Fancy a good cat fight? read on. As much I love a red  pout, I love my wing to the T. Being a hooded eye girl means I struggle with the wing every single day. Today I am pitting two of my most used liners against each other:

Contender 1: Maybelline Colossal Liner
Black

Contender 2: Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
Trooper

Category	Maybelline  Colossal Liner	KVD Tattoo Liner
Packaging	Black pencil like-packaging. The felt tip applicator is long. The cap is slightly loose which dries out the product fast.	Black pencil like-packaging. The brush tip applicator is small. The cap is air-tight thus preventing product dry out.
Product Available	1.2 g	0.7 mL
Cost	INR 425 ($6)	INR 1400 ($20)
Staying Power	6-hour	6-hour
Application	·         Can draw thin and thick lines. ·         At times, enough pigment will not come out from the applicator. ·         The product can dry out fast. ·         Takes 3-4 minutes to dry.	·         Not black enough and I have to draw over multiple times to get enough pigmentation. ·         As the applicator is thin, can draw extremely thin precise lines. ·         Instantly dries to a matte finish.
Swatch
Color Range Available	1	2
Score	3.5	2.7
Verdict	I wouldn’t recommend either. I am still on the hunt for a better-blacker-bolder liner!

Onam Edit Makeup

Onam is one of the two major festivals celebrated by Malayalis Hindus. My organization celebrated Onam in full spirit on 8-September. Competitions, pookalam (floral carpet), and traditional Onam sadhya were the highlights of 2016 Onam.

Women wear traditional set mundu (see ref pic) with golden borders and makeup, well, it is non-existent. This year I decided to theme my makeup around the color "GOLD".

My 2016 Onam attire

I planned my makeup way ahead of time, 1 week before. On the D-Day, I had my fail-proof strategy put into motion:

Wake up	7:00 AM
Start the saree draping	7:30 AM
Finish saree draping	8:30 AM
Full-face of makeup	8:50 AM
Reach office	9:00 AM

Well, Murphy's law people, I was still struggling with saree at 9 AM , I was bombarded with phone calls from office as I had promised my team to reach office early for pookalam competition. All in all, I skipped/forgot whole lot of products that I had initially planned for, and ended using only handful of products.

Primer l Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector™

When I want my base to be sweat-proof and foundation to last, I turn to this bad boy. We had a lot of outdoor activities that day, and I knew I would be sweating like crazy and hence this primer.

Foundation l Makeup Forever Ultra HD 153

The best natural finish foundation I own. The major con of this foundation is that I start shining like a firefly (in a bad way) in a matter of 3-4 hours. You might be wondering, then why did I choose this foundation, the reason is: PICTURES my friends. Onam is that day when my office is filled with DSLR-wielding budding photographers who click pictures from all crazy angles, and I wanted to look non-ghostly and as naturale as possible. The foundation didn't last the whole 12-hours, but I can forgive that fact considering I did get some good pictures.

Blush l MAC Desert Rose

I wanted a matte muted blush that would not take away the focus from my eyes. This is the most prettiest matte blush I own and hence the obvious choice.

Eyebrow l ABH Dipbrow Pomade Ebony

Wanted something dramatic and powder just didn't cut it! I had to get the pomade out for the big and bold brows.

Eyeshadow l Lorac Pro

This was the toughest decision I had to take, cause I have so many palettes. It all came down to finding the perfect gold shade and the color, 'Gold' in the Lorac palette emerged as the clear goldie winner. I didn't have the time and patience to go in for a proper eye look, just gold over my lids, Taupe/Sable as crease shade and Espresso on the outer corner and I was out of the door!

Liner l Lakme Instaliner

The chubby kid helped me to wing it out el-perfecto!

Lipstick l HudaBeauty Liquid Lipstick Cheerleader

I have shit lots of lipstick in my stash and I wanted something very long wearing (I knew I would be gobbling down Onam sadhya) and bright, and liquid lipstick was an obvious choice. I  chose the shade Cheerleader as it is the perfect not-in-your-face red, but still bright enough to bring in some light to my face. The lipstick did fade around the inner corner of my lips post-sadhya, which I easily rectified by evening out the color with a clear lip balm.

Lipliner l MAC Spice 

Now, lipliners are understated beauty products. I used MAC lipliner in Spice to increase the longevity and add a touch of brown to mute the red (Some of my friends can be overly critical about red lipstick).

Contour and Highlight l Sleek Contour Kit Medium

If not for the LA Girl disaster, I wouldn't have chosen this contour kit. My contour looked natural and highlight was on-point.

Products That Made the Cut But Were Not Used

From my Instagram account

Eyebase l MAC Paintpot in Indian Woods

I had selected this paintpot as a base for the eyeshadow, but truth to be told, I forgot to use it!

