Toss 'em out..

This post is a shout out to all the make up junkies just like me who would love to own all the make up in the world and never ever throw any of it out. I know you love every little product in your vanity but it is absolutely essential to de clutter and get rid of things that are just not fit for use and have been sitting in your drawer way past their shelf lives. For optimum use of all your cosmetics and brushes, be sure to maintain very hygienic conditions for the products, tools and the environment you store them in. 



Your MAKE UP BRUSHES are probably the only thing in your vanity that are likely to last you forever. If you treat your brushes well in terms of storage and cleanliness, they are always going to be with you. An important tip for cleaning brushes is to make sure that no liquid goes into the part where the bristles are glued. Heat or liquid can loosen up the glue and cause the bristles to fall out. Find ways to store them upright and in a way such that they don't scratch each other.
Make up sponges, however should be cleaned after every use and must be discarded after a few uses.

      

I see tons of people holding onto bottles of FOUNDATION  which are some 5 years old and are shaken before use only to not realize how disintegrated they actually are. A good water based foundation with a pump has a shelf life of no more than 12 months. The ones with an oil base could still go up to 18 months or so. The life of a CONCEALER is also about 12 months.

Just be sure to always use a properly sanitized brush or sponge and never contaminate your face powders/bronzers. This way you can squeeze out a couple of years from your POWDERS. As long as your powder does not smell funny or looks like it changed colors and is of an even consistency, it is good to use. 







Most Lipsticks, lip glosses and lip liners can last up to 2 years. It's always best to store silky textured lipsticks with a weak bullet in the refrigerator and far away from a lot of heat, moisture and direct sunlight. 

MASCARA is known to have the shortest shelf life of them all. 90 days is what experts say. I find myself squeezing out about 5 months of use from each tube. Its all good as long as it does not smell fishy. NEVER share your mascara with anyone else. If you use any eye make up with an infection, discard as soon as the infection is over. To know more on how to get the most out of your mascara and tips and tricks for application, CLICK HERE !

EYE SHADOWS & EYE LINERS will easily last up to 4-5 years. I actually want to say that your eye shadow palette could last you a lifetime if maintained and stored properly. Always sharpen very old eye liners before use to get rid of any dirty or infectious deposits on the tip. 







A few other tips:

Refrigerating your perfumes helps them last much longer as the scent does not disintegrate or change colour at lower temperatures. Nail Polishes are pretty sturdy and and can be made to last for as long as 2 years as long as the acetone in them does not evaporate. Always store packets of Facial Wipes (Make up remover wipes) upside down in order to prevent the moisture on the wipes from drying out. Creams and cleansers are good to go for about a year or so. 

The golden rule to understanding if it has gone bad or not, is to check consistency, colour and smell. Needless to say, if it's really old and irritates your skin, it most definitely belongs in the garbage.
Take good care of everything you use on your skin and I promise it'll pay you back..

Thank you for reading. Have a beautiful day. :)

Beauty on a budget & Best Buys < INR 200.

Despite the fact that I love every single beauty product on the planet and can go berserk buying anything at any price, I am always looking for awesome inexpensive alternatives or dupes of the more pricey cosmetics. So I thought I'd share some of my best findings of the Indian market with you too.

1. Garnier Anti Dark Circles Tinted Eye Roll On

Price: Rs.199/-

This is a beautiful answer to the problem of dark circles at a beautiful price. It works as an excellent concealer if you have a medium amount of darkening around the eyes. May not give a very good coverage for severe dark circles though. 
I believe there are 2 shades available : Fair & Medium.
The tinted eye care product is dispersed from a cold metal roller ball which feels great on the under eyes and the massaging action helps reduce puffiness. The water like consistency of the product makes it very simple to blend into the skin by merely taping the product into the skin and it looks just perfect. It does not crease into the under eye wrinkles at all and manges to make the entire eye socket look just as even as the rest of the face which is great ! you might want to re-apply once more during the course of the day.This also works for concealing any redness around the nose, chin and forehead. 
The product also claims to reduce dark circles as it is enriched with caffeine and lemon essence. I have not noticed any visible reductions in the darkening around the eyes but it continues to be a GREAT CONCEALER ! 

2. Maybelline ClearGlow Bright Benefit Cream

Price: Rs.199/-

What a hassle it is to wear layers and layers of products before you can start doing your make up. I have a hard time layering up moisturizer, sunblock, foundation and setting powder especially during the summer time. Thanks to this tinted moisturizer (that I like to call 'Pure Perfection'), I don't have to go through the ordeal of slapping one product over the other every single day. I just pat this across my face and I am done. It has SPF 21/PA+++ for sun protection and because it is tinted it gives you an even-toned complexion and hides imperfections. There, you already don't need sunblock or foundation. It gives you a nice dewy finish and claims to control sebum and shine for about 5 hours after application. All-in-all, I find this 18mL (which lasted me for more than 2 months on daily use of a pea-sized amount) to be a great purchase for just Rs. 199/-

It has a limited shade selection of 3 shades. The lightest being 03 Natural and the darkest being 01 Nude. Don't let the opposite numbering confuse you.

