Ambika Pillai Contour Brush Review

Ambika Pillai brushes have weaned their way onto my vanity. Of all the brushes I have, these AP brushes are the most used ones. I have already reviewed a couple of the brushes from this range and thought of reviewing this after Vish asked about a good contour brush to use, I immediately thought of reviewing this one.

TO read the full review, click here.

MAC Peaches Blush Review & Swatches

A lot of you must recall the number of times I’ve spoken about my brother wrt my MAC buys. This time however, I’m back with a blush which I got from my hubs…or rather wheedled out of him  Remember I mentioned the Nubile Paintpot and the Deliciously Forbidden Lippy I got  from the Posh Paradise Collection 2mts earlier? I got this blush along with the lippy which was quite a shock to my better half..Why? Because dragged him to the store for the lipstick only…and then ofcourse I couldn’t resist the blushes…and in the end he couldn’t resist my puppy-dog look   But all’s well that ends well and I got my MAC Blush in Peaches!!!

For the full review, click here.

The Balm Bahama Mama Bronzer Review & Swatches

I’ve recently realised that I’m not just a blush-a-holic…I’m also a contour-o-holic! Whenever I’m browsing or shopping I’m automatically attracted to any matte shades I could use for bronzing and contouring. TheBalm Bahama Mama Bronzer is one of the best bronzers I’ve come across till date and I wanted to share my experience of using this with you all.

Check out the full review of this bronzer here.

TAGGED! : Makeup Collection & Storage :)

Deeps from Divassence, tagged me here on her tag post for Makeup Collection and Storage. I was a bit unsure and frankly a bit worried of being labelled a ‘show-off’ but then again, this I know is super helpful for those looking for storage options. I recall I had such a  hard time while organizing my stash and it took me a long time to find the right storage containers. Some advice and pics would have been really helpful. I still think I have a long way to go and keep hunting for better organizers and love this Tag Series for all the KSS I’ll be getting…I’m happy I get to contribute too! Thanks Deeps for tagging me! 

Here’s a few points before we begin:

1. All the products and organizers seen have been bought myself apart from a few items gifted to me. I’m neither showing off nor bragging so please don’t jump to negative conclusions.

2. I’m a compulsive organizer (my vanity only though)  and admit that some areas are a bit messy at the moment. But I’m perennially on the hunt for better organizers and hope to have a neater set-up soon. Any advice and tips are welcome.

3. This is a makeup collection and storage tag so I won’t be going into details of skincare. I’ll just attach a few pics if possible but will be sticking to the highlight… Makeup!!

Rules: 

• Every person getting tagged has to show the makeup they own, it doesn’t matters if you own a few or hoard a lot. The main motive is to share storage ideas.

• The person getting tag can tag a minimum of 3 fellow bloggers, and max as they wish

• You have to show “All” makeup stuff you’ve got.. no hide-n-seek allowed

• Don’t forget to mention how do you store your products.

• Last but not the least, you can include your skin care products too if you want.

So here goes…This is what my vanity looks like… I bought it right before my wedding and it was the only piece was furniture I selected alone. I’d gone hunting for a dining table and saw this Love at first sight it was!

My Vanity (I love it!)

The lighting isn’t too good in my vanity area, especially where the lower 4 drawers are concerned. So, I’ve removed 1-2 tubs from there and taken pictures separately to give you a base idea. But here’s a rough idea of what goes where:

On the top, I keep my liner stand, bangles, everyday skincare stuff and perfumes/ deos, Moisturizer & night cream, makeup remover, etc. here…basically stuff I use on a daily basis. I’m too lazy to open drawers everytime I need a single article so I keep these ready at hand. 

The makeup tower organizers are my most recent find. They are actually 2 Letter organizers I picked up from Landmark for about INR 1500 each. I know its a bit on the pricier side, but I was desperate for something neat and clean. They can be kept separately but I have stacked them since I find this more convenient. The body is not metallic like it seems..Its all Plastic with acrylic see through drawers. The top 3 drawers are more on the shallow side, but the last drawer is deep and tall enough to store larger items of makeup.  

