Singapore Makeup and Beauty Haul ! :D

I just came back from a 3 week trip to Singapore. I absolutely loved the city. The city is so green and pretty, not to mention jam packed with shopping malls. The malls at Orchard road were just insane. I have never seen so many shopping malls on just one road. Even though most of the malls have similar set of stores it was a lot of fun shopping in different malls.

This is all the makeup and beauty related things that I got. I bought a lot of bags and clothes as well but I will do a separate post on that later. I got  a lot of skincare- especially from Laniege and Skinfood. The Sephora at Orchard Ion was just amazing. I really had to exercise a lot of self restraint. The prices at Sephora for some of the brands were really insane- Especially Benefit. I wanted to get a few things from Benefit but everything was around 50 Sing dollars or more.

4 Pan Pro Pallete , eyeshadow in Naked Lunch and Twinks, Sheen Supreme lipstick in Impressive , Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft And Gentle , MAC Brush 266

I got the MSF and the eyeshadows from the MAC store at the Changi Airport. The prices are cheaper compared to the the MAC stores in the city.

For soft kohl lined eyes ~ MAC Smut Eyeshadow MAC

MAC Smut Eyeshadow

MAC Smut eyeshadow

Finish-Velvet

Price – Rs 680 for refill pan and Rs. 900 for eyeshadow pot

Color – Dark grey brown with subtle purple shimmer

Good for – Smoking out eyeliner, Crease color, Grey smoky eyes

Shimmery Pink ~ MAC Pink Venus Eyeshadow

MAC Pink Venus Eyeshadow

Finish- Lustre

Price – Rs 680 for refill pan and Rs. 900 for eyeshadow pot

Color – Light Pink with Silver shimmer

Good for – Simple eye makeup  with subtle eyeshadow color

MAC Pink Venus Eyeshadow

Eyes Wide Open ~ Chambor Sparkling eye liner in Soft Star Review

Chambor Sparkling Eye Liner in Soft Star

Sorry for the lack of post girls! I am juggling 4 projects at present at work. I love the word juggling btw. It conjures up such a fun image. When I think I am juggling projects, in my head I picture 3 projects suspended mid air in a semi circle and I am at the bottom of the circle working furiously on one project. I am rambling! Delirious with the few hours of sleep I am getting.

Chambor Soft Star

The many hours at work and the few hours of sleeping is giving me terrible dark circles. Thank God I have the Chambor Sparkling eye liner. This is a shimmery champagne color eye pencil with golden shimmer and a few golden glitter particles. This is my go to pencil when I want to divert attention away from my dark circles and make my eyes look wide awake. A dash of this in the inner corner of my eyes adds a bit of glamour to my eye look.

This eye pencil has shimmer as well as glitter. What I mean by glitter is visible flecks of golden tiny things. Because of this , its not exactly suited for work.

For glossy red lips ~ Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Cherries in the Glow

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Cherries in the Glow

Whenever I am at Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle or Health and Glow I always feel so tempted to buy Revlon products. But Revlon prices are too high for what is essentially a drugstore brand. A couple of months back I had an hour to go before boarding and there was this Revlon counter at the airport and no SA. I went crazy swatching everything.  It was so much fun. I loved the eyeshadow quad. Almost all of the quads had very pretty colors. But I held back because of the price ~ Arnd 600-700.

I bought a couple of Super Lustrous lipglosses a year back. Cherries in the glow was one of them and it is really really pretty. This type of muted red color is one of my favorite colors for lip products. This kinda looks like the Nivea Lip balm in strawberry. This color instantly brightens up my face.

Price? Rs 400 approximately

Cherries in the Glow

MAC Eyeshadow love ~ My MAC Neutral eyeshadow palette

MAC Neutral Eyeshadow Palette

MAC eyeshadows are my most favorite makeup play things. What can be more fun than a myriad of pretty colors in different textures? Whenever I pass by a MAC store I feel like stopping by at least once to gaze at the beautiful eyeshadow display. If I ever win a lottery or something I will buy all MAC eyeshadows. They are just too pretty!!!

