Day 2 in Bangkok + Haul pics

So day 2 has been almost entirely clothes. Went to Platinum mall which is at walking distance from my hotel. Perhaps 1 km. so the husband offered to watch the cub in the room while I went shopping. And shopping I went! Platinum mall is soooo cool! I only covered the ground and first floors today which are filled with women's clothing and all at such reasonable rates! I ran out of money and had to run to the nearest Western Union to exchange some more and then jumped in again!

Ok so I'm gonna post pics of the stuff I bought here. Got some dresses and tops. Best part? I didn't have to lug the bags around on my arm. Bought this super cute shopping bag trolley that they were selling on the second floor and kept dumping all my shopping into it. Also dragged it back on the road when I walked back to the hotel. And I'm also planning to just put stuff in it and check in this bag on the flight back home. Yay! Don't you just love such ingenious multi purpose things? And so cheap too! The bag cost me 500Baht. And the tops are all on an average about 200Baht each (320INR) and the dresses were about 300Baht (500INR)

That's it for day2. Day 3 will be shoes and bags hopefully. :)

Ok my bad. I meant to post these in Bangkok itself, in real time but the stupid hotel I stayed at didn't have wi-fi in the rooms and only at common areas and I just got too caught up with shopping n the baby n everything to get around to posting it. Sowwwieee.

Click here for day1 in Bangkok.

Day 1 in Bangkok + Haul

Okieee everyone I'm here in Bangkok now and the flight here was uncomfortable at best. The baby, though wasn't howling wasn't sleeping either and was generally not vey comfortable. So we got in at about 4am local time and checked into our hotel which is really close to Platinum mall and Pratunam market. Coincidence? Hah. Yeah, right!

Okie then the first day was spent entirely at MBK mall. Had yummy Tom yum soup and pad Thai noodles. I cannot express enough my love for these. Yummmmmy. So after that was wandering around the mall while the husband walked the cub around in his stroller who also slept for about a couple of hours.

So I excitedly ran from one shop to the next. I was running against time. Had to buy so much. In such little time. (can you hear the mission impossible theme music too in your head?) Anyhoo, I mainly bought a lot of skin care stuff and some makeup. Loovved Beauty Buffet. There's about 3 outlets in MBK alone so you can't miss it. There was a sale going on too so I just went a little crazy.
Also bought stuff at Oriental princess and Watsons and some lingerie and a Majolica Majorca pore primer at Tokyu departmental store.

Sad part? I was soo busy shopping that I didn't take any pics inside the mall. Damn! So I'm just posting the pics of my haul here.

Excuse the lighting in the pics. These were taken at the hotel room where the lighting is just soo sucky!

That was today! No clothes or bags. No time! Boo hoo! But tomorrow's a new day and I'm raiding Platinum mall tomo. Yay!

Ok my bad. I meant to post these in Bangkok itself, in real time but the stupid hotel I stayed at didn't have wi-fi in the rooms and only at common areas and I just got too caught up with shopping n the baby n everything to get around to posting it. Sowwwieee.

Where to shop in Bangkok: a thesis

So I'm leaving to Bangkok tomorrow and the most exciting part about any trip is the research that goes into it prior to travelling. This is my second trip to Bangkok so I won't be doing much sight seeing. It's purely a relaxation cum shopping trip (very oxymoron-ic I know) but only massages and laying by the pool side and shopping are on my agenda.

And like any self respecting shopaholic blogger worth her salt I did FULL research about where to go and what to buy. When I say research I mean watch YouTube videos of Bangkok hauls, shopping in Bangkok and read blogs, recommendations, check online sites, prices, the whole hog. And I present here my findings, nay, my thesis on the subject. Behold:

Where to go?

You'd be a fool to visit Bangkok and not go to MBK. it's THE mother of all malls, ok? It's a mall unlike any other. If you only have a day in Bangkok, go to MBK. An hour? MBK. A week? MBK. DUH~~~ Ok ok we get it. But what does this MBK have? Why is it so special? ok kids, gather around n listen closely. MBK sells everything from clothes, shoes, bags, makeup, accessories, electronics to furniture, handicrafts and everything in between. The best part? Prices are cheaap. And you can bargain in most places. The whole mall has this small stores that either have offers such as "pick anything for 199Baht" or are open to bargaining. They even have small kiosks for fake perfumes, watches and makeup. Check out the NARS and MAC stuff. Haha! But i do recommend the makeup brushes here.

