Choosing the right skin foundation

A 4-step guide, tells you how to choose your crème and powder wisely!

Walk into a Make-up store
Choose a brand only after you have visited other stores. Be aware that all brands (no matter how renowned) do not suit all skin types. Be open to experimentation and because your foundation is going to be the closest product to your skin, it will take sometime to find the right one! Lakme, M.A.C, Clinique, L’Oreal, Make Up For Ever and many make-up and skin care brands have stores across the city.

Quit the Guessing Game
Warning: No ‘one’ formula suits all skin types. Talk to the beauty expert or the makeup artist a the salon, find out which formula suits your skin the best depending on your skin’s warm or cool undertone (whether you go pink or yellow in the sun. People have one of these three undertones: pink, neutral or yellow), shade (M.A.C has the largest range of skin shades), type (dry, combination, oily, normal) and needs of a sensitive skin (acne prone, open pores, blemishes, allergies). Especially for everyday wear, ask the consultant for sweat proof, long wearing foundations with an SPF count. Estee Lauder’s Double wear stay-in-place makeup with SPF 10 sustains up to 12 hours wear.

Amongst Clinique’s non-comedogenic (non-pore clogging) products, the Super Moisturize and Super Balanced are for dry and combination skin respectively. Their finest, the Treatment Foundations for extremely sensitive skin are worth every rupee. M.A.C, on the other hand, has a range of foundations that double up as concealers. “For a natural finish, apply Mac studio moisture fix, followed by a Mac prolong wear foundation” said Vimi Joshi, senior artist, M.A.C.

Time is the Best Test
Brands divide their foundations either into numbers or shades. “When selecting a shade, try it on your face. Trying a foundation on your hand doesn't work as your hand is a different colour to your face. Try the foundation on your jaw line, so that the beauty consultant can match it with your neck. Blend the colour and if it disappears, it's the right shade,” advices Lisa Whyte from Clinique. Buy a foundation during the day and judge the way it makes your skin appear in white and day light. Keep it on your skin for an hour and check for, patchiness, grey shades, itching and redness.

Preparing your Skin for a Flawless Foundation
Step one is to exfoliate and hydrate the skin before applying a sunscreen. Step two is to blend in the foundation with your finger tips or using a brush. Step three is to use a setting powder to achieve an even finish. Make Up For Ever’s HD finishing powder is by far the best in the range. Carry a compact foundation or loose powder in your vanity kit for regular touch-ups during the day, Lakme and L’Oreal’s range of compacts work do a fantastic job.

Where to pick up from?

Mumbai
M.A.C: 32 Altamount Road, Tel: 22 2354 1097, Web: www.maccosmetics.com
Clinique: Shoppers Stop 211 D, S V Road, Andheri West, Tel: 9619634254, Web: www.clinique.in
Makeup Forever: www.makeupforever.com
Lakme Salon: J Tata Road, Opp Eros Cinema, Churchgate, Tel: 2204 2104, Web: www.lakmeindia.com

Four things to shop for in Puducherry!

Mementos for Memories

I find that market walks are a blissful way to achieve retail nirvana!

After a lesson in higher living at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, you ought to take keepsakes back home. Shopping in Puducherry is a better than Chennai as the taxes are low or non existent. We tell you four most popular take-aways that’ll bring a smile on your face and remind you of your Puducherry travels!

Known for its traditional dolls, the colourful Bommai dolls made from the terracotta, papier mache and plaster of Paris and are available at handicraft emporiums all over the city. The cutest to picks are: a Tamil couple (the man in large handlebar moustache and the wife covered in gold jewellery) dressed in traditional mundu and the bobble head idols of goddesses in a dance pose.
Best Deal: Make an appointment with the artisan and cajole him into custom-making small dolls of you and your family friends!

Sheep leather wallets, satchels, knapsacks, belts and clutch purses are made here. The quality is excellent; the variety in colours and shapes will amaze you.
Best Deal: Shop on Nehru Street and Casablanca shopping centre, look for factory surplus.

