Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner

I am sure everybody has heard about it or used it. It’s been around for a while now and it’s an all time favourite, so had to do review about it. Better late than never, aye!

Pros:

• As the name suggest, it’s very long lasting and waterproof gel based eyeliner
• It just simply glides on without any effort.
• Comes in a wide array of colour, I have tried black ink, sepia ink and caviar ink
• Black ink is jet black
• Sepia is dark brown
• Caviar ink is grey black
• It’s very smudgable, if you want dramatic eyes, it’s your go to eyeliner
• It doesn’t come with a brush, so have to buy your own. The Bobbi brown eyeliner brush works great. Unless you buy the 2 piece set with brush on QVC or at the Duty Free (which is where I first bought it). The small brush is comes with is as good as the full size one. I always carry the small one with me.
• Its highly pigmented and gives a very intense colour.
• It’s  great for doing cat eyes, just glides on dries very quick. And doesn’t flakes or give you raccoon eyes.

Cons:

• None that I can think off.

My new favourite blush - Illamasqua Powder Blush - Ambition with Shimmer

Illamasqua is a British Brand, which has a cult status following. It is available at Sephora here in the US. 

Illamasqua Powder Blush - Ambition with shimmer

Pros:

• Highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way. Be careful with how much you put on that brush, when you get started. Don’t forget to shake off the excess.
• Staying power is quiet remarkable, better than any I have come across. It stays on the whole day without any primer, just on top of a regular moisturizer (STEAMCREAM for moi!)
• Great value for money $24/0.14oz, and you only need a dab so it last a long time.
• It’s very build-able, so can give you a natural flush to a very dramatic look with just an extra couple of brush stroke.
• Ambition is a neutral pink with shimmer.  A light dab gives you a very natural flush on my skin tone.
• Its shimmer done just right, not too subtle yet not to overwhelming either, perfect for a day look.
• Can provide a range of colours, with the same swatch depending on how lightly or intensely its applied.
• Doubles as an eyeshadow. (Don't you just love double duty products!)

Cons:

• The whole range is not available Stateside yet. But thank God for small blessing, that its available at Sephora.

STEAMCREAM too good to be true!

I have been religiously using STEAMCREAM since it arrived and loving what I am seeing:

 Pros:

• Extremely light weight, just like putting whipped cream on your face.
• Enriched with goodness of a wide array of natural ingredients, which are all combined using steam technology.
•  Ingredients ranging from essential oils to oatmeal infusion.
• Smells heavenly with hints of lavender. 
• Comes in an array of absolutely gorgeous tins, worth buying just for the collectable tins.
• It’s an all in one cream so not just for you face.
• For all its natural goodness its very reasonably priced at $18/75ml (GBP 12.95)
• Leaves your face feeling moisturized and supple, it feels hydrated all the way. You can feel a noticeable difference in your skin, when used on a regular basis.
• Let alone your hands, even your feet will thank you. Goodbye dryness, hello silky smoothness.
• After reading a tweet I event tried a dab on my hair ends, and away with the frizz, which by the way I have plenty off.
• Good for all skin types and genders. And a little goes a long way.
• Unlike most products in the US, it comes with an expiration date.

Cons:

• They had run out of the Jubilee tin, the one I really wanted.
• The name STEAMCREAM doesn’t do it justice, it should really be called DREAM CREAM (but I guess that already exists, another lush product), so perhaps even MIRACLE CREAM

Would you give up your seat?

Priority Seating MRT Singapore

Yes it as persons with disabilities. Does that include pregnant women?

Priority Seating in UK

Priority Seating on the Subways in NYC (US)

Priority Seating in Japan

From the UK to Singapore to Japan, everybody clearly understands who the priority seating applies to, but in the U.S. being pregnant comes under the “people with disabilities” term.

What is that about? Is pregnancy considered a disability here? I guess that’s why when you go on maternity leave, it’s not maternity leave at all – it’s disability leave. At least that is what they call it where I work. Categorize it as you will, but either way a pregnant woman deserves to get a seat on the subway? Is she “disabled enough” to be offered a seat?

I have seen many people being courteous enough and give up their seats to pregnant women many times. I have done it myself. But at the same time you see a lot of people who don’t. Are they ignorant? Are they just plain rude? Or do they just not care? Or does giving up one’s seat not apply to pregnant women as they are not disabled? As per subwaymom, pregnancy doesn’t imply disability.