P.S. Did I mention that I lovvee the packaging? The only downer is that you can't really tell as to how much product is left in there as the tube is pretty opaque and reflects light. 

3. Maybelline Lip Smooth Color Bloom 

Price: Rs.99/-

I fell in love with this the day I bought it and its the one thing that is always in my bag or in my pocket. Both the colors come in gorgeously packaged sticks that are so sleek and cute that you could walk the earth with them. 

Pink Blossom gives a lot more color than the peach does. If you are looking for a very slight tint in a lip balm, then Peach Blossom is your pick. I often use these lip balms on top of nude matte shades of lipstick to brighten them up a little.

This is so much more than just a regular lip balm. Apart from keeping your lips really moist for hours, it gives UV protection. The importance of UV protection for the lips is only known to those who have had their lips burnt in the sun. So if you are looking for a lip product that protects your lips while you are out in the sun then Color Bloom is the thing for you. I feel swiping the pink shade 3-4 times gives you so much color on your lips that it could substitute for a pink lipstick. After a few hours, when the moisturizing effect from your lips is gone, you will still see a pretty pink stain on your lips. However, you may not get as much color from the product if your lips are on the darker side.

4. Maybelline Hypercurl Volum' Express Mascara

Price: Rs.175/-

I never knew that one could get a Mascara at this price. I recommend this to anyone just starting to use Mascara as it is the least expensive drugstore Mascara and is just perfect to begin with because it does not have difficult to handle dramatic kind of results. It has a very daywear and natural looking feel and does not add too much volume. The curvy wand helps to separate lashes and curl them even without using an eyelash curler and the mascara holds curl pretty well up to 5 hours or so.

It does not flake or smear and it wouldn't go anywhere till you decide to remove it. It really lives up to being waterproof which is why you must use an eye make up remover to get rid of it.

5. L'Oreal Paris Total Repair 5 Leave-In Serum

Price: Rs.199/-

Serum is your hair BFF in times of frizziness and all those unmanageable fly aways right after a wash. I feel its acts as a relaxant and calms down the hair that is going crazy after having been washed. I recommend taking a coin sized droplet and working it throughout the length of your hair. You  might want to use more for longer hair. Its best to apply serum mto towel dried hair before styling or blowdrying . L'oreal Paris Total Repair 5 proves to be an excellent purchase at this price. It adds so much shine to your hair on a dull hair day. I often apply this to styled hair that has lost all its lustre after being subjected to heat and it restores the shine and texture almost instantly or to hair that I just scrunch and leave for natural drying (and want to avoid the frizzy bizzies). However, second day hair looks a lot flatter after you've used serum on the first day and so, you may not want to use too serum if you have very thin or scanty hair growth on your scalp as this particular serum does take a little bit of the volume in exchange for a neater look. 

Disclaimer: All the views and opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned above and was not sponsored to write this. These were just a few good inexpensive products that I loved and wanted to share with my readers so you can try them too.

Good luck.


Thank you for reading ! :)

Mascara & Eyeliner - All that you need to know !

Lets say you're in a crazy rush (which is usually the case) and no can do's a lot of make but you still wanna do a little something to amp up how your face looks, just take 2 minutes to work with an eyeliner and/or mascara. I'm pretty sure a lot of you have noticed the remarkable difference that the two products can make and become absolute saviours.

Here are some of my favorite tips and tricks on how to get the most from your eyeliner and mascara and how to have some fun trying out different looks.

GETTING STARTED WITH EYELINER !

If you are just beginning to use liners/Kajal or if you are just not very good at applying either of them then practice, patience and a steady hand is the key to it. Being able to line your eyes is no rocket science and an eyeliner is the most basic type of make-up. Get your hands on a inexpensive pencil that you can work with for practice daily and soon you will find yourself becoming confident enough to play with eyeliners and the different looks you could create with them. 

Smoldering smudged eyeliner.

Many a times, eyeliner application is not as perfect as you would like it to be and these are usually the times when you just cant sit down to fix the goof up. I turn to the little guy called Q-tip (or earbuds) at that very instant. No I am not reaching out for the Q-tip to fix the mess but to smudge it even more. This creates a sexy smoldering look instead of a well defined line. Be careful to not smudge a very thick line as this could give you Raccoon eyes which is never a good idea.  