I’ll be going through this tower from the top and here’s an idea of how I segregate them:

Drawer 1: Combs, LipBalms & Scrubs, Sample Sachets, Moisturizer, Foundation, TM, Concealor.

Those are my foundation in the front, lipbalms to the top right and concealors strewn all about.

Drawer 2: Brushes

It looks a bit messy but believe me this is actually in order

I know brushes are usually kept upright in stands, but there’s alot of construction going on in my area and somehow dust always gets in. even when I wipe the vanity in the morning, by evening there’s a fine layer of dust. Hence I keep my brushes in one of these drawers to keep them dust-free. I keep the face brushes to the left and the eye brushes to the right, Brushes which I don’t use are kept horizontally at the back.

Drawer 3: Here are my eye shadows which are not in larger palettes. I know there aren’t too many but I’m just learning and stick to shades I can wear on a daily basis…I also keep my painpot and other bases in this section.

This is the pic I took before I realised I hadn’t added the rest of my bases

Drawer 4: This is my first Blush drawer (yes the first ). I usually arrange them brandwise and by type so it makes it easier for me to find them. For eg, NYX Mosaic blushes on the extreme right in the front followed by the cream blushes. Or the MAC Mineralize blushes first towards the front on the extreme left followed by the others. I thought of having tinier bins inside this drawer to further organize but then thought that would just be overkill and left it alone…What do you think?

Blush Drawer No.1

Drawer 5 & 6: I keep all my lipsticks in these 2 drawers. I usually have all my lipsticks stacked together by brand but not necessarily all high end brands  or drugstore ones together.  For me it’s all about how I manage to fit them all together. Alot of us store our lipsticks upside down in boxes, but I don’t have that kind of space. Moreover, I like storing them horizontally since my mind recognizes them better this way and I know exactly which lipstick is where.

Lipsticks

More Lipsticks!!!

Drawer 7: This is where I keep my compact & finishing powders and all other eye stuff. So, my mascara’s, gel/cream liners, brow kit and lash curlers go in here. I also keep all the gel liner brushes in the same drawer so I don’t have any problem locating them.

My Finishing Powder, Compact, Mascaras, Gel Liners and brushes

Drawer 8: I have the rest of my blushes here. It may seem a little messy but there’s a method to my madness… To the left are all the Contour powders, bronzers and highlighters. These are all random and not arranged by brand. To the other side, I store the rest of my blushes which have a different shape in this drawer as well. Too Faced, Maybelline, TheBalm, Inglot cream blushes….all these babies go in here…Towards the rear, I have the tinier blush palettes from Pop Beauty, Meylon and Smashbox.

Blush Drawer No.2

Apart from this, I also keep my other liners (pencil & liquid) in this sectioned pencil holder. I keep the blacks and browns together, greens to one side and blues and purples on the other. the section in the front hold my liquid liners, kajal, sindoor, and lip concealor. I hook my tweezer also onto this in the front This stand has a very wide section in the back and when I keep liners they topple over each other so I keep my Z Palette and my MAC blush palette in there for easy reach.

My liner stand….The 2 palettes in the back are my MAC blush palette and the Z Palette where I keep my Inglot Blushes

Here are some palettes I have. I don’t use these too often and keep them inside one of the drawers stacked against the side. Alot of people stack them in a CD case or even in a file stacker. But since I don’t use them that often so I don’t keep it out to collect dust.

My Blush palettes (the contouring palette broke and 2 of the main shades were lost….clumsy me!  )

My Blush Palettes ( the contour and blush is broken..waahhhh!!!)

My 2 Coastal Scents palettes

My Coastal Scents Palettes

One is the 88warm palette and the other is the 26 palette which has 21 eyeshadows and 5 blushes.

This ends the makeup part of things. Here are some pics of other random things I have and how I’ve stored them in the larger drawers…

My Facepack tray
I got this tray from a local shop. It’s the most common kind of trays around and ideal for storage. 

My numerous face packs

Body Lotions and Perfumes, and hair accessories. I keep my J&J baby wipes here as well.

