Siahi -Yes It Is All It's Cracked Up To Be (And More MAC Mickey Contractor Products)

Can I tell you how excited I was that Bollywood makeup artist extraordinaire Mickey Contractor was doing a collection with MAC! Almost as excited as I was when I got engaged!

Ok, maybe not really. But it was close! I am a HUGE fan of Mickey Contractor and all his work on the gorgeous actresses in Bollywood.

Now that I have some of the products in my hands, I am going CRAZY!!! Being Indian, I can totally see how this collection makes sense....they are the epitomy of what most Indians like when they are getting their makeup done. It's either neutrals, a la the eyeshadow quad and lipsticks, or brights, like the new shadows and fluidlines.

Over the next few days, I will let you in on my faves, starting with my fave piece of makeup: eyeliner.

MAC Fluidline in Siahi from the Mickey Contractor Collection 

You can use this gel liner and draw a thin line for a more opaque, precise look, or smudge it out to get more of a brighter, smoky look. You can even use this all over the lid (blended well) as a base for teal/blue/black shadows. All I have to say is I might be seeing teal for the next few months.

In the pic above I used Siahi to draw a thin line on my upper lash line. This is definitely a more natural look, but I can see myself pairing it with golds, creams, and blue shadows for a more dramatic effect.

What do you think of Siahi? What products are you lemming from the Mickey Contractor Collection?

Get Ready For Your Photo-Op!!!! Just Skip Smashbox's Photo-Op!!

Hello friends. I am your Kajal Couture blogger. Are you tired, run-down, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems might be this little bottle tube. Vitamitavegamin. Smashbox's Photo-Op Under Eye Brightener.

(If you didn't catch on to that intro, it's from the famed I Love Lucy Show.)

So maybe I haven't been getting pooped out at parties, but I definitely went through some mega life changes this year, and have made concealer my best friend. I was hoping this would be my concealer substitute. 

Wearing undereye concealer only 

 Smashbox's Photo-Op Under Eye Brightener swiped over concealer 

Wearing Smashbox's Photo-Op Under Eye Brightener over concealer 

Yes it has brightening effects, but it does not help conceal or diminish darkness. It is too light in color and too sheer. It didn't make any difference whatsoever. I tried it mixed with concealer, without concealer, under concealer, over concealer, and did not notice any improvement. I have a feeling this product may only work for those with a fair complexion who have light under eye circles.   

Kajal Couture Rating: C-

So back to my little tube of concealer. What's your HG regimen for hiding under eye circles?

Holiday Present Packaging? To Keep Or Not To Keep?

Ok, so this was a present to myself from myself.....the Philosophy Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Girl body washes....and the packaging is absolutely adorable!

The front opens up and it is like a little dollhouse:

How cute is that?!?! The material is a thick cardboard so it is pretty sturdy and if I keep the box closed I could easily use it to store small pieces of makeup or other tid bits, but where would I display it? Do I keep it hidden and use it just for storage? Do I display it all year round even though it obviously looks like it is for the holidays/winter? Do I chuck it? What would you do?

Happy Holidays and Other Tid Bits

Hello Lads and Lassies! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I didn't get much chance to check in with you because I was with family all weekend. I experienced many firsts in the last few days:

1. My first Christmas as a married woman

2. My first Christmas with my in-laws

3. My first Christmas away from my family (sniff, sniff)

4. My first snow storm

This is the snow piled on the ledge outside our window.

5. My first time attending a Blue Man Group Show

This show was AMESOME! I didn't know what to expect and even now I can't describe it, but it is hilarious and super entertaining. I HIGHLY recommend it! After the show we met the 3 blue men and one of the guys touched his blue head with his thumb and stamped my playbill. Yes, it was real blue paint!!

What were some of the highlights of your Christmas weekend? What are you doing for New Years Eve?   I don't have any plans yet but I always prefer house parties over going to a club....somehow on NYE going out becomes so overrated and expectations for fun are too high. 

MAC Cham Pale Must Haves

The MAC Cham Pale and Stylishly Yours collections will be in stores in a few days, on Dec. 26th, but I did get a chance to try out some of the products and the Cham Pale collection is totally up my alley, as I prefer neutrals and sparkle! Here are my must haves:

1. Eye Kohl in I Get No Kick:

This pencil has a great champagne color and is great for lining the waterline and is more natural than using a white pencil. It is also good for highlighting the inner corner of the eye (apply directly and smudge with finger or pencil).

It is definitely shimmery but looks great and is a unique shade. I prefer it over the Fascinating Eye Kohl because it looks more natural and complements the skin tone well.

