneath. Love the shoes!

This is my favourite of all the outfits and something I'd love to wear. I love the hair, the make up, the veil and the shoes, as well! I couldn't resist taking a photo of this pose though, it's very reminiscent of a certain Jolie meme making the rounds of the internet! :P

Final curtain call!

See, single male model!

I hope you enjoyed that post, lovelies! I must say I'm doing very well in the fashion show stakes this year, that makes two so far and it's only April! :D

Do you enjoy fashion shows as much as I do?

Much love,
MM.
x

Salon Melbourne - Event Review.

Hi lovelies,

As promised, here is my Salon Melbourne review. It's going to be quite picture heavy!

There were some really fabulous things to see, try and buy. I actually wasn't expecting so many brands/exhibitors, because some of the exhibitors weren't listed on the website! It was a really pleasant surprise, though, and I did feel a bit like a kid in a candy shop, unsure of where to begin because everything looked so fantastic!

One of the first things Ms V and I saw was a stand operated by Crown Brushes, selling a whole array of palettes, including the 88 shimmer palette that I ended up buying. They had so many different palettes, it was pretty hard trying to decide on just one! Prices varied a bit but it was about $30 for one, or two for $50.

We also saw a display from Gorgeous Cosmetics. They had such great prices, I remember seeing brushes on sale for $10 each! I have always loved the make up by Gorgeous but had to restrain myself to only buying stuff that I actually needed/wanted very badly.

I was also very keen on trying on Minx nails, commonly worn by celebrities like Beyonce and Rihanna, but they are usually salon exclusive and oh-so-expensive! They were being sold for $15 per set at the Minx display stand. The salesperson placed the Minx foil under a heat lamp until it 'wilted', indicating it was ready for application. You then apply the applique to the nail, smooth it down and then file off the ends. If you make a mistake, pop it back under the heat lamp and smooth it out again. If you're purchasing for home use, like I was, then you could use your hair dryer instead of a heat lamp.

Miss V getting her Minx trial done.

We stopped at the Zoya stand next. They had a lovely, well stocked display which was being continually restocked. I think we spent almost 30 minutes there. I'd always wanted to try Zoya polishes as they are 'the big three free' which means free of toluene, formaldehyde and dibuthyl phthalate (DBP), but unfortunately they are just so hard to find in Melbourne!

We also passed a Nyx stall, which I found quite intriguing. Nyx is brand from the US which is extremely affordable. Think lipsticks and eyeshadows that are like $3 each. I actually already have quite a few of things from the Nyx brand but I didn't purchase any from SM as they were far more affordable online.

There was actually a media lounge/bloggers lounge where you could update your blog live! What a lovely idea! It was also really nice having a wall against which you could take your photo, and having some comfy couches to rest your feet after walking around the huge exhibition hall!

Posing in front of the 'wall'. 

We also came across some lovely body painting. I always love body painting because it always looks like a costume until you get really close and realise it's all just paint, not fabric! The model was gorgeous and kindly let us photograph her.

She looks like a dryad from a fairytale!

We also spotted this lovely make up stand at Vani-T, and this is what made me decide I had to buy a lipstick because the packaging was so pretty! They even had these little brushes with diamanté collars, it was very pretty but I forgot to take a photo of it.

Cupcake lipstick stand at Vani-T.

There was also lots of lash exhibits, selling false lashes, offering lash extensions and products to condition or increase lash growth. Amongst them was Lash Republic, Minx lashes, and many, many more.

They also had some models walking around in rather fantastical outfits and shoes. I'm not really sure where they'd come from, but the hair and make up was amazing! Look at the model in white with her hair made into a dome, and the red skeins hanging from her hair do.

Well, there you go, lovelies! A brief snapshot of what walking around Salon Melbourne was like. I will be posting another post soon on a fashion show we saw at Salon Melbourne, which will be the last of my three Salon Melbourne related posts. For a peek at the items I picked up at Salon Melbourne, have a look here.

Much love,
MM.
x

Salon Melbourne - Haul

Hello lovelies!


