An Indian's Makeup Blog

Last week I woke up one night at 2 AM.

I couldn't take it anymore.

It wasn't the baby next door crying.

I couldn't bear it any longer. I ran to the bathroom.

It had nothing to do with my bladder. Lord knows, the bladder works overtime what with me guzzling down over 64 oz of water a day. Not like you wanna know about it.

But yeah it wasn't my bladder. Not this time.

This time it was my skin.

My dry parched skin.

Dry parched skin spread all around my legs and body. So dry it was paining. My skin was paining and I couldn't sleep anymore. I had to run to the bathroom, and slather moisturizer all over my body. At the end of it I almost wanted to cry. I felt *so* much better. I was beating myself up for not following with my advice on moisturizing soon after shower.

Not anymore. I have gotten back to religiously applying moisturizer after my shower. If I'm feeling lazy I just think of that night and in no time I'm squeezing the bottle of lotion out.

Apart from at home lotion-ing I carry a tube of moisturizer everywhere I go. I have one stashed in the car, one in each of the two bags I carry. I carry a tube of Curel. It is one of my absolute favorite drugstore brand.


They have tubes of Curel hand creams and the lotion itself in small travel size tubes. I use them both everywhere - legs, knees, elbows, hands and face. A few years back I had a really bad episode of dry skin on my face. I tried several products including Olay, Palmers butters, The Body Shop products - nothing helped. The only thing that worked was Curel's Lavender lotion on my face. I've been a fan ever since !

Moral Of The Story

Love,
Indian Girl

Can Face Primers Be Used On / Around Eyes ?

The answer to this question like most other life altering ones is ...

It Depends.

Depends on which face primer you're referring to. Here are the answers to four of the most popular face primers.

SKINN Orchid Gel Mattifying Treatment

Yes, the SKINN Orchid Gel mattefying can be used around the eye area. The creator of the product Dimitri James has given us a green signal on this one.

Hands down my most favorite primer. I have been using this for over a year all over my face and on my eyes right before applying concealer. It fills up the tiny fine lines / my one big crease and keeps the concealer looking fresh and smooth . Absolute beauty !

The brand also has a product designed specially for the eyes - Insta Fill For Eyes. I've tried this and it is amazing too. You need just a dot of it for the whole eye area. Love it !

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

The lovely Lori Taylor - the Lead Makeup Artist at Smashbox had this to say " Sure it’s amazing under the eye. And the color correctors help with discoloration."

So, yes the super popular Photo Finish Primer can be used around the eye area too !

Smashbox also has a eye primer called the Photo Finish Lid Primer

Tarte Clean Slate Face Primer

This is what the wonderful folks at Tarte said about the multi uses of Clean Slate.
"Yes, clean slate is safe to use on your eyes (it is a natural product). "

Another yes !

As for a eye primer from Tarte, this fall they launched lifted™ natural eye primer with Firmitol ™ which is an eye primer that actually lifts and tightens the skin 10 minutes post application.

MAC Prep + Prime Skin

Unfortunately MAC Prep + Prime is not designed to used around the eye area.

That's a no, folks.

However MAC does have the Prep + Prime Eye which was designed for the eye area !

So there we go ! Another mystery solved. If you have questions on any other face primers and would like me to find out if its safe for use around eye area - just send me a note. I'll try and get back to you on it !

In Other News...

Can somebody please get me out of this old school Usher Mania. I cant get over it. After listening to You Got It bad only about 16951 times , I'm now stuck on You remind Me. Its cute , though.

Thanks to Usher I'm working on our favorite Boys - Episode 3. This will be singers delight :p
Help me put it together. Who do you think will fit into our category of the hottest , sexiest male singers ? Hip Hop, Rock, R & B, Country, Pop - all are welcome !

If you missed out on our boys. Check them out here. HOT HOT HOT....

Boys - Episode 1
Boys - Episode 2



Love,
Indian Girl

Hiya Ladies !

Boy , was it great to wake up to so many messages from y'all ! You're the best !
This is a list of products I used for this look. A couple of new products in there, a few old faves !

More pics here

Step By Step Instructions :

1. Start by applying primer all over your eyelid and under the eyes.
I used SKINN Instafill For Eyes

2. Apply concealer all over the lid & under your eyes covering those dark circles.
I used Julie Hewett Creme Concealer - Omit
God send for days when I need concealer but very little of it

3. Apply a thin layer of cream shadow all over the lid as a base.
I used Julie Hewett Cream Shadow - Malachite.
A gorgeous light green that looks good on its own but great under any shadow !

4. Pat on a warm earthy brown all over the lid using a flat eyeshadow brush
I used Prescriptives Mineral Eyeshadow - Earth

5. Using a fluffly blending brush apply a deeper shimmery brown on the outer corner of your eye and blend it upwards and outwards onto the crease. Use back & forth motions.
I used Julie Hewett Shadow in Java.
Here is another look I did with Java - loving this shade ! Made me fall in love with brown !

6. Apply a shimmery ivory shade as a highlighter under your brows
I used Julie Hewett Shadow - Zen

7. Do your brows
This was my step #1. I used Milani Brown Pencil in Taupe & Julie Hewett Shadow in Vita

Lips

That gorgeous shade on my lips was Smashbox Lipstick in Captivating ! A serious contender for my Best Lipstick Shade Award.