2. Paint Pots!! I love them all! I use them as shadow bases (they work better for me than Urban Decay Primer Potion), and as a single wash of color on the lid when I am in a hurry. My fave is the shade Let Me Pop:

It looks like it might be a pigmented coppery/rose gold shade in the tub, but it swatches quite sheer.

It is more shimmery than pigmented, and when blended out more, it just looks like a rose gold colored shimmer.

Here it is in action on my lid. I applied it with my finger and am wearing it by itself with nothing other than mascara. (Don't mind the small brow hairs...I threaded soon after taking this photo). I will definitely be using this all holiday season, into spring and summer, and I think it is great for parties or as a base for any color. The best part? It doesn't crease or fade. LOVE!!! I recommend checking out all the shades as they are all fantastic! All shades are on the sheer and shimmery side, but they are all beautiful.

3. My last absolute must have is the nail lacquer in Soiree. I first thought it might look like rose gold (I just picked up a rose gold watch and now I am in love with everything rose gold).

When worn on the nails, it is more of a platinum meets rose gold shade. It is simply a gorgeous shade than can be worn year round. This one is definitely frosty, and applies without streaking..a plus for MAC nail polishes!

I really liked everything from this collection but these products were the ones that stood out the most to me. I love lip gelees so I def recommend those as well, but the ones in this collection are all super shimmery, and I would have liked to see at least one non-shimmery shade. I also like the lavender Fix +, as I love Fix + and the fragrance in it is like a nice bonus!

What do you think? Will you be picking up anything?

Urban Decay $2 Blowout!!!

Today on Hautelook, Urban Decay is having a blowout sale with many products costing as low as $2!! Yes, TWO dollars! If you aren't a member yet, click here to sign up!

Glow Like an Angel with Smashbox Halo Powder

Wouldn't it be great if life were like the Jetsons and you could step in into a room, automatically get showered and dressed and have your make up put on by a robot? Well maybe someday...

In the meantime we can keep ourselves busy with the current technologically enhanced beauty developments, like the Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder.

I got this a couple months ago and have been using it nonstop. It has an advanced formula of different peptides and is supposed to minimize the aging flaws in our skin. So does this work?

YES!!!

Awesome fact #1: This compact has a built in mirror.

Awesome fact #2: This powder comes as a pressed powder,  and has a swivel shaver blade, so it takes the pressed powder and shaves it so you get loose powder. The more your turn the shaver, the more loose powder you get. This feature is awesome cuz you don't have to worry about the mess of loose powder and you won't waste any product.

Awesome fact #3: This product goes on flawlessly. It is not cakey or ashy, it gives a flawless finish on both oily and dry skin.

Awesome fact #4: The powder actually lives up to its claims! It looks better on the skin the longer you wear it. When you first apply it, it looks good. 10 minutes later it looks even better. An hour later your skin looks flawless. This means it actually does help minimize the appearance of fine lines and pores. What's not to love!!??!?

Awesome fact #5: This product comes with a good quality kabuki brush. It is smaller than most full size kabuki brushes but it actually works really well so I think it's the perfect size to keep in the purse for touchups.

Awesome fact #6: You can use this as a finishing powder, to blot oil, or buffed in to the skin as a light foundation. It's definitely multi-purpose!

Awesome fact #7: It might seem pricey up front, but it's a pretty good deal. Yes, you have to shell out $59, but you are getting 0.75oz of product for that much. What does that mean? You are paying $78.67 per ounce of product. The MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (my other go to powder) is only $26 but you only get 0.35oz of product, which comes out to $74.29 per ounce, just a few dollars less than Smashbox. Plus with the Smashbox Halo powder you have a built-in mirror and you get a brush.

Not So Awesome Fact: There are only 4 shades of this powder. That being said, unless you are on the extreme size of the skin color spectrum, one of the 4 shades will probably work for you. I am an NC30 in MAC foundation and I wear the shade Light and it is perfect for me. Now there is a chance you could be between shades, so I recommend trying this out at Sephora or a department store and then stepping out into sunlight to see how well it matches.

Kajal Couture Overall Rating: A+

I highly recommend the Smashbox Halo powder and it now has a permanent home in my makeup collection. Have you tried this awesome powder?

Holiday Spirit!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!!!

I am such a cheeseball when it comes to the holidays!! I love the decorations! I love the spirit of giving! I love time with friends and family! I love the cheer! I love the music (yes, that's me with the Mariah Carey Christmas album on repeat)! I love the sweets!!!

