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11/29/10

Rihanna in Rockstar Inspired Look


This look is inspired by Rihanna's look in her music video, Rockstar. I liked the look so much, that I bought the Nyx Penelope lipstick especially for it. And today I felt wild enough to finally do it. My skin tone here is actually much darker coz I used a deeper foundation shade.

Jewelry Of The Day

Monday morning. How are you all doing? Honestly, I didn't know where to start again after the weekend, so I thought I will indulge you, or rather myself, in a little bit of shiny.

First up is a Bow Brooch: I bought this at a mall when my loose skirt felt like it was going to fall off =D. Since then, it has really prettified my plain outfits, like a plain black top & a LBD

`550 (I think)

11/27/10

Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Boxes For Vanity


My favorite chocolates are Ferrero Rocher, coz I prefer chocolates that have nuts or wafers in them. Plain ones are boring unless they're Belgian. Everyone gifts them to me almost every occasion. But every time I have to throw away the empty boxes, I feel kinda guilty. So I use them for storing stuff, well...until they break or something.
Here's what I store in them:

1. Lipsticks ~ Bottoms up! So you can see the shades. It can hold about 20 lipsticks.


11/26/10

Rupee Sign Inspired Look


I have wanted to do this for a while now, ever since the Rupee sign became official in August 2010, right?  Don't quote me on that lol...I don't read/watch the news much.
Anyways, were you ecstatic as I was about it?
From the day I was born, the Americans had $, the English had £, and we Indians had "Rs." and let's face it, aar-ess is not fancy like signs. Remember those movie scenes where dollar signs fly about to indicate a lot of money? Well, imagine 'Rs' flying about like that. Yup.
But now we have our very own rupee symbol...Yay! And an edgy-looking one too!

11/25/10

Inglot Makeup Brushes Review

This post is especially for Ki, who wanted me to do a review on the Inglot 30T Eyeliner Brush.
Inglot brushes are much cheaper than MAC brushes, and  unlike most Sigma brushes that sells merely on the basis of being MAC dupes, Inglot brushes have originality.
I've only got 2 brushes from Inglot so far- 30T angled eyeliner brush & 24SS Dual-sided brush.
Here are my thoughts on them:


Inglot 30T brush 

Handle- Wood
Fiber ~Synthetic Taklon
Price: Rs.640


11/24/10

Sophie Ellis Bexter 'Not Giving Up On Love' Makeup


If you're familiar with trance or disco music, you must know who Sophie Ellis Bexter is. She's the one who sang 'Murder On The Dance Floor', but I never like her songs until recently, when she collaborated with Armin Van Buuren (DJ) in a song ~ 'Not Giving Up on Love'. Last Friday, I went to a club coz Armin was playing there as part of his India tour. So fun!
Sophie's look in the music video is so fabulous- Thick black winged eyeliner and Coral lips

So I thought I'd copy the look. *The flash altered the real color of my lipstick, which is a lot more orange in daylight.

Best & Worst Drugstore Mascaras


First of all, I need you to know what I look for in a mascara, because not everyone expects the same. I have very thin barely-there lashes, so the first thing I look for is VOLUME- the false lash-kind of volume, a lil' bit of LENGTH, no clumps & I prefer waterproof versions, which some mascaras don't come in.
These are the Best & Worst mascaras I have used. I put them according to preference & majorly disappointing :

11/22/10

LAKME Black Satin Kajal Review


Lakme Black Satin Kajal is a new product that was launched with the Gypsy Collection. 
If you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you would probably know that my favorite kajal is the Lotus Herbals Natural Kajal , so I was very excited to try a new one. A girl need variety, right?

Dark Underarms?

Dark underarms can be a really embarrassing problem for some people. Imagine not being able to raise your arms at a Enrique Iglesias concert coz you don't want people to think you don't bathe properly! Okay, I guess you won't be baring that neck of the woods in the first place, but you get my point.
Mine were getting dark, because I was shaving every second day (plus my skin is generally prone to darkening.) They weren't SO dark, but dark enough to freak me out! So, I started using the Nivea Extra Whitening Cell Repair Anti-perspirant Roll-on, and... and... my underarms are almost their natural color now. Love it!


It contains 2x Licorice extracts, Witch Hazel & Avocado for Extra Fair & Smooth skin. It doesn't sting or anything like that and smells very fresh and pleasant. I won't say anything about whether or not it prevents sweating, because that's not what I want out of it. I wouldn't be sure anyways since it's not hot in Delhi anymore.
I have used the whitening one too before this, but it wasn't so effective (below)

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Light Medium


I thought I'd write about my current favorite powder- the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Medium. In one of my old posts, I said that I had a love-hate relationship with this (the reason being that it didn't really keep my oilies away when the temperature was at its highest during the Delhi summer.) 
Then I rarely used it. Now, as the weather has started to cool down, it's a love-love relationship, baby! I want to wear it everyday! Actually, I do wear it everyday.

