Current favourite make-up products: Collablog Diaries

September 14, 2014 / Srishty / 1 Comment

Remember Collablog Diaries? Yes, it is hard to remember since we do only one post a month in this series, and that too gets skipped sometimes. Anyway, the second post in this series is up on Mily’s blog right here. It is about the current favourite make-up products that each of us are using! I am not big time into make-up but I love the pretty packaging (lol!) and I enjoy playing around a little bit with it. So, go have a look (if you are into make-up, I mean 😛 as I know most of the readers here aren’t. 🙂 )

In case you want to check out the first post in the series, please go here. It was done on Rose’s blog and it was about DIY ideas (do it yourself) that we swear by.

Do let me know how you find the posts if you happen to check them out. 😀

Tips & Toes Red Carpet Gel Nail Polish

June 27, 2014 / Srishty / 17 Comments

Ok, now, it is completely unintentional that most of the beauty posts are about nail paints. 😛 I guess that’s because they are easier to photograph. 😀

Anyway, I got to try out the new Tips & Toes Red Carpet Gel Nail Polish in a basic color as well as a glitter one. Yes, the glitter ones are pretty darn good! 😀 I know many Indians want good glitter nail paints in their life. 😛 I also got excited about the fact that this has so many pastel shades. Indian brands coming out with such shades, instead of only maroons, yay to that! In fact, big yay! 😀 Here’s what I think about these polishes, but first their introduction from the brand. 😉

From the brand:

A high end gel, texture, glitter and nail art top coats for the woman who wants to feel royal! Experience the Red Carpet feel with ourTIPS & TOES Red Carpet Nail Polish.

Features of the Range:

Trendy fashionable concept

Eye catching shades

Easy to apply at home. So no need to go to parlor for any professional touch or costly nail arts.

Specially designed flat brush for better application and perfect finishing.

Be your own professional nail designer

Makes you feel royal like a STAR! Be a crowd puller…

MRP – Rs.225/-

Total Shades – 23

All the shades, pictures sent by brand.

What I liked:

They are cruelty-free.
Good quality, this shade goes opaque in one stroke. (I think texture is same for other shades as well, as I have checked swatches on other blogs).
The brush is good quality, makes application very smooth.
No chipping for around 4 days (only slightly at the tips).
The glitter and texture polishes look really good on nails. I like how the golden strips look on the nails. I also liked the swatches on other blogs of different glitter polishes.
Easy to remove. The glitter one came of on its own as a layer leaving behind a clean nail. 😉
Like I said before, there are a lot of pastel shades available in this Red Carpet Gel Polish range, I love pastels on nails & I like that an Indian brand is offering pastels.
Very good packaging. I know that this is not all that important but its a matter of pride if an Indian brand steps up the game in this department! 🙂

What I did not like:

Price. Now I understand that its not very pricey if we look at the cosmetic market (especially when we have even Indian brands hiking prices every passing minute. Yes, Colorbar, I am looking at you). But basically, these are not cheap either. I would suggest Tips & Toes to price their products competitively. Being an Indian brand, they should understand that the majority of their target customers is middle class and good quality products at decent prices would mean more sales (as compared to good quality products but priced just like other brands).
Availability. I really wanted to try their kajal and gel liners which are out of stock on some shopping websites. When it comes to makeup, women tend to buy products which are readily available in the malls that they headed casually to 😉 (with no intention of buying initially). So, out of sight, out of mind. I hope they are working on both online and store availability.
While they do offer a variety of textures – plain gel polish, color+glitter, textured, glittery nail art top coat, I wish there were more shades available in the plain gel polish range (and priced lower 😀 ). This is not really a dislike factor though.
This particular red color being a dark one stains a bit during removal. But I guess that’s because my nail paint remover is not good quality.

