Current Obsession: duochrome eyeshadows

Ok I'm just going to come out n say it. I love duochromes. Whether its nail paints or my saree or the colour of my car. Oh and duochrome is not to be confused with two-toned ok. Two toned is like colour blocking...when you have two distinct colours separated by a distinct border. Duochrome, on the other hand is when one colour is "shot" through the other..meaning it reflects another colour at a different angle. Ok, class over. Now, onto the fun part..

I love duochromes in makeup. Well, duochrome has been around in nail paints for a long time... You have so many paints that reflect blue or hot pink at different angles (an inexpensive example is maybelline colorama Roxo Metallico). And blue- green combos are also quite popular. Like NYX Paradise. Another one is Chanel Peridot which is a gold-green duochrome. Very pretty. And of course plenty of Zoya polishes which just looks like magic in a bottle.

There are some duochrome lipsticks and glosses available too. I have one from maybelline called iced orchid which reflects violet and hot pink. Very attention grabbing but not OTT as well. Then there are these AMC glosses that Inglot makes that really shift colour..very pretty!

But, my latest obsession is duochrome eyeshadows. With these, eye makeup looks soo complex and interesting without putting in too much effort. All you need to do is sweep the duochrome shade all over your lid and it'll look like you spent hours layering and blending. Cool, right? Im gonna list my top picks for duochrome eyeshadows. Oh but before I gotta say somehow duochromes only comes as pigments mainly. But that's still better right? You can use it as an eyeshadow or mix it with clear nail paint to make your own. Yup. Ok so without further ado, presenting my top fave duochrome eyeshadow/pigments... *drumroll*

INGLOT pure pigment no.84 : a stunning reddish brown- olive green gold duochrome. Absolutely gorgeous. Can't stop drooling over it! Buy it. Now.

INGLOT pure pigment no. 85 : another pretty one, slightly similar to 84 but more of purple. This is an purple brown - green gold duochrome.

Bourjois shimmery loose eyeshadow in Parme Etincelant : A lilac- blue duochrome. So girly and beautiful.

NYX Dramatic Chromatic pigment in Apricot/ Princess: Both are v v similar. Pink- peach- gold duochrome. Can even be worn as a highlighter.

Inglot eyeshadow in no.415: a light aqua blue- green duochrome.

Inglot eyeshadow in no.439: A medium purple- blue duochrome.

I know there are tons of others in many brands but these are the ones that I like the most and have my heart set on. Gonna buy all of these very soon. :)

Oh and gotta mention- I found a seller on Etsy called "persephone minerals" who makes the most drool worthy mineral duochrome pigments ever! I just wanna buy her entire shop! Sooo pretty. I still haven't bought anything off Etsy so I'm not sure of shipping and logistics. Once I do, I will update on the blog.

So which ones did you like? Would you wear duochrome eyeshadows?

My birthday wish list

It's my favorite time of the year! I love the entire season from October right uptil January. Why? Multiple reasons- the winter starts setting in and I loooove winters (though in Chennai winters never really come but hey at least I'm not sweaty all the time. Sigh! I miss Delhi) and coz it's the festival season and there's something cheerful in the air that lifts your spirits and makes you wanna celebrate and hug everyone you meet. But most importantly I love these months coz I personally have a lot more to celebrate- my anniversary, the husbands birthday and MY BIRTHDAY!!
Yup! My birthdays coming up- it's on the 7th of January (gifts and cheques accepted ;)) and now it's legit to make lust lists. :)

So what all is on that list?

A nice gold watch.
Right now I wear a chunky chrome one but I've been bitten by the gold bug. It's everywhere. And it looks nice paired with dresses and jeans alike. My first choice is the absolutely drool worthy, highly coveted Bulgari Serpenti but with all the spending I've done over the last couple of months, I don't think the husband will take too well to me asking him for this. ;)
So like a good wife that I am, I've got another option- the Guess watch. Guess has a lot of options for chunky gold watches in the 10-12k range so I'll probably pick one of those. Wondering if I should get a gold face one (which doesn't have diamonds) or white or black face one(which has diamonds). I'm leaning towards the gold face but I also like bling. Uff! Such confusion.

A Tablet
Because I wanna read ebooks on the go and easily browse, check blogs and also upload my blog. I'm confused between samsung galaxy tab and iPad 2. Currently I'm hogging the husband's iPad but it's the original version and it's too heavy and doesn't fit in my bag easily. Need something that I can carry with me at all times.

Hair styler
I recently got my hair cut and shifted to a low maintenance style but it's growing and it'd be nice to curl my hair and change it up every once in a while. Again I'm wondering whether to get one which is like a blow drier with various attachments or the heat based one with attachments for curling, straightening etc.

