Annabelle's new quads

Annabelle's new(ish?) eyeshadow quads have me flabbergasted. You must have seen them. 

They cost about 11.99 at SDM, have gloriously flattering shades, and DAMN I FOUND A DIOR DUPE (but it's better).

Annabelle Cosmetics are a Canadian line, like Marcelle and Lise Watier, that have drugstore prices similar to Rimmel & co.

 Usually they surpass their drugstore counterparts, e.g. their eyeliners, BB creams, smudgepots, eyeshadow trios, and now these! 

For one thing, the moment I swatched the tester at SDM when these were first released, the item out for swatch (Chai) reminded me mightily of Dior's Earth Reflections palette. Scarily so. In any case, the shades were so glorious, so smooth, pigmented, and shimmery in a tasteful, expensive way, that I just had to have it. Sadly, other, savvier shoppers must've thought the same. This specific shade has been sold out at every single shop I have been in, in several cities! If you (crickets) see it, GRAB IT! Grab several. Sell the extras on ebay later and fund a marathon with the profit... 

But I digress. After a couple of months (yes I am that sad) of holding out for the Chai quad, I decided to settle for Java instead. After all, the colours were cooler toned and would probably stand out more on my warm colouring. 

Right off the bat, this guy decided HE DID NOT WANT TO BE TOUCHED. A bugger to open, there ought to be a little booklet explaining how with it. Or an Annabelle quad opener, like a bottle opener. They could sell it for a nickel, I'd buy it. 

OK so once opened, and used several times (compliment getter, btw!)...I realized that one shade in particular resembled a Dior eyeshadow that I love. 

A lovely "minky" (as Lisa Eldridge described it) colour, the star of the quint. (The Dior palette was SUCH a fail for me, barely showed up, but for this particular colour, I'd willingly get a backup. It is that good.)

So seeing as I own no decent camera, just a phone one, and the swatch photos I took were promptly deleted, you'll just have to be content with trusting me on this.

Dior Rosy Tan, meet Annabelle Java.

See the bottom left shade in the Dior?

Now see the top right shade in the Annabelle? That's the dupe. Almost exact, except that the Annabelle one goes on more smoothly. The Dior one isn't as finely milled, so it comes out looking more *chunky* than the Annabelle. It may also appear a hair warmer in certain lights, but honestly, on the lids they look like clones.

So, again, no swatches. Horrible blogger, I be. But if you trust me on this, you'll be losing, what, 12 bucks? And gaining a gorgeous flattering palette that is horrible to open? 

Aunty's Makeup Tutorial

This girl is hilarious, deliciously accurate in her portrayal of certain aunties.

So why am I posting here?

 Well, such a no-nonsense beauty routine is a breath of fresh air in today's world of over-groomed, minty-breathed, glossy-hair-flipping laydeez (which undoubtedly describes every single reader of this popular blog)....
(Especially Jiminy Cricket there).

For non-South Asians, an "aunty" is any sort of older lady who is too old to be a "baji" (big sister),
and doesn't have to be related.
It could be a stranger, a math teacher, a hairdresser.

Lipstick Palette and brief how-to

 Carting around a load of lipsticks, glosses seems like a frivolity. It is actually quite essential to running my daily errands. A comfort blanket sort of thing. One to refresh the favoured lip of the day, another dozen 'just in case'--to stave off boredom I suppose. Of course, one or two more, bought during the day's course, to come join the happy family.

 I tried to keep it up, I really did. Despite the already cumbersome 'diaper bag' (what an ugly term),  crowded with cosmetics, a couple of books, tissues, keys, coins, wallet, bottles of formula, and, yes-diapers... I persisted with my 10+ unnecessary lipsticks. 

But then I went and did this...

Ugly old eyeshadow palette full of chalky colours. In this pic the useless eyeshadows have been scraped out, palette washed and disinfected..

To snazzy lip palette painted prettily for kicks... 