While I love brighter colors like Sushi Flower , Deep Truth et all , I love MAC neutral shades more. This is my MAC neutral eyeshadow palette. This is the pallete I reach out for every morning. Some colors like Girlie,  Satin Taupe and Shale are not exactly office appropriate colors. I will be swapping  them with some brown shades  when I get them. I am eyeing grain, soft brown, expresso and mystery. The obsession never stops!

I have another palette which has all my brighter eyeshadows.  I will do a post on that when its completely full.  I have an entire post on some of these shadows. I will add the links in this post.

Top Row (L-R) Girlie, All That glitters, Brule, Arena, Woodwinked

Middle Row (L-R) Shale, Tete-a-Tint, Texture, Mulch, Embark

Bottom Row( L-R) Sketch, Stain Taupe  Swish Chocolate, Smut, Carbon

Fabindia Coral Glow Facepack Review

Fabindia Coral glow face pack

The best face pack I have encountered so far is the simple yogurt and oats face pack. But I have an obsessive need to try more and more products. I swear whenever I see something new I feel like buying it asap, if it doesn’t happen I keep thinking when I will lay my hands on it. This obsession has to stop I tell ya!. I feel alarmed at seeing my credit card bills each month, and also a little bit ashamed these days. I have decided to put a stop on my excessive spending and decided to re visit a few oldies. The Fabindia Coral Glow face pack is one such product. I used this very often when I got it , but somehow it got relegated to the bottom of the ever growing pile of beauty products.

I started using this face pack again and fell back in love J. This facepack smells very nice ..like sandalwood powder. Its very easy to use and works very well to make my skin smoother. The facepack is not very finely milled and I love it for that. I mix a bit of the powder with either milk or water. Since the granules are slightly big I love to use this as a scrub first and then leave it on for around ten minutes.

Toni & Guy Iron-it Heat Defence Spray Review

Toni&Guy Iron-It Heat Defence Spray

I am a big fan of curly and wavy hair. Think Julia Roberts. I can do anything to get hair like that.  Its definitely possible with a wig or something. But wigs creep me out big biggg time. Imagine wearing a gorgeous curly haired wig(totally inspired by Julia Roberts hair) to a wedding. And with all the sari and the jewellery and on top of everything this wig, I am sure to start feeling very very hot in a few short minutes. Then I would probably go stand in front of those gigantic fans. I love those fans btw( what a blast of air!!) and the wig goes flying off. That incident would probably top the long list of embarrassing incidents in my life. No thank you very much.

I tried very hard to get that gorgeous curly haired look. I tried to crunch up my wet hair..like they say in the magazines but it never works for meL. Do you have any suggestions to get celebrity like wavy/curly hair?

Anywoo I do what works for me best..try to straighten my unmanageable wavy hair. I LOVE!! the Philips straightening iron btw. It works very well and heats up very quickly. But I found that if I just straighten my hair without any kind of hair spray or something my hair gets wavy after a day. Also I straighten at least the front portion of my hair every time I wash my hair. The constant straightening was starting to dry my hair out. I spotted the Toni and Guy Heat Defense spray at Health and Glow a few months ago. I didn’t know any other such spray and decided to try it out.

Heres what I think about it.

Makeup in a jiffy ~ MAC Paintpot in Constructivist , Review , Photos and Swatches

MAC Paintpot in Constructivist

I play it super duper safe when it comes to office makeup. For me an adventurous makeup day at work is putting a dark brown shade of eyeshadow :P. But come weekends I don every thing from bright green to bright pink – quite alarming for the boy.

Today I had really little time to get ready but was in the mood for something “adventurous” – you know to beat the Tuesday blues. I never dread going to office on Mondays – Tuesdays and Thursdays are my feeling bugged about work days. Anyway I took out my MAC Constructivist paintpot with a flourish and lightly swept  the MAC 217 brush on it  and brushed it directly on my lids. A couple of seconds of blending and voila – what we have here is “my fun”  office makeup look.

