NYX One Night in Morocco Palette Review

*Sigh* I want to go to Morocco, it looks like such an exotic place, where according to The Simpsons, they take only US dollars because their "Monkey is drugs, everything is drugs, even the money is drugs!" LOL!

Well, this damn palette is a drug too! I'm addicted! I use it every time I need a neutral or smokey look these days. It isn't the best palette ever or anything like that, in fact there are a few things I'd like to change but it is pretty damn useful anyway!
I got this baby from a blogsale, I think they sell them for 800-900 INR on shopping sites, but Healthkart is the only one I've seen that has it. You can always try ordering from abroad.

The packaging is a black plastic box inside a Styrofoam cover, inside the cardboard box above with the smug looking lady on it.. Why does she look so smug? I bet it's because her eye makeup is so kickass! LOL!

The black box has eight eyeshadows, the four in top row are much cooler in comparison to the lower row, I haven't used much of the top row except the black.
The long strip is an eyeshadow base, it's pretty whatever. It creases if used too thick but eyeshadow sticks to it well. Pretty useful on the go.

Then there are the lipglosses! WHY DO THEY ALWAYS HAVE LIPGLOSS?! I hate lip gloss in palettes! I want blush in a palette, not sucky lip gloss!. >:|
They aren't even well pigmented, as all other palette lip glosses. Hmph..

The Base:
It goes on a peachy colour, great for me because my eyelid area tends to be very red. But I have to be careful not to slather it on like crazy. Just dab a bit on. I wonder if it's the same base that comes in the little jar.. Hmm..

SCARY SCARY SCARY!

Neutralised!

The Shadows:
The shadows are AMAZING! They're the star of this palette, they should be! They're fine and almost creamy. Except for the white, they have great colour pay-off! They are supposed to be matte but some have a smidgen of shimmer, I'm not complaining. ;)

Top row- UP: Without base DOWN: With base

 See, the white an grey are so meh that the base actually shows through!

Lower Row: AKA My favourites!

What I hate though, is that since they are so fine, the particles get into the base! AHSFJSLSKHJLL!! I hate that!! I want a clean base! Not all muddy dammit!

Lip gloss swatch, just because..

They feel like wax!Never gonna use them! X(

Here's a simple EOTD I did with the shadows, you can see how the base has creased a bit in the lower picture.

Overall, this is a good buy for beginners, the shadows are good quality and easy to work with. I love using the lower row ones for everyday looks! I just wish they had put the base in the lower compartment with a blush rather than having those lip glosses. >:(

So, will you be buying this palette? Or pass? Or do you already have it?

Gloomy Weather Calls for a Bright Manicure Monday!

YA-CHOO! *sniffles* I got caught in the downpour on Saturday, man it was COLD! I could feel the cold in my bones and guess what? Now I have a cold.. I'll live, but that's why I haven't posted in the past couple of days. Plus yesterday I was just lazy, the weather's been so comfy and the constant twilight created by the cloud cover... I just lost the will to type again! No.. No!

A good way to perk up was doing my nails, I decided to use my pink crackle, "Immortal" by Cherimoya.
I haven't used it a lot but I LOVE IT! I got it at Beautyjoint.com for around 150 INR. It's like any other crackle but it's oil based. I think that helps it not dry out. Overall I love this crackle, I have  purple too, that I'll show you later. :)

Here's how Immortal looks like over Amarelo Sol by Maybelline, a bright chrome yellow:

Pretty bright right? LOL! The second picture is more true to colour btw. :)
What do you do to as a pick me up on a gloomy day? Do you like crackles in colour?

Found another great blog hop! Or rather it found me! :D

Nicole from LocalSugarHawaii told me about her blog's Friday Hop and I had to join! What I loved is that you can add the link list into your own blog and people can add their links directly to that post.
Like if I have posted the list here, just add your link to it and it will show up on all the lists! Cool right?

