Why I've been missing

Hi everyone,

I know I've been gone since the end of August and its almost FOUR months since. If I've ever felt that time passes quickly, I've never felt it more strongly in the past three months. At the same time, I felt that it could not pass fast enough. Confusing huh? Remember back in June when I mentioned I'll be entering my final year soon? (this post) Well, that's what happened. That's what got in the way. I reached a point where I realized that I could do only one thing perfectly and I would have to leave the rest so that I could do it right. I felt that that was a wise choice, once I finished that, I could continue with the rest of my life. And so I did exactly that! I decided to forgo all sources of entertainment -movies, social media, hangouts and all hobbies - blogging, reading, running, just so I could concentrate on final year placements and I'm happy that I did because I was able to secure an awesome job. I wasn't able to stay completely away from Twitter though..oops. I'm sorry I just abruptly stopped without any explanation, but I honestly didn't think it would take sooo long :( I thought I'll be back in a month, but then it slowly became two and three and finally I got a relief in the form of holidays. But I'm glad that busy phase is over, and now I can do some fun stuff and catch up on all that missed out on ! 

For all of you who were worried, all your messages warmed me right up! It feels nice to be missed :)

PS: hope you like the new theme, Happy Holidays !!!!!!!!

Undoubtedly, one of the best ads!

I saw this one on TV last week, on a lazy night when I was just staring at the TV without actually registering anything and it really made me jump, sit up and watch. Just wanted to share it with all of you!! It is one of the best ads I've seen in a loooooong time, I swear all ads these days are so unnecessarily adult, this one is sweet and actually brings the message across.

Did you like it? :D

What I've been up to- Small life update, weekend plans, hauls and more!

Hey dear ladies. I’ve been kinda gone from my blog for nearly a week, I'm sorry about that. If you’ve read my About Me Page, you’ll know that I divide my time between two cities- my home and my college+hostel. Right  now I’m back at home(Mumbai) and it feels awesome, I’ll be here till the end of June! I reached here on Saturday, 7^th. My 3^rd year results came out on Friday, the night I was leaving my hostel to go home. Let’s not talk about studies here, but in case you’re interested I scored 8.5. Mumbai is SO hot and humid, 10^th June was actually the hottest ever, my hair is really suffering. My laptop is being a world class b*tch at the moment, so I had to back it up and give it to the service center, god knows when it will be back. I spent a good amount of time backing up all my files, which are, alarmingly, 600GB :O

On Saturday, I watched X-Men: Days of Future Past. Amazing movie, y’all!!! I was literally biting my nails, and I never do that! I don’t actually remember the story word-for-word from the comics, but when I do my opinion will probably change. If you haven’t been regular with the X-Men movies, it might be hard for you to understand the characters, because there’s absolutely no introduction of them and their powers here. My favourite mutant: Blink (played by Fan Bingbing), just for her powers. Fan Bingbing has signed up for 5 more X-Men movies, I’m so looking forward to Blink, her mutation is awesome. This movie doesn’t really need 3D though. Sunday was the day the Mumbai Metro finally, finally started. I didn’t go for a joyride though, and that was a good idea, because 2 lakh people tried it out, imagine the crowd! Here's a pic I had posted to my Instagram.

Whats trending in beauty? + A Small Haul

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

Its been way too long since I last did a post on my blog. I took a month long break, it wasn’t intentional at first, but life just got in the way and then I decided to take a break from blogging. I’m not fed up of beauty blogging, oh god no! I love it ! But sometimes taking a break from things can give you some great perspective and also rejuvenate you. And the most important thing, I realized that I didn't want to stop blogging about makeup and skincare and other girly things, its now a part of me that I love to share. I’m a person that likes to do things right, and properly, giving one hundred percent effort into anything I put my mind to, though life does get in the way, especially if your studying engineering and therefore the number of posts on my blog will be less, but they are fully researched and reliable opinions.

I wish all brands keep two lines of products: one expensive range and one affordable range. Like the Lakme 9to5 and Eyeconic range is pretty affordable while their Absolute range falls on the higher side, and recently, L’Oreal has released some lovely budget friendly lip products-Glamshine Balms, Shine Caresse Lipcolors and Rouge Caresse lipsticks! I didn’t expect L’Oreal to release such lovely products at such affordable prices, I consider it to be more of a luxury than a budget brand, and I really hope L’Oreal continues this!

