Thursday 29 December 2011

The Magicians Wand

If you have read my entire blog, you will know what a big role the Harry Potter series has played and continues to play in my life.  I remember in the first book, The Sorcerer’s Stone my favourite scene is when the brick wall breaks down to reveal Diagon Alley. And Harry goes to get his wand. “The wand chooses you.” Reading that scene I could feel the goose bumps trickling all over my skin. I knew then that Harry was meant for greatness.

10 years or so later, I found myself in a store where a cruella de villeesk looking lady asked me with her high pitched voice, “is this your first one.” A little embarrassed, meekly I barely said, “Yes, could you please help me?” She told me “Let THEM speak to you.” At that point I knew I was going to leave a changed person, either because this was a defining moment or I would ask her for her dealers’ number and she would oblige.

 That day I left the M.A.C store with my first set of basic professional makeup brushes. I felt like with these I could change faces and fates.


I do not have a lot of brushes in comparison to the other enthusiasts I know. However, I pride myself on the fact that I use every brush, applicator and sponge I own.

 I have been applying makeup with a brush since I was 26 years old (a little late, I know) and even though I have ALOT to learn, one of the biggest tips that I can give anyone who is into makeup application is use brushes as much as you can and wherever u can.

Why?

  1. Hygiene. It’s just better to use clean and protected brushes on your beautiful face rather than your fingers.
  2. Product wastage is minimized. I recently realised a lot of people were under the impression that if you use a brush, you product gets wasted. In fact, it’s the other way round. Applying with your fingers tends to waste product as it soaks in quite a lot.
  3. A lot of us use our fingers while applying makeup, now that maybe convenient, however it might not only make your face breakout but also it contaminates and spoils products. It's due to the oils in your fingers which apparently are corrosive.
  4. Control and precision. Speaks for itself.

So let’s talk about brushes and what they are used for.

Now even though the brushes are meant for certain areas and techniques, do whatever that floats your boat. I’m going to tell you what I use and how I use them.



Let’s start with Concealer and Foundation:


I have a think synthetic bristled brush for foundation. This particular brush picks up a good amount of product and when I wet the brush a little and use to apply foundation it does give me a dewey and a good finish. Sometimes you can see stroke marks.



Now I also use the M.A.C 187 stippling duo fibre brush for foundation. It has a flat top and I put one pump of my liquid foundation and apply it all over my face and start buffing with small rounds strokes which makes my skin finish flawless and shiny. You can also do the buffing bit after you apply concealer. I love this brush so much that when my husband gifted me a M.A.C voucher the first thing I did was pick the 187.


I also have a longer and larger stippling brush from Kryolan. It’s the 9742 brush.


For concealer I use the M.A.C 195. Since it's tapered it can easily get into places like the nose crease, under eye and chin crease etc.


Now that I have a flawless foundation and concealer routine I apply setting powder using my Powder brush. Now this is a BIG fluffy brush, rounded and thick. You can also set your makeup after you have applied all your makeup, but I apply the setting powder immediately after I have finished the foundation and concealer routine.

I also tend to use the M.A.C 195 to apply eye shadow on my eye lids if I need to cover a large area.



MAC 239 is also a really good eye shadow brush for application. It picks up a lot of product. It should be used to cover large areas as it’s pretty wide.



M.A.C 231 is also a great eye shadow applicator. It is small slightly tapered so it's gr8 for applying the "V" at the outer corner of your eye.


The Body Shop Eye Shadow brush, these brushes do not have any numbers however with this picture it will be easy to identify. I love the bristles as they are very soft. It also picks a lot of products. It a broad, squarish brush with a thick handle and pretty light to use.  



M.A.C 219 is a blender brush. (I also use it for concealer because its tapered tip helps you cover small spots or blemishes really well) However, I primarily use it as an eye shadow blender. So when you’re applying eye shadow on your lid and crease and you want to blend the harsh lines together this is a perfect brush.


MAC 224 is also a blending brush. This is perfect to blend larger areas as it’s a fluffy brush. I usually use this when I am doing a smokey eye.


Body Shop Eye Shadow blender. This is a thicker and bigger version of the eyeshadow brush. I use this as a blender as well as an applicator.

Eyebrow brushes


M.A.C 266 is my FAVORITE brush of all time. I use this not only to fill in my eye brows however to also apply eye liner. Especially if I want to do a cat eye.


Color bar Angle brush. It’s a nice soft brush. Apt for eye brow filling, however I cannot use it to apply eyeliner as it is too soft.

Color Bar 125 angle brush. It’s a gigantic version of the M.A.C 266. It’s perfect for eyeliner application. Especially if you want to do an Amy Winehouse kinda look.



