‘MLBB’: The term that was eluding me for quite some time now. “My Lips But Better? Never “, that was my reaction. Being an NC42-43.5 dusky girl, finding a nude that wouldn’t wash me out was by itself a task and on top of that finding a natural shade for my pigmented lips?.  It believed it was a herculean task, up until I visited MAC. I was on my way to the MAC store in Shopper’s Stop Koramangala (Bangalore), walking through the crowded Forum mall and I was surprised to see a new MAC store inside the mall. The store was crowded as usual, but a sweet MUA Nilopher, I suppose is her name helped me out to pick up this amazing shade. I had made a note of all the shades I wanted to try out and this shade was not one among them. Presenting MLBB shade, tada!!! “Creme In Your Coffee”.

What MAC Says: Colour plus texture for the lips. Stands out on the runway. Simmers on the street! What made M·A·C famous.

Packaging: Standard black MAC bullet. The packaging is sturdy and travel-friendly.

Smell: Non-overpowering vanilla smell.

Texture: Creme in your coffee is a Cremesheen finish, my favourite after Lustures. They spread opaque in 2-3 swipes, doesn’t overtly dry your lips, feels light on the lips and provide a subtle sheen, providing an illusion of plump lips. The staying power is 4-5 hours on me with occasional sipping and munching. The lipstick clumps after 4-5 hours forming white lines on the center rim of the lips (I guess it has lot to do with my lips than the lipstick).

My take on the color: The shade looks like light brown in the tube, but when swiped gives a pinky-brown shade that again varies based on your lip color. The hint of pink prevents this shade from washing out duskier girls like me. My lip color can be deemed confusing!!!. Cause the lower lid is semi-pigmented ie, the upper half is slightly pink and the lower half is brownish. The upper lip is completely brown. The lipstick, when applied on the lower part of the lower lips takes shade that matches perfectly with the unpigmented upper portion. It’s like they are meant to be together. Two swipes and the lips look uniform and natural. For lighter skinned girls, this lipstick may appear more pink than brown. A fairly pale skinned friend of mine tried out this shade, but the color made her naturally pink lips look atleast 4 shades darker. Fairer skinned girls do try out the lipstick in the store before investing.

Rounding up:

If you have mildly pigmented lips and you fall into NC40-43 category, give this amazing shade a try. They can be your best friend, daily companion, office-mate and even a permanent fixture in your vanity bag on oh so natural days.

Blues

Have I ever told you that though Blue is not my favorite color, I always end up buying stuffs in
shades of blue. Blue dresses, accessories, make-up, you name it, I blue it :D. Long back, even before the Sales season started, I scored these pretty earrings from Westside on a discount. They had this earring in multiple shades, but I chose BLUE.

June Favorites + Haul

Listing out some of the product that I am loving this month:

Skin type:Normal to dry with mild oiliness in the T-zone
Tone:NC42 Medium to tanned
Hair type:Thick, jet black, dry, voloumous wavy hair

1. Colorbar "Take me as I am" lipstick in Bare Dare Pink: The perfect neutral lipstick, though some of you might not agree with me regarding the color description as such, this shade comes out as neutral on my pigmented lips. Know to be dupe of the costly Clinique chubby sticks, it came with a free sharpner. The formula is creamy and one swipe is more than enough to obtain a pigmented shade. Hydrates and moisturises my lips for good 4-5 hours and after which feels a lil heavy. Easily transfers to surfaces and one major con is the smell; smells crayony and plasticy, but doesn't lasts long. So until I find a neutral shade that is as flattering as this one, I would give all the blahs a miss.
2. Palmolive "Skin Renewal Thermal Spa" : I bought this after I seeing Namitha's review. Smells coconuty fresh. Gives scrub+moisturizing effect to the skin. Come winters and I may have to change body wash to something more hydrating. I stick to a particular body wash only until I get used to it's fragrance and dear sweet coconuty body wash, best of luck and hope I don't get sick of you soon.
3. MAC studio fix powder: Love of my life and a knight in shining armor. Helps to even out my skin tone as I am slightly darker near the eyes and mouth. Stays for a long time and comes out natural in pics. Price wise, slightly on the higher end, but then who hits a pan in 2 years. I expect it to be a total paisa wasool.
4. Lakme eyeconic: If im asked to choose between colossal kajal and EYECONIC KAJAL, I would definitely pick eyeconic. I use kajal in my waterline. Eyeconic gives me rich black eyes . The formula is creamy and remains smudge free for 8 or more hours on my eyes. Colossal on other hand tends to break (3 times a row) and would smugde faster as compared to eyeconic.
5.Body Shop "Almond Hand n Nail cream": The smell!!! smell is a big factor when it comes to buying a product. My hands are extremely cold and drying. A peanut size of the cream is all what I requires to make my hand soft, supple and baby like...
6. Loreal "Mythical oil" and "Liss Ultime" mask: My wayward hair loves the duo, so much so that they refuse to behave well without em. Have been using the two products suggested by the b:blunt stylist for last 3 weeks and WHAT  a considerable change in hair texture. For shampooing I use my regular Tresemme rough hair tube.
7. Jhonsons baby oil: On weekends, before discovering product, I used to go through elaborate oiling-->shampooing-->conditioning routine. Though I can add coconut oil in my food (Mallu you see), can't stand the heavy feeling on my hair. I bought home this product and I apply the oil on my scalp and from mid to ends before every wash. The net effect after conditioning is healthy looking, manageable, non-weighed down hair.
8. Boroline cream: Not exactly a beauty product, but even after being dry skin type, there are days when a small pimple sprouts up on my face. Boroline is an antiseptic ointment which can be easily bought from a pharmacy store. I apply it while going to bed and the next day, it brings down the redness and removes the puss from the pimple. Boroline is also a good moisturizer during colder times. Oily beauties stay away from this miracle product as the formula by itself is sticky n oily.
9. Nailpolish Maybelline Colorma: I have brittle and weird nail, so keeping them painted is a must. Loving the, good color payoff , easy to dry nail polishes from this range. Colorma nail polishes are a boon when you need a pop of color in your outfit. The red stands out in the crowd.

On to some lighter stuff, this month I shopped like crazy for cosmetics. I am put off by the clothes, as I moved one size up to L this month. I dread going inside the trial room, only to be frustrated and sad that size M doesn't fit me anymore. I know, I don't need ton's of beauty products to look pretty and I have relatively well behaved skin...still makeup I have noticed improves my self confidence. I don't use heavy makeup on a day-to-day basis..my Maybelline BB cream, kajal n lipstick pulls me through the day. So, all this long introduction just to show you how much makeup stuff I hoarded last month. This is the loot for the month of June.