A Grecian white dress
I've been wanting one for a long time but can't seem to find the perfect one. I spotted one that came real close to it at LightInTheBox but it's too expensive for something that claims to be a Chinese wholesale site. Hmpf! But the site does offer to customize the dress to your size and colour preference.

The Travalo perfume spray
I love perfumes and I sincerely believe smell is half seduction and always carry a 30mL bottle of perfume in my bag at all times. But I can't do so when I go for dinners or parties and only carry a small clutch with me. That's where this lil baby comes in handy. It's teeny and can be refilled easily with any perfume and looks cute too. But sadly it's not available in India and only have to order it from a US seller on eBay.

Leopard print heels
Been looking forever for the right one. Should have 3" heel, rounded toe and ankle straps. Still looking

Sequin clutch
Want one in gold and another in black. Zara and Mango both have great options but since both are unavailable in my city and don't have online stores, maybe I'll make one myself.

Plain chiffon saree
I picked up this dull gold fully sequined blouse from the Phoenix mall, Bombay recently and want a plain chiffon saree with a thin gold border to wear with it. I'm thinking perhaps a nice red one. Don't have a red saree yet.

Yup. Thats all. Just a simple girl with simple needs. :) Now to allocate one item each to all my bakras volunteers friends n family members to buy me these gifts... :)

Window Shopping : TrendzyStreet

Looking for cheap options for casual dresses? Want an Indian site that offers Cash on Delivery and has it own warehouse so you get faster shipping? Ok before I sound like a bad advertisement from the 90s let me share my latest eStore discovery..
Introducing - Trendzystreet.com
"TrendzyStreet.com is an Indian online fashion and beauty retailer and offers product lines across womenswear, footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty.
Aimed at fashion forward 16-34 year olds. We have multi brand & multi category lifestyle franchisee online. www.trendzystreet.com is our online cash and carry portal."
I got an email from this site and thats how i discovered it. This has some really cute cotton, casual dresses ranging from Rs.300-1500. This is a Mumbai based fashion retail site that has its own warehouse facility so you can probably expect your stuff to reach you within a week. I'm not sure about this coz I've not ordered from them and will update once I do.
They have dresses, tops, skirts, jeans, leggings and some cute kurtis and accessories too. They dont have a large inventory but seem to be adding new stuff almost every week. Below are my picks from the site. Click the text below each pic for the corresponding link to the site.

Dresses:

Multicoloured polka dot dress- Rs.480

Navy Blue Lace Dress- Rs.950

Floral Print Dress- Rs.1149

Tops:

Pink and white polka dot shirt- Rs.390

Kurtis:

Orange Strappy Kurti- Rs.350

Scarves:

Green Leopard Print Stole- Rs.399

Clutch purses and bags:

Feroza Clutch with paisely- Rs.300

Shoes:

Taupe Peep toes- Rs.1349

So, overall I feel this is a great site for college and high school students on a budget who still wanna look trendy. Stuff here is cute and comfortable and very casual. And inexpensive too!
I think I'll pick up the clutch and the kurti. :)
Will post a review once I do.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with the site nor am I being compensated for this post. Heck...they dont even know I'm doing this post. This is purely coz I found the site nice and wanna share it with others. :)

Window Shopping : Indian Hanger

I logged on to FB after really long yesterday and an ad on the right side of the page caught my eye. Ad for a new Indian Retail site. Of course I had to check it out. And am I glad I did!
Introducing- IndianHanger.com
This site has a very nice collection of clothes (both ethnic sarees, suits and western dresses) by Global Desi, Vinegar (my fave) and designers like Nishka Lulla, Parul Goel and Vasundhara Mantri etc. They also have realllyy pretty jewellery which is also quite affordable. They also stock footwear and bags.
Here are some of my picks from the site, click on the text below the pictures for corresponding links to the site.
Dresses:

Vinegar chiffon dress - Rs.2800 

Vinegar Sunny Orange dress- Rs.4000

Karishma Kimatrai Sequin butterfly kaftan- Rs.9000

Clutch Purses:

Meera Mahadevia Blue Clutch- Rs.12000

Meera Mahadevia Emerald and Ruby Bag- Rs.16400

Sarika Desai Beige floral clutch- Rs.3200

Sandals:

KAN copper kolhapuris - Rs.2760

KAN embellished heels- Rs.3200

Necklace:

Rohita Golden Entangled Necklace- Rs.7300

Karmic Kabira Rainbow Choker- Rs.6272

Vinegar Pearl Flower chain- Rs.1500

Earrings:

Rohita Peacock earrings- Rs.8800

Rohita golden carved pearl earrings- Rs.5900

Vasundhara Mantri South sea earrings- Rs.6065

Ring:

Agastya Black kundan ring: Rs.1800

Soo pretty no? I'm definitely picking up the Vinegar blue dress (they also have it in Orange)- remember I was talking about something like this recently? Yay! I wish I could buy some jewellery too but I'm too broke right now. Maybe I could get someone to gift me some for my upcoming birthday (Hi Mom)? ;) This site offers Cash on Delivery within India and free shipping. They also ship worldwide. I'll post my review and shopping experience once I buy from them.


