For my next installment of blush, I would like to introduce one of my favourite blushes. It scares everyone in the pan, but I always seem to get compliments ranging from 'you look so awake and fresh' to 'you look so soft and girly.' MAC Dollymix always seems to jolt up my eyes and make my face look alive.

Do not be scared of the way the blush looks in the pan. It looks like a screaming blue-toned bright pink that has a slight shimmer. When worn, the shimmer is very subtle and the colour of the blush itself is very sheer. For some of my NARS blushes, I dare not use a normal blush brush. However, Dollymix goes on sheerly so I don't need to worry about bringing out the stipling or fan brush.

I love using this blush to give me a fresh and girly look. It's also great for that 'just came back from making snow angels outside' kind of glow. The good thing about it is that you don't have to be overly frightened that you will overdo it on the first go. A regular blush application will do the trick. The blush is also very long lasting and stays put for a long time.

Dollymix is great for lighter skinned ladies as well as us more melanin-rich folks. It's buildable in intensity so you can calibrate it depending on how much you need to show up on your skin. It's such a pretty, happy colour which I can even pair with only kajal and lipbalm (mascara optional).

Fair and Lovely ad

You too can view the truth in this ad.

In case you’ve been wondering why your life sucks, Fair and Lovely has the answer. It’s because of your skin colour silly! It’s the reason behind every failure according to the maker of the cream. If you’re dark, you have reason to be rejected for your dream job, by your dream partner, by your parents, and by society in general. Gosh, I eally didn’t know that. I think I will start using Fair and Lovely and test it out for a month. If by some miracle I don’t get my promotion and in general lead a more fulfilled life, and we all know this will never happen (Fair and Lovely will never lie to us, the unhappy, dark, ignorant public), there will be hell to pay. But since the ad just reaffirmed the truth that fair skin means happiness, I would rather bleach my face to a strange ashy shade and damage my skin in general than play with puppies and kittens in a meadow of daises. The only thing I can’t shake off is this weird feeling that they’re lying to me. I somehow still feel like fair skin is related to, I’m just going to come out and say it, um… nothing! Not beauty, not success, not love, etc. Fair and Lovely I am sure is going to put a hit out on me. I’m resisting their message of eternal truth.

It's been a while, so I decided the right step was to write about a pet peeve of mine. Pale lips can complement a look beautifully. The drag queen inside me has been put to sleep (temporarily), so I can whole-heartedly agree that they can complement dramatic eye or cheek make-up. That’s the good variation of the pale lips. Then there’s the pale, pale, pale lips that are at least two shades paler than the skin tone of the wearer. Think about it. What kind of compliment would you give someone whose lips are so light compared their skin tone and that the lips look almost bluish? “I love the colour on your lips! It looks like you just ate a popsicle that was too cold and so you had to be rushed to the hospital for hypothermia. How divine!” See what I mean? You leave the realm of flattering only to arrive at the realm of zombie-hypothermia-suffering-popsicle-eater.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the horrid array of colours targeted towards Indian women. Last year I visited India after a long, long time. The mother ship(a.k.a. the make-up counters) called out to me and beamed me in. My first reaction was to check out the lakme counters since you can't get it out of the country. Unfortunately, the current trend is to use frosty pink or a cadaver purple on the lips. Never a good move. To top it off, there were no pressed powders made for dark skin. I dont wear foundation but i use pressed powder when i go out. Must blot the oilies. Instead, the counter had only an array of four, yes four, shades. Lakme, if you're reading this(which I highly doubt), this is not a good way to fulfill all your target audience's needs.