Ceramic pottery artisans in Auroville are very famous for their distinctive modern twists in clay and slate-glazed pottery called ‘golden bridge’ and ‘rhinestone art’. The traditional ‘kottaikorai’ style of clay pottery, whose texture resembles an orange peel, is more utilitarian though.
Best Deal: Pick up a glazed ashtray, table ware or a clay cooking pot.

Hand woven Korai (a species of grass) mats and textiles like satin, twill corduroy; poplin, chambray, oxford and cambric and khadi are available at economical prices. Varieties of crisp printed cotton, and mixed fabrics are very commonly found on the Mahatma Gandhi Street whereas Jawaharlal Nehru Street is ideal for picking up garments and surplus prêt couture.
Best Deal: Request the shopkeeper to get a dress tailor made for you, from your chosen fabric.

Other knick-knacks to pick up are perfumed candles, silver and organic jewellery, home-made jams and pickles, antique wooden furniture and curios for home décor.

Getting There:
Road: Three hours from Chennai, buses from are frequent, and cost about Rs60. It is much cheaper and more convenient to book a taxi to pick you up from the airport, or contact your guesthouse directly for the same.

Hairdos for My party!

Your ensemble will dictate the kind of hairstyle you could have; but why not turn it around? Match your dress, accessories and shoes to an exciting yet easy coiffure. Figure from the list below where your hair-length fits and what hairdo you can experiment with.

# Using Hair Embellishments
Accessories are in vogue, brooches, butterfly claws, Alice head bands, barrettes, bobby pins, hair nets, tick tacks, feather clips, necklaces, earrings or tiaras tastefully transform any hairdo. Choosing the right accessory to your personality will enhance your sex appeal. However two things to remember: Plastic accessories spell cheap and multi coloured hair bands/nets/feathers cannot be paired with a multi coloured dress – it would be a colour chaos and should be avoided at all cost. It is best to do a dress rehearsal wearing your accessories.

# Using Colour, Glitter Strings or Weaves

The solid colours look great only if you can carry off the punk look. Black and white shaded hair looks mesmerizing, if you can pull it off. Streaking is a good idea. Highlights like glittering strings, a bead braid or woollen strings will improve the hairdo.  

1. For Long Hair

Dressy Braids
Braided hair can be very stylish, if you play around with the braiding styles. The best part about braided hair is that they do not need to be managed. French braids are a very popular and they can be dressed up by weaving a strand of sparkly ribbon through the braid. You could also add tiny rhinestone clips, barrettes on the sides of the head or use a multicolour scrunchie to tie the tail if the braid. To liven up your hair do, experiment with many thin braids all over your scalp or straighten your hair and braid only a small portion on either side of your head. You could also streak or colour this braid. 

Chignons and French Rolls
You simply can't go wrong with these two, they have been in fashion forever! They work fabulously on any hair type: straight, curly or wavy hair. You just need the length to get the hair in the roll and girdle it with a net or a ring of flowers or a large diamond/ multicoloured studded claw.

The Pompadour
Derived from Madame de Pompadour, this hairstyle has been seen on the ramp and on magazine covers through decades. There are many new variations to the pompadour and while styling you could create your signature quiff. The fun part is that you could accessorise it in three parts – first the poof, then the bun and finally the tail. If you have curling tongs, do curl up the tail for a sexy swoosh. Reverse is required for curly haired ladies, use a wavy or a straightening iron, but do not over do.

2. For a Short Crop
Pixie is by far the most popular hairstyle due to its tomboyish and androgynous appeal. If you have a small body frame, the pixie haircut with an Alice head band, your necklace around your head or if you have string necklace with small beads then you could use half a dozen of multicoloured ones on the head.

You could go full colour, say a solid blue, olive green or red and use a black or yellow tick tacks to raise eyebrows and make heads turn. Remember that it can be tasteful and wild at the simultaneously, so die your hair correctly. 

A sexy bob is by far the most appealing hair style in the books. It is ideal to wash your hair and decide whether you want to in curl or out curl them. Depending on that you could choose a dozen accessories including a barrette, a hair band, a brooch or feather clips, a single flower, a net, or add glittering strands in various colours.   

3. For Shoulder Length Hair

Front Hair Poof is a coy hairstyle that can be pulled off with ease and secure it with tick tacks, bobby pins (use shocking colours), butterfly claws and barrettes. It is a must that you choose a well embellished and a stand-out accessory.

