Christmas Sorted for Travel Bugs with All-Natural Travel Kits

Australia’s largest health retailer Healthy Life has revealed its top health and wellness gifts for Christmas this year, including some handy travel kits so travellers don't have to compromise on quality organic and natural skin care while travelling.

If you're looking for any inspiration for Christmas gift guides, here are a couple of nifty travel kits which would make great stocking stuffers for friends or family with the travel bug or who travel a lot for work.



$19.95 – Give the gift of soft, supple skin with a MooGoo Christmas Gift Pack containing five natural skincare products including Cream Deodorant, Milk Wash, Udder Cream, lip balm and leave-in conditioner. The magic of MooGoo makes this pack a great gift for anyone with skin problems or sensitive skin and with all the products under 100ml, it's a handy traveller's kit. Available in Healthy Life stores.



$29.95 – For anyone who wants a few less wrinkles for Christmas, Jojoba Co’s Ultimate Age-Defying Trial Kit is the ultimate gift. The pack includes Ultimate Jojoba Youth Potion (15ml), which can enhance skin texture while maintaining glowing skin, a tube of Ultimate Night Cream (20ml), which can reduce fine lines, deep vertical wrinkles and skin roughness, Jojoba Bead Facial Cleanser (20ml), Hydrating Day Cream (20ml) and Lemon & Coconut Hand Cream. For hydrating, anti-aging on the go, this kit is the perfect travel companion, especially on long plane journeys. Available in Healthy Life stores.

For more information or to find your nearest store visit healthylife.com.au

Banyan Tree new Sun Care Range

 

 

 

Featuring an oxybenzone-free sunscreen

Award-winning hospitality group Banyan Tree launches its first sun care range, adding to its newly reformulated line of bath and body products. The Coconut and Seaweed collection, featuring its namesake ingredients, is specially formulated for tropical climates, designed to soothe and protect the skin before and after sun exposure.

The Coconut and Seaweed collection consists of five products with its initial launch, with the highlight being an oxybenzone-free sunscreen lotion. Graded SPF 50 and PA++, it shields skin from both UVA and UVB rays. The other products in the collection include a shower gel, body scrub, body gel and body oil.

The coconut, well-loved for its wide-ranging benefits and aromatic fragrance, is fast-becoming the wellness sector's favourite tropical fruit. All five products from the collection feature organic cold-pressed virgin coconut oil as a key ingredient, with desiccated coconut and coconut shell serving as natural exfoliators in the body scrub. The nutrient-rich fruit, along with the extract of Jania Rubens, a type of red seaweed prized for its ultra-moisturising and restorative properties, combine to provide nature's best for a day of fun in the sun.

The introduction of the oxybenzone-free Coconut and Seaweed Sunscreen reaffirms Banyan Tree's reputation as a socially and environmentally conscious business. Oxybenzone, a chemical that blocks the effects of the sun from the skin, has been found to contribute to coral reef bleaching and has recently been banned by the state of Hawaii in an effort to protect its oceans. With 40 beach resorts around the world and three marine laboratories across its properties, Banyan Tree actively engages in marine conservation through coral reef planting and turtle conservation initiatives.

Banyan Tree's Coconut and Seaweed collection has a 97.5% average of natural ingredients, with both the Coconut and Seaweed Body Scrub and the Coconut and Seaweed Body Oil being 100% natural. This reinforces the hotel group's commitment to inspire a lifestyle interwoven with wellness, with products that are both good for the earth and the community. Along with the rest of Banyan Tree's reformulated products, the Coconut and Seaweed collection is free from parabens, sulfates and colouring agents. On top of that, the collection is also free from artificial fragrance, being naturally scented with peppermint essential oil.

For more information on Banyan Tree's Coconut and Seaweed collection or to purchase it, along with the rest of its bath, body and aromatherapy products, visit www.essentials.banyantree.com.

Kirsten Clemens to represent Myer Fashions on the Field in 2018

The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) and Myer have officially announced model Kirsten Clemens as the 2018 Myer Fashions on the Field Ambassador.

Kirsten is a familiar face on the Melbourne fashion scene, having moved to the city four years ago after a stint modelling in Paris and Milan.