There are plenty of depotting tutorials on the internet, for lipsticks. The gist is: behead the luckless lippie. Put it in spoon, hold spoon above candle (NOT TOO CLOSE!). 

Whistle the classic tune relied upon by generations of lumberjacks and gold prospectors, it's raining men.

 There will be fumes. They are not to be inhaled (nausea! headache!). 

Once the lipstick seems to have completely liquified, delicately pour it into the pan without burning yourself. Leave to set. You can mix lipsticks (eg a sliver of a brown lipstick, a sliver of a pink) to make different shades. Experimenting is fun! My favourite shade here is the mix of Vasanti's Spain and Estee Lauder's Bois de Rose.

Here we have an array of well-melted and not-so-well-melted lipsticks (where I got impatient, and didn't wait for it to fully melt, are the blotchy bits). Yes, it's been used and loved. Just this and a lip brush is all I need.

Right to left

 Estee Lauder Tiramisu
Revlon lip butter Creme brulee
Estee Lauder Tiger eye

Rimmel paradise
Rimmel Kate Moss 14
Estee Lauder Rose tea

Revlon Copperglow berry + tiramisu
Revlon Copperglow berry
Bois de rose

Estee Lauder Tiramisu (again)
Rimmel amethyst shimmer
Rimmel amethyst shimmer (twice because I have several tubes of this)

Vasanti spain
Vasanti spain + EL bois de rose
boots sheer temptation delight

Guerlain Gigi
Revlon fuchsia fusion
Revlon love that pink

Boom Chicka Wow Wow

Long time, no post. For which there are several reasons, among them that I am still settling into the new house, like sludge water in a goldfish bowl that's been shaken around by a five year old boy, in the hopes of getting"fishie to wakie..why won't it wakie?"...Where am I even going with that? I don't know...

Also, and this is the major one, I spilled tea all over my brand new laptop, which the hubs had gotten me on my birthday, and...yeah.

Using another one now, but as it was my discarded laptop from eons ago, which my little brother had spilt tea on (this tipping over of tea cups runs in my family, as you can tell), it was a bit of a hassle getting it to run again.

Hmm. So. The title of this blog IS beauty, books and baby, so here are some short, sweet updates on all three..

Beauty: Nuxe Huile Prodiguiese Or < Spell that right? Hm.

Anyway this was quite a waste of cash, but is fun to shake the bottle to get the gold sediment to distribute evenly. Fragrance is okay, but not quite as nice or long-lasting as Tahitian Monoi oil, which Vasanti makes, for about 20 dollars I think...About 30-40 dollars cheaper than this Nuxe one...

Moisturizing properties...nil. Kinda sits on the skin. Makes hair crunchy, greasy.

Discovered a great use for this, though. Primer. Oil..primer...hear me out. FOR STICK FOUNDATION ONLY. I do this every day. If you use a dab of this to blend out your stick foundation (Bobbi Brown is mine), it will help the foundation last longer. Esp if you powder over the top.

 I hated my BB foundation stick because within 1 hour most of the coverage would be gone, despite powdering on top, but this fixed that and it literally lasts all day.

Magic? Some would say.

Also I sanitized the wand to my Diorshow Extase and use it in cheap drugstore mascaras, resulting in a fluttery false lash effect. I'm sure there's a tip in there somewhere.

Books: Brothers Karakamov by...zzz...
Difficult to keep track of the characters. But this is one of those 'dinner table' books that pretentious people like to bring up in between mouthfuls of wilted asparagus stalks. I didn't want to be left out.

A fun one: Fake It by Jennifer Byrne. Basically how to get on in various social situations, poking fun at the fakery we, or others, put ourselves through. Some of it hits really close to home (whatever you think about your in-laws, say the opposite...) but mostly it is simply good fun. A light-hearted read that you can dip into when you want a break from whittling flutes and planting tulips. Makes me chuckle heartily enough that my monocle falls out.