So here you go, join the hop and put the link code into your posts as well so you can find more people and more people can find you! ♥

Yes! Another Contest Entry! Reggae Beats

You girls must be so bored of me by now.. Sorry! Sorry! *does Super Junior dance*
Only a few last entries, promise! This entry is for Uzma's contest at Zestful Nails, guess what? Also sponsored by L'Oreal! :D

Here's my look, I call it Reggae Beats. My sister calls it Zimbabwe's flag. -__- LOL!

Products used:

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk" (base and liner)
• Inglot shadows AMC 60 (yellow) Matte 366 (coral)
• Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette (red and green)
• Colossal Kajal
• Colossal Volum' Mascara

Hope you like it!

♥

Giveaway Reminders!

I'm just posting to remind everyone about the giveaways on my blog.
My 100 followers giveaway will end in 15 days, so if you haven't taken part yet, just click on the image below!

To win the SkincareRx/ Apothica/ Skinbotanica gift card worth 20$, click on the image below! You have 12 days to enter!

Good Luck! 

My Favourite Makeup at Cannes Tutorial: Cheryl Cole

Truthfully, I'm not big on award shows, I barely keep up with them. I do like seeing the dresses but I don't stay up till 3:00 am to watch the live broadcast or anything! LOL!
The Cannes festival makeup looks were EVERYWHERE this year, I couldn't get away!
The one look I adored though was Cheryl Cole and her awesome ivory and red dress and the smoky eyes! I knew it was a look I had to recreate! So I thought I would share it with you guys! :)

Okay, I don't have her crazy luxurious lashes, but I tried my best! LOL!

Step 1: I haven't used concealer yet, I will do that at the end. I have primed my eyes and drawn on a sort of winged liner with my black eye pencil.

Step 2: Smudged the liner slightly.

Step 3: Then I used a black eyeshadow and patted it all over the lid, up to the crease.

Step 4: Then I used a copper shadow, you can use brown too.. And made the shape shown below and blended it out in a windshield wiper motion.

Step 5: I kept blending till I got rid of the harsh lines and then I put a highlight colour under the eyebrow and at the inner corner and lower lash line. Cheryl's highlight is more shimmery but I nun have that colour. :<

Under brow (sorry for the bad image!)

Inner corners and lashline

Step 6: Put on black eyeliner on my lower waterline and tightlined as well. I also used a curling and volumising mascara for my lashes. I was too lazy for falsies. :/

                                   

Step 7: Finishing touches! Put on my concealer and powder and DONE!

The finished look!

Eye closed

I realise my look may not be exactly the same but I'd like to think it's pretty similar! :) 

I hope you like my tutorial! I definitely plan to wear this look out.

I would love to hear any suggestions for tutorials that you would like to see me do! 

♥

SkincareRx: New Sponsor and Giveaway! =D

I have some great news for all you girls; my blog recently got a new sponsor, SkinCareRx and I’m going to be hosting a giveaway from them, that gives you a chance to win a 20$ giftcard, you can use this giftcard on SkincareRx or its sister sites, Apothica and Skinbotanica!

Let me tell you something about these sites:

SkincareRx is an online seller of great skincare products! They carry some of the best pore minimizing products on the market; they carry some big brands like Dermalogica, SkinCeuticals, Dr. Brandt and LaRoche- Posay.

Apothica carries amazing makeup products from brands like TooFaced, The Balm, Clinique, Chanel and Stila. SkinBotanica sells natural and organic beauty products by brands like Korres, Eminence and Juice Beauty. 

So, one lucky reader will win a 20$ giftcard that you can use on any of the three sites, SkincareRx, Apothica or SkinBotanica! All you have to do is follow four simple rules, the first 3 are mandatory:

1. Follow The Beauty and the Cheap on GFC. New followers are welcome!
2. Follow The Beauty and the Cheap on Twitter and Facebook.
3. Visit the three sites (SkincareRx, Apothica and SkinBotanica) and comment about which product you like the most with a link to the product page. 
4. For 2 additional entries: Tweet about this giveaway or post it on Facebook with a link and don’t forget to tag me so I can confirm!

