How to use a lip balm effectively and Review and Swatches: Colorbar Lip Pencil in Moody Maroon

Colorbar's lip pencil in Moody Maroon is a favorite lip liner of mine. I always turn to this one when I am in doubt - this is a total love.

Price is around INR 350 but with Colorbar increasing prices every now and often this may not be the same tomorrow! The color is a beautiful dark red with brown tints that works wonderfully as a contour shade. There is nothing like a dark red shade to shape your lips to get that perfect pout!

The color applies beautifully., though this is not a very creamy liner. In fact, on days when my lips are dry, I find it hard to apply directly on to bare lips. So my suggestion would be to apply lip balm [check my tips below] and then apply this to avoid drying out. This lasts for a goodish time [4-5hrs on avg] and leaves a nice stain.

 Overall I love this product and shade,so try this one before Colorbar raised their price again!

How to use lip balm effectively


Exfoliate lips before application -  For daily use, quickly mix sugar & honey and use your ring finger to slowly massage to avoid excess pressure on lips. If you have pigmentation on lips, add 1-2 drops of lemon juice to the mix. Do not rub for more than a min or 2. Apply lip balm immediately and never apply a lip color immediately after exfoliation as your lips are most sensitive & may react to excess chemicals.


Layer and layer and layer -  I find that the best way to get good moisture is to layer the balm. Apply a thin layer, wait, apply again, wait and then once again for soft and shiny lips.

Use clean fingers to apply the product as this helps with blood circulation and better absorption. Avoid your index finger as the pressure can be excessive. 

After applying the lip balm, slowly pat or tap your lips with your middle or ring finger. Start tapping from the edges or contours of the lip and move inside. This helps with product absorption and makes your lips soft & pout-elicious.

Review & Swatches: Colorbar Blush in Just Earth 05

This was one of my blog sale purchases from Corallista. I liked her review on this blush and since I was experimenting with blush shades then, I thought a natural shade may be something I can try without worrying about looking clownish.

Since this blush has been discontinued by Colorbar, I am not doing a detailed product review here, but instead I am focusing on the color of this blush. This is a matte orangey pinkish color with brown tints. I saw this shade of Orange called 'Apricot' listed in Wikipedia [for HTML web colors] which pretty well matches this color.

This is a color that works as a bronzer for some and as a blusher for some. If you are very fair, then this might work better as a bronzer for you, but if you like me are medium warm skin toned then this would be a really nice natural color for cheeks.

Nothing much to add on, except that the quality of this blush is not that great, so I dont really miss this blush. However it served it purpose i.e. building my confidence in using blushes, so I guess I am happy I found this one.

Review and Swatches: Colorbar Velvet Matte lipstick in Smokey Rose AND How to Use Lipstick Testers

I have reviewed 2 Colorbar Velvet Matte Lipsticks here – Thrilling Pink and Creme cup .

So I am not going to review the product per se, this is more of a shade review.

Pinks in my opinion is a dangerous color… It lures us into thinking that a shade might suit us, but it can look horribly weird based on your skin tone and makeup.

Red is usually touted as a color to be used with caution but I say Pink is what we should be wary of.

The right pink shade can flatter your face but the wrong one can make your skin dull, teeth look yellow and show up all bad things about your skin & makeup.

This is one pink shade with which I’ve had love-hate relationship. Some days it looks great on my skin, some days it makes me look as if I borrowed lippy from a 13yr old. 

Colorbar’s Smoky Rose is a beautiful blue-toned pink shade that looks brighter on lips than on swatches.

I think this is a discontinued shade, but if you find similar shades my advice is to make sure you test it out on your lips as this color may not be for everyone.

Shade is worn as a stain here after multiple 'apply & blots'

On that note, here is what I suggest you do to test lippies when you go shopping and find that you don’t really care for the much used testers:

1.       Always keep a tester set with you when you go scouting. Kit should contain – set of paper napkins or wet wipes, cotton, cotton swab or buds or q-tips & a tea stirrer or any thin wooden stick

2.       If the lipstick bullet is not very short, use the napkin or wipe to clear the top layer of the product. Make sure you explain to any SA around that you are going to try on lips, so she doesn’t think you are crazy.

3.       If the lipstick bullet is very short, use the tea stirrer to slowly discard top 1-2 layers.

4.       Use the cotton swab, bud or q-tip to get the color from the fresher layer and apply on lips.

5.       Some tips – SAs can be pushy, but stand your ground and let them know you prefer applying yourself. Also smell the lipstick before application. If there is any damage to product, it usually comes of in the smell.  If possible try viewing the color in different lights, if you are trying this out at night.

Review: Colorbar Eye shadow in shade Flirt

Once again I start with a disclaimer: I am not a fan of eye shadows...

Yes, I know -its absolutely stupid considering eyes are one feature that everyone can so beautifully play up... There is no excuse except that I am freakishly health conscious about anything to do with eyes...

I prefer to keep them clean, I try to minimize use of any eye product other than kajals..

I regularly throw out even unused mascaras if they so much as cross the 6month line..

So it is pretty unusual for me to use eye shadows except when the occasion demands it... I prefer to stick to safe colors like brown-gold-silver-khaki even when I am buying an eyeshadow. So I surprised myself when I got this brilliant blue shade from Colorbar , a brand which I like very much. When I got it, the price was around 250, now its 300, so buy from this range asap, cos Colorbar raises its prices very very fast!! :(

Check out the shades available at Medplusbeauty, they update their stocks pretty well.

Back to the product details: I like CB's silver packaging - a change from usual black. And it is packaged pretty well since you can easily see the color of eyeshadow. It has a good mirror if you bother enough to flip open the bottom lid. The only down part is the completely useless brushes they provide- is it that costly to add a nice brush with your product???? 

The color is a brilliant sea blue with beautiful shimmer.. words dont do justice to this, I hope the swatches will help. The pigmentation is just awesome - the swatches are from 1 swipe of the product, so be light with your application. The texture is soft and applies beautifully; no complaints there. No fall-outs and it doesn't need a primer- it stays easily for 3-4 hours [beyond which I usually never wear an eye product continuously, so dont know if it stays longer]  I only wish I'd gotten more colors of this range before I left India.

For eye shadow this pigmented, its easy to apply with your fingers by tapping slightly starting with your upper lash line area and going up. Do not take it beyond crease line, keep maximum pigmentation for the outer corners to give that cat eyed effect.

The only problem I face with this color is - it doesnt suit me! There, plain as I say :( which is really sad since it is very beautiful. This or most blue shades are for very light or dark skin tones - doesn't suit medium fair to fair skin tones. Blue has a way of showing up your skin color - on very fair skin, it gives that ethereal glow or summer glow based on the depth of application; on darker skin shades, it gives that exotic look which is what is intended with the shade; on medium skin tones, it is just blahhhhh... :( It just looks so out of place; I would be very happy if anyone can tell me a way to make this look good.

It doesnt give a wintery or summery effect...it just looks weird... For medium-fair to fair skin tones, go for dark olive greens and purple shades... unless you just wanna play with colors, in which case any colors would be great.. :) :)

Would I buy again? Not this shade, but from this range -definitely!! :)

Review and Swatches: Colorbar velvet matte in shade Thrilling Pink

After blogging about Creme cup, I decided - Why stop at one, let me review both the beauties I received from http://www.stylecraze.com/ ..

I have been wanting to buy Thrilling pink for a long long time [ah well, i know its barely months since the new shades came out, but that is looooooong for a makeup addict!] and have been mooning about the lack of availability of these beauties in my local town[blah!] of Coimbatore [ A city so not for makeup lovers!!!! :( :( :( ]..



So when Stylecraze and Pooja started this discussion about products they would like to have in SC, I mentioned my yearning for this and Chetana [ love you dear!!! :) :) ] very sweetly and nicely added this and informed me..



And you can guess what happened - I immediately placed an order..and got these beauties within 2-3 days. This was the cool-toned pink shade I was searching for, a perfect color for summer days.. :)


Its a very pretty girly matte girly shade, no shimmer, no frost and I adore & love it.. It instantly brightens up my face and gives a youthful look..okay may be I am exaggerating but it does reduce the age [the grand old age of 28!!! ] from my face unlike some dark brown shades I could think of...

Overall, I guess this is a must have shade for all pretty girls and especially for that summer day outing.. :)

 Its a nice try at 225 Rs, though with Colorbar lipstick prices sky rocketing, no guarantee when they go expensive for pocket!!!

Review and Swatches: Colorbar velvet matte lipstick in shade Creme Cup 78V

Colorbar Velvet matte is such a crowd favorite lippie that it doesnt need any additions from me.I was hooked on to this range through a dear friend I met via IMBB, who intro-ed me to the beautiful shades - Irish rose and Mocha to me.

Price is around 225 but the retail price is upped to 250! I can vaguely remember a time when Colorbar priced its products in 100s range.. :( Inflation, inflation!

After that I got a couple more from my favorite websites: http://www.stylecraze.com/ and http://www.snapdeal.com/ . This one I got with another pretty shade - Thrilling Pink from Stylecraze. I was looking for Shy Cherry shade but it was not available, so I decided to take a risk and ordered this.

Why I ordered this might sound very stupid.. :) I like the name-yes that is it... Some how it reminded me of thick rich luxurious coffee with creme..

The lipstick stands true by its name. Its a very neutral nudish shade, that is very flattering for most skin colors except the very dark ones. It is a sort of peachy-browny-natural shade that is just right for a formal day wear, especially when you want to play safe..

This is a favorite shade of mine. The only other shade which I can think of in the Brown family, that suits my uneven-wheatish-oily-skin combination without washing me out or making me look like a oldie, is Streetwear's Creamy Brown shade which I reviewed here

My verdict? This is a nicely pigmented decent-stay [2-3hrs] creamy nude peachy brown shade for every day wear that fits well in your pocket and is easily available - what more can i say? This is a must buy! :)