The In-between Days

We all know it; especially the ones that have the super long locks. Washing our hair can be a chore; luckily hair experts advise not to wash out hair more than two/three times a week, but even then during the week its not always easy! I admit I have days when I just don't have the energy to wake up extra early to wash and dry my hair so I need something to help me out on those in-between days and thats where Dry Shampoo comes in.

Dry shampoo was a phenomenon for women across the world when it first came out; it promised to banish the grease and make your hair have that "just washed" look with volume and we all just ran to our local Boots to empty out the shelves. However although Batiste being the Big Daddy of dry shampoos I just did not get on well with it; it left a chalky residue; much like the days when girls used talcum powder to banish the grease (you know you did it too), if it wasn't blended properly it was there for the world to see. I also found that Batiste lost its volume and "refresh and revive" abilities within a few hours of applying it; so you would have to top it up leaving you with a itchy scalp and some serious build up!
But then came along CO-LAB Invisible Dry Shampoo; created by the amazing YouTube beauty guru, Model and blogger Ruth Crilly (AModelRecommends) http://www.amodelrecommends.com/

"Invisible" that in its self reeled me in...no chalky grey streaks yay! This Dry Shampoo works great to refresh and revive my hair. I usually grab for it on day 2 or 3 after washing my hair and it really brings back the oomph that is needed. With my thick hair; other brands would have to be used pretty generously but with Co-Lab I'm not spraying most of the bottle on to my hair. As with any dry shampoo you would need to spray this from a slight distance and brush it through. It can be used if your hair is feeling slightly greasy or if you just need to add some volume and texture. I definitely prefer these to any other dry shampoo I have tried; the formula is light weight and invisible for sure. 

Co-Lab comes in 5 scents; Tropical Rio, Fruit New York, Classic London, Oriental Tokyo and Floral Paris. So theres one to suit everyones taste, out of the five I have tried, Rio, Tokyo and London; Rio being a firm favourite. Whats great is they all come in a miniature size, which is a perfect size for your handbag and for travelling. 

You can buy Co-Lab from Superdrug or FeelUnique.com: £3.50 (200ml) and £2 (50 ml) 

Have you tried these? Let me know what you think below. 

Janki  x o x o

Disclaimer:

All products mentioned were purchased by me and I am in no way sponsored by any of the brands mentioned.

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What the Red?

Yep you guessed it, I'm about to paint this post Red with my Top 5 Red lipsticks!

Red Lipstick is THE one for me, it is just one of those colours that will look great on any one; there are a huge range of lipsticks available with undertones to compliment any skin tone so any one can rock a red lip and I guarantee it will make you feel beautiful, glamorous, sexy and sophisticated all rolled into one and as an added bonus Red lipstick will make your teeth look white (who doesn't want that)!? Red can be worn as a statement lip with minimal eye makeup or make a full on eye look pop for those daring enough.

There was a time when I just wasn't comfortable wearing a red lip; that was until a couple of years ago when I took the plunge and picked up my very first Red lipstick from Chanel! As in if I was going to get one why not get one of the best right?

Since that little splurge on Chanel I have accumulated many red lipsticks in my collection from drug store to high end; bullets, pencils and liquid lipsticks the lot! As hard as this was to choose here are my Top 5 in no particular order!

No.1 is of course my very first red lipstick:

Chanel Rouge Allure Intense Long Wear Lip Colour (104) Passion - £26.00 from Debenhams

This is the ultimate classic Red; it has a deep blue undertone which suits the majority of skin tones. This line from Chanel has a range of intense, highly pigmented lipsticks that are easy to apply and very long lasting; I have to admit that it does dry out my lips so not one for all day wear, however prep your lips and this will not budge on a night out. The packaging is just gorgeous; a very Chanel chic black and gold tube with a click-spring mechanism to open. I agree its expensive; but it is a luxury brand and given that it was my first taste of red lipsticks I am so glad I went for this as it gave me the confidence to wear red on my lips.

