The Game Changing Blush

Did you ever think you'd see an entire post about a blush? I certainly didn't, but after a sudden increase in the number of coloured cheek products I owned and this post, here we are.
The Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Blissful is described as a shimmering peach, however, since Tarte has repackaged their products - this one seems to have been reformulated - or they just forgot the shimmer. Either way, I'm not complaining.
On me, its a beautiful peachy pink matte that isn't overly pigmented. Its a bit on the sheer side, which is always a plus when it comes to blush - less chance of clown cheeks.
When I first apply it (I'm an NC 42 in MAC as reference) it gives me just a hint of colour that I can place even at the hollows my cheek and work upwards; a sculpting blush of sorts, but with added colour, it gives me the most natural looking flush that I cannot describe. I don't blush at all, naturally. However, if I did, I sure as hell hope I looked like this.
The formula is a pleasure to work with, its long wearing and silky.
The only drawback for me, personally is the product becoming a bit hard over time - I've had it for about a month now and I've had to scratch the surface once already - if this is an indicator, I'm slightly worried. However, since everything else about this is so perfect, I can look past it. It has after all made its way into my daily rotation of 'I woke up like 'dis' products.

What do you think of these blushes? 

FOTD #9

Okay so this was a fun day to dress up.
For the face I used the Chanel Vita Lumier Aqua, followed by the Bobbi Brown Corrector under the eyes. To set it all, I used the Kryolan Translucent Powder.
I contoured using the NARS Casino Bronzer, and used the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful on the cheeks.
For the eyes, I used MAC's Woodwinked all over the lid, with Nars Coconut Grove in the outer half. I blended it all with Makeup Geek's Cocoa Bear, followed by the Maybelline Gel Liner. For the eyebrows I stuck with my favorite Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade and the Tarte Lights Camera Lashes! Mascara for ze lashes.. and for lips, I used MAC's Ruby Woo.

Its a pretty standard Indian-ish look for me.. what are your thoughts? :)

Things I want to tell my Teenage Self

This is a very different style of post for me. Its much more personal and a little rant and ramble driven.
Though I'm the last person to dwell on the past, like every other human being, I sometimes wish I could go back and change certain things.

1. Take care of your skin. This is something I wish I did, y'know, not just washing my face, but maybe a bit of toner of moisturizer would have helped keep my skin decent. The second part of this would be - don't take anything for granted - this should be a life motto, but in particular with my skin, I just took things for granted, and now I'm paying for it.
2. Always wear SPF - As much as you love being tan and prove a point to the fair and lovely obsessed - don't damage your skin while doing this.
   This is embarrassingly true. I've always maintained that dusky/dark/tan whatever you want to call it is as beautiful and lovely as fairer complexions, but when I was younger, I was all about going out in the sun and getting as tanned as possible, without sunscreen. Ugh, I still believe in the cause wholeheartedly, I just wish I wore sunscreen. 
3. Do NOT Thread Your Eyebrows. This one is a bit of a controversial one I know, especially when threading is all the rage now in the beauty world. But the people who used to thread my eyebrows made it thinner and thinner everytime I went to them. You can see the evidence staring you in the face - practically no eyebrows. Pluck child, don't thread.  
4. Keep 'em bangs long - Bangs are still around, but its different now that it was then. Everyone had these short bangs swept to one side that just didn't work for my face shape. It only made my face look wider - so please. NO. 
5. Take it easy on the kajal. Seriously. Can you SEE THAT? Panda eyes alert - except only at the bottom. Not pretty.

There are honestly a lot more things I would like to tell my teenage self, like the benefits of concealer, and a bit of lipstick or tinted lip balm, but they just don't seem as important. 

What beauty mistakes would you tell your teenage self to avoid? 

Almost-Foiled-Eyeshadow-Stick

Let me introduce you a to a product I've had for a while now, and recently rediscovered.
Since the highly metallic - almost foiled eyeshadow is now all the rage, I thought it was an appropriate time to talk about this wonder product.
The Kiko Longlasting Eyeshadow Stick in 6 is an Antique gold that reflects darker in the crease - making it a great single eyeshadow to use all over your lid. The texture is creamy and bendable by both hand and brush, and it goes on opaque at first swipe. It is such intense shimmer on your lids, that it looks like you've used a very glittery eyeshadow without the glitter or the fallout.
Another great thing about this product is how well it stays put. Normally eyeshadows crease on me instantly, but this goes on and stays put for a good 8 hours before it begins to fade.
It makes a wonderful lid colour, but makes an even better inner corner highlight giving you that very bright, very awake look.
Seriously though, look how shineeeeeeeyyy.

