Stylecraze's Mother of all Giveaways

To commemorate 1000 members The Stylecraze community is having a super huge giveaway! The giveaway ends when they hit 3000 members! So go join and participate! :D Click on the image to go there!

Manicure Monday: Happy Girly Funtime!

I really wanted to do my nails this weekend and I wanted to USE ALL THE THINGS! to do them. -__- I wanted to use the Miss Claire polish I bought last week, I wanted to use the fimo stickers.. Ended up chucking that idea. I wanted to use rhinestones.. EVERYTHING! But, and this is a huge but (LOL! Huge butt... Sorry.. *ahem*) but I still wanted to keep it simple. :)

So, I ended up with Happy-Girly-Funtime nails!

The original pink is more retina searing, I spared you guys. LOL!

What I used:

• Miss Claire polish E58 
• Maybelline Colorama Amarelo Sol 
• Faces nail stickers (the stars)
• Heart rhinestones
• toothpick and ballpoint pen (empty refill) for dotting and placing stones/stickers
• Sally Hansen Double Duty topcoat

Hope you liked my nails! I've changed them already though, LOL! I get bored too easily. -__- Anyway, I'm going to go make myself some dinner! Bye!

Review: Lilac Mauve, Maybelline Diamond Glow By Eye Studio

Yawn! Lazy Sunday afternoons are so demotivating, don't feel like doing anything at all.. You couldn't get me out of this chair for all the make up in the world! Oh, well, since I'm sitting here, in the chair I thought I'll do a review. I haven't done one in a while.

Today, I'm reviewing Maybelline Diamond Glow By Eye Studio in Lilac Mauve, it's number 06. There are 6 colour quads in total in this series, the colours range from pinks, grays, browns and blues. This one as you may have guessed is mauve. :)

The price: It costs around Rs.450, you can get if for cheaper online like on Stylecraze.com. I got mine from Westside during a sale and it was for Rs.375 :D

Ok, before I start reviewing and going into what I hate and love about this, you guys have to tell me something! Have any of you ever tried the method of applying eyeshadow they write on the back of the packages? 

Eyeshadow 101 by Maybelline!

Out of curiousity, I tried it and it looked stupid.. Like, seriously stupid! Maybe it's my eye shape? It looked like I had just swiped on a colour in a hurry. I don't know but I'm really curious, if you HAVE tried this method, let me know if it worked for you. I don't think the contours of my eye socket suit this method.. So girls, especially girls who have eyes like me (seriously hooded lids etc etc) try and figure out the best way to apply eyeshadow yourself rather that reading the stuff at the back because seriously for someone like me... JUST NO!

And back to the review:
The eyeshadows in this quad are really fine and creamy BUT I have problems, yes I do. Maybelline, you really dropped the ball with this quad. I love the texture but OMG the sparkles! Just too much! They've stuffed sparkly goodness(?) into the highlight and the darkest shade.

Not so seen here: Sparkles!

I feel like this quad's made for a 12 year old with all the glitter it has! After I've removed it, the glitter stays. I look like an effing sparkly vampire! LOL!

The highlight and middle colours are pretty decent and usable, although I do think the two colours in the middle when applied on the lids, look the same. -__-Not cool... In the swatch they're fine!

Another issue I had with this set, is that the colours don't show up easily. Especially without primer. I need a primer and I used an opaque purple base (Maybelline Vivid and Smooth liner in Violet Pearl) just to get the darkest purple to show up! That sucks right? And, still, I was not impressed. :(

Using the Maybelline method at the back of the quad, without primer or base, looks dull, yes?

Used a primer and purple liner as base for the outer (dark) corner

So overall:
Pros:

• Inexpensive
• 3 Light colours are usable.
• Texture is good.

