Retail Therapy: Market to market

Sale St bar. Photo / Supplied

A market with a twist is set to launch this weekend, with art, fashion, food, jewellery, interiors and much more on display, inside Auckland's Sale St bar. The market, called EPIPHANYdesignstore@SALE ST, will operate on Saturdays and Sundays between 9am and 3pm with live music, and food and coffee while you peruse the stalls. The market is a venture between Sale St owner Luke Dallow and EPIPHANYdesignstore partners Brendon Poole and Travis Standen, who saw a gap in the market for a luxury European-style market in the city. Visit the markets this weekend at 7 Sale St, Freemans Bay.

Project New York

Registrations are now open for the The Newmarket Young Fashion Designer Awards, a talent search for young fashion designers aged between 15 and 18. Up for grabs is the chance to win a trip to New York Fashion Week to work backstage at Karen Walker's show, with $1000 spending money, a 12-month scholarship at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design and a two-week design internship at Taylor.

Registration details and more information about the awards, launched by the Newmarket Business Association, can be found at www.newmarket.co.nz. Registration closes June 15.

World of style

Attention stylish men of Auckland: World have opened a new menswear store. The boutique is directly opposite their World Deluxe store just off High St, and features the World Man collection as well as lots of quirky accessories and tidbits.

Saving the sea

Monday is World Ocean Day and to do something to help protect the underwater environment which yields rich algal extracts for its cult beauty products, La Mer is giving all the proceeds of a specially packaged jar of its moisturising cream to Oceana. This leading advocacy group works to prevent over-fishing and pollution and has a who's who of supporters from Bill Clinton to Dustin Hoffman, Sting and a horde of Hollywood celebs. They can certainly afford La Mer, but if you're forking out for it, doing so during June will ensure the profits of the limited edition giant 250ml jar - which sells for $1500 - will go to a good cause.

Shore side

Phoenix Cosmetics has set up shop in Takapuna. The homegrown makeup range developed by young makeup artist Phoenix Renata is already sold from a signature pink-themed salon in Kingsland and is now available at 106 Hurstmere Rd, offering makeovers, special occasion looks, makeup lessons and brow and lash services.

Shampoo season

New shampoos are being launched faster than we can keep up with at the moment, but a couple stand out for people with particularly vexing problems. Redken Hair Advance Scalp Revive range is targeted at those men and women troubled by hair loss, so if your locks are thinning this might be worth checking out. Another professional salon product is the extended Kerastase Oleo Slim range, which deals to coarse, dry, unmanageable hair that needs smoothing down.

RoC'ing it

French company RoC has launched an illuminating foundation to add to its skincare range. The light-reflecting formula helps draw attention away from fine lines, while providing a nice light coverage, with nourishing anti-oxidants. In fair and golden shades, Retin-Ox Illuminateur costs $63 from leading pharmacies.

Kanye digs NZ

In case you didn't know, Kanye West has a blog that he (or one of his lackeys) updates frequently with news and random things about design, fashion, art, music and much more. The influential blog has recently had a bit of a Kiwi flavour, with mention of Karen Walker Eyewear as well a post on Max's latest campaign for online store, MaxShop.com. Check out the blog - and maybe keep an eye out for more Kiwi mentions - at www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog.

Wino style

Amy Winehouse seems to be better known for her antics and lifestyle than her music at the moment, but she's about to add another facet to her brand - fashion designer. The troubled singer is reportedly set to design a capsule range with London-based label PPQ, featuring pieces in homage to Winehouse's signature look. Her style has already had a big influence over fashion, with models at a recent Chanel show made up in towering beehives and eyeflicks and British shoe designer Jonathan Kelsey designing a shoe in her honour. Expect lots of pencil skirts, little floral dresses and towering heels.