Now, the only downside is that it isn't easily available. Europe or UK have Kiko as far I'm aware, and I'd suggest asking someone to get you any shade from this range, its amazing.

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts? 

Night Out #8

These Night Out/FOTD posts are becoming some of my favorites, should I make this a weekly feature?
On Friday, I went with a couple of friends for the opening of the Chennai International Fashion Week, we got to see Rocky Star's Resort Collection, followed by some terrible wine and amazing spaghetti cabonara at a pub nearby. It was a really good evening.
But ofcourse, let me go over the contents of my face.
As you can see, my skin is currently healing/drying so I have lots of texture there.. sigh. I used MAC's Strobe Cream all over my face as a base, I dabbed a bit of my Bobbi Brown Corrector under my eyes and MAC Pro Longwear Concealer to conceal my scars.. once I was happy with all the blending, I used the Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi to highlight under my eyes (in a V shape) on my chin, centre of my forehead and nose. I set the highlighted areas with the Kryolan Translucent Setting Powder. I used my Nars Casino Bronzer on the outer perimeter of my face as a bronzer - it also helps add some dimension making my face less err, round. I contoured with my favorite Inglot 357 Matte Eyeshadow and used the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful on the cheeks.
For the Eyes, I used the Kat Von D Monarch Palette, the gold shade all over the lid, a dark brown in the outer half and crease to blend it out. I used the matte black from the palette as eyeliner and followed it up with tons of Maybelline Hyper Curl Waterproof Mascara after curling them.
For Lips, I used my L'oreal Matte Moisture Lipstick in Raspberry Syrup which has got to be my favorite lipstick, ever!

Sooo, what do you guys think? 

Favorite MAC Eyeshadows

Hello there, welcome to the newly redone Colliding Interests, what do you think? I'm still working out a lot of the quirks, but it should be fully sorted out really soon!
So if it isn't already evident from my blog in general, I really do love my eyeshadows. I've said it several times before that MAC as a brand introduced me to makeup, particularly eyeshadows. I can safely say I've owned a fair share of shadows from them, but these would the five I would repurchase without a second thought till the end of time.. yep. Its serious business.

Sable
This is the newest addition to my favorite MAC Eyeshadows, and you just can't go wrong with it. I posted about it here. But for the sake of this post, let me repeat myself - MAC describes it as a gold-plum with bronze pearl in a Velvet finish. It comes across more pinky plum with a golden sheen on me which is perfect. It goes everything... its my 'I woke up like dis' eyeshadow.

Bronze
Described as a gold brown with a gold-bronze shimmer and a Frost finish. This has got to be all time favorite go-to eyeshadow, I love it so much this is my second pan of this stuff - yep, its just that good! It makes a brilliant lid colour - that sultry bronze goddess kinda' lid, but it also makes an excellent outer half - depth inducing colour. Basically, its frekkin' perfect.

Texture
Though MAC claims its a peachy-brown with shimmer in a Velvet finish, you see no shimmer on the lid. I've said it before and I will say it again, it is the best colour to blend out pretty much any lid colour - blue? Works. Green? Works. Bronzes? Works. Anything? It works. Its a great staple that everyone needs to own.

Amber Lights
Amber lights is an orangey gold colour with a bit of bronze sheen and a Frost finish. The MAC website describes it as a "peachy brown with shimmer" same as texture, which confused me a bit. But we'll just ignore that.
Its the kind of eyeshadow that instantly brightens any look and makes your eyes scream 'look at me'. I love using this with a bit of teal eyeliner, it just makes your eyes stand out like no other.
I'm not the biggest fan of sheeny shadows, but this one makes me want to try foiled shadows - because thats exactly how it looks!

Woodwinked
So, I left the best for last... the gold everybody needs to own. Described as antique warm gold in a Veluxe Pearl finish. Its a beautiful sheeny eyeshadow that makes a brilliant inner corner highlight.. Tan skin, this shadow, some mascara and BAM you're sorted.