Blushers


M.A.C 116 is the perfect blush brush. It’s divine. Gives you the control you need to apply blush, bronzer, contour or highlighter. You can never have too many of this brush.


Body Shop Face and Body brush is also perfect. It’s a little large so not as much control as the M.A.C. However, the brush’s quality is the best much better than the M.A.C


Kryolan shader in Art. 1711 I use this brush to contour as well as apply mineral makeup. It gives the right amount of hold and softness you require. It’s perfect for contouring.

Eyeliner brushes
The 2 eyeliner brushes I love are



Maybelline eyeliner brush that you get with the drama gel liner

MAC 209 is a great brush for thick eyeliner applications

M.A.C 210 is great for thin eyeliner application. I tend to use this alot and keep building on the thin liner if i want it a little thicker.

And the M.A.C 266 is great for people who are just learning to apply eyeliner. It helps you get straight lines especially when you use small strokes.
With these gr8 brushes come’s gr8 brush care.

So these are the things I think you should and should not do when using brushes to apply your makeup.

  1. Clean your brushes regularly with a brush cleanser. I use the M.A.C brush cleanser. I apply a couple of drops on a folded face tissue and swirl the bristles through it. You will immediately start seeing the brush is getting cleaner. This is useful in case during application you want to clean a brush to use again.
  2. Brush Cleansers are gr8! But you need to shampoo and condition you brushes once a week at least if you apply makeup almost every day. If it’s lesser than that, then i leave it up to your better judgement on the frequency. It is tedious; however it is worth the effort. After all those brushes will help keep your face flawless.
  3. DO NOT SHARE BRUSHES. It's like sharing a tooth brush. YUCK! Now if you're one of the women in you clique that applies makeup for the rest, invest in brushes (could be cheaper than the ones you use) like the Canadian brand Faces and use those for you friends and clean regularly. Not only are you protecting yourself but you’re also protecting your friends from breakout and infections.

I hope for those who do not use makeup brushes, this encourages you to. And for those of you, who are using brushes, do share tips and tricks. ALWAYS LEARNING!

Do check out my Youtube channel to understand how to clean the makeup brushes.



Saturday 10 December 2011

Pantene Hair Spa Event and Iosis

I now know how Charlie felt in Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Pantene (AKA Willy Wonka) sent me this mailer informing me that I won this amazing Golden Ticket t get myself pampered and taken care of at the very famous Iosis Spa in Linking road, Khar.

Now I have to mention I could'nt make it for th is wonderful event, however I wanted to thank the Pantene team as I usually never win much, however, I think my lucks changing, andalso wanted to thank the gracious Iosis team, who were so kind and informative that I might just go over for some pampering with or without any event. :-)

Loved the design of my GOLDEN TICKET. Thought I'd share it with everyone.

Monday 5 December 2011

Thomas' the mecca of great hair styling.

Before the haircut

I have known my hair stylist Thomas for over 10 years. In fact it would be a crime for me to call him just my hair stylist. He is my friend and also in the most suprising ways , someone who I talk to a lot about the higher power. He is someone who is not only invested in my folicles, hairstyle and color, but even in my life and health. What i think worked really well for me is our communication. I know how to explain what I want to him and he takes the time out to understand my needs. He also adds the disclaimer that even if im showing him Megan Fox's picture , he can give me the hairstyle...but i might not look like her at the end. LOL
Thomas recently opened his own salon in Juhu. I eventually visited it today and I'm so glad I did..
Got a great glamorous haircut and some TLC from my favorite stylist.

after the haircut

OOOHHHH MYYYY


Love the haircut soo much I clicked a pic o natural
Thomas' salon, At silver crest , 1st flr , chand society lane , beside arogyanidhi hospital , nxt 2 venus office , juhu. Its near juhu gym khana his number is +919820645633

AND JUST FOR YOU DEARIESSSS! THOMAS WILL NOT CHARGE US THE SERVICE TAX. WHICH IS ABOUT RS400 TO 500. EXCELLENT DISCOUNTS!!!!
JUST LET HIM KNOW THAT I SENT YA!

Saturday 26 November 2011

THE day Makeup...Venora's Wedding Day

First of all I want to congratulate Venora and Jason, you guys make a perfect couple. Bless you and your Union.

I did a few trials and then the final look for the Bridal Party. Below are the trials as well as the final look.

The Trial for the Maid of Honor



The Finalised look on the Wedding day.