This is going to be an abbreviated post as I have been out all day and I'm exhausted! I spent a few hours today with the lovely Miss V at Salon Melbourne, which is a hair and beauty event for professionals. It's usually an invite only event but we were invited in as media, due to our beauty blogging. It was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and there were some truly fabulous things to see! Some really big brands like Zoya, OPI, Minx, Vani-T, Gorgeous Cosmetics, Bodyography, Moroccanoil, and many, many others were exhibiting at the event...so it was really hard not to get carried away!

My media pass! It had my name (which I blocked out)
and my blog name. This brings me back to when
 I used to write for a newspaper about 10 years ago!

It was so crowded, they had actually closed the parking lot, so I had to park some distance away and walk in. After a few hours spent walking around the booths and watching the shows, I was quite exhausted. Add on a couple of hours afterwards spent visiting with family and running chores, and I got home almost feeling like I'd done a marathon!

So I've decided to do a quick post today to share my Salon Melbourne haul, and then I'll spend some time over the next couple of days writing about what I saw and sharing some photos! I may have gone a bit overboard with the shopping...I don't really regret most of the things I purchased, but I may have gone a wee bit overboard with the nail polishes. Still, I'm actually going to be giving some away as gifts, etc, so I don't feel too badly about it. I basically stocked up on stuff that I use really often, or stuff that I find pretty expensive/hard to get in Melbourne.

So here's what I got:

Minx nail stickers. I've always wanted to try these, so I was quick to snap up two metallic designs after a quick trial. They were so popular, a lot of the styles were sold out!

My Minx nail stickers.

88 shimmer/pearl eyeshadow palette from Crown Brushes. I'm not sure which brand they're from as there isn't one listed on the palette, but it does have pretty good pigmentation, so I figured it was well worth the $25 price tag!

Look out for more EOTDs coming soon!

Another view because it's just so pretty! 

Stocking up on Babyliss Argan Oil. This stuff is amazing (it's so moisturising and it smells fantastic)! We also got given a free acrylic trial kit by someone as we were passing by her stall.

Vani-T matte mineral lipstick. I have to confess, part of the reason I had to get this is because the packaging is just so...bling! I actually have a matching bracelet and ring that a very dear friend gave me for my birthday last year. I'll be sure to post a photo of it tomorrow to compare.

Also, this lipstick has a gorgeous colour, fantastic pigmentation and unlike most matte lippies, a really soft, creamy texture. I've decided this brand has the cutest things, it's just so girly! Even their paper bag is gorgeous, matte black with metallic gold embossing.

Vani-T mineral lipstick. 

It's a gorgeous matte red, but it feels really creamy on!

Zoya...sigh, I totally went overboard here. I've been wanting some Zoya polishes for a while now but they're pretty hard to find in Melbourne, and quite expensive besides. I picked up a whopping 11 polishes from this brand. I will admit that some of these are gifts, but I still think I got a wee bit carried away. They had some really good deals, where you could buy six polishes and pick two free ones, so Miss V and I split the bill and got four polishes each. We each also picked up a set of six polishes from a Zoya collection. I ended up with Cheryl, Julieanna, Edyta, Karina, Carrie Ann and Kym from the Wicked collection, and Valerie, Arielle, Dree and Divincia for my individual picks. I also picked up Holly for $3 on special. Apologies for the photo quality, the lighting in my flat is atrocious!

The top six are from the Wicked collection, and the lower five
were randomly selected because I loved them!

The OPI booth was a madhouse. Literally. There were so many girls crowding it, you could barely make out the polishes, much less buy any! I did manage to pick up one polish, Pedal Faster, Suzi, for $10, a pretty pale pink with microglitter. I also stocked up on Drip Dry Drops (which I cannot live without), and they came with a free bottle of Dim Sum Plum.

Well, that pretty much sums up my haul! I did score some terrific deals, but I can tell you that my bank account really isn't too happy with me right now!

 I leave you with a complete photo of what it all looked like!

The complete haul!

Much love,
MM.
x