 
If you have a well defined jaw line or thin hair then it would be advisable to add volume to your hair. In both cases backcombing brings out the brilliance in hair texture and defines your face.  You could glamorize it with a long brooch by the side of your head.

The other way around is to part curl your hair at the ends and the front bands, swirl it back in a curl and use an accessory (a rhinestone clip or a studded tick tack)to hold it in place.  

Restaurant Review Mia Cucina

The Italian Job 

Mia Cucina’s small sign can be easily overlooked in the chaos of banners and other restaurant signs on the busy Versova road. The restaurant is along the main road and shares its wall with WTF bar. This common wall has pretty white flowers painted all over it. The courtyard’s al fresco seating is cosy and soothing to the eye, flowers and potted plants line the inner wall of the courtyard; and the entire setting reminds you of a dining scene out of an American movie on Italian Mafia.

The ambience inside is similar to that of a small café, with music playing in the background, photo frames of vegetables hanging on the walls, bottles of wine and olive oil sitting on the shelves. Though the restaurant was crowded on a on a weekday rainy evening, we are unsure of how well the outdoor seating will be appreciated in Mumbai’s summers. 

Mia Cucina (my kitchen in Italian) serves standard Italian fare: salad, soup of the day, pasta and risotto, pizza, carne (meat) pesce (fish) and desserts. The menu is a mix of vegetarian, meat and fish preparations, hence has a sizeable variety to offer in terms of appetizers or main courses.

Our Italian journey began with the antipasti, bruschetta polo con olivata (Rs 175). We found that the portion of the chicken with pesto and olives bruschetta small (the bruschetta pieces were the size of milk toasts) and though balsamic vinegar dominated our palate, overall the appetiser was tasty. For main course, we ordered an overpriced, thin-crust (not papad thin, though) large Chorizo pizza (Rs 425) which was neither scrumptious nor spicy! Fatter slices of chorizo sausages were expected. The chorizos were paper- thin (similar prosciutto) slices of sausage and that deprived the pizza of much flavor.
 

Then there was filleto di manzo, fungi e patate (Rs 375), a medium grilled beef steak in mushroom sauce with potatoes. The steak was cooked just right and the meat was deliciously tender; the sauce was rich, thick and spicy, complementing the meat perfectly. Flawless!

What caught our attention was the char grilled Rawas with black olive sauce, pasta and veggies. Having eaten Rawas in many Konkani, Punjabi and Goan preparations, the combination of black olives with the grilled fish seemed an unusual combination to our palate. However we were too full for it by then.

Desserts were a letdown though, the apple tart's base was undercooked, and the apple topping tasted marmalade-like and was sour. However when we returned the tart, the service manager apologized in person, assured us that this was the first case and did not charge for it. There were gaps in the tiramisu (Rs.125) filled shot glass and the quantity was small in comparison to its price. The attentive and courteous staff kept getting us the most filled glass; however it was the same story.

All said, Mia Cucina is a fine place to catch up for dinner, they have a range of wines, Indian and Italian, to choose from and the food is at par with other Italian restaurants. If you wish to indulge in Italian food, other than pastas and pizzas, then Mia Cucina’s variety will impress you.

Meal for two: Rs. 1300

Star rating: ***

i Remember

Earth, Wind, Rain and Fire
Wealth, Power, Blood and Desire
One life to live, Before we die..
One Taste of Glory
One Story
One Mouthful of Sky

Time Lapse

K has been hibernating - because life as she knows it has changed - drastically!
- work: a change of job, fun, crazy, hectic....
- failed at her third business venture - miserably..... again.
- Oyster Seeker and K keep going back and forth with much affection and distrust - relationship status CONFUSED.
- In limbo with all the men in my life - be it Drama King or Chameleon! Have found, where there is a penis, there is a problem.
- after multiple battles - Fabulous and K have resolved the necessary balance in our life
- childmom is a boon as usual.
- the worst news for this year, and probably the decade is that Octogenarian passed away.
- is eagerly waiting to meet Enlightened soon...

RESOLUTIONS: have stuck to some diligently, have failed at the others miserably.