I ADORE THIS PRODUCT!!!!

I cannot believe what a difference this had made to my skin, so much so that the hubby asked if I was having secret botox!  

After a very long days work I took my car to the garage and right across the road is a new Spa, ATAAHUA, so I decided I was going to have a relaxing facial whilst the beetle was getting its warrent. The service in Ataahua was impeccable and the young woman, Hannah, was a complete delight, she didn't need to do any hard selling, I was completely sold on the Antipodes organic skin range she used on me and went back the next day to purchase it all!!!!  The compliments are flooding in and I can actually notice a difference, my skin feels more hydrated and plumped, so much so that I reckon any day now I am going to get asked for I.D when I purchase my next bottle of bubbles.

I am personal makeup and hair artist to Evangeline Lilly (Lead elf on Hobbit), she is the biggest fan of organic products so this is going to be the next product I'm going to get her to use. Watch this space, I reckon she is going to fall in LOVE!

Check out below the yum stuff in this wee jar of magic, I reckon its a miracle worker

NATURAL Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream

Nature's anti-ageing by night, beautiful skin by day.
There's no better way to resurrect your skin than with the superior restorative qualities of 100% pure avocado oil. This facial night cream also features calendula oil from marigold petals highly regarded throughout history for its healing and repairing properties. Active manuka honey soothes and moistens your skin. Potent antioxidant Vinanza Grape helps neutralize free radical damage.
"I LOVE this product."

I would love to hear anyones feed back on this product or any of their others, i am truly sold!

Hils x

A beautiful transformation for Patsy's 70th birthday

This is just such a lovely transformation that our talented Ange did for Patsy Mckee's 70th birthday.  I wanted to share with you the pics because I think you will agree, she just looks stunning!

This pic is before Patsy's makeup and hairstyle

Here's the birthday girl looking totally stunning.  Nice job Ange

APPLYING EYELINER

The Different Types of Liner

You can use an eyeliner pencil, a liquid liner or an eyeliner brush dipped into a deep shadow to line eyes. If you use a pencil, set the line with eyeshadow because penciled lines tend to melt and won't stay put all day.

How to Apply Liquid Eyeliner

Too apply liquid eyeliner, line the eye from the inside of the lashes outward in one big sweep. You can also line the eye from the middle of the lash line outward, then finish the line from the inner corner of the eye to the middle.

Another liquid eyeliner trick requires a steady hand and will make eyes appear wider.

• Start with a completely bare eye.
• On the upper lashes, dot the liquid liner into the spaces between the lashes, wiggling the liner into the lashes. The result is not supposed to be a line. It's supposed to look as if the lashes themselves are super thick at the root.
• Apply mascara.
• Compare eye to other naked eye.

The Basic "I'm Off to Work or the Weekend" Eye

This is the perfect work or weekend look for women who want their eyes to "pop" without giving off the appearance of a woman who's really, really into makeup, so into makeup she has this site bookmarked in her Web favorites.

The key to the basic eye is to apply with a light hand. The basic eye is all about appearing natural so consider a deep brown (versus black) eyeliner if you have light hair.

• Holding the skin of your upper lid taut, trace the upper lashes from the inside of the eye with a pencil, or an eyeliner brush dipped in a dark eyeshadow. For a more dramatic look, make the outside line a bit thicker than the inside and extend it just beyond the lash line. Another shape I love is narrow at inner corners, thicker in the middle and swept up a bit at the outer edge.
• Once the line is set, trace over it with a liquid liner. Hand unsteady? Keep your elbow on a table. (You can skip this step, but it will hold the eyeliner longer if you include it).
• Set liner with an eyeshadow.
• Apply eyeshadow or an eye pencil to lower lashes. I like to use a different color on the bottom lash line, one that brings out the blue in my eyes. Apply a deep-hued eyeshadow or pencil along the bottom lashes from the outside in. Unless you have wide-set eyes, don't line the entire lower lid. Instead, stop halfway across. If you're using a pencil, smudge the line with a cotton tip or clean brush, so it looks more natural.

Neal from Westpac backing our brand!

Our lovely Ange talking with Neal from Westpac Lower Hutt. Neal thinks our product, Hil Cook Solution buds, is genius and is happy to back our brand.