The MAC 217 and the paintpots are a match made in eye makeup heaven , I tell ya! The big fluffy head deposits just enough color and blending is a breeze with this brush. Paintpots are very easy to layer on as well.  The constructivist paintpot is a gorgeous dark brown color with a metallic finish. It looks beautiful on its own  or paired with other eyeshadows like Sushi flower. It also forms a very good base for doing brown smoky looks. And if the word metallic is alarming you , don’t worry- its not frostly at all. Just the right amount of sheen.

DIY Eye Makeup Remover

What can a girl do if she has spent very last paisa on various eyeshadows,liners, blushes .. and doesn’t have enough money to buy a quality makeup remover? She invents one!! :D Well I would love to believe that I can invent something (besides funny sounding words)  but what I did in reality  is try a simple oil cleansing method with almond oil.

DIY Makeup Remover

I love almond oil in skincare. A homemade scrub made of crushed almonds in milk is simply amazing. Almond oil also helps in lightening dark circles. What I do to remove the multiple layers of primer,eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara is take a few drops of  almond oil on the tips of my fingers and gently massage it over my closed eyes. After a few seconds all the makeup melts off and I resemble a very scary raccoon at this point.( My eyes sometimes get a little cloudy at this moment especially if I have been generous with the oil.) I take a ball of soft cotton and merrily spirtz it with the rose water. Plain water will work as well – important thing is to dampen the cotton. And last step just wipe away all the oily mess around my eyes with the damp cotton.  Voila – Clean makeup free eyes in under a minute.

MAC Haul and some jibber jabber

MAC Eyeshadow Haul

There can be nothing more mood uplifting then a makeup haul. Well, maybe travelling to exotic destinations comes first. Makeup haul, especially MAC haul definitely comes a very close second. The cute boy I am dating is also a smart boy and got into one of India’s best B schools this year. He moved about a week back and I have to say I am not handling the long distance thing well at all. I am whiling my time working super hard at office and moping about doing absolutely nothing at home. I hope it gets easier with time.

Today afternoon in a sudden moment of epiphany I realized I had spent the whole of Friday night and Saturday at one spot on my bed. I didn’t step out of my flat at all. And I usually can’t spend a moment at home on Fridays and Saturdays. I got up with a burst of energy and started clicking a lot of pictures for this blog.I have been ignoring writing for Makeup-Mantra  for a while now and its time to channelize some love here :) This week I have a lot of posts planned for you guys. Hope you have fun.:)

I had MAC vouchers for 3k and had gone shopping sometime this week for some retail therapy.I had so much fun at the MAC store. The girls at the MAC Koramangala store are super friendly and really patient. I love shopping there and inevitably end up spending  way more than I wanted to.

A creaseless wonder ~ NYX HD eyeshadow base , Review, Photos, Swatches

NYX HD Eyeshadow Base

Won’t it be wonderful if we could buy a magic potion that can turn oily skin into a normal oil free skin type permanently? Since that is still some time away ( I am hoping cosmetic giants are working furiously  on making something like this), lets explore what options we have to control the oilies for a few hours at least.

I spend quite a few precious minutes each morning meticulously applying  MAC matte eyeshadows. I love to go the entire length with my eye makeup even in the morning. I do lid, crease, outer V, highlight eyeshadows , eyepencil, kajal, mascara- the works. I strut off to work feeling all happy and pretty. In 3 short hours my eye lids turn oily and my eyeshadows are in a mess. And there is no way to salvage my makeup at this point. It goes all down an oil spilled hill. Enter NYX HD eyeshadow and this is a completely another story.

