Happy Diwali!!!

To all my lovely readers who celebrate Indian holidays, HAPPY DIWALI and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Wishing you a year of good health, happiness, and prosperity!

Anushka Sharma's Makeup in Band Baaja Baraat

 Since I have been sick and therefore stuck at home all week, I was able to catch up on my Bollywood movie watching. I have been wanting to watch Band Baaja Baraat. In a nutshell, this movie is about two University students who graduate and start a wedding planning business together, and the movie follows their masti (fun) and struggles as they build their business. I have been wanting to watching this FOREVER because I always wanted to be a wedding planner (still kinda do...but that's a whole other story):

The lead actress Anushka Sharma is a Bollywood newbie and throughout the whole movie she has an incredibly fresh and natural look. 

Of course I couldn't help but do a quickie makeup breakdown for how to achieve this fresh-faced look:

Face:

A good moisturizer like my fave MAC Lightful Ultramoisture Creme

Tinted Moisturizer

Concealer under the eyes on on red/dark spots

A natural peachy or apricot blush to give some color to the skin

A light dusting of powder

Eyes:

Fill in brows, even if you have solid eyebrows, to make them stronger and create a frame for the face

Apply a peach or golden shadow to the lid

Draw a thin line on the upper lash line with a dark brown gel or liquid liner

Line the waterline if you want to (she does this sometimes in the movie)

Curl lashes and apply black mascara

Lips:

Apply a sheer pink stain to the lips and top with clear gloss, or apply a lightly colored pink gloss to the lips

What do you think of Anushka's look in the movie?

Are you stylish?

Are you looking for a great Indian outfit to attend a Diwali party or other event? Or perhaps just looking for a Bollywood outfit for Holloween? Well, I've got you covered!!

Head on over to Stylish Desi for all your Indian clothing needs. The term "Desi" stands for Indian, and this site was actually started by one of my good friends. They sell new and pre-owned Indian ethnic wear. So whether you are looking to buy a new outfit, or sell a fantastic outfit you don't want to wear again, it's a great site to browse through and do a little shopping. I also love reading their blog!

Let me know if you find anything you like!! Happy shopping!!

Deepika Padukone Makeup Breakdown

One of my family friends in India is pretty well connected and was telling me how Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone is a desi (Indian) girl next door. She eats real food and actually gets hungry, she doesn't spend every last waking second at the gym, and she is pretty down-to-earth. And another thing, she has natural beauty. A lot of actresses rely on the magic that is makeup in order to keep up their image. Deepika looks great even bare-faced.

That inspired me to read a bit more about Deepika Padukone and in doing so, I came across some photos of her from the Cannes Film Festival this year.

She definitely has a hot body, but I think her hair and makeup are absolutely gorgeous:

Her makeup is simple yet elegant, and is appropriate for everyday and a fancy event. Here is how to create the makeup:

Experiences Shopping for Indian Bridal Wear

As you may have read in a previous post, one of the reasons I went to India in January was to do my wedding shopping. And by wedding shopping, I mean buy my bridal outfits. Of course, we had to buy other things like gifts, and items used during the ceremony, but the largest and most fun purchases were the outfits I am going to wear for the wedding reception and ceremony.

Traditionally, in the Gujurati (the type of Indian I am) culture, we wear a Panetar Saree, which is a white saree with a red border. A saree consists of wearing a petticoat skirt, a blouse, and the saree itself, which is 6 meters of fabric draped around the body. Examples of Panetars are pictured below:

Then for the reception, we wear a Chaniya Choli or Lengha (skirt) type outfit. This consists of an embroidered skirt, blouse, and a dupatta, which is a wide scarf (approx 1m x 2m) that can b draped around the body in various fashions:
So my plan was to follow the tradition. I tried on a few Panetars, and quickly realized the style just did not suit me. I looked twice my size, and I looked twice my age. Not exactly the look I was going for as a bride. So then I ended up mixing the traditional and modern and getting a Panetar style Chaniya Choli, so it is a Chaniya Choli style but in white and red. I am not going to post pics of the outfits I purchased. The first time I want anyone (other than my parents) to see the outfits will be as I walk down the aisle on my wedding day. =)