I'm thinking I'll make these "Online Window Shopping" posts a regular feature. I keep discovering these great sites and find such pretty stuff. Only makes sense to document it here so I can keep track (buy them later) and also share it with others. What do you think?


Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with the site nor am I being compensated for this post. Heck...they dont even know I'm doing this post. This is purely coz I found the site nice and wanna share it with others. :)

Current Obsession: Jewel Toned Shift Dresses

I love wearing dresses. Casual dresses, dressy dresses, little black dresses, colour blocked dresses..love em all. But the problem is you dont get such a wide variety of dresses here in Chennai and the ones that are available are either super expensive or not available in my fit or the way I like it or are just plain fugly. So what do I do?
Umm no shopping online for clothes isnt that convenient coz fabrics turn out to be different from the photo or the sizing isnt quite what you expected. So, no. Well, I love designing my own dresses and shopping for fabrics and getting it stitched.
Right now I'm loving these chiffon or crepe shift dresses in jewel colours. You can pair them with gold jewellery and killer gold heels and it'll look amazeballs. The best part- these are pretty easy to make so any tailor who makes kurtis would easily be able to stitch these.

These can have multiple variations- sleeveless shift, sheer long sleeves, one cape sleeve, one sleeve swing dress. Below are some options for *inspiration*

Split sleeve dresses from ASOS

One shoulder cape sleeve dresses from Lipsy

River Island long sleeve dress

Vero Moda One sleeve version

I plan to make this in Emerald green in a one sleeve swing dress pattern- will get synthetic crepe fabric for this, which has a nice sheen and drape. Will get this fully lined with cotton fabric so it doesnt go limp. Will make another one in orange synthetic crepe with matching sheer synthetic chiffon long sleeves. The body will again be lined with matching cotton fabric so it doesnt cling to the body.

My main inspirations-missmalini's Vero Moda dress and Maheep Kapoor's Jay Godfrey dress

In Chennai you can pick up these fabrics at Mangharams on Mount Road or at Nalli in T Nagar. Both synthetic crepe and chiffon cost around Rs70-100 a metre. You'd need about 1.5-2m of fabric for this dress. My tailor charges around Rs.200-400 for stitching a fully lined dress so my dress would be ready for a total of around Rs.500. Pretty neat huh? :)

Currently Coveting: MAC Golden Gaze

Guys, I'm in lust with this Mineralize eyeshadow from the MAC semi-precious collection. It was love at first sight really. Today I got a text from the MAC store, Chennai saying the semi-precious collection is going to be launched this week and I looked up the swatches from this collection on Temptalia and a couple of other sites and they have such pretty mineralized eye shadows. But the one that truly stands out, which is the perfect shade of smokey-olivey-gold (is that a real colour?) is Golden Gaze. I was hooked the minute i laid eyes on it. Beeyoootiful. I want. I need. I crave. You can just wear this all over the lid and it'll give a nice smokey effect with depth. I know it looks plain in the pan but the swatches guys, the swatches. *swoon* The pics are from Temptalia.

Swatches-Dry and wet

This seems to have a smooth texture and awesome pigmentation. Looks great both when dry and wet. Last year I'd gotten the She Who Dares Mineralize EyeShadow Duo from the Venomous Villains collections and I loved it. This year's MAC buy shall be the GOLDEN GAZE. And I did what any cool-headed intelligent person would do- called up MAC and booked it.

Tring Tring
MAC MUA: Hi, this is MAC
Me: Hiineedtoknowifsemipreciouscollectionhasbeenlaunched *Pant* *pant* IwanttoorderforGoldenGaze
MAC MUA: Huh?
Me: Pant pant.. has it has it?
MAC MUA: I'm sorry you'll have to repeat that, I dont understand what you're saying
Me: Golden Gaze
MAC MUA: Are you talking about the semi-precious collection?
Me: *nods head frantically*
MAC MUA: Hello..
Me: yes yes the semi-precious collection
MAC MUA: Its being launched this Sunday, the box has just arrived and I need to open it and arrange it
Me: Ok can I pre-order the Golden Gaze MES?
MAC MUA: Sure, I'll hold a piece for you, just leave your name and ph no
Me: So you'll hold it right. You wont give it off if someone quotes a higher price right? I really really want this. You understand?
MAC MUA: Errrr.. yeah.. sure
Me: OK thanks so much, you're a sweetheart. bye
MAC MUA: errr.. yeah.. pleasure

See? Smooth! So very soon this shall me mine. All mine. Muhahahhahahahhaa.