The Complete Look


Trial Look for the Mother of the Bride



 Finalised Look on the Wedding Day


Trying out looks on the Bride (Even though her wedding makeup artist was someone else)


The Beautiful Bride on her wedding day (makeup is not done by me)

The Lovely Brides Maid Wendy



The Final Look

The Brides maid Priyanka


The Final Look

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Bridal Party Trial Makeup

The beautiful Bride

The Mother of the Bride



The Maid of Honour

Wedding day pictures will be added soon...

Friday 11 November 2011

Beer Butt Chicken - For all those who are pains in the butt after a beer

I pride myself on being an adventurous foodie. I have tried quite a few unique dishes and suprisingly liked most of them. I thought i'd mention a few amazing dishes that i have had in restaurants and then give you a recipe of my favorite go to dish.





Patpong Market Bangkok: March 2010 my husband and I went to Thailand, on the last leg of our vacation, we were in Bangkok. On our 3rd night their we visited Patpong Market. Brightly lit, loud music , big crowd and the smell of divine foood all around. I knew at that time that this market was special. This market had my 2 loves, food on a stick and cheap LV bags. The yummiest thing I tried at teh market was in the main square near the stage, one stall was serving deep fried baby crabs , that were delicious because of the dry rub and crispy...ohhh i remember having an entire bag full...while Gabriel searched for a stall serving insects...unfortunately he found it.



The Weston Coffee shop in Goregaon; For one of our fancy date nights, Gabriel took me to The Weston hotel. We tried the most amazing scallops....they were perfect , succulent and the perfect color. Tehy were served on a bed of salad (i think ) cant really remember because i was distracted by the scallops. Even the view didnt impress me as much as the delight on my plate. They also serve a mean beef burger, however the scallops were definitely the hero of the dish.



OPA! if you check my earlier post, you will read one on this Greek restaurant. Its opposite Aurus in Juhu. Opa introduced me to one of the most amazing dishes i have ever had. It wasnt even mine. Though my Tandoor cooked Jamaican Jerk Chicken was freaking awesome. My friend Hemant sat near me (thank god!) and he ordered the delicious Cajun Spiced tiger prawns which were amazing, but what im talking about is this gnocchi like potato dish which accompanied the prawns. They were like little pillows of deliciousness and i have to confess that Hemant only ate one while i ate ALL! Serves him right for ordering something so yummy and sitting near me. It was called Aglio Olio Spud dumplings in lemon caper butter and OMG! I was in love. I have googled similar recipes trying to recreate this wonderful dish and with a little pratice I will eventually get it to taste perfect, however i have to say say cudos! to OPA!.



I may love a lot of unique cuisine, however give me a burger anyday. I think im a burger connoisseur. The best and most delicous burger I have tried is at the Manchester United Cafe in Palladium. This beef burger is moist, filled with flavour and with their yummy onion rings it makes the best bar food. I have travelled for a couple of hours to eat this burger and i will do it again. If they start serving Cherry Cola , i'm never goign to leave the place.



And now for my favorite recipe. It's Beer Butt Chicken by Jamie Oliver.
I tried this recipe out at the insistance of my sister and its now my go to recipe if i have company or if i dont wanna fuss about and just get cooking. For this dish you need to defrost an entire chicken. and for the rub you need
1 heaped teaspoon of fennel seeds,
1level teaspoon cumin seeds
1 level teaspoon smoked paprika
1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar
1 level teaspoon mild chili powder
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
(I add chopped garlic as well)
Pre heat your Oven to 200 degrees C. And using a mortar and pestle powder the Fennel and Cumin seeds. Mix all the rub ingredients and apply on the chicken inside and out. Making sure you do not miss a spot.
Take any long beer can , after a few quick sips cut the top of the can and insert it in the cavity of the chicken. Your chicken will look likes its sitting up on the can. (nice way for saying violate the chickens special place.)
In this same way put it in the oven for about one hour and thirty minutes. After you remove the Chicken from the oven be careful and remove the can and trash it. Leave the chicken to rest for about 15 minutes.
I serve this amazing dish with Mash potatoes , tossed salad with italian dressing and roasted vegetables.
I hope you try this....It's fabulous!

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Diwali Look + Look for the Wedding Season - Happy Diwali EVERYONE

Bright eye makeup to compliment the festival of lights


The gold , Silver and Smokey Black eye makeup

Outfit by Megha Grover

Net Churidar (Courtesy Megha Grover)

Hankerchief Net Dupatta with gold edging and Gold fabric brotch in the middle.

Lovely Embellished Neckline

li'l bells on my net sleeves

Jewelery from Sia (Inorbit Malad)



Check out the this Makeup tutorial on my youtube channel