It had to eventually get here. Since I'm attracted to impossibly bright blushes, in the pan anyway, and feel a call to them that is often only heard by others who have truly felt deep spiritual connection to a cheek colour, Exhibit A had to be on my list.


The blush is a bright heart-stopping tomato red without any shimmer. It's been known to cause sudden fleeing from make-up counters and perhaps a few tears or two. But if you overlook that and apply it sparingly with a fan or skunk brush, it is a beautiful blush. On my cheeks it goes on as a pretty tomtato red that looks great in the summer. It gives this summery warmed-by-the-sun look. I tried this in combination with bronzers but I've come to the conclusion that it's best used on its own.

The staying power of Exhibit A is exceptionally great. It stays on all day and can even withstand a sweaty jog. With a very light hand, this blush is a sun-warmed pop of colour on lighter skintones. But for those of us with darker skin, this ought to be one of the products we worship with chocolate and ice cream sacrifices (that would be eating them of course). It gives the most beautiful, natural, lit from within sun kissed glow to dark skin. Be warned, however, this blush really requires you to hone your skills. Too much of it looks like you're nursing a fever that if your life were a Bollywood movie, a sad song would play about your mysterious illness. To its credit, I doubt anyone would really ever finish up this blush since it's so very pigmented.

I lied, my bag is bigger because I can always put a book in there so I am constantly reminded that I need to study. So far this strategy is failing miserably. I don't remember who it was that asked whether I could do a 'what's in your handbag' feature but here it is. A century too late and I weeded through things so I didn't have an overwhelming amount of make-up in there.

My dad got me this brown bag thinking it was a bag for my laptop. Men really have no indicators for the function of fashion but I loved the bag. I'm not much of a bag person. I get one and use it to death (clothes on the other hand is a different story), so you're lucky my bag isn't tattered to bits. People around me always beg that I a. never carry a tattered handbag and b. get rid of my (in their opinion) stupid fishing hat. So I'm all scrubbed up for you.

Here's a top view of the goods. It looks empty doesn't it?



Well, your eyes tricked you. Here's the goods in my bag:

• My textbook. It's called Purity in Exile and I doubt you'll ever want to read it.
• Pout Translucent Powder. Saw it on sale for $5 at Pure Beauty and picked it up. Works very well and keeps the oilies at bay.
  
• MAC Lust lipglass. I'm on my way to finishing this one. I always carry it around since it's such a safe shade.
• Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipstick n Terre D'Amour. The most wonderful, light, moisturizing formula and the most perfect nude for my lips ever.
  
• A sample of Geurlain My Insolence. Not too overwhelmed by this but then again I'm all about the Lush Honey Washed the Kids perfume.
  
• A mirror. My mother gave me this and I carry it around in case of emergencies.
• Guerlain Terracotta Loose Kohl in Noir. It's surma that's lead free and almost as black. I wish I could find a cheaper alternative but I love the long lasting, smudgey, dark look I get with this one. Sadly, there aren't too many loose kohls besides this on the market. I can't find the Sally Hansen one anywhere to save my life. However, I do adore the Guerlain version and use it day and night.
• Lush Honey I Washed the Kids solid perfume. This is my signature fragrance and I will never be able to get enough of this.
• My wallet. Pathetically light and unspectacular.
• Ice Breakers Sours (berry flavour). I love the berry version but shied away from trying it because I associated all things Ice Breakers with that annoying commercial featuring Hillary and Haylie Duff. I love them, but that commercial was awful.
  

With all the raves on the Ped Egg going around I bought it a few months back. I always have hideous feel in the summer and compulsively try to get rid of the callouses everyday (keep reading and my descriptions will probably become even more charming and appetizing). I usually use a callous shaver and I admit I do end up with bloody feet once in a while. This is why I'm very happy with the Ped Egg.