Baby: He's doing well, thanks for asking (you didn't). On solid foods now, taken a shine to avocadoes in particular. Very hyper, mischievous, likes to beat his stuffed toys to a pulp.

If you are sporting a ridiculous facial burn....

I got a very embarrassing and ugly scar From using FRIGGIN Veet wax strips- grr..

Here is how I took it down and helped it heal faster than it normally does (I get these burns at least 2ce a yr because I forget how bad Veet is and use it again).. Intuition worked with me at last...

-constantly dabbing the area with water or using a facial mist (alternated with omorovicza and vichy)- apparently dermatologists suggest that keeping the area moist is key to speedy healing
-putting on a hydrating oil serum with rosehip oil (SAAF ultimate moisture)
-really pressing it in (gently) - as i read loads of medical articles suggesting that gentle pressurenand massage will prevent the new skin that grows in from having a bumpy/rough texture
-taking a dab of nivea cream (the plain blue tub, German formula- incidentally the Canadian version is practically idental to German version- as compared to American), warming it between fingers, then dabbing it on

*i did this at least 5 times a day. within 3 days the scar had healed. Skin looked exactly as the skin surrounding it in terms of texture. However there was a bit of hyperpigmentation left. To take care of this I did a DIY facial mask every day. A bit of potato slice chopped really finely and pressed on also really helped (nobody was around to see how gorgeous I was with a potato hanging off my face, save baby)

The DIY mask is a traditional South Asian beauty treatment for brides. According to my gran the tradition was always to massage it in, really firmly, all over the body esp arms and legs, for 40 days and 40 nights (i.e. twice a day). Obviously the bride is too much of a delicate petal to do it herself so they get female relatives to do it... At the same time her feet are placed in warm water before being exfoliated with a black pumice stone, and there is a female relative at her head rubbing loads of overly aromatic, bordering on pungent, hair oils. Leave her to marinate, before getting her to wash it off and put on some fragrant body oils or cream. As a survivor of this treatment, let me tell you it made my skin flawless. i mean 40 days twice a day- how could it not? (Not really viable in modern day society- it was more like 20 days). The massage also helped calm down the pre-wedding jitters...

Anyway here it is:
Sandalwood powder
 gram/chickpea/rice flour (whatever's available)
Turmeric
Milk
Honey
Rosewater
Freshly squeezed lemon juice


They pretty much eyeballed it and I do too, but trust me, it's amazing for fading hyperpigmentation...

And in the meantime to cover up that heinous mark, I used Vichy Dermablend Corrective foundation, God's gift to sporadic Veet users everywhere.

Miss Dior Cherie Bow (Review)

I had to get the Miss Dior Cherie Bow palette. The packaging = glorious cuteness, cute gloriousness, whichever way you look at it (on your head or sideways).

In terms of a review, I don't want to be honest.

I want to praise it to the skies.

 I love it and have been using it EVERY DAY since acquisition.

But the truth is that it...no I won't say it! OK I will: only the eyeshadows are good.

Of which there are only three, and pretty dull colours. They work better in conjunction with other shadows, useful to have, but so boring on their own.

The gel liner sucks. It smudges, hard to get on lids, etc.
The lipgloss is moisturizing but also, sucky. I have a Dior travel palette in which EVERY ITEM is a keeper, glosses included, it's puzzling why they would release something so mediocre. Recession chic... Sheikh Recession..

Frankly, most people require each item to dazzle / delight, in a palette, in order for them to fork over their life savings. But me different (loco).
This is the 2nd time in a row Dior has disappointed me. I was still reeling from the bitter letdown, that was their travel brush set (brushes shed, don't work as well as my Ecotools ones...could've spent that cash on two sets of Real Techniques)...

But all's well that ends well. Because I get a genuine thrill of little-girl-joy from it, something I haven't gotten since the days of tea parties with teddy bears, Mrs Bunny, and the whole string of her "friends and relations". I find excuses to use it every single day. This is something Minnie Mouse would keep in her purse along with a string of plastic pearls and a slice of cheddar.