NYX Eyeshadow base wand

My eyeshadow is intact as it is even after 12 hours. Sometimes if I rub my eyes, the eyeshadow might get rubbed off but my lids stay matte throughout the day till I take my makeup off. This product is a creaseless wonder so to speak J. The NYX HD primer is liquid in consistency and it applies beautifully. The primer spreads easily and applies super smoothly and dries in seconds. This dries with a slightly white cast- nothing too noticeable though. This makes my lids feel a little stretchy though and if my mistake I apply a lot of this primer then my lids feel more stretched. This feeling  goes away after a few minutes though.

Revlon Crème eyeshadow quad in Pink Petal , Review, Photos and Swatches

Revlon Cream Eyeshadow In Pink Petal

I have a cute little tin box where I keep all my eyeshadows. I was rummaging through my makeup things today for some inspiration and found this Revlon eyeshadow pallete.I love the idea of an affordable pallete of 4 cream eyeshadows in pretty colors.  When I bought like around 2 years back I was very excited to try cream eyeshadow for the very first time.

I  followed every step meticulously- you know the matt eyeshadow all over the lids, the shimmery golden pink color on top, the dark purple to line and in the outer corner and finally the highlight color under my brows. I finished the rest of my makeup, put on a pretty black top with black leggings and donned my favorite pair of shoes ( Nine West peep toes with blue stripes and red lining..I love it to pieces!!!) I was feeling great about my entire outfit and was totally excited about an evening of fun.

Imagine my dismay when half way through the evening my friend – that too a guy- looks at my eyes weirdly and says what have you put on your eyes? Its looking weird!. I was soo embarrassed. It turns out my eyeshadow had creased very badly and there was a big blob of eyeshadow on my crease. All the 3 eyeshadow colors had migrated to my crease and my eyelid was just looking oily and kinda gross.

Since that day I have never worn these eyeshadows together. I have tried these eyeshadows seperately and it creases every single time!I like the highlight color a lot and you can see that is the only color that has been used from this pallete. All the colors in this pallete are really pretty and very pigmented. But it creases so badly within 2 hours of wearing it.

Blush love ~ Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Soft Plum, Review

Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Soft Plum

The word mousse evokes only happy thoughts, of feather light chocolate mousse, or decadent mousse cakes and now this pretty pink blush. This mousse blush made me fall in love with the concept of blushers. I love doing up my eyes and blush makes me feel too made up. When I first bought this blush over a year back I used this every single day. I was totally obsessed. After that I bought many other blushes , but I still come back to this every now and then.

The texture of this blush is really amazing- super soft whipped texture. It feels like a high end blush. Recently I was browsing through the YSL counter at the airport and tried their version of mousse blush and I felt its very similar to the Maybelline one . Soft plum is more of a bright pink rather than plum in color. And have I mentioned yet ?- it’s a breeze to blend. 

Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Soft Plum

Price? Around Rs 200              

Best Moisturizer for oily skin ~ Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel, Review

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel

Put an oily skinned gal in a humid(albeit the best) city like Bombay and wham!! What we get is a gross combination of perspiration and oiliness. To keep my skin shine free and at the same time hydrated I love using the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing gel. I discovered this moisturizer around 3 years back when I was going through a sudden outbreak of acne. This is a lightweight gel based lotion which sinks in quickly and leaves behind a soft smooth finish.  I have tried a lot of moisturizers meant for oily skin but this is the one I always return to. The Clinique DDMG provides just the right dose of moisture and even in humid climates this doesn’t make my face shine.

I love using this especially in Bombay and similar coastal places like Goa where it can get quite humid. In such places I feel tempted not to put any moisturizer but then my skin gets very dehydrated and the dreaded pores start increasing in size. A good moisturizer is essential for keeping the skin dewy and hydrated even in such climate. The Clinique DDMG works perfectly in any of these scenarios and is particularly suited for combination and oily skin girls. My hair might be a frizzy mess in Goa but my skin is perfectly shine free J

Clinique DDMG

Price? $ 25 ( I got this from the US. In India I believe the 100ml is priced around Rs2000. Not very sure though)

Desi lotion ~ Khadi Moisturizing cream in Kesar,Aloe-vera &Honey and Rose& Aloe-vera , Review

Khadi Moisturizing cream in Kesar,Aloe-vera &Honey and Rose& Aloe-vera 

What would your senses tell you about a desi lotion packed in vintage looking bottles? When I first saw the Khadi factory/shop in Irla, Bombay this song came to my mind- “Meri Desh ki dharti….”. I don’t know for what damned reason. I don’t even like that song! Maybe my brain conjured up some image of Indian soil spouting lotion,soaps n such. God Knows. Maybe I am just going cuckoo.