Contour l LA Girl Pro.Conceal Toast

I wanted to wear something cream based, so that it looks natural and easy to blend. Disaster struck, and the contour line was muddy as the nozzle dispersed way too much product. I had to clean up the mess and go in with my Sleek Contour kit in Medium to tone down the harsh lines.

Highlight l Becca Champagne Pop

ABH That Glow Kit was my first choice, but I ain't kidding around with the glow kids, I selected Champagne Pop for that glow from the gods, only to forget and use what I could lay my hands on: Sleek Contour kit in Medium.

Now that Onam is over, I am waiting for the next big festival in Kerala: Christmas. So, which festival are you guys waiting for?

Giveaway: 2.5K Worth Products To Be Won

As readers, you guys encourage me (the lazy bum) to churn out posts more frequently, leave awesome comments, and encourage me throughout and today, I would like to show my appreciation to my loyal readers by hosting my first ever giveaway.

Rules

• This giveaway is open only to Indian residents. *I apologize to my international subscribers*
• The giveaway will run from 11-September to 12-October.
• The winner will be selected randomly by Gleam.
• I will announce the name of the winner on 16-October on the blog and Instagram.
• Giveaway accounts will not be considered.
• If you follow to unfollow post the giveaway, you will be disqualified from all my future giveaways.

How to enter

Click on the link below and follow the instructions:

https://gleam.io/z3q5W/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-instagram-giveaway 

or

Click on the Enter Competition button under the Giveaway widget on the blog.

Entries

• Follow my blog
• Subscribe to my FB page
• Follow my Instagram account
• Follow my Twitter account

Prizes

1. Lakme Lipstick
2. Lakme Eyeconic Kajal
3. Maybelline Nail Polish
4. Lorac Eyeshadow Primer (Travel Size)
5. NARS Orgasm Blush (Sample)
6. Clinique Primer (Sample)
7. NudeStix Lip Pencil (Travel Size)
8. Face Mask
9. Loreal Gel Liner
10. Gel Bomb Hand Sanitizer

All the best guys!

The Ride or Die Makeup Tag

When I was watching Jaclyn Hill's Ride or Die Makeup Tag, I instantly knew that there was no way in this life or after, I would have a ride or die product in each of the makeup categories. There are so many products that I "LIKE", but not "LOVE"! I decided that I will just fill in categories where I have clear winners.

Primer l BECCA Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector™

This primer is the oil-sucking Edward Cullen of the primer category. Keeps my skin matte for 6-7 hours, and does a wonderful job in minimizing my pores. If you have dry skin, stay far far away from this primer, as blending the foundation on top will turn your face into a Sahara desert (dry patches).

Foundation l  <Yet to find my knight in shining bottle>

I am a foundation junkie, and I am always on the lookout for the next best thing in the market and for this very reason, I couldn't pick one foundation that rocked my boat. I like the finish of MUFE Ultra HD, wear time of Estee Lauder Double Wear, and coverage of NARS. Unless someone decides to come up with a hybrid as described, I would let this space be empty.

Concealer l LA Girl PRO.conceal Warm Honey l Link

I have raved and raved about this concealer, so much so that it  featured in my 2015 favorites post. You can read the entire review on the link provided.

Eyebrow l Urban Decay Brow Box l Link

My dream eyebrow kit! The kit contains two shades (dark and light), wax, and eyebrow tools for keeping the unruly brows in place. The kit is slightly on the pricier side (INR 2100), but totally worth the moolahs.

Eyeliner l Maybelline Colossal Kajal l Lakme Eyeconic Kajal l Link

Every Indian girl will have either one of the two kajal as part of their daily beauty routine, probably one of the first "REAL" makeup item that we were introduced to. I prefer the later (Lakme) a tad bit more than the Colossal Kajal. I have had better-performing liners (Marc Jacobs), but at end of the day, I go back to these two.

Eyeshadow l ABH Shadow Couture Palette l Link

It was a limited edition palette, but if there is ever a re-launch (Norvina, listen to the prayers of us mortals), I would buy two of these as backups. This eyeshadow palette has everything that you want, beautiful transition shades, crease shades, highlights, and metallic amazeballs. This palette will elevate your average 9-5 girl-next-door look to bad-ass rocker chick look.

Blush l Milani Luminoso l Link

This is a100 W bulb in a pot. The blush gives a nice coral luminous flush to my cheeks and hands down one of the most flattering coral shades on tan skin tone. Good job Milani!

Contour and Highlight l Sleek Contour Kit in Medium l Link

One of my first and most loved contour and highlight palette.The contour shade is perfect for my NC 42 skin tone and the champagne-hued highlight is nicely milled and doesn't leave a streak of highlight that can be seen from the outer space.

Lipstick l MAC Creme in Your Coffee l Link

The perfect "MLBB" shade for NC 42 skin tone. Probably, my most used lipstick!

So what are your ride or die makeup products?