Coming to a brand that I’ve begun to love –Maybelline. Maybelline NY completed 100 years this year, and the brand is on a roll! It releases new products every month, and the best part- they are pocket friendly and good quality. I hope MNY launches some of their face range in India soon, I’m waiting for their Master Drama, Fit Me and the 24hr(foundations, lipstains etc.) range of products!

Recent beauty trends that you could not have missed because they are EvErYwHeRe…seriously! :

• Pantone announced “Radiant Orchid” as the color of the year and since then I’ve seen all kinds of purple, lavender, orchid looks and tutorials all over the web. I'm super happy about this. Purple, a shade in the same family, is my favorite color!
• Lipstick-Lipgloss Hybrids- Last year nearly every brand launched chubby lip pencils, but Rimmel was the first one in India to launch the lipstick-lipgloss hybrid ie their Apocalips range, followed by MNY launching lip polishes, and L’Oreal joined the coup with their Shine Caresse lip colors. And these are so pocket-friendly, unlike the expensive chubby lip pencils.
  
• Graphic eyeliner is something I don’t see myself wearing during daytime, but maybe at night..if I dare to.
• White eyeliner on the inner corner and brow bone, one of the simplest makeup tricks. White tends to look garish on indian skintones though, but if you want to give this one a try you can check out Lakme’s Eyeconic White eyeliner!

• Electric orange lips, is one trend I’m shy of trying. I’m afraid I’ll look like I’ve just finished an orange gola(popsicle)! The MNY Bold Matte range has one lovely orange shade, MAT3 if I'm not mistaken, and L'Oreal Shine Caresse Lip Color in Faye is a lovely orange too.

 A few things I hauled recently...

- Revlon Colorstay Concealer in Medium Deep – Rs 735 ~ I’ve been searching for a budget friendly liquid concealer for a while now, and sadly at its price, this is one of the cheapest ones available.
- L’Oreal Shine Caresse Lip Color in Milady (603) & Bella (604) –Rs.499 each ~ Two bright colors to welcome spring. These lipcolors are so amazing! A review will be up soon.
- L’Oreal Color Riche le Vernis in Blue Reef(613) was free with the purchase of 2 Shine Caresse lipcolors

- Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Textured Nail Color in Fuzz-Sea – Rs540 ~ A bright nail color! I’ve waited for months for the Fuzzy Coat range to reach Mumbai, and finally its here. It’s a one time launch, so if you like it, keep your eyes away from the price tag and buy.
- Sally Hansen Kwik-Off Moisturizing Nail Color Remover – Rs.385. ~ A quick way to remove nail color, and its cheaper compared to similar ones offered by Colorbar and Bourjois.

A Sleek Makeup package that I had ordered a long while back reached my house in mid-January:

 - i-Divine Palette in Oh So Special – $9.99 (now raised to $11.99)
 - Blush in Antique - $5.99 (This was a LE but its still available on the website for $7.99)

Have A Nice Day!

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

~ Inglot Freedom System And My Experience ~

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

“ A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions”                                                                   Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Inglot is famous for its freedom system where you can create your own custom palettes. The refills are very cheap but the palettes cost a bomb. I’ve come across Inglot eye shadow refills and blush refills so many times on both Indian and international blogs that I always wanted to own all a few eye shadows myself. I did do that, way back in July, I ordered a few refills online, you can read about shopping at majorbrands.in here. You can find at least a gazillion swatches of all Inglot eye shadows and that makes online shopping a cake walk. But I didn’t feel like using them yet, I needed a palette! Many of the blogs I read said that you can store the refills as is in the box they come, but that wasn’t convenient for me. So I decided to buy a palette, and I got the time to do that this month only.

Until last week, I had been to the Inglot store just twice. The first time was when I just happened to see the store while shopping for other stuff, I had heard so much about Inglot but I’d never come across the store. I went inside and it was all so over whelming, the Visual Merchandiser of the store had done a wonderful job. I ended up just asking about all of their products and walking out, just like that.

