Makeup is not acceptable in most corporate environments, but that doesn't mean that a girl must stop looking pretty, right!!. Touching up or blotting should be minimized to once or twice a day. Running to the restroom every 1 hour to check on your makeup will have it's side effects in the next appraisal ;) and you would want to grab those eyeballs for the appreciation certificates hanging on your work-board and not the eye blinding effect your ruby-woo lipstick is spreading.

Well, these are some of my regular-non-fuzzy essentials for a well put and low maintenance office look:

• Sunscreen +Moisturizer: An absolute must. It took me 26 years to understand the damage Mr. Sun had done to my skin. I use a physician prescribed SPF 50++ sunscreen by PhotoBloc. I have a dehydrated + dry/normal skin type and my moisturizer is by Olay. 

           Note: If you have oily skin, skip the moisturizer step. Apply Primer instead, I don't use primer (coz I am too lazy + my skin doesn't produce much shine). If you have oily skin, I would suggest that you do apply a dollop of primer on your oily zone.

• Foundation: I prefer a low coverage foundation. I use MAC Face and Body or Inglot YSM foundation and buff it in using my Real Techniques brush. This allows the skin to shine through. If you are not a fan of liquid foundation, go in for a pressed foundation or compact. One pet peeve of mine is the foundation shade. Ensure you choose the right shade so that you don't end up looking like a ghost.

• Blush: When I don't want my face to look flat, I apply a neutral shade of blush really lighthandedly using my Vega blush brush. I am an NC 42-43.5 girl in MAC and L'oreal True Match blush in Rosewood is a favorite of mine.
• Eyes: This is where it gets interesting, I use a Maybelline Colossal kajal or L'oreal gel liner on upper and lower lashes and slightly wing out my liner. I apply a pop of color on my lower lashes to keep things interesting. Lately I have been loving the new Maybelline Colossal kajal in Turquoise.
• Lips: I go in for mostly neutral lips or bold lips (occasionally). MAC Mocha , Fastplay, and Creme in your coffee is some of my favorites.

That's it!! my simple and effective office makeup. Let me know your daily- office wear makeup essentials.

Eyes: Maybelline eye studio in Grey/silver

Eyes: Maybelline colossal in Black and Turquoise

The long and short of it

This being an earring and accessory blog, I have hardly posted any related material over the last few months. I thought it's time to change things up and spice up a little bit. I love long earrings as I feel they make my face look more elongated (btw, I have a round-oval cross face). I picked up this earring as part of my anniversary shopping spree. Its a simple earring with long golden colored chain and a white stone at the bottom.

Brand: Ginger (Lifestyle)

Cost: Rs.300 ($5)

oooh by the way, I wanted to give you guys a sneak peak of my workstation. You can see my desk teddy (who looks sad), Chumbak cover with pretty colorful elephants, a photo frame sans any picture and my latest acquisition, a vintage flower pot with artificial flowers. I got them from the home decor section of lifestyle at buy one get one free offer. One of the pots is placed in my makeup space. Together they cost me 400 bucks :).

So what all junk stuff do you keep at your workstation?. Let me know.

Hall of Shame

You tube videos, product launches, Instagram, beauty blogger reviews. Sometimes I end up buying a product without even considering if it works for my needs. Following are few  products that I have regretted purchasing:

1. Revlon Photo Ready Concealer in Light-Medium: Wrong shade, which cast ghostly whitish cast under my eyes. The creamy concealer is a blending brushes nightmare. I stick to my MAC Studio fix concealer in NC 45 (gasp, horror???yes my under eye circles are dark grey) which is a tad bit orange for my liking. It acts like more like a corrector than a concealer as concealers are supposed to be a skin shade or two lighter that ones skin tone. I am eyeing the MAC select coverup concealer that will brighten my under eye.

2. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Buenos Aires: Online orders can go ooh so wrong and this shade is a living proof for that. I ordered it from the NYX site, when the color was launched and when I received this and its other ghostly counter part Stockholm, I instantly knew that it wouldn't work for my skin tone. I worked around a way to make the later work but this one...well to hell with it. I am not a big fan of the soft matte formula, its patchy, and applies uneven. The only saving grace is the smell...it smells like butterscotch cupcakes .

3. Maybelline Eye Studio in Gold: Its a beautiful color when swatched, but when applied on lids, it tends to dissapear. Is it something wrong with my eye color or its longevity, I am yet to figure out the answer to that question. I am hunting for a new gold pencil. If you have any suggestions, kindly leave it below in the comments section.

4. Colorbar Blush Brush: Its pink, it's cute and the positive things I have to share stops right there. The bristles are pocky and itchy. The pink bristles makes it difficult to predict the blush packed on and yeah hello clownish cheeks.

5. Body Shop Vitamin E Night Cream: Well, I had high hopes on this one, but again..the high price didn't translate into fulfilling its claims. I didn't become even and smooth skinned even with continuous usage. The worst part: making this work in a humid climate like Cochin's. The moment I apply it on, I start sweating profusely through all my pores. The L'Oreal day and night cream does much better job that its 2x priced BS counterpart.

Few worthy mentions into the Hall of Shame:

• Himalaya Neem Face Wash: Smucks, the sucker sucks out oil from my face, I mean the good and bad ones making my face feel like a bare desert. It accentuates my dry patches and makes it more patchy.

• MAC Lipstick in Verve: What got over me to pick up a shade that a 60 years old lady would wear? God knows and add to the woes is the Satin finish. The other satin finish lipstick I own (Mocha) is not as bad as this one. The color darkens my face and after an hour or so, fades unevenly, sucking out the moisture from my lips making my naturally plump looking lips. I have not tried any matte finishes from MAC, but so far Satin is my most hated MAC finishes.

 So there you go, my list of products that made it into the hall of shame. You have any products that you have regretted purchasing?. Share your list :)