The Khadi store is located in some kind of a compound. I think some of the products are manufactured  at this place as well. The beauty store is actually a small shop inside this Khadi compound. Bottles of lotion, facewash etc are kept lined up on ancient looking shelves. More than a beauty store this place looks like some kind of ancient beauty pharmacy. All products (except the dry face packs) were stored in clear plastic bottle with a black top and a simple white label. Somehow very attractive.

For people trying to find Khadi products in Bombay, the address of the store is

Right next to Papilon restaurant on the Alfa Irla Lane,  Irla, Vile Parle (West). Keep in mind though the store closes by 7 in the evening.

I reached the store huffing and puffing  after a mad afternoon of shopping at Bandra around 6.45PM. They had already locked the store. But my friend and I  convinced them that we have come from very far and couldn’t possibly live another day without trying out Khadi products. Some kind lady relented enough to open the store for a few extra minutes. I grabbed whatever I could find quickly. These are the 2 lotions that I got. Kesar,Aloe-vera &Honey and Rose& Aloe-vera.

I love the texture of both the lotions. Tough according to Khadi this is a face cream I like to use both these products as body lotions. Rose& Aloe-vera is lighter in texture and absorbs quickly and leaves behind a wonderful rose aroma. Kesar,Aloe-vera &Honey is thicker in texture and takes some time to absorb but it is more moisturizing of the two. But I don’t like the smell of this at all. It smells like a concoction of chemicals.

Price? Rs 85 for 210ml ( Yes you read that right)

NYX Eyeshadow Trio in Golden/Rust/Walnut Bronze , Review and Swatches

NYX Eyeshadow trio

NYX Eyeshadow Golden / Rust/ Walnut Bronze

I can buy eyeshadows and then I can buy some more. I am beyond addicted. Like just right now I am feeling so tempted to buy Inglot eyeshadows after seeing them on Temptalia’s blog. I am going to Inglot the first thing I land in Bombay. Maybe I can visit Inglot first and then go home. Both Inglot and my home are close to the airport. Does that sound like a plan?

Maybe there is something like Makeupaholics Anonymous. Is there something like that? I should enroll myself there, save some money instead of spending it on makeup and buy a car. Ok I am rambling. Lets talk about the NYX eyeshadow trio.

This  is again one of my credit card friendly purchases from NYX. I ordered this from Cherry Culture a while back. All 3 colors are amazingly smooth and easy to blend. And I love that I have neutral and bright colors in one handy pallete. The 3 colors in this pallete are Golden , rust and Walnut Bronze. All 3 are permanent shades in the NYX single eyeshadow collection. Golden is a dull gold color- not very bright and quite wearable. Rust is a reddish pink color- more red than pink. It works wonderfully for Indian looks. I like to use this with a light hand though. It is quite pigmented. Walnut Bronze is my favorite color of this trio is a very pretty shimmer taupe color. 

Lip Gloss Love ~ Bourjois Effet 3d Max Lipgloss in 68 Brun etincelant , Review , Swatches

Bourjois Effet 3D Max lipgloss

Bourjois is one of my favorite drugstore brands. Have you seen their collection of blushes? It is really amazing. I think Bourjois is the only drugstore brand in India which has so many shades in blushes. Their eye liner collection is huge as well. They have eye pencils in many different formulas like the Smoky pencils, the Metallic ones etc etc.

