Budget Beauty Diaries: 10 Beauty Essentials for Girls Within Rs. 1500

Are prices really shooting up faster than the speed of light, or is it just me feeling so? No, it ain’t my illusion. This is the commonest complaint I have ever heard. Be it eating out, buying a new dress or getting some new make-up, almost EVERYTHING is so damn expensive every passing day. But we just can’t stop buying make-up now, can we? NEVER! So I took up this challenge. I set myself a budget of Rs. 1500, and decided to buy everything I need within that. Not one rupee more. And guess what? I pretty much managed to buy everything that I had set out for! Isn’t that a major accomplishment? (pat on my back  )

Here is the list of 10 absolute essentials that I bought for myself, all from good renowned brands, that too, within 1500 bucks:

1. Street Wear Color Rich Lipstick: Rs 180

Revlon sells these cuties under their mass brand, Street Wear. This lipstick is everything you can ask for. They offer gorgeous shades in reds, pinks and oranges and nudes in their range. It has a decent wear time. All in all, a great lipstick.

2. Nivea Essential Care Lip Balm: Rs 100

Winters and lip balms almost always feature together for me in a sentence! I have hoards of lip balms, but always buy more. This basic blue tube would save you from chapped lips. It is non-tinted so you can use it easily under lipstick.

3. Maybelline Colossal Kajal: Rs 199

My absolute favourite product ever. It is just the right black, right pigmentation, and lasts quite long. What’s more, you can double it up as an eyeliner and use it heavily to create a smoky eye! A versatile kajal, and comes for a mere 199.

4. Maybelline HyperCurl Volume Express Mascara: Rs 275

One of the most pocket friendly mascara in the Indian market. Make sure you buy the waterproof one. A decent and well working formula, great for regular usage.

5. Johnsons Baby Cream: Rs 65

No list is complete without a good moisturizing cream. This is perfect for everyone, irrespective of skin type. It keeps the skin well hydrated throughout the day, and it is so cheap! I use this under any makeup base, and it helps soothe my skin

6. Revlon ColorStay ShadowLinks Eyeshadow: Rs 175

These are simply amazing. You choose a color that you need out of their array of available shades. I believe they have 30 shades! You can create your own palette of colors, choosing the singles that you like. These are a good investment, since you only buy what you need.

7. Maybelline Color Show Nail Paint: Rs 75

These are one of the best things to have ever happened to the Indian cosmetic market. Period. You have every imaginable shade in the range. These have an acceptable wear time. The finish is nice and they dry fast. Everything about these is lovely!

8. Pond’s White Beauty All-in-One BB+ Fairness Cream: Rs 140

You cannot wear a foundation everyday. But you definitely CAN wear a BB cream everyday! This one from Pond’s is an absolute delight. At least for me. The only drawback is that you don’t have shade selections. But the shade that they have works well for me and most Indian complexions. It has SPF 30 as well!! A win-win all the way!

9. Street Wear Color Rich MegaShine Lip Gloss: Rs 150

I love the entire Street Wear range by Revlon. Especially the lip glosses. Not only because of the girly and cute packing, but also the formula! It isn’t sticky, and you have a number of shades to choose from! Plus the scent is awesome 

10. Lakme Insta Liner: Rs 110

You can check my detailed review for this here. One of the cheapest eyeliners ever, and quite a hit! Helps to draw deep black lines as this is extremely intense in pigmentation. A must have!

These are all the essentials you would need for everyday use. I will be covering their individual reviews slowly, but surely!

Where to buy: Well, all these can be bought at Dabur NewU, as they stock all these brands. Otherwise, all the Revlon, Street Wear, Lakme and Maybelline products can be found in any Lifestyle or Shoppers Stop. Oh why bother..get it all online, you might end up getting some more discount too!

By the way, we are still left with Rs 31  What do you plan to do with them? (I bought myself a chocolate, you know I have a major sweet tooth!)

Beauty Budget Beauty Eyeliner fashion India lifestyle LIP BALM Lipstick Make-up Makeup Nail Polish Wellness

13 Essential Makeup Tips for Girls Wearing Glasses

I have been wearing glasses for most part of my life. I had to start wearing them in middle school, and honestly, I don’t mind wearing them much. I never got bothered by being a girl with glasses. In college, I started using contacts quite frequently, but then when I started working, the long hours on the computer made me come back to my specs. But now, wearing glasses is so much in vogue! So all of us people who are stuck with specs, have a reason to rejoice.

