DIY tip of the day: Quick Acne/Blemish removal with Almond, Tea tree and Olive oil

I was plagued with work and travel for the last couple of weeks and no time for skin care [i know its a hideous excuse, but..]. So when 2 days ago I looked in the mirror and saw a tired dull acne-filled skin looking back, I decided it was time..for quick fix spl!

And here is my recipe for all you girls who are lazy bugs like me :) and believe it works.

Required:  1/2 tbsp of olive oil, almond oil and 3-4 drops of tea tree oil

Courtesy: Pixabay.com

Process: Mix all the 3 oils together in a bowl and heat it for 2mins till its warm enough to apply on face. You can heat it to your comfort level. Take the warm oil mix and massage it in your face with butterfly motions for 5-10mins. Leave the oil on for another 15mins.

Wash this off and apply aloe vera gel or any cream of your choice.

Courtesy: Pixabay.com

This is best done before sleep and you can wake up to see a fresh glowing face.. :)

Review and Swatches: NYX Butter Lipstick in Hunk

Finally! I got my NYX butter lipsticks, yayyyyy!!! I got 3 shades and I am reviewing the one I loved at first sight.

NYX says about Butter lipsticks: "The unique texture seems to melt onto the lips, giving full, yet lightweight coverage with a luxurious satin finish.

• What it is:  Full coverage lipstick that feels like it melts onto the lips.
• What it does:  Adds a pop of color to lips.
• Why we love it:  This lightweight formula is non-sticky and deposits high impact color with just one stroke.
• How to use:  Apply directly on bare lips or over lip liner/primer for more pigmentation."

Cost is around $6-$7 CAD but unfortunately this is not available for us in Canada; I got this from a lovely seller in Ebay [haul post soon!].

Hunk is described as a Blue violet shade  in NYX website and I agree. This is a beautiful violet pink shade with blue tones. The color is not as intimidating as in tube as it appears pretty sheer.

I love this lipstick and the color; this shade gives a nice wash of pinkish shade which brightens my face. Also it really feels moisturising and comforting on lips.

And look at that packaging with color on the casing - Aint that cute?
This is not a long wearing lip color [I got around 2-3 hours] ; this is something you can try when you want to skip on lip balms for this winter. There is no strong scent or taste and the color can be  built upon.

This is a nice fun lip color that you can try and I am definitely looking forward to using this a lot.

Tip of the Day: Refresh your tired feet

Is your feet crying for some soft pampering after a hard day of standing around?

Well, listen! Your feet is one of most sensitive areas in your body and requires constant attention.
Considering that many a time, you are judged by how well your feet looks, you cannot afford to ignore.
Here is a quick tip to freshen up and beautify the lil ones..

Courtesy: Pixaby.com

Check your kitchen for any or most of these herbs and vegetables:

Olives

 Ginger or Dry ginger powder

Basil Leaf or Tulsi

Mint- this is the best of the lot

Now add all the above ingredients and boil some water for at least 5-10mins. Mix it with cool water till you are okay with the warmth and add some salt and dip your footsies into the bucket.

Now relax over that cup of evening tea while your sore foot recovers and enjoys the warmth.

Note: All images are courtesy of Pixabay.com

January Haul Part 2: Revlon, NYX, Barry M, Jordana and Models Own

I have not done many online hauls after coming to Canada, at least not as much as I did in India. Shipping costs are usually a major reason; I dont want to spend money un-necessarily for shipping.

This is a small haul from Nailpolishcanada.com, a lovely website with excellent customer service and best of all free shipping!

I got three shades of Lip Stix by Models Own - I am yet to try it but have read some good reviews.
The shades are Ravishing Red, Raspberry cool and Coral Kiss.

 

I also got a Barry M ultra moisturising lip paint in Black Cherry.

I got this Revlon lip lacquer in Provocateur from a sale at Rexall. This is the only one I have tried out from the range and I am impressed by this.

Been hankering after NYX butter gloss for a while and its a sad thing that NYX is not available in many stores here.. Rexall has a steady collection of staples but new products dont reach here at all.. So got these beauties from Rude cosmetics store in Amazon. Shades are Tiramisu and Cherry Pie.

I also got this Jordana Twist and Shine Balm Stain in Cranberry Crush; again, Jordana is not available here.. :( :( :(

January Haul Part 1: Forever21, Real Techniques, Hard Candy, E.L.F and Essence

Just a small haul for January - to wave away this winter blahs...

My January Haul

I went to Fairview Mall in Toronto to get a coat for my hubby and tried my best to resist checking out Sephora or Shoppers but then I had to atleast visit Forever21... And this is what I got..

Face Illuminator

I dont have much hopes from this product cos it looks very shiny and goldeny to be used as a highlighter, but will review it soon after trying it out a bit. It costs around CAD $6.80, so not hard on pockets!

Next I got this Lipstick set, I have always wanted to try F21's lipsticks cos I have read some good reviews. There were 2 options -Reds and Berrys; I picked Berrys; playing safe, I know!

Aint it cute??? There are 5 mini lipsticks which looks like fun. I love the polka pink packaging and I wish they had same fun coloring inside. The gold is a bit mehh..

Then I got this cute earring...nothing special, but I love enamel work.

Then I got this Hard Candy All Glossed Up in Love Bite from Walmart.

And last, these are from an online purchase through iHerb.com; its a great website, I get all my herbal supplies from there.

I finally bought my 1st RT brush and a jumbo lip gloss from ELF in shade Sangria Starters.

From Essence, I got a red lip gloss from their XXL lip gloss range in shade - Red Blossom. [forgot to take individual pics]


Get a $10 off on your 1st purchase from iHerb:  http://www.iherb.com?rcode=ZJR651

Review and Swatches: Avon Glazewear Silky Shine lipstick in Coral Bliss

Avon discontinued this nice glossy lipstick for reasons which I cannot really understand - why would companies discontinue products which are this nice!

