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.

Why I have been AWOL + what all I've been buying

Guys! I know I've been missing from the scene for a while now but it's coz so much was happening. 2 cousins got married (not to each other). One of the weddings was in Bombay so had to go there. And of course I couldn't return without shopping a bit, now could I. But couldn't make it to the famed Beauty Centre. Sigh.. Next time. And another friend got married in Kerala so had to attend that too. And was travelling with the lil dude who was surprisingly well behaved on flights.

Ok now onto the fun part.. What all did I buy? Well, I only had some one hour to shop at Linkin road and couldn't buy as much as I would have wanted to but oh we'll.. C'est la vie! What? I love rasta shopping ok? Really badly wanted to go to the Kala Ghoda festival and to Colaba Causeway but really couldn't coz I was still the lil dude's only source of food and it would have gotten uncomfortable taking him along.

Also spent some time at the Pheonix High street mall where I was meeting some friends for lunch. This time I took the dude along coz Palladium has rooms where you can nurse the baby. So I didn't have much time to really shop but these powder pink skinny jeans caught my eye and I had to had to get them. Zara was on sale but I couldn't even step into the store.. Everything was in a disarray and was a total put off. Ugh. Oh btw has anyone heard of the store called MUAH? Last time I was in Bombay I picked up some very cute dresses from them for quite cheap. I remember it being in Palladium but I just couldn't locate it this time. Does anyone know what happened to it?

Oh and I did some shopping online.. I scored these items from IndianHanger just now. Have ordered for them. Will let you guys know when it arrives. Have bought 3 things- this long pearl strings chain with a Kundan brooch on the side with an emerald and diamond setting and a quirky green beads elephant pendant chain and silver kolhapuri wedges. Can't wait to get my hands on em! :)

I was just going through my wardrobe and found there are too many dresses in either black or blue. I needed more colour. Hence, this Vero Moda dress from Asos. Pretty cheap too. :)

I've also been wanting to get a nice white dress for a really long time. Something that I can wear for brunches. And I saw this Mango dress on ShopatMajorBrands and it was on incredible sale so I decided that I had to, had to get it. But....when it arrived it turned out very differently from what I'd imagined! It wasn't white, it was cream. And it wasn't a stretch jersey fabric, it's wool knit. Sigh. But it still looks good, only my search for the perfect white dress continues...

And picked up some stuff at the lifestyle sale. These 2 dresses were on 70% off and are from CODE. Dirt cheap. The printed dress can also be worn as a tunic over leggings. How could I not buy? :D

I also splurged on some makeup from FACES, MAC and Inglot from the money I made from the blog sale (thank you everyone who supported it. Muah). Picked up MAC Cosmo lipstick (which im wearing everywhere-even when i go to buy groceries), MAC paint pot in Let's skate which is a gorgeous shimmery light pink-gold one from the Glitter and Ice collection and Carbonized eyeshadow which is the perfect brown shade.
Also got a lovely duochrome pigment, a white kohl pencil and 2 rainbow eyeshadows (black+greys and browns) from Inglot.
From FACES i got a velvet matte lipstick in Jazz Berry jam which is very close to Cosmo but pinker. Beautiful shade. Full review coming up. In love with its texture, colour n everything. Also got 2 duochrome pigments- teal and white pink.

Ok I actually put in some extra money to buy all this but what the hell. :p

So that's all folks. I'm back to home base now. Oh but the lil dude isn't so little anymore and has started teething and sitting and standing up. Uff! And he's only just 6.5 months. So he's constantly moving around and pulling things so gotta keep running behind him. Which leaves me with lesser time to blog (and shop online) but will manage whenever possible. :)

My second order from BeautyJoint is here! Eeeeeee! (+ party OOTD)

Guys! Remember my second order from BeautyJoint? It came in yesterday! Sooo thrilled! The first time I ordered from them I mainly bought round lipsticks but I wasn't too happy with them and this time I did a lot more research and bought stuff that I'm totally in love with.

I'd placed the order on 28 November and it was shipped out on 1 December and reached me yesterday, on 16 December. Considering this is the holiday season , this is super impressive. Last time I'd gotten it within 10 days.