11/21/10

Nyx Round Lipstick Review & Swatches


Being a lipstick lover, I had to give Nyx Round Lipsticks a try. We all know they're damn cheap and come in a multitude of colors. Encased in black shiny tubes with individual colored bottoms (erm...bases? lol), I think they're really cute.

MAC Ladyblush Blushcreme


Ladyblush is my one and only cream blush from MAC, and it's one of my favorites and a go-to blush whenever I'm confused about which blush shade to wear with certain eyeshadow & clothing colors. Described as a 'demure cool pink flush', it is a very natural-looking shade. I've used it on other people (fair, medium, dark skin tones) and it has never looked off on any of them. It's because the shade is not totally "cool". It has a hint of peach, which plays peek-a-boo with your eyes.

11/19/10

Outfit & Look Of The Day


Can you believe I've got just one item of clothing from Forever 21? I don't know, I've never seen something I liked & up close some of the clothes just don't look that great. I always ended up buying just jewelry or some other type of accessories, but recently I found a skirt I liked. It's this Pleated Animal Print Skirt....

Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream Review


What it is:
An ultra-pigmented long-lasting waterproof cream. Highly concentrated in mother-of-pearl pigments, it provides an immediate color intensity with a luminous finish. It's long-lasting formula will not crease or smudge under the most extreme conditions.
Available in 22 shades, the multi-purpose Aqua Cream can be applied on your lips, cheeks and eyes.
Shades for lips & cheeks ~ 5,6,7,8,9,10.
Shades for eyes & cheeks ~ 1,2,3,4,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22.
I got this in #9 Coral, which I think is the prettiest coral shade ever! It's meant for lips & cheeks.


11/17/10

Wearable Runway Eyeliner Tutorial


I really liked this runway eyeliner trend featured in Vogue, so I thought I'd try it out and maybe add my own twist to it. Here's my take on it with a step-by-step photo tutorial on how to do it...

11/16/10

Elle 18 Color Bombs Product Photos & Information


Elle 18 Color Bombs ~This exciting and funky range of color cosmetics has been designed for young trendy girls. The range designed in cool shapes has explosively vibrant colors for lips, nails and eyes. The products are packed with the goodness of Cocoa butter, Jojoba Oil, Rose Water and Almonds.  These super cute ‘patakas’ are sure to pack your day with explosive excitement!

Here are the products in all pretty & exciting colors...

Elle 18 & Its Color Bombs!

Omg...Elle 18 is back with a bang! Bomb? Bang or bomb, I am loving the cuteness! The new young and edgy black packaging with anime girlies reminds me of Eyeko.

Elle 18 Color Bombs ~This exciting and funky range of color cosmetics has been designed for young trendy girls. The range designed in cool shapes has explosively vibrant colors for lips, nails and eyes. The products are packed with the goodness of Cocoa butter, Jojoba Oil, Rose Water and Almonds.  These super cute ‘patakas’ are sure to pack your day with explosive excitement!

LAKME Earth Rose Blush Trio Review, Swatches & LOTD


Here are better pictures of the Lakme Earth Rose Blush Trio. The colors weren't coming out properly with flash the first time. And I promised you a face swatch. It's hard for me to do face swatches on all products, especially with face products, but I'll try to do them every once in a while.


11/15/10

Nyx Rouge Cream Blushes ~ Photos & Swatches


Cream blushes are my favorite kind of blushes these days, 'coz the weather is making my skin quite dry and lacklustre.
Nyx Rouge Cream Blushes are some of my favorite blushes ever. I love them to bits! Pretty shades, pigmented, creamy, and blend easily, not to mention reasonably priced too. Thumbs up on the MAC-like black packaging too.
I just own 3 right now ~ Hot Pink, Golden & Glow. I ♥ 'em all!

Pond's Gold Radiance Precious Youth Serum

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW


When I first saw this range in Poornima's blog, I was so excited! I just love anti-ageing products. I believe that prevention is better than cure when it comes to lines and age spots. Also, my skin seems to agree with Pond's products- not always, but most of the time. But the main reason I was very interested in this range is because back when I had Melasma (hyperpigmentation) on my face, somebody told me to rub a piece of gold jewelry on the dark patches. Supposedly gold lightens dark spots. I didn't try it, mainly coz I thought it was a moo point =D. Now I think I should have.

Claims: Pond's Gold Radiance Precious Youth Serum is luxuriously infused with flakes of real gold particles, each concentrated drop of this most precious formula melts into your skin to smooth texture & helps boost your skin's youthful radiance. Contains Vitamin B3, proven to reduce age spots.
Non Comedogenic, Dermatologist tested.

