Ciaté in the spotlight

The latest news from Ciaté:

The Midas Touch

The golden fever of team GB winning a grand total of 29 gold medals can only be boosted with the emergence of this metallic beauty trend.

Fendi teamed gold foil with an accent of bold black liner for a show stopping look. The foil transfers on eyelids were reminiscent of Liz's to-the-browbone block of colour in her rendition of Cleopatra.

The spring catwalks suggested that beauty's biggest talents had returned to their fine art roots, bringing a DIY aesthetic to the season - it's time to get creative!

The idea behind Dashing Diva's "dripping with gold" foils at Cushnie et Ochs was to make it appear as though models had been "digging in gold", so nails techs applied foils a few millimetres above the actual nail line to stimulate imperfection.

The look was achieved through applying the gold foil directly to nail glue, smoothing with a cotton pad and pulling away the sheet to leave a gilded finish; finish with a top coat for longevity purposes.

The catwalk shows also saw models with hair slicked back and coated in a layer of gold foil.

Beauty has developed this trend to produce an almost liquid gold effect that coats the eyebrow and lid.

Pure @ Olympia

As I have now been assigned to cosmetic bags, on Monday 20th August 2012, I visited Pure with the soft accessories Buyer from my department, in order to gain an insight into how different Buyers operate at trade shows and what I should be looking for when selecting potential suppliers of cosmetic bags - as trends that appear in soft accessories are likely to cross over into my sector.

I helped to select prints and colours for fashion scarves, approached new suppliers with cosmetic bag opportunities and shadowed the Buyer as she met with her existing vendors.

A collage of a few of the brands that took my interest at Pure

And the Gold goes to...

So, with the Paralympics fast approaching, we are now half way through Great Britain's Olympics.

I look into how the sporting phenomenon has influenced the world of Beauty and Cosmetics.

In their 2012 advertising campaign, P&G pays tribute to mothers and the pivotal roles they play in the development of young athletes.

The  "Thank You Mom" concept created by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, has been running throughout the games, appearing in print, TV and social media.

The add was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, shot on four continents and features local actors and athletes from each location - London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Beijing. It focuses on one mother in each location raising a young athlete and all the work that goes with it.

P&G's advertising campaign for Pantene haircare, highlights the probles athletes face with keeping their hair looking healthy and lucious, making the issue relatable and the advert current, whilst the golden tones reflect the colour every athlete wants to see round their neck.

Following the theme of golden hues and the Olympics comes Baylis & Harding's body wash advertising campaign, featuring the words: "The winning formula - INDULGE and go for gold". 

Though the Olympics are all about the sporting events, you can't help but notice the big fashion and beauty moments too!

The female American gymnasts seemed to take a cue from the red carpet and tried the 'half-messy-half-sleek' do - but how did their tresses stay in place during all of those gravity-defying routines?

The female Russian gymnastics team decorated their slicked-back ponytails with a hefty dose of glitter and sported dramatic winged liner and shimmery eye shadow on their eyes.

The always-stylish Serena Williams added a golden scrunchie to her Saturday look. Will these ’90s hair accessories be making a come back?

Since it wouldn’t make much sense for swimmers to wear makeup, many female swimmers opted for serious designs on their digits instead. Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain paired her bronze medal with Union Jack nails. As it turns out, Minx Nails is on site at the Olympic Village, helping athletes get a little glam before their competitions.

Minx Nails are going for GOLD with the first collection, inspired by all things Olympic! Show your pride and extend your countries flag to your fashion loving fingertips! 

Zara Dampney of the Team GB beach volleyball team also displayed patriotic nail art, as she signalled to team mate Shauna Mullin during their defeat to Italy at Horse Guards parade. [Image from Metro]

Natural Beauty

After my visit to Harrogate's Home & Gift show, I realised the trend for natural bath and body product; especially those that are organic, sulphate and paraben free.

Since then I have investigated to see if the media has picked up on this;  

The above is an article from the METRO [09/08/2012], explaining the importance of moving the bees from Greenwich Park to Covent Garden to ensure their health and well-being while the park plays host to Olympic events.

Our dwindling honeybees aren't just a crucial part of nature, they're at the heart of sensational skincare too. The beauty industry depends on honey and royal jelly, as well as flower, fruit and nut oils from the plants bees pollinate. 

So, in an effort to protect some of these "buzzy friends", the Greenwich bees have a temporary home on the roof of the Melvita flagship store in St Martin's Courtyard, Covent Garden, where the French beauty brand - the country's largest organic certified - already has two hives as part of it's current global conservation project.