The second time I went to the same Inglot store, it was quite, umm, memorable? I’m not sure what adjective to use here, not memorable, something between interesting and memorable. One of the SA/MUA’s was a guy and he had full on make up; a smokey eye and I kid you not, GOLD LIPS, and to top it off he was wearing gold pumps. It was over whelming to look at him and he was assisting me. I ended up buying only the eye shadow base, because all other people outside the store were staring and I started to get really, really conscious. I never give a f*** about people’s stares or looks or taunts or whatever, you can’t live in Mumbai if you don’t ignore all that bullsh*t, but this time it got to me.

So after two not so eventful visits to the Inglot store, I wasn’t feeling optimistic about my third visit. And all the online reviews about Inglot stores in general didn’t help me either; people have said that the SAs force you to buy palettes, they are rude and inattentive and all that. 

The thing is, I had brought round refills and Inglot has now discontinued these in India as well. I wanted their large palette in which you can store any type of refills. So here’s how it went down with the SA:

Another Haul It Is….

If you are a beauty blogger, humour me. 
Do you have backlogs that stretch up to a mile or more? Do you find yourself indulging in shopping at any and every opportunity?

For me, it’s yes to both. I’ve done so many hauls and I know realize, that I should have at least posted them first. For me, product reviews take a lot of time. I like to test creams /lotions, concealer/foundations/BB creams for the span of 1-3 months to see how they perform under different weather conditions and different face conditions(breakouts, clear/irritated/tanned/sensitive skin). The thing is, I mostly have a clear skin, I don’t break out, hence no scars either. So I tend to stretch the review up to my time of month, when I do happen do get few pimples. And for brushes/tools, I like to test them for 3-6 months. So that’s my explanation for some of the delayed reviews.

Pictures of stuff that I can post, like nail polishes, lipsticks, eye shadows etc. are lying watermarked on my laptop, waiting to be seen on a monitor other than my own. Why the delay for that? Honestly, its because of three main reasons: academics, wifi and laziness. So here I am, trying to overcome the last and battling the 2^nd reason, with a haul post for you guys. Don’t you just love hauls?  Me: yes...oh yes

I brought most of the stuff in the first week of September, so yes, reviews will follow shortly after my exams next week.

~What I purchased on Independeynce Day..!~

Hello everyone!! As promised, here is the post about my haul yesterday on 15th August. Also, I just want to do some rambling and some complaining so bear with me.....^_^

First off, I was supposed to post this yesterday, but my laptop started having problems. It didn't detect my phone or my camera. And it kept getting off like it was low on battery, which it wasn't btw, so I decided to let it rest for a day.

I reeallyy wanted to check out the Maybelline Bold Matte lippies but they weren't stocked at any store in R-City mall or Phoenix Market City...pfftt.. 

Anyways I got...

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick 20

1. Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate 20- The Rimmel counter finally had those Kate Moss lippies, but unfortunately only 2 were left...argghhh... One was a pale nude color and the other was a bright fuchsia. Any guesses which one I took?. Price: Rs.215/-

 Stay Matte Pressed Powder

2. Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 009 Amber- I've wanted to buy this since May but every time I'd go to the Rimmel counter the SA would be absent/missing and the other SAs would direct me to their counters. This time also the SA was missing but a nice Sally Hansen SA helped me with all the stuff I wanted to try out. Price: Rs.195/-

Pond's BB Cream

3. Pond's White Beauty BB+ Fairness Cream- Normally, I ignore all products which have anything to do with fairness because that's all rubbish, but this BB cream has become quite popular so I thought why not? Price: Rs.125/-
*I wore it on 16th and it gave me a zit instantly*

The Stay Matte powder costs Rs. 230 now, and the lipstick costs Rs 250. However I managed to get it at the old price from Westside, isn't that nice? The SA told me that the next time I purchase anything I will be charged the new price...Okies ^_^.

Also spotted...

Rimmel 1000 kisses lip tint. It has a balm on one end and a brush which dispenses color on the other end. The stain feels like the one left by a marker, and it seems like it might settle easily into lines and require you to continuously apply a lip balm. Price: Rs.550/-

Rimmel gel liner. There was a single black gel liner, having the same bottle  design as Revlon gel liners. I'm not into black so I didn't get it. Price: Rs.550/-

At the Bourjois counter:

The new Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayons available in 4 shades.They had light pigmenttation. Rs785/-

At the Colorbar store:

New baked eye shadows! In some really pretty shades too. But I forgot to ask the price..oops.I saw some eye shadow pigments as well.