\
The Ped Egg I found reduces the occurrences of bloody feet because it grates the callouses away in finer streams. I have not yet gotten a cut and I don't need to sand down the areas where I shave away the callouses either. It is sturdy enough to use over the thickest callouses too. The Ped Egg is affective when my feet are wet and dry, although I prefer using it when my feet are dry. I also find that I never have need for the emery board attachment to smooth my feet because the initial result is already smooth enough for my liking.

One issue I have with the design is that the shavings never really fall into the space designated for them. I always have a mess around my feet after I am done with the Ped Egg. I'm not sure whether it's my version that's defective or the overall design but I think this is an area that can be improved. However, I'm willing to overlook it for the ease and effectiveness of the Ped Egg. This is a nice purchase for the summer where your feet are constantly on display.

image source: www.tvtopten.com

I recently got this and I am very impressed. I like eyeliners of all kinds, my desi genes take care of that. An eyeliner seems to have a siren's call to my surma-loving ears. So it only seemed fitting to do a review on every desi girl's must have: liquid eyeliner.


First off, I adore the packaging of the product. It's very intricate and delicate with a long handle that gives great control over the applicator. The Global Goddess website states that these eyeliners contain Boabab and Moringa oil. I'm a little skeptical on the effectiveness of make-up that targets complex skin care issues because of their low concentrations so interpret the oils included what you will.

The colour I got was Dynasty which is a deep brown. I wanted to deviate from my usual black and I found this a softer but still rich variation. It still was deep enough to give my eyes an 'oomph.'

What I really liked about the eyeliner is that it stays on through a hell of a lot of abuse. I put it on in the morning and it was on my eyes as fresh as when I had put it on. It's not waterproof but it was very sweat proof and lasted through an intense workout. It also didn't flake one bit and I didn't have exacerbated raccoon rings because of the flakes. So many liners, be they liquid, cream, or gel, seem to do this on my oily lids but the Global Goddess liquid liner is really resistant to flaking. This ranks very high on my eyeliner list because it stays put really well.

Another little sale at the drugstore had me completely foaming at the mouth with excitement. I got the L'Oreal Glam Bronze bronzer in Dazzling sunlight a few weeks back and I have to blog about it while the sale is still going on. It was (and still is as of today) 75% off at CVS and they are still there, waiting for a fellow bronzer obsessed make-up junkie to strike.


The texture of the bronzer is very smooth and this has the same texture as the Blush Delices that L'Oreal sadly discontinued. It's shimmer is also very soft, and fear not you will not look like you swallowed a light bulb. Instead it gives a sunkissed glow. The bronzer lasts all day and I only used pressed powder (no foundation) to set it, so it is as tenacious/long lasting as Neha Dhupia trying to prove she is a serious actress (I had to make that dig, don't kill me for it).

The only thing I wish were different is the deepness of the colour. It won't function on skintones much darker than mine as a bronzer. I also have to put a little effort to make the bronzer work as it transforms when you add a bit of blush to the apple of the cheeks. Alone, it is a pretty enough bronzer but it takes to colour so beautifully. Adding a pop of colour to the bronzer transforms the entire look. I find that the overall effect is something that gets me a lot of compliments on my 'healthy glow' and I always get asked what I'm wearing.

If you're in the market for a nice summer bronzer that gives a soft glow and takes to colour well this would be a great one. And keep a lookout at CVS since they're at 75% off right now. In the pic above, I'm wearing the bronzer with Bobbi Brown pot rouge in Pink Triffle on the apple of my cheeks. I also have the bronzer dusted on my temples, bridge of the nose, jawline, and forehead.

I went to Walgreens the other day and saw the Revlon Midnight Swirl lipgloss in Lick-orice on sale. The cheesy name didn't make me giggle or turn away and I figured for $2 why not. I've been seeing these lipglosses everywhere and wasn't really excited by them. A make-up sale changed that but I still didn't expect to love it this much.


