Never-Ending Summer

Stay shining year round, by treating your skin and hair to an Australian infusion

Pawpaw lip balm may be Australia’s most recommended beauty export, but it’s far from being the only thing worth bringing home. From simple items to more sophisticated choices, what Australia does best beauty-wise is easy and effective products that are in tune with our own active, outdoor lifestyle.

This ranges from advanced natural skincare from the likes of Jurlique, Grown and Aesop, to makeup that speaks to a fresh-faced luminous look (try Becca and Nude by Nature) and innovates (Inika and Modelco), to clever cosmeceuticals (Aspect Dr, Ultraceuticals) and superior suncare (from Invisible Zinc to Le Tan) that help deal with the strong sun Down Under.

With so much to choose from, we’ve focused in for our product picks on holidayfriendly items to have your body, face and hair prepped for a winter escape to Queensland’s warmer shores. Step out looking your Aussie beach-babe best. — Janetta Mackay

1. Go To Exfoliating Swipeys $51

These clever single use pads gently wipe away facial grime and dead skin cells, for a fast turnaround to a fresh face. They’re also so easy to pack. Visit Gotoskincare.com

2. Sukin Ultra Hydrating Body Oil $28.99

Sukin is a great “no nasties” skincare buy, priced for everyday use. This pick offers intense hydration from plant oils and can also be used for massage or in the bath. From Farmers and selected pharmacies and health stores.

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3. Frank Body Limited Edition Shimmer Scrub $24

Frank’s original pack of coffee scrub has been a hit from day one, now it has been infused with glow dust for added attraction. Visit Meccabeauty.co.nz

4. Kevin Murphy Hair Resort Spray $49

Australia is home to a number of innovative hair brands, of which stylist Kevin Murphy’s is best known internationally and notable for its use of Australian botanicals. This nonaerosol spray gives “day at the beach hair” in a weightless way. (Other hair brands of note are O&M and Eleven.) Salon stockists ph 0800 273 966.

5. Aesop Sun Care Body Duet $83

This body lotion and body gel duo will have your skin bathed and balmed to look its silkiest. If you’re in Brisbane, check out Aesop’s striking James St store interior. In Auckland, the brand is available from its Osborne St, Newmarket store.

6. Grown Alchemist Purifying Body Exfoliant $39

The uplifting fragrance will do to your mood what the botanical and pearl bioactives will do to your body, leaving it clean, calm and ready to soak up some moisturiser or self-tan. From Superette stores, visit Grownalchemist.com

7. De Lorenzo The Ends $26.90

This standout product from another Australian hair company contains bilberry extract. This helps smooth flyaway ends, or seal them if sun or heat-tool damage has started to cause splits in the shaft. Salon stockists ph (07) 847 8350.

YOUR GIF T

Purchase two Shiseido products, one to be a Shiseido Foundation, and receive your FREE^ Glow Enhancing Primer valued at over $64

^Offer available from 22nd May to 12th June 2017, while stocks last. 1 gift per customer. Offer available instore only, not available online. Qualifying purchase to be made in a single transaction and excludes tools, empty cases, promotional packs, Concentrate Range and Moisture Mist. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. Gift valued by Shiseido based on RRP of full sized products.

Aesop’s James St store, Brisbane. Picture / Supplied

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6 7 ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR

Four things our Australian cousins do rather well that we recommend you check out when across the Tasman

CELEBRITY BEAUTY

From Miranda Kerr’s Kora natural skincare range launched in 2011 to Lara Worthington’s The Base tanning and face and body products, Australian models aren’t backward at coming forward in marketing their assets. Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins focuses on the body beautiful with her JBronze range and these days, Elle Macpherson looks from the outside in, with her The Super Elixir, a supplement of greens you can add to your daily smoothie. Jess Hart makes Luma, a natural cosmetics range for a luminous look and singer Natalie Imbruglia’s Iluka skincare uses all-natural Australian ingredients.

INDIGENOUS EXTRACTS

Expect to hear more about kakadu plum, lilly pilly, bilberries, lemon myrtle and other Australian botanical ingredients finding favour with skincare makers. The diverse Australian landscape, ranging from coastal to rainforest and arid outback is home to hardy plants with special properties. Not to mention kanuka, whose similarities with manuka mean New Zealand is far from being the only nation looking to a liquid gold rush.

SPA INDULGENCE

Retreats are big business and the Gold Coast is home to a number including, in its hinterland, the renowned Gwinganna Health Retreat. If you can’t afford the time — or the money — for the full immersion experience, then a dayspa visit is a good holiday option. There’s plenty to choose from, including Endota, which takes its name from an indigenous word for “beautiful” and has branches in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

SHOPPING CHOICE

From a big variety of international brands at Sephora and Mecca, a wide department store offering in David Jones and Myer, to bagging a bargain in price-competitive pharmacy chains Priceline and the Chemist Warehouse and variety stores, forgetting to pack something in your holiday toilet bag is no big deal in this market. Rather, it makes for a good chance to shop about and stock up. As with any destination, we reckon trying local is the best bet.

upplied / S tur es Pic

MAKING THE CUT

Suits aren’t what they used to be. And that’s a good thing, according to Matt Jensen, founder of Australian menswear label M.J. Bale. Gone are the heavily padded shoulders and pants cut loose to accommodate movement. Instead, there’s a move towards what Jensen calls the “deconstructed shoulder”, a stripped-back, more mobile profile, and pants that are increasingly streamlined thanks to new techniques in weaving that create a “natural stretch”.