Ok so here's a list of places that you must check out in MBK in addition to the multiple shops selling shoes, bags and clothes.
Watsons: This is a local drugstore chain that stocks all the regular makeup brands like Revlon, Maybelline and L'oreal and also has Asian stuff like Majolica Majorca, Lioele, Canmake and in2it. Do check out their mascaras, compact powders and bb creams. Oh and the oh so cute packaging will win your heart over. *_*

Boots: this is again a drugstore chain that stocks Soap and Glory stuff. I wanna snag the cheek mate from this line which is a gel kinda blush tint much like my beloved Lakme just kissed tint which has sadly been discontinued. Soap and Glory also has awesome body butters, body washes and lotions all in very cool retro packaging.

Beauty Buffet: This is a Thai cosmetics brand that has some really cool stuff for very reasonable prices. Looking to pick up their dupes for benefit's benetint and high beam. Also looking at some nail polishes, nice powder blushes and body lotions.

Tokyu departmental store: This is the major anchor store at MBK and has everything! Must check out their lingerie section for some cute and affordable stuff and they even have a Naraya outlet within. What's Naraya? Only the cutest, most girly, pweetttyyy Asian bag store that is also easy on the pocket. The biggest Naraya outlet is in Level 1 of Siam Discovery Centre. Also located at ground floor of Central World Plaza. Make sure you check these out.

MBK also has electronics and CD stores to keep the men busy while you excitedly run around.

Next stop Platinum Mall.
This is also pretty much like MBK but has mainly women's clothing, bags, shoes and other accessories all at wholesale rates. Must visit. Remember to bargain. :) Also check out makeup brushes and hair extensions here. Supposedly good.

Right opposite Platinum mall is an area called Pratunam which has the Pratunam market that is a wholesale garment market. Last time I picked up really cute dresses and some sleek casual blazers here. Very cheap. Need I say more?

Alrighty so you want to cute up your gadgets and also pull the husband/boyfriend out of his coma? Head to Pantip plaza thats right next to Platinum mall. This is 6 floors of only gadgets and electronics. Thai equivalent of the famous Sim Lim square at Singapore, if you may. Look out for cute USB drives shaped like a cupcake/ car/ shoe/ hippo/ hello kitty. Also check out cute covers for your iPads and phones. Quite a place for the geek in you.

In addition to these there's a new mall on the scene called Terminal 21 that's a theme mall with each floor modelled after a city. There's a tokyo floor and a Stockholm floor etc. shopping-wise not too exciting but worth a look.

No mention of Bangkok shopping can be complete without the night markets, most famous being patpong (the naughty place) and the Suan Lum night markets. Again you can pick up cheap clothes or designer bags knock offs or some crazy souvenir here.

Chatuchak weekend market is one of the biggest markets in Asia and has everything! Like a flea market on speed. I'm skipping this on my trip this time coz I don't think the cub would be able to handle the heat and crowd of this place. I'm sticking to my malls, thank you.

Alrighty then that was that and I'm off tomorrow. Pretty excited but also kinda nervous coz I dunno how the cub will handle it. 4.5 hrs will be the longest flight ever with him. Dreading the tantrums. Would I be a bad mommy to drug him? errr... Kidding! Anyhoo, I've just packed everything today and my bag is still 70% empty. Will anyway pick up those huge shopping wheelie bags to dump my shopping in, instead of lugging it around.

But tomorrow's gonna be a killer day! Got so much of work to get out of the way too! Has anyone noticed how you always get extra work and new projects just when you're about to go on a vacation? Ugh. I'm only gone from office for 2 days but it's exactly when one project is due for handing over and another one has to start! Law of sucker punch stress before vacation. Or something like that. Bloody killjoy.

So toodles everyone. Will try n do a daily update with pics from there. (free wifi in the hotel, hah). Hope the damn rains stay away and the cub behaves well. Touchwood. Bye!

Why I've been AWOL : List of (lame) excuses

Ive been a bad girl! I know I haven't blogged for the last three months. But I have my excuses ready. Yes sir! I started working again from April (which is co-incidentally when I stopped blogging) and between working, managing the baby and having a decently active social life I just haven't had the mojo or the time to blog. Mostly lost mojo coz I somehow suddenly didn't see the point in parading all that I have been buying. So perhaps this blog will now head in a new direction. Who knows! Psst..doesn't mean I've stopped shopping. Bwahahahaha...as if!