Cons:

• Sparkles, so many sparkles @_@
• Colour isn't pigmented enough, especially the darkest one!
• Comes off too easily without primer, I feel like a strong wind can blow the make up off my face. -__-

Surprisingly, even though the pros and cons are 50-50, the cons are much heavier than the pros. I may check out the other shades in this series but I doubt it, especially since swatches can be deceitful. T^T  It's good if you have no choice, otherwise go for the Faces I-Shine quad.

So, let me know if you've used and like this product! And if you liked my review. :) And Happy Easter everyone! I'm going to go look for some chocolate bunnies in my fridge. ;) Bye!

"Arabian Nights" EOTD and Tutorial

In my Coastal Scents haul post, I had put up a look that I got really nice comments for and I even got requests for a tutorial! Thanks Rids and Puja! :D So, the awesome thing about this look was I did it completely on the fly and I've been kicking myself for not noting down how I did it! But I think I've figured it out now. ^u^
It might look a bit different from the original though.

Also, I'm too cheap to buy nice brushes, I use like three brushes:
An angled one, a flat one and various sponge blenders... Yeah.. So, you can pick what brush to use at what step, I'll give you a few hints but.. yeah.. -__- Sorry.. Teehee.

This is the look I got at the end:

It does look slightly different doesn't it? :/ I used too much green.

So lets get to the tutorial! Lotsa pics to post! ;)

Step 1:  Using a dark purple/blue eyeshadow, like the eyeliner tutorial, draw out a line right from your lower lash line, following the angle and make sure to end it before the eyebrow, then following the crease draw a curve ending just a bit before the inner corner.

Step 2: Fill in the outer 3rd of the eyelid with the same colour, also bring in the curve of the crease and fill a bit on the upper lash line.

Step 3: Fill in the middle with a lighter blue, not too light, just medium, blend it with the purple.

Step 4: With a slightly lighter blue, fill in the inner corner and blend it outwards, keep all of it within the crease.

Step 5: Sweep a turquoise green across your lash line and blend upwards.

Step 6: Sorry for the bad picture. :( Here, with a copper, gold, brown or even black pencil draw over your upper AND lower lashlines, this will basically give a base for more eyeshadows to show up brightly. :)

Step 7: Now, on top of the pencil work a green on the inner and outer sides and a gold right in the center. Then, blend them into each other but keep the gold prominent! We want that pop of gold. :)

Step 8: Put some gold shadow on the inner corners and blend it into the top and bottom lid.

Step 9: Using the medium blue shadow, draw a line along side the "wing" and blend it only slightly into the wing, it should still look defined but not a hard line.

Step 10: Over the pencil line we made on the lower lashline, sweep on some of the green on the outer and inner corner, like the top lid, and blend the outer one into the blue we made in the previous step. Also, put some gold in the center of the lower lash line and blend with the green.

Step 11: Pat on some of the gold onto the brow bone and blend it downwards in the shape shown below!

Step 12:  Tightline and darken the waterline of the eyes with a black pencil and wear LOTS of mascara and you are DONE!

That was long wasn't it? Phew!

I played around with my camera for a bit with the look, gives you an idea of how the entire face would look. I'm not wearing foundation so my skin looks bleh. I'm sorry, I'll remember to wear it next time.  

I showed this pic to my bf and he says, "You look Arabian or something." LOL! It worked!

I wore the scarf because red hair just doesn't look right with the look!

I used an orange looking bronzer from my Revlon palette for the cheeks and Blushing Brunette on my lips. I love that colour, seriously!

Make-up used:

• Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette 

I used the ticked shades

•  NYX eye/eyebrow pencil in Cuivre (copper)
• Maybelline Colossal Kajal 
• Maybelline Colossal Volum' mascara
• Revlon Bronzer (don't know the name)
• Maybelline Colorsensational lipstick "Blushing Brunette"

Sorry for putting this up so late, so much EDITING! It was a long tutorial and I hope it made sense! But I had a lot of fun doing this look, I hope you guys try it and enjoy it too! If you do, please show me, I'd love to see what you do! :D

A Hunting We Will Go... For Make-up!