11/12/10

Black Rose & Polka Dots


Yellow makes me happy...Polka dots are my favorite prints...and Roses...well, can't help but love 'em!
This is my first time wearing yellow & black polka dotted nails. Always wanted to, but too lazy to do them...until now.
As you can see the polka dots aren't uniform, but mistakes can hardly be fixed when doing nail art, and I'm not one to redo the whole thing.
I used the rounded end of a toothpick to put the dots. Yes, with shaky hands again. I hope it's not a symptom for something! =D

11/11/10

INGLOT Duraline Review & Trial Photos


INGLOT Duraline is like my new favorite toy these days. I've been playing around with it a lot! The only thing I haven't done is mix it with a powder blush to make a cream blush or a lipstick. I should try that and see, no? ;)

11/10/10

LAKME Earth Rose Blush Trio Photos & Swatches


I finally got my hands on the Lakme Earth Rose Blush Trio that was the most interesting product from the Gypsy Collection. It wasn't available everywhere I looked in Delhi and became  kinda obsessed with it. Then I called Kunchal's today and guess what, it had just arrived there today itself :)


11/9/10

Another Nyx Haul!

I needed a black lipstick and a good white eyeliner for some looks I'll be doing, so I decided to get Nyx Milk Jumbo pencil & Penelope lipstick. But of course I didn't stop there...buying just 2 small things online didn't seem right ;0)

  • Round Lipsticks ~ Penelope, Doll, Tea Rose
  • Jumbo Eye Pencils ~ Dark Brown, Milk, Strawberry Milk
  • Rouge Cream Blush ~ Golden (My first choice was Boho Chic but it wasn't in stock) & Hot Pink
  • Candy Glitter Liner in Hot Yellow & Nail Polish in Graffiti are FREE! :)

INGLOT Face Blush Review & Swatches

I told you there'll be a lot of INGLOT posts this week :) . This time it's Face Blush or simply Powder Blush. Yeah, why doesn't Inglot just call it powder blush instead of 'Face' Blush? I doubt they're meant for all over the face, like MAC's Beauty Powders.


This is shade #32 (I'd name it Coral Twinkle hehe...nah sounds like a Christmas ornament lol) 
It's a really pretty coral shade with silver shimmer.


First Bad Colorbar Nail Polish!


And then the bubble burst. Yes, I came across a bad Colorbar Nail Lacquer for the first time. The shade is so 'Fall' and it's the perfect plum nail color that went with my plum Indian suit I wore on Diwali, but it fell short quality-wise. I'm talking about Colorbar's Plum Wine #41. The consistency is too runny for a dark shade, which makes it very unpleasant to work with. Patchy, patchy, patchy! You can see for yourself there.

Rs.100 - Not worth it!

Maybe it's just a bad batch, but just giving you girls a heads up.


♥ Cynthia Z ^.^

11/8/10

INGLOT AMC Cream Blush Review & Swatches


Who feels like eating that? Or, who jumped to raid the fridge only to find out there's nothing in it that looks like that? If it's both, then there wouldn't be any awkward silences if we met each other ;)

INGLOT AMC Cream Blush #84 is LO-LO-LO-LO-VE! That's Ashlee Simpson song btw.
The texture of the blush is buttery but not heavy, somewhat like a lightweight spreading chocolate. Oh, actually it is like a creamy cake icing. Yes, exactly like that (it just came to me!) It blends like a dream and it is more pigmented than it looks in the pan.


How To Apply Lip Liner, Lipstick & Lipgloss ~ Tutorial


Here's a requested tutorial on how to apply lip products & get that perfect pout. 
I'll be using these products:
eos Honeysuckle Honeydew Lip balm, Bourjois Levres Contour Lip liner in #11 Enjoleuse, Bourjois Sweet Kiss Naturel Lipstick #06 Rose Tendre, The Body Shop Retractable lip brush, , Bourjois Effet 4D Gloss #64 Rose Metallise


Step 1:  Prep Lips
Prep your lips by applying your favorite lip balm for smooth application. If the lip balm is too glossy, pat excess with a tissue, to prepare your lips for lip liner.

11/7/10

Colorbar Eyeshadow Review


I've told you that I'm not into buying single eyeshadows, but I felt I needed to try at least one eyeshadow from Colorbar. So I bought one to try out - Proudly Purple. I find it hard to describe the shade to a T, but  if I had to, I'd say... a deep brownish purple with multi-colored shimmer, at least I think it's multi-colored. 

11/6/10

New ~ Colorbar Full Finish Long Wear Lipstick

Colorbar came out with a new lipstick - Full Finish Long Wear Lipstick, which has a special matte formula that makes it easy to apply. Sets within seconds of application and makes your lips look fuller. Its waterproof formulation makes it last for up to 8 hours. Enriched with vitamin E, the Full Finish Long Wear Lipstick is smooth, creamy and gives excellent color without drying or cracking the lips also acting as a natural antioxidant against skin ageing


Shades (L-R) ~ Tempt Me, Truffle,  Innocently Brown, Plum Snow, En Vogue,Wicked Brown

Available in 6 shades & priced at Rs.550.