BUT.. This time after I eagerly ripped open the package and stopped drooling and hyperventilating I found a couple of items were missing- the Kleancolor nail polish in black and NYX round lipstick in Lousiana which was on back credit on my last order and was included in this. I dunno if BeautyJoint forgot to put it in ( but their invoice includes these and says total no of items=20 but I got only 18) or if it was flicked at customs (can they even do that?). But this time I think my package was opened at customs coz it had cello tape around the top which wasn't there last time and the self glue on the envelope was messed with. Sooo..I dunno! But I'm not that upset coz these 2 items were the least important ones in my list and I can easily get black nail polish here too (just thought Kleancolor is such great quality at that price) and I already have many neon pinks in my stash so don't miss Lousiana lipstick too. And these together cost only $4 so around Rs.200. Not a big loss but scary nonetheless. What If a more expensive item had gone missing *gasp*.

The package- see the cellotape at top?

Ze Goodies

Ok so he's what all I got this time. Do let me know if you want me to review anything first.

Got 3 jumbo eye pencils in Yoghurt, Iced Mocha and Cottage Cheese.
Got 3 soft matte lip creams in Stockholm, San Paolo and Antwerp
Got 1 jumbo lip pencil in Soft Fuchsia
Got 2 slim lip pencils on Rose and Sand Pink
Got the Studio clear face primer
Got the highlight and contour powder compact
Got 2 Kleancolor nail paints in Chunky Holo Black and Holo Purple
Got 1 NYX nail polish in Dorothy
Got 1 round lipgloss in Real Nude
Got LA colors pro primer stick eyeshadow base in black
Got NYX colour lip balm in Xie Xie
Got the NYX dual sharpeners coz the jumbo pencils and slim pencils don't fit in the regular ones we get here

Of these my favorites so far are the highlight and contour powder (would suit all Indian skin tones. Absolute must have), soft matte lip creams in Stockholm (the perfect nude with a hint of peach so it doesn't wash you out) and Antwerp (a light coral pink) and also the NYX color lip balm which is a non waxy hydrating lip balm with nice pigmentation so it gives a soft colour too. Oh and the Kleancolor holographic glitter nail paints too! Soo mesmerizing! :)

I'd ordered these on Cyber Monday sale and got 15% off on my total order and their rates are much lower than Cherry Culture or Pork Daisy's plus fast shipping so I totally recommend BeautyJoint to everyone.

I'll leave you with a picture of what I wore to a party last night. Was my boss' wife's b'day and they throw killer parties. I wore a one shoulder powder pink ruffled linen dress with pink pumps that I got from DroppedPin and authentic Japanese fresh water colored pearls and an amethyst cocktail ring.

OOTD

NYX primer and Revlon aqua finishing powder

But the real stars of the show were the NYX studio clear primer and the Revlon colorstay aqua mineral translucent setting powder. My makeup stayed fresh even after I came home after a good 4 hours despite all the sweaty dancing too (my face was sweating too and I remember dabbing at it with a tissue). Detailed reviews to soon follow.

My Second Order from BeautyJoint

So I just placed my second order from BeautyJoint.com last week when the CyberMonday 15% off sale was on. I was kicking myself for missing the BlackFriday one but this one I didnt wanna let go of!
These are what I've ordered this time.

Product	Model	Price	Quantity	Total
NYX Slim Lip Pencil   - Shade: SPL840 Rose	SPL	$1.75	1	$1.75
NYX Slim Lip Pencil   - Shade: SPL856 Sand Pink	SPL	$1.75	1	$1.75
NYX Color Lip Balm   - Shade: CLB04 Xie Xie	CLB	$3.99	1	$3.99
NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil   - Shade: JLP721 Soft Fuschia	JLP	$2.99	1	$2.99
LA GIRL Pro Primer Eyeshadow Stick   - Shade: GEB197 Black	GEB	$2.50	1	$2.50
KLEANCOLOR Nail Lacquer   - Shade: NP48-234 Chunky Holo Purple	NP48	$1.75	1	$1.75
KLEANCOLOR Nail Lacquer   - Shade: NP48-236 Chunky Holo Black	NP48	$1.75	1	$1.75
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream   - Shade: SMLC08 Sao Paulo	SMLC	$4.99	1	$4.99
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream   - Shade: SMLC05 Antwerp	SMLC	$4.99	1	$4.99
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream   - Shade: SMLC02 Stockholm	SMLC	$4.99	1	$4.99
KLEANCOLOR Nail Lacquer   - Shade: NP48-05 Black	NP48	$1.75	1	$1.75
NYX Highlight & Contour Powder	HCP	$8.50	1	$8.50
NYX HD Studio Perfect Primer   - Shade: SPP01 Clear	SPP	$10.75	1	$10.75
NYX Girls Nail Polish   - Shade: NGP209 Dorothy	NGP	$1.99	1	$1.99
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil   - Shade: JEP608 Cottage Cheese	JEP	$2.99	1	$2.99
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil   - Shade: JEP611 Yogurt	JEP	$2.99	1	$2.99
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil   - Shade: JEP617 Iced Mocha	JEP	$2.99	1	$2.99
NYX Pencil Sharpener	SH	$3.25	1	$3.25
NYX Round Lip Gloss   - Shade: RLG34 Real Nude	RLG	$1.75	1	$1.75
			Sub-Total:	$68.41
			CYBER2011:	-$10.26
			First-Class Mail® International Package** (Estimated Time: Varies by destination):	$14.39
			Handling Fee:	$1.00
			Total:	$73.54

