Heart-Shaped Makeup That Won't Be Touched

Look, look at them. Do you have the heart to ruin the hearts? I don't, therefore they shall remain untouched. Let's call them "Collector's Items"

LOTD: Rani Mukherjee's Makeup In Bombay Talkies

This is CPR for my Bollywood Series, if you still remember it.  

A reader asked me about Rani's look in Bombay Talkies. I hadn't heard about it, so I went to watch the trailer. First scene in trailer- Rani applying red lipstick. I was instantly hooked. I downloaded the movie and watched it. Truthfully, I just wanted to see that lipstick, but I was also entertained by the movie. Next day, I attempted Rani's look.

I must say this heavy kohled look does not suit me. Rani has big lids that are so ideal for eye shadows, I have almost none-lids. But it's really about the red lips.... and apparently, excessive hair handling. I really didn't mean to! =D

Budget Beauty Finds ~ Rs.300 and Under

We have a budget post after a long time! I like doing these, since majority of my readers are students, and if they're like I was, half their monthly allowance goes to canteen bread pakoras. I'd want to eat them every.single.day back then. Mmm....now I want them!

Hello, can you pout and say 'p-s-y-c-h-o-l-o-g-y' at the same time?

So here are 6 great budget products that I personally like a lot, and they all cost Rs.300 and under.

• INGLOT Eye Shadow 326 ~ A useful matte brown eye shadow. Price: Rs.300

• Colorbar Eye Shadow in Dancing Peacock ~ This is a very unique green eye shadow that I fell in love with instantly. It's in the same color family as MAC Humid eye shadow
  Price: Rs.300

• Colorbar Smokin' Eyes Smudger Brush ~ Great for smudging kohl, and applying highlight eye shadow on the inner tear duct areas. But yes, the color bleeds a little bit when washing. See more Colorbar brushes here. Price: Rs.250

• Nail Juice Nail Polish in Hibiscus ~ Swatched here. I'm just showing you the one shade I have with me, but you can check out other colors too. Price: Rs.50

• Maybelline Clear Glow BB Stick* ~ You can read about it more here. Basically, it's a foundation in stick form, evens out skin tone, and contains Salicylic Acid to control oiliness. Available in 2 shades- Fawn (dark) & radiance (light). This one is Fawn, which is too dark for me. Price: Rs.250.

• Lakmé Enrich Satin Lipstick 149 ~ A fabulous fuchsia pink lippy. I got it with the MAC Love Goddess Dupe. Price: Rs.225

Swatches: Maybelline BB Stick Fawn, Lakmé Enrich Satin Lipstick 149, Colorbar Eye Shadow 33 Dancing Peacock. Nail Juice Hibiscus swatch here. Inglot 326 is part of a palette that I'm going to show you soon.

♥ 

If you want more, you can go read another old post like this here.

Let me know if you liked this post. Do share your great budget beauty finds too, we'd all love to know.

Disclaimer: Item marked * is a press sample, but I would have bought it myself anyways especially for this post ;) 

RAVE! La Roche-Posay Effaclar

I want to RAVE about my La Roche-Posay Effaclar products before I repurchase them. Look how much of that astringent I've used up! The Duo will also be empty in a few days.

Before I started using these 2 products, I was getting pimples frequently, and I thought, 'adult acne'. It was frustrating, and you may have seen me trying my best to conceal one here. 

[Please Note: Skin care products work differently on everybody, and although these work for me, they may not work for you.]