It’s all to do with the fact that we love our sport. “Aussie and Kiwi builds are reasonably athletic and that’s a bit different to some other cultures,” Jensen explains. “In Europe, people don’t go to the gym as much as guys down here do. That athleticism and

A love of sport and a love of fashion don’t need to be mutually exclusive, says the head of a modern Down Under suiting brand

that need for functional movement, that’s the driver of the structure in our suits.”

Jensen himself (the ‘M.J.’ in M.J. Bale) is pretty much the embodiment of the modern Southern Man.

Raised on a family sheep farm in Yass, NSW, he moved to Sydney for university, then took off to London for his OE, where he worked in financial services by day and played rugby at the weekend. His passion for good clothes — from a sharp suit, to stylish post-game kit — evolved into a desire to combine his business nous with his background in wool-growing, so eventually he returned home to start his own menswear business. Today, just eight years after its launch, M.J. Bale has 50 outlets across Australia and New Zealand. Despite our long-standing cross-Tasman sporting rivalry, Jensen doesn’t think there’s much difference between us when it comes to fashion. “Culturally, New Zealand and Australia are not far removed from each other,” he says. “When I lived in the UK, all the Aussies and Kiwis mingled together in a sea of Brits. There are points of difference between us, however, there’s a lot of commonality, too. ”

And while Kiwi men may not be racing to embrace the light-coloured suits favoured by dapper Queensland gents, they’re less conservative than they used to be. Flamboyant patterns, like those favoured by New York menswear designer Thom Browne (who Jensen has consulted for) might still be a step too far, but the M.J. Bale suit collection offers gentle encouragement away from the ever-popular black, with fine plaid patterning and a range of appealing blue and grey tones on offer.

The collision of streetwear and tailoring, along with the development of tech-driven tailoring, such as waterproof wool and bonded fabrics, is creating an exciting new landscape in menswear, says Jensen. “The suit is still really important, but what is interesting is the use of technology through different fabrics and fibres coming into the tailoring space. I think it’s great for the customer, as they can wear great, functional clothing that also has a good aesthetic to it.” He names Nike and Adidas as sportswear brands that are moving up into the tailoring space, providing impetus for tailoring brands to respond by integrating sportswear functionality into their designs.

“We have a couple of suits in our line that are 100 per cent wool, and they have an engineered stretch woven into the cloth that enhances the movement. That’s been really popular,” he says. M.J. Bale tuxedos, in particular, are designed for freedom of movement, because, as Jensen puts it, “Every time you go to a tuxedo event, you should be having a dance at the end!”

Construction is only half the story of a great suit, however, with the quality of the fabric and weaving being just as important. Jensen is passionate about supporting artisan woolgrowers, sourcing superfine Merino wool from New Zealand and Australia, which is woven in Italy, and in the case of the brand’s toptier Collection suits, finished in Japan by a “sartorial samurai” based in Iwate Prefecture.

Recently, the company formed a partnership with a farm in Tasmania, to create their first collection of suits with a single-source origin. The Kingston Collection features 16.2 micron wool sourced exclusively from the fourth-generation Kingston station. “Wool, like coffee or certain wines is mostly blended, which is why we’re interested in the single-source product,” Jensen explains. “You have different characteristics at different micron levels. Wool from Tasmania differs compared to New England, or compared to Canterbury. They’re all suited for different purposes — one might be better for fine suiting, another one would be better for a more robust jacket.”

It’s an arrangement that works for both grower and label — M.J. Bale secures a source for a high-quality raw natural fibre, the farm gains a secure client, and a percentage of the sale of every suit is returned to the farm to be reinvested into protecting the station’s natural biodiversity.

All this attention to detail doesn’t mean that the suits are out of reach price-wise. M.J. Bale’s key customer is a “25-year-old university graduate, starting out in what’s probably a professional job — a guy who likes clothing and dressing up.”

Starting at around $469 for a jacket and $229 for a trouser, the options work their way up into the mid-$1600s for a full Collection suit. “We also have a lot of older clients, who care about what they wear and spend a bit of time travelling. We have an internal phrase where we’re building products of integrity for men of character. It’s about providing a wardrobe solution for guys, and using great natural fibres and raw materials to do that.”

If anything proves the brand’s ability to cater successfully to a wide spectrum of clients, it’s the fact that they’re the official suitmaker to the Auckland Blues. “You do cover the cross-section of the community of build in a rugby team — the tall guys, the more muscular, physical guys, the athletic guys in the back,” says Jensen. “If we can fit rugby teams, we can probably fit most people.” • M.J. Bale has stores on Shortland St, Auckland CBD, and in Westfield Shopping Centre, Newmarket.