Retail therapy: Taste it

Bestow Beauty Oil. Photo / Supplied

Edible cosmetics are the latest beauty industry idea to get you spending on your interior as well as exterior. Skin supplements are being added to a number of cosmeceutical ranges. Unlike popping pills, one new product we've spotted that does have a direct dietary use is Bestow Beauty Oil. It can be used for cooking, as a dressing or an addition to smoothies or cereals. It contains essential fatty acids which are good for health and skin condition. The product comes with a recipe handout and costs $33.50. To find out more see bestowbeauty.com.

Melbourne Cup Fashion

Where will the most fabulous people be next Tuesday? At Ellerslie Racecourse for the Nicolas Feuillatte Melbourne Cup Day celebrations. And if you dress to impress with radiant style and catch the eye of the roving judges, including Viva editor Amanda Linnell, you'll have a chance to win the Nicolas Feuillatte Melbourne Cup Style Award.

The eight most stylish men and women spotted on the day will be invited to take part in a trackside fashion show. The Best Dressed Man and Woman will receive a fantastic Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne prize pack and more. The winners will also qualify directly for the finals of the Mercedes Prix de Fashion, held during Auckland Cup Week in March, which has a $100,000 prize package - but you'll need to be at Ellerslie on November 2 to be in to win. For further information and details on tickets, visit the Ellerslie Facebook fan page - search Ellerslie Races.

Calendar girls

This has to be the 2012 calendar of the year: 12 gorgeous Great Barrier Island women, aged from 45 and up, showing off all their natural assets (well almost all) in a fundraising calendar.

Top fashion photographer Jackie Meiring has captured this bevy of beauties in a range of delightful poses. The aim: to raise $50,000 so the local playcentre can upgrade its facilities. We love this celebration of the female form in all its glorious guises. You will too. To buy a $20 copy of the calendar ph Karin Thurig (09) 4290 656, email Karin@offshorehomes.co.nz or sandy@max.co.nz.

Mount markets

If you're heading to the Mount this summer, make sure to visit the newly established Big Little Markets. The Saturday morning markets, located next to Zespri on the corner of Matai St and Maunganui Rd, will feature new and emerging creative talent as well as a range of vintage clothing, jewellery, art and craft. Mt Maunganui businesswomen Kelly Barriball, from online store Gran's Loose Change, and Rachelle Duffy from Idiom Boutique, launched the markets after being inspired by those in Bondi and Glebe, and see it as a way of showcasing the area's burgeoning creative scene.

"There are so many local designers and creatives hidden within the Mount and we wanted to create somewhere to showcase all the amazing product and design that comes from our beachside town," says Duffy. The first markets are on November 6 (and fortnightly after that), with confirmed stallholders including Gran's Loose Change, Idiom, Neverland Collective, Nyne and Riddle Me This. If you're a creative and interested in a stall, email hello@gransloosechange.co.nz or idiom@vodafone.co.nz.

Superette in Wellington

Auckland boutique Superette is heading to the capital, opening a new store in early November.

The Victoria St boutique will stock Superette's existing labels including Sass and Bide, Camilla and Marc, Lover and Stolen Girlfriends Club, as well as some new brands.

Face time

Signing up famous faces to promote brands is par for the course, with L'Oreal continuing to hoover up half the planet's actresses as spokesmodels, the latest being Rachel Weisz, who starred in Peter Jackson's movie The Lovely Bones.

Closer to home, Olay has secured former Silver Fern Adine Wilson to front for its Total Effects Moisturiser with SPF15 in Australasian marketing campaigns. The company sponsored the pre-Commonwealth Games netball tri-series when New Zealand, Australia and Jamaica took to the court and has also signed up some of the Australian Diamonds team to represent it. Wilson says as a busy mother of two she was drawn to the brand because of its multiple skincare benefits and convenience.

Australian accessories company Orton has scored something of a coup in getting top model and Lancome face Daria Werbowy on board for their spring-summer campaign. Werbowy holds the record for opening and closing the most runway shows in a season, and is a favourite with the likes of Prada, Louis Vuitton and Yves St Laurent.

Play time

Pandora fans get another chance to play at jewellery maker with the brand's launch of self-assemble earrings, following on from its popular bead bracelets and necklaces and a watch collection with change-out straps and surrounds. Choose silver or gold earring hooks, then interchange stones and pendants from the new Compose Earrings collection. See pandora.net

Ahead of the game

Bettjeman's salon team has had a big month, with its staff, including apprentice Stephanie Winters, picking up several hair awards. The Orakei salon was named the country's best at the Hairdressing Industry Awards.

Meanwhile, 22 finalists from across the country have been chosen for next year's L'Oréal Colour Trophy Awards, with staff from Auckland salons figuring strongly. The bi-annual event is one of the industry's biggest and a special guest at the live final in April will be leading French stylist Laurent Decreton. Supreme Award nominees for the title of New Zealand Hairdresser of the Year are: Ami Walker, Me, Takapuna; Armie Aninion, Servilles, Takapuna; Jacqui Anderson, Servilles, Mission Bay; Janic Leech, Servilles, Albany; Lauralee Nolan, Me, Ponsonby; Lisa Maxwell, Venom, Invercargill; Rochelle Collins, Ainsleys Hair Design, Remuera; Terri Chin, Servilles, Newmarket.

Next month the winners of another of the big awards, Wella Trend Vision, will travel to Paris for the world final. Competing will be twice-in-a-row national winner Mana Dave of Blaze, Newmarket and young talent winner Kylie Hayes of Dunedin.