Lick-orice looks like a very dark, slightly reddish plum with some funky greenish glitters swirled about. The way it looks in the tube is deceptive and on the lips it is a beautiful, sheer (but not the kind where you curse the heavens in anger realizing you might as well have worn vaseline instead), warm red brown colour. It's a very wearable licorice colour (the marketing geniuses at Revlon knew this I suppose) with a wonderfully plush texture that cushions my lips. It is fairly thick but it's not as sticky as MAC lipglasses. At first there is a hint of a scent but it is very light, pleasant, and vanishes quickly.

The reason I say this is a must have is because it is so versatile. Worn sheerly, it enhances the natural lipcolour. You can also layer it to get a more intense licorice shade. The best thing is how it transforms my lipsticks. It deepens any lipstick beautifully, adding a warm plummy brown touch to them. This is a shade that I think many skintones could wear. I think this would look incredibly flattering on a wide range of skintones. However, I'd really recommend it for us darker ladies (ranging from medium to dark, about NC40 and higher).

I know Revlon is trying to get these out of the stores so they can sell their next collection, so now with the price cut I would run to get this lipgloss.

With all the mention Nic's Sticks have been getting lately (I could be wrong but the hype seems recent) and with Oprah's Favourite Things for the Summer featuring them it was high time I did a review.


I have two Nic's Sticks and I thought the whole concept was ingenious. The nail polish comes in a little click-pen that has a brush applicator. The positives for this product are obvious: easy to use, great for travel, and overall very quick. The polish also dries fairly quickly and you don't have to wait hours before touching it lest your get those annoying fingerprints on your nails.

All positives aside, I'm not too fond of these. The polish is very thin and the pen can dispense too much polish thereby flooding the applicator and nail. The amount of polish that you get for the price isn't going to break some record either. Shockingly enough, you are much better off investing in a conventional pot of polish.

The biggest problem I have with the Nic's Sticks is the application. Applying two coat of polish is hell as the bottom coat seems to get a slush like texture no matter how quickly or late you reapply. The polish covers pretty well in one coat but the fact that it gets gloppy when I try to intensify the colour is no excuse.

The staying power of the polish is also very inadequate. Since the polish is so thin, or so I hypothesize, it chips off very quickly. By the end of the day, the polish had worn off at the tips of my nails. I was very disappointed in these as I thought they'd make a great essential for when I'm pressed for time. I'll continue to use them until I find something better, which I am more than confident is available.

image source: www.thisnext.com

I'm not sure I can walk within a 50 km. radius of Mumbai after bugging the make-up artist I got on the phone when I called the MAC store in Mumbai. However, here's a brief look at some of the products customers seem to love at that location.

ME: What colour lipglosses do you sell often?
Make-up Artist Who Now Hates Me (shortened: MAWNHE): Revealing and Lust definitely.

ME: What colour lipsticks are very popular at your location?
MAWNHE: Umm, Hug Me, Taupe, Touch, and Double Shot.

ME: What colour blushes do people tend to favour?
MAWNHE: Well for fairer complexions it's something like Sincere and for darker complexions I'd say blushes like Coppertone.

Hope you enjoyed this and found it entertaining.

I loved the colour of Sephora's lip gloss in Sugar 'n' Spice inside the tube but didn't expect it to really show up. I often come across scrumptious looking lip glosses that look like nothing on my lips and I might has well have applied a bit of clear vaseline. Lip glosses that are too sheer don't do the trick for me in case you haven't picked up on my innate bitterness regarding this subject. The Sephora lip gloss in Sugar 'n' Spice is such a great find that I had to post about it.


First thing's first. Exactly how much shortage of Kool-Aid is there because of the production of this lipgloss? It smells overpoweringly of Kool-Aid and it made me not want to finish the rest of my iced tea lest I really fuel the advent of the diabetes I am genetically prone to. I was pleasantly surprised when wearing the gloss didn't end in a migraine because of the smell as it waned very quickly in a few minutes.