If you are looking for a very well defined line with a glossy finish that lasts all day, turn to the liquid or gel liners. The application of these two is a lot more controlled for both the lower lash line and water line. However, I am not sure how safe these are for the waterline as they do come in contact with the eyes. Liquid and gel liners are ideal for a cat or winged liner look. A good intermediate to pencil liners and gel/liquid liners are the felt tip liners. 

If you are like me and love using the pencil liners then here is the best tip for you to make your pencil liner last all day. Make sure your eyelids are not too oily. Apply an eye-primer or just some makeup setting powder (or compact) to prevent the eyeliner pigments from fading out during the course of the day. After lining your eyes, take some matte black eyeshadow on an angled brush and pat it on your liner or Kajal. This works fabulously and the lines just wouldn't budge. 

 

Try a white pencil for the waterline. 

Most girls in India use a black kohl pencil on their lower lash line (commonly known as Kajal). Contrary to this, try using a white pencil. I personally feel that it adds more light to the eyes and makes them pop and look bigger.

Black Kajal will always be a good old favorite and was probably the first makeup item I used back in the 7th grade. And of course no ethnic Indian make-up look is complete without Kajal.

The picture above shows what a difference it would make if you used black, white or just left them nude.

Fun looks to play around with :)

PRACTICE till you have a steady hand and then try some of these fun looks with different types of eyeliners. Trace a rough line with a black eyeshadow on an angled brush and then retrace the same line with your liner. You will find that there is less chance of making errors that way. Notice how every little stroke of your liner makes a huge difference to your look. Good luck trying !

   
LETS TALK MASCARA !

Once you are done with the eyeliner, adding a few finishing coats of Mascara will instantly make your eyes look bigger and more awake. Just because a Mascara works wonders for your friend does not mean that it would work equally well for you too. Choosing the right Mascara for your lashes is like choosing the right type of hairstyling products for your hair. For example, if you have very thin lashes then a wet formula mascara is just not the right one for you. It would end up weighing your lashes down and clump them together. For thin lashes, I recommend using a dry and thicker formula. Pay attention to the wand too. It should have long, fine and evenly spaced bristles.

Application: Tips and Tricks !

The commonest way of applying mascara is to touch the wand to the base of the lashes (where the roots are) and wiggle side-to-side moving upwards. 

Its always best to apply 2-3 thin coats for a fuller look instead of one very loaded stoke that causes clumping. Apply each coat and wait for it dry up before applying the next.

Tightline.

Tight lining with a black kohl pencil underneath the roots of the lashes also creates an illusion of very thick lashes. Always try and pick a waterproof mascara. It is best suited for oily skin or a humid weather and wouldn't smudge. It also contains a lot of wax that holds curl better. Besides, you could always have the occasional meltdown while wearing mascara. :p

The famous business card trick!

A good way to work with mascara and ensure that you don't goof up is to take a business card, roughly cut out a curve like the shape of your eye and hold the upper lid with the card and then apply mascara. This works well because not only does it lift up the lashes but also prevents you from messing up your eyelid.

You could use the same card to protect your cheek and under eye area from any powdery fallouts from the the wand or lashes while applying mascara.



I never use the business card trick because I am always applying mascara in a rush and I get mascara on my lids more often than not. Instead of going for it immediately, I wait for it dry up and then scrape it off gently with a Q-tip. Trying to get rid of wet mascara anywhere on your skin always smudges and creates a bigger mess.

If you find that the wand has too much product on it and you obviously don't want to coat your lashes with such a load and clump them, then just take a tissue and roll off the excess from the wand before applying. Sometimes I like to roll off the excess product on the comb-like side of the brow and lash groomer. Now use this side to just brush through your lashes. This by far has given me the closest results to wearing false lashes. It works the BEST. It separates out the lashes and gives them so much length in just a few short strokes.

Brow & Lash Groomer. 

So your favorite mascara has dried up and you NEED to wear it right this second. What do you do ?

It's very simple. Just add a few drops of your lens cleansing solution or some eye drops and shake it. This will restore your mascara for a few more uses. However, it is not recommended to continue using a mascara if it smells fishy. Mascaras have a very short shelf life and give a very distinct foul smell when they are no longer fit for use which is very easily identifiable. 

NEVER pump the wand in and out of your mascara tube. This dries up the product very quickly as you are pumping air into it.


Lastly, removing mascara and eyeliner properly at the end of day are an equally important step. My favorite eye make-up removers are baby oil, olive oil and vaseline. These really break down the waterproof products on your eyes and nourish them. The area around the eyes does not have very active oil producing glands anyway so you don't have to worry about breakouts in that area. Massage vaseline on your lash line with a Q-tip and on your lashes (with your fingertips) every time you remove mascara. This not only removes whatever little is left but also gives good conditioning to the lashes, makes them longer and reduces lash fallout.

Always take care of the little things and watch how they make a huge difference.

Thank you for reading !