Thanks Westpac for the lovely evening you put on for all of the finalists in the Chamber of Commerce business awards (we are a finalist). It was a superb evening and we met some wonderful people. :)

Special thanks to the late night Westpac team that shared pizza and laughs with us :) See you all at the awards night.

"Westpac fresh" - backing Solution buds

We got to meet the very cool team from Westpac Lower Hutt last night at the Chamber of Commerce Business awards, meet and greet. Feature rolls went to Rob, Miles and Matt.

Thanks for the fun night and backing our Hil Cook Solution Buds. You Guys ROCK!!!

PS: Make sure our table is near yours at the awards :)

LONG THICK LASHES, YES PLEASE!

We want it all when it comes to mascara. We want eyelashes that are long, thick and have extreme volume. The following mascara tips will give you the ultimate eyelashes

These simple mascara tips can give you long, thick, voluminous eyelashes that last all day every day.

1. Curl The crimper curlers are the most popular. Remember, you can never, never, never use these once you have applyed mascara. Otherwise you could do one of two things, chop your eyelashes off or pull them out. Either way, not good! The best way to use this kind of a curler is to get as close to the eyelash line as you can, crimp and count to five slowly. Move the curler out just slightly and crimp again, move with the angle of the eyelashes. Depending on the length of your lashes, do repeatedly until you have curled all the way out. Most people can do this 2-3 times.
2. Define the line "Pushing" black eye shadow into the line of the eyelashes will create an illusion of thicker lashes. 
3. For Thicker Eyelashes Holding your mascara in a horizontal position, apply your mascara at the base of the eyelash line and "wiggle" your brush all the way up to the top of the lashes.
4. For Longer Eyelashes Hold your brush in a vertical position, apply your mascara pulling the brush up, this will feel odd at first but it defintely works. ***Side note, if you need thicker and longer eyelashes, alternate steps 3 and 4, doing multiple coats. Just remember to take a minute and let the mascara dry inbetween so you don't have one big cakey mess!
5. Comb A lot of inexpensive brush sets come with a plastic lash comb. Do yourself a favor, throw it away and find yourself a metal comb. This will straighten out any mascara mess you may have gotten yourself into. Like the commerical says, you don't want tarantula leg eyelashes!
6. Curl those babies one more time! For this step you will need a very awesome tool, a battery operated heated eyelash curler. They are awesome! I love the one from a company called Japonesque.

OMG out of 925 ideas we have two in the top 11 !!!!

OMG WE ARE IN THE TOP 11 FOR THE BRIGHT IDEAS CHALLENGE. Look at our awesome email we have just reiceved!

Dear Hil,

Congratulations! Your business plan entry for your Bright Idea was of a very high standard. It demonstrated excellent commercial potential, originality, possibility of successful execution, ability to be implemented from Wellington and clarity of presentation.

You are amongst a small group of people that we are inviting directly to the next stage of the Bright Ideas Challenge. There are 11 ideas going directly to the next stage. Another 10-20 may go to the next stage, pending an assessment.
This means you could receive the $25,000 seed funding as well as other support. Last year, over $1,000,000 in support was received by the Bright Ideas with the greatest commercial potential.

Cath Randall
Business Growth Programme Manager
Grow Wellington Ltd

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP!!!!! 

Ange Duncan and myself have worked blood sweat and tears to get this far and it was worth every hour of sleep lost!

Thanks Ange, love you xx

Ange's fab work for Ashley Fogal

Hi and sorry it has been sooooo long, things have been pretty crazy at the Hobbit and Weta ahhhh!
 My actress Evangeline Lilly, has just gone back to Canada for a break from filming so we have lots of other projects lined up for the next 6 weeks, including lovely weddings :).  I will endeavour to do a bit more blogging while she is away and keep you lot in the loop with what our team are doing while I have a little less gruelling hours.

Anyhow, I thought I would show you a great pic of Anges latest hair and makeup work for Ashely Fogal's latest look book.  I'm sure you will agree that she has done yet again another superb job for our team :)

Check in, in a day or two and I will finally be able to catch you all up with whats been happening, but until then, Chow
Hils x

Hair and makeup for Ashley Fogal shoot by Ange Duncan