When it rains in Rome, what do the Roman's do?

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The Much Delayed Holiday Haul.

This is a Saucony Shoe box.

This is a Saucony Shoe box. It contained my new running shoes once upon a time... But since, it has been set to a better use. It has been use to harbor a lot more precious cargo than JUST shoes...

Viola!

BEHOLD!!! My treasure chest of all things makeup that I procured during my great North American adventure. Shall we dive in, yes

ELF Makeup Wipes, Blush and Bronzing Duo, Translucent Fave Powder, Candid Coral Blush, Mechanical Eyelash curler, Lipsticks in Seductive, Classy, Voodoo and Gypsy, All Over Face Stick in Pink Lemonade and the Conceal and Highlighting duo.

The E.L.F. extravaganza!!! Now for those who are still unfamiliar with ELF, it is a North American brand that sells its entire collection online, however, some of their products are retailed at Target. I happened to hit up a Target in Buffalo and managed to snag these goodies. I've enjoyed using them, but I will say this - they really are a true representation of their prices. The lipsticks are not built for Pakistani weather and the bullets have broken down on me already. The Blush was a bad choice of color for my skin tone, but that said, it does give a pretty flush. I've LOVED the face color... It almost reminds me of the NARS Multiple in the shade Portofino. The lash curler has been a true joy to use. Its mouth is big so it grips all the lashes and doesn't pull, its got a comfortable grip, and you can't beat the $1 price tag.

Sephora Collection Mono Eyeshadow in Choco Excess 19, Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Dusk, Too Faced Mini Peach Leopard Brightening & Perfecting Bronzer, Sephora by OPI nail colour in I'm Wired, Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment, Guerlain L'Or Radiance Concentrate with Pure Gold Make-Up Base, Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes! Mascara in Black, Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Make-Up Setting Spray, Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Pop. 

So after I took the picture, I realized I forgot to include the Guerlain product (muh baad!! - but I did photograph it later!! See below.)

Okay, so this set had some hits and misses. The Sephora eyeshadow has a really pretty color!! Too bad its choc full of glitter that has its sights on your under eye, your cheek bones, your lashes and even your browbone! But it will never stay on the lid. The smashbox soft lights is divine!!! I'm already a proud owner of the Soft Lights Baked Fusion Mini and now this one has been welcomed to the family with the same amount of love. The Too Faced blush has been a bit of a disappointment... It's been a real challenge to coax the product out of the pan and onto a brush to that I can wear it.. I've had to wrestle with it some and discovered that I need a kabuki brush to make it work. Once that got sorted, its been fun. But the product is hard and difficult to work with. You better put aside a couple of extra minutes if you really MUST have this product on your face. I haven't gotten the chance to try the nail polish, but it looks like exactly my kinda color! The Fresh Lip treatment is a pink tinted balm that feels great after a lip exfoliation! A little on the greasy side, but its never run on me, so I like it! Although I do fear it breaking in the tube.. fingers crossed!! If there's one thing I absolutely LOVE in this kit, it's the Tarte mascara. It's a waterproof formula that has flaked on me AFTER several (14) ungodly hours of wear. Curl your lashes and apply two coats and that curl is locked in until you go after it with waterproof makeup remover. It ain't goin' no where otherwise. The Urban Decay setting spray has been compared to MACs Fix +, but in my opinion, it can't even hold a candle to it. It has a scent to it, and does more of a splatter than a mist - which resulted in uneven setting. Not cool :( I haven't been able to love the Smashbox lipgloss as much as I want to, as its light and milky on its own. But the disadvantages end there. I've paired it with several lipsticks and it does really well! Plus its full sized! Not like the usual smashbox travel sized puny glosses.

Posie tint, Benetint and Highbeam

This trip, I found myself drooling at the Benefit counter. With its adorable packaging, catchy titles and GREAT products, its been a joy to spend money on them. Theses were a real snag! The "feelin' cheeky" minis are a great way to try out benefit's range of lip and cheek products. The only ones I'm missing now are Moon Beam and Cha Cha... I will have them... Someday soon!

Sephora Waterproof eye makeup remover, Bare Minerals Mineral Veil, Benefit's They're Real Mascara, NARS lipstick in Dolce Vita, MUFE HD powder.

