Makeup when Hosting a Dinner

Hey girls, how many of you have hosted a lunch / dinner at home? All on your own? Stressful! right? I get goosebumps even thinking about the effort involved... cleaning and polishing everything, hours in the kitchen over food, the crockery, the knick knacks and what not... And when the guests finally arrive, you'd be running around making sure they are comfortable, managing the kitchen, watching the kids etc etc....

So, what kind of makeup do you wear at such a time? Here is my look and the learning from playing hostess:

Simple Makeup while playing Hostess

Face:

1. MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation in Fix+
2. Maybelline Blush in Apricot Flush lightly on the cheek bones

Eyes:

1. Avon Glimmersticks Diamond in Jade Green
2. Lotus Herbals Kajal

Lips:

1. Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick My Mahogany

That's it. Just 5 products! Who had the time for more? And yes girls, the first lesson is:

1. Less is More: The lesser number of products you apply, the lesser time you' take and will probably catch a few moments to relax before the early birds arrive. Every party has them early birs who will land in ten minutes before the time... :)
2. Use Mattifying Base: Specially if you are oily/combination skin like me. All the running around in and out of the kitchen or last minute cooking and frying will leaving your face sweaty and oily. Having worn a dewy base to begin with is not a good idea. Keep blotting papers in your kitchen for a quick dab once in a while
3. Keep is simple: Unless you are hosting a Wedding type ka event, keep your makeup as simple as you can. Let your amazing hostess skills dazzle them... the time to shine with your makeup skills is another day. The reason is that on a casual / semi formal party at home, you have no clue how your guests will be dressed. India does not have a concept of strict dress codes. It is better to be the least made up woman than the most
4. Don't forget the Hair: Now I am guilty of this. Usually, I just shampoo them and leave them to air dry after running a wide tooth comb. Not very becoming. An then I secure them with a hair tie or clutch clip to hold them away from my face during meals. It looks terrible. Specially in the pics. More so, when the group pic is taken at the end of the evening :(  For my last party, I decided to brush my hair just before the guests arrived and coat them with a leave in conditioner... much better results!
5. Touch Up: Its your house for God sakes! Just sneak into your room and do a quick touch-up if needed :p

Happy New Year

hello girls... it comes a tad late here, but wish you all a very happy and colourful 2012 :)

i had a terrible last week.. with an eye infection that made my eye swell and shut. Thankfully it was down by new year's eve and we were able to head out to a get together. So how was your new year's eve?

Here is my outfit for the new years and guess what, I wore a RED lip!!! I was certain I'd never be able to pull one off. You fabulous ladies at Blogsville always tempted me with the red lips and I had wanted to try one before the year ended. Well, I did. I have minimal makeup on in the pics because the infection was still there and I didn't want anything near my eye. Not even concealer. So you guys get to meet my DARK circles. Be nice to them ;)

I've had the skirt and the top from before marriage and that means these are at least five years old. I don't wear skirts that often and so the ones I have suffice. Its quite sad really because I love wearing skirts. This one is from Sri Lanka. There is this awesome store in Colombo called Fashion House where clothes are CHEAP! I think they sell export surplus and rejects because I found a lot of stuff with the labels ripped off. The quality of the clothes is excellent though! The top is from Westside or Pantaloon. I don't recollect. It is a paisley print georgette with tiny sequins on it. I really like it for night time wear. My footwear is from a local shop in South Delhi. Grey snakeskin with kitten heels. Bet you guys didn't need to know that, huh?

And here is a very tired looking me with bare eyes and dark circles. Here is my product breakdown:

Face:

• MAC studio fix powder foundation over my face, avoiding the eye area.
• Colorbar radiant pen highlighter over cheekbones
• Faces mineral blush in Pink Topaz

Eyes: BARE

Lips:

• MAC Lip pencil in Spice
• Avon Simply Pretty Lipstick in Cherry Red ( it stayed on after 4 hours, snacks, drinks and a full meal) I am not sure if this was due to the lip liner or the fact that I dabbed a tissue over the lipstick and reapplied it. A bit of both I guess.

My fear of red lips is slowly fading away. But I do realise that I need a flawless skin and warm toned red to carry off the look. Cool toned reds just look horrible on me. So, what do you think girls? How did I do?

Simple Day Party Makeup

I had a small get together for my daughter's birthday back in September. We had a crazy time coz we were moving to a new city within two weeks. So my look, like the party was quite simple:

The blush is overdone on purpose for this picture! As always, this pic was taken after all the festivities were done :) A close up of the eye makeup. Klutzy old me is particularly proud of the fine straight line here :)

Face:

• MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation in NC41
• MAC Fix+ (I sprayed this on a powder brush and swirled it all over the powder foundation. The effect is similar to a liquid foundation)
• Faces Mineral Blush in Pink Topaz
• Maybelline Blush in Apricot Flush (my goto blush. Am so thankful to Mehak who recommended this on her blog)

Eyes:

• Avon Glimmersticks in Jade Green on upper lashline and outer corner of lowerlashline
• Lakme Black Satin kajal
• Oriflame Visions Mascara

Lips:

• MAC Cosmo (It got its first wear here!)

 I was quite happy with my makeup that day. I think it was the birthday happiness that rubbed off on me...!