Fall Drugstore Makeup Essentials

I cannot express to you how happy I am that I live in a place that has fall again. I remember loving this season as a kid, because of the leaves, the cold but not freezing weather, and the indoor heating. Now that I'm old(er), this is the perfect opportunity to dress like it's colder (Chennai, I love you, but I can never wear a jacket without burning up) and wear vampy lipstick all day every day. I know I've been away from the blog for so long, and I apologise (I didn't give up, I swear) but going back to school and taking exams after a year takes some getting used to.

Anyway, now that I have a Walgreens loyalty card, that gives me wonderful access to the best deals a s***load of excuses to buy things for my fall face.

So, let's get into it.

Base: Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in Honey Beige

I could do a whole other blog post, raving about how brilliant this is, but I think I will contain myself. For a girl who has never worn foundation, I was on the fence about even getting one. I wanted something with light-medium coverage as my skin has been behaving this year *hopes to God I don't jinx it*. I've heard brilliant things about this foundation, and decided to try it out. They have two formulas - A dewy smooth one and a matte finish one. I decided to go for the dewy one because I figured I could always set it with powder if I wanted to mattify it a bit. I started using this really carefully (I despise anything heavy feeling on my face) and a tiny bit goes a long way. I literally use a blob as big as half my pinky nail and sheer it out over my skin. And it does a brilliant job of giving me this even, glowy base which looks natural as hell. No brush required, it goes on well with your fingers.


Lips: Milani Matte Lipstick in Sangria

I own two families of lipsticks. Reds and wines. I have one pink one which only gets pulled out if I'm wearing this particular saree (no joke). On a student budget, I feel like spending $17 on a MAC lipstick is quite atrocious. I started looking at lipsticks that were just as good in the long wearing matte department and I was disappointed again, and again and again. It was like going on a string of terrible blind dates (as I said before, the US drugstore for some perfectly good reason that I'm sure they have, does not let you test products before you buy them). And then, this Milani lipstick happened. It is the most brilliant reddish wine ever. Such a good formula as well and very easy to apply. It lasts me through two 'eating sessions' without a single touch up. It's also very forgiving and doesn't cling to any dry patches. Although I would always advise a lip scrub before any dark lipstick. Will definitely be trying out more from this line.

Elf Studio Blush in Gotta Glow

So with the whole strobing trend going on, I realized I had to jump on  the bandwagon before I turned eighty. I walked into the Elf Studio here in the city and hand a browse around. I have never seen so much cheap makeup, so well organised, in one place. Mind = blown. I picked this up because it was a hefty $3, and it swatched beautifully. I use this on my cheekbones, my browbone and down the center of my nose if I'm going out somewhere special which is usually my 6:30 class. It's also a dupe for NARS Albatross which has a shameful $30. Yes, 10 times the cost. And this one does just as good a job as a highlighter, I'm sure. It really gives you that glow even if you're running on two hours of sleep and lots of coffee.

Elf Studio Long Lasting Eyeshadow in Gala

When I was having a browse in Sephora, looking wistfully at the $30 shampoos and the $40 tweezers, I came across this beautiful brown sparkly eyeshadow from the Sephora own line. It was around $14, and I realized that nothing I said or did would justify that purchase to my bank account or my soul. At the Elf Studio, there were these weird, cushiony, creamy shadow pigment hybrids on display. When I swatched Gala, it reminded me of that Sephora shadow and I put it in my basket without a second thought. It's a brilliant color, I use it as both a base and a wash of color by itself. There's a little bit of fallout but it stays in the eye area so it isn't so bad. I can see myself wearing this a lot in the holidays.

So there you have it, my fall face. I pop on a bit of liner and mascara, but these are the products I've been using pretty much every time I need to look adult and act adult.
Happy Weekend!

Drugstore Haul & Review

The moment I got my acceptance letter this was my thought process:
1. I have brought honor to my family.
2. I can now shop at the drugstore.
3. I CAN NOW SHOP AT THE DRUGSTORE.
4. TGYUIOPIGFGYUIUYTRE5Y7DRUGSTORE

I have spent many a day envying the American beauty community who has access to a wider range of Maybelline/Revlon/Rimmel than I do in India and who have Elf/Wet n Wild/NYC at their disposal.

This is why I decided to move to New York for grad school.

(ONLY JOKING PARENTS)

This is a result of a month of small sneaky purchases and the combined cost of all that doesn't even cross $20.

1. Wet n Wild Megaplump Mascara
     This was probably the first thing that I bought from the drugstore. I was in desperate need of a mascara and my Million Lashes dried up on me. I did a big of in-store research and saw that this wand gives you a pretty similar effect. The formulation is a little too wet for me, but it's a great one for daytime.

2. Elf Volumizing Mascara
    Elf products are notorious for being either brilliant or completely awful. After the average performance of the Wet N Wild mascara, I took a gamble and bought this. I LOVE it. It goes on so easily and two coats gives me exactly what my Million Lashes used to. Stays on all day, as well. And I think the packaging is great too!

3. Wet n Wild Megalast nailpolish in Disturbia
    This is by far my favorite purple nailpolish. Ever. I've been on the hunt for a nice vampy dark purple without sparkles for years now. This has done it. The brush is also one of them fancy ergonomic ones that fit your nail perfectly. I think it works well for everything except my pinky cause it's tiny. I just end up using the brush on its side.

4. Wet n Wild Topcoat
     I picked this up along with the nailpolish cause well, dark colors chip and leave you looking like a preteen that bites your nails for fun. I wouldn't say I'm a fan because my nails gave me two days grace then started chipping. Why. Topcoat, you had one job...

5. Elf Flawless eye shadow palette in Tantalizing Taupe
    I'm all about the neutral palettes. I have a few of them now, and I think they're great for stashing in your purse. These four shades are nice, pigmented, buttery taupe shades. They're quite satiny (I expected them to be more matte) but I'm happy with them all the same. I love using the darkest shade in my crease - really adds depth and takes my usual gold day-eye to a night time vibe.

6. Burt's Bees Vanilla Lipbalm
    This stuff is an American cult favorite so when I saw it on a discount, I just grabbed it. I love it.

7. Wet n Wild lipsticks in Vamp it Up and Spotlight Red
    These lipsticks were impulse purchases. I was looking for some fall appropriate lipsticks and I picked these two up. I really Like Spotlight Red - it's a nice cool toned red. I'm still debating on whether to drop the $20 on Ruby Woo. But I think as this isn't AS nice, I may just have to. Vamp it up is a straight up purple. Not for the faint hearted. I love it stained out a bit (I am not brave enough to slap it on directly:P). The formulas of both these lipsticks are really good, I'd recommend buying them if you're looking for a quick budget matte lipstick.

On a side note, the atmosphere in the city here is brilliant. It's almost fall, it's Fashion Week and there's a nice drop in temperature. I am going to have the nicest, laziest Sunday tomorrow and probably have a wander around the city. Happy Fashion Week, guys!