Yesterday, I went out to Bandra and Khar, looking for shops that sell make-up. I was also noting down brands that they have. I'm thinking, I'll create a little guide for shopping in Mumbai. What do you girls think?

I did buy some stuff but not as much as I would have wanted to. For two reasons, I'm a bit financially deficient this month, I'm trying to save up. :( And reason 2 is that I had a cranky boyfriend tagging along! LOL!

So, this is just a haul post, what I bought and some stuff I got online. From Cosmetix.in. I really wish they would update their stock! They have such great prices. T^T I even did a review on the site before.

From cosmetix.in:

NYX powder blush in Spice, I'm in love with a blush!

Faces Satin Matte Lipstick Magenta

I'm also in love with a lipstick! Addis Ababa dupe btw! That's why I wanted it.

The blush was Rs.390 (OP: 650!), the lipstick was Rs. 233 (OP: 299) and I got a Colossal Kajal which was Rs. 137 (150). I go through those kajals so fast. :(

From my shopping trip:

Miss Claire Polishes, China Glaze Prismatic Collection: Liquid Crystal, Maybelline Eyestudio liquid liner, Body Shop  Spiced Vanilla lip balm

I can't believe I found China Glaze! Squee!!! I found it at Beauty Forever, a shop in Pali Market, Bandra. Rs. 375! :D Not bad right? And that lip balm I have been looking for, in every TBS forever! Finally I found it! It smells like carrot cake! I love it to tears. T~T

The Miss Claire polishes: Rs.150 each, China Glaze polish: Rs.375, Maybelline Eyestudio Line Allure liner: Rs. 180 (200) and TBS lip balm in Spiced Vanilla: Rs. 340 (I don't remember the discount price.)


I would also like to introduce you to my new baby, well, water baby. :) I think he wants to kill me! He makes bitey faces while zooming around my finger.. It looks like he's saying," Stupid hoomin, get me out of this force-field!" He wouldn't sit still, so that's the best picture I got.

Say hi to Spazzypants McGee!

I'm sorry for the short post today, I'm busy with cooking dinner because my grandmum isn't feeling well today. Tomorrow, I have my Arabian Nights look tutorial coming though, I hope you will enjoy it!

See ya!

Manicure Monday: Matte Moon Manicure with Tutorial!

So many 'M's in that title! Lol! So, girls I have a question for you! What does my manicure and a paper punch have in common?

These Things!

I don't know what they're called exactly but they're these stickers that you put around a punched hole on paper, so that the paper doesn't tear when you handle it in a binder. Amazing! @_@ Someone, please tell me what they are called!

My sister had a bunch of these so I decided to "borrow" some of them and try doing a moon manicure with them as guides! You can use french manicure tip guides, I guess but I go for the cheap and readily available! ^-^'

I cut them into halves so they would be easier to use.

Then I painted the lower half of my nails pink. You can cover the entire nail but I didn't want to make it too thick, so i did only half.

Then I waited for them to dry *not long enough*! Make sure you let them dry completely otherwise the guides will stick on and when you remove them, the polish will come off too. :(

LOL! They reminded me of handlebar mustaches! It HAD to be done! 

Then I painted on the black. *very messily* Apparently, i have no hand- eye co-ordination anymore!

Need to bring out the q-tips and acetone! STAT!

I was going to leave it at this but the black was just not happening in shiny mode. So, I went matte on just the black. :)
And this is the end result:

DUN-DUNA_DONE!

Here's all of the polishes I used:

Essie Matte Finisher, Maybelline Colorama Black, MIKI pink (no name), Sally Hansen top coat

 For a review on the Essie Matte About You finisher you can go here. 
So, what do you think? Will you be stationery shopping for your nail art needs anytime soon? :)

My 7 Lipsticks for Summer

How do you know it's summer in Mumbai? The humidity more than the heat, really. When the back of your neck gets sweaty when you sleep, when that plastic chair sticks to to your bare legs when you're trying to get up and when you see the first pimple of the season *sobs*! I didn't even have ONE so far. T^T Now I have to go back to my old skincare routine... I'm getting derailed here..