Best Of The Year Awards

Lets do a best of the year awards soon. I am making my mind up on the best of each I've tried this year and will have a list up soon . I'll have a winner and a runner up.
If only I can choose.
You guys will have to tell me what were your best !

Guilty Pleasure Song ?

What is your guilty pleasure song ?
I'm almost embarrassed to say it but mine has got to be Get Low by Lil Jon. Lord I dare not sing it out loud if there is anybody else around me. The lyrics are bad bad bad.

Today I'm in a somber mood so I'm grooving to Usher - You Got It Bad...Its been heard over ten times now.

Usher ...Hmm...what a beautiful beautiful man..



Love,
Indian Girl

Yeah the title does no justice to the post. But what could I call it - Gorgeous Indian Girl Doing Red ? Given this I dare not.

Big thanks to Ranjani for sharing pictures of her wearing Chanel Rouge Allure Laque - Dragon. Look at her - beautiful !!


Other than Chanel she has on a touch of MAC amorous creme sheen on top just for a tinsy shine. And all that glow is from NARS Albatross !

If this does not move you to run go try a red lipstick/gloss - I don't know what will ! I am the ambassador of the color red and I declare this a high point in red's relation with brown girls.

Ranjani is a blogger friend of mine and an AIMB reader. She writes at
wakeup and smell the masala. She also has youtube videos of her making complicated Indian curries in less than 10 minutes !

Love,
Indian Girl

Hiya Ladies !

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday !

I was at the mall all day, checking out Christmas sales . I did a simple brown eye look and paired it with a nude lipstick. On my cheeks were the Illamasqua duo - still crushin hard on it ! I thought it turned out pretty good, so I clicked a few pics to share with y'all !

Please find the Step by Step Tutorial for this look along with a list of products used for the look here




Love,
Indian Girl

Finally I saw New Moon last night ! Yea yea yea Bella , Edward blah blah.

Lets talk Jacob.

Werewolves have never been this good lookin, have they ? Finger lickin delicious ! I got my paws all over him and have marked my territory.

I hope Part 3 is all about Jacob. Bella & Edward can be married off and living some where in the far off woods for all I care. I just recently saw a documentary on the wolves of Yellow stone and boy, are they a sight running in a pack !

But at 25 , it almost feels like a crime to be saying anything like this about a 17 year old. So, lets just pretend I'm 16, okay.

Jacob. Jacob. Jacob.

Who's side are you on ? Spill it.

Love,
Indian Girl

I talked about a bronzer / blush combo that I've been crazy about all week ! And this is it folks.

This is it.

Its the Illamasqua Bronzing Duo - Glint & Writhe paired with Illamasqua blush - Create.

Create is a beautiful honey beige. I had no idea how to describe the color ! So, I went on Sephora and they called it honey beige. Come to think of it ...Create is a warm deep beige !


This is a shade that naturally contours without meaning to. It is what I call a super shade - will look brilliant on everybody, blondes, brunettes & goddesses with raven hair. Personally I am glad to be moving away from the regular often repeated peach, apricots, pinks and rose shades. Honey Beige is my new IT shade.

Vampie Alert !

The winter has made my skin very pale. Very very pale. Almost vampire like. I scare myself at night, I kid you not. I look like all the life blood has been sucked out of me. So I need this, I need Create to bring back life onto my face. I am also taking some iron supplements but that is no fun.

With my Smashbox Blush Brush I apply Create along my cheekbone. Not on the apples of my a cheeks. Along the cheek bone.

That's not all. I'm not done yet

I then take my Clinique fluffy blush and apply the darker shade of the bronzing duo under the cheek bone. Follow with the lighter shade on the apples of my cheeks.

And then just throw a bit of both along the hair line on my forehead.


The last time I got this excited over a bronzer, was for the one from Bobbi brown. However, I find the Illamasqua duo a lot more easier to apply . It is a more versatile shade and gives me the glow as oppose to the bronzing that my Bobbi Brown Bronzer does. This is my quick fix to liven a dead face. And it has a partner in crime.

The effect - bronze goddess with killer cheeks / cheekbones. All this with hardly any effort on contouring, highlighting and special products.

Now you know why I went to bed dreaming of it and woke up excited to be able to wear it.

Makeup Math

The Illamasqua bronzing duo is 4grams of each color , total 8 grams for $28. The Bobbi brown bronzer is 9 grams of product for $33.

The Illamasqua blush is 4.5 grams for $23. MAC powder blushes are $18 for 6 grams of product. Bobbi Brown Blushes are 3.7 grams for $22.


Celebrity Inspirations


This is exactly what the combo of Create + Glint & Writhe does to me. The shade on Kim K is not ordinary peach. It is honey beige. Gorgeous ! Also this is how I am working the blush these days ! Very sexy !


Kate Moss too ! Her blush is honey beige ! See how it contours her cheeks without meaning to ? That's what I'm talking about !

In Other News...

I am planning on opening a new segment on AIMB.

Though I would die without a bronzer, the one makeup product I always have on is a lipstick. Sometimes lip gloss or lip balm but essentially I always have a lip product on. So I am thinking about doing a Daily Lip Look. Just posting what ever I have on, that day and you guys can share with me what you have on ! May be even send in pictures !

Who is up for this ? Am I setting myself up for too much ? I know it will be fun and it'll help us put an effort into digging out the sleeping shades and putting them to good use. New lip combos will be made....

Also what should we call this segment ?

Help me out here, will ya ?

Love,
Indian Girl