My night time cleanser: The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Cream

My interest in Korean cosmetics started with BB creams, CC creams and all the reviews in the Blog world that claimed the superiority of Korean makeup & beauty products compared to their Western counterparts.

I was not very sure of testing out the K-beauty products as, to be honest, I am a bit wary when I cannot read the ingredients [no knowledge of Korean]. So after deliberating for sometime I got some K-beauty products and I must say, I am impressed by the few I have used so far.

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Cream [hooo..the name is a mouthful!] caught my eye cos it was supposed to be a 'Naturally Brightening Solution with Rice Water'.  I have no idea what Rice Water is or what it is supposed to do. My grandma used to make a paste of rice flour with honey and used to apply it on my face for brightening effect; I am assuming this cream also has that kinda effect.

This cream retails for around $15 CAD for 200 ml of the product; you can buy this from Cosmetic Love website here

I am not a fan of the tub packaging for hygienic reasons; however this looks kinda pretty and the wide mouth of the tub makes it easy to scoop the product out. The cream is slightly thick, applies very smoothly and has a very old-world kinda scent which I like.

How I use: I use a coffee stirrer to scoop out enough product and massage them lightly all over my face. I find that it cleans better after I wash my face with warm water. On massaging, the cream turns a bit oily, which I think helps with any makeup removal.

I could notice the slight brightening effect; what made me love this cleanser is that it removed makeup very effectively without drying out my face. After cleansing, my skin felt moisturized and very soft. Once I removed my makeup at night, even if I forget to apply my nightly serum, my face doesn't dry out -which is pretty neat considering the harsh winter here.

What I wouldn't suggest: Using this to remove eye makeup. I tried and it did remove makeup, but it hurt a bit when some product accidentally touched my cornea; I think it is the effect of the oil content in this product.

Overall: Loved this product but I may not repurchase the exact product if I find something better :)

Ipsy Glam bag for February 2014: Look of Love

I got my February Glam bag 2days ago and to be honest, I didn't get much time to review the products. So this is just to show what I got and I will review the products soon [hopefully].

As usual love the pink cover, but really wish they had a nice design on the pink Ipsy bag as well. I got 5 products and its a nice mix of Face, Eye, Lip and nail products.

Ipsy has done a nice job in balancing the products; I have updated my profile as I want more skin care products.

POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini 

I got the shade in Peony Petal. This looks like a nice safe shade. 

City Color Be Matte Blush

I got Fresh Melon, a good one for summer.

Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One

I got the shade Ambrosia; this is the one product I am not very happy about as its a very common shade and I am not an eyeshadow fan.

Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Butter

I always wanted to try Pacifica products, so here is my chance.
 

Zoya Nail Polish in Odette

I am very happy with this shade as it looks like a nice one for winter. This is from their Naturel collection.

Ipsy bags are a great way to try some new products without burning a hole in your wallet. If you wish to join, check my referral code here: http://www.ipsy.com/r/1m3y

Skin Care update: A New favorite daily moisturizer with Vit C from iHerb.com

This is my current favorite face lotion- Aroma Naturals Amazing C, A & E Vitamin Lotion. I got this from iHerb [adding link below]
http://www.iherb.com/Aroma-Naturals-Amazing-C-A-E-Vitamin-Lotion-1-oz-30-g/49604

iHerb says about the product that "This antioxidant Vitamin C Lotion delivers long-lasting moisture and helps to support new collagen production, skin tone rebalancing and less noticeable fine lines. Fortified with Coconut Water, Aloe Vera Gel and Green Tea for rapid Hydration, and synergistic Vitamins A & E with Alpha Lipoic Acid. Our patent pending Omegas 3, 6, 7, & 9 complex is high in Essential Fatty Acids, helping to restore elasticity and resilience. Organic Cocoa Butter and Organic Shea Butter rapidly smoothes and soothes your skin, and are great for helping scars and stretch marks be less noticeable."