These were some other Sephora goodies. Of these, I've only used the makeup remover and the Guerlain product. I can't really understand it - I mean, its supposed to be a primer with pure gold flakes, but it hasn't done things that my other primers can't do... altho I will say that it feels lighter on the skin. The makeup remover - I wish I got the full size! This is what a makeup remover should look like... the water and oil combination, when shaken to an emulsion, are no match for any form of eye makeup. I got a backup of the mineral veil as its an essential part of my makeup collection. The Mascara was a gift form my bestie, Jenn. It hadn't launched as yet, but they were giving away the sample size for 100 beauty points so Jenn got us each a mascara. I love her! The NARS lippie has been a summer staple for me. A muted pink, in my opinion, its the perfect color - I mean, if lips could naturally look like this, you'd never need lipstick ever! The only painful part was the price tag. I've heard so many good things about the HD powder, so when I saw a travel size for $10, I had to have it! No questions.

Pro-longwear foundation in NC35, Woodwinked Eyeshadow, Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium plus, Crosswires lipstick.

My MAC grabs! I'm kinda disappointed I didn't pay more attention to the MAC stuff, but these were 4 things I needed and so I got. The Pro-Longwear foundation is by far, the best foundation I've used, ever. It has a sheer to medium coverage that buildable. It goes one smooth and doesn't feel heavy, and doesn't MOVE! Plus, its forgiving and works well with makeup brushes for a streak-free application. Woodwinked eyeshadow has been raved and ranted about so much, I picked it up without much of a thought - and a good thing I did. It's the perfect gold for any skin tone. How can I say that? Cuz I tried it on 4 different kinds! And it was gorgeous! The MSF natural was a spur-of-the-moment purchase which turned out to be a brilliant buy! Use this over the pro long wear foundation and spritz down with fix + and it looks like your own skin, only perfect! Or wear as is for a lighter finish.

Its almost like a golden taupe, but its GORGEOUS!

Crosswires is a pinky coral in a cremesheen finish. Its my new favorite coral lippie!

Sleek Rose Gold blush, Revlon Mineral blush in Petal, Maybelline Eye Definer pencil in Bronze Gleam, Boujois Metallise in Aqua, Crackle Nail polish, Revlon Age Defying tinted moisturizer, Sleek face contour palette.

These were some drug store products - from Canada and the UK that are just so much fun to use! I'm not too thrilled with the sleek blush as it looks more gold than rose but the revlon one is lovely! It's the perfect 'wind-burn' blush to complement fair to medium skin tones. The crackle polish, I'm still trying to understand.. I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet and it flakes off super fast. The two eye pencils are re-purchases, so you can only guess how much fun they are! One its brown with gold glitter and the other is a turquoise blue - SOOO much fun when applied to the waterline! The contour palette has been a great bargain product. I LOVE the highlighter end of it! But be very careful using this product, especially if you're going to be photographed.

Duo Fiber brush from Sephora, Baby Kabuki from the Balm, Lipgloss from Fruits and Passion, CoverGril Liquiline blast eye pencil.

These are some more randoms that I found towards the bottom of my box.. Sephora's duo fiber cheek highlighting brush that I prefer to use for foundation really.. gives it a fabulous airbrushed look! The baby kabuki is from the Balm cosmetics and is the brush that broke thru the peach leopard blush. The gloss is from Fruits and Passion and is super sticky - use with caution! And the brown eye pencil is another summer favorite from covergirl. the Liquiline blast pencil.

These were some nail polishes I got because I adored the colors and the SIZED!!!! And here's the interesting part - they're all MATTE finished!! It drove my manicurist mad as she is a great fan of the glosses polishes and almost chased my outta the salon with a topcoat claiming that the nails didn't look nice as a matte finish!!! I was rather amused.


Now that concludes my great shopping spree and the trouble I've run into is the space issue. My makeup vanity has gone beyond capacity and that has given my mom an odd feeling of accomplishment, evident by the smug expression she wears each time I mention I'm running out of space.

She thinks the lack of space will curb my incessant spending and product hording.

So she thinks...

Hee hee hee :D

Holiday-ing!

Hey ya'll!!!

So I'm on holiday in the true north and when I woke up this morning, I stepped onto the patio with my mug of chai (you can take the girl outta the desi, but can't take the desi outta the girl!) and looked out... And you know what I saw?
----->

That. This beautiful morning with the perfectly blue sky, the smattering of clouds and the ripeness of a summer morning.

I also saw these... These tiny little red spider that had come out to sun themselves just the way I did.