As you can see, my love affair with MAC continues.. What are your favorites?

Pondering Blush...

Suddenly, in the last month of so, I've gone from owning one blush, which I wore maybe once a week at the most, to owning five, and wearing it on a regular basis. Infact, I've been skipping the bronzer, and reaching for the blush. Shocking, isn't it? I've been using the five I now on for various things, so I thought I may as well post about it.

The Pop of Colour
Perfect for days when I look a little worse for wear. I've realized there is nothing like a little colour on your cheeks to make you look healthier and somehow happier. I find the best blush for this is the Clinique Cheek Pop in Berry Pop. It's a powder blush that looks almost cream - like and super skinlike when worn. If I could blush, I would think this is the colour I'd turn.
Another blush is super pigmented and bright is the Milani Matte Baked Blush in Bella Rosa. Oh. My. God. This is beyond beautiful. It is so insanely pigmented though that I have to be very careful with how much pressure I use when I tap my brush in... and its so flattering on that I honestly don't know how I lived without this.

The Everyday Blush
The reason I originally bought the Chanel Cream Blush in Presage is only because of how natural it looks on me. The formula is easy to blend and stays put for hours. Though it can be built up, it by no means tries to steal the show, instead it accentuates everything. I find coraly pink lipsticks go great with this one.
Another simple everyday browny-pink blush is the Wet n Wild Blush in Mellow Wine. Its so perfect for everyday - heck, I can even define 'em cheekbones with this. I cannot believe how good the quality of this is.. honestly, our drugstore brands have a long way to go...

The All Rounder
This is the product that got me past my "meh" attitude towards blush in the first place. The Tarte Amazonion Clay 12 Hour Blushes are everything people say they are. Pigmented, longwearing and so easy to wear. The shade I have, Blissful is a peachy pink that is so flattering on me! No matter what else I'm wearing - eye, lips, clothing, this always just works.

So, I'm a convert. Go ahead, enable me.

Travel Makeup Bag - The Wedding Edition

The past weekend and beginning of this week have been pretty hectic filled with lots of weddings and travelling. Well, not really. But I was in Bangalore during the weekend and we came back to another wedding we had to go too. So I just thought I'd club the two together and viola!

The Base
This really was a No-Brainer for me. I've publically pledged my love and undying devotion to the Chanel Vita Lumier Aqua and ofcourse, it was the base of choice. A rediscovery for me in terms of powder is the MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation. I'd thrown this into my bag and forgotten about it, but when I decided to do the project 10 pan I rediscovered my love for it. Honestly, its an amazing powder, and I will be repurchasing once I finish it! The Bobbi Brown Corrector is another staple I cannot live without, so that came along with me.
Just in case I felt like it, I love a little bit of contour and highlight - but I like it to be subtle (post coming soon!) so I took my Inglot 357 Matte Eyeshadow (here) to contour lightly and the Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi (here) to highlight.
I would normally never take this along, but ever since I've discovered how good blush can make me look (thank you Tarte Blissful) I took along my Chanel Cream Blush in Presage just to add a bit of colour to the cheeks.
To set everything in place and decake the layers, I took my NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray, which makes your makeup last forever and ever and ever...

The Eyes
Yes, I took a palette, and nothing else. Not only did this give me sometime to really play around with these colours, The Kat Von D Monarch Palette has cool and warm toned neutrals along with a good mix of textures, making it perfect to carry along! As a base I took the MAC Groundwork Paintpot, another staple that I hardly talk about, but it keeps my shadows in place, without any fuss or fancy. Ofcourse I had to take eyeliner - Indian makeup without eyeliner just seems to wrong, so I brought my trusty Maybelline Gel Liner that needs to be replaced, desperately. For Mascara, I wanted something water proof that would hold a curl, so the Maybelline Hyper Curl Waterproof Mascara it was!

The Lips
Last but not the least, the lips, which previously would have gone with a bit of tinted lip balm. But through all these fun evenings, I sported a bright lip. My two favorites ofcourse were the L'oreal Matte Moisture Lipstick in Lincoln Rose and the Maybelline Vivd Lipstick in Shocking Coral. Btw, these two mixed makes a heavenly combination.

So this was it! A bit excessive for most I know, but I like my options, and I like products.
What are your Wedding Essentials?