What makes this gloss so exceptional is that for the price, you get a gloss with shine that is just right (not the liquid plastic look but not useless either) and the perfect amount of bronze colour flecked with gold shimmer to make it a great choice for summer. Above all that, what I love most about this gloss is how it feels on my lips. The formula feels very plush and moisturizing and I would compare it to Bobbi Brown's lip glosses in consistency, feel, and stickyness. For the price, the quality feels much more luxurious that you'd expect.

When I read in magazines that a blush is universal I let out a mocking laugh full of "I know they paid you to write that, I just wonder how much." Or at the very least I have a private chuckle full of smugness. Sure a blush is universal. It is as likely to flatter every skin tone as an eye cream is going to magically make my under eye circles disappear. So I'm not going to proclaim a blush as universal but Vasanti's Sayan blush comes incredibly close to gaining that status.


The first thing I remarked when I received the blush was that the packaging is almost exactly like the packaging for Scott Barnes' eyeshadows. The only difference other than the name on it is the colour. Vasanti's blush comes in a silver case whereas Scott Barnes' is a goldish brown. The size of the blush is quite small, but they're much bigger than Besame's blushes and are around the same size as a Scott Barnes' eyeshadow. However, for the price it is not an outrageously small amount.

You're probably wondering why I love this blush so much. Well, it is a great blush every girl should own. Vasanti describes it as a beautiful sheer peach but I'd add that it also has a fair bit of brown to make it a no-brainer blush. It's pigmented enough to show up on much darker skintones than mine and the colour is soft enough to not be difficult to apply even on much fairer skintones. Of course, I'd recommend not applying it with a trowel, but the blush doesn't require a lot of finesse in application.

Vasanti Sayan doesn't contain any shimmer and blends into my skintone and doesn't look chalky or artificial. It goes on smoothly and rivals quite a few high end brands, stays on all day, and most importantly, looks fabulous on desi skintones. I've tried this on so many people after getting it and both I and my victim have loved it each time. If I were to suggest a great blush for someone who had never worn blush before, I'd recommend this one. For those who have tons of blushes, I'd say this is a great staple that you can dress up or down with different make-up looks. I'm very impressed with this blush and I would call it as close to universally flattering as a blush can get.

For Spring, I like a fresh, watermelon hue that reminds me that while it is raining outside, I will not loose my cool and shout at the rain gods with anger/murder in my voice. See how powerful a bright, cheery but still easy to wear shade of lipstick is?


I have been having a torrid affair with Maybelline's Moisture Extreme lipstick in Plum Wine for the past couple of months. Before I talk about how much I love the texture, let me first tell you how much I love the colour. Finding a decent but fairly bright watermelon colour is very rare for me. I always run the risk of looking like a one-hit-wonder from the 80s desperately trying to hang on to my fame by sticking to my signature fuchsia lips. This is why I always look for lipsticks with some plum in them to help make the colour more wearable. Plum Wine is a combination of wine, pink, and plum tones that is surprisingly easy to wear.

The texture of the lipstick lives up to the name and I find it very moisturizing. Not only that, it has no detectable scent I can discern. This is a huge plus for me because I don't need any strong smell literally under my nose. Plum wine doesn't last as long as a traditional cream formula because it is fairly sheer but it fades off evenly. However, it is a great choice when I don't necessarily want a heavy look.

I've been testing this foundation for a few weeks now. From the Nixie foundations I wanted to test drive, I ended up really liking this one a lot.


The consistency of the foundation lies more in the realm of a thinner formulation. To compare, it is thinner than MAC's Studio Fix Fluid. It's an easy to blend foundation and the shade I tried, Olive 2, had enough olive undertones so that it didn't purely bring out the yellow undertones of my skin. I'm not too familiar with the range of colours from Nixie but I would recommend contacting their customers service if you can't determine the shade that matches your skin tone from their swatches.