Go ahead, get a closer look!

So that's when I thought to myself, I've got this gorgeous lighting that will show the true nature of anything photographed, so I'm going to share with you all, my holiday haul!

Mind you, I'm still hauling, so this is a several part series. Lets start with the goodies I snagged for myself in Yorkdale's Sephora.

And the goodies that spilled outta the bag...

This is Benefit Cosmetics Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in R.S.V.P.

It is a sparkling champagne pink color that just brightens up the eyes.





It's PRETTTTYYYYYY!!!

I've used it a few times already... Well, maybe more than a few and I've noticed that after a about 7 hours, it does tend to crease a bit, but that is it if worn alone. If you set it with a similar colored eyeshadow, then it just goes on and on and on...

$24.00

Meet Bite's Lip Rouge in Blush.

When I tried this, I thought the color was just too cute! It's a creamy pink color that you just need to pick up onto your finger and just tap onto your lips for a kiss of color.

$25.00

DEAL ALERT!

At Rexall's pharmacy, they were having a BOGO on the new Cover Girl lipsticks. These are their Lip Perfection lipsticks in Spellbound and Tempt.

Spellbound is the pretty baby pink color and Tempt, though it looks red, its a berry color. The best part, these things LAST!!! I got them last night and despite having washed my hands several times, the swatches are still there!!

$11.99

This is Bare Essentuals Bright Stars. It's a set with an eyeshadow, an eyeliner and a lipgloss.

- bareMinerals Petite Starlight Eyecolor: A shimmering, glimmerings wash of light champagne rose color.
- bareMinerals Mini Big & Bright Eyeliner in Intense Black: Velvety black formula glides on to make eyes look whiter and brighter.
- Baby Dolly Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish: Plumps and glosses lips with luscious dusty mauve shine.
                                                                                    $ 12.00

This is benefit To Go's Some King-a Gorgeous in Medium. It is a cream to powder foundation faker!
The cream-to-powder formula means silky, even perfection for your complexion! So translucent... it's THE finish for medium complexion tones. It's an instant "beauty boost" any time of day.

Gotta luvvit!!!

$ 12.00

And for good measure... Pink grapefruit body scrub from the Body Shop. It was on sale for $10!!! How could I resist.

I smells like something I want to eat.

Yum!

Bath and Body Works.. I love this place. It smells like a dream!

I got two hand sanitizers and a hand wash.

Can't remember the price.


This is my haul for now. And I'm off to spend my day strawberry picking!

See ya'll later!!!

Match Perfection Concealer

Blogger is a sick puppy these days. The doctors said it's Sinusitis - but I don't trust them... Notta bit! No, it's definitely something much much more sinister that has been unleashed upon my bein,g designed to reduce me to a congested, stuffy nosed, hacking, sneezing monster. Steam, Vicks and a box of tissues have been my companions during this hard time...

This is exactly how I felt, red nose and all!

Just call me Rudolph.

Couldn't breathe, couldn't taste, couldn't hear!

The constant use of tissues had scratched the skin around my nose and had left me with broken capillaries. But please, lets add insult to injury - mom said there's a family wedding and I have to attend. No excuses.

Crap.

When I was able to find the energy, I went and stood in front of the mirror and took a good look at myself - sallow and sicky looking skin, puffy eyes, swollen red nose and a general air of pathetic-ness... And I'm supposed to suddenly look presentable?!

Oye ve!

Okay then, if I wanna go from that up there to a relatively close version of ---> ...Well, I can dream, can't I?
So sue me, I'm ill!

Anyway, I had to do what I had to do and look presentable. And what better chance would I get to test run this guy?

Meet Match Perfection Concealer by Rimmel London








I kinda felt bad for putting this guy through its paces in such rough conditions, but hey - I had very little choice here! So I took a deep breath (that was followed by a series of coughs and sputters) and got started on my skin.


The usual moisturizer, primer and liquid foundation. And then I broke out this guy. After a little bit of coaxing, I got the product onto the brush tip and applied it around my nose, under my eyes and onto any spots I had to conceal. The formulation is thick so that worried me at first, but it blended like a dream - no caking here! Now to be honest, I'm not too crazy about the brush tip... The only purpose of it is to apply the product - I still needed to use my finger to blend it out. Another issue I had with this was that it settled into creases a little too fast for my liking... So apply setting powder asap after application. Other than that, it seemed pretty good for its initial use. The thick texture worked in my favor to cover up all the redness the illness had brought onto my face and I set it all with the Match Perfection Compact Powder and a biggest fluffy brush I owned. Then I finished the rest of my face and headed off to the wedding.