Bourjois lipglosses are quite famous and are raved about by quite a few people. I have been using the Effet 3D max lipgloss for a few months now and it is one of my go to makeup product. The color I have (68 Brun etincelant) is a nude pink color and it goes perfectly with just about any lipstick. I use this on its own for a quick simple makeup look. This color also works amazingly to tone down bright lipsticks. You know for one of those days when I am feeling very adventorus about my makeup and put on a bright lip. But just on the way out I re think the color. Instead of wiping off that gorgeous bright coral/pink lipstick I just swipe this gloss once. And these are the only drugstore lipglosses which have not dried out my lips.

Price? Around Rs 550

M.A.C giveaway at D.G.S.Beauty Blog

M.A.C Giveaway at D.S.G Beauty blog. To enter click here.

I have been wanting to try the Fuildline and Viva Glam V since forever so I am  super super excited :)

A veteran of my makeup collection ~ Maybelline Time for Wine Eyeshadow Quad , Review , Swatches

Maybelline Time for Wine Eyeshadow Quad

I am quite attached to this eyeshadow quad from Maybelline. Not because of the color,pigmentation, texture etc but because this is one of the very first makeup thing I bought with my first salary around 3 years back. Has it been that long already?? I bought a couple of other things and got a Watershine lipgloss free. I was sooo happy.

After the first few months of everyday use , this was relegated to the bottom of my eyeshadow pile. I shopped a bit of Maybelline stuff recently for a cousin and I saw that this quad is still very much available in the stores. So  I thought I will do a quick review and swatches .

I am generally drawn to these type of colors - nude pink, Deep purple. I think this color scheme is one of the most common colors in eyeshadow quads. I have 3 quads which all have similar colors. Though I love all the four colors in the quad- they are very versatile and can take a look from day to night , I feel the texture and the pigmentation are not upto the mark.

Swatches Of Maybelline Time for Wine

Hi Honey ! ~ Lush Honey I washed the kids soap

LUSH Honey I washed the kids soap

I have a love-love relationship with the word honey. I love the yummy taste and the subtle sweet warm smell of honey. And I love the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I hear Hi my Honey Buns ! from the other end of the cell phone network J.

Lush Honey I washed the kids soap is no exception to this rule. This smells HEAVENLY. You have to smell this to believe it. It smells of honey mixed with  caramel  toffee . Simply yummilicious. Every time  I have a bath with this soap I feel like having a cupcake which smells exactly like this.

Price? Rs 330 for 100gms

The Good ?

This is one of my favorite scent in the world. I wish someone makes a perfume which smells exactly like this. And I love how non drying this is. My skin feels softer after using this soap.

Lets raise a toast, shall we? ~ NYX eyeshadow in Champagne

What makes your heart skip a beat? Apart from Johnny Depp I mean :P. Do neutral colors make you swoon or is it the color eyeshadows that makes you take out your credit card in a snap?

For me neutral color eyeshadows make my heart sing. I love an eyeshadow which has just the right amount of chocolaty warmth, a color which has just the perfect shade of gold running through it or a milky brown color which feels like silk on my skin. That is another reason why I love MAC so much. They do neutral colors beautifully. I think their color eyeshadow range can do with some additions. But neutral they have got it covered. Every nuetral  color from Vanilla to Smut is lust worthy.

Since I obviously cant keep buying MAC. The madness has to stop sometime! I turned to NYX for credit card friendly dupes. NYX eyeshadow in Champagne is one of their best selling eyeshadows I believe and has a rating of 4.6 on Makeupalley. This color is a  light peach and beige color with golden shimmer. There is just a hint of peach. On my skin it mostly looks like a very alive beige color. I feel that slight hint of peach really makes it unique. And the shimmer is very finely done. Nothing OTT at all.

NYX Eyeshadow in Champagne

NYX Eyeshadow in Champagne

Price?  Around $ 4 at Cherryculture

How to ?

I love to use NYX Champagne as a sheer wash of color on my lids. This just brightens my eyes very subtly.

I also sometimes add a bit of a matt brown in the corner to  add some definition to my eyes.