A few days ago, I tried on a mask that made my skin react violently and made my skin red and scaly. That evening, I had to go somewhere and look less like I'd been burned by sitting in a furnace and as human as possible. I was desperate and put on this foundation. I was very happy with how it worked.

The foundation has a satin finish and you can matte it out with some translucent powder easily. It covered up most of the redness nicely and toned down the angry burn marks I got from reacting to the face mask. Overall, I'd say it provides medium coverage on its own that you can sheer out for less coverage. You can also build up coverage but I don't think you can get truly full coverage. The foundation didn't irritate the sensitive areas of my skin (and I had a lot) and in the warm weather (around 80F/27C) didn't make me feel like I was wearing a heavy mask. Granted, I haven't tested it out in warmer weather but the foundation didn't itch due to the heat.

Another plus is that it held up throughout the day. I didn't wear a primer and the foundation covered well into the evening. The best thing in my opinion about this foundation is that it didn't make me break out. I test drove this foundation for a few weeks and it has fortunately enough not broken me out any time I've worn it.

What really convinced me to give rave reviews for this foundation is how my skin reacted after I forgot to take off my make-up and went for a jog. I know my skin and if make-up clogs my pores I wake up the next day with massive zits-in-progress. After my sweaty jog (I am very proud of the distance/how long I jogged by the way), I came back dreading my skin's reaction. However, while my skin is still recovering from my face-mask idiocy it hasn't become a clogged mess. I haven't broken out from this foundation days after the infamous jog. I realize that everyone's skin reacts differently but my experiences were very positive.

Taking off the foundation is simple enough. I used a make-up remover first and then washed it off with my regular cleanser. This seemed to wash off the foundation and since my skin hasn' reacted with angry pimples I'd say this was effective in taking off the foundation.

For reference, my skintone in MAC is NC45 and the Nixie Olive 2 was a match.

I got a Nixie eyeshadow a while back and held off reviewing it until I was satisfied I had tested the product and I liked the results. I used the shadow in the Spring look and have been using it for a while. Here's my take on it.


The colour I got was called Nixie. I checked the website and Nixie Cosmetics is more original with its names for the other shadows. The most gorgeous thing about this shadow is its texture and feel. At first I thought I was in a daze of hallucinatory school stress but this shadow goes on so softly and smoothly. The website says that the shadows are "infused with Italian cashmere talc to provide a silky, luxurious feel," and while I have no idea what Italian cashmere talc is, the feel of the shadows has spoiled me somewhat.

The pigmentation of the eye shadow and its lasting abilities are also very good. With primer I find that it lasts throughout day. Take note, my lids are very oily and all shadows, even when layered with primer, will end up fading. This shadow faded evenly and I had a fair amount of colour at the end of the day. Without a primer, it lasted slightly longer than my MAC shadows (is it still a mystery why I'm the primer-nazi?). Again, this is probably eyelid-specific.

The packaging is practical with a plastic circle through which you can see the colour and the surrounding black plastic has a rubberized finish. I haven't figured out how to depot mine yet but I will let you know when I do. The size of the Nixie shadow pan is larger than the MAC and Urban Decay shadow pans. Nixie's shadows are 3.5 grams whereas MAC and Urban Decay are 1.5 grams. The Nixie shadows do cost $1 more than MAC but they make up for it in quantity.

All in all, I'm very happy with the eyeshadow. As for the exact description of the colour I have, Nixie (the shadow, not the entire brand. I'm so glad they have better names for their other products) is something in between MAC Aquadisiac and Zonk Bleu.

You can find Nixie eyeshadows on their website.

image source: www.nixiecosmetics.com

First of all, I had something of an allergic reaction when I heard the price. When purchasing drugstore gems, I always hope to find something considerably cheaper than high-end make-up. My semi-chance came when I got the cream liner and a HIP paint BOGOF (buy one get one free) at CVS a while back.