Oh and I love the shopping! But I tend to shop for myself just as much as I shop for others. Shhhh.....don't tell Santa!! =)

In the spirit of the holidays, I enjoy baking all sorts of treats, but occasionally I can't help but get ready made ones. Look at the amazing treats I found at Trader Joes the other day:

I never had a whoopie pie before, but this is the start of a new treat addiction!

Yes, these are even more delicious than they look!

I am OBSESSED with gingerbread. Even to the point where I have gingerbread pajamas!

What are your favorite things about the holiday?

Is Going Natural Really Worth Smelling El Naturale?

Put yo' hands up! Put yo' hands up! Put yo' hands up if you like smelling like rotten cucumbers!!

If your hands are waving through the air, you might like Fresh's popular Soy Face Cream:

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you how effective this is because I couldn't wear it more than once! This stuff smells like rotten cucumbers that need to get chucked, not smeared on your face. Now, no offense to Fresh, because I do like some of their other products (hello Brown Sugar Scrub!), but I expected a brand that makes some great scented products to be able to take the smell out of a cream that is going to be rubbed on your face, including the upper lip, where you are exposed to the putrid smell allll...daaaayy....looong. 

What I did notice is that this moisturizer is creamy and very moisturizing, and probably better for dryer skin, or all skin types in the dry winter months. I know this line has a huge following, and they use a lot of natural ingredients in their products, so it probably has some good benefits, but I couldn't stick to it long enough to find out.

Have you tried anything from the Fresh Soy line?

Reader Request - Rani Mukherjee Makeup Breakdown

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, with the Thanksgiving holiday.....shopping.....cooking...and, oh yeah, that little thing called work......I didn't have time to sit down and converse with you!

So I recently received a request to do a makeup breakdown for Bollywood Acress Rani Mukherjee's look in the photo below, so here it is:

Since Rani is attending a special event, she has pretty heavy makeup. Here's  how you can achieve this look at home:

Face:

1. Moisturize skin. My all-time fave is the MAC Lightful Deep Ultramoisture Creme.
2. Apply a primer without SPF. My current fave is the Stila One Step Correct.
3. Apply a medium-full coverage foundation that matches your neck and jawline. Again, if you are wearing this look out for an event where you will be photographed, try to choose a foundation without SPF. I like MAC Studio Fix, or Make Up For Ever's HD foundation.
4. Apply concealer under the eyes and to trouble spots. I am totally in love with the new MAC Pro Long Wear Concealer. Ah-Mah-Zing!!!
5. Apply a bronzer that is just a couple shades darker than your skin tone to the hollows of your cheeks. You don't want to go too dark. This step should just add a bit of depth and contour to the face.
6. In the photo, Rani is wearing her blush closer to her hairline than the apples of the cheeks, but I prefer to wear it on the apples of the cheeks. Wherever you apply it, use a peach toned blush without any shimmer. A good one would be MAC Cubic Powder Blush.
7. Top off the look with a dusting of your favorite face powder. Right now I LOVE the Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder (review coming soon!)

Eyes: This is wear the drama is so feel free to have fun!

1. Fill in brows with a shadow that matches your hair tone, to create a strong frame for the eyes.
2. Apply a base to the eyelid and up into the crease. Use a nude if that is all you have. If you have a darker base like MAC's Blackground Paint Pot, that's even better to help enhance the smoky colors.
3. Use a grey shadow like MAC Knight Divine and shade the entire lid, going slightly into the crease.
4. Take a shadow color that matches your skin tone, swirl a crease brush in it one or two times, and apply lightly to the crease. You want to blend out the grey shadow so it looks like it gets progressively lighter as you move up the eye. 
5. Highlight the brow bone with a non-shimmery, vanilla-y highlight color like MAC Vanilla.
6. Line the top eye lid with a gel or cream eyeliner like Bobbi Brown's Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink.
7. Line the lower lid with a long-wearing black eye pencil like Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero and make sure the liner meets the end of the line that you drew on the top lid, creating a smooth line all around the eye.
8. Take an angled shadow brush like the MAC 208 and swipe it in a black eyeshadow like MAC Carbon, and trace along the liner on the top lid, over the gel liner, using small, short strokes to set the gel liner and soften the line, so it is not harsh or sharp. Repeat on lower lash line.
9. Take a clean smudge brush like the MAC 214 and smudge the shadow on both lash lines to smoke it out. You want the black to be darkest at the lash line and fade outwards.
10. Use your favorite kohl liner to line the water line. Blink a few times to transfer the color to the top water line (the tight line) and then add re-trace the lower water line to ensure the color is dark.
11. Curl your eyelashes and top with your favorite mascara.
12. Add false lashes if you want more oomph. 