      Leave me your GFC, Facebook, Twitter and email so I can confirm and contact you if you win!

      The giveaway will be on for two weeks and I will pick the winner randomly.

      GIVEAWAY ENDS: June 27^th 2012

      Note: This giveaway is international but anyone living outside the US please check whether they ship to your country, they do to most. Also, if you live outside the US, you may find that there are extra shipping and custom charges, if you are okay with this, you are welcome to enter. :)

     

     Good Luck Everyone! ^u^
      CLOSED!

A Little Food and Shopping is Good for the Soul ♥

My sister and I went out today, we decided to go to town (South Bombay) and just relax, we went to Theobroma, an amazing cafe! They have this thing called a "Bacon Butty", it's basically a huge burger filled with garlic mayo, fries and bacon.. Mmmm.. It's so good! You'll forget all your worries in a bite! LOL! I don't recommend it to people with high cholesterol though, it's like asking for a triple bypass! Then I had the New York Cheesecake and my sister had an "Adult" hot chocolate, basically hot chocolate with a hit of Irish cream.. So goooood..
I wish I had taken pictures but we scarfed it down so fast, all I would have gotten would have been clean plates! ;)

Then we walked our way to the Westside at Kala Ghoda, I wanted to pick up some bangles I had seen there a few weeks ago, I was hoping they were still there! They were! Yay!

Pretty!

Aren't they cute? I love the one with the pearls and the fabric one with the flowers, they look so vintage! The blue one really adds some cheery colour, don't you think? :)
I got them for Rs.345 at Westside.. Or was it 400? Well, something around that.. I know you get cheaper ones at Causeway but they never last with me! :(

Don't judge me! ;n;

Yes My No Buying Ban is still ON! I needed concealer, if I need something, it is allowed! LOL! My old Diana of London concealer was being a bitch. It decided to leak onto my other cosmetics and I was left with goopy makeup and no concealer! GAH!

So I picked this up while I was there, I have heard a lot of nice things about the foundation, so why not? They had an illuminating version too but it seemed pretty meh.. My shade was "53". Sadly they have only 3 shades and the other two were lighter than this! This one is good for fair-medium skin. I can hear another "Boo!" from my dark skinned friends. :(

The SA gave me two samples of a new foundation they're launching, 123 Perfect, it is colour correcting apparently. Can't wait to give them a go! They've never given me samples before, this was something new for me!

The concealer was Rs.460 but I'm sure you'll get it cheaper online. Don't bother if you're darker than 30-35ish in complexion, it'll be way too light! And they call it Dark Radiance! *rolls eyes*

The Great Find!

With blogging, freelancing and being scatter brained in general, I thought I'd pick up a diary to write down what to do in the day from the small stall next to Westside, my mum used to buy a lot of paper from him, his rates are great! :)
I found this beauty! A Letts of London diary! These are very rare here, that's why I'm happy... I'm not crazy, I swear! :D
It's a pocket diary, it looks big in the photo according to the sibling. The best thing about it was the price! LOL!
Original price: Rs 375. What I payed: Rs.50! YAY!

Hope you liked my little ramble post. Tell me what you bought recently, maybe just for kicks or because you really needed it?

My Jabong.com experience and new shoes!

A few days ago, I was having a very bad shoe day! Ugh.. I had to attend a wedding and I was in a bad mood. On top of that I couldn’t find my “wedding shoes” because my boyfriend’s sister had borrowed them and I had forgotten all about it. So I searched and fished out an old pair, put them on, the heel broke. *sobs*

Sigh.. I went and found a pair of kind of appropriate wedges, walked out of the gate and the sole just came off! I was so screwed up, I ended up not going at all! I'm sure you all have had a day like that at least once.

My favourite wedges were laid to rest and I was down two pairs of shoes! Luckily Jabong.com came to the rescue with these cute shoes!

How cute is that box?

A little something about Jabong.com:

Jabong.com is a young and vibrant company that aims to provide good quality branded products. Jabong.com caters to the fashion needs of men, women and kids across footwear, apparel, jewellery and accessories.