My experience [ normal to dry skin, Early 30s]

This is a good moisturizer - tested in the Winter here in Canada, so this is good. I apply this in the morning and at night; it  kept my face hydrated for the whole day except for some very dry patches around the mouth [I use my clear lip balm in those areas]

Regarding the fine lines and scar reduction, I cannot say much cos I have neither. But I couldnt see any special effect on the pigmentation on my face. This gave a slight brightening effect on application and I found that this worked well as a primer too.

For me, this met my expectations of a light weight soothing non irritant easily absorbed moisturizer, that I could use with my sunscreen and apply under makeup. And at $4.00CAD approx, this is a good buy for me!

NYC City Duet 2 in 1 Lipcolor in shade Café Cuties 429

Hello Everyone,
Hope February is treating you nicely and you’re having loads of fun shopping. Myself, I have been indulging in bits-n-bytes of shopping – both in-store & online. This is from a recent Walmart haul [though buying a single lipstick cannot be counted as a haul]- they were having a sales & I thought – why not!

NYC City Duet shades retail for around $2.99 CAD. The packaging is pretty flimsy and boring- but serves the purpose as the transparent casing helps in selecting shades easily. Also the label is printed in the dual shades so even though there were no testers, we can guesstimate if it works on not.

I was hunting for a regular work-wear lip color – somehow I associate brown and dark reds with office; probably a leftover from watching FRIENDS early seasons. NYC has come up with an interesting concept here – 2 shades that kinds matches. I don’t know if they were thinking of aOMBRE finish for lips but this can be used if you are interesting in that style.

Café Cuties has 2 shades of peachy brown colors- 1 darker caramel kinda color and a lighter butterscotch color. I tried both shades separately and used the tip to get a combined color [a medium caramel shade].  I prefer the combination better than the individual colors as it’s a very mellow peachy nude shade.

What I like about this shade is, it can even be used without a lip balm as it does not dry me out [not in winter though]. The lighter shade has some shimmers, but not very visible, which makes it a great daily wear.

What I don’t like –
- the scent is a bit stronger than what I would prefer but not to a turn-off level
- staying power is average [2-3 hours] ; fades off completely which is okay as it’s a nude shade
-packaging is a bit messy as the cap doesn’t stay that well

Overall, for around $2, this is a nice peachy brown shade and a fun lip product for your daily wear but nothing lip-tastic.

Review: ELF Studio Matte Lip color in Coral

Hello Everyone,

Hope you are all doing great and having fun. I have been suffering a bit from Winter Blues [its been pretty bad here in Toronto] so like a good makeup lover I went and got some lippies. ELF has always been a favourite of mine - mainly cos they don’t test on animals and they have such nice prices, but I don’t always find ELF products here [sad!]. So when I saw this lippie at a dollar store here, how could I skip it?

ELF Studio range is marketed the higher priced and better quality versions of their regular essential line. They have sleek black casing and is usually around $3-$6 USD. Matte Lip colors are a not-so-chubby lip colors with creamy matte finish. Not many shades in this range, in fact no dark colors except for a bright red shade.

I like the elegant black packaging and the pencil-like casing. This makes it easy to apply the shade around lip contours. There is no strong scent or taste; staying power is okay- I got around 4-5 hours without any food.

Coral is a peachy coral, not a pinkish coral which is more flattering to our Indian skin tones. This gives a very creamy finish and sets to a satin-matte finish. Not a true matte effect but you can mattify this & increase the staying power easily by blotting over 1-2 times.

I am not a fan of this color as it kind of washes me out; this type of pastel shades are more suited to a paler and fairer skin tones. Also if you have pigmented lips [like me] then the color doesn’t show up really nice unless you conceal the original lip color.

If you like such colors, my suggestion would be to try and perfect your makeup as pale shades can easily show any uneven skin finishes.

Overall, this is a nice lip product for all you nude-lip lovers; if you are looking for a perfect matte, this may be tad disappointing though.

A perfect waste of money.. Review and Swatches: Chambor White UV Protector

I wasted around 600INR for this dud of a product. As per the SA [may her lying soul not rest in peace], this was supposed to be a great tinted moisturizer that will brighten up skin in 5mins and had the added bonus of SPF 29..Why 29???? No rounding off??