To BB or not to BB

I'm quite a geek at heart and I love my gadgets as much as my lip glosses. And no, I don't mean vibrators! Right now the gadgets that occupy pride of place in my life are my Creative Portable media player, my iPad, my 8" touchscreen swivel screen laptop, my blackberry and err my epilator.

I've been quite a blackberry loyalist up until now but with so many tempting Androids flooding the market I'm seriously thinking of moving. So what would my ideal phone have?
Android gingerbread OS
Atleast a 1 gHz processor
8mp camera, HD video recording
Min 3.5" touchscreen
Slide out qwerty keypad
Min 1800mAh battery
Oh and it helps if the phone comes in pretty colours like White or pink.

Samsung Captivate Glide

Samsung Galaxy Note

Buuuut such a phone hasn't been made yet. Pity. Oh this awesome Samsung Captivate Glide seems perfect but hasnt been launched yet and I hope I don't have to sell my kidney to buy it when it hits the markets. Droid3 and the Xperia pro come close but the battery worries me. Samsung galaxy sII ticks all the boxes but lacks a physical qwerty. Le sigh. Samsung galaxy Note looks interesting, it's like a love child of the phone and a tablet but again lacks a physical keypad and seems too big to fit into my pockets or purses. And no other brand seems to even come close. Samsung is at the top of the game when it comes to Android phones.

Why do I need a physical keypad? Umm.. Coz I blog, tweet, text, email, makes notes and lists on my phone. So basically I type a lot and cannot make do with an onscreen keypad alone.

So my only other option is to continue with Blackberry. The only factor that makes me even consider BB despite the lousy battery is BBM. And I'm wondering whether to pick up a cheapie BB like the curve (in white of course) and use it till THE Samsung phone becomes a reality or if I should just stick to BB for a while longer and go for a fancier phone like the Torch or the Bold touch and type (is white available? What? Black looks so serious and un-fun)

BB Torch

BB Curve

BB Bold Touch

My current BB is the pearl flip, an ancient model which is a moody bitch and I need to wrestle with it to get it to switch on even. So I need to seriously ditch it and get a new one ASAP. Whattodo...whattodo... Gah!

Latest Obsession: NYX , NYX lust list

This sitting at home business is getting a little boring. I keep buying all these yummy goods online but I don't have the opportunity to show them off and be admired by girls and chatted up by guys. Sigh! What I miss most about working is having to put on make up in the morning. Oh and also the free internet and A/C of course. Tee hee. I think I might go back to work once the baby hits 6th month. Don't think I'll be at home for a full year, like I initially intended.

Anyhoo, so what am I doing at home besides stuffing my face and looking at random blogs between baby-jobs? Right now I'm totally crushing on NYX cosmetics. They are perfect- great shade selection, very inexpensive and are of decent quality too. Whats not to love? If I did anymore research and looked at swatches and videos of these, I'd be arrested for stalking. I've put together some links of the sites with the best swatches and the videos with live swatches here.

This very cute site has all the swatches of the 144 shades of the round lipsticks and also some shades of lipglosses and lip liners and lip creams.

This awesome site has all swatches of NYX nail polishes.

Some live-swatch videos for reference:

NYX's best products IMHO are the round lipsticks, the round lip glosses, the slim lip pencils, matte finish lip creams and the nail paints. Erm.. I think I've covered most of the items anyway. Let's looks at the round lipsticks first- these are available in 144+24 new shades, if I'm not wrong and come in 3 major finishes: cream, frost and shimmer. I personally like only cream shades coz frost and glitter make me look beyond fugly. My favorite shades (from what I can tell from the swatches) are:
MLBB type shades: B52, Milan, Perfect, Cocoa, Heather
Nude shades: Frappuccino, Mars, Hermes, Taupe
Blue based reds: Snow white, Black cherry
Deep berry: Expresso, Decadent, Hestia, Very berry
Dark brown: Brown sweet, Walnut
Bright pink: Louisiana, Hot pink, Shiva
I also liked this shade called Mauve which is a deep mauve (surprise?) with brown and pink undertones but quite dark.

I can't seem to find a nice muted pink that'd suit me! Most seem frosty or too light or too dark. But that's ok coz I have many neutral pinks from other brands anyway and my lips are pigmented so mauve colours suit me better.

So I'm ordering my first NYX package from BeautyJoint.com, which seems to have the lowest rates for the products as well as shipping.

BeautyJoint- My cart

Some Indian sites that stock NYX are UrbanTouch.com and Cosmetix.in but they have very limited stuff and not the whole range and the stuff is priced at almost double of the international ones.
Other international sites are Cherryculture.com and Porkdaisy.com

Will upload pics of haul with swatches and reviews once I can get my paws on em.
Yay! Can't wait! But I'm gonna pretend to be cool coz the universe delays stuff if you appear over eager, didn't you know? :)