I will say this, this product didn't do as well as a highlighter for me - maybe I'll have to get one in a lighter shade but not this guy.

Also, word to the wise - avoid shiny products near the center of your face when you're ill. If your skin is anything like mine (combination) when you're sick, it gets glossy and any product with shimmer in it makes it look like an oil slick.

Back to the evening....

4.5 excruciating hours later, I came home and was dying to crash, clothes and makeup in tow, but that wasn't happening. So I glanced in the mirror and was very impressed to see that it had done its job of concealing well AND it didn't crease or cake on me! Plus, my skin didn't feel heavy or clogged (or maybe my sinuses were just doing such a phenomenal job that I just couldn't tell :p) so that was a job well done! Once I removed my makeup, I saw how crummy I looked, I instantly fell more ill and just wanted to collapse onto the floor right there and sleep - maybe there really is something behind the whole "looking good is half the battle won".

But for now, I must recover. Somehow. Someday. Someone help me!

Have you tried Match Perfection Concealer? No? You must! My shade is Natural Beige. Get yours!

This product was sent to me for review purposes. All opinions stated are purely and honestly my own.

Match Perfection

Just yesterday, I got my hand on this beauty


Rimmel London's Match Perfection Ultra Creamy Compact Powder - yes, that's a lot to say and while I'd love to label it "genius-in-a-compact-case", I'll stick to Compact Powder.

It's Sunday today and I had some errands to run so I thought to myself, well, what better time than now to punish the poor sucker and put this compact powder through the ringer. "The ringer" being a warm Karachi day spent mostly outside with the temperatures in the mid 20's - sunny and a little humid.

So I started out with a clean, moisturized face - I applied a makeup primer and used the sponge applicator provided to pack the product onto my face - my color is Soft Beige. Starting from the center of my face, I worked my way out, just pressing the product on. Once that was done, I took a kabuki brush and buffed all the product I applied into my skin - insider trick: this is the best way to achieve even coverage! I then misted a setting spray over my face and let that dry.


At this point, I took a step back and analyzed the coverage. The color seemed off at first, but the product claims to have SMART-TONE technology, so I chose to give it a chance. I puttered around for 30 minutes and then saw that the powder had indeed adjusted its self! The coverage looked natural and even and just really skin like! It didn't feel heavy or cake-y. At this point, I'm going to mention that I'm a girl who likes sheer to medium coverage. Full coverage looks unnatural to me, unless it's a for photography. So I topped it off with a blush and mascara and set off for my day.

Rimmel London says:

"Up to 14 hours of wear! Find your match with Rimmel London's Match Perfection Ultra Creamy Compact Powder. A Super-blendable and Lightweight formula with SMART-TONE TM technology that cleverly adapts to your skin's natural colour and texture, while blue-sapphire pigments enhance your natural colour and tone. Lasts as long as you do!"

Here's what I found:

My "ringer" included a 30 minute drive to the grocery story, 1 hour spent shopping, a 10 minute drive to an outdoor fruit vendor, 5-6 minutes in the midday sun getting my purchases, another 20 minute drive to a coffee shop, 1 hour spent lunching with friends, a 5 minute drive to another market and then 10 minutes later, I was home. The first thing I did after dumping my bag and keys was to run to my vanity and see my face. Now to be fair, I put the compact powder through quite the test and like any proud cosmetic, it managed to hold its own! Kudos! Of course most makeup gives up at the first sign of perspiration, but this little guy put up a good fight - it didn't dislodge itself! Then again, I didn't swipe at my face either :p

Right now, it's approaching 5pm and its beginning to show signs of weakness. My nose and forehead have developed a slight sheen, but that's also in part because I haven't done a touch up. To credit the formulation, its hit the half-way mark in very tricky weather conditions. Any cooler day and it would still be going strong - any hotter, and even a TV Stick would have called quits. So I'll touch it up and see how it holds for the rest of the day.