If it’s not the law, it should be the law. Give an expecting mother a seat. No man in this word could go through what this woman goes through. It’s a miracle and some women go through hell to have a baby – sickness, bed rest, being hospitalized. So please be polite and offer her a seat and provide her a comfortable journey.

As a developed country, the U.S. has 0 weeks of maternity leave. What is that about? I doubt they will make it a law to give up your seat to a pregnant woman when they don’t really give them time off to have a baby and recover before they get back to work. Unfair? Hell yeah! But if you want to live the American dream and have a vagina, well, then you just got to pop out the baby and get back to work. That’s the way things are in the “Greatest Nation in the World”. Perhaps I sound bitter, it’s probably because I am.

My bitterness about the maternity benefits stateside aside, would you give up your seat to a pregnant woman on the subway?

Image sources:
http://blog.girishm.in/2009/07/priority-seating.html
http://subwaymom.blogspot.com/2010/06/is-that-legal.html
http://transitculture.blogspot.com/2010/05/week-2-riding-train.html

Tory Burch Sample Sale Price Reductions

Final two days with additional markdowns.

Friday 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Clothingline 

SSS Sample Sales 

261 W 36th Street (between 7th & 8th Ave) 

2nd Floor

New York, NY 10018

Tory Burch Sample Sale for Women ready to wear, bags & footwear

All FOOTWEAR AND BAG SALES ARE FINAL!

The dressing room will be open for try-ons but closes 1/2 hour prior to close of store. Our entrance and selling floor closes 10 minutes prior to close of store.

Steamcream

 

I am sure you have heard about the Steamcream from the UK. Its now available in the US as well. Its all-in-one (face/hands/body) cream handmade in the UK and Japan and uses steam to fuse together its natural ingredients. Find out more about it on their website.

I finally got my Steamcream, yesterday. I ordered it over the Jubliee weekend from steamcream.co.uk,  when they had the free shipping (yes even to the US) and Voila! its here and I absolutely love it.

 

I ordered it in Freedom, which is the container with the Union Jack on it. It comes in a wide variety of tins, each as gorgeous as the other.

 

I will do a proper review after putting it to good use, but so far I am liking what I see. It smells of lavender and its very light, its almost like applying lavender flavoured whipped cream on your face.

So far I am loving it. Watch the space.

Mac and Cheese for Toddlers

Mac and Cheese with Veggies for Toddlers:

150g-200g of elbow macaroni (roughly half a packet)
1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon butter
150 ml of milk
3-4 slices of American cheese
1/2 carrot (small)
2 teaspoons of chopped broccoli
2 teaspoons of chopped spinach

1. Add water to pan and bring it to a boil and add the pasta to it. Add a pinch of salt and a couple of drops of olive oil or if you prefer butter. Cook as per the instructions until soft enough.
2. Take a pan melt butter and add flour to it on medium heat. Stir continuously for 3-5 minutes, until the flour is slightly cooked and changes colour slightly. Then add milk to it and keep stirring to prevent lumps from forming. Increase the heat to bring to a boil then reduce the heat.
3. While the white sauce is cooking add the finely chopped vegetables to it.
4. Keep stirring the sauce with veggies until the veggies are cooked and the sauce is a thicker consistency, if it gets too thick, add some water to it and stir until the veggies are soft. You may cover it if you like.
5. Add mixed herbs and black ground pepper to it and when the sauce it ready add the cheese slices to it and stir until it melts.
6. Stir for another couple of minutes until the cheese it completely melted then mix pasta to the sauce. Keep cooking in the pan for 5 minutes so the sauce sticks to the pasta and its nicely coated with the cheese sauce or alternative you can to bake it for 20-30 mins, but eating it without baking tastes good too.

Tips:

• Just add a pinch of salt to the pasta, don't add any salt to the sauce as American cheese can be salty and adding salt to the sauce can make it too salty. I try and limit the salt intake.
• Adding oil olive/butter to pasta prevents it from sticking together.
• You can use whatever veggies your kids like e.g. peas, beans, or even pre-cooked chicken.
• Cut the pieces according to what you child can easily eat. But chopping them finely ensures that it cooks quicker.

Total prep and cooking time is roughly 40 mins (without baking).

Even DH enjoyed it, even though he's not a big fan of home made mac and cheese.

Tory Burch Sample Sale at Clothingline

Starting

Tuesday June 12

Tuesday 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Wednesday 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Thursday 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Friday 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Clothingline 

SSS Sample Sales 

261 W 36th Street (between 7th & 8th Ave) 

2nd Floor

New York, NY 10018

Tory Burch Sample Sale for Women ready to wear, bags & footwear

All FOOTWEAR AND BAG SALES ARE FINAL!

