Review and Swatches: The Body Shop Tinted Glow Enhancer in Shade 01

Have you ever bought a product thinking it works in one way and then later found out that it works in a completely different way?

That was my experience with The Body Shop’s Tinted Glow Enhancer in shade 01.

For anyone wondering why an Indian lady with seriously warm yellow skin tones, would go and buy Shade 01 of a face product, that too from a foreign brand, read the story below.

For those who are here to know if the product is good or bad, skip straight to the review section.

Story behind this –

Let this be a moral to all those ladies who get charmed by the SA at a beauty counter and buy products thinking,  ‘hey I wanna get her look so may be if I buy what she says ill glow like her’. SAs are not beauty goddesses, let’s keep in that in mind and may god grant me the strength to say No to the ladies at MAC and Sephora.

Here it is –Shopaholic Lady[SL] goes into beauty store - Gets blinded by the 1000W smile of the SA - Looks around to see what she can grab to make her look as good- SA demos anything that she feels didn’t sell much that month - SL gets dazzled by the promises of radiant beauty awaiting her with one touch of the product – SL buys it and the happy glow of a new purchase surrounds her till she goes home and tries it………….

Try and believe – I went in to buy a foundation for a daily wear and got bamboozled into buying a highlighter that is around 5 shades light for my skin tone…That's the wicked power of SAs!!! BEWARE!

And I actually liked it when I tried it in store… I remember thinking Wow, that will make me glow…

To my credit, I did ask the SA if there was a darker shade but the Delilah assured me it suits me best..grrrr…

After finally accepting defeat that I cannot use this as a foundation [ unless I get a job as a disco dancer] I checked some reviews and found that this was actually a highlighter!!!!!!!

This was in 2011 and I was still not yet attuned to reading reviews before buying. 

Review of the product-

This is a very light colored pearl shine cream that doesn’t have any tint, though it says tinted [unless white is a tint!] On blending it starts as a pearly whitish cream and then blends into skin leaving some glitter [I think it is] and some shine.As I found out after a painful journey, this is actually a highlighter and not a tinted moisturizer that can be mixed with a foundation.

The SA told me to mix it with my foundation to make it ‘glow’ and I tried using this with my regular foundation [I think it was Lotus Herbals].I can’t explain how weird it looked, it didn’t look like I rubbed some glitter but neither did it look like glowing.The best I can say is I looked like I tried to dress up as Galadriel from LOTR and failed miserably.

My next plan was to use this as a highlighter and again, to be very honest I didn’t like it.

It didn’t do anything much. It is very light colored for Indian skin tones, I don’t know why they stocked this shade here.I have read good reviews of the tinted versions. This one leaves a very very subtle shimmer if used as a highlighter. And it doesn’t last long enough. I tried layering it with another matte blush, it didn’t work well.

That is the problem I face. If I use it over a foundation it looks too subtle unless I lay it very heavily.

If I use it with foundation, it made me dressed for a Halloween LOTR party.

If I use it on bare skin it just made it look very nice for 30mins or max 1 hour and then nothing- no tint, no glow, no moisture, nothing!

Blended into skin directly - it left a whitish cast over the skin for around 30-45mins and then faded

I can’t find this product anymore in Body Shop website, so I assume they finally got the message and took it off.May be I am doing it wrong, if this product worked for anyone, let me know, I am keeping it till it expires Mar 2014.

Review and Swatches: FACES Canada Satin Matte Lipstick in shade Jazz Berry Jam

Faces is supposed to be a brand from Canada, and I saw that they have a store in Dufferin Mall [planning to check it out]. Their products are cruelty free and not tested on animals. I think they are more of a hit in India than in Canada. I have tried their Go chic lippies[ not a fav], Satin Matte [Luv Luv] and their moisture rich range [Luv luv] and on the whole I think the range is good. But I have not tried any of their newer products, so may be if I visit Dufferin Mall, I will get something.

About the lipstick – this is a very creamy lippie…    

This is a berry pink shade and to be very honest not very flattering for my skin tone, so I don’t use this much.

