An afternoon of fun, fashion, beauty innovations, great food and excellent wine was the perfect way to spend a wintery afternoon at Bracu Estate. Just 40 minutes from downtown Auckland, this stunning venue is set in a Italian-inspired olive grove, where you could be a world away on a winter’s afternoon. Our fabulous guests spent four hours in our company with great friends and colleagues, sipping Champagne and the latest wines from Hawkes Bay vineyard Trinity Hill and enjoying a menu to complement. Check out all the action from our recent BeautyEQ Long Lunch in a secluded olive grow in Bombay Hills, says editor Trudi Brewer.

Menu & wines

With a glass of Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut on arrival, our guest also got to taste some of the best Hawkes Bay wines from Trinity Hill. Perhaps the prettiest wine label we have shared is the Trinity Hill Emma Rosé 2023, a collaboration with New Zealand artist Emma Bass. The rosé features aromas of fresh violets intermingled with rose petals, bursting with intense fresh red fruits, plums, and spice. It's the ideal winter rose. For Chardonnay fans, this Trinity Hill white is a typical fresh, aromatic quality you would expect from a Hawke's Bay Chardonnay. It has hints of ripe stone fruit and citrus with creamy roasted nuts. Finally, the spicy Trinity Hill Syrah was the perfect complement to match the menu. Known as a fruit-dominant, complex wine thanks to blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry notes. Once blended with toasty oak, it’s a succulent red to eat with a medium rare eye fillet. The menu matched meticulously with the wines, to start house olive oil and olives with warm Focaccia bread, followed by seared eye fillet beef, roasted onion jus potato gratin, baby carrot, broccolini and crispy leek and seasonal vegetables on the side. The sweet treat to follow was a Lemoncello cheesecake with berry compote cookie crumbs and house-made vanilla ice cream.

Beauty

AERIN BEAUTY

An ‘ode to florals’, AERIN Beauty debuted at our Long Lunch with three distinctive scent families within the exquisite fragrances. Fresh florals, refined, warm florals and textured florals.
A range that takes you on a journey to long-lasting, universally wearable scents with iconic stone lids and beautiful gold hardware. The brand, founded by Aerin Lauder (yes, she is the granddaughter of the late Estée Lauder), Aerin’s scents appeal to anyone who wants a distinctive signature scent or likes to layer their perfume to create a bespoke blend unique to them. The collection showcases the most precious ingredients: rose, jasmine, honeysuckle, peony, violet, amber, and musk. Each fragrance wraps you in a beautiful aroma that lasts for hours - and every perfume is a nod to Aerin’s travels and memories of a life surrounded by beauty in a family of strong, independent women.

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Life Pharmacy

Lips were a focus for our first mid-winter beauty panel, where Life Pharmacy partnered with some of their top makeup brands to share the latest looks and fresh trends from Clarins, Lancòme and Shiseido. From the delicious Clarins Lip Comfort Oils to the nourishing Clarins Lip Perfector Glow to Shiseido’s TechnSatin Gel Lipstick with unique stretch-flex technology, similar to a mesh in that it weightlessly wraps lips in a long-lasting, cushion-like texture. Finally, a hydrating, long-wearing matte finish from Lancôme Absolu Rouge Intimatte combines a soft matte effect with the comfort of leaving your lips bare, leaving an effortless matte finish on the lips that stays for hours. Our panel shared these skincare-inspired lip finishes with tips on finding a new winter lip colour for any age and style. This pop-up beauty bar was busy all afternoon, sharing the latest sheer shades from pinks to shimmery reds and flattering nudes.

Schwarzkopf Professional

Most of us aim for healthy-looking, shiny hair; if we have colour, we want it to look natural. The latest salon innovation from Schwarzkopf Professional is new, ZERO AMM. An ammonia-free permanent colour that not only adds gloss to the hair but also covers grey and can bring a fashion edge to your colour while eliminating that nasty odour familiar during the colouring process. Stylist Joanne Plant from Exile Hair Design was backstage with our models, creating our runway looks, including performing a colour service before our event on one model, while sharing advice from the dry-styling bar on a new colour that is both kind on the hair and the planet. Zero AMM is sustainable and ammonia-free and can be tailored to suit any hair type, texture and style, leaving an ultra-vibrant colour result and beautiful shine.