Skin Savior - Glyco A

As I begin to write this, I have my fingers and toes crossed all while practically hugging wood. You see, my skin has been going through a very very VERY bad few months. I've been breaking out all over the place, and scarring - my cheek at one point looked so covered in pink and red bumps that you may have mistaken my blemishes as chicken pox. I tried everything, I cut down on dairy, watched what I ate, drank tons more water - but nothing seemed to work. I also made the mistake of using my La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo which has worked on my breakouts before - but this time, I just broke out more.. Has anyone else faced this problem?
Heck, I even tried the au naturale route and kept using sandalwood paste on my face. Though it did soothe the angry blemishes, nothing seemed to be working. I wracked my brains wondering what I'd changed in my rountine - and the it hit me like a train, after months of using a BHA Based toner followed by an AHA Based cream at night, I just stopped. I'm not sure why I stopped, but I did, and I think (this is a lot of guesswork on my part) my skin just decided to protest.

Immediately, I started using my Glyco A - 12% Glycolic Acid based cream (Saw it first on Parita's blog) again, and within a week, my skin is under control.
I'm honestly getting a bit emotional while writing this because my skin is such a sensitive issue for me. For someone who had no skin issues all through my teenage years, dealing with breakouts and flare ups in my 20's is something I did not expect. And everytime I have these flare ups (hormones, PCOD, all that fun jazz) my confidence plummets, I don't want to leave the house, I hate looking in a mirror, and most worst of all, I feel hideous.
Yes, I'm learning to deal with it, but honestly speaking... if Glyco A hadn't worked the way it has been.. I'm not sure what I would have done. In a matter of a week or so, it has calmed my skin, fading a lot of the marks that were causing me so much stress. It hasn't stopped my breakouts completely... yet, but it has prevented the severe ones (at one point I woke up everyday with 3 - 4 new very painful and very swollen blemishes).

I use about a half a pea sized quantity over the areas of my face that is affected the most (cheeks, jawline, chin) after I've used my toner. I use my regular moisturizer on the rest of my face and my usual eye cream under my eye.
Few things you need to be cautious about being a) you need to use a very good sunscreen during the day or your skin will burn. (experience speaking) and b) don't use it like you would a spot treatment (I use Benzac AC for that or La Roche Posay Effaclar A.I), use it regularly and if you plan on stopping, don't do it abruptly, stop it gradually.
If you want something milder to start with, there is a Glyco 6 which has 6% Glycolic Acid instead of the 12%. FYI, this costs about INR 150.

Basically, if you're skin is going through shit, I'd say give this a go, you should see results. 

The Kat Von D Monarch Palette

I'll start with this - I'm not a swatches kinda' girl. You need patience and a very good eye/focus for it - and no matter how much I try, it just ain't good enough. Being a perfectionist, I can't put up something I'm not okay with. So you won't be seeing swatches, but you will be seeing posts of me wearing various colour combinations from this palette, and I hope that its enough.
If you do want to see swatches though - on Indian Skin, I'd ask you to head over to Aditi's Blog (which I love) for swatches.

Kat Von D's makeup range is something I've always wanted to try, I love her packaging (how rad are those butterflies?) I love her eyeshadows colours, and I desperately want to try her Tattoo Liner. And being quite tattood myself, you can see the appeal, can't you?
The Monarch Palette consists of warm neutral shadows. Though I won't say they're all warm, they really do have a complexity about them that you don't see very often in neutral shadows. As far as the palette goes - it has converted me to the premade palette love - something I previously hated.
The eyeshadows are buttery soft (a little bit powdery but nothing that you can't deal with) and blend like a dream together. They last about 9 hours on me before they start fading (I always use a primer). There is just SOMETHING about these colours that make me almost drool. Kat Von D really knows how to make her neutrals interesting - you won't find too many generic colours here... most of them have some interesting of unexpected undertone.
I have so many unsual favorites from this palette - yes ofcourse I love the orange the gold and the brown, but for me telepathy is the most gorgeous metallic beige - with a dirty green grey undertone, while delaney has such a beautiful taupey - silver vibe to it. Killing Jar is by far the most stunning rose gold I have come across and so flattering on tan skin!

