Review: Vega Large Powder Brush

I am not going to review this brush from Vega...
The pictures I hope are self explanatory...
The pics were taken after using it for 1st time and washing using a mild hand soap..
On washing the water turned greyish..
After using this brush on my face, I noticed some breakouts around 1hours later..
And finally, I got this brush in Oct 2012...

I thought of using this brush as a scrubber during pedicure, but it seems to give out a greyish color! So now, its in the waste basket.

If after seeing this pics, you want to still buy this brush, I would advise you - think! 225Rs is not a small sum!  Think of how many masala dosas or ice creams you can have! Or donate the money!At least you get a nice feeling inside!

Review: Diana of London Surprise lipstick in shade Wild Strawberry 73

Now that Spring has come, its time to bring out all those pinks and corals and bright  fuschias that was hidden under plum-berry shades during winter. And I am happy I got this beautiful color from Diana of London before I left India.

DoL scores really well on the bullet packaging, though I do wish they would add some info on expiry date.
But the beautiful lilac lipstick case is really use-in-mall-restroom worthy. Since I have already reviewed this range of lipstick here , I wont be repeating more on the product itself.

This is a bright fuschia-ish pinkish shade that has blue undertones which goes really well for fair complexions. The lipstick applies matte very beautifully and gives a great amount of color on the 1st swipe itself.

With this sort of strong bright color, I would suggest using a brush or fingers unless you want full-on bright color. Also make sure, you apply this very carefully as this color tends to leave a good amount of tint on the skin that doesnt come off easily.

The color lasted me easily for 4-5 hours without any feathering but it did dry up my lips so, I would suggest using a lip balm or gloss. When it fades, it leaves a strong tint, so it is almost like a lip tint. A good way to apply this lipstick from my experience is to convert it to a lip tint and apply a clear or pinkish gloss.

To convert this to liptint, apply one layer on lipstick, leave it for 1-2 mins while pressing lips together for even application and then blot off the excess color. Repeat this till you get the color you want and the color sits on your lips without any cream from the lipstick on top. For me it takes just 2 layer of color. Then apply
a lip gloss to complete the look. I use this lipstick as lip-blush combo as this lipstick applies great as a cream blusher [look at the swatch below of the color blended]

This is a great color that goes well with almost all complexions. Since this is a bright bold lip color, keep face flawless, keep cheek colors to minimum [dont go for coral blushes unless used bare minimum for a flushed look] and go for a neutral look on eyes.

Review and Swatches: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Ginger Rose 131 Creme

It is such a long time since I have posted anything that I feel quite rusty and wondering why & if I should post something.  But then I would check reviews online and think, hmmm...may be someone someday might find my opinions useful too.

As an Indian lady staying abroad checking online for product reviews, I am curiously disadvantaged in that the products I want to buy are mostly reviewed by fair skinned beauties whose underlying skin tone is quite different from my warmer tones. After doing a makeup artist course I became more than ever aware of it. So when I check a lipstick touted as a great Nude or great Pink lipstick, I find that its sooo not often the case on my lips…

Especially in Youtube, when I see product reviews or demos its mostly for fair-skinned ladies…

And that leads me to the review of this lipstick by Revlon..

This is a popular brownish nude lippy from Revlon’s Super Lustrous line which has got to be one of the oldest and most popular lipstick range in the world. I am not reviewing this range as a whole as I have not tried as many products as I would wish. My review is more in terms of the color than in terms of lipstick quality as a whole.

This is a brownish or peachy nude – depends on how it comes across on your lips.

If I look at the color in the tube, it’s a peachy nude but on my pigmented lips, it comes off more like a washed out brownish nude…This is a pretty color when I swatch on my hands but on my lips, it accentuates all the flaws, so if I want to wear this I should aim for flawless makeup…

Also this color is hard to carry off in full color – as in if I apply just the layers of lipstick without any blotting, it kinda looks yucky…

Keep in mind that this is what I feel works for  warm-tones; I am sure that cooler skin tones can carry off this lippy without much effort.

The perfect way I feel to wear this kind of a nude[if you got stuck with one that is, try avoiding as much as possible] is to either wear it with a gloss or use the good old ‘bloat-and-apply’ method…

Here are my suggestions on how to apply this color:

1.       Pair with a peachy pink or peachy golden gloss – like Revlon’s Peach Petal or Foiled

2.       Blot the color multiple times till it sorta looks like a natural lip tint as opposed to a layer of color sitting on your lips. If you have highly pigmented lips, neutralize the base color by applying a base coat of concealer. 
3.   As a blusher, this would be a good one as it is not too creamy and would suit most skin tones. In fact, if this doesn't work for you as a lip color, use it as a blush. 

For Face Makeup: With this type of lip color, a matte look would be best. If you have fine lines, go for a semi matte [not too powdered look]. If you're going for a dewy makeup, try this lip color with gloss. 

In general, I am not a fan of nude colors for warm skin tones…

I agree that it looks beautiful on fair ladies of the West as it doesn’t affect the overall skin tone look but for warmer skin tones like ours, a nude shade most of the time pulls it down making skin look dull and uneven… In fact, after being in Canada for a year plus, I am learning that most of the eye/face/lip makeup that Fair Ladies of the West loves, don't work well with ladies back home. A good reason why we shouldn't blindly look to West for inspiration on makeup!

If like me you’re trying to find suitable office wearing colors, I would suggest turning to Rachel from ‘Friends’ – early seasons for inspiration; she wears some good dark but not OTT or Vampy colors that can easily give you a polished look.Overall, this is not a re-purchase one for me but in terms of color I can see how it might go well with ladies who like a nude shade.

Revlon’s SL line is awesome as ever and remains a fav of mine.

Review: Claire's Makeup Kit 5 Eye Shadows +2 Blushes

This its going to be a short crisp review on a value-for-money kit. I saw this kit as I went to check some earrings in Claire's. They had some eye shadow palettes and almost all of them were glittery or shimmery.


I got this on a fancy as this was quite the most compact kit there and it had some safe colors like gold and copper. The price is $9.75 and there was some offer so got it pretty cheap.

One good thing about Claire's is that they print expiry dates very clearly on the boxes making it easier to use. Kudos for that! And as with any brand I buy this is also not tested on animals :-)

I didn't expect much as this brand appeared to be a teenage brand but I was pleasantly surprised by the pigmentation. I've noticed that shimmery shades have much better pigmentation than matte shades especially from drugstore priced brands.

The swatches are in clockwise direction from the bottom left hand corner. The 1st shade is a gorgeous antique gold which I can easily wear. The second shade is a yellow gold one and can be used as a highlight shade unless I'm going on an Egyptian themed party where this will be useful for an all over lid color. The 3rd shade is the center color and the ones I like the best-a beautiful rose gold shade.

The4th one is a bronzy shade of gold and is a good allover lid color if you're going for a party and you've 5 mins to dress. The last shade and the darkest of the lot is a copper brown shade which can be used along with the 4th shade for a shimmery brown smoky eye.

The blushes are however not great. The pink one is especially flaky and doesn't give any color except a whitish one on blending. The peach shade is more useful for that light flushed look on cheeks.

Overall I would say that this is a value for money palette to have handy for summer and night outs.