Stink, Stink, Stink.  I know it’s not the best way to start an article but to be fair Christmas always brings out the kid in me and I really don’t know any other way to put it, but I am really disappointed with the Kirks Christmas store this year.  Seriously it’s the biggest bore I have ever seen and now I need to re-think my whole Christmas decoration strategy for this year. 

You see ever year since the girls were little we have gone to the Kirkcaldies Christmas Shop to buy our decorations for the tree and I have always bought an heirloom piece, you know the ones you have for forever and bring out year after year.  Well that’s all well and good but this year there is nothing in there that I would buy.

Apart from the fact that the place looks like its nearing the end of Christmas not the start, there still isn’t anything that stands out as a ‘must have’ for this year.  Even the girls both commented that there wasn’t as much ‘cool’ stuff as last year.

Christmas as you know is my favourite time of the year and there really are certain things that I look forward to and this was one of them.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, they have stock if you are into building villages with the little character houses that light up then you’re in luck, but at $364 dollars a pop it’s not what I call “good bang for your buck”.

There are some lovely decorations this year but they just seem to be lacking the ‘wow’ pieces that they have had every other year.  What a shame, it looks like I will have to shop around, so I will keep you posted on how I get on.

It’s still always lovely to take the kids to see and don’t forget Santa is there in December, but just don’t go with high expectations.

Keep a look out also for my Christmas List due any day and it will be under it’s own section to make it easy to find.  Happy Christmas shopping everyone.

Location: Harbour City Centre Mezzanine Floor, Lambton Quay, Wellington.

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  We had the party at the weekend, the one with 20 eleven year olds making a pizza as a competition and what comes with eleven year old parties?  Yes, you guessed it, balloons.  Loads and loads of balloons and no we can’t doing anything normal in our house so out comes the compressor to blow the balloons up.  Smart aren’t we, not so smart though when we picked it back up off the floor and realised we had managed to put black grease marks over my carpet.  Stink.

So my very clever Mother suggested I try Cavalier Bremworth Carpet Stain Remover, so I picked some up today at the supermarket and to be fair I wasn’t overly confident as the marks were quite bad.

But I have good news, it worked and worked really well.  The stains are completely gone and what’s even better it was a walk in the park.  Follow the instructions which is spray it on, wait till it dries white and vacuum off, it’s as easy as that.

Pick up a can when you are next at the supermarket as it’s really handy to have, you never know when you are going to need it.  To be fair I haven’t tried it on red wine stains and aren’t keen to test it either for the sake of research but should I get a stain by accident then I’ll keep you posted.  There is also a wet stain remover but I haven’t tried that one, if it’s as good as the Dry Stain Remover then that will be worth having on hand in case of emergencies as well.

It’s a four out of five for me as I haven’t done the red wine stain test.

Available:All supermarkets                         Price:$8.28                                             

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  I am firm believer in moving on when you have been through a stressful time in your life, we under estimate what stress does to our bodies and I, like everyone, just always push on without thinking about it.

So how do we deal with it?  Should we try to heal ourselves?  I have always subscribed to the thought that dis-ease can cause disease.  Not a nice thought really but from all my research stress really does play a big part in our everyday health.

So I decided to go and give Reiki a try as it’s supposed to be a very healing type of touch, yes I know it all sounds a little vague and interestingly enough that’s exactly what it is, a little vague.

You lie down on a massage table and the Therapist places their hands on you to heal, balance and strengthen the body.

What is Reiki, well this is it as simply as I can describe it:

Anyone can do Reiki.

Switches on automatically.

Sensation felt in the hands when using Reiki, usually a heat or tingling feeling.

Flows according to demand or problem.

Reiki is not a belief system, religion or cult but purely an energy science.

Reiki does not run out.

Reiki is the same in both hands.

Reiki flow and results are not affected by the health of the practitioner.

Reiki works on plants and animals and even food.

One can treat oneself with Reiki.

Reiki always treats at the root cause level of Disease or Disharmony.

Reiki is complimentary to all other healing systems including meditation.

There are no harmful side effects from Reiki, it is 100% safe.

Improves overall Quality of Life.So did it work?  Well this is where it gets tricky for me because I have absolutely no idea, seriously none.  To be honest I really didn’t feel that much heat like they say you should and don’t feel any different.  They also claim that you will be calmer as a result, well it didn’t stop me getting grumpy at the kids when they took ages to go to bed. 

It gets a 1 out of 5 for me as it was a nice rest but at $70 a pop probably not that worth it as you can always have a rest on your own bed at home for free.  Who knows, maybe I have done a good thing and my energy and balance have been restored but I guess that is the problem, we just don’t know.

Available:Massage Therapists will say if they do it as you need to be trained

Price:$70 approx as it will vary form each Therapist

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  Last week I told you about my vibrating Mascara mistake and promised you that I had alternative.  Well I do and the best part about this Mascara is that it fits into the ‘I Spy the Best Buy’ category as well.