Overall, I think the glitter polishes are a must try, both the glittery-strips nail art top coat and the opaque glitter nail paints. For the plain gel polish, it is very good quality and has nice shades, but it is not much different from nail paints in this price range. However, I would still prefer it than the L’oreal and Lakme nail paints in the same price range because Tips & Toes is cruelty-free. I hope they come with more shades. 🙂

That’s it from my side. Hope you get to try these too.

PS: This was a PR sample sent by the brand for review. The opinion is completely honest. 🙂

What’s in my bag | Office Edition

June 15, 2014June 15, 2014 / Srishty / 20 Comments

I love reading what’s in my bag posts. However, I had always thought that I would not do it myself till a long time because it is too much of a task to click every thing from the bag. 😛 But then happened a contest on Instagram by Chumbak where they asked people to show what’s in their bag. I so wanted to participate and when I clicked a collective picture of my bag’s contents, I thought why not do a post about it and therefore, clicked more pictures. However, one thing that keeps bugging me is that my bag, at that time, did not have the book that I was reading then. So, yes, books are very important in my bag and hence, this book is deserving show stopper attention due to the earlier mistake. 😛

Wow! How much I explain vain stuff!

Here are the contents of my bag in no particular order. By the way, I use those backpack kind of laptop bags for office.

1. Yeah, I put the makeup/beauty pouch first to grab girls’ attention :D! There’s a comb, a super favorite key ring, contact lenses, and some passport size photos. About everything else, I would love to do a mini review of sorts 😀 :

Nivea Lip Balm in Pomegranate: Smells nice, moderately moisturizing, leaves a soft tint, overall serves the purpose fine. Repurchase: NO because Nivea sells in China and therefore isn’t cruelty-free.
Elle 18 Lipstick: I’ll do a full post on this with the shade name & all. Its good enough for the price but definitely something you can skip. Repurchase: NO because it’s an average product and not cruelty-free.
Accessorize Fever Intense Color Lip Gloss: Love, love, love this!! If you hate lip glosses, try this one once. The formula is amazing, I like the fragrance even though I have a sensitive nose, the shade is simply perfection for fair to wheat-ish skin tones, might wash out dusky tones, it is basically a warm nude pinkish coral. And, of course, you can see the packaging. ❤ Also, Accessorize is cruelty-free. PS: This thing retails for 650 INR and I got it for 230 INR on Jabong in some sale!! 😀 Repurchase: Since I don’t buy a lot of makeup, I would buy the other shades when I get them in sale. 🙂
Jovees Anjeer & Carrot Sunblock: The good thing is that it prevents tanning (and it smells good) and the brand is cruelty-free. The bad thing is that it is quite sticky and makes one sweaty. Repurchase: Maybe.
Lotus 3 in 1 Matte Sunblock: I know a lot of people rave about this. I like the fact that it evens out my skin (but not so much). The bad thing is that I don’t like the smell and I want this to moisturize at least a little bit. I don’t like putting different products, too much effort. 😛 It should be a sunscreen+moisturizer. Also, I am not very sure if it prevents tanning, need to check more for that. Repurchase: Yes, if I don’t find a better option in cruelty-free products.
Faces Long Wear Eye Pencil Navy Blue: These faces eye pencils are a charm. The beauty blogosphere has raved enough about these and yes, they totally do live up to the hype. I had finished the black one a long time ago and it was SO GOOD. Also, these are cruelty-free. Only problem is that Faces keeps hiking the price for these. I remember the days when they retailed for 250 INR (they are now 400 INR or something). Repurchase: Yes, after a long time though as I am not craving these yet (and I have enough eye pencils).
Oriflame Kohl Pencil: This is no good. They don’t smudge a lot but then the color is removed from your waterline in no time. Also, Oriflame sells in China, so not cruelty-free. Repurchase: No.
VLCC Kajal: Dark, rich, matte black. Smudges just about average. I like this product. Repurchase: No, as VLCC is not cruelty-free.
Lakme Insta Eye Liner: This is completely a bang-for-your-buck product. It works amazingly for a liquid eyeliner. Although I am sure that it has got some really harsh ingredients because it made my mom’s skin above eyes weird for a while and it stings when it enters eyes. Repurchase: No, as Lakme is not cruelty-free.
Lakme Sharpener: This is an amazingly good product. I have read blogs where people complain about how the only problem with their Faces and Colorbar eye pencils (best eye pencils in Indian market!) is that they break while sharpening. I was very scared when I bought my first Faces eye pencil. But this sharpener made sure that the pencil never broke while sharpening. In fact, I have read other people saying it too that there soft pencils don’t break when sharpened with this. Also, this has slots for both fat and thin pencils. Repurchase: No, as Lakme is not cruelty-free. This would last for a long time, I would probably buy the Faces sharpener next.