Lips:

1. Line lips with a neutral or my lips but better lip pencil. I like Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Wallflower. 
2. Fill in lips with a natural looking pick lipstick like MAC Viva Glam V.
3. Add a clear or coordinating lip gloss to top of the look.

There you have it! BTW, have you had a chance to enter my giveaway for a free $25 giftcard to use on Apothica.com?

New Fave Website and Win Two $25 Giftcards for Skincare!!

Hey lovelies!! I want to tell you about this new site I discovered, Apothica, which has tons of cosmetics from many brands all in one site!! The cool thing about this site is that they are partnered with SkinCareRX, which has just about every skin care brand you’d want and is currently (until Dec 1) having a 25% off Friends and Family discount with code FF25 (better than the Sephora discount, eh?) and they are also partnered with my personal favorite, Skin Botanica, which carries natural and organic beauty products, and is currently running a 20% off sale…just click on the Skin Botanica link. How great to shop from 3 stores and get everything in 1 shipment!! 

I know many of you are like me and like products from a variety of brands, and I love that you can order say, one Bobbi Brown shadow, your fave Michael Kors fragrance that is running out, and whatever else you need (they also carry skin care, candles, body care, and hair care) in one order, for one shipment (did I mention free shipping over $49?), and not have to mess with other sites and multiple shipping fees!

Some of the cool brands featured on Apothica are DuWop and the popular Moroccon Oil, and one of my faves Japonesque! For awhile now I have been wanting to try their lashes and instant eyeshadow...yes instant eyeshadow...honestly I think it sort of takes the fun out of applying shadow but it’s so unique I just have to try it! Their products are pretty affordable too. Have you tried anything from them?

Smoky Eye Instant Eyeshadow

Now for the fun part:  Apothica has been gracious enough to give away a $25 giftcard to one of the fabulous Kajal Couture readers!! And if you are lucky, you can win an extra $25 giftcard for a friend!! I’m secretly jealous because I could totally use that to try those instant eyeshadows. Anyways, back to the giveaway. Here’s how you can enter:

1.     One entry for becoming a follower by clicking on the "Follow" button on the right hand toolbar

2.     One entry for following me on Twitter at @kajalcouture

3.     One entry for following Apothica on Twitter at @Apothica

4.     One entry is you "Like" me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kajalcouture)

5.     One entry if you become a fan of Apothica on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Apothica)

6.     Two entries if you tweet about this giveaway

7.     Two entries if you comment about Apothica and/or Japonesque in the comment section of this post

8.     Two entries for signing up for the Apothica Newsletter (found at the bottom of the Apothica website)

9.     Seven (yes 7) entries if you blog about this giveaway on your blog (your post must have a minimum of 100 words and include the word Japonesque and have it linked to http://makeup.apothica.com/Japonesque.html)

10.  IMPORTANT – If you do any of the above, make sure you comment on this post and let me know which entries you have completed.

In the spirit of the holidays, wouldn’t you love to be able to give a friend a $25 Apothica too? Well, if you do #9 above and blog about this giveaway and you win, you will win an extra $25 Apothica giftcard for a friend!!!

This giveaway starts today, Monday, November 22, 2010, and runs until midnight, EST, on Friday, December 10, 2010. http://apothica.com

Do You Have a Wallflower? Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil Review

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet! My go-to lip liner for the past few months has been the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Wallflower:

If you've ever tried UD's 24/7 eye pencils, you know how well those liners go on and how long they last, and their lip pencils are no different! The shade Wallflower is practically the same color as my lips so I use it from a wide range of lip colors from baby nudes to fall's new plums.

Bare lips

Lined and filled in with Wallflower lip pencil 

Kajal Couture Rating: A+

Kajal Couture Overall Opinion: This lip pencil is smooth and glides on effortlessly without tugging at the lips, it lasts all day, and the color Wallflower can be used under just about any lipstick. What's not to love!!

Have you tried the UD 24/7 lip pencils? 

I Love Shoes and Other Current Faves

If you are like me, in addition to beauty products, you probably love other girly things like shoes and purses. Look what I found at Walmart the other day:

It's a high heel ornament! And it was only $1!! We don't have a tree up yet, so it's part of my end table decor, but I just love how it glitters when the light hits:

You may remember awhile ago I mentioned my fixation for Bath and Body Works candles. Well, I recently got these cute little candle holders that you just drop the candles in:

There are a few different designs but I just love this one for the holiday! And it makes your candles look fancier:

I am also addicted to home fragrance oils! They are just so much stronger than candles and I especially love how they cover up the smell of cooking...and use a lot of onions and spices....so I need these oils in my life!