I swatched theses lipsticks at the store the other day and boy-oh-boy were they a pain to remove them from my hand! Even after cleaning them with makeup remover, they left stains, so yes, they are indeed long-wear. 


♥ Cynthia Z ^.^

11/5/10

INGLOT Haul

I'm currently obsessed with INGLOT, so I hope you won't get bored when I keep talking about Inglot products in the days to come. Just 3 things this time. Actually I picked up 5 products , then kept 2 back with the thought that if I wanted them bad enough I'd go back to the store after a stroll around the mall- a little tip I read in Cosmo to avoid compulsive buying.
Damn the tip.
Coz by the time I headed back the store (in another mall), it was closed. But yeah, I don't really want those things now as I'm writing this ;p
Anyways, here's what I got.... 

Face Blush #32 (Rs.640) ~ A coral blush with silver sparkle. The tester of this looked so good in the pan, my knees went weak. Testers are always lighter than new unopened products coz of daily exposure to light. I was a little disappointed to see this new blush looking a little darker than the tester, but it still looks gorgeous.

11/4/10

The Next Best Blush To Benefit Coralista In India

I want everyone to have a Coralista, coz I love it so much, especially since we don't have Benefit in India. I said 'Next Best Thing', coz I don't think it's a dupe-dupe. It's a blush that is pretty the way it is and would complement all skin tones. It's another blush I'm loving, Colorbar Peachy Rose.
Just for comparison's sake, let see how similar it is to Benefit Coralista...

Benefit Coralista & Colorbar Peachy Rose

11/2/10

Diwali Eye Makeup Tutorials For Everyone

The most celebrated festival in India, Diwali also known as the 'Festival Of Lights' , is 2 days away. I guess all you fellow Indians must be very excited. Shopping and planning your Rangoli designs :)

Thought about what type of  makeup you'll be flaunting that day?

My advice: Lots of gold-toned shimmer! Eyeshadows that reflect light. If you don't like bright colors, then pick shimmery neutrals instead for a bit of glamour. For highlight colors, go with gold rather than silver, though silver will look good too.


Here are tutorials for a neutral shimmery look & bright colorful look....


For those who don't like to wear bright colors, I did a neutral shimmery look using half & half technique, which is ideal if you want to lift up your eyes. 


Neutral Shimmery look ~ Apply a shimmery pale peach like MAC Honey Lust eyeshadow on inner half of lid, apply shimmery medium brown on outer half of lid. Blend the middle line. Blend any harsh lines with a fluffy brush. Line eyes with gel liner, smudge line with a smudge brush, curl lashes and apply mascara base then black mascara (Maybelline Double Stretch Mascara) on top & bottom lashes. Last apply a creamy gold highlight eyeshadow on brow bone & inner corners. DONE!
*You can can turn this into a bold/bright look by using bright colors like purple, teal etc instead of the medium brown I used. Or gold instead of the Honey Lust shade.

Finish look with a peach blush (and bronzer if needed) and nude/rose/peach lippy.


The next look is if you want to go bright! I'm  using green & gold....

Click to enlarge photo
Green & Gold Look ~ Apply light green on lids, blend, apply another green with shimmer only on the center of your lids, then apply a gold shadow on top of that green. Next, apply a darker green matte eyeshadow on the outer corners and a little into the crease. Apply the same cream gold highlight color on brow bone and inner corners, and pat more gold eyeshadow on the center of your lid. Blend lightly. Apply an eyeliner winging  it at the corners and use a pencil liner to tightline and also apply some on your lower lash line. Curl your lashes and apply a volumizing mascara on top & bottom lashes. 
**You can use any color other than green, depending on what color clothing you're wearing.

Finish look with a rosy pink blush and pink or raspberry lippie.

Hope you found these tutorials helpful! 

❀ Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali in advance. May God bless you abundantly & grant all the good things that you wish for  ✿ 



P.S: I wrote this post in a rush, so please excuse any errors ;p.

♥ Cynthia Z ^.^

11/1/10

5 Holy Grail Tools For Facial Hair

These 5 tools will tackle all your facial hair issues in minutes:
Eyebrow Shaver ~ This has saved me from going out with bad brows many a times. Say, you have to go to an impromptu party and your eyebrows are 'argh!', and you know last minute tweezing them will only lead to redness (and swelling if you have thick hair), an eyebrow shaver is your go-to tool. You have to have this. This one I have is by a brand called Lesasha, which I got from Bangkok many years ago, but still does its job well until now.