This time no NYX round lipsticks. I've fallen in love with the Soft Matte Lip creams, which btw I think are the best NYX product so ordered those in the remaining decent shades that I thought would work on my skin tone. :D And also a couple of Jumbo eye pencils, a lip pencil, some Holographic nail paints and make up staples like the Clear Primer and the Bronzer and Highlighter duo (both matte).
This time again my items were promptly shipped out within 2 days. I'd placed my order on Monday and it got shipped out on Wednesday. Hope they reach me within 2 weeks like last time.
With the dollar rate where it is the husband has strictly told me no more shopping from US sites. And solely because of this I've started following world economics and fervently hoping that the $$ falls against the Rupee. Sigh~ Till then I'll only be making LustLists I suppose.

HealthKart Haul

Recently HeathKart had a weekend offer going where they gave a discount of Rs.300 on purchases of 1000 and above! And me being me, couldn't just ignore it and carry on. Gah! So I went ahead and started looking around, and finally loaded up my cart with these:
Revlon lipgloss in shade "Aubergine". Why? Coz I love the applicator. Umm..yeah and the colour too. I already have Fire from this range and I love how the applicator is sponge tipped but flexible..mmmmm. Had to get another one that I could use more often. So picked this up
Faces mini nail paints in "Pink Flamenco" and "Purple Rain" coz I love a hot pink and a purple (I'm the PURPLE spirit afterall)
Lakme moonshine topcoat eyeliner. Coz it looked so pwetty and it's versatile too, right? Can be used over eyeshadows to wear them as liners or over matte liners to add shimmer.
Neutrogena lip moisturizer. Because this is fragrance and taste free and is a nice non waxy, non shiny lip balm that can be worn underneath matte lipsticks without altering the texture.
Basicare retractable blush brush. Just because I can't resist retractable brushes and I needed a blush brush to use my cream blushes with. Plus this is small enough to fit in my bag too.

The Haul

So yep, that's all. My total was 1184 but I only had to pay 884. Cool huh?
But what sucked was that their delivery was incredibly slow (compared to other Indian retail sites). I had ordered this stuff on 20th and it reached me only on the 29th! They probably had a ton of orders when they announced this weekend discount but they took a week to deliver even the last time I ordered from them.
What If I order something coz I wanna wear it to a wedding or a party over the weekend (which is mostly the case) and it doesn't reach me in time? Sigh! Fail!

UrbanTouch Haul

Ordered a few essentials and some err.. not so essentials. Hehe. UrbanTouch is fast becoming my favourite online store. Have bought from them about 6 times so far and have been very satisfied with my experience every single time.

The goodies

Freebies!

Ok so here's what all I ordered:

1. Kara makeup removing wipes-25 wipes: MRP Rs.95, UT price: 90 
2. Garnier Pure Blackhead Scrub: MRP, UT price Rs150
3. Lotus 3 in 1 matte effect sun screen SPF40- MRP 175, UT-155
4. Nivea Pearl roll on deo Rs165
5. Colorbar lip pot in Totally Toffee MRP, UT Rs.495
6. Colorbar lip pot in Warm me up MRP, UT Rs.495

And I got these things free:

1. VedicLine Honey and Fig moisturiser
2. Footbutter
3. Vit E Hand and Cuticle cream
4. Lotus matte suncreen gel sample

Yay! Cant wait to try these out. Reviews will be done soon. :)

Shopping at DroppedPin.net: A review + haul

I'd been on the lookout for an Indian site that sold clothes and shoes and bags that are non-designer but trendy and relatively cheaper and imagine my joy when I discovered Droppedpin.net. I was quite impressed with their inventory and it all seemed to be carefully handpicked. The prices were not that cheap but I figured the quality must match. And they had lovely bags and shoes and accessories and some clothes too. I'd been looking for a nice satchel in neutral shades and another in a bright colour (a la Cambridge satchel bag) and guess what..yup these ppl had them. Not the originals of course, but very nice copies.