My Skin Type: Combination, acne-prone, dry patches in some areas.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Lotion Astringent Micro-Exfoliant ~ This is a clarifying lotion. It helps to unblock and reduce the appearance of pore size, due to the combination of cleansing agents and micro-exfoliant LHA (Google LHA to learn about it, okay?) To use: dampen cotton with it, and apply gently to face, avoiding eye contour. I am telling you, this is the stuff to use if you wear foundation regularly and you want your skin to feel super clean. Face wash doesn't really clean your skin properly. It has alcohol, but it does not dry out my skin.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo ~ Described as Corrective & Unclogging Anti-Imperfection Care that reduces the appearance of imperfections and unclogs sebum-blocked pores. This is a light moisturizer, that is not at all greasy. Sometimes, for 2-3 mins after I've applied it, my face starts itching like crazy, but then it stops. Weirdly, this itching happens in UK more, and I don't remember it happening in India. Maybe it's the cold? I don't know.

*Both are Paraben-Free. Please visit the La Roche-Posay website if you need to see the ingredients list.

 

How I Use Them: [Night: Both.]  | [Morning: Just the Effaclar Duo, after I've splashed my face with only water.] 

Why They Are Awesome:

• For the first time, I got compliments (in my mother tongue) like "Your skin looks watery (meaning:dewy)" when I wasn't wearing any makeup at all!  

• Almost all the pimple scars from last year are gone.

• Now I feel okay not putting on foundation when I go out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying my skin is perfect, I still have other issues to conceal, but it looks healthier. 

• My face is baby bottom smooth now. I used to feel little invisible bumps on the sides of my face, but now they gone! And yes, they do reduce the appearance of pores.

• I started using these in February. I have had maybe 3 small/minor breakouts since then (touchwood!)

• I've ditched night creams, scrubs (I used one recently and my skin couldn't handle it, so I got 2 tiny short-lived pimples). These are the only products I've been using on my skin, apart from cleansing oil, face wash & eye cream.

• I know it's mainly because of my attire and makeup, but I want to show off that a Scottish guy thought I was 18-19 years old =D (as if!) Oh, it happened at a bar, and he he was quite drunk, haha!

Will They Suit Dry Skin? I think they would, because my dry/flaky patches are almost gone, and my skin actually feels more hydrated from within, rather then oily/combination. I'd suggest you try the astringent, because it exfoliates the rubbish that prevents the skin from glowing.

Prices:

•  La Roche-Posay Effaclar Lotion Astringent Micro-Exfoliant ~ £9.35 | Rs.776
•  La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo ~ £11.05 | Rs.918

They are available in India. Check online stores for better deals.

My Rating ~ ♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6/5 

Any skin care products you're loving this much?

P.S. See? None Review wasn't so bad, was it? Although this is an exception, coz it's skin-related ;) 

The Best Inexpensive Red Nail Polish

Men are not complicated. If they break up with you, they're just not that into you.

In that case, you get over it and wait for another man who will be. While you wait, go get something red! Like a cheap-but-good red nail paint?

I'm talking about Nail Juice Nail Polish in Hibiscus. It's opaque with just one coat, it's glossy, it's GORGEOUS! I'm loving it to bits.

Price ~ Rs.50. Woohoo!

It available in some beauty stores in India. I got it from Commonwealth Store in GK M-Block Market.

I've shown other shads in an old post here 

Any other inexpensive red nail polish you know of?

Collecting Girly English Tea Cups

While you wait for my next beauty post, I thought you might like to look at my girly cups.... gosh, does that sound.... my English tea cups!

I love drinking tea, and I love vintage and floral tea sets. I want them all!

Polka dots, floral + polka dots, stripes, floral. These are my everyday cups. I got them from Tesco for only £6 (Rs.500)

Last year, I got another set from Sainsbury's. I posted a photo on Instagram then. I was going to do a special photoshoot with the mugs (I had this image in my head), but I didn't get time. I took them to India last time, and I left them there, because they're heavy and I didn't want to risk breaking them while shifting around  

That's a cart photo I took in the supermarket. They're by Katie Alice. Her products are so pretty and vintage. I'm thinking about getting a cake stand and a full tea set.... shhh, don't tell the husband! ;)

Do you like tea sets? What are your favorite kind? 