However if you have non-pigmented lips or if you have a fairer skin tone, this would be a very lovely lip shade. If you are darker skin toned, I would not suggest this for your pink lippy collection.

Don’t get me wrong – I love berry pinks, but only if they are in glossy format.

When in matte or creamy matte as in this case, they present a very demure muted look which doesn’t exactly brighten an uneven skin tone.

The best way in which I use this is by blotting it twice to give a good color to lips and then adding a bright peachy or red lip gloss to enhance the color. A clear gloss would also do the trick. This is again one of those lipsticks that are creamy enough to be used as a blush.

On the whole, I would recommend this color if you are fair skinned.

Review: La Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water

I have not reviewed many skin products because honestly other than sunscreen and face packs, I believe I can find most of my skin care items in the Vegetable market.

However, there are few products that impress me and one of them is La Roche Posay’s Thermal Spring Water.

Courtesy: Chemistdirect.co.uk

I bought this from Medplusbeauty.com [I think, it was a long time back] along with Cicaplast – another popular product.

I’d heard a lot about Thermal water especially the Avene and Vichy ones.

Vichy I didn’t consider much because being a L’Oreal company, its on my blacklist for animal testing.  

And not being very familiar with this brand, which was not in stores then in India, I ordered this one, not knowing La Roche Posay was also under L’Oreal umbrella.

Courtesy: Amazon.com

Anyways this was one useful product for me in the hot summers of South India.

I used to use this as soon as I came in from sun exposure.

This soothes skin and it can be applied without hurting your makeup- just make sure you spray at arm length.

I also used this as a makeup setting spray and it worked wonderfully.

Once I learnt about the animal testing background of the brand, I discarded the product, which is why I don’t have pics of my own to show.

An alternative that I now use is the Avene one which I got as a gift; Avene is also reputed to do animal testing, so I won’t be buying it once it’s over.

However since I am doing the product review, this is an excellent product if you discount the cruelty story behind it.

Since I loved the use I got out of both products I was on the hunt for a good alternative.

Finally after much research [thank god for an IT job and a laptop that goes with it J], I have now a recipe that I use – check below.

DIY Facial Spray for soothing skin [sun damages]

1.       Boil water once. Cool it and filter it with a clean linen filter. Boil it again. After this, the quantity should be reduced by half.

2.       Once it’s stopped boiling but still hot, add all or a set of these ingredients: Rose Petals, small pieces of ginger, 1-2 leaves of mint, holy basil leaves, 1-2 slices of orange peels

3.       Keep it overnight.

4.       Next day, filter to get the water and warm it.

5.       Add any [not all] of the items mentioned for added effect: 2 drops of tea tree oil, 1-2 drops of sandalwood oil, 1-2 drops of carrot seed oil.

6.       Once it cools off, keep it in a fine spray bottle in refrigerator. 

Disclaimer: Images used in this post are not mine. I have used these pics for information purposes only. 

Review: Vega Large Powder Brush

I am not going to review this brush from Vega...
The pictures I hope are self explanatory...
The pics were taken after using it for 1st time and washing using a mild hand soap..
On washing the water turned greyish..
After using this brush on my face, I noticed some breakouts around 1hours later..
And finally, I got this brush in Oct 2012...

I thought of using this brush as a scrubber during pedicure, but it seems to give out a greyish color! So now, its in the waste basket.

If after seeing this pics, you want to still buy this brush, I would advise you - think! 225Rs is not a small sum!  Think of how many masala dosas or ice creams you can have! Or donate the money!At least you get a nice feeling inside!

Review: Diana of London Surprise lipstick in shade Wild Strawberry 73

Now that Spring has come, its time to bring out all those pinks and corals and bright  fuschias that was hidden under plum-berry shades during winter. And I am happy I got this beautiful color from Diana of London before I left India.

DoL scores really well on the bullet packaging, though I do wish they would add some info on expiry date.
But the beautiful lilac lipstick case is really use-in-mall-restroom worthy. Since I have already reviewed this range of lipstick here , I wont be repeating more on the product itself.

