KEY POINTS:
Luxury doesn't always have to come at a price ... but even if it does sting the credit card, the pain can be eased by the simple thrill of finding a brilliant lipstick.
1. Antipodes Jubilation Ultra Nourishing Body Cream
$45 for 200ml
It's the richness of the
cream that makes this feel so decadent ... that and the glass jar. This New Zealand company has combined avocado oil, Kiwi seed, feijoa and wild blackcurrant to make a nourishing body cream full of omega, 3, 6 and 9 and vitamins A, C and E.
From selected department stores, pharmacies and health stores.
2. Lancome Renergie Morpholift R.A.R.E SPF15
$165 for 50ml
R.A.R.E (pronounced rah in French) is the turbo-charged effect of the fabulous Renergie Morpholift Repositioning moisturiser. There's a magnificent long-winded scientific explanation as to why this is even better - "thousands of micro tensing actions" apparently - but what anyone buying it cares about most is that skin feels immediately smoother, and after four weeks "wrinkles look visibly reduced and contours appear lifted".
From selected department stores and pharmacies.
3. La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift Cream
$530 for 20ml
La Prairie's acclaimed Caviar Collection (yes, caviar is fed to the skin in these preparations) is 20 years old and to celebrate, the Swiss company has come up with this multi-tasking treatment to treat the seven signs of ageing around the eyes. Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity, puffiness and dark under-eye circles are addressed with more special complexes (four of them), peptides, and re-densifiers than you ever thought you could get in a single cream. And if you're feeling sceptical, wait until you use the stuff. It's addictive, and it's an expensive habit.
From Smith & Caughey's.
4. M.A.C Queen's Sin Lipstick
$38
An absolute honey of a colour, this is from the Antiquitease colour story, inspired by the ornate excess of antiquity. It's an intense red with a red pearl frost. Reds can often appear a little threatening, but this has a soft, vulnerable look about it.
From Smith & Caughey's and M.A.C Chancery and St Lukes.
5. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Solid Parfum
$225 for 8g
Chanel didn't invent luxury - it just feels that way. This has the pedigree, the impeccable limited edition white and gold magnetic compact with mirror and comes with a white leather pouch. Mademoiselle is the 2001 update of Coco, an Oriental hit, with an amber accord to the orange, bergamot, lychee, rose, jasmine, patchouli and vanilla, so the effect becomes fresher, more voluptuous and modern. And with Keira Knightley as the face of the fragrance, this has youth on its side while keeping the essential Chanel credo of understated elegance intact. Utterly divine.
From selected department stores and pharmacies.