This works as a lovely highlight color.

To ban a tan ~ Try these homemade face masks

I have already cribbed  in almost half my posts about my sun sensitive skin. I tan very easily. Put me 2 mins outside on a really sunny day . Wham! I zoom straight from NC 42 to NC 50.

I refuse to give up sunning myself on Goan beaches just to have good skin. After all what are cosmetics and beauty tips for. They should come to the rescue , right?

The following two are my favorite masks ever. These are just basic easy to make masks and I am sure you would have definitely tried one of them. No rocket science here, just wanted to share my 2 paisa’s worth of wisdom on this blog.

Yogurt and Oats Mask

I love the combination of yogurt and oatmeal in a face pack. It really does wonders for my skin. My tan visibily reduces and my skin becomes really soft and glowy. Sometimes I add a bit of honey .

Yogurt- Half a teaspoon. I use thick yogurt like the Nestle Curd. The thicker it is the more easily it spreads on my skin.

Oats – I use the good old Quaker oats for this. ! teaspoon is enough for the face.

I like to mix the yogurt and the oats together and let it sit for a while.After about 5 minutes the oats get really soft and I mush the mixture a bit with my fingers before putting it on. I let it sit for a good 20 mins before washing off.

Warning : Applying is a bit of a pain because the crumbly bits keep falling off. Also yogurt doesnot smell very nice.

The end result is very good. I love how my skin feels afterwards. And the tan lessens to a great extent.

For smoky eyes ~ MAC Beauty Marked Eyeshadow

MAC Beauty Marked Eyeshadow

Swatch of MAC Beauty Marked eyeshadow

Finish-Velvet

Price – Rs 680 for refill pan and Rs. 900 for eyeshadow pot

Color – Matte Black with purple sparkles

Good for – Smoking out eyeliner , Outer Corner

Looks

• I like to mainly use this in the outer corner to smoke out my eyeshadows. This basically looks like a matte black eyeshadow on lids. The purple sparkles are not densely packed at all.
• Since this is almost matte black I like to use this for smudging out my eyeliners.

This is of the rare MAC eyeshadows which don’t look as good on lids as it does in the pan. The purple sparkles are hardly visible on the lids. Also I don’t find it as easy to blend.

Have you tried MAC Beauty Marked eyeshadow ? I am sure it would have caught your eye in the MAC store

My top 5 skincare tips I swear by

Do you like clichés ?  I guess not. Whenever I hear one I think in my head “ Not again!! I know this already.” So I was surprised when I first thought of penning down my skincare tips the first line I thought of writing was ‘ Beauty comes from within’. And when I thought about it more its actually true. Our skin is a reflection of what is happening inside our bodies.

Don’t worry. My skincare tips are not going to be eating right and exercising. We all know that works! We can’t deny ourselves from all the yummy food around us, cheese burst pizza from dominos , chicken tandoori from anywhere , or chocolate chip muffin from Cookie Man. Which by the way is the best muffin ever!! Have you tried it yet? Its really really good. Try the normal ( not the double) chocolate chip cookie. Trust me you will be hooked.

And gyms are too boring to go to. So since eating right and exercising daily is out of the window, the following are the tips I swear by.

1- Staying hydrated

Yes I know all of us know that drinking water is good for our skin. But somehow during those crazy work days we forget to make trips to the water cooler and end up going for coffee breaks instead. This is what I do to ensure at least 3 litres of water intake each day.

Every morning right after getting up I fill three 1 litre bottles with water. I drink half a litre immediately.And another half a litre after having bath and getting ready.

If I am at home I drink from the second bottle through out the day.

I consume half a liter of water around dinner time and another half a litre before sleeping.

If it’s a work day then I keep one liter bottle at my desk and make sure I drink it up before leaving for the day.

 Filling up 3 bottles everyday helps me keep a track of how much water I am drinking. Staying hydrated is the cheapest and the most effective skincare tip. My face looks more alive and less dull the more hydrated I am .