About a year ago I decided to give the L’Oreal Beauty Tubes Mascara a go, largely due to the fact that I liked the idea of having the primer which preps the eyes and then applying the top coat of Mascara.  I have used a primer before in the past with huge success and really wanted to have that Hollywood eye look again.  Come on now, we are all entitled to dream and even if we wont make it to the red carpet, we can still have the eyes.

This Mascara is fantastic, once you get over the shock of removing it at the end of the day, it truly is one of the best I have ever used.  Now I mentioned the removal of it, because there is of course an art to this and by me telling you, you will avoid the shock I got.  The reason being is that when it comes off it does so in chunks and at first you do think that you a loosing all your eyelashes.   This is not the case because by putting on the primer you are actually coating the lashes which is what gives them the full pop out look. 

When you are removing the Mascara you need to soak a cotton pad, wait for a minute and then it will just melt off the eye, easy as that.  Better still if you can remove it in the shower it’s even better.  It really does just come off with warm water and there is virtually no smudging.

What really makes this Mascara a star in my book is the fact that it doesn’t move all day and even when we are really naughty and don’t take it off at night it doesn’t move , you can get up in the morning and it still looks good.  Not that I recommend that of course.

It is really like having false eyelashes on but without the hassle of putting them on.

Now my last tip is that once you have put the primer on apply your Mascara straight away before it has a chance to dry,  it’s much easier to get the Mascara onto the lashes while it’s wet and easier to put them into place.

It’s gets a whopping 5 out of 5 stars for me because of how good it is and also the price.  It’s funny I have gone away to try various new ones as they come onto the market and always return to this one.  Well worth it.

Available :all L’Oreal stockists                          Price:$

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  I had to try it, a vibrating Mascara, how cool is that?! Given that it is supposed to be the best Mascara on the market, hey, why should the price matter, it’s a minor detail really.  Well it’s not so minor when what you have bought turns out to be a big disappointment.

I love new gadgets and I was really excited about trying the Lancome Oscillating Mascara, they claim that with the vibrating brush and the smooth formula that it wraps every lash up to 360 degrees.  You are supposed to see a fascinating gaze as lashes are to appear extended, really?  The only thing I saw extended was my overdraft after what I had paid for it and as for the fascinating gaze to be fair it was more of a ‘oh stink, this is a mess gaze’, followed by the ‘oh, this was a dumb buy gaze’. 

Now they do say that the formula is one that you can layer until you get as much as you need on the lash, and yes this is true, you can do that, so that is one good point about it.  But what I will say is that this isn’t a huge amount of use as it seems to keep going on in the middle of my lash and not on the tips where I really needed it.

I did however discover that if you apply a coat without using the Oscillating button it was a bit better, but really that kind of defeats the purpose now doesn’t it.  I really don’t think I have ever made such a damn mess of putting my Mascara on and you would think that I was new to this.

What I do think is that maybe after some time you may get the hang of how to use this Mascara and should you find anywhere in the instruction manual on how to drive it, you may find that helps.  It’s is all just too hard for me because it requires you to take lots of time and accuracy to get it right.  Personally I haven’t got the time to spend working this out and just want to put my Mascara on and go about my day.

This is of course at great sacrifice to myself telling you this as no doubt once my husband  reads this, there wont be any ‘fascinating gaze’, just the the you wasted money frown.

Available: at Lancome counters in all major Departments stores and Pharmacies

Price:$79.00

So check in tomorrow and I will will tell you all about my favourite one and as luck would have it, is half the price, so you can buy two for the price of one.

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   Not only is Pink my favourite colour as you probably know, whenever possible I always leap at the chance to support anything to do with Breast Cancer Awareness.  So October is Breast Cancer Action Month and Dove launched their Limited Edition PINK Body Wash in support of it.

It looks fantastic in the lovely pink bottle, but the best part of it is that it smells fantastic too and true to Doves form it feels amazing when you are using it.  I just picked it up a the supermarket which makes it all that much easier and currently on special at New World for $4.99 a bottle.  Not bad at all. 

They claim that it’s mild, soap-free and will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth and guess what, it does just that.

There is also a spray and a roll on Deodorant and the signature Dove Beauty Bar but in pink.  I haven’t used any of those due to the fact I prefer a Body Wash to the soap bar and I already have my favourite deodorant, but the Body Wash has definitely been a big hit with me.

Available: All Supermarkets                                         Price:$4.99

So don’t be slow in jumping on the bandwagon, get your pink cardis out of the wardrobe, buy your pink Body Wash and support The Breast Cancer Foundation this month.  To find out how you can do more and what’s happening around New Zealand go to www.nzbfc.org.nz  for all the latest info.