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Tailor Skincare

Not only New Zealand-made, Tailor Skincare is up for the Clean & Conscious Awards in 2024. It’s a simple, concise skincare collection that encourages you to Buy less, Buy Tailor. The heroes in the collection include our editor’s favourite, Restore Melatonin Nurturing Night Balm. Ultra creamy, it’s stacked with a natural hormone that regulates the body's night, day and sleep-wake cycles. Along with red seaweed extract and liquorice root, it helps brighten the skin while you sleep. The newly renovated Gold Dust Brightening Treatment Powder was also on show. A blend of skin-brightening vitamin C and the potent antioxidant coenzyme Q10 (COQ10) in a powder form you can mix with a serum or a moisturiser to give your skin an enviable glow for a special occasion or to give the skin a much-needed brightening boost over winter.

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Fashion

the first fashion show

For a brand that has been trading for 144 years, the fashion offering at Smith & Caughey's Queen Street store is better than ever. Our style director, Louise Hilsz, spent a day on the fashion floor curating these stunning shows using fashion from local designers to the exclusive selection at Miss Smith's Closet. Both shows offered a look for every occasion and every guest.

Look 1: Ralph Lauren sequin polo, track pant and bomber jacket. Gucci sunglasses. Kathryn Wilson sneakers. Look 2: Ralph Lauren sequin dress. Marc Jacobs bag. Kathryn Wilson boots. Look 3: Tommy Hilfiger dress. Deadly Ponies bag. Look 4: Tommy Hilfiger jeans, knit and jacket. Chaos & Harmony mules.

Look 1: Rue de Femme puffer jacket, top and pants. Chaos & Harmony loafers. Look 2: Lollys Laundry jacket and pants. Gucci sunglasses. Kathryn Wilson sneakers. Look 3: Karen Walker jacket, blouse and pants. Gucci sunglasses. Chaos & Harmony boots. Look 4: Kate Sylvester dress and knit. Chloe sunglasses. Chaos & Harmony boots.

Look 1: Friend Of Audrey dress. Deadly Ponies bag. Look 2: Shona Joy blazer, vest and pants. Chaos & Harmony heels. Look 3: Lollys Laundry coat, knit and pants. Look 4: Lollys Laundry dress. Kathryn Wilson heels.

Look 1: Gerry Weber coat, shirt and pants. Kathryn Wilson heels. Look 2: Gerry Weber dress and blazer. Kathryn Wilson boots. Look 3: Ted Baker mesh top, blazer and pants. Look 4: Ted Baker shirt and skirt.

The Fashion finale

Look 1: Leo Lin dress. Kathryn Wilson heels. Look 2: Leo Lin dress. Kathryn Wilson heels. Deadly Ponies bag.. Look 3: Cras dress. Kathryn Wilson heels. Look 4: Cras dress. Kathryn Wilson heels. Deadly Ponies bag.

Look 1: Caitlin Crisp dress. Marc Jacobs bag. Look 2: Caitlin Crisp jacket and skirt. Chaos & Harmony boots. Look 3: Trelise Cooper dress and coat. Chaos & Harmony heels. Marc Jacobs bag.Look 4: Trelise Cooper dress. Kathryn Wilson heels.

Look 1: Leo Lin dress. Deadly Ponies bag. Kathryn Wilson heels. Look 2: Leo Lin dress. Ted Baker mesh top. Marc Jacobs bag. Kathryn Wilson heels. Look 3: Marella skirt. Karen by Simonsen Look 4: Gestuz dress. Kathryn Wilson heels. Marc Jacobs bag.

Look 1: Marella dress. Look 2: Karen by Simonsen Bustier, jacket and pants. Look 3: Gestuz top and skirt. Look 4: Gestuz dress.

Our guests

The ideal winter venue, Bracu Estate, is a world away from the hustle and bustle of our busy city. Our wonderful guests travelled through torrential rain to spend four hours in our company. From the corporate tables to life-long friends, this was the perfect way to spend a rainy wintery day, taking time out of their busy schedules, at one of Auckland's most tranquil venues, Bracu Estate. We hope you enjoyed the afternoon - we can't wait to host you again soon.