Bernard Chevilliant, biologist and bee-keeper says;

"Our knowledge about the effects honey has on the skin and hair, as well as its reparative properties, trace back to ancient times. I was able to look at bees and what they produce with a scientific eye, then see what it was possible to create working with those ingredients that would be beneficial to us without disturbing their ecosystem".

      

Below you'll find several of the Metro's favourite honey-based products out there;

For your FACE we have:

• Korres Thyme Honey 24-H Moisturising Cream - packed with a Greek honey variety. 'Thyme honey is rich in vitamins and amino acids so it nourishes dry skin and attracts and absorbs water' says Lena Korres, co-founder of Korres. [£19, www.lookfantastic.com]
• L'Oreal Age Perfect Intensive Re-Nourish Extraordinary Restoring Serum - utilises sugars and vitamins to boost m0isture levels in dehydrated, ageing skin. [£19.99, www.loreal-paris.co.uk]
• Heaven Bee Venom Eyes - uses bee venom to relax muscles and honey to give skin a firmer appearance. [£55, www.heavenskincare.com]
• Manuka Doctor ApiNourish Rejuvenating Face Mask - boosts blood flow to help repair damaged skin cells. [£49.99, www.hollandandbarrett.com]

and for your BODY...

• Bee Lovely Body Lotion - packed with honey and uplifting orange and mandarin oils. 'Honey is fantastic in bodycare because it's healing and antimicrobial, so really boosts the skin's health' Fran Johnson, formulator for Neal's Yard Remedies. [£21, www.nealsyardremedies.co.uk]
• 24 Hour Milk & Honey Body lotion - Burt's Bees has worked with designer Richard Weston to create a limited edition scarf [£170] and matching packaging for this bestselling product. [£9.99, www.burtsbees.co.uk]
• Apricosma Ultra Nourishing Body Balm - Melvita's blend of acacia, thyme and orange blossom honey melds their best qualities into a strengthening complex. [£22, www.melvita.co.uk]
• Lanolips Golden Ointment - Massage in for irritated patches. [£17.99, www.victoriahealth.com]

[HINT: WHEN IT COMES TO ORGANIC BATH/SHOWER GELS, THE FASTER THE BUBBLE MOVES TO THE TOP WHEN THE BOTTLE IS TIPPED UPSIDE-DOWN, THE BETTER THE QUALITY!]

Home & Gift, Harrogate

My first vendor visit took place at Harrogate's Home&Gift fair on 17th July 2012, where over 1000 hand-selected key exhibitors showcase their brand's new product lines to help buyers stay ahead of the Christmas competition.

We were not necessarily looking for Christmas stock, or even to make deals at all, but instead to informally touch base with current suppliers, talk to vendors who we would like to stock and also to see if there were any interesting new brands that we had not seen before.

It was amazing to see the relationships that the company has formed with vendors, making the show less business and more pleasure.

Below are a few of the brands I saw exhibiting at the show who stood out to me;

HEYLAND & WHITTLE
Heyland &Whittle pride themselves on the fact that everything is hand made using the very best natural ingredients including essential oils, herbs and spices to create a sulphate and paraben free range.
www.heylandandwhittle.co.uk

WILD OLIVE

An emerging new brand that collects the best quality, sustainable ingredients from all over the world and use traditional methods to make wonderful hand-made soaps, candles and body products in Derbyshire.

The product offering provides both practicality, with items such as 'Dog Soap' and a fun quirkiness with 'Bath Tea Bags' and 'Luxury Bath Melts' in the shape of delicious ice-creams.

NO animal products, products tested on animals, sulphates or parabens are used.

www.wild-olive.co.uk

 

SRANROM

Igniting the senses and replenishing the skin, the Harmony range has been specifically created to reconnect the mind and body with the beauty of nature. Using a different magical part of superior Thai herbs and plants, four 100% natural collections work to rebalance, re-energise and restore. 

www.sranrom.co.uk

NATURA LEIGH

This was the last brand we saw of the day and probably my favourite of the show.

Everything about the brand is natural and hand made, designed to blend craft and home fragrance.

Flower buds are used to lovingly decorate the soaps by hand and little gingham ribbons are knotted around the tops of liquid soap bottles, which look like they have come straight out of an Alice in Wonderland "drink me" scene.

Their new collection collates French Chambray fabrics and uses them to wrap the gorgeous soaps so that the scent is able to ooze through the fibres.

www.naturaleigh.co.uk