At Jabong.com we strive to achieve the highest level of “Customer Satisfaction” possible. Our cutting edge E-commerce platform, highly experienced buying team, agile warehouse systems and state of the art customer care centre provides customer with:

• Broader selection of products
• Superior buying experience    
•  On-time delivery of products   
• Quick resolution of any concerns

      At first I opened Jabong.com and I was lost! Lost because there are so many things to choose from! One thing I knew though, I’m not buying any makeup! Nope, ban is still on! 10 days and going strong!! Woohoo!

      But that meant choosing something else, which was a very difficult job.  They have such an extensive sea of products, your head will spin!

      You need Beauty products? Ok!  A new outfit? Check out their clothes, bags and shoes. Maybe you like sports? Awesome! Love your jewelry and accessories? They have it! Stuff for your kids? Yep. You could even do up your house from their Home and Living section. :D Phew!

     

      

      

      

      Yeah, and because of the choice it took me two effing days to decide what to buy! Then the shoe incident happened and I had my answer! NEW SHOES! ♥

      They have great selection of shoes btw! It was very hard to decide which ones I liked the best.  I had my eye on a pair of pink pumps and a red pair similar to what I bought.

Only 3 left?! MUST BUY NAO! D:

      So, I ordered my shoes with the option of COD. 20 minutes later I got a call from a chirpy customer care lady and she asked me to confirm the order and address for her. She told me my order would delivered within the next 5 days. Ok, cool!

      They have a lot of payment options btw, net banking, credit/ debit card and for losers with no card, like me, COD. :)

      Saturday, the next day at 4:30am (GOD WHY 4:30 AM?!) I got a message that my order had been dispatched, with the service, Gojavas. I think that is Jabong’s own delivery service. They also gave me a tracking number. Of course, at that time I was too groggy to care but hey, nice of them to let me know on time, right?

      

      Sunday afternoon 2pm, I’m in the loo, my sister tells me from outside that my order is here. I was like WHAA?? It’s Sunday, they deliver on Sunday? O.o

      Most other sites I shop from never deliver on Sunday, so that is definitely a nice touch!

      The delivery guy was also nice, he handed me my box, which at the time was nicely packed in its plastic casing but almost immediately had to be torn apart because the man said, “You have to try them on.” 

I just stuck all the plastic back together for this photo. :P

      Another shock! Usually these sites specify that one cannot open and try on things while the delivery guy is still there, if they have problems, they should contact CS. But this guy actually waited while I tried on my shoes so if they were the wrong size, he could take them back! *Happy tears*

      They fit! Oh, happy day! Now I just have to pay the man and… I have no change! I got ready to scramble around for change in the house, when he told me, “Madam, card se de sakte hain…” (Madam, you can pay by card..) SAY WHAT? I can pay by card? For reals? That is awesome!

Me: Yes! Can use card on COD!

(     Are you done staring at the image? Don't stare too long.. Ok, good..

      Overall:

Turned out to be the best online shopping experience I’ve ever had, I’m not even exaggerating. The site was easy to use, customer service was nice, delivery guy was very patient (believe me, I’ve had my share of grumpy ones.) And the card swiping really took the cake! 

AND my shoes are AWESOME! 8D

Aren't they pretty? @u@

I love how my mint polish goes with the shoes! :)

I seriously enjoyed my experience with Jabong, they will definitely be getting more orders from me in the future!

Have you tried Jabong.com? What is your opinion of them?

Disclaimer: I was given a Rs.500 voucher to shop on this website but my loyalty lies with you, my readers. My opinions are 100% honest and my own.

VNA Summer Eye Makeup Contest Entry 2: Blue Hawaii

I'm back to bugging you with a contest entry. Muahahaha!
This one is called Blue Hawaii, for girls who don't drink, Blue Hawaii is a blue cocktail with vodka and pineapple juice and curacao and some other things that I don't remember. :/
This is my second entry for Vanity No Apologies Summer makeup contest.  This contest is sponsored by L'Oreal.