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  We’ve all seen the image of an oasis in the desert, the lush green foliage in a sea of desert sands. That is just what it was like when I arrived at Triton Drive in Albany. In front of me was an oasis for outlet stores amongst the drab grey commercial buildings. It was also a refreshing change after fighting the crowds at the Onehunga Dress Smart, an altogether more civilised shopping experience.

There is a good quality collection of stores with a good range of stock along with the expected discount prices. Although we were only there for a couple of hours we probably bought more than in the whole afternoon at Dress Smart. We found some great bargains at Ice Breaker, my daughter loves her new socks and top. We also found a great wallet at the Rip Curl store fo my daughter about half price and there were lots of other great bargains if we had more time.

By far my favourite shop was Citta Design Store , I just love browsing through the shop getting inspiration from their designer homewares. It is even better when it is at outlet store prices. I used the opportunity to make a start on my Christmas shopping and probably would have bought even more had my husband not looked so stressed at the sight of the growing pile on the counter.

With outlet stores like those in Triton Drive it makes me wonder why people would shop anywhere else. If you are in the area, be sure to pop in for a look.

Triton Drive Outlet Stores:
- Citta Design
- Federation
- Ice Breaker
- Rip Curl
- Billabong
- Soccer Scene.

North Shore: Unit E 7 Triton Drive, Albany (off Rosedale road) Open 7 days 10 – 4pm

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   It’s not often that I get overwhelmed shopping - lets face it they don’t call me the Shopping Queen for nothing and yes all the stories are mostly true - but today was definitely a first for me, even if it was only temporary.

We decided, in our infinite wisdom whilst on holiday in Auckland, visiting Dress Smart at Onehunga Mall on the middle weekend and when it was really raining outside, was a good idea.  Well it seemed like such a good way to spend an afternoon, until we got there.  Why should we assume that half of Auckland didn’t have the same idea, come on, really, they can go anytime.   Why today?

Our first experience of ‘How to go shopping in the most stressful way’ was entering the car park.  You see there seems to be no rules at peak times, it appears you can park anywhere, you don’t have to give way to your right and even if you see a car park first it doesn’t automatically guarantee it’s yours.  Note to self, need to swat up on car park rules at peak times.

So once that was out of the way we proceeded to wait politely at the elevator and arrived on the top floor, as the doors opened I don’t think I could believe my eyes.  Everybody was there and they seemed to have brought their friends too.  I was paralysed, couldn’t work out which direction was best to go in as there didn’t seem to be much room anywhere.

The walkway between the rows of stores isn’t very wide so three people and a couple of their friends can make it look busy, the shape of the Mall is the most confusing I have ever seen and there is a huge degree of what’s a bargain and what’s not.  I mean the Max store  had everything under $50.00, yet the Cue store apart from the rack down the back could have been in Newmarket, the prices weren’t low at all.

All this aside, if you block all the people out and focus which I did there are some really good bargains to be found.  We bought a Wetsuit from the Ripcurl shop which I have been looking for, a fantastic Puma jacket below half price and my husband actually bought a new suit.  Wow I know, didn’t we do well and we came away very pleased with our purchases saying yes we would definitely go again.

www.dress-smart.co.nz  has all the information you need, there is a free bus service from the city Monday to Friday and the timetable and locations are on the website.

151 Arthur Street, Onehunga, Auckland.
PHONE 09 622 2400

Directions

From Southern Motorway
Take Greenlane East exit. Turn into Greenlane Rd. Left into Great
South Rd. Right into Campbell Rd for approx 2Km. Left into
Onehunga Mall Rd. Left at roundabout into Arthur St.

Public Transport Guide
Phone Maxx 09 366 6400
www.maxx.co.nz

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With Christmas fast approaching, this would be a great time time to make this one of your stops on Thursday.  It’s a perfect opportunity to grab a couple of bargains for Christmas presents.

This is a good place to shop for basics, like glassware, dinner sets, cookware, a great collection of outdoor plastics, etc.

Remember One Day Only Nationwide Thursday 1 October.

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Who doesn’t love a bargain?  We all do and especially this year when we are all trying to make our dollars stretch that little bit further, it’s great to find a place where you know you are getting a good deal.

Well I have found this really cool site called 1 day sale where everyday you get an email telling you what the special for the day is and you do have to be in quick as it really is for one day only. 

These really are good deals, for example today’s special is Sarah Jessica Parker Perfume TODAY ONLY $34.99 normally $79.95 saving $44.00. 

Also today only an 8 piece container set $15.99 normally $33.99 saving $17.00.  Everyday there is a different products on special and it is a huge range.  There has been sleeping bags, all sorts of clothing, mens’ boxer underpants, Canterbury shirts, a 12Inch LCD TV, oh and one of my favourites was the Leapfrog Tag Reading system.

So the list is endless and you never know what you are going to get each day, the discounts are huge.  With Xmas coming up it’s well worth keeping your eye out for a great gift idea, at a fraction of the normal cost.

www.1-day.co.nz   to sign up now for your daily emails.

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