No.2 is a recent purchase but became a firm fave very quickly:

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick Rossetto Rouge a Levres (01) £5.49 from Boots

I have never tried any of the lipsticks from Kate Moss's range for Rimmel; so when I browsed the makeup isles in Boots a couple of weeks back I thought oh what they hey, let me try one and for £5.49 I was willing to take the risk. I can say I was pleasantly surprised at the pigmentation this lipstick gave, a creamy formula that glided on to the lips with a semi-matte finish. I wouldn't say it lasted up to 8 hours as I did have to top up and I do advise lining the lips with this one as it does tend to bleed over the course of the day but seriously other than that this was great for the price and one I would definitely recommend to first time red lipstick wearers who don't want to spend too much. Again a blue undertone red lipstick (white teeth) that will compliment so many skin tones with sleek black packaging in bullet form detailing Kate's signature across the lid.

!! UPDATE !! (See Disclaimer Page)

No.3 Oh I how love this...everything about it:

Lime Crime Velvetine in Red Velvet £13.50 from Love Makeup or from Lime Crime

I adore this liquid lipstick; it is the ultimate red lip colour. I get compliments and get asked questions about this every time I wear it.
If you have never heard of liquid lipsticks then firstly where have you been? Secondly try this one; you will not regret it. It was my very first lipstick of this kind; highly pigmented, matte, intense colour and long lasting, the perfect red to wear with Indian outfits and nights out and sometimes even very lightly applied to wear at work. When I say the perfect red; it is a deep red but not too dark nor too bright. It is applied using a doe-foot applicator and it is a blood red colour when wet and then it dries to a divine velvet red. It does last on your lips as it dries a complete matte, so it does tend to dry out the lips throughout the day, I tend to prep my lips by using a lip scrub and a hydrating lip balm before I use this. Lining your lips isn't necessary with this, but you can if you want a clean outline...oh and also good luck getting this off at the end of the day- it does not budge, but thats a good thing right? Just get it...you need it trust me! ;)

No.4 a great every day fave:

Maybelline New York Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Light it Up £4.99 from Boots

I did a blog post on my collection of the Color Drama Lip Pencils and you can find that here; but out of the two red lip pencils in the collection Light it Up was a firm favourite. Its such a great everyday wear red and so easy to put on as it glides on your lips no liner necessary which makes it great for days on the go as I can just pop it into my handbag. The pigmentation is insane on this and although it isn't exactly long lasting it does leave a little tint on the lips but hey for £4.99 I am not complaining.

No.5 Leave the best till last as they say...she's a beaut

Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G in So-Marilyn £23.00 from Charlotte Tilbury

I don't even know where to start on this...the packaging, the colour, the application, the longevity all of it is amazing. Charlotte Tilbury can do no wrong when it comes to makeup; she's an inspiration to so many and I owe so much of what I know about makeup to her. Ok now that the Charlotte worshipping is over back to the lipstick. So-Marilyn; if the name doesn't give it away let me tell you, this is Marilyn Monroe in a lipstick; the scarlet red, sexy, statement lip worn effortlessly by her. It is a gorgeous highly pigmented ruby red that is long lasting with a glossy finish and no chapped or dried lips in sight through out the day. The packaging is a beautiful rose gold bullet with CT embossed on top of the cap; so glamorous, luxurious and chic. This one really is a must have for any one looking for staple red lipstick...So-Marilyn got get her, go on you know you want to!

So there you have it my Top 5 red lipsticks; I know there must be some of you out there thinking "What? Where is the MAC lipstick?" If I am honest, at least two of my MAC reds would be in my Top 10  but they just do not quite make the cut for Top 5 as I considered both drug store and high end and wanted a mix for people with different budgets. I struggled to whittle it down to just 5 trust me! But just FYI if this was a Top 10 Ruby Woo and Russian Red would totally be in there! :)

Do any of you own any of the above red lipsticks? Why not share your top 5 with me? Leave a comment for me below with your top 5 I would love to know your favourites!

x o x o

Disclaimer:

All products mentioned were purchased by me and I am in no way sponsored by any of the brands mentioned.