So after browsing through the entire store and adding and deleting stuff from my shopping cart I finally decided to go with a beige colored satchel for Rs.2200, a pair of patent pink pumps with cute bow straps for Rs.2500 and a very pretty bumblebee ring for Rs.600. There were many many other things that I liked, stuff that you can't find in chennai and wanted to buy but first I wanted to check if they delivered and can be trusted. So I placed my order on the 4th of August and pestered the hub for his credit card and paid with that.

Patent PU pumps in blush pink with bow straps

Bumblebee Ring

Beige Satchel Bag

I received a confirmation email saying my order would be delivered in 14-21 days. And I was relaxed coz this was a chennai based company and if anything went wrong I could just go there in person and sort it out.
So I waited ...and waited.. And waited some more. 14 days up, no package. 21 days up- still no package. So I sent them an email enquiring about the stuff and they replied saying one item hadn't yet come and they were waiting for that to arrive so they could dispatch my order and that it would be done over the next couple of days. So I waited some more...

The mystery of the missing package
After another week I received an email saying my package was delivered and asking for feedback. Whaaa? I immediately sent a reply that my package was NOT delivered. I was now a little worried if i was being ripped off. But the lady who runs this site-Pooja replied saying she had sent it via DTDC and that they maintain it's been delivered. I checked with everyone at home again but no one had accepted any parcel. So I sent her an email saying I was positive it's not been delivered at my address and maybe its gone to the wrong house? And after a week of emails back and forth it was clear that the courier guys had messed up. At this point I was fairly certain I wouldn't see my money nor the stuff I'd ordered. Pooja, though trying to help was not willing to refund my money. And then a miracle happened. The DTDC guys admitted they might have delivered to the wrong address.
And it turned out they'd delivered it to a house on the wrong street itself. But how anyone can accept a package that's NOT addressed to them is beyond me! But thankfully the guys were able to get it back and drop it off at my place. I'm just glad it wasn't opened! This was after another week.

So how was the package? Was everything ok?
At first I was worried when I saw the size of the package! It was so small- about 30"x30" and about 4" deep. How could this possibly contain my shoes and a bag!? I anxiously ripped it open and out came the bag first- it was folded in half and stuffed in the least space possible. Then came the shoes- they were simply in their soft covers and the ring was inside the bag. No bubble wrapping, no box, nothing. I was a little put off but at least everything was in there. So I mailed Pooja saying the package had finally been delivered and that all items were intact. She responded saying she was glad and that it was a one-off and as a token of goodwill she'd give me 10% off on my next purchase.

The Goodies

So would you buy from them again?
No freaking way!
I know it wasn't her fault that the courier guys messed up and she was quite co-operative and sweet but to be absolutely objective what ticked me off were these:

• It's more like a middleman agency, they don't have a warehouse. They probably place orders with a drop ship wholesaler and pass it on to he customers
• The quality of the stuff is very mediocre for the price you pay. It looks like cheap Bangkok stuff. It probably is. Or Chinese. In fact, after a coupla days I discovered these Chinese sites that had the very same bag and shoes for a fraction of the cost. Oh btw these Chinese sites are great, stuff is really really cheap but they charge for shipping and also I don't know whether to trust them. But you can check out these sites- Lightinthebox.com, wholesale-dress.net
• The whole reason I prefer Indian sites are coz they deliver within a week's time and I don't have to worry about my package getting lost or getting stuck with customs. But this site defeats that purpose since it obviously comes from china or someplace!

So unless I see something I really really like and I'm certain I won't find it elsewhere and it's on sale and I'm totally fixated on it, I won't get it. It's a pity really, coz they have such gorgeous, trendy stuff. Sigh~~~ almost had it all.

Rating: ***


Edit:
Pooja from DroppedPin read this review and pointed out a couple of things that I'd like to clarify.