Oh btw I do have a day job. I'm an architect and now I'm working part time. I do 12 noon to 6pm which is quite convenient. Anyhoo, just to bring the blog up to speed on what's been happening in my life... The cub is almost 11 months old now and if this were a mommy blog I'd be telling you how he's now learning to walk and how he has clear tastes and is already throwing tantrums! But since this ain't one I shall not.

I'm also taking a teeny tiny short holiday to Bangkok next week and this would be the cub's first international holiday. Why Bangkok? Coz it's cheap, the flight is only 4.5hrs long and mama wants to do some shopping. The husband and some other friends are coming along too so should be fun! Just hope the cub behaves decently. *fingers crossed* This is my second trip to Thailand so I already have a clear idea about where to go (where to shop) and have done some further research in the field and shall present my findings shortly. :)

Oh and I've started getting out a fair bit and even got featured on the page 3 here on Times of India and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. *giggle* Also, I realised I'm not bloody 20 anymore! Can't stand these loud clubs hopping with college kids. Much rather prefer lounge bars with good music at decibels that don't make your ears go *guiiiiiinnnnnnnnn* afterwards and you can have a decent conversation with your friends without having to shout into their eardrums. Or maybe this is only coz im not drinking these days. :p

So yep...that's about it. Hope to blog more often. Also hope to change the flavour around here. Not just product reviews after product reviews! How boring right!

Deborah Milano hi-tech eyeshadow trio in 10 Green Rhapsody: Swatches, review and EOTD

This looks a lot like the Bourjois Smokey eye Trios but is in fact much different. I suppose these are baked too and it says you can use these wet as well. The Deborah Hi Tech eyeshadow trios come in many shades and you can create a whole eye look with each. The one I'm reviewing here Green Rhapsody is an olive green gold combo trio. These Deborah Milano hi tech eyeshadow trios retail at Rs. 495 and are available at Deborah Counters or most retail sites. I picked this up from Medplusbeauty at a discount.

The Deborah Milano Hi Tech trios are very soft despite being baked and have very good pigmentation. These are also slightly sparkly. They go on pretty smooth and blend easily but have some amount of fallout since they are so soft so you gotta be careful during application. The shade Green Rhapsody has a light yellow gold shade which can serve as a highlighter or even as an all over lid shade for a daytime look. The next shade is a medium pista green shade which again has slight shimmer and good payoff. The third and darkest shade is an olive green which is not too intense. You can create a nice daytime smokey green eye look with these as shown below or even combine with a bit of black shadow to create further depth for added intensity. You could even use these wet but I've not tried it so far coz I'm not sure how to do it..whether to just wet a brush and dig into these or scrape a bit of shadow out and then use it. Coz sometimes using a wet brush directly on the pan spoils the shadow.

Yay for:

• Can use dry or wet
• Good pigmentation
• Smooth application
• Easy to blend
• Can create a nice subtle green smokey look with this palette
• Can be used with the applicator provided or with a makeup brush

Boo for:

• Has fallout
• Needs primer underneath to prevent creasing
• Lasts 3 hours without primer
• Has slight shimmer so it may not be workplace appropriate
• The plastic casing is slightly hard to open

Overall, these are worth the price and the shades are easy to work with. However, I'm not quite impressed with the colours in this particular palette. Might look at some other colours.

My rating: ***

Bourjois Smokey eye trio in 10 Gold Smoking: swatches, review and EOTD

I have a thing for pallets... They're so cute and compact and usually contain enough stuff for a complete makeup look. Hey, everyone likes to arrange stuff in palettes. No other way to explain all the "de-potting" videos on YouTube right?
So this one from Bourjois is really cute and comes as a trio of 3 colours to create a smokey look. Bourjois is pretty well known for its baked blushes and eyeshadows and these pallets have 3 baked mineral eyeshadows in pretty colours. The Bourjois Smokey Eye Trios are prices at Rs.645 each for 4.5g and are available at Bourjois counters or a few online sites. I picked this up form Medplusbeauty.com at a discount.