This is a bright fuschia-ish pinkish shade that has blue undertones which goes really well for fair complexions. The lipstick applies matte very beautifully and gives a great amount of color on the 1st swipe itself.

With this sort of strong bright color, I would suggest using a brush or fingers unless you want full-on bright color. Also make sure, you apply this very carefully as this color tends to leave a good amount of tint on the skin that doesnt come off easily.

The color lasted me easily for 4-5 hours without any feathering but it did dry up my lips so, I would suggest using a lip balm or gloss. When it fades, it leaves a strong tint, so it is almost like a lip tint. A good way to apply this lipstick from my experience is to convert it to a lip tint and apply a clear or pinkish gloss.

To convert this to liptint, apply one layer on lipstick, leave it for 1-2 mins while pressing lips together for even application and then blot off the excess color. Repeat this till you get the color you want and the color sits on your lips without any cream from the lipstick on top. For me it takes just 2 layer of color. Then apply
a lip gloss to complete the look. I use this lipstick as lip-blush combo as this lipstick applies great as a cream blusher [look at the swatch below of the color blended]

This is a great color that goes well with almost all complexions. Since this is a bright bold lip color, keep face flawless, keep cheek colors to minimum [dont go for coral blushes unless used bare minimum for a flushed look] and go for a neutral look on eyes.

Review and Swatches: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Ginger Rose 131 Creme

It is such a long time since I have posted anything that I feel quite rusty and wondering why & if I should post something.  But then I would check reviews online and think, hmmm...may be someone someday might find my opinions useful too.

As an Indian lady staying abroad checking online for product reviews, I am curiously disadvantaged in that the products I want to buy are mostly reviewed by fair skinned beauties whose underlying skin tone is quite different from my warmer tones. After doing a makeup artist course I became more than ever aware of it. So when I check a lipstick touted as a great Nude or great Pink lipstick, I find that its sooo not often the case on my lips…

Especially in Youtube, when I see product reviews or demos its mostly for fair-skinned ladies…

And that leads me to the review of this lipstick by Revlon..

This is a popular brownish nude lippy from Revlon’s Super Lustrous line which has got to be one of the oldest and most popular lipstick range in the world. I am not reviewing this range as a whole as I have not tried as many products as I would wish. My review is more in terms of the color than in terms of lipstick quality as a whole.

This is a brownish or peachy nude – depends on how it comes across on your lips.

If I look at the color in the tube, it’s a peachy nude but on my pigmented lips, it comes off more like a washed out brownish nude…This is a pretty color when I swatch on my hands but on my lips, it accentuates all the flaws, so if I want to wear this I should aim for flawless makeup…

Also this color is hard to carry off in full color – as in if I apply just the layers of lipstick without any blotting, it kinda looks yucky…

Keep in mind that this is what I feel works for  warm-tones; I am sure that cooler skin tones can carry off this lippy without much effort.

The perfect way I feel to wear this kind of a nude[if you got stuck with one that is, try avoiding as much as possible] is to either wear it with a gloss or use the good old ‘bloat-and-apply’ method…

Here are my suggestions on how to apply this color:

1.       Pair with a peachy pink or peachy golden gloss – like Revlon’s Peach Petal or Foiled

2.       Blot the color multiple times till it sorta looks like a natural lip tint as opposed to a layer of color sitting on your lips. If you have highly pigmented lips, neutralize the base color by applying a base coat of concealer. 
3.   As a blusher, this would be a good one as it is not too creamy and would suit most skin tones. In fact, if this doesn't work for you as a lip color, use it as a blush. 

For Face Makeup: With this type of lip color, a matte look would be best. If you have fine lines, go for a semi matte [not too powdered look]. If you're going for a dewy makeup, try this lip color with gloss. 

