Retail therapy: Sera's new store

Jean Paul Gaultier. Photo / Supplied

Fashion designer Sera Lilly has opened a bigger and better boutique, just around the corner from her old one on Ponsonby Rd. The pretty new store is located in the old Workshop Outlet store, with a bridal boutique upstairs and retail space on the ground floor which will sell Sera Lilly as well as Kagi jewellery, Ecoya candles and House of Holland for Pretty Polly tights. Sera Lilly, 2 Williamson Ave, Ponsonby, ph (09) 360 6994.

Treat yourself

Couples treatments are becoming a spa staple; if you haven't tried one yet, then Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to team up for a facial, pedicure or relaxing massage together. A number of spas and salons are offering good deals. We like that Isis in Newmarket has a purpose designed couples room where you and your partner can lie side by side on two tables while two therapists indulge you both in a full-body massage or a signature facial for $160. The spa's gift vouchers are valid for six months and its Valentine's Wish List at $59 offers a choice of a facial, massage, pedicure or mini-manicure. Ph 522-5419. www.isisspa.co.nz.

Recorded romance

As an incentive to shoppers, Jean-Paul Gaultier is offering one of the most innovative gift with purchases around. It's a combined photo frame, voice recorder that lets the giver record (and re-record as need be) a message that plays when the container is opened. Very tinny. Yours to keep with the purchase of two JPG products at department stores and leading pharmacies.

Shine on

Mystery is new to O.P.I's Designer Series of nail polishes. It contains diamond dust for added sparkle so if he isn't going to put a ring on it, how about you just lift a finger instead. The rose-gold Glow is another new colour being added to the 10-strong range which retails at $38.

Gift time

The Za skincare and makeup range offers a young clientele effective yet affordable options. It's made by Shiseido and right now has a cute-as-a-button offer to buy a cute little refillable foundation compact with a holographic-effect Love Me inscribed on to it. Free while stocks last with the purchase of any Za Two-Way or True White foundation refill. Refills $17 and $18. (Stockists Ph 0800 744 734 from Farmers and selected department stores.)

Mascara mania

The trend for ever bigger, ever stranger mascara brushes, shows no signs of abating, with more unusual offerings hitting shelves. But perhaps the biggest news is the arrival at mass market of the vibrating, battery powered wand which caused a stir when Estee Lauder and Lancome launched their prestige versions around 12 months ago. Now Maybelline has its Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara out for less than half the price at $29.99.

New also is

Covergirl's Lash Blast Length, with a fine tapered brush that delivers well-swept lashes that don't smudge. The oddest mascara is L'Oreal's Telescopic Explosion Brush, which is a round, toilet brush-type of a thing, that, while fiddly, does coat hard-to-get to corner lashes - but not in the three strokes and you're out style most favour. Another oddball is Clinique's green "willow" wand on the High Lengths Mascara about to hit shops. Its curve follows the shape of the eyes and its fine teeth pick little lashes out effectively. Another curved brush is the much more substantial Lancome Hypnose Drama.

If you're confused, the guide is fat brushes for volume and fine brushes for definition. Some are cunningly contrived with combs of both types, making what was once a simple shop now a major mission.

Tried and true

Trilogy is celebrating independent research by an Australian laboratory that showed its certified organic rosehip oil really does improve the appearance of stretch marks and scars. Research has also found that the Trilogy oil improved skin moisture and smoothness and reduced the appearance of wrinkles. Just a few drops of oil can be massaged into skin each day. www.trilogyproducts.com.

Zap away

Napoleon Perdis has also spoken out in favour of digital retouching, after recent controversies about models being made unrealistic. He says that, judiciously used, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of digital wizardry, but one dubious category is mascara advertising. "I have to pause when I see a model with lashes so preternatural they protrude like the tendrils of a plant." Perdis told the Huffington Post that, like concealer, retouching is just another tool in the makeup artist's kit. "When a model arrives to a shoot with a bad breakout, as happened recently in Los Angeles, do I humiliate her and send her packing? Or adjust her skin in post-production? The latter, of course."

Do you have any El Jay?

An important part of New Zealand's fashion history is set to be celebrated with an exhibition in June - and the organisers need your help.

Designer turned curator Doris de Pont is working towards exhibiting the work of Gus Fisher and his fashion label El Jay, which held the exclusive licence to manufacture and sell Christian Dior in New Zealand and helped shape our early fashion landscape. "Gus Fisher is particularly significant [to our history] because he bought a European sensibility to New Zealand, and introduced elegance, really," explains de Pont. She has sourced some El Jay and

Christian Dior by El Jay pieces from various museums around the country, but is also interested in finding garments housed in private collections. El Jay produced pieces for more than 50 years, so de Pont says the diversity of styles will be great. "The garments could be anything from a 1950s cocktail dress to a 1980s Ultra suede suit.

"I'm interested in all because the diversity of styles over 50 years is what makes the El Jay output such a fascinating historical record of the way we wore ... But it would be a real coup to turn up the one particular coat that Gus Fisher remembers as being very special. It was a black wool barathea swing coat, cut in panels with sunray pleated taffeta lining which I think showed when you moved," explains de Pont. "It would be lovely if it did turn up, or someone had a photo."

If you have an El Jay or Christian Dior by El Jay piece, photos, clippings or an El Jay related story that you would consider offering for inclusion in the exhibition, phone Doris de Pont on 021 680 860, or email el.jay@dorisdepont.com.