Cochin, you have changed beyond recognition!!!. I remember....some 7 years back, the only places we could find good western wear was Seemati and Jayalakshmi. The salons, were regular in giving me a plain old layer cut.
My tryst with Bangalore exposed me to various one stop shopping destinations like Lifestyle, MAX, Westside, Central, and so on. Two years later, when I went back to Kerala, I struggled to find apparels that suited my taste. Cursing the lack of availability of anything 'western' I adjusted, with occasional travel to Bangalore where I would stuff my bags with clothes and travel back to flaunt them in front of cousins and friends. A revolution happened in year 2011 when MAX opened up their first store in Cochin. Being an affordable brand MAX is, they became a mass hit with the school and college going kids.

Back to Bangalore, I naturally progressed to Mango, Zara, MAC, Promod and so on and I was clearly unaware of the happenings back in my home town.

• Marks and Spencer opened up their first flagship store in LULU.
• Lifestyle opened its first showroom next to LULU.
• Westside and Central have a strong footing in Cochin.
• Vero Moda/Only/Jack and Johns has two stores in Cochin.
• Splash has opened up in LuLu Mall.
• Body Shop has their small, but amply stocked store in Lulu Mall and Central Mall.
• MAX has more that 4 stores at present.
• Rimmel Counter, stand-alone Faces Colorbar and Health & Glow stores have their presence in Cochin.
• Ambika Pillai has opened up her Salon in Cochin, her second venture after her successful chain of salons in Delhi.
• Lakme Salon (finally) opened up in Kakkanad Cochin.
• Tony and Guy has their salon in LULU and Panampally Nagar.
• PARCOS (perfume shop) has a stand alone area within LULU.

Apart from all the above brands, there are lot of mushrooming design centers that cater to an array of clientele list.
Malayalees still prefer to buy sarees from Seemati or Jayalakshmi, but the sensibilities are changing. Neon is not jakaas anymore, nor is lace and party wears.
I see a lot of youngsters throbbing malls, wearing classy, stylish western wear outfits.

The surprise kicked in when I went to Goodwill to buy some toiletries for my mother.

I bought in my L'Oreal Mythical Oil mask and asked the sales guy to suggest a Body Wash, and literally my jaw dropped when he told cooly "Bath and Body Works mam, It's one of the fast moving body washes". Yes the same bath and body works shower gel, shower cream that cost 1000-1300 online, cost 800-900 rupees in Goodwill. Apart from BBW, they also stock Victoria Secrets mists, imported Jergens, and my favorite ST. Ives products. My mom who literally cringes on a 500 rupees Body Shop BB, agreed to BBW, as she couldn't resist the smell.

 Presenting to you combined loot of the day:

• St. Ives Intensely Hydrating Body Wash in Creamy Coconut
• Victoria Secrets Dream of Glamour Body Mist
• Bath and Body Works Body Wash in Warm Vanilla Sugar
• Bath and Body Works Sensual Amber Body Lotion
• St. Ives Apricot Scrub
• Loreal Mythical Oil masque
• Lacto Calamine for Dry skin 

Cochin, I hope in the coming years you continue to surprise me. Bring in rapid changes in Malayalees, both within and outside. We have a long way to go...

What's in my bag 2014

If you put your hand into the deep black hole called MY BAG, you would come out with something totally crazy, it's more like pulling out a bunny from a magician's hat. I am no magician, but my bag is certainly a hat with endless possibilities.

The one thing, like many other things that is a staple in my bag is my vanity bag or my makeup rounded, compressed and packed into a small pouch. It contains all the essentials required to transform my 9-5 look to a diva look in about 5 minutes.

I bought this bag from Max, and this was part of a babushka doll bag, I got 5 bags at 150 bucks, each of which was placed within. This is the 3rd bag in the series.Now for the contents of the bag

• Maybelline BB Cream: Its a pain to carry one's compact or foundation on a day to day basis. I require only light to medium coverage, and hence BB cream fits the bill. Gives me light coverage and polished look.
• Lakme Eyeconic Kajal: Kajal can make or break your look. You can simply line your lids for a pane jane look or slightly smudge  it for a look fit for the evening. Eyeconic kajal is dark, smudge proof, and stays put for a long time.
• Marks and Spencer Autograph Blush perfume: Who would want to smell like sweaty tomatoes. Though the smell of peonies and lilies doesn't last very long, the handy travel sized bottle is apt for a quick whiff of floral air.
• MAC lipstick in Creme in your coffee: MLBB, MUST HAVE...that's it, no more adjectives required for one of a kind awesome lippy.

           Note: I have been carrying MAC See Sheer a lot, for the past couple of weeks.

• Maybelline Baby lips in Pink Lolita: For that pouty, pinky, pretty, hydrated baby like              lips....Maybelline baby lips it is.
• L'occitane solid perfume in cherry blossom: Not a big fan, cause the staying power is pretty low. Bought it, considering the travel I do, and the long vision of a broken glass bottle, but it let me down and I am back to my trusty old glass bottle.
• Clean and clear oil control film: An un-necessary evil, that was brought of a rack owing to  a beauty blogger's review, but my skin being a dry disco ball, doesn't need much of bulb control.

•    Misc:

• Earring from Forever New: Because I sometimes keep forgetting to wear one.
• Some safety pins
• Apart from the ones listed above I always carry my Body ShopAlmond hand cream, a comb, Lifebuoy hand sanitizer, Orbit chewing gum, some hair clips and whole lotta medicines in another pouch. Don't be surprised by the amount of meds I carry, the tag medicine woman was not bestowed upon me without a reason :). 

Do let me know what you guys carry in your beauty pouch.

MAC Creme In Your Coffee review

‘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.