2. The bag itself, my cotton dupatta (stole) to save from heat and huge-ass office ACs. : P There is the old wallet that I have now lost (gone is my second driving license too. Why second? Because I lost the first one when I lost my previous wallet. 😛 NOBODY WILL JUDGE NOW, ok? 🙂 ) Oh, there’s also my spectacles case.

3. Yes, I carry too many notebooks. It’s just that I like keeping different notebooks for different things. So, there’s one office notebook (the plain blue one), the beautiful personal notebook (this glows in the dark 😀 ) where I log my to-do lists, blog related things and everything else. There’s a pocket notebook which is for new words that I learn (although I am too lazy to ever update it :O ). Other things in this picture are my ID card and a pen.

4. Yes, yes, I know the hair pins are totally eww. I actually did not use them since a long time and that’s why did not realize that they look like this. Time to throw away old hair pins (one can obviously do something creative with them, but right now I don’t have the time or the inclination). There’s a hairband as well and do you see those quirky earrings. They are a gift from Dharamshala, a hill station in India. They are super cool ❤ but they are loosened and I can’t wear them now.

5. There you see my office laptop, my Sony earphones and an Internet datacard and a pendrive. (Pretty darn important stuff! )

6. That is the book I was reading then. Of course, post coming up on it soon. 🙂

That’s all. I hope it was fun! 😀

Take care & keep smiling 🙂

Introducing: The Collablog Diaries

May 16, 2014May 17, 2014 / Srishty / 7 Comments

They say birds of a feather flock together but there lies a certain charm in seeing a variety in the flock. Different colours together bring about a varied hue. The Collablog Diaries is just that. Four bloggers coming together to add a little sugar and salt. What ties us is our love for blogging and what sets us apart is our unique style. We want to bring to you a series of collaboration posts on different topics. Follow us as we dig deep to bring out another side of us for you to read.

Here is a small introduction to the bloggers involved in this series.

Mily of Pinkrimage

Her style of writing is crisp and to the point. From eyeliners to perfumes , she has reviews on it all. Throw in a few DIYs and a cute little blog shop and that’s Pinkrimage.

Rose of GlitterTrails

‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other would smell as sweet”. With a face as pretty as her name, Rose’s blog focuses on makeup. Her makeup looks and nail art are just beautiful.

Srishty of Life of Srish (That is me, guys! 🙂 )

A lifestyle blogger, I blog about everything under the sun. From books to food to culture and street style, you can find it all here.

Krupa of IshtyleAwhile

Style is what you make of it is her tag line. Her blog focuses on the journey of the average Indian woman in the fields of makeup, skincare and fashion.

PS: Hope you enjoy these collaboration posts. All the credit for the content of this introductory post goes to Krupa and for the beautiful feature image to Mily.

Take care & keep smiling 🙂

Weekend tea party organized by Mily :D

May 3, 2014June 4, 2018 / Srishty / 3 Comments

So, Mily from Pinkrimage has come up with this fun tag to do on the weekend. Considering that I love tag posts and this one sounds so fun and easy, I decided to do it right away! 😀 Here you go:

1) That one skincare product which you will never stop using!!

Gram flour (besan) with curd and turmeric as a cleanser/scrub. This never fails to bring back my skin to order. It is the perfect thing for cleaning, removing dirt, removing tanning, clarifying skin and what not!

