Red and Blue

Blue is huge this season (you can say all you want it is the new black but, sorry black is black is black; the coolest colour ever!) and so are bold display of colours in general. I am not one to follow trends and generally appreciate and take inspiration from alternative styles even though my own style is quite mainstream mostly. Either way I am happy so many of my personal favourites have been trending for quite some time and will continue to. I will try not to blend in. I am not happy being a wallflower! Neither do I mind my personal tastes being followed by very many. Told once before I am full of contradictions.
What I mean is that I don't follow trends but just because my favourite styles are trending I won't run in opposite direction afraid of homogenity. I am sure I stand out. It's hard for me to blend in to the background for me. Honestly, not kidding!

Maybelline's Color Sensational Moisture Extreme Lipstick in Blushing Berry.

lookbook.nu is malfunctioning & the looks are not showing up...urghhh!
Wearing- Blue Top and Red Leggings.
Every time I get rid of one loose top(read, wear it to its extinction) I go get another one. I live in them most of the year doing classes, going grocery shopping and what not. This top will serve that purpose now..messed up my hair trying to tease it(!)

Fat, Fresh and Fashionable

Crystal Renn

30 Day Challenges-Day 4

I did not forget about the challenges I undertook. I just didn't want to mesh it with the other posts. And here I am with the 4th challenges

 Day 04 - A picture of your night

This photo was taken early on this January. It was winter in Calcutta and I had just bought my ankle boots featured *here* and *here* . My best friend was staying over and we got high (on fun) and started a photo session. I may have taken some of my best photographs that night. But I cannot reveal the ones showing her face(the best ones of the lot) here on my blog. She is a private person. (Now if you want to hire me and want to see my work that will be a different story. I have permission from her to do that as long as I never publish them anywhere).
It was one of those nights, the ones you remember; one of those nights where memories are made and good movies are watched and you talk the rest of the night away.

 Day 04 – A movie that makes you sad

I am someone who cries more watching movies than in real life. I have seen movies which have sad scenes I have seen movies which make you feel sad and joy at the same go. Right now I can think of this movie "Anjali" by Mani Ratnam. It is a Tamil film and I don't speak the language nor do I understand it. I have seen the Hindi version. Mani Ratnam is one the best directors of current times with films like Roja(featured in TIME magazines 10 Best Soundtracks of all time), Bombay, Dil Se(the 1st film in India to enter the UK Top 10). He has won multiple National Film Awards and International Film Festival Awards. The music is composed by Ilaiyaraaja who has composed more 4500 songs and worked on nearly a 1000 Indian films. I think this was his 500th film.
"Anjali"(1990) is the story of a family who have a mentally disabled daughter. I cried and cried and cried at the end. I have an elder sister who is similarly disabled, it was a story close to heart. It was superbly acted,scripted,edited and directed. Whatever be the dynamic between me and my family I would not have been me if not for them; all the bad, broken, dysfunctional, delusional yet optimistic parts owe a little bit to them.

Down with the Blues

I am not really supposed to wear any of my new clothes until the Puja. But I already did two outfit posts before *here*(the batwing top+neck piece+bag=new) and *here*(the chiffon cheetah print top is new). I couldn't resist it.
1st look
I posted a denim on denim look last night on lookbook.nu but since I had already made a blog post yesterday I didn't do another one just for the outfit. Nothing in this look is new. It's a really old denim jacket I use to wear about 10 years back. The blue jeans is relatively new as in bought earlier this year. I paired it with my red high tops I hadn't worn for quite a few months.

InFB Remix: Double Denim

2nd look
Confession - Ever since I saw Kajol dance in the front tying (midriff baring) shirt in the rain to the romantic "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" track 'mere khwabo me jo aye' I wanted a similar front tying top(no midriff baring for the not-so-flat-abs me).
Wish fulfilled finally after almost 15 years!! I am doing this last post with a new thing. I have to control myself till the pujas.
I am wearing this new shirt with a basic white tee, blue jeggings, and my Charles & Keith wedges.





1.Close up of my eye make-up
2.My new Colorama Verde Palmeira
3.How I look in glasses. Wearing glasses unless you have power or are advertising for them is so not cool guys!



Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
            and
Kajol in the shirt!in that song!

