Just like back home..

As many of you might know, it was Ganpati celebrations around mid-September and so that's when we headed out to an Indian temple in our neighborhood. The temple trustees had setup traditional decorations, complete with food (modaks, ladoos, kadha-prashad and assorted Indian sweets). We got to attend Ganpati Aartis. Everything was just like the way it is in India, and just all the things I was missing. Festivals don't feel like festivals unless you do all the traditional things, right? All the things that you grew up doing back in India...

Hmmm..badbbudbududba..back to reality (there was a 'nostalgia' moment there). So, well lucky for us we got to experience and take part in the Ganpati celebrations. But wait! there's more.. we did attend the absolute traditional Ganpati celebrations hosted by the Marathi Mandal of Washington, DC. It was just like,  totally like, it is at home - from decorations to the food (yeah, food is a MAJOR factor here). But that's a story for another time (or post shall I say).

I love to wear Indian outfits and I try to wear them every occasion I get. Here's my Outfit-of-the-Day, all complete with bangles (so what they are mismatched :)), bindi, gold-string flats, oh yeah and salwar suit of course. I love the bright colors - purple and pink - how can anyone go wrong with it, right? And the 'chinese' stand collar..dig it BIG time. I tried a different hairstyle here; tied up my hair in a side-ponytail. Some days it just feels right to tie-up your here and get them outta your way. So, what do you think? Hit or a miss..?

Salwar suit from a shop in Thane, Mumbai | Chappals from Catwalk 

| Assorted lack bangles from our trip to Jaipur |

P.S.: Did you notice my nails match my outfit. That almost never happens, you know! So thought I would point it out to you....

'Make-up' your face - Part 1 - Face Foundations & Primers

When it comes to make-up I am not a pro but then to think about it I am not a novice either; I am somewhere in between, experimenting, trying out different looks. And now maybe I have reached a point where I know the kind of looks good and suited to the occasion/ time of the day. If I am attending an evening party or a night-out, I trust the smokey-eye-bold-red-or-pink-lip look. For everyday look, I go plain and simple considering there are time constraints; it's usually a kohl-eyes, compact powder for the face, and a bold or subtle lip color. Sometimes, if I am in the mood and I have the time, I amp it up by dabbing my eyelids with bold mascara but nothing more fancy than that.

The make products, I use everyday, are a fair mix of high-end brands and the readily-available-drugstore brands.  I prefer to use the good-quality products for things that play an important role in giving a smooth finish to the whole look. For example, liquid foundation, face powder, lipsticks.
Whereas for the everyday-use makeup products, that usually get swapped per mood swings or even changing color-preferences, I trust the drugstore brands. For example lip balms, lip colors, and even eye shadows (which I don't use that often). So in today's post, I thought of doing a makeup products reviews, list my absolute fave products and also share if a particular product didn't work out and why!

Foundation:  Here in the US, it is so damn difficult to get a foundation in the right shade . And by right shade I mean the ones that suit the Indian wheatish skin tone. I have been literally going nuts finding the perfect shades (and spent quite some $$$ there too!). The foundations always look great in the store, in the jazzy yellow lights, especially when the makeup lady applies them with care and precision. But when I try them at home, in the daylight, the foundation looks a shade lighter or cakey giving me a weird look. Well, one good thing about taking risks and trying different foundations has been that I finally (!)found the light-weight and perfect shade foundation that suits my skin tone. I have had a good streak with the Clinique Even Better makeup with SPF15.

It's priced at USD 27 for a 30 ml bottle (which is quite reasonable for the quality) and the bottle is cute one (it can easily fit in your purse). I am in the Cream Caramel shade, and it is an exact match to my skin tone with a great coverage. It blends well with my combination skin type and spreads more or so like a cream rather than a heavy foundation. Though to be true, I don't wear the foundation daily; its reserved for occasion or weekend outings only. I got it along with me on my trip to India this summer and my mom loved it so much that I kept the bottle for her :) I could definitely spot the difference when she was wearing it; her skin looked fresh and glowing. 

Well, on that topic, while shopping in India, I got a foundation from there from the Lakme ABSOLUT collection (not in the pic below). I can't review it right now since I have used it only once, but here's hoping that it turns out to be good!

I have got the special sponge set from Sephora (as seen in the picture below) to apply the foundation evenly and get a smooth finish. I have been lazy to try them out (as you can see from the full pack) but I am going to use it soon and review it here then :)

Pressed powder / compact: The pressed powder, or as some call it compact,  is something which I wear every single day. Whenever I step out of my house and I am not in my tracks then I have to dab my face with the pressed powder. I have used the  REVLON pressed powder when I lived in India. It was ok and did the job, nothing wow! Usually I have found the pressed powders to be grainy and too light-weight so they don't stay on for the complete day. The MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation brightens up the dull skin without giving the feeling of having too-much-make-up-on. It's priced at USD 27 (yeah same price as the foundation..made for each other, right? ;)) and comes in a black round container. I am in shade NC42. The compact comes with a mirror and a nice soft sponge pad to dab the powder on and it gives a full coverage with a nice matte look. 

Eye-shadow Primers: - I started using a primer - which is almost like foundation base for before applying the eye-shadow - after a recommendation from a friend. She introduced me to Too Faced primer from Sephora. It helps the eye-shadow spread evenly and also stay longer. I got the NARS primer as a gift from a friend recently and I haven't used it much yet..so guess I will review it in an another post.

Lastly, just wanted to mention that I haven't used concealers for once. I mean I have but none have matched up to my expectations or to my skin tone. So that's that. If you have any recommendations, I would absolutely love to know.  

I decided to break up the makeup review into multiple posts so that they are not too long to read in one go. Also, I thought it would be a good idea to divide the posts based on the the different makeup products. Part 2 will include reviews on the eye makeup products.

Do drop me a comment below or shoot me an email if you have any questions or comments on any of the products,
If you want maybe I can do a make-up tutorial, write-up or maybe even a youtube video. I haven't explored that area personally I am wary....but lets see. Who knows, maybe I will finally take the plunge and be able to overcome my video-blogging fears :)