Tell me what you think! :) And excuse my messy brows! D:

Open

Closed

Half open

Products used:

• NYX Jumbo Pencil "Milk" (Base)
• Inglot AMC 60 eyeshadow (Yellow)
• Coastal Scents Original 88 Palette (Turquoise and cobalt)
• Bourjois Ombre Stretch eyeshadow Bleu Nuit Irise (Dark blue)
• Coastal Scents mineral eyeshadow Champagne (Highlight)
• Colossal Kajal 
• Maybelline Hypercurl Mascara

Hope you like it. :)

I'm on twitter now! :)

Hey everyone! I'm on twitter now. :) I still have to figure out how to use it though! If anyone has any tips, please please please let me know! LOL! Especially anything about images! I uploaded a picture and the colours ended up inverted! D:
I feel so twitterly challenged! Anyway, I'll learn! My twitter username (?) is Beautynthecheap. Add me by clicking the button below or in the sidebar and I'll add you back! :)  --->
Love,
Nisha ♥

   
Edit: I've also added a little floating widget on the right so you guys can share/ like my posts more easily. :)                                                             

The Anti-Acne Force: The Garnier Pure Active Range

I don't do many skincare reviews, I don't think I've ever done one! So I think I'll do one on the Garnier Pure Active range that I've been testing out.

Pure Active Range

Remember the ad campaign, Garnier had come out with for their Blackhead Uprooting scrub? It had this guy who was the mafia boss of all blackheads..

So if the acne is the mafia, Garnier Pure Active is obviously the anti-acne patrol! Here's who is on the force:

Officer 1:
Garnier PureActive Blackhead Uprooting Scrub

Job Description:
A white grainy scrub with blue beads, salicylic acid and menthol to remove blackheads and reduce their occurrence, to clear imperfection spots.

Pay:
Rs.79 for 50g
Officer Evaluation Report:
This guy is cool. Seriously cool. He'll make your skin tingle and leave you feeling smooth, soft and clean. If you're a sensitive girl, you may want to keep your distance, he can be rough. For some of you out there like me, he might fool you with his cool ways and end up being a double agent for Don Blackhead up there. Leaving you with more acne than when you started.

I gave him up in a week, made my skin too angry. He's living comfortably in my sister's skincare regime now, she loves him. I hope he won't turn on her too.

Officer 2:
Garnier PureActive Pore Unclogging Wash

Job Description:
Is a clear blue facewash with menthol and salicylic acid.  Deeply purifies pores, removes dirt from within searching for the perfect skin result.

Pay: 
Rs.79 for 50g.
Office Evaluation Report:
his guy's cool too, just not as much as  the Blackhead Uprooting Scrub. He isn't as appealing at first sight but when you get to know him, his menthol scent but gentle ways will win you over. He makes your skin feel happy and clean without being to drying. He makes your pores look smaller and makes your skin feel prettier. Not as popular and showy  as his bro but definitely a keeper! I'll never let him out of my skincare regime!

Officer 3: 
Garnier PureActive Pimple Relief Roll-on

Job Description: 
A gel that can be rolled onto pimples to clear them, especially when they're red and scary! Has a metal roller ball. Reduces redness in 5 hours, imperfections seem clearer in 2 days.

Pay:  
Rs.199 for 10g.
Officer Evaluation Report:
This girl is awesome! Nothing like the incompetent Pure Pimple Control Pen. She's ACTIVE! She does what she says, she works fast and reduces redness in a few hours and definitely helps dry out pimples over 1-2 days.She does sting though, expect to "feel the burn" when she's working. Overall a great addition to the force!

With the exception of Officer 1, who is being replaced by L'Oreal 360 Go Clean, this is a great force battling my skin's enemies everyday, this humid summer!

Have you tried any products from Garnier's PureActive range too? Have any of them worked for you?

Disclaimer: Products were PR samples. Opinions are all honest and 100% mine.