I have long been searching for an intensely black liner that will stay put. When I say black, I don't mean the black that those who have not experienced desi kajal talk about. I want that intense black that every desi girl knows exists and searches for in her lifetime. Lately. I have become very disappointed with my MAC Blacktrack, my Black Stila Smudgepot is more hardened than, well, my heart had become in the search for this mythical black liner, and Bobbi Brown's Gel Ink's simply aren't dramatic enough. My prayers for a HIP BOGOF were finally answered and search for the blackest black liner has ended.

What I love most about the HIP cream liner is that is stays put even on my waterline.
It lasts at least eight hours and will not budge. I don't think this is only because it's newer than my other gel liners, because even when the latter were brand new they never clung to my waterline like Shilpa Shetty to her "I'm so innocent na" image (don't kill me for this, the woman just grates).

The texture is very akin to my gel liners but it is a tad creamier. I do notice that the HIP cream liner makes a somewhat more 'jerky' line and I have to add extra effort to make the line as smooth as possible. As a result it takes a bit longer to line my eyes with this.

And now for the blackness quotient. Is there anything more wonderful than finding a liner that is the deepest, darkest black you could imagine. It's not a glossy black and doesn't have any shimmer to it. Instead, it's a feverishly sultry, matte black that doesn't look flat or dull. Most black gel liners tend to crumble on me and I get dark circles even when I don't have them (those rare, happy days...). L'Oreal's HIP cream liner does not do that, which to me makes it ideal.

All in all, this cream liner is excellent. I like it better than most of the gel liners I have. Other than the jerky application I really love it.

As you might know, my big weakness is blush. If you make it bright and it goes on my cheeks (the ones on my face mind you), I'll probably be making a beeline for the blush. So it comes as no surprise that I absolutely adore Bobbi Brown's semi-new pot rouge in Raspberry.


This is a gorgeous, wearable deep raspberry colour with blue undertones. The texture feels creamier than the other pot rouges, but that might just be my imagination. I find that the texture of Bobbi's pot rouges are different than my other cream blushes as I find the consistency thicker somehow. A really good tip for applying pot rouges or cream blushes in general is to dot it on to the apple of your cheeks and buff it in with a brush like the MAC 109. This gives me an amazing, lit from within, natural glow.

As for how the colour suits desi skintones, I adore how it brightens up my eyes and chases away any tiredness or sallowness that I have. It has the right amount of deepness in colour as brightness to suit a wide range of desi skintones. I think fair and darker skintones could pull this off with ease, although I love it particularly for darker skintones.

Another good thing about this blush is its versatility. On the lips, it isn't a bright barbie pink (which pink raspberry is on me, hence I usually usethat one solely as blush) and is deep enough in colour to not look like a neon lipstick version of raspberry. I do find it fairly drying so I like to moisten my lips with lip balm first.

This is not quite a full-on FOTD, but bear with me while I get to that. I know some of you wanted reviews on red lipsticks or a look incorporating red lipstick. I have a review here of Besame's Noir Red. So put on a pair of sunglasses (it makes my teeth look W-H-I-T-E and I couldn't help showing it off. I'm not concerned about your ability to see, I'm sorry. Not when my teeth look this white.)


First off, let me start by saying how incredibly irritating the size of Besame's lipsticks are. They are the same size as a sample lipstick I once received at the Shiseido counter. The company states that the formula of the lipsticks is very richly pigmented so you use less. I'm not sure how accurate I would say this assessment is, but I do agree that the lipsticks are very pigmented. The lipsticks are also rich, creamy, non-drying, and long lasting.

Noir Red is an intensely pigmented deep blackberry red. It's not for the faint of heart but it is fairly easy to wear since it's not a straight-up, screaming red. This colour would suit a wide variety of skintones, but I think this was made for us darker skinned ladies. Furthermore, if you also have the problem of two-toned lips you'll find that Noir Red does a good job of fooling you into thinking your lips are both the same colour. This never happens to me unless I'm wearing a generous dose of lip liner.