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Hit or Miss: Becca Radiant Skin Creamy Concealer

The Becca Cosmetics brand has always caught my eye as I walked around a Space NK store or browsed their website. I had heard so much about their foundations from friends I was intrigued but was always holding out until I ran out of my current fave foundation (Illamasqua Skin Base <3)

But alas I am a beauty addict and I love myself a bargain and when I saw some of the Becca products had gone on sale on the Space NK website...it was fate...destiny...whatever you want to call it; I just had to try their products! So I got a couple of Radiant Skin Satin Foundations that looked close to my skin tone; Tobacco and Cafe (Medium-Tan) and picked up two of their Radiant Skin Creamy Concealers in Toffee and Coffee that complimented the foundation colours.

As far as the foundations go; I think I will do another Hit or Miss post on them as I am still giving them a good test run before I have a firm verdict. Unfortunately the concealer just does not get that benefit of the doubt from me as after one use it is a definite MISS for me! 

I just did not get along with this from the minute I opened it. The packaging is similar to the YSL Touche Éclat with the whole pen mechanism; however the Becca version took forever to actually appear up the pen, seriously I just kept twisting and twisting for a good five minutes. Ridiculous is not the word...but OK you can get over that assuming its so that the product doesn't leak. Right?

How the product comes out of the packaging. 

*Cue Laugh* Why laugh? Because actually that was not the case really; when I finally got the product to appear, out came a thick blob (yes blob) of concealer; and more than I would ever need to use to conceal my face. This happened with both pens; but I was still going to cast aside the amount of product just wasted and give this a fair trial by testing it out for the day.

Concealer swatched once only 

So I did; I got up in the morning, actually (for some reason) slightly excited to try out the concealer because packaging aside it claims to be a creamy medium coverage concealer that brightens the skin, leaving a natural radiant look. Any one thinking "too good to be true"? I sure did; but being a Becca product I was secretly hoping it would be true and amazing. 

I applied this in the morning (7am) after my foundation under my eyes and on some spots on my face that needed the extra bit of concealing. The application under my eyes was awful to say the least; there was no way I could apply it straight on to my face after the amount of product that had come out so I tried to apply it from my hand with a concealer brush. This didn't work as it wasn't blending and I just ended up pulling the skin under my eyes. 

I also tried to warm the product up on my hand and dabbing it on to my under eyes but no such luck; it just dried so quickly there was no time to try and blend it at all. I will admit the coverage on this was insane, it most definitely covered up my dark circles on initial application; its just that it immediately started to look cakey and I hadn't even set it with a powder. I concluded at that point that this was never going to be a good under eye concealer, nonetheless it was still going to be put through the day wear test. I also used it as a spot concealer and I have to say for this purpose on initial application this works great; dab a little bit on the spot and press with your finger or a brush (pressing motion) and you have got a fully covered spot.

Both swatches dry after blending

After wearing it for the whole day I refute the claim that this formula is long-lasting and crease-proof. Well I totally get how it might be water resistant as it was not easy to get off with my micellar water, but the rest of the claims not so much. 

By 10am my under eyes were very cakey(more than before), they felt dry and had most definitely creased and faded. Although this wasn't the case on the concealer I had applied on my spots, that was still very much there but had slightly dried out the area; for this reason I shouldn't give it a complete "miss" but I will as I just don't think it is enough of an all round concealer the way it claims to be.

It claims to be a creamy concealer; but its not creamy. Creamy to me means velvety and smooth; almost like a glass of Baileys! This reminded me of the Mac Studio Tech Foundation that comes in the compact; very thick with full coverage. Not something you would expect from a concealer that states it can be used under your eyes and the pen/wand brush mechanism thing just did it no justice either; clearly the wrong packaging for this type of product!

By the end of the day I couldn't wait to take this off and I totally get why these were on sale; as I would never have paid full price for them! I will probably only use this for covering up the odd spot and stick to my trusted Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer which totally does what it says on the tin for my under eyes!