Some of the people who wear glasses feel a bit low on confidence. This should not be so! These are a part of your identity. Accept them, embrace them. Be glad that you have so much choice in frames and designs. Back in the day when I was in school, and before that, there were just no choices! Be glad that even celebs wear these, and plus, they almost always give you that intellectual look!

There are certain tips that I would like to share with the girls who wear glasses, who feel that makeup is off territory for them, now that they have a huge thing sitting on their nose hiding half their face. Ladies, this list will equip you with techniques which, if followed correctly, make you look like a diva, that too, an intellectual one! I am suggesting some makeup and general tips for revolutionising the way you look with glasses

Makeup for eyes:

This is where you can go more adventurous than rest of the clan who doesn’t wear glasses

1. Under eye: Girls, remember that glasses highlight your undereye area a lot more than you can imagine. If your under eye region is dark, then make it a point to moisturize and use a concealer on this area. The concealer should match the color of the rest of your face. You can also use a full coverage foundation. This would remarkably improve your appearance. Trust me.

2. Eyeliner: This is again, a makeup essential for the glassed girl. Remember, the thicker the frames of your glasses, the thicker your eyeliner can be! However, go easy on it if your glasses are rimless ones, as they don’t hide your face and eyes as much as the thick framed ones.

3. Mascara: Use a mascara to highlight those lashes which are unfortunately hidden behind the glasses. Go crazy with it. Use as much as you want! Try using one which increases the volume of your lashes. Mascara which lengthens might cause your lashes to touch the glasses, so bear that in mind. I totally recommend Maybelline Falsies Also use it on the lower lashes.

4. Eyebrows: Keep eyebrows shaped. Even if you don’t want to get them professionally shaped or threaded (like me), it is still good to maintain them in a certain shape as it provides a cleaner look.

5. Kohl: For the Indian girl, kohl or kajal is an everyday essential. More so if you’re a girl with glasses, as the kohl makes you look more awake and in general, a lot better. But do ensure that your undereyes are not dark, hence follow point 1 religiously.

6. Eyeshadow: Go ahead and use it a lot too! Bear in mind that the eyeshadow color doesn’t clash with the color of your frames. Again, go easy if you’re wearing rimless glasses

7. Nude Eyeliner on waterline: Try a nude/white eyeliner on the waterline to give illusion of bigger eyes. It does make a difference. Try NYX Wonderpencil or Revlon Photoready Kajal in Emerald Empire (use the nude Empire side of this pencil), or Lakme Eyeconic Kajal in White.

Makeup for Rest of the Face:

8. Base makeup: Try to achieve clear skin with appropriate use of foundation/BB creams. If you don’t want to use them all over the face, then just use these to even out your complexion and hide the blemishes. This would help to keep the focus on your prettier features.

9. Lipstick: A girl with glasses should experiment with interesting colors on their lips. If your frames are bright colored, then do ensure that the lipstick doesn’t make you look too made up, though. With regular black frames, try a pop of bright pink, some coral or orange in the daytime. Use reds and browns in the evening.

10. Blush: It makes a huge difference to your bespectacled appearance. Do use a blush whenever you can.

General guidelines:

11. Power of the glasses and eye makeup intensity: A rule of thumb is that if you’re near-sighted (myopic), then your glasses would make your eyes appear smaller. And if you’re far-sighted (hyperopic), your glasses make your eyes appear bigger. So do your eye makeup accordingly, which means that, if your eyes appear smaller, then use more makeup, and if your eyes appear bigger, then go easy on eye makeup! Simple!

12. Frame color suggestions: The shape of your frames would totally depend on the shape of your face, and also your personal preference. But as far as the color of the frames is concerned, I suggest having neutral colored frames (black/dark brown), because then, you can be more adventurous with the makeup colors. On the other hand, if the frame is of a bold color, then you will have to keep other things subtle to avoid looking like a clown.

13. Hairstyle: Try an interesting hairstyle to rev things up! Bangs and pouf look gorgeous with nerdy glasses. A sleek ponytail can help you rock the look with rimless glasses 

I’m very sure these would make you look and feel so much better. Do ask me questions if you have any!