The dressing room will be open for try-ons but closes 1/2 hour prior to close of store. Our entrance and selling floor closes 10 minutes prior to close of store.

Kiehl's Vital Sun Protection Lotion SPF 40

Vital Sun Protection Lotion SPF 40 
Pros:

• Very light weight and very easily absorbed.
• Safe on kids (pediatrician tested)
• SPF 40
• $19.50/5oz
• Protects against UVA/B spectrum
• Has minimal chemical ingredients
• Last up to 80 minutes in water.

Cons:

• SPF could be higher.

Simple Facial Clensing wipes

 

 I have been using these for almost 6 years now and sometimes I find something new and like to try them out but I always come back to this:

Pros:

• $6 (approx) for 25 wipes.
• Very gentle on the skin and has no harmful chemicals.
• Frangance free
• The makeup comes off easily, even your (waterproof) mascara along with any dirt and grime. Leaving your face feeling clean to the pores.
  
• They are a good size so you never really need more than 1. I even use them to clean my brushes when I am in a rush.
• Pro-Vitamin B5 and glycerine really does help soften and smoothen the skin.
• No alcohol, or oil - so it's non-drying and non-greasy.
• Dermatologist tested
• Ophthalmologist tested (safe for use on your eyes).

Cons:

• The wipes isn't the softest of materials (unlike some of the others I have tried, but are not as effective as this) but I guess that just helps it loosen all the accumulation on your face.

Now readily available in the US, at CVS, Walmart, some Duane and Reades as well.
Best cleansing wipes.

Sugary drinks: what is your take?

There is the whole controversy going about sugary drink intake. I have discussed with a lot of people, some are extremely offended by it, saying its a slippery slope, where does it end. Others are more like meh! what’s the big deal, I don’t really care. But I have not yet seen anybody who is ready and open to embracing the idea.
I personally think that you can’t really tell people what to drink or eat, but I guess putting on a limit to the consumption of unhealthy sugary drinks available with your meal is not a bad idea. When you get something with your meal you end up consuming most of it. Like her in the US if you get a large drink at a cinema is like a bucket size. I honestly don’t see why people would want to drink so much coke/sprite etc but I have seen people buy it and while you watching a 2 hour movie you end up consuming most of it if not all of it.
Our idea of normality changes depending on where we live, for example in the UK at McDonalds you get smaller portion (coke is what I am using as an example):

• UK Small is 105kCal with 26g sugar
• UK Medium is 170 kCal with 42g sugar
• UK Large is  210 kCal with 53g sugar

While in the US at McDonalds:

• US Child is 110kCal with 29g sugar
• US Small is 150kCal with 40g sugar
• US Medium is 110kCal with 29g sugar
• US Large is 110kCal with 29g sugar

Check out Sugarstocks to get visual idea of how much sugar there really is in each portion, looking at it might surprise you a little.
Even a child size portion is bigger than a Small portion in the UK and there you get Small as a standard size with your food. Its just normal, that’s the normal amount of sugary drink intake you are expected to consume as that is the “industry standard” there. This is what is served.
While in the US everything is bigger, but that doesn’t necessary mean better. So what if Bloomberg wants to lower the sizes, after a while that is what will become normal and people will get used to it. That is how it works, if you want a bigger drink nobody is stopping you from getting a bigger size. Hey, if that not enough for you get two.
But for the next generation who grows up with a smaller size drinks that will the size they get used to consuming, which is beneficial in the long run compared to drinking buckets of sugar drinks.
I for one who definitely wouldn’t like my child to consume that much sugar in a day, especially now a days when everything from bread to a small serving of yopait has so much sugar in it. And being Indian we are genetically predisposed to get diabetes. I would do what I can to limit the intake of sugar for family whether Bloomberg is able to make this change or not. Would you?

future solution lx Ultimate Regenerating Serum

 

This was one of the items that came in the CN Style Society packages from Shiseido and was my favourite so I decide to write about it.

Pros:

• Very light
• Sinks right into the skin.
• Skin feels hydrated, supple and plumper
• Doubles as a primer, actually better than a primer
• Gives a glow to your skin
• A little goes a long way

Cons:

• Nothing except for a hefty price tag of $225 for 1 oz.

As much as I'd love to use it on a regular basis, I just can't afford to pay that much for a serum. I could put that much money to better use.