Sunday, February 24, 2013

Love Vintage Wedding Fair





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The Love Vintage Wedding Fair is an essential for true romantics, vintage lovers or anyone who is hoping to add a little extra love to their special day. The fair brings together specialist suppliers to present an impressive and extensive array of gowns, cakes and accessories, amongst a myriad of other special items, set to inspire and invigorate. Talented makeup artists will also be available to provide their expert advice on how to achieve the unique and beautiful look that every bride craves.

Whether you're after that bespoke vintage gown, a beautiful antique barrette or you need to find your 'something old,' the fair is the place for you.

If inspiration is what you're looking for, the fair delivers. It delves into past and explores the historial bride, taking you in a trip through an unforgettable display of gowns, that will leave you in awe at the intricate designs and antique flare. Curated by experts from the Cavalcade of History & Fashion, the display provides an enriching cultural experience only available at the fair. If you have not yet a clear idea of a wedding dress design, undoubtedly you will leave energised and enveloped with ideas.

For those brides to be, wedding guests, or those simply searching for event day inspiration, to miss out on the Love Vintage Wedding Fair would be a sin. The one of a kind event will leave you gasping onto the sweet nostalgia intertwined into the intricate stitching of every garment and the electric atmosphere the fair brings with it, providing all the tools and advice to make your special day perfect.

Admission:
Adults $14
Aged & Disabled Pensioners $12
Children (10 - 16 years) $7
Children under 10 free.

Tickets available at the door or online at www.lovevintage.com.au

Sydney
March 15 - 17, 2013
Horden Pavillion, EQ Moore Park

Brisbane
April 5 - 7, 2013
Brisbane Exhibition Centre, South Bank

Melbourne
May 17 - 19, 2013
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens

Sunday, February 17, 2013

BEAUTY and the BRIDE


As we all know your wedding day is one of the biggest day of a woman's life, with so much planning all going in to just one day the pressure is on to look good!  

So here a few little beauty tips, to help you look and feel great on your special day. With all the planning that is involved things can get hectic and stressful, one thing that can really suffer under those conditions is your skin. From your skin feeling tired and dull to even worse breakouts, but never fear ladies help is at hand. Treating yourself to a couple of facials before your big day will ensure that not only your skin will look good but will clear away any stress and give you a bit of time to relax,one of my favourite facials which will guarantee a youthful, radiant glow is Guinot's Beaute Neuve, it combines a double peeling action using AHAs and a unique vitamin C mask especially for that healthy glow. 

Guinot is a french skincare brand which is always at the forefront with the latest in technology and is widely used in Europe, it is slowly creeping in to Australia and we are more than happy to start using these fabulous products. 

Having a course of three these facials will leave your skin looking at its best so start about a month before hand to get top results. 

We've got the skin covered now on to the make up, remember you are going to be the centre of attention and in lots of pictures, so its important to make sure make up is well applied, will last all day and most of all suits you. 

Most brides opt for the natural look, but this doesn't have to mean hardly any make up. It is very important to have a trail make up done before hand, have this done when your going to be out and about and having pictures taken, something like a birthday is an ideal event. This is good as you want to get peoples reaction and not only that but seeing yourself in the pictures afterwards will give you a clear indication on whether you like it or not. At least then if you feel there is to much or to little make up applied there is plenty of time to make changes. 

Our make up artist can do up to 20+ wedding a year and are very experienced so you'll always be in safe hands, take pictures along of any make up that you have seen and liked to help give an idea when trailing a make up artist! 

And then last but not least, the hands, as you'll probably be aware of from being engaged one of the first questions  are ''well show me the ring?!'' and what is the ring attached to one of your fingers! So make sure that you have a manicure before the big day as you ll be getting another ring and no doubt everyone will want to see it. 

If your nails are in a little bit of need of more than just a manicure there are a wide range of nail enhancements around to polish up those nails and make them look great so there are no excuses. Get yourself booked in today! Ask your Beauty professional for anymore help and advise and I'm sure we'll be happy to help.

Stephanie Powell 

Senior Beauty Therapist
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Monday, February 4, 2013

Jewellery Valuations


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Are you planning to get married? Engaged? When you are considering purchasing any jewellery there are some things you should consider and be aware of before you invest large sums of money.

Always ask for an Independent Jewellery Valuation. It is your right as a consumer to insist upon a valuation from an independent valuer (not associated with the store)

Ask for any certificates that come with the stones (ie diamonds). Not all certificates meet Australian standards.

A valuation will provide you with the following information and should be accompanied by a photograph of the item. It will be signed and sealed with the Valuer’s registration number.

A valuation is a legal document and in the case of Insurance it covers Retail Replacement Value.

What is a Valuation?

A typical jewellery or fine arts valuation involves examining each item to assess the quality and arrive at a value judgement based on current market conditions. While two items may appear identical to the untrained eye, each has qualities that can effect the final valuation.

A valuation should cover the following:
1.     Diamond Grading:
Characteristics known as the 4C’s. Clarity, Colour and Cut (proportion) are the quality elements which together with the Carat Weight determine the value of a stone. While clarity is frequently assumed to be the most important factor of the 4C’s, in fact, colour and cut (especially cut) have a more profound effect on the visual appearance of a diamond.
2.     Carat Weight:Carat is the unit of weight for all gemstones. One carat is subdivided into 100 ‘points’. Therefore a diamond measuring 75 points is 3/4 carat in weight, or 0.75ct. There are five carats in a gram.
3.     Clarity:
A diamond’s clarity is determined by the number, nature, position, size and colour of internal characteristics called ‘inclusions’ and surface features called ‘blemishes’. These irregularities occurred in the liquid magma (volcanic rock) within which the diamond was created. Diamonds are mostly pure carbon, however, during crystallization other minerals nearby, or even other bits of carbon forming more quickly, may have become trapped within the cooling mass. 
These show themselves as the various characteristics which make up the clarity of a diamond (included crystals, feathers, clouds etc). Clarity is measured on a scale ranging from pure (flawless) to heavily included (I-3). The clarity of a diamond is graded by using 10X magnification under good lighting by an experienced grader. The final clarity grade is usually determined by how easy the inclusions and blemishes are for the grader to see. 
4.     Colour:
Ideally, a diamond should have no colour at all. Increasing degrees of body colour are measured on a scale ranging from no colour at all (D) to deeply coloured (Z). Beyond ‘Z’ is the range where the diamond's colour is vivid and rich, called ‘fancy colours’.
5.     Cut:
Cut, sometimes the forgotten ‘C’, ensures that a given stone has maximum brilliance and sparkle which would not be the case were the stone cut for weight alone. Simply put, when looking at a diamond, if it doesn't catch your eye or if it doesn't flash in the light, it's probably not well cut.
Myles Barnett FGAA, is a gemmologist, registered jewellery valuer, and the Pricipal of Platinum Diagnostics. Myles is also a committee member of the National Council of Jewellery Valuers (NCJV), SA Division.
www.platinumdiagnostics.com.au