This is probably the first thing that came to mind when I opened the palette. Its started out as a simple matte smokey eye, but towards the end, I decided to add a bit of shimmer to the inner corner and voila - its a whole new (albeit predictable) look.
After priming my lids, I used entomology (off white matte) all over the lid - upto the brow bone as a base. In the crease went wrath (the most gorgeous orangey-terra cotta colour - mildly shimmery) and I blended it, reapplied and blended it till I was happy with the intensity. On the lid, I used a bit of shadow box (matte dark brown) and blended it into wrath (note: I reapply and blend, A LOT). On the lashline, I smudged deadhead (matte black). I also used a bit of deadhead and wrath mixed together on the lower lashline. This makes for a very interesting smokey eye... but I wasn't happy with just "interesting" so patted summerfly (yellow-gold with shimmer) over shadow box, so it formed more of an antique gold. Tons of mascara later - done!
Rest of the face - Bourjois Happy Light Foundation, Bobbi Brown Corrector, Tarte Blissful Blush, a dusting of MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation and MAC Rebel Lipstick.

This palette is beyond beautiful, and I cannot wait to put up a few other looks I've come up with. What are your thoughts?

Makeup Swap with Aditi of BGMM!

So Aditi is someone I know through my blog and hers. What began as just comments, eventually turned into conversations. Over the last few months, I think our shared love for makeup has made us very good friends - you need someone you can talk products with all the time, y'know?
Incase you haven't read her blog - head over there as soon as you read this! I love her sense of humour and the general wit that runs through her blog.
Since she lives in the US, and I live here - I think we both focused on getting eachother things we won't otherwise have access too. You can tell she knows me by the matte formulas and the bright colours, heh.

Now, you can see she has been MORE than generous with what she has got me.. I mean look at it -  I needed to take two pictures for you to see everything!  Everything was sweetly wrapped in wrapping paper in bubble wrap, I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of it, I was too excited to bother.
So I'll quickly run through everything she sent me:

1. Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette (HELLO BLOGGER FAVORITE!) 
2. Wet n Wild Silent Treatment Trio (There's a Satin Taupe lookalike in there that I need to try!)
3. Wet n Wild Mellow Wine Blush 
4. Milani Baked Matte Blush in Bella Rosa (I've been stalking websites for this - aahh thank you!)
5. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush Mini in Memorable 
6. Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mini Mascara
7. Maybelline Vivid Lipsticks in Shocking Coral and Wild Rose (SO EXCITED!!)
8. L.A Girl Glazed Lip Paints in a Pin Up and Blushing. (Blushing is the bomb.com)
9. Milani Lip Intense Liquid Colour in Pink Rave
10. Wet n Wild Lipsticks in Don't Blink Pink, Cherry Bomb and Mauve Outta Here (cutest names ever? Yep!)
11. Jordana Easy Liner for Lips in Sedona Red and Rock N' Rose.

Seriously though, this is beyond amazing and I cannot wait to start using these products! The Maybelline Vivids are just beyond gorgeous.
Thank you SO MUCH Aditi! This is a pretty epic haul! I really hope you enjoyed my package as much as I loved yours! 

Forever Repurchased #2

The first installment of this series can be found here. Though honestly, these could have gone up then, but I being as spaced out as I am, forgot. Oh well.
Firstly, the one product I've been using consistently for years now, the Bobbi Brown Corrector (though initially I had the wrong shade, all is good now). The one you see is my 4th pot of this stuff. I swear by it. It makes everything easy, concealing, smokey eyes, highlighting.. its a foolproof product I can always depend on.
The MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC 42 has its own post, but its definitely something I cannot see myself ever doing my makeup without. Not only does it cover any blemish or scars I have (and I have tons), but it stays put all day long and never looks like I have concealer on. Further, if you use this with a bit of moisturizer of strobe cream all over your face - it photographs flawlessly.
The Inglot 357 Matte Eyeshadow maybe a good transition colour, but its a GREAT contour colour. Brown with slight grey undertones, you can read my full rave review about it here.
Finally, didn't think I'd a second list with no eye related product did ya? Oh hell no. The MAC Eyeshadow in Bronze has got to be one of my all time favorites. It gives you a very frosty-metallic lid that always makes you look waaay more put together than you are. Infact, I've used up an entire pan of this stuff before, and this is my second one - as you can see, its very well loved!

What about you guys? Have y'all tried any of these?