A Change ~ No More Reviews

This is just a formal announcement that I will no longer be doing Reviews. Now before you go 'Whatthaf....!!!', please hear me out first. I will still talk about things I like and don't like, but there just won't be long reviews anymore. The Good....The Bad.....The synonym searching in my head....The bullet points..... The boring.

I will only concentrate on giving you clear pictures, swatches and of course I will jot down a few lines about the products.

I've always hated doing reviews, because there's always this pressure to be 100% right and 110% sure about what I'm saying. Every time I start to write one, I feel like I'm putting myself in a box, and I can only get out of it if I'd seen every scratch inside that box.

I take hours and hours to click and edit/re-size photos, and when I'm done, I just want to move on to other things asap, but reviews hold me back. Sometimes a review gets delayed just because I'm unsure. I don't know everything. You see REVIEW in the title, you assume the writer has ripped apart that product, and put it back together. I may have done that, but I'm too impatient to sit and talk about it in detail.

Review: The one thing I hate to do in this blog, so I'll have to let it go, with everything else I hate. I don't even read them much in other blogs. I look at the pictures, I read a few lines, and I know if I want that product or not. 

I also do not like the word 'R-e-v-i-e-w' 

Hope you can understand my decision, and don't worry, I will do posts like Best & Worst products, so that way you still get mini revie--- you know.

Btw, would you still like me to "Rate" the products? I know some of you like to see numbers, so I'm not sure if I should stop doing that too. Let me know!

Imperfect Look With Illamasqua I'MPERFECTION Collection & Swatches

Products Used:

Face ~ Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer Medium, Rimmel Stay Mate Powder 

Cheeks ~ Illamasqua Blush Duo Katie Ambition

Lips ~ Illamasqua Immodest Lipstick 

Eyes ~ Products listed in my previous EOTD post here 

♥

Now I'll show you swatches and talk about the products.....

I gotta hand it to Illamasqua for presentation. These products came to me in a cardboard box filled with cardboard noodles & polka dotted feathers. Yeah, polka dotted feathers. Faux, of course. I threw away the box, but I kept the feathers. I was going to use use them in my look up there, but I couldn't remember when I put them that day.

Illamasqua Powder Blush Duo in Katie/Ambition, £28 (Rs.2347) ~ Katie is a matte baby pink with a silky smooth texture & Ambition is a muted pink with tiny golden shimmery bits, and has more of a frosty finish. Both apply smoothly, and complement each other when worn together. I adore the sleek compact case with mirror.

Katie, Ambition

Illamasqua Blush Up Brush, £28.50 (Rs.2388) ~ This has got to be the most interesting brush I've seen lately. I knew I had to have it from the moment I laid eyes on it. It's a stiff brush but with super soft bristles. It's the perfect contouring brush because of the shape, it's perfect for under cheekbones and sides of the nose too. But boy, is it pricey! 

Illamasqua Lipstick Immodest, £16 (Rs.1341) ~  Such a gorgeous bright pink in a classy square-ish packaging  But the finish is disappointing. It's matte, but not a smooth-looking matte. It is dry, chalky and stiff, and doesn't apply well. It is fragrance-free.

The silver lining (or, pink lining?), however, is it leaves behind the most gorgeous stain I'd ever seen on my lips.....

All Illamasqua I'MPERFECTION products shown are available on www.illamasqua.com  . They ship worldwide.

Follow ILLAMASQUA: Facebook | Twitter  | Instagram

Disclosure: Products in this post were sent to me by brand for consideration. Review is based on my own experience & all opinions are my own, as always. To know more about my posting policy, please go HERE.

Come Window Shopping With Me.....

The other day, I visited the Boots here in Dundee for the first time. I was this close to buying several things, then I shocked myself- I returned them to their shelves. Sometimes I feel I deserve a medal every time I do that. Or....people standing outside the store applauding when I come out without a bag.