Healthy but a little less Wealthy

I shopped from Mango,Chemistry,Latin Quarters,VeroModa and Shopper's Stop

My Puja shopping is done. I shopped for 7-8hrs(1st time the hours stretched so long) with my best friend. The good thing was we finished our shopping in one day. But it drained us of all energy. We had a great day though. On the way it started pouring and the view was mesmering as the rain splattered the car windows and the beautiful green trees swayed majestically against the stormy sky. It was some feeling to stare up and see the rain drops falling down from the charcoal bright sky.

I had a light green before but I never owned this shade. I think I have a full set of VIBGYOR now with some more in varying shades. This Colorama Verde Palmeira reminds me of unripe mangoes I had seen hanging from the branches of our Mango tree every year before summer set in. It was somehow calming to see them bow down over our roof as the afternoon breeze swayed the branches gently. Unfortunately it was cut down (alongwith a Neem tree) to accommodate a building in the neighbourhood.

Cool and refreshing cucumber slices with multigrain bread makes a light and filling sandwich. Add a layer of spread cheese if you don't mind the calories and feel the taste change.

I made a quick microwave chicken that day because I forgot to have lunch earlier. The gravy is basically a smooth mash of 1 boiled potato, 3 tblspn of extra virging olive oil, dried chives, salt & pepper, one green chilli, 5 garlic cloves, and 1 semi mashed tomato and 1/2 green bell pepper. Thawing the chicken and mixing it with the mash was easy. As I set this aside in the fridge for a few minutes I greased a microwave proof dish & microwaved it for 8 minutes at 750W.
P.S-there are onions in it too.

Have a great weekend!

Ask Me Anything

Shades of Red

Colour of blood
It is the colour of wine
Passion is red,passion is divine
Rivers run its shade
It is also the colour of dead

Durga Puja is now just a few weeks away. People are still shopping. So am I. I am doing budget shopping this time. I will buy only what I need.
You guys do know Durga Puja is the biggest festival for the Bengalis? We worship Ma (mother) Durga for 5 days. Its 5 days of fun, celebration, meeting of friends, meeting of families, pandal hopping, eating & wearing new everything. A Bengali's puja is wasted if they don't spend it here during those days. Calcutta is the best place to be then if you are a true Bengali. It all starts with the Mahalaya and ends on Bijaya Dashami. We end it all each year with the promise of the coming year. It is like no other celebration all the world over!

What is fall shopping to you is Puja shopping for us.



a new neck piece from Shopper's Stop

Shade of Red 1 - my new red bag from a street shop.it was just 3$(Rs.150)

Shade of Red 2 - boots non-brand




Brown Batwing Top from Chemistry
Black Skirt and Leggings non-brand
Shade of Red 3 - My red lips

Make-up Products I am wearing here-

1.      Avon ideal shade concealer stick (light wheat)

2.      Maybelline dream matte mousse foundation (nude light 4)

3.      Avon simply pretty big eye pencil (emerald)

4.      Revlon eyeliner pencil crayon pour le yeux (black)

5.      Avon supercurlacious mascara

6.      Avon ultra color rich lipstick red

Also thanks a ton to Misstarshiny for my very 2nd blog award!!

I am so happy!!!(Read the news page to see who I have forwarded this to)

Hype me on Lookbook if you have an account!

Hair Colour Gone Wrong

I like saving money(since I don't earn I should say I don't like spending my parents' money too much). I have known the basics of putting in colour in the hair and last year sometime I put in a few reddish brown streaks in my hair. I was a total noob and I was very impressed at my work even if I say so myself. When the colour started fading I got a packet of Garnier Cherry Red to put in red streaks this time. And I was happy again. I knew red was my colour and I was gonna stick with that.
I got a bit bored of just streaks and seeing endless redheads all over the Internet I had this urge to go all out this time. Colouring the whole head meant I had to be careful and so I went out and bought this new hair colour that has been launched in the market. Wella Kolestint Exotic Red 55/46 was the colour I bought by wasting my mother's 500 bucks. That is half a grand in Indian Rupee.
This is what happened:
1)I put on the pre-colouration treatment they had in their kit as instructed.
2)I mixed the entire contents in a mixing bowl in the 1 minute I was supposed to keep that pre-colouration crap in my hair.
3)Carefully put the colour in my hair.
4)After waiting for 45-50mins I went to wash out the thing.
5)Used the conditioner they had given. Which did make my hair super soft later.
(They gave a nice pair of latex gloves which I have kept. Maybe a latent murderer in me is pre planning)