Beauty Eyeliner fashion Glasses India lifestyle Lipstick Make-up Makeup Mascara Spectacles tips

Lakme Insta-Liner Review

Happy New Year 2015 people! I hope everyone had a great celebration, and if not, then not to worry! I also had a rather laidback day at home, gorging on food and lazing around. A dull start..but I like it that way

I started wearing eyeliner very recently, just about a couple of years back. Kohl has been the best friend for me, but I recently realized that I love eyeliners too! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that a thin defining line on the eye can make such a big difference to a girl’s face!

Lakme Insta Liner has been around for ages, and I seriously mean ages! I really believe it was the first eyeliner that every Indian girl wore 

So let’s start the review

Ingredients: Not mentioned!

Claims: Nothing! There is absolutely nothing written on the little bottle

Packaging: The packaging has remained the same over the years..a small glass bottle filled with your black liquid eyeliner. There is nothing to not like, as it is very ‘to-the-point’. Yeah, the Lakme logo has now changed, so that has also changed on the bottle. And the applicator is a very thin brush that is attached to the bottle cap.

My Experience: This was the very first eyeliner that I ever used, and hence it will always have a special place in my heart! I remember applying this for a school party, then, with very shaky hands, and with a lot of innocence  From then till now, several eyeliners have come into my life. I recently bought this bottle again, just for old times’ sake. But I was really surprised to see that this is a good eyeliner! I don’t feel that the formula has been changed either.

Color and Pigmentation: It comes only in one shade, which is black. This liquid eyeliner is freakishly pigmented, as one stroke gives you such intense black color! I’m really grateful to this eyeliner as it is so different from so many new gimmicky and ridiculously priced eyeliners that don’t even do what they are supposed to do. This humble bottle of eyeliner would give you jet black lines easily.

Ease of Use: After using a gel eyeliner, I found it a little difficult to use this liquid eyeliner, and found it a bit more difficult to control my hand on this brush applicator. But yes, you always learn how to use a new eyeliner with time, so you can easily get used to this one with time as well. The brush picks up enough product to line your one eye. One little problem is that a liquid eyeliner can get messy at times, so do keep a tissue handy! Also, being a liquid eyeliner, it takes quite a long time to dry, so keep 3 minutes for that.

Water Resistance: The bottle very clearly states that the liner is ‘water resistant’ and NOT water proof. So do bear that in mind while wearing this on a sweaty summer day, or on a wedding where you might shed a few tears  The liner will not promise that it won’t budge. But on a good, non-humid day, it lasts. Throughout the day. And with minimal fading. Do remember not to touch your eyes a lot, as it can transfer a bit. A couple of touches to the eyes won’t make it fade though, so you can trust this liner on that. One more thing that I want to mention is that, never let this liner get into your eyes. It burns like hell! But yes, this liner is quite easy to remove. So you won’t need any makeup remover for this, just soap and water would do.

Rating: 3/5

Price: Rs 110 for 9 ml

Where to buy: Lakme counters at malls, even the good-old neighborhood makeup store would be stocking up on this classic favorite. It is also available online.

Shelf Life: 2.5 years, but since this is an eye product, I guess you should only use this for 3-5 months after opening.

Pros and Cons

PROs:

1. Intense black color
2. Extremely affordable
3. Easily available at stores, and you can buy it online too
4. Decent brush applicator
5. Huge quantity, would last you ages!
6. Very easy to remove, won’t require makeup remover

CONs:

1. No ingredients mentioned
2. Burns eyes, so be careful while applying
3. Takes long to dry
4. Can get messy, and if it does, the stain would leave your skin dark and you need to wash very thoroughly
5. No shade choice, despite the fact that Lakme can easily introduce different shades! Come on people, we need good brands to come up with affordable colored eyeliners!

Overall Verdict: Trust this little bottle on days of good weather, never on a rainy day. You can easily learn to use this applicator. I would recommend using this on days when you want a simple, one stroke eyeliner. I would still go for my gel eyeliner if I want to create a winged eyeliner look, or something more edgy. But this bottle is a must have. Just make sure you don’t get it into your eyes. At this throwaway price, it is definitely a must have.

Beauty Eye Makeup Eye-liner Eyeliner Eyes fashion India Lakme lifestyle Make-up Makeup