By "Window Shooping", I mean go to a store, browse, and not buy anything, okay? Not peek through a store window like some kind of stalker. I surreptitiously took pictures of some of the new products that interested me- surprisingly, mostly nail polishes this time....

Bourjois JE T'AIME Vintage Blush ~ These are 3 of their best-selling shades- Rose D'or 33, Cendre de Roses Brune 48 & Brun Cuivre 03. I was disappointed that they only put a sticker on top of their regular pots to make them look "vintage". I've reviewed Cendre de Roses Brune here. You can also see all the Bourjois blush shades here

*Bourjois is also launching Cream Blushes soon.

Bourjois So Laque Glossy Nail Enamel ~ I love these bright & pastel colors. I was tempted to get that taupe shade between the mint & blue. It's called Taupe Modele 05. Also, that pink shade...and yellow...and....

Playing With Baby Socks....

I got a call yesterday from my childhood friend's hubby, and he told me she's given birth to a baby boy. I was more surprised that he called me all the way from our hometown. I was so touched, and felt so happy. I cried a little... then I did what I always do when I feel like that, I went  shopping.

I headed to Primark having only one thought in mind- newborn baby socks. Oh no, I didn't just buy that one. Look.........

Hahaha! Shh, don't say anything.

You know, actually the due date was supposed to be 22nd May- my birthday! But it came early. Better. Otherwise they'd have to deal with one very c-r-a-z-y child! ;)

 CONGRATS to my friends for finally meeting the first fruit of their loins. And no, you aren't getting these socks =D

Ordered: MAC Riri Woo Lipstick (etc.)

Riri, a.k.a Rihanna collaborated with MAC to create a vivid cool red 'Limited Edition' lipstick named Riri Woo. It's a Retro Matte finish like my favorite red lipstick, Ruby Woo, which is also the inspiration behind Riri Woo.

According to E online, it sold out in 3 hours when it launched yesterday. Wow! If you want it, RUN!

I love Ruby Woo, and I used to think, "Ah, I wish there was a darker version in this retro matte finish (only)" Riri Woo looks like that version.

Free delivery over £30 (£2.45 delivery charges if under that), so I decided to get Mineralize Rich Lipstick in Style Surge (a coral shade). All shades shown here

Prices:

• MAC Riri Woo Lipstick ~  £14 (Rs.1175). It's an online exclusive. Means it won't be sold in stores.
• MAC Mineralize Rich Lipstick ~  £20 (Rs.1680)

Available online at MAC UK 

Now we wait for 3-5 business days......

Video Tutorial: How I Created My Look In Cosmopolitan Magazine

Over 1 month later than promised, here it is! It went up on my Youtube Channel after 11 pm IST last night....after I waited over 3 hours for it to upload on YT. But it's okay

Pics from the magazine issue here, in case you're new here.

Why this delay? Computers are to blame for this. The laptop I edited this video on didn't work without the charger anymore (battery spoilt), so I decided to take Mr.CZ's old laptop to India, as there used to be daily power cuts in my hometown. I quickly transferred video, and happily thought I'd upload it from India after I'd seen the magazine issue. I found out in India that video couldn't be played in the other laptop...maybe coz it's Windows 8...I don't know! Then the hurried move to Scotland happened....and then the wait for broadband. The End.

Still, I apologize for the delay. 

Anyways, hope you like the video....and think my editing is a little bit better than my purana (old) videos =D

*The lighting is bad in some parts because the sun was shining in my face.

I was going to do a voiceover, but I couldn't do it right. I bought a mike attached with funky headphones and everything- like a DJ's, but then the background noise (including vibrations from the fridge) was deafening. Hoping I'll learn all the techie stuff before the next video. 

Do you know what's arrived? My birthday month! Hola! I better start looking for things to wish for & lust after... I mean material things.... I know Zayn Malik is too young for me, okay- even younger 20 days from now! ;p (Gosh, if malik of my heart and soul sees this....)