Showing posts with label guest_post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guest_post. Show all posts

Five Beauty Musts For Girls On The Go

Today's guest post is by my twitter friend - Hitha, a girl on the go. Hitha writes at Hithaonthego - must read for me ! The girl knows what she is talking about , and I cant say that about this other person who writes everyday on this blog. Big thanks to Hitha for letting us in on her travel beauty tips ! When Indian Girl asked me to write a guest post on her fantastic blog, I racked my brains for a topic that you all would actually care to read about. She gives you the great makeup tips, excellent product reviews, and knows far more about makeup than I ever could. So what to write?

I do plenty about life on the road, with my job at a startup pharmaceutical company. I’m the resident gypsy of the company, constantly traveling to alliance partners’ sites, trade shows, conferences, and between our various offices. My skin reacted poorly to the change—I was breaking out constantly, my skin looked dull, and looking not so hot stressed me out even more.

One year and countless trials of skin and beauty products later, I have found some truly excellent products that I want to share with you to keep your skin healthy and your makeup routine quick and pretty. Let me know what you think!

1. Proactiv
Despite the corny commercials, when I was battling through stress—induced breakouts had me ordering the 30-day trial of this system. And while nothing else (dermatologica, Neutrogena, Murad, and some organic system I picked up at Whole Foods) worked, this did. I am hooked and grateful that I took a chance on the Katy Perry-endorsed product, as it brought my skin back to normal and looking better than ever. I recommend ordering the 30-day kits off Amazon as needed; if you order through Proactiv, they send you products without your ordering them and bill you back for them.

2. Burt Bee’s Acne/Blemish Spot Treatment
Like my quest for the perfect skin care system, I’ve also been on the hunt for a great spot treatment. After screening countless products, this is the one that works the best. Upon application, you have this great cool refreshing feeling (as opposed to a sting from most spot treatments), and it’s more effective than anything else I’ve used. I saw a significant reduction in blemishes and scars after a week. What more can you ask for? Best part—it’s budget friendly, at a whopping $10.

3. Benefit Erase Paste
Though the skin is under control, I have acne scars and undereye circles that require heavy concealing. Nothing works better than benefit’s Erase Paste (color dark, for you desi girls); it’s rich, creamy, and provides the right amount of coverage while still being breathable. Every girl needs this in her makeup bag.

4. La Prairie Cellular Treatment Foundation Cream Finish
I discovered this product while wandering the aisles of duty-free during a spectacularly long layover, and it’s quickly become a staple in my makeup bag. I love that application with a wet brush provides great coverage, and it sets over an Erase Paste concealing beautifully with a fluffy powder brush. Best part, La Prarie is made with clean ingredients that help your skin, not harm it.

5. Dior Crayon Eyeliner in Black
My makeup routine is quite basic—a clear face, slightly made up eyes, and clear shiny lips. I work with mainly older men, and experimenting with fun eye makeup looks is something I avoid for the work day. My all-time favorite eyeliner is the Dior Crayon—clean lines are great for the work day, and a few extra swipes and a quick smudge helps create a lovely smoky look for nighttime. With my meager makeup bag, I have no qualms about splurging on the few items I use, and this is definitely worth every penny.

Beating Heat And Humidity In India With The Right Makeup

This guest post was written for AIMB by Jamilla Camel. Jamilla is a globe trotting consultant and a makeup junkie. Having spent a significant amount of time in India she has tested out plenty of Indian makeup brands and kindly agreed to share her thoughts on beating the heat and humidity in India with Indian made products. If you live in India or are planning a trip to this beautiful country, you will find this post very very useful.

Having spent 3 out of the last 12 months in South India, I have had the opportunity to try out a LOT of makeup in high heat, high humidity conditions. Not surprisingly, Lakme, an Indian brand manufactured by Hindustan Unilver, came out top. Most foundations, and even lipsticks, just disintegrate in 100 F and 90% humidity conditions, but I’ve found some tricks to help beat the heat.

FOUNDATIONS

I have managed to test four Lakme foundations during my trips to India.


All of the four foundations came in the same shade, Natural Marble. Lakme foundations are on the sheer side, to accommodate a wide spectrum of complexions with only four shades. Natural Marble is for “fair to wheatish” complexions. I am an NC20 and this works for me; I suspect it would work up to an NC25.

The first foundation, Silk Naturelle, comes in a tube and has a high powder content. This is absolutely my favorite foundation to wear in South India. The powder content ensures that the foundation resists moisture, even without powder.

The second foundation, Daily Wear Souffle, is a very light and sheer foundation with a whipped gel texture. It doesn’t have the powder content of Silk Naturelle, but is great for an evening look. It looks very orange in the container, but trust me: it’s very sheer and doesn’t look odd at all on light Asian skin.

Perfecting Liquid Foundation is Lakme’s oldest, and most basic foundation. It’s very inexpensive (I think it was less than £1 in Bangalore!) but is a great everday foundation that will work for combination skin. It’s not oily at all, and has buildable coverage.

Nine to Five Flawless Makeup probably has the best coverage of the four, and again, has a high powder content. If you want breathability and a bit more coverage than the Silk Naturelle, then this is the one to go for. It is long lasting and resists both high humidity and the drying effects of office air conditioning.

LIPSTICKS


I don’t know if it’s a well-know fact, but lip glosses and other sheer lipsticks have a tendency to disappear rapidly in hot, humid conditions. I solve the problem by going for a creamy matte lipstick formulation. I have purchased four Lakme Enrich Matte Lipsticks, from Summer 2009 Bridal Sutra Collection and love them all. They seem to be a bit similar when swatched, but do look distinctive on the lips. I also purchased an Aquashine Lipcolor in Coral, which is more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss, and therefore has much better staying power if you like a glossy finish.

EYE SHADOWS



I go for a cream-to-powder formulation in eye shadows. Forget sheer, glossy, or very powdery formulations, because they will all disappear within a few hours of application. My go-to eye shadows are Lakme Nine to Five Satin Glide Eyeshadows. These shadows come in a tube with a twist-top foam applicator. They go on creamy and dry to a powder finish. They have the most staying power of any eye shadows I’ve tried during my trips to south India. Lakme also makes a very good Eye Liner—I’ve shown No. 6, Purple, above. It resists smudging and meltdown all day.

CONCLUSIONS

I did not find the Lakme Blushers or Eye Palettes to have exceptional longevity in demanding weather conditions. However, the Matte Lipsticks, Eye shadows and Foundations are outstanding for anything that India has to throw at you weather-wise, be it scorching desert heat or monsoon season!

Read more from Jamilla here at her beauty blog - Makeup For Professional Asian Women

Love,
Indian Girl

 

fbactive

fblike