(Fast forward a few hours)

It's nearing the end of the day and blissfully the evening was cool. The makeup hasn't given up on me yet, but I don't think I have it in me to last that long without washing my face - also, I've been dying to scratch my nose!!!! It has done a solid 12 hours by now and I'm very happy to give this round to the makeup. I claimed that this was a genius-in-a-box and I say so because this held up, stayed put for the most part and my skin didn't feel clogged or irritated! It also matched my skin tone and made it look even and natural - and that's saying something because sunlight is very unforgiving towards foundations. How do I know it lasted and didn't budge? Well, when I took a remover soaked cotton pad, a lot of product came off my face! Trust me, I checked :p Oh, and the highest commendation I can give this little guy - my DAD didn't even NOTICE I had makeup on my face! HAH! This is from the man who thinks I'm wearing way too much makeup if I wear a red lipstick... I love you pops, but my relationship with makeup is something you will never understand.

Would I recommend this? Oh definitely! It's a must have! Apply some concealer to the trouble areas, buff this on and your skin in prepared! Bring on the war paint! (More on the subject in a future post.)

Have you tried it? Please share your thoughts about this product.

This product was sent to me for review purposes. All views and opinions stated in this article are entirely my own.

Get Cheeky!

Long gone are the days I used to drool over eye shadows. Now its these beauties that get me all eager and excited!

I'm really loving cheek products these days... Can't get enough! I've been seen walking the thin line between a pretty flush and bruised and battered. Today I decided to pull out some products that I've been loving over the winter and spring. Some are high end and some are locally available.

Lets start with the blushes:

Meet "Superduper Natural" by MAC. It's a Mineralize Skin Finish Blush that was limited edition. It's a dusty rose pink with flecks on gold. Great for a dewey finish! Use the same shade on the eye with mascara and you won't need much else.

Very similar to the MAC blush above, this is from Shoppers Drugmart in Canada by a brand called Annabelle. Its more pigmented and should be reached for with caution. That doesn't stop it from complementing a smokey eye and a neutral lip!

This here is a NYX blush in the color Peach. Now looking at this, it looks more baby pink than peach, but for those with warm/yellow undertoned skin, this shows up as a fresh peachy blush. I wore this mostly during winter as it is a matte shade, but by no means does that mean you can't wear it over the summer.. Knock yourself out!! Put together with a stained lip and some colored liner, you're good to go!

This is Coralista by Benefit. True to its name it's a corally color which smells very pretty too!! It's got some shimmer to it, which makes it sooo much fun to wear when you're feeling blah and don't want to bother with too much makeup. This plus a pink gloss and mascara, and you're set for the day!

Bring on the bronzers!

I've blogged about this puppy before. This is Maybelline Expert Wear Stay-True Bronzer in the color Forever Warm. Its a sunkissed glow with a hint of shimmer. Apply this to the back of your cheekbone and blend it with Coralista for and instant "pretty-to-go" glow!

Now this one here has recently joined the party. Enter Smashbox's Soft Lights Mini Baked Fusion. It may not be able to provide contouring worthy bronzing, but it does an amazing job setting your skin aglow! Apply to the high points on the cheek and blend it with NYX's Peach on the apple of the cheek. It's fabulous!

Meet Falcon. He is a matte bronzer which is available locally in Pakistan by Atiqa Odho Cosmetics. This is the first matte bronzer that I have truly enjoyed using. It does what you need it to do without going gray and chalky on you. Not to mention its good quality and CHEAP!!! Best worn in the hollows of the cheek with Superduper Natural just above.

Highlighters:

Two come to mind in this category.

The first in Honour by MAC. This is a super shimmery shade that must be worn with caution. A little goes a very long way.

This is Dove by Atiqa Odho and is a misunderstood jewel. It is a neutral toned blush with gold shimmer. It can be used for highlighting purposes sure, but I use it as an all over face glow! Evidently I love this product, I've already hit pan here!! With a fluffy brush, dust this all over the face, add lipgloss and go! Like Falcon, it's completely inexpensive!

Honorable mention goes to two recent acquisitions that are fabulous cheek products.

First is Stila's convertible color in Rosebud - blends like a dream and stays put!!!!!

The second is Smashbox's Artificial Light in Flash. This is an illuminizng lotion that goes onto your skin with a Mother of Pearl sheen, making you look dewey. This is what I wear when I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard with blush. I'd apply it to the highs of the cheekbone, above the eyebrow, on the bridge of the nose, the cupids bow and the chin - basically the high points of the face that catch the light..

So go on my friends, get cheeky!