I did purchase my outfits in Mumbai, though I looked in a couple different cities in India. Mumbai is the largest, most populated city, and can be called the Paris of India. All the celebrities live in Mumbai, all the hottest styles are first seen in Mumbai and then filter through the country, and the best selection of clothing is in Mumbai. Since the best of the best merchandise is in Mumbai, it is also more expensive than other cities. All this I have just stated is not merely my observation, but a fact. Every family member, friend, shop owner admitted that the styles I would see in Mumbai, I would not find anywhere else in the country. And they were right. A girl I met in a shop in Mumbai had already bought her wedding outfit from Ahmedabad, and was looking only for her reception. But she liked the merchandise in Mumbai so much that she ended up buying a new wedding outfit!

That being said, here are a few tips I would like to share when shopping for bridal wear in India:

1. Try and go to Mumbai or Delhi (the capital of India) first and check out the selection. Then go to other cities, suburbs and all, and look at the styles and prices. You can compare the styles and prices with the larger cities and get an idea of what you want and what will fit in your budget. If you find something you like in the smaller cities, purchase it. If not, you can go back to Mumbai or Delhi and get whatever you like.
2. Have an open mind about what you like. If you are dead set on a certain color or cut, chances are you will fall in love with something different, and then be confused because it is not what you originally wanted. Try on as many outfits as possible, including the colors and cuts that are not your number 1 choice. You will be surprised as to what you find flattering on yourself.
3. Take into consideration how your outfit will look in pictures. The most popular colors in bridal wear are red and gold. Everywhere I went, people kept showing me gold outfits. I was open to it, until I realized that it just doesn't look flattering on my skin tone in pictures. My skin tone is too similar to the gold color of bridal wear, and the monotone look just doesn't look very nice. I didn't want my skin to blend in with my outfit, I wanted some contrast, so I went with color. Most places will not let you take pictures of their outfits, because they don't want pics in the wrong hands and risk having the styles copied, but if you explain to them you want to see what the outfit will look like in pictures, they will let you take a couple, as long as you delete them right away.
4. Remember to take a camera with you. Why? Re-read #3 above.
5. Take a few people with you. You will definitely need some opinions on what does and does not look good. It is sooo easy to get confused once you wear a few different outfits and like all of them. Having others point out things you may not realize, will help in the decision making process.
6. If possible, take some locals with you. They will know the best shops and it will be easier to bargain. A lot of bigger shops are fixed price nowadays, especially in Mumbai, so as much as you try, you won't even be able to drop the price by 1 rupee.
7. Have fun! This is your bridal wear after all, and you (hopefully) won't be shopping for bridal wear every again, so make the most of the experience!

Another thing I want to share is for those of you who are considering buying your bridal clothes in your country and not in India, I have some interesting info for you. The following outfit, as all the other pics in this post, are from a well known store in Mumbai called Pramanik.

The outfit above is listed online for $532. I saw a very similar outfit, similar type of embroidery, same color, same style, at a store in Cerritos, California (also known as the Little India of Los Angeles) for $5100. I am not joking. That is almost a 10X markup! People think its crazy to fly halfway around the world to shop for bridal wear, but once you learn the price difference, it really makes sense to pay the $1500 airfare to fly to India. Even if you and your mom flew, that would be around $3000, and you bought a $1000 outfit, it still comes out to be cheaper than the one outfit I saw in LA. And if you went to India, you would be buying more than one outfit, so all together, if you add up the savings of everything you could purchase there, it really comes out to be cheaper than buying things in the States.

By now you might be tired of my ramblings so I will end it here. If you have any questions about wedding shopping in India, please feel free to email me!

My India Beauty Must Haves

I wanted to take my whole makeup kit with me to India.....but in reality I had to pare down what I was going to take with me, and boy was that hard! I did two edits: first I picked all the pieces that I wanted to take with me, and then from that, I cut the number of products in half and took only what would be enough to get by. I took no more than two lip products and cheek products, and managed to limit myself to 1 foundation, 1 powder, the essential makeup brushes, and a few other must-haves. From the products that I did take with me, here are the items I used the most:

First off, since I was attending the wedding events, I really wanted my whole shadow kit with me, but I was able to pick a few (hey, for me, this was a few...) of my favorite colors and assemble them in a travel friendly palette. I used a MAC 15 pan palette and took out the pan separator. This was super easy to do and I still have it if I want to use it again. The entire bottom of the palette is magnetic so the shadow refills will stick anywhere. Thus, I was able to get 25 shadows into a 15 shadow palette. A lot of makeup artists do this to save space and I think its a great idea.