Anyway, summer brings some good things too! Ice cream!  You can wear your toenails in pretty colours and show them off in open sandals and best of all, you can go crazy with colour! (Actually, the ice cream was the best of all.)  In your make up, clothes, everything! You can go wild. :D And I intend to do just that! With lipsticks.

These are my 7 lipsticks for summer, I want to say that I tend to go for heavier finishes rather than sheer because my lips are weird. -__- They're darker at the corners and very pink in the centre, so sheer colours just look strange on me. Anyway, on to the colours!

From L-R: NYX Haute Melon, Faces French Rose, MNY Bronze Orange, Blushing Brunette, Coral Pink, NYX Angel, NYX Addis Ababa

Does it totally show that I'm a NYX and Maybelline hoarder? Thought as much..

Arm Swatches:

Without flash

With flash

So yeah, as you can see, LOTS of coral/ orange and some pink in there! I didn't want to do lip swatches because my lips are in a horribly chapped condition but then, it's a lipstick post.. So yeah.. Enjoy looking at my scary mouth!

Lip Swatches:

Haute Melon

Haute Melon: This is a NYX Round lipstick. It's one of my favourite colours, I got it last month but I've wanted it for a year atleast and it was always unavailable! I know I sound insane because it looks like chapstick in my swatch but it is somewhere between sheer and opaque but I love its pinky-orange shade (the orange isn't really showing up on the lips, the arm swatch is more accurate.) It brightens up the face almost instantly and doesn't settle into lines.. Which I have a LOT of. The finish is more waxy than other round lippis but that is actually a good thing because damn the creamy ones can melt!

French Rose: This is from the Faces Moisture Rich range. I love this colour! It is BRIGHT and a lovely red orange, but wearability wise, we have a love- hate relationship. You can see it enhances chapped lips. The texture is creamy but not as melty" as NYX. I did a review on it before, you can read it here.

Bronze Orange: This is a Maybelline Colorsensational Moisture Rich Lipstick, it's a lovely wearable dusty orange. I did a review for it here. (Btw don't laugh at my foundation colour there, I had spent most of my life believing I was an "olive" skin tone. -__-)

Ugh, this swatch does Blushing Brunette no justice!

This is what it REALLY looks like on me

Blushing Brunette: This is one of my favourite shades from Maybelline! I have no idea why it looks so bad and yellow in my lip swatch, but the above pic and my arm swatch is what it really looks like. It is a slighly cool nude/ pink/ orange colour. It really brightens up my skin tone and has a hint of gold shimmers that just make it look yummy!

Coral Pink: Another Maybelline shade, I love how bright it is and yet subtle. Great for work, when you want to be adventurous without going overboard! Very moisturising and stays on pretty long although not transfer proof.

Angel: This is a NYX Matte lipstick that I bought with Haute Melon, I love this shade. It burns the retinas of all those who look directly at it! It really is a dupe of Impassioned by Mac but slightly less red, more red than the picture though. Again, the arm swatch is more accurate. Why the hell am I doing lip swatches! They're all screwed up. -__- The flash made this one really.. weird..

Addis Ababa: This is not a lipstick according to NYX, it is a soft matte lip cream.. Well, whatever it is,I FRIGGIN' LOVE IT! This is my favourite pink! A fuchsia with blue tones and it actually has some blue shimmers too. So summery! *u* It makes your teeth look white and my it really suits my slightly cooler skin tone too! In fact, I love this colour so much, I'm looking for a dupe. I've ordered a Faces Satin Matte lipstick in Magenta, lets see how close they are. :D

Well, that is it for my summer lipsticks! You can go on over to the Beauty and the Cheap Facebook page and vote for your favourite lip colours for summer. :D And you can let me know in the comments, which colours you love and hate. Maybe give me some advice on some more colours I can hoard for summer.
Why not, summer's just getting started. :)