In general, I am not a fan of nude colors for warm skin tones…

I agree that it looks beautiful on fair ladies of the West as it doesn’t affect the overall skin tone look but for warmer skin tones like ours, a nude shade most of the time pulls it down making skin look dull and uneven… In fact, after being in Canada for a year plus, I am learning that most of the eye/face/lip makeup that Fair Ladies of the West loves, don't work well with ladies back home. A good reason why we shouldn't blindly look to West for inspiration on makeup!

If like me you’re trying to find suitable office wearing colors, I would suggest turning to Rachel from ‘Friends’ – early seasons for inspiration; she wears some good dark but not OTT or Vampy colors that can easily give you a polished look.Overall, this is not a re-purchase one for me but in terms of color I can see how it might go well with ladies who like a nude shade.

Revlon’s SL line is awesome as ever and remains a fav of mine.

Review: Claire's Makeup Kit 5 Eye Shadows +2 Blushes

This its going to be a short crisp review on a value-for-money kit. I saw this kit as I went to check some earrings in Claire's. They had some eye shadow palettes and almost all of them were glittery or shimmery.


I got this on a fancy as this was quite the most compact kit there and it had some safe colors like gold and copper. The price is $9.75 and there was some offer so got it pretty cheap.

One good thing about Claire's is that they print expiry dates very clearly on the boxes making it easier to use. Kudos for that! And as with any brand I buy this is also not tested on animals :-)

I didn't expect much as this brand appeared to be a teenage brand but I was pleasantly surprised by the pigmentation. I've noticed that shimmery shades have much better pigmentation than matte shades especially from drugstore priced brands.

The swatches are in clockwise direction from the bottom left hand corner. The 1st shade is a gorgeous antique gold which I can easily wear. The second shade is a yellow gold one and can be used as a highlight shade unless I'm going on an Egyptian themed party where this will be useful for an all over lid color. The 3rd shade is the center color and the ones I like the best-a beautiful rose gold shade.

The4th one is a bronzy shade of gold and is a good allover lid color if you're going for a party and you've 5 mins to dress. The last shade and the darkest of the lot is a copper brown shade which can be used along with the 4th shade for a shimmery brown smoky eye.

The blushes are however not great. The pink one is especially flaky and doesn't give any color except a whitish one on blending. The peach shade is more useful for that light flushed look on cheeks.

Overall I would say that this is a value for money palette to have handy for summer and night outs.

Review: Kara Makeup Removal with Seaweed and Lavender face wipes

There are so many desi things I miss here, that I especially regret in not taking enough quantities with me when I left India - and this is one of them. I dont have the product with me to take pics so I am borrowing from some shopping sites.

From Medplusbeauty.com, this is what they claim:
Cleanses your skin off all the make-up residues. These wipes are made of Birla Cellulose, a fiber that is 100% natural and biodegradable and are completely safe on skin.

Pure Lavender extracts help you cleanse face and neck and leave a relaxing effect. Seaweed extract revitalizes and nourishes the skin making it soft and supple. Dermatologically safe. For that just out-from-shower look!

Courtesy: Medplusbeauty.com

Its a bit pricier than their other wipes, but this so totally does the job. I recently discovered this when I had to use this for a trip here; I was in a bad shape and did some extreme stupidities with my makeup including applying a heavy layer of bright orange blusher making me look like a clown. 

I had packed this randomly in my kit,so I just pulled off one tissue and swiped it over my face- and voila! 80% of my makeup was off! As I had applied some waterproof makeup on my face, I was surprised to see how cleaner my face looked in just a single swipe; with one more swipe my face was left very very clean. 

I just had to use a wet tissue to just remove any leftover pigments and the best part was- my face was left looking glowing and soft! 

I read some reviews of this wipe, where it came off as too oily, but I didnt experience any issues with oiliness, cos my skin is normal in summer and normal to dry in winter; may be oily skinned ladies should stay away from this one. But this is sooooo good, makes your skin look so bright and glowing after cleaning that I feel you should atleast try this once. 

I'd tried some other makeup remover and while the cleansing part is mostly similar, none left me with this beautiful clean skin after the process. So, yes, I recommend this one and I hope to get some more of this in the parcel from home.. :)