On the left is the MAC Fast Response Eye Cream. This tiny tube is a lifesaver because it works great at depuffing the eye area and making you look fresh. I used this a lot on the trip because I got very little sleep and often woke up looking like I partied too hard....which some nights I did. =) The tube on the bottom is the Korres Ginger and Vitamins Foundation. I reviewed this before and again I must tell you how much I love this. It is sooo natural looking and I really think the vitamins in the product are so good for your skin. The smog and contamination in India can wreak havoc on your skin and I really thought that by using this everyday my skin looked and felt healthier than in normally does in India.

These were my most used eye products: MAC Blacktrack fluidline and Paint Pot in Rubenesque. I really like this better than UD Primer Potion because I can wear it on its own and I really think it lasts longer.

On top is the MAC Cream Color Base in Bronze, and this was my perfect cheek color both for a natural look and for more drama in the evenings. I think this may be a PRO color now, but you may be able to find it in some MAC freestanding stores. In the swatch below (left) you can see how dark it is, but it sheers out to a more natural color (swatch below right). I feel that cream cheek colors tend to last longer and look better in India. For some reason, powder blushers look too streaky when I am in India. I can't explain it but I swear it's true.

Also, I used the MAC Pro Longwear Lipcolor in Stuck on You. It is a berry-ish mauve color and is perfect for nights out because it is dark enough to add drama, but not overly dramatic that people notice your lips and then you (y'all know what I mean). I usually only wear this with Indian clothes because the colors are so bright that I need a bit of a darker lip color. Plus, this is long lasting and I needed that for the wedding events. This formula is very drying so I don't recommend it for daily use, but for special events, it rocks my boat!

I'm still not over my jet-lag, and I still need to upload the rest of my wedding pics. When I get around to doing that I will post a few more. Right now, I am just looking forward to the weekend....almost there!!!!

Glimpses of India

I'm back!!! Coming home from vacation is always bittersweet. In this case, it is more bitter than sweet. I love India. I love the people, the spirit of life, the culture....and it just feels like home to me. I can easily see past the dirt, the crowds, and the traffic (for those in LA, traffic on the 405 is nothing compared to Mumbai traffic), and see myself living in a country that has so much love and passion for life. Even though this trip was a crazy one and not at all relaxing, I loved every minute and wish I was still there.

The purpose of my travel was twofold: 1 - to attend my cousin's wedding in Mumbai, and 2 - to do my wedding shopping. A lot of people have asked my why I would travel halfway around the world to shop for my wedding and it's not as crazy as you would think. I am having a traditional Hindu wedding, and that includes about 4-5 different ceremonies that take place over several days. Accordingly, my family and I need outfits for each function, and buying an Indian outfit is no easy fit. It requires selecting the outfit, going back for fittings, getting matching jewelry, bangles, shoes, and other accessories if required. Also, there are several items required for the ceremony that have to be purchased in India. Now, I could have gotten all this stuff here in the US, but to be frank, the selection is no where near what I could get in India, and the prices in the States are so ridiculous, that even when you add in the cost of airfare for flying to India, it's still cheaper for me to go there and buy the outfits than for me to purchase stuff in the States. Also, since I was already going to India for my cousin's wedding, it made sense to get my shopping done at the same time.

Since I just got back this past Sunday, and went back to work Monday, I have been exhausted and jet-lagged. Within the next few days I promise to return to my regularly scheduled beauty posting, but in the meantime, here are a few glimpses of me during my cousin's wedding:

This is me with my two beautiful neices who are 4 and a half (she specifically added the "half" when I asked her how old she was....sooo cute!) and 3 years old.

Me in my blue and pink saree at the Sangeet event, which is a dance and music party.

Me giving a speech during the Sangeet.

Oh, and since I didn't get to say this previously, Happy New Year! I hope 2010 is full of happiness, good health and prosperity for you and your families! Cheers!