Day look

Estee Lauder Mochachino cream shadow as base, followed by all three eyeshadow shades, lightest to darkest. Nothing on lower lash line.

Same look carried into evening (Arabic smokey eye):

Essence's black gel liner on both upper and lower lash lines, winged out. (Tried to use the gel liner included in the Dior palette, but it was a fail)

 In between the two wings, a flick of the palest pink eyeshadow.

More dark shadow piled onto lid. More mascara.
 Nothing on waterline.
 Quite authentic, as I saw many Saudi women do this exact type of makeup.

Items used:

Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist

Guerlain primer

Omorovicza Complexion Enhancer (not in pic)

Diorskin Nude Sculpting Powder

Annabelle Haute Chocolate used to contour

Estee Lauder cream shadow Mochachino

Dior Cherie Bow Palette

MAC Expensive Pink on outer 3rd of lid (to add warmth)

Fyrinnae Evocation on inner corner (sparkle)

Rimmel Paradise lipstick

Alternative to Chanel Notorious

For those of you who missed out on Chanel Notorious (or came, saw, and passed up for a Glossimer instead), have I got a dupe for you!

Try Annabelle Haute Chocolate eyeshadow trio! Yes, an eyeshadow trio, available only in Canada, land of moose cake and beaver pie.

So. Ahem. Completely ignore the darker, glimmery shade.
What you want to use are the two lighter, matte shades, with any angled contour brush.

 It takes just a dab, right where your cheek hollow IS (or would be), and then blend a smidgen--boom! Cheekbones! Egad! C'est ne pas possible!

But if you went heavy-handed by accident because you were busy fuming about how fast you finished that box of Lindt Chocolates which were SUPPOSED to last a month....well, just take a bit of your regular face powder or a bronzer and blend it out!

Jaadoo.

Now, were I a proper, dedicated blogger, this would be accompanied with high quality pictures, a nice before & after.

But because my sister has my camera, you get...nothing.

 Just trust me.

Annabelle trios are like, what, seven dollars? Maybe less? And if it doesn't work on your face (though I bet my dwarf pony it will), it makes for a beautiful look on the eyes.
I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It also happens to be praised to the skies on Makeupalley, and you know how discerning those gals are.

In other news, Guerlain Meteorites perles primer is THE SHIZZLE. FO DIZZLE MA GIRLIZZLES..
I used to hate this thing on myself (young, proud, noble bearing). "I get the same result mixing Benefit High Beam with aloe vera!"

Howver, I did love it on my mom, whose makeup I often do under the pretense of giving her a "facial" (yes, skincare is involved. But when she, unsuspecting, has relaxed sufficiently, on goes the makeup...heh). Her skin looked less parched, more fairy princess. (Same thing goes for the Guerlain Ballz...suit her to a T!)

Now that His Royal Plumpness occupies most of my attention, day and night, I can't do without it. With the scarcity of sleep  comes the need for illuminating products. And this is top-notch, because it 1. smells good (brain happy. soul sucking Dementors, not so much), 2. helps makeup last longer, probably, 3. lends the glow that used to be under monopoly of pretty Russian supermodels.

Plus there is something so satisfying about pushing the pump and ruthlessly crushing the tiny little balls into a luscious, sparkly gel  (someone could make a joke out of that, fit for less prissy company than mine and thine, n'est-ce pas?). Kinda like bubble wrap for grownups...I mean PRINCESSES.

 No 7 instant radiance éclat, MAC strobe cream, those are functional, sure, but are they pretty?

Do they blatantly resemble the little round candies that are usually suspended in layers of cupcake frosting? Do they have a swirly logo engraved on them?

My point is that the ostentatious and obnoxiously overpriced stuff is usually, definitely, absolutely worth it.


In other news, lemme share a bit of coolness from my Facebook feed...
A genius named Hubert Duprat supplied these caddisfly larvae with gold and precious stones. They built these blinged-out, protective cocoons!