1. I seem to have misunderstood their delivery schedule. Its not 14-21 days. Its 20-27 days.
2. Not all stuff on their site is from China and they source from all round the world but it so happened that the items I'd ordered were from China, hence the "bangkok feel". This really tempts me to try out some more stuff from their site which I've been eyeing for sometime. Yes, I'm looking at you Mr.Cambridge satchel co bag lookalike.
3. All said and done the fact remains that despite being based in India, they source stuff from outside and hence the 27 day wait. Also, you pay a little extra as opposed to buying from Chinese sites directly since you don't have to worry about customs and whether or not your package would reach you. Fair enough. Plus you cant be travelling to Bangkok everytime you need an inexpensive pair of pumps. :)

YAY! MY NYX GOODIES FROM BEAUTYJOINT ARE HERE.. *Happy dance*

OMG!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o excited. Can you tell? My BeautyJoint package- the one that i spoke about here is here. Already! I's placed the order on 12th and it was dispatched on 13th and today's just 20th. Wowza! Just a week! I wasn't expecting it until next month. Yay! Just in time for my anniversary and Diwali too! I'm already making my next list. :)
OK here's a sneak peek.. Reviews and swatches will be done soon!

The Package

Goodies from BeautyJoint

NYX Haul

Nail polishes

Round Lipsticks

Slim Lip pencils

Lip Cream, Round lip glosses and HD eyeshadow base

Oh and I tried on a coupla lippies and they glide on like butter..mmmm.. but this also probably means i'll have to store them in the fridge, given Chennai's climate and wont be able to carry em in my bag. Whatever! I'm too happy now to worry about that. Ok I'm gonna get back to playing with my goodies..*runs away*

Shopping experience at Cosmetix.in, Mini haul

This weekend was rather eventful. We did some shopping for Diwali. I got a silk cotton churidaar suit for 2500(if I buy another umbrella cut anarkali type net churidaar I swear I'd lose it). Btw how hard is it to find nice normal fitted suits nowadays, especially in chennai where everyone seems obsessed with the stupid anarkalis. Ugh! I can't wait for this trend to get over. Mr.Manish Malhotra please take note coz you're responsible for this!
I also picked up really cute printed tees from Jealous where they have a buy three for 599 offer so I got three tees for 599. But it sorta broke my heart when I had to buy size L where I only used to buy an S before the pregnancy. I guess now M would fit me too but I'd prefer the tees to be a little loose to hide my loose pouch. Sigh!

Weekend shopping

Good thing we went to City Centre coz Express Avenue mall is terribly crowded on weekends and I get totally claustrophobic there. Oh and I also picked up Bourjois lip creams in a couple of shades. (detailed review to follow)
This weekend we also had some friends down from Bombay so we went out for dinner and I got a chance to wear proper make up and get dressed nicely. Yay! (yeah yeah I know I'm a pathetic loser :p)

Okay so on Monday my Cosmetix.in package arrived. I'd placed the order on Friday and got a confirmation mail saying it's been shipped via Blue Dart with the tracking code the same evening and received it on Monday. Full marks for prompt delivery. I'd opted for Cash on Delivery and paid the amount when accepting the package. It was very neatly packed in a sturdy white cardboard box filled with shredded paper. Each item was individually wrapped in bubblewrap too and kept inside this. I was very impressed with the packaging too.

So what did I order?

• Faces matte lip cream in 01 "Puce"
• Faces nail enamel in "Shimmer Puce" (I swear I wasn't trying to create a Puce theme! :p)
• NYX long eyeliner pencils in Lagon and Argent- shimmery blue and silver
• Faces liquid eyeliner in "Blue"

My total bill was 1122 and most of the items were on discount plus I got an additional 5% discount with the Diwali voucher that was posted on their FB page.

The package

The Haul

Review of the Cosmetix.in experience

Yay for:

• Easy to navigate site, neat layout
• Stock cosmetics, skin care and personal care products
• Decent selection of brands- but mostly drugstore brands- from l'oreal and maybelline to Faces and NYX and Himalaya and Shahnaz Hussain. I'm only interested in Faces and NYX coz it's not available in my city
• Good discounts from anywhere between 5% to 25%
• New stuff regularly added
• Prompt service and good customer care available
• Quick delivery
• Cash on delivery available, at no extra cost
• Free shipping over Rs.100
• Neat packing of products

Boo for:

• Shade selection in each product type is very limited, full range not available
• Swatches of some products especially are very bad, hard to judge based on these

But my overall experience was quite pleasant and I'd be shopping from them again. Just wish they'd also include brands like colorbar which again isn't available easily n my city and also expand their NYX inventory.

Rating: ****