The 25-year-old said she is delighted to be able to combine her love of fashion and racing as the new face of the popular Myer Fashions on the Field competition.

"When I first moved to Melbourne I was lucky enough to shoot with champion jockey Damien Oliver, the Melbourne Cup and Melbourne Cup-winning horse Brew," she said.

"I've dreamt of having an official role with the Club ever since, so I am thrilled to be representing the VRC and Myer this year!"

Kirsten grew up on a sheep and cropping station two hours east of Perth, where her love for horses began.

"I wouldn't stop bugging Dad about getting a pony, and one day I got off the school bus and there was an adorable pony named Rosie," Kirsten said.

Kirsten has been riding from an early age and has fond memories of helping her Dad muster sheep on the farm, with her love of horses continuing today through her own horse, Elliot.

Kirsten now calls Geelong home, where she lives with her fiancé, Geelong footballer Rhys Stanley, and their six-month-old son Jagger.

VRC Executive General Manager Customer Engagement Caroline Ralphsmith said Kirsten is the perfect choice for the Myer Fashions on the Field Ambassador role this year.

"We are delighted to announce Kirsten as this year's Ambassador to represent the prestigious competition at Flemington," Ms Ralphsmith said.

"Kirsten brings a wealth of style and substance to the role, having worked in the fashion industry for many years."

As Myer Fashions on the Field Ambassador Kirsten will step out in some of the season's best spring racewear looks from Myer, styled by Official Stylist for the VRC Elliot Garnaut.

"For me, Flemington is as much about fashion as it is about horse racing. Racegoers have always exuded elegance, whether they're in the Birdcage, on the lawn or in the new Club Stand," Elliot said.

"I am thrilled to be working with Kirsten this year for Myer Fashions on the Field. The opportunity allows me to work with some absolutely amazing Aussie racewear designers including Acler, Maticevski and Elliatt. I've always been vocal in my passion for Australian design talent so to be able to work closely with the VRC and Myer really is the dream!

"One must never forget the importance of millinery to finish a raceday look. Melbourne is home to so many breathtakingly talented milliners such as Kerrie Stanley, Kim Fletcher and Lady of Leisure. These milliners won't ladies shan't be forgotten when putting the cherry atop the cake of the perfect spring racing look."

Kirsten's first official appearance will be at Flemington on Wednesday 12 September for the annual Myer Spring Fashion Lunch.

In its 57th year, Myer Fashions on the Field entices hundreds of fashion hopefuls to enter the categories of Women's Racewear, incorporating state winners from the national digital competition; Men's Racewear, proving that fashion is not just for the ladies; the newly reinvented Emerging Designer Award providing the ultimate launching pad for aspiring new talent; and the Millinery Award competitions.

Flemington's popular fashion, food and entertainment destination The Park will host Myer Fashions on the Field during the Melbourne Cup Carnival:

·        AAMI Victoria Derby Day, Saturday 3 November – Women's Racewear Heats and Daily Final; Men's Racewear Heats and Daily Final.

·        Lexus Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday 6 November – Women's Racewear Heats and Daily Final; Mens Racewear Heats, Daily Final and Victorian Final; Emerging Designer Award Final.

·        Kennedy Oaks Day, Thursday 8 November – Women's Racewear Heats, Daily Final, and Victorian Final; Millinery Award and Women's Racewear National Final.

The 2018 Myer Fashions on the Field competition offers one of Australia's richest prize pools, with the Women's Racewear National Final winner receiving over $115,000 worth of prizes. This includes a brand new Lexus, a $49,500 Kennedy timepiece, a $6,000 Myer gift card, Antler luggage and a TCL Entertainment package.

Fashion hopefuls can pre-register online for this year's competition at flemington.com.au/MyerFOTF

@FlemingtonVRC @Myer #MyerFOTF #MelbCupCarnival

FACTFULNESS: The must-read book on facts in a post-truth world, featured on Barack Obama's list of summer reads

"Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases."

– Barack Obama

 

 

A timely, short and essential book about the power of facts in a post-truth world, by late international sensation Hans Rosling ('a true inspiration' - Bill Gates).

Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think 

When you ask people simple questions about global trends, they systematically get the answers wrong. How many young women go to school? What's the average life expectancy across the world? What will the global population will be in 2050? Do the majority of people live in rich or poor countries?

In FACTFULNESS, Hans Rosling and his two lifelong collaborators, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling-Rönnlund, show why this happens. Based on a lifetime's work promoting a fact-based worldview, they reveal the ten dramatic instincts, and the key preconceptions, that lead to us consistently misunderstanding how the world really works.

Inspiring and revelatory, FACTFULNESS is a book of stories by a late legend, for anyone who wants to really understand the world.

Hans Rosling was a medical doctor, professor of international health and renowned public educator. He was an adviser to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and co-founded Médecins sans Frontières in Sweden and the Gapminder Foundation. His TED talks have been viewed more than 35 million times, and he was listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Hans died in 2017, having devoted the last years of his life to writing this book.

Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans's son and daughter-in-law, were co-founders of the Gapminder Foundation, and Ola its director from 2005 to 2007 and from 2010 to the present day. After Google acquired the bubble-chart tool called Trendalyzer, invented and designed by Anna and Ola, Ola became head of Google's Public Data Team and Anna the team's senior user experience (UX) designer. They have both received international awards for their work.

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Do kangaroos roam the streets in Australia?

Wes, yes. Actually, they do. This seen in Canberra, the nation's capital.

Quite likely this event a result of harsh drought conditions currently being experienced across much of New South Wales.

Much debate has ensued about whether kangaroos should be culled in this area. What do you think?

New book: Turning the tide on plastic

How Humanity (And You) Can Make Our Globe Clean Again


Lucy Siegle

An accessible, practical and ultimately inspiring book that not only serves as a much-needed call to arms to end the plastic pandemic, but gives useful tools on how to make meaningful change in our everyday lives and advice on how to demand long-lasting action.

• Enough plastic is thrown away every year to circle the world 4 times
• More than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year
• 300 million tonnes of new plastic is produced every year
• An estimated 15-51 trillion pieces of plastic now litter the world's oceans
• 38.5 million plastic bottles are used every day in the UK
• A million plastic bottles are used per minute around the world
• 500 million plastic straws are used per year

Without big action, at the current rate, pieces of plastic will outnumber fish in the ocean by 2050. That is the legacy we are leaving our children and grandchildren.

Plastic flows into our lives from every direction and most of it is not recycled. Instead, it is incinerated or ends up in landfill, where it will sit for hundreds of years, or enters the world's seas where it fragments into tiny pieces to become microplastics - the environmental scourge of our times.

Many of us had assumed that governments, brands and waste authorities were dealing with plastic on our behalf. But the impact of shows such as Blue Planet along with national beach cleans and high-profile campaigns have resulted in a collective wake-up call. If there were plans and strategies, they have not worked as we imagined. It would be easy to feel despondent but instead we need to turn our anger and emotion into action, starting by making a big dent in our own enormous consumption.

Turning the tide on Plastic is here just in time. Journalist, broadcaster and eco-lifestyle expert Lucy Siegle provides a powerful call to arms to end the plastic pandemic along with the tools we need to make decisive change. It is a clear-eyed, authoritative and accessible guide to help us to take decisive and effective personal action.

Because this matters. When it comes to single-use plastics, we are habitual users, reaching out for plastic water bottles, disposable coffee cups, plastic straws and carrier bags multiple times a day. If only 12 of us adopt Lucy's 'reduce, rethink, refill, refuse' approach, we could potentially ditch 3K-15K single items of plastic in a year. When we consider our power as influencers - whether at school, the hairdressers, at work or on the bus - we suddenly become part of something significant.

So now is the time to speak up, take action and demand the change you want to see in the ocean, in the supermarket aisles and on the streets. It's time to turn the tide on plastic, and this book will show you how.

Once Upon a time in Suburbia

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me, For Menzies was in the Parliament in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance and waited for our Prince,
Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me. Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me,Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice. We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Tarzan was a loner whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Aeroplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.


And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.
And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.
And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.
T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.
And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.
There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.
And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancients were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.
But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Those who didn't grow up in the fifties have missed the greatest time in history,