The shade I have is Gold Smoking which has a dull orange-y gold shade that's not too sparkly or metallic but just right. The darker shade in this palette is Black (or is it dark dark brown?) with subtle bronze shimmer throughout. The lightest shade is a pale pale white gold shade. The shades are all average when it comes to pigmentation with the gold having the best pigmentation and the white gold having the least. The white gold isn't smooth at all and goes on patchy but makes a nice subtle highlighter! But I don't really use it so much and love the other 2 shades in this palette.
Now this is a baked shadow palette and the shades are slightly hard. You CANNOT use a brush to apply this. You won't get any product at all! You can only use the foam tip applicator that's been provided with this. This applicator is pretty good. It's not the usual sponge tipped one..this is more like foam. This doesn't get shredded like the usual sponge tipped ones in a couple of uses. I only use this applicator with this palette. You can even blend pretty well with this applicator. Surprising, I know!
The shades themselves have no fallout whatsoever and adhere really well to the skin without even a base or a primer. It's also pretty long lasting and doesn't crease even after 6 hours. I guess it's coz the shades are so hard. I'm not quite sure if I like the hardness. While it makes it adhere to the eyelid well and stay put, it also results in poor pigmentation and you really have to dig into the shadow and pile it on to get it to show. Mixed bag, really.
But the colours are gorgeous and you can create a lovely gold-black smokey look how I've shown here. I really like how the colours are so unique and have this nice sheen to them without being overly blingy or loud and bright.

Yay for:

• Beautiful, unique shades
• Nice sheen, not too blingy or bright. Just right.
• Can be worn in the daytime or at night
• Never goes on cakey
• No fallout
• Doesn't crease. Lasts 6 hours.
• Adheres well to lids even without a base or primer
• Applicator provided is pretty good. Foam tipped instead of sponge tipped.
• Easy to apply. Blends well. Beginner friendly.

Boo for:

• Very average pigmentation
• Baked shadows, so these are slightly hard. They might further harden with time.
• Applicator might be too small for comfort for some
• Cannot use makeup brushes to apply these

Overall, the Bourjois Smokey eye trios are a mixed bag really but this particular shade Gold Smoking is quite unique and definitely nice to have. You can easily create stunning smokey looks without looking OTT or too bright with this. Would definitely recommend this one to others.

My rating: ***

The best Lotus scrub and facewash for oily skin

Lotus Herbals as a brand has never let me down. I've always been impressed with their products that live up to the claims they make. IMO this is the best "herbal" brand out there and is better than Biotique and Himalaya. However, Lotus is not free from parabens and SLCs etc so I dunno how they can claim to be "Herbal". Maybe they do have herbals extracts but still use parabens to preserve those. Sigh. Anyhow, I'm totally loving a couple of products from their line right now. Oh btw you know it's good it switch up your skin care products every once in a while coz the skin gets accustomed to it and stops responding properly to it. Yup, perhaps that's why I keep trying out new products every time. Or maybe it's coz I get tempted easily and the shiny packaging doesn't help either. :p

Ok so the first one is the Tea Tree Wash for oily skin. Costs Rs.125. This has tea tree and cinnamon extract so it tingles when you use it. I love the feeling! So fresh! And it has mild exfoliation granules..some tiny white dots floating in a clear thin gel base that really make your face squeaky clean. Though it doesn't say so, I think it does a great job keeping blackheads at bay too. I've been using this regularly for the past month and my blackheads n whiteheads around the nose have significantly reduced. Wowza! It has a medicated smell that is strangely pleasant. Didn't break me out, feels great while using and has gentle exfoliation too. Winning combo. Also it doesn't make the skin feel stretched or dry after use. Pick it up if you have oily skin.

My rating: ****

The next one is the Berry Scrub which has strawberry and aloe Vera extracts and this is my special occasions scrub. Retails at Rs.125. I use this before putting on my makeup and it really does make my skin glow. I have no idea which of the ingredients does that but this stuff really suits me well. I have oily skin and this suits me well. Doesn't dry out my skin nor does it leave it greasy. This has small brown scrubby bits suspended in a clear gel base and feels slippery but does a good job at exfoliation and skin polishing. But I won't recommend using this more than twice a week. The scrub is not very gentle. It has a pleasant mild fruity fragrance, love the it's not overpowering. Like I said before, I use this before a special event and it makes my skin glow. Love it. Get it now.

My rating: ****