2- Cleansing

Even the most effective moisturizer won’t work if the skin is not clean. Though I have quite an oily skin I believe cleansing gently is the key. I wash my face no more than twice a day. In the morning I use Lush Aqua Marina cleanser as I just need to take the oil off my face. In the evening I use a cream based cleanser to remove my makeup and then wash my face with a cleanser that will foam. ( I use Forrest Essential Rose face wash/ Lakme Strawberry facewash or Body Shop Vit C face cleanser).

My mantra – Effective but gentle cleansing.

For gorgeous Indian look ~ MAC Antiqued Eyeshadow

MAC Eyeshadow in Antiqued

MAC Eyeshadow in Antiqued

Finish-Veluxe Pearl

Price – Rs 680 for refill pan and Rs. 900 for eyeshadow pot

Color – Brown with orange undertones and golden shimmer.

Good for – Indian Looks

Swatch of MAC eyeshadow in Antiqued

Looks

I have used this only once on my friend’s wedding. I applied Groundwork paintpot on my lids. Then I took MAC 217 and lightly applied Antiqued eyeshadow all over my lids. This looks like a rusty orange color on my lids. Next I took the Chambor eye pencil in brown and applied all along my lower and upper lash lines. And any black kajal along the upper and lower water lines. Finally I took lots and lots of my favorite MAC eyeshadow in Sketch  with MAC 219 brush and smudged my liner and applied in the outer corner and outer crease.Antiqued really brings out the purple in Sketch. Used by itself Sketch looks more of a blackish purple but when used with Antiqued it looks like a very gorgeous vibrant purple.And to top it all lots of mascara..

This was of my favorite eye makeup looks I did. How do you like to use Antiqued? I would love to hear about some ideas to use this beautiful eyeshadow.

Budget Perfume ~ Body Shop Moroccan Rose EDT review

When The Moroccan Rose and the Japanese Cherry Blossom range was introduced to us by the Body Shop,  I was really only interested in the Cherry Blossom range. I thought the Moroccan Rose line will smell typically of roses, you know like the Ponds Cold Cream and fragrances of the yester years. Which smells like baby powder mixed with rose extract.

The Body Shop Moroccan Rose EDT

I went with the full intention of picking up the Japanese Cherry Blossom EDT but instead came home with the Moroccan Rose one. This was over a year back and this has gone on to become one of the permanent resident on my dresser. This perfume just smells oh so fresh. Moroccan Rose smells like fresh roses- no hint of any powder here at all. And this is a very work appropriate fragrance. I can just happily spritz away and I can be sure it will not be offensive to anyone.

Moroccan rose is a one note perfume though. There are no  top notes, middle notes and bases notes. It just smells of fresh roses right from the time I spray it.

A little bit of plum ~ NYX Eyeshadow in Eggplant , Photos , Swatches

I think that of the most important words in a girls life is SALE. This simple four letter word can elicit such a range of emotions – the initial flutter of excitement, the thrill of planning and selecting the right shade, the fun of actually shopping and finally the pure joy at opening the parcels and playing with the new goodies.

 I get sucked in each time Cherry Culture has a sale. It is just soo much fun opening up a makeup package!!!The NYX eyeshadow in Eggplant is a part of the Cherry Culture haul a couple of months back. I got this eyeshadow mainly because I was looking for a vibrant purple eyeshadow. On the Cherry Culture site the color looked very vibrant. But on swatching it looks like a medium toned plum.  I loved the color so it worked out anyway. But next time onwards I will definitely check out the swatches online on beaity blogs. Cherry Culture seems to have updated the site with better pictures though.

NYX Single Eyeshadow In Eggplant

The color Eggplant is a pretty plum color which  will look great on medium to dusky skin tone . I love to wear this will a rich black eyeliner on both upper and lower lashlines. And a little bit of matte black eyeshadow like the MAC Carbon in the outer corner. The finish of this is metallic which I feel is the best finish for a NYX eyeshadow.