This did nothing...absolutely nothing... no brightening, no moisturizing and when I went out in the hot April sun of Chennai, within an hour I turned 2-3 shades darker! Above all, it had a freakish whitish cast, so I couldn't even try to use it as a primer - did Chambor think that people wanted to dress up like cheap Dracula's bride?

And for a company that charges kinda high for their products, the packaging is weirdly cheap and has no information on the company, the ingredients or anything.

Nothing more to add - Just check the pics below.

Product of Japan -so whats the role of GENEVA ??????

Look at that whitish cast!!!!

Tips and Tricks: How to stop your nails from getting bitten!

This might be more of a post for kids or teens, but for me this is a real concern and if there are any other ladies out there who suffer from the same "I-cant-just-stop-biting-my-nails" malady, I hope this strikes a chord with you.

Okay, I am an adult, I like dressing up, I love nail polishes, I adore manicured polished nails and yet... I cant just stop biting the lil ones, when I am stressed :( I know there might be several psychological reasons, but hey, I am not here to talk about that but about how this naughty habit can be controlled. Since this is an article based on purely personal experience, you  can tell me if its nonsense or let me know if you like it :)

1. Keep your Friends and Family in the loop: Nothing works better than a friend who smacks your head when you start chewing on your nails or a husband who says "yewwww..stop that", so keep em in the loop and that sure controls the biting part a lot!

2. Keep your nails hidden: The idea is to keep your nails tucked away from the reach of those vicious teeth. I do it by wrapping my nails with an adhesive plastic or with a glove, removing both only if necessary.

3. Shame yourself and your nails: Here, you shame your bitten nails and yourself by applying a bold nail color over the misshapen bits of nails, walking around with it and getting stared at by people. Your beauty conscious self cringes at the sight of your half bitten nails and next time, your teeth goes near it, your inner beauty angel will kick hard!

4. Identify the bite timings: This requires effort, think and try to remember when you bite your nails. Is it when you think about seeing your cranky boss, or meeting your crazy mama-in-law? Once you identify, tag the memory and next time you start even remotely thinking about it, keep in your hands away from your face and in your pocket!

5. Un-taste your hands: Cover your hands with hand and nail creams so easily available, and soooo not tasty. Keep doing it especially when you are idle. The chemical taste is a sure turn off :)

6. Tempt Yourself: Buy some expensive and/or irresistible nail polishes which would tempt you enough to ring those warning bells when you start chewing your nails.


Note: All images are courtesy of Pixabay.com 

Another MIA Brand.. Review and Swatches: Womsee Liquid Lip color in shade Grecian Rose

Ayur Herbals had launched their color cosmetics brand - Womsee sometime before and Snapdeal.com used to carry this line. I was intrigued by the Liquid Lip color line and got this shade from them.

This is pretty similar to NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams - similar consistency and color payoff. NYX lasts longer than this one though. I liked this purplish pink shade.

For INR 150, this was a nice product but unfortunately I cant find this brand being sold anywhere. Hope we will have more pocket friendly and non-animal-testing brands in Indian markets soon.

To say or not to say? Review: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Skin Illuminating Primer

This is a product I am in two minds about - sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. Let me explain more..

Hard Candy Sheer Envy primer is my 4th attempt at finding a primer that works like one. I tried a sample of MAC prep + prime and I surprised myself by not liking it - weird huh? It felt like I am applying some kinda gooky stuff on my face and I didn't like the feel at all. And then there were some others..

I'd read some good reviews and some so-so's - for the price I thought 'Leme check this one out'... Now here is the deal - this works with some foundations, sometimes this feels good on skin and some other times, it just irritates the hell outta me. I can't find out exactly why and how this happens - a primer that behaves like a kid!!

With my Revlon Colorstay this behaves like a nice one - no worries, stays quiet for a long time and feels good to have around. With my Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals liquid foundation, this one behaves like a kid denied of a favorite icecream - all flaky and no reasoning with it all. And then some days, it sits well on my skin, some days it feels like slime... a tough one to figure out.

Overall - would I recommend it? Nooo.. Would I ask you to run away from it? Nooo.. Do you wish to try a low cost primer and do you have dry skin? May be this one will work for you- All the best!