Have you found any new home decor items?

Stop Bagging On MAC Bags (Brush Sets That Is)

Every holiday season MAC releases brush sets, and every holiday season you hear bloggers saying not to buy them because the quality is not as good as the regular brushes. Well, I have nothing against those bloggers, but seriously, the brush sets are not as bad as people make them out to be. In fact, if the brush combo is right, the brush sets are GREAT!!

The brush hairs in full size and the sets are the same, the only difference is the full size are man made, and the sets are machine made.

The first negative I always hear is the brushes are scratchy. When machine made, there is a little more room for error, so some bristles might go in backwards. With face brushes, if a few bristles are in backwards, it won't make a difference, but with eye brushes, that can affect the feel.

I have both version of the 187 brush and I love them both! I can't tell a difference in feel or performance. And if you look close enough, you will notice there are more backwards bristles in the full size brush! I actually use the small set brush more because I like the short handle, so the bristles have spread out a bit more, but that is purely due the amount of use. The face brushes, which are most expensive, make the sets a great value and the quality is pretty much the same as full size!

With this 239 shadow brush, there is a slight difference in width, but nothing that affects the performance of the brush. There is only one type of bristle and since there is very little tapering at the sides, a backwards bristle won't affect the performance. From the side the thickness is pretty much the same:

Now the only time I think the set brushes are not good are when it comes to small eye brushes that are tapered, like the pencil brush or the angled brush:

This one is a 266 brush and it is useless. The bristles have started shedding and coming out and the tapering is not even. 

Ladies, if you want the brush sets mostly for the face brushes, go for it! If you want the specialty eye brushes, save up for the full size. This makes the most sense too because the face brushes are more expensive and a better value to get the kits, and the specialty eye brushes are cheaper so you don't feel as bad buying the full size ones. 

What do you think?

My 6 Month Anniversary FOTD and MUFE Goldies!

The hubby and I just celebrated out 6-month wedding anniversary.....can you believe it....it's been 6 months already!!! Where does the time fly? I mean, lots has happened, with us moving from LA to Philadelphia, but still, I can't believe it has been half a year! Anyways, the hubby took me out for a romantical dinner and  I couldn't help but use some new goodies and put on a lil sparkle:

Here's a close-up of the eyes:

I used the following products:

Smooth Hair and Giveaway Time!

The kind folks at Misikko sent me the Hana Shine Shield Thermal Protectant to try out, and now that I have had a chance to use it a few times, I am excited to tell you all how great this product is! Now Misikko isn't paying me to write anything in this post (see Disclaimer), it is all my personal opinion and experience, but I do want to say that one thing I love about Misikko is that they always seem to have great deals and coupons that they email to you if you sign up for their newsletter. And you know I love me a good deal!

As you may know, I had my hair rebonded (Japanese hair straightening) in January when I was in India. 10 months later, my hair has grown significantly and I have about 5 inches of hair at my roots that is wavy and super frizzy. This product couldn't have come at a better time because I have been in desperate need of something to tame the frizzies and protect my hair from the hair dryer and straightening iron.

I use a nickel sized amount of the clear, liquidy serum and apply to my roots and all throughout my hair...all the way to the ends. I then blow-dry as usual, and if I have time, flat iron my roots. What I like about this product is that although it contains jojoba oil, it is non-greasy...so even the day after, my hair is not oily and gross. This really adds a lot of shine to my hair and makes it feel so nice and soft. And best of all, it does help tame the frizzies. If you have super curly or kinky hair, this might not be strong enough for your frizzies, but if you have thick, wavy hair like me, the Hana Shine Shield will work pretty well to tame those bad boys.

This also works as a good leave-in conditioner. If you have thinner hair and don't have much frizz to worry about, a few drops of this should help keep your hair soft and shiny. If any of you have tried the Chi Silk Infusion, this works waaaay better and is not greasy like the Chi product.

So, interested in trying this out for yourself? Well, one lucky reader will have a chance to win the Hana Shine Shield Thermal Protectant! I have been wanting to do a giveaway for awhile now, and thanks to Misikko, that time has come!

Kajal's Eye Makeup Breakdown

My mom sent me this pic of Bollywood actress Kajal and told me I HAVE to try this eye makeup on myself. How cute is that? Over the past year or two, I have slowly gotten my mom to love makeup, and her fave product, like most Indian gals, is eyeliner. 

I know I have talked a lot about eyeliner in the past (remember Eyeliner Week?) but I can't seem to get enough of it. But really, can I get enough of any makeup product? Ok, enough talking, here's how to get Kajal's piercing eyes: