TREAT YO’SELF
CLASSIC WATCHES, HEIRLOOM-STATUS BAGS, ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME MEALS…
This is your guide to the purchases that are worth spending your hard-earned cash on.
1 THE DREAM BAG
There’s actual, numerical proof that an Hermès Birkin bag is a better investment than gold. According to online marketplace Baghunter, between 1980 and 2015 the annual return on a Birkin was 14.2 per cent, compared to the stock market at 8.7 per cent and gold’s -1.5 per cent. Get thee to a waitlist. Birkin bag, $12,645, Hermès, (02) 9287 3200
2 SKIN-BOOSTING LIGHT THERAPY
Facials are great, but with so many quality masks available for DIY Netflixand-peel sessions, it’s a better investment to visit the pros for laser therapy instead – it’ll boost your skin using wavelengths that you couldn’t (and shouldn’t) pull off at home. Crystal Patel, owner of ClinicaLase, says laser genesis light therapy is a “great all-rounder” to reverse the signs of ageing. “It heats skin tissue to 42 degrees to treat redness and pigmentation while also stimulating collagen remodelling.” There’s no downtime and the pain is next to nothing. Laser genesis light therapy, from $400, Clinica-lase, clinicalase.com.au
3 A DECENT HAIRCUT
Forking out a few hundred for a next-level wash-and-wear haircut means more hits of the snooze button, less messy topknots (because you’ll never be “not feeling it”) and fewer awkward run-ins with ex-hairdressers you’ve never returned to.
4 The boots that’ll last two lifetimes
RM Williams’ Australian-made, handcrafted leather boots are designed to get better with age, but if you’re working yours harder than Alexa Chung on an NYC shopping spree, there’s a full repair service where the bootmakers will redress the leather upper, replace the elastics and tugs, and resole them in two to four weeks (or 72 hours for an extra $35). Millicent boots, $545, RM Williams, rmwilliams.com.au
5 GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE
What’s better than chocolate? Basically nothing. But chocolate without the bloodsugar spike (aka made from vegan, organic ingredients with no refined sugar, and produced using minimal heat) comes close. Worth it to avoid the guilt spiral alone. Raw Cacao chocolate bar, $6.90, Pana Chocolate, panachocolate.com
6 A STATUS BIKE
The sport and luxury worlds have increasingly been colliding of late, so the recent acquisition of Italian high-end bicycle manufacturer Pinarello by luxury group LVMH (the company behind Dior, Céline and Givenchy) makes total sense. The brand is all quintessential Italian style and highquality craftsmanship, and more than one Tour de France has been won on the signature Dogma bike. But we like the lightweight Treviso best, so named after the city where the company was founded and is still based. Leave the spoke beads at home. Treviso Disk, $2,999, Pinarello, Chainsmith, (02) 8068 2859
7 ART YOU LOVE
“Buy a picture a day.” That was Peggy Guggenheim’s motto, and although we’re not encouraging anyone to try to keep up with the famously liberated American art collector and socialite, we do love her gung-ho spirit. To get started on your own collection, talk to friends, flick through magazines and visit galleries to hone your style, then seek out sites like Paddle8 or Art Pharmacy to find original (yet still affordable) art by emerging artists. Rule of thumb: if you love it, it’s worth it. “The Youth” painting, $3,500, Robin Clare, artpharmacy.com.au
8 ...AND FRAMING IT PROPERLY
There’s no point spending money on art if you can’t commit to framing it properly (and professionally).