Instant face brightener from your kitchens.. Party special tip

Here is an instant face brightener tip.. thank me once you try this..
Have a party at 7pm and you discover you look more like zombie bride after a grueling workday?
Try this to pep up your skin and looks..

What you need..

1. 1 bottle of water or as much as you need to drink to get you to pee atleast once :) believe me, it is not nonsense.. If you can get Orange juice, lime juice or any good juice, all the more better... keep drinking till you pee atleast once...

2. Got some ice? Rub on your face after washing it.. and rub on it once more after you apply your moisturiser and has rubbed it in.. this really gets your skin smooth and calm..

Courtesy: Pixabay.com

3. Take a pad of cotton or any good cloth, wet it nicely with as cold water as you can manage and put it over your face and lie down for 5-10mins... Your skin will thank you for the rest.

4. Finally, the brightening part.. got a banana? Mash a small part of it, and rub it all over your face before you start any beauty regime or makeup.. Massage for atleast 2-3mins and keep it on for another 5mins. If possible, lie down with a warm-wet-cloth over the face...

My skin looks very fresh after the stuff I mentioned above and I like cos a major part deals with lying down and its something I sooooooo wanna do after a days work before any party or outing..

Did it work for you? Let me know.. :)

Lazy Beauty Guide- Looking Good While Cooking :-)

This might look confusing but its about how you can multi task while doing house hold chores like cooking, to do some beauty treatment at the same time without spending exclusive time for it.

What I do while I cook:

1. Using oil- do you use olive oil? If so dab some on your face with a brisk massage before you start your kitchen chores and your face will benefit without additional effort. Actually any oil will do.
If you suffer from facial hair like I do, heat some oil with some turmeric till the oil turns light yellowish -make sure the turmeric powder doesn't burn - and use this oil daily to brighten your face and reduce hair growth.

Courtesy: Pixabay.com

2. When you cut/peel vegetables or fruits like orange, apple, carrot, cucumber, beetroot, potato etc, use a small slice or the peel to rub the juice all over your face. You get a good mini facial with no additional time or effort.

3. Need glowing skin in 5 mins? Take butter or ghee and massage all over your face for 3-4 mins. If you can rub some lime juice after this onto your face, even better. Keep massaging and wash off with water, no soap and use napkins or oil absorbent tissues to wipe off additional oil. Use rose water or a toner or milk and pat it over lightly. Get that baby smooth glowing skin without any hard work.

Let me know how this works for you..:)

A Tiny Haul from Yesstyle.ca - Adventure into Korean Beautyscape

I've long been fascinated by Korean makeup products, mainly because they are soooo pretty and they have some nice concepts.

So when I found out this website called Yesstyle.ca which offered Free Shipping [!!!] I couldn't resist testing it out. This is a tiny haul but I hope to get more stuff soon as I am very impressed by the website!

The one I found most intriguing is the Sul Wha Soo ginseng cream.

Lazy Beauty Guide: Emergency Makeup Kit

So here I was, lounging away another day reading some favorite novels and arranging my lipstick collection [I can never look enough at them!] when my friend called and asked me to be at the door in under 15mins to meet her gang.

So 15mins.... and I was still in pajamas! And then came my laziness to the rescue. So here goes what I did to prep up.

1. Washed my face in ice-cold water [which is easy here considering the climate!] but if you dont have ice water flowing from taps, suggest always keep a bottle in fridge for such emergencies.. :)
Time: 1min

2. Dabbed some aloe vera gel on my face and neck and on top of eyelid. Did away with moisturizer and primer in this quick step :) :) If you dont have aloe vera gel, use rose water for freshening up and use moisturizer or primer.
Time: 1-2 min

3. Dressed up in my favorite top and jeans and pulled on my boots giving the gel time to settle on my face
Time: 4-5 mins