This lipstick has a really glossy finish and provides some amount of moisturizing though not enough to skip a lip balm. I'm just adding some swatches so you can see how lovely this product is...Why Avon, Why!

Look at that pretty summer color!!!!

Review: Jordana Quickliner for Eyes in Deep Wine

Hi Everyone,

I did a review of this particularly useless and horrible product in IMBB some time back.
Here is the link.

I wonder if cosmetic companies do enough sampling, because its not just a low-priced Jordana that comes up with duds, higher-end companies like TBS also makes superb bloomers when it comes to product creation.

A dud product!! Review & Swatches: e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black

I got this eyeliner from local dollar store; there was only one shade there, the black color. I found more shades here in E.L.F website but somehow I don't regret not being able to lay my hands on that.

I got this a month ago and the swatch below should explain more than any words why I think this is a dud product from a favorite company of mine.

 The tip of the eyeliner pen is pretty unstable and kinda fans out when you try for a bit more precision.  But just look at the faded swatch and imagine trying to get use this on skin! And just after a month with hardly 2-3 uses!!

 

Let me add - I love ELF and I love many of their products; but this aint one of them! I think if you are looking for a low cost eyeliner pen, Essence cosmetics has much better options!

Review and Swatches: Inglot Freedom System Refill Lipstick 65

I had already reviewed shade 47 from Inglot's Freedom System lipstick refills here. So not going to review the product but this shade 65.

Shade 65 is a beautiful plum shade that is perfect for Winter. I missed this for my winter makeup kit till I dug it out last day for review! Shows that it doesn't hurt to occasionally check in your stash to find missing beauties like this.

It looks a bit shimmery in the pan, but it applies as a gorgeous creamy purplish plum shade that sets to a glossy or satin finish depending on whether you blot your lip color or not. This can be applied with full intensity in one color or can be sheered out easily to a plum-pink shade.

Overall, love this shade and will probably buy it again!

Review: IPSY January 2014 Glam bag

I got this bag early last week but due to work pressure couldn't find time to do a post... So here is my take on January 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag which is described as ' 19 reason to make it an amazing new year, a million reasons to be a beautiful new you!'

I love their hot pink cover, makes you feel like opening a great gift. I am not so impressed  by the Blue bag this month, showing NY[?] skyline but its nice.

I got 5 products - all mini sized- I would have hope that for a New Year bag they would have at least 1 full sized product, but no complaints.

Since I have a very oily scalp I rarely invest much in conditioners as they feel very heavy usually and difficult to wash off especially on a weekday. Even if I use them, I apply them to the hair tips. I use hair oils to pamper my scalp but this looks like something I can may be try since it is a leave-in. 

Always happy to try another tinted lip balms as lippies of color are my favorite. I have heard of this brand but this is the 1st time I am trying something from them.

I got the shade Natural which is a pretty pinkish nude, which comes of more pinkish on my skin than in the jar. I would have preferred a lip balm that is in a tube version as a jar is difficult to carry & use hygienically. But I like the pigmentation of the product but I am not sure how moisturizing this is.The texture felt slightly off to me - not the usual glossy feel of a lip balm. I need to try this out more to give a better review.

Elizabeth Mott sells 3 products through her website and this is one of them. I love this pencil and I will definitely try other shades. 

The shade Penny is a gorgeous golden copper shade, and it applies so smoothly and stays for such a long time. I swatched this and found it difficult to remove; it stayed even after I washed dishes, washed my hands with hand soap and finally got off when I used an eye makeup remover. Very Impressive!

Faith Aromatherapy Tahitian Monoi Anti-Aging Sugar Scrub is the least interesting product in this group for me, may be I will change my mind after using them a bit.

Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion - can't say anything now as skin care review is a tricky area. Need to use this for a time to see if any effects. However cute packaging, and I am excited about the ingredients.

It says it evens out the skin tone, so good- let me try!


Overall, I am happy with this bag but I am not as impressed by this as by my December bag. Hoping for a more exciting one in February.

Review and Swatches: Inglot Freedom System Lipstick 47

Inglot is a Polish cosmetic company and they are famous for cruelty free products with excellent pigmentation and professional quality.

They have couple of stores in India but I have got this lip refill online.

It is easier to get this online as we need to bring the freedom palette to the store to get a refill.

You can buy Inglot products from Majorbrands  and they have had some awesome sales in the past.

I got this for some sale and I bought around 3K INR worth products –mostly lip products.

This lip refill costs around 250INR and actually is a good deal if you discount the hassle of using a pan.

This was one of the ‘ho-hum’ shades as I occasionally love it and occasionally don’t.

But I have no doubts on the quality –this is one of the best pigmented and long lasting lip color that I have used that doesn’t dry up lips in the process.

The color applies so beautifully, so smoothly and with full color in one swipe.

It lasts for a long time – around 4-5hours with eating and drinking in between and unlike many other long lasting lip products, this one doesn’t dry lips.

While it doesn’t hydrate lips, it is certainly a plus point in this product’s favor.

This doesn’t have any parabens, any scents or any taste.

Shade 47 is a creamy matte Coral Red shade with hints of orange.

On my lips it shows some tints of pink in daylight.

My tussle with this shade is if I wear it after 4pm, this shade makes my face dull [no, I’m not being weird]

But in daytime this gives a beautiful Coral Red creamy finish to lips.

This is a wonderful shade for summer; if you are going for a day at beach, try wearing this as a tint [apply-blot-apply-blot] .Overall, I love the product, the shade not so much but I have other shades that I will be reviewing soon.