2) Do you believe in Luxury makeup? I mean do you find them worth the money?

According to me, believing in a brand does not necessarily mean that I find it worth the money. I mean that I can still believe in a brand despite knowing that it is overpriced, simply because I like it. Actually, none of the makeup products are worth the money, they are all overpriced anyway, even the drugstore ones. Same goes for clothes and all. If somebody likes a brand enough, they may be willing to buy its products even if they are costly. Personally, I try to be as rational as possible. 😛

3) Beach or Mountains??

Both equally. I am more of a culture loving person than a nature loving person, so I’ll probably enjoy a Kolkata or a Gujarat more than a Kashmir or a Goa. (Editor’s Note: I don’t know what I was thinking – it is soooo mountains!! So, mountains & city life 🙂 )

4) Makeup or Skincare??

Skincare. Obviously, makeup won’t make you happy unless you have healthy skin, that makes you feel confident.

5) Do you follow a CTM routine?? If yes, what products?

I do, but not religiously, because of laziness. I wash my face with a face wash, follow-up with applying rose-water and a sunscreen in the morning and nothing or the Nivea white cream in the night. I know I should at least put on a moisturizer before the sunscreen in morning, but it just doesn’t happen. Mostly because I never have anything lying around that I want to put on before the sunscreen. Suggestions for a good day time moisturizer that evens out skin tone and is not full of chemicals?

Oh, also, in evening, I use oil/vaseline to cleanse my kohl etc before starting the face wash routine. I really, really think that there’s no better makeup remover in the world than almond, coconut or olive oil.

6) Pop Neon nails or Nude beige?

Both 😀

7) Lipstick or lipgloss?

Both 😀 Though I don’t have much experience with either of them.

8) Organised or messy??

Organized

9) Your favorite online shopping site for makeup??

Uhmm, yet to explore since I don’t buy much makeup as of now.

10) A saree or a dress??

Both 😀 It is just cruel to choose one 😀

If you enjoyed reading this, please do one yourself and put the link in the comments. For the original post, go here.

Take care & keep smiling

Srish 🙂

Life instagrammed! Week #2

January 20, 2014March 4, 2014 / Srishty / 2 Comments

Finally a proper post is up. Trust me, there are.more posts with interesting content to follow. Here’s to week #2 of life captured!

Beginning from left (going across):

1. Reading the weekly Sunday magazine – HT Brunch by Hindustan Times. It has this amazing article on places to explore in Delhi without paying a single penny, that is what the cover page is about.

2. My old converse: This is my favorite picture out of the lot. I have memories attached to these shoes, and I love them, even though they are quite worn out.

3. Winter Sunshine: I was coming back from an exam whose center was in a remote area, I saw this field on my way back. It looked beautiful in reality, the picture hasn’t come out that good.

4. Cooking Spring Onions and Potatoes: This happened on a Saturday afternoon.

5. Cooking Papad ki sbzi: This happened right after point 4, I tried to make a dish out of this Indian crunchy! Its funny that it looks like pasta. 😀

6. Shopping the sales: I shopped from westside over the weekend, and I love the ballerinas so so much.

7. Garnier body cocoon: Bought this as I couldn’t find the one from Himalaya, which is cruelty-free, I wanted to try this any way, so bought this one anyway. Pleasant but artificial smell. Not good for extremely dry skin.

8. Office washroom: One of the washrooms in Office which is done up nicely.

9. Currently Reading: City of Djinns by William Dalrymple. I am also starting my brunch book challenge with this one. Opinion will be up soon on the blog!

Here are some more:

1. Fuzzy socks: Who doesn’t love them? I love them completely.

2. First lipstick: This is my first ever lipstick. Its crazy! I am so embarrassed about it, but still wanted to buy one. haha! Its an influence of all the beauty blogs reading. I’ll probably share my opinion in a post soon?

3. Flower arrangement: Again, in the office washroom.

Take care. 🙂

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