4. Dabbed my favorite mineral loose powder from FACES Canada all over my face, neck and eye area
Time: 2mins

5. Used my coal black kajal pencil to quickly and thickly line the upper eyelid lash line and the corner of my lower lash line to give an instant cat-eye look. Trick here is to have a nicely pigmented jet black pencil for use and lotsa practice to get that line instant :)
If you dont trust to do a fast work with eye pencil, you can do a quick mascara coating of eye lash - just concentrate on giving 2-3 quick coatings on the upper lash area without trying for the root-to-tip model.
Another trick is to use a black eyeshadow or pigment with a narrow tipped brush. Apply a thin line on upper lash line and the lower corner for a cats eye effect and lightly smudge.
 Time: 1-2mins

6. Dabbed on my lip balm and used nude/brown gloss over it. Added an extra layer on my upper lip and middle of lower lip area. You can speed this process if you have a nice tinted lip balm or a liquid lipstick in a nude-pink or whichever shade that flatters you. If you are in doubt, here is a suggestion - keep a bronze/copper color lipstick or gloss with light shimmers and a lip balm stick ready in your emergency kit. Dont use a nude shade for the 1st time in an emergency, you may end up looking washed out. Also, nude shades dont work well if your makeup is not perfect.
The bronze/copper shade is a universal color and will instantly brighten up almost all complexions as compared to the nude lip shade which may not suit some skin tones and can even be used in a formal setting if applied lightly.
Time: 1-2mins

7. I still have 2mins which I used basically to run to the door and wait.. :)

Guess the underlying lesson here for every lazy girl is to keep a basic makeup kit ready especially if like me, you dont care about looking dressed up at home.. :)

My suggestions for a basic makeup kit for makeup under 15mins:

 1. A moisturizer / primer/BB cream that can works good and fast on your skin. Spend some time on finding this. This is the most important item in your kit as it basically sets your entire face. If like me you cant be bothered much and if you have occasional acne etc, go for aloe vera gel or such natural gel/cream.  Use this on face, eyes, neck [back of the neck included], ears and any exposed chest areas.

2. A powder based foundation and a good applicator. Dont rely on cream/mousse/liquid foundations for emergency. These require good attention for usage. Using a powder based foundation makes it easier to change layering and to cover up any mistakes made.The key to good application is in remembering to cover all 3 areas as flawlessly as possible - Face, Neck [including back of the neck] and any exposed chest areas

 3. A basic smoky eye shadow kit and black mascara. It is easy, it looks good on almost all skin tones [yet to find one that it doesnt!] so get an easy-to-apply kit.

4. Dont use blusher/bronzer or any contouring/highlighting product in a hurry. This is one item in your makeup that can easily end up making you look like a clown. So unless you are perfect with this, dont add this to your makeup kit.

For Mascara, dont go for heavy application when you're in a hurry. Go lightly and dont go for root-to-tip application, stick with darkening the tips. 

5. Lipbalm+Lip color: This is purely personal choice. I would suggest a combo of lip balm plus a copper/bronze lip color. Use a lip balm as much as possible to shield your delicate lip areas from chemicals. If you can get a nicely tinted lip balm all the more better! However, the color stays very short for tinted lip balms usually, so use it alone only if you have nice natural lips or if you have a realllllly good lip balm.

Copper Bronze color with light shimmer suits almost all skin tones, can be applied to suit any setting -party or formal and best of all - doesnt highlight any flaws in your makeup the way a nude lip color would do!
And no, dont keep a coral/peach lip color as your emergency lip color either - unless you have perfect skin always, it tends to highlight skin problems pretty easily.

6. Face Tissues. Get good ones, multitasking ones if possible. If you love wet wipes, keep one but keep a good set of dry ones as well as wet ones can mess your makeup.
If you have excess makeup, eye shadow fallout or oil breakout, take the dry tissue, fan it out to cover the whole face in one layer and press it to your face with increasing pressure.  Do not ever rub in  as it messes up the remaining makeup. Just pat it stronger in the problem areas.
If you have to decide between using a kitchen napkin and a washroom tissue[ god forbid, but may still happen] go for the kitchen one as bathroom tissues are too soft for the purpose.

7. A good multipurpose makeup applicator - no, im not speaking about fingers though that will do in most cases. I use either a good Kabuki brush [small one] or the Beauty Blender sponge. This can help with most makeup items.