Result: Too traumatised to put up a photo of myself yet. I will show you my face(hair) again, but later.
           My scalp is more red than my hair. My hair doesn't even look red unless I am standing under strong light and that too is looking abysmally boring.
The scalp colour was due to my own mistake I agree. But having a mere burgundy under the light is a dang disappointment.
No I didn't expect to have hair as red as Rihanna but I didn't spend so much to have this kind of colour and super soft hair(I can use a good conditioner for that thank you and for cheaper too).
Thankfully I have no outing or big event to attend like this. And thank heavens for that!!
They will have a million reason pointing out it was my mistake of putting in the colour wrong and all that but sorry I used Garnier Cherry Red before; it was both cheaper and gave a visible red shade with no use for bleaching prior to colouring.
All their ads are all about how it visibly changes your hair for the better and makes everyone take notice. If me and the people I know can't see it when they know I have colour then I don't think others will notice shit.

I am sorry for my language but I am extremely upset and even through massive hair fall I have not been so unhappy with my hair. Hell I have not been so massively upset with any imperfection(including terrible stretch marks) of my body!
These are 2 other reviews I found of Wella- 1.HairynotScary and 2.WellaKolestintHAirColourReview

I am afraid of colouring my hair again because of this. I know I need time to recover. I know the bad ass and rather annoying optimist in me will be encouraged to colour again.

P.S.- 24/12/2011- The bad ass and rather annoying optimist in me hasn't yet emerged. The colour leached out completely after a couple of weeks. I haven't coloured my hair anyway since then.

Till then know a bit more about pre-Wella me in this interview with Funmilayo I. of InspirationandBeyond *here*

Ask Me Anything completely anonymously on my new Formspring if you like

P.S-This is not a sponsored post and I'm unlikely to ever but Wella Hair Colours.

Review for Nature's Company Products

Nature’s Company was kind enough to send me 2 of their products to review them.

Their products are

• Eco friendly

• Peta approved (cruelty free & vegan)

• Recyclable

I will give you the pros and cons of the products based on my experience of using them. I got so excited that I showed them off to everyone in the house. Anyway as usual I stray.

They have 5 ranges. They sent me over Lemon Peel Exfoliating Body Wash from the Starrize range and the Apple Guava Hair Cleanser (Shampoo) from their Foressence range.



Ingredients



Lemon Peel Exfoliating Body Wash (Price- 17$ or Rs.775)

Pros:

1. It has a fresh citrusy smell.

2. It softens the skin.

3. I didn’t need a lot of it to lather. I took 4-5 drops on my loofah.

4. It is a gentle product. I have slightly sensitive skin.



Ingredients



Apple Guava Hair Cleanser (Price- 16$ or Rs.725)

Pros:

1. It has a very nice smell. My hair had a faint fragrant smell even after 12hrs.

2. I use a conditioner every time I shampoo my hair. But I didn’t need to with this.

3. It didn’t weigh down my (thin) hair. It actually gave a bit of volume.

4. Even if it is for dry hair, I have used it without a problem on my absolutely oily hair.

5. Needed a very little amount.

Cons:

The cons for both products are same.

1. They smell very nice. But those who don't like fruity scents may not love this.

2. They are not easily available everywhere. But you can buy the products online. I have heard the delivery system is pretty good.

3. No one in my family has dry hair so I can’t tell how effective the shampoo will be on dry hair.



I am wary of how much I spend but I try not to crimp on hair & skin products since they can do severe damage in the long run. So I don’t think you will regret spending your money on this.



Conclusion:

1. I will use their products again. I really liked what I used.

2. I will see if it effects the massive hair fall I have been experiencing.

 

 

I chopped off my hair a bit. I have done nothing to my hair apart from shampooing it with the Apple Guava Shampoo today.

charles & keith gladiators(zebra pattern+gold details)

I am wearing -Cheetah print chiffon Blouse from Vero Moda

             Blue Jeggings from Pantaloons

 
P.S.- Yippee for the new followers!! :-D

 

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