All you nc45s of more should definitely try out this colour if you ever get yourself over the ridiculously small size of the lipstick (can you tell that this is an issue for me). The colour is so glamorous and so pigmented that I feel like the tiny size of the lipstick is worth it.

I have phases where I go through the dreaded ‘bad eyebrow’ stage. It’s where I decide to grow out my eyebrows for a month or two and then go out and get them done. Usually, I’m happy with the results, but stylists sometimes get the need to thin out my eyebrows too badly and I burying my head in the mud for a month until things grow back. And they never seem to grow back the way I want them too either. Another complaint I have is that mascara can make my lashes weak and makes them fall off. It’s actually quite alarming waking up in the morning, rubbing your eyes, and having a chunk of lashes stick to your hand.

Ardell’s Lash Growth Accelerator has done a very good job of strengthening and regrowing my eyebrows and eyelashes. The Lash Growth Accelerator is a milky white, thin gel in a clear tube and mascara wand applicator. It is important to be consistent with applying it. I applied it every morning before doing my make-up and every night before sleeping. The formula did tingle, I won’t say it stung, and the feeling was very mild and disappeared quickly.

It is important to spread the product across the roots and to the skin, so be gentle but work the product to the roots/skin of your eyebrows. For the lash line, really make sure to wiggle the applicator into the roots of the lashes. I moistened a q-tip with the formula and made sure to cover the skin at the base of my lashes. I know I should say wait a few minutes until the Lash Growth Accelerator is dry (probably best for the effectiveness of the product), but I was sometimes too hurried to wait and it didn’t seem to deter too much from the effectiveness.

The results I got from the Lash Growth Accelerator were quite amazing. I was hoping it would help regrow my brow hairs and within a week of not plucking my brows and using the Lash Growth Accelerator faithfully, my brows were growing back quite heavily. In fact, after three weeks I couldn’t stand how much hair I had grown and I had to get my brows threaded. Now you might think this is the normal “weaning-off plucking phase” when you resolve to not touch your brows, but that is untrue. The hair grew back quite ferociously and much thicker than my normal regrowth. I am not sure what the results would have been if I had kept growing out my eyebrows, but judging from the speed and quantity of the three-week hair growth, I would have become Cousin IT’s, well, cousin.

The best thing about the Lash Growth Accelerator is what it did for my lashes. Thankfully, they’re not brittle anymore and I don’t loose more lashes than according to the normal cycle of my lashes. My lashes also feel much stronger with regular use. I have also started sprouting a few new lashes above my lash line where I had never had any growth. I can’t say whether this has made a difference in the length of my lashes but they are definitely healthier and thicker since they don’t break off. This itself makes a big difference in their appearance.

On a final note, Ardell’s Lash Growth Accelerator is excruciatingly hard to find. I scoured every drugstore within a 50 mile radius and never found it in any store. Finally, I just gave up an ordered online (why this didn’t occur to me before still needs demystifying) at www.drugstore.com where I got it for approximately $3.99.

When I was first learning about highlighters a few years ago, I bought Wet ‘n’ Wild MegaGlo Face Illuminator in Rosy. It’s a fairly thick, creamy formula in a soft pinky colour that imparted a pearly sheen. It came in a large disc tub with tons of product and I can proudly say I finished everything in the tub.

My skin is very sensitive and I have to be careful not to used products that break me out. To its credit, Rosy did not break me out at all. It was, however, rather thick and greasy on my face. A little goes a very long way with this but I found that I did tug at my skin at bit to spread the highlighter evenly. It also tended to sit in the newfound creases under my eyes if I ever used it to highlight the inner corners. However, is you’re going to use it on your cheekbones, cupid’s brow, etc. (which is essentially what I did) I think this would be a very effective and inexpensive highlighter. I do advise caution because I found the texture to be slightly thick. Be careful it does not break you out if you’re as sensitive as I am.