My Soaps and Lush Stuff

Nail Polishes and Nail care items
I store these upside down in a plastic storage box with divisions. I used to keep my blushes in this before since it used to help hold them upright..but then I ran our of space Now though, I’m actually planning to shift the nail stuff to those tiny plastic drawer organizers…Let’s see…That may be my weekend project

My NPs and Nail Art stuff…I forgot to add the stamping plates tho..

Hope you liked this and think this was useful in giving you an idea of how to organize your space.  :) Any suggestions and advice would be welcome.

Also for some extra tips, heck out Upsi’s storage ideas on here on her blog MakeupmyPassion

And here are the lovelies I’d like to tag

• Anamika from Wiseshe,

• Rashmi from Indyabeauty

• Jyoti from EverythingThatMatters

• Tanmayee from Celebrating Feminity

Wise She & Soulflower Rs1000 Gift Card Giveaway

Yes! It’s true…Wiseshe is back with yet another giveaway this week and I feel it just keeps on getting better n better..This time WiseShe & Soulflower are getting together for a INR 1000 Giveaway..

I’m already thinking about what all I could get…a few candles and soap maybe?? Hmm…

So whatcha waiting for? Go and check out the details of the giveaway here!

Tagged: 7 Deadly Sins

Wow! My first tag post….M quite excited i must say…When Jyo from ThingsThat MatterToMe, Upsi from MakeupmyPassion & Tanmayee from Celebrating Feminity tagged me in this segment, I  was so excited and couldn’t wait to do this. But since I was outta town, this was a bit delayed. So here goes…
The Q & A session. 
Q. What is your most inexpensive beauty product you love and why?
A. This beyond doubt has to be Boroplus. I love how quickly it repairs my chapped lips and/or irritated skin. I’m not fond of the whitish cast it gives to my lips and use it only when I’m at home or going to bed but it still remains one of my fav products…
Q. What is your most expensive beauty product you love and why?
A. My MAC Matte Bronzer. I am obsessed with contouring my ‘gol-gol’ face and don’t like the harsher and darker brown shades available. This is the exact shade for me which is neither too dark nor looks muddy on my skin. It’s a tad bit on the pricier side but then again, this ain’t getting over any time soon and I feel the price is totally justified
Q. Which beauty product you have love and hate relationship with? Name it.
A.  MAC Amplified Finish Lipsticks. I love the texture, but more often than not, it settles into my lip lines and looks a bit pruney by the end of the day. I’ve always wondered how I can love and a hate a lipstick formula at the same time…..
Q. What is your most delicious beauty product?
A. Ahh! Just thinking about this makes my mouth water and I’m sure it’ll be the same case with all of you…It’s The Body Shop’s Chocolate Sugar Scrub. It smells so heavenly that I feel like I could jump into a vat of the product and just lie there and not want anything in the entire world.
Q. Which product do you neglect due to laziness?
A.Toner. I am diligent when it comes to cleansing and moisturizing my skin, but I’m too lazy to apply toner. During the say I resolve to go home and use it but then once I’m in front of the mirror, my mind comes up with a 100 excuses NOT to use it..
Q. What beauty product makes you feel confident?
A. Blush! Blush!Blush! This may not be a surprise to those who know me though…I’m obsessed with blush and even choose my clothes depending on which blush shade I’d like to wear. Crazy Right??
Q. What traits you find attractive in opposite sex?
A. Honestly and the willingness to help around the house. I simply detest a Man who thinks that the home is a woman’s domain and that his job is done since he goes to work and earns the big bucks. I feel that even if the lady is a housewife, she deserves help from the Hubby …after all, taking care of a household ain’t child’s play.
Q. What items you would like to receive as a gift?
A. Hmm..In general, I’d say blushes and books. If I were to be more specific, I’d say I want to get all the books ever written by Jill Mansell and Julia Quinn (they are my fav authors right now) and all the blushes from ELF & NARS.

Thanx Girls for tagging me..This was a blast…I felt like a celebrity giving an interview

And here are my Girls who I’ll be tagging for this :

• Anamika from WiseShe
• Deepika from Divassence
• Rashmi from Indyabeauty
• Tanveer from Addicted to Blush
• Anks from Novice Makeup
• Emm from Circular In-Sanity
• Kejal from Nail Art and Things