I have to be honest I am really disappointed with the Becca concealer as I was rather excited to try Becca products and the first one I did just did not make the cut, I just hope the foundation doesn't disappoint. 

Have any of you tried these and had a completely different experience? Let me know. 

Janki Ahalya x o x o

Disclaimer:

All products mentioned were purchased by me and I am in no way sponsored by any of the brands mentioned.

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Cult Product: La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo +

I am always striving to get my skin looking and feeling great what ever the weather! I have combination skin and am prone to a few breakouts now and then. For so long I was looking for something that would help keep those breakouts at bay and I found it.

Introducing my Cult Skincare Product:

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+]

This is a treatment product to help unclog pores and helps with imperfections and acne scars/marks. I am by no means saying this stops the spots completely but it does help calm my breakouts from occurring regularly.

This is without a doubt a cult product with many You-tubers and Bloggers singing its praises and for a good reason. 

I have re-purchased a tube of this so many times in the last year since discovering it. Even though I try so many other products to tackle the same problem I always seem to go back to this and for the price compared to the high end skincare ranges this is well worth the £15.50 and you can often get 3 for 2 at Boots across the La Roche-Posay range or from Escentual who often have reduced prices on their skincare lines.

It can be used morning or evening (or both) after cleansing your face; depending on your skin type. Personally I use it in every morning under my moisturiser after cleansing and twice a week at night on its own as an overnight treatment. Although it does say it doubles up as moisturiser; I find it is does dry out my skin if I use it excessively so I stick to alternating my night time treatment.

If I was to compare this to another product I'd say the only thing that came close to treating my breakouts in a similar way (of method) is the MD Formulations Glycare Lotion; which is now unavailable in the UK as they ceased distributing here sometime last year and is twice the price, hence I am sticking with the Effaclar Duo and saving some pennies for a lipstick (or two)!

La Roche-Posay's Skincare range is available at Boots or from Escentual. 

I've definitely noticed the difference in my skin since using this. Have you tried it? What was your experience with it let me know!

x o x o 

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Add some Colordrama to your Lips

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen my photo of swatches (below) of the Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil a few weeks ago. I have six out of the ten shades available and my two favourites have to be "Keep it Classy" a mauve pink great for everyday wear and "Berry Much" the name says it all really; a perfect Autumn/Winter shade.

Rumour has it they are highly comparable (drugstore) dupes for the Nars Lip Pencils; while I can't confirm that myself as I don't own any of the Nars ones, I can definitely say these are great for £4.99 each you just can't go wrong and I have stopped my yearning for the Nars pencils (for the mean time)! 

They are highly pigmented, non-drying and very easy to apply with a creamy feel that give a glossy finish. Although these don't drag on application I would prime your lips beforehand. Now I want to say these last all day but the fact is they don't but do tend to leave a little tint on my lips. I do find my self topping up at least twice in the day depending on what I have had to drink or eat. Having said that I am not complaining, for the price they are a steal and small enough to pop into your handbag for days on the go. 

You can pick up these little beauts from Boots for £4.99 each here and they are on offer for buy one get the 2nd half price! *Bargain*

Have any of you tried these and or the Nars Velvet Lip pencils? How do they compare? Let me know! 

 X o X o

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Making it Count

Hi!! First of all apologies for being away for so long. It's been a busy and interesting 2014 and I wasn't able to give the time I wanted to to my blog. But Happy New Year; it's 2015 and things are about to change! And as you can see I have had a re-vamp on my blog and a name change. If you know me you know that Ahalya Beauty just seemed more appropriate. 

For those that follow me on Instagram know I am still 100% a beauty addict and still have so much to share with you. 

I am a sucker for the New Year New Me cliche and as I am turning the big 30 in 2016 I needed some inspiration to get in the positive thinking and motivation to make this year count. 

I turned to a much recommended book that I'm sure you have heard of "The Secret" By Rohnda Byrne.

I'm starting this today and can't wait to soak in the positive vibes and working towards a better me!! 

X O X O

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