Instead of using the highlighter solely on my face, I found Rosy to be a great body highlighter. I used this stuff everywhere and since it was so inexpensive I didn’t feel guilty using it a lot. I used it on my arms, legs, collarbones, etc. It gave me a very candle-lit, healthy shimmer and made me look tons better in my clothes.

As Rosy is a pale pink shade, I would recommend a more golden toned highlighter for skintones much darker than my nc45.

Some people are aficionados of very dark lipliner with a pale, frosty lipstick. While I firmly believe that there is a time and place for all make-up trends, I sincerely hope that trends such as the aforementioned one remain closeted. I know I sound awful, but I am about to redeem myself. My favourite trend, nay cult-like persuasion, in make-up is that of a dewy, glowy complexion. I want that youthful radiance and have tried countless number of ways to get it. You might remember, I ranted rather bitterly and vehemently against Kevyn Aucoin’s White Shimmer Liquid. I want something that will give me a gentle, lit from within glow that doesn’t look like sweat or oiliness and doesn’t look chunky and obvious. Which is exactly why I love Benefit’s High Beam. Also, the pic is ridiculously crappy since my camera is evil.

High Beam is a light pinky liquid that gives me a soft pearly glow. The consistency is not water or runny and it is easy to dot it on my cheekbones, browbone, the bridge of my nose, etc and blend it with my fingers. I’m not one for science (in my defense, I haven’t reached Sherri Shepard’s “Is the world round? I thought it was flat” delirium yet), but I feel like since I can warm up the liquid with my fingers, High Beam “melts” into my make-up better and doesn’t sit as a layer.

Another benefit (see the pun? I’m feeling awfully clever today) of High Beam is that it doesn’t give you a chunky shimmer. It doesn’t look obvious because it gives you a soft sheen rather than anything. I can’t see the individual particles that give me a glow. I find that this is what helps the dewy look I get from High Beam look natural and radiant.

One thing I must mention is that I think most desi skintones from nc45 to lighter can definitely pull off both, but if you’re much darker I’d recommend Moon Beam as it has a goldish sheen.

I haven’t ever broken out from this product before, so that is always a plus. As always, I recommend you try it out at a counter and walk around with it for a day to see how you react to it if you’re very concerned about clogged pores. For me, this is one of my favourite and most used highlighters along with Albatross (that love affair will never end).

I know a lot of you like powder blushes, but I wanted to dedicate a moment of worship to a classic berry shade of cream blush that just does so much to make me look happy and not sallow (I once got asked if I had jaundice by a friend. In my defense, I hadn’t slept all night and was highly dependent on Dayquil to stay alive). I am also very much washed out in this pic as it was taken in natural sunlight, without flash, and at around 2:30 pm. However, the blush is still visible, and I hope, pretty,

NARS Montenegro glides on like a dream and blends even better. I can pat it on with my fingers, use a small stipling brush, or a foundation brush to add thin layers of colour. The blush looks like an uneventful cold purple in the pan but on my cheeks it transforms to a happy, delightful, flattering berry shade. One huge plus is that it really brings a sparkle to my eyes. Madness? Maybe. However, I will swear on the casing of my first lipstick that this blush can lift the tiredness and sallowness from my face ad make my eyes look so bright. It’s a gorgeous colour that is so underrated and would look stunning on desi skin.

Since the colour is so buildable, this blush would flatter a wide range of skintones, even if you happen to be darker than nc45 (my shade). It would look equally pretty on lighter skintones. Really, I don’t think this blush is meant specifically for lighter or darker skintones. It’s a great staple in my stash that I always fall back on to make me look human (again, I blame Dayquil for this partly).

I know that the clogging of pores is always an issue with cream blush, so I would really advise you to try it out in a store and see if you react unfavourably to it. However, I have no problems with NARS cream blushes although I break out immensely from MAC blushcremes. If it turns out to not break you out, you have a great prettifying staple here.