Resort 2014 collections are trickling in very slowly and I just can’t find them all in one place. I don’t know why some of the sites are holding back on publishing them. Oh well, I have 3 collections to review here –  Christian Dior by Raf Simmons, Versus Versace by J.W. Anderson and Etro! Let’s begin!

Christian Dior

Showcased in Monaco, Dior’s collection had that air of elegance and a grandiose location to present it. Placed in a yacht, it was quite the obvious choice for a resort collection. The looks have that flair for luxe silhouettes but shaking it up with modern prints and styles. The opening dress it itself lays down the rule for the rest to follow. It’s modern, has sheer and opaque elements, metallic print and florals because well, who doesn’t like the hard and stand offish metals against colourful soft florals? There is an extensive amount of applique work and layering to make it look light and wearable. A lot of the silhouettes are unmistakably Dior and yet have a sporty and activewear elements into it. But there are a lot of other trends here as well, the asymmetric hemlines, colour and texture blocking and sheer layers.

Versus Versace by J.W. Anderson

The Versus Verasce show was a capsule collection designed by J.W. Anderson which surprised a lot of people. his style and aesthetic is so distinct from Versace’s intricate and feminine designs. But Versace also has toughness and boldness in it’s designs and that is something that was very apparent here. The cropped tops and skirts with slits make it very modern. It gives the overall look of a more chaotic life though.

Etro

Etro had a very colourful and graphical collection. The gradient and paisley mix is a very interesting look. Pairing that with bright colours and sleek silhouettes makes this is very worthy collection. I love the opening violet and pink dress. The lime coat with black and white is such a striking look. I love the print blocks on the pants as well.

Image Credit : Style.com | Christian Dior |  Versus Versace | Etro

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Hello all! Today, I’m reviewing the Match Perfection Ultra Creamy Compact Powder from Rimmel in the shade Soft Beige. I bought this in combination with the Match Perfection Foundation. They compliment in each other and the shade is a good enough match for me as well.

There aren’t too many shades to choose from and people with darker skintones might unfortunately, have trouble finding a match. The closest shade I got is Soft Beige. It isn’t an exact match but it blends well into my skin and looks even.

What I love most about this powder, is the texture. The powder isn’t rough or chalky, it feels very smooth and buttery. It similar to Mac Foundation Fix Plus powders. But at the same time, it’s very lightweight. It gives sheer to medium coverage. Medium even coverage is more likely to last well if you use a primer though.

I think this would work best for people with normal or oily/combination skin. The powder settles to a semi-matte finish and doesn’t look cakey. I gives a very natural and well blended finish. You can also use this to set your foundation or concealer. As I have dry skin, I don’t use this a lot in winters. If you wear it without moisturiser underneath, it can appear flakey in the dry patches.

This lasts well throughout the day and I’m very happy with it on that front. It gives a good total 6 hours of wear and then starts to fade.

I like the packaging of this. It comes with a mirror and sponge below the powder pan. It’s very convenient to use on the go.

What I like best about the product is the finish, it looks very natural and gives an even look. The price is also good on the pocket, around Rs. 500 for 8.5g of product.

Photos and swatches below!

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Hello! It’s a lovely Friday, it’s cloudy, suggesting that it might rain. I also hauled yesterday, which puts me in a fabulous mood!

So I wanted to start these weekly random posts to interact with you guys a bit more. Free For All Friday, which basically means, anything goes, say what’s on your mind etc seemed an apt title! But just to bring a little order to the chaos, I thought I’d throw in a topic and poll as well!

So, what’s your favourite coral lipstick to wear this summer?

I like Mac See Sheer. Yes, it isn’t your typical coral. It’s lustre finish so it’s buildable and very comfortable to wear everyday. 

Which one do you prefer? Do you like muted corals or all out neons?

This Week’s Poll

Tell me know below if you like some other ones. Also, the poll will be on the sidebar on the website too. Results will be posted on the next Free For All Friday.

Go crazy, kids.

The post Free For All Friday : The ‘IT’ Coral and Lip Stain appeared first on Xuvious.

Hello peeps! Hope you are all having a good week. I’m glad it’s Wednesday, which means Friday isn’t far behind!

So many months ago, I was thinking of using a hair serum just to see if it made it difference. To be honest it didn’t but I found other uses for this.

John Frieda’s Frizz – Ease Super Strength Hair Serum was one I googled and I found decent reviews for it. Sadly, this just didn’t work for me as a serum.

You apply this to damp or wet hair. You only need a coin size amount of the gel, just rub it in your palms and spread it across your hair. Now if you use this on your roots, you are bound to get greasy weighted down hair, especially if your hair is fine, like mine is. The consistency is medium half gel half lotion like.

This worked really well to soften and detangle my hair. especially the ends.  But it didn’t keep the frizz away and instead really weighed it down if it used it on the upper length of my hair.

I also use a really tiny amount. Using too much makes my hair feel really dry and scrunchy after blow drying it. I just don’t like the feel of the product if  I use a decent amount of it.

Hence, I’ve resorted to using this as a detangler when my hair is just unmanageable when wet.

But for the most part, I’ve replaced the need of a serum by using hair oil in my routine.

If this worked for you let me know! I want to know how you used this.

I do like the packaging. the pump also slides into a lock position, which is handy if you carry this while travelling. You get 50ml for about Rs. 700.

Photos and swatches below!

Checklist

Name : Frizz-Ease Extra Strength Hair Serum

Brand : John Frieda

Consistency : gel like liquid

Finish : Gives more volume to hair

Hold : Medium at roots for fine hair

Heat Defence : Nope

Fragrance : Slightly floral

Hairtype : Any

Application : Apply to wet or towel dried hair. Use a dime size and spread it evenly on hair.

Product Amount : 50ml

Ingredients : Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Ethylhexylmethoxycinnamate, Mineral Oil, Hydrolyzed Silk, Algae Extract, Fragrance.

Packaging : Small spray bottle

Price : Rs. 690

Available from :  Khoobasurti, BeautyKafe, Purplle

Final Rating : 2/5

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On this site I’ve confessed my love for Bath and Body Works many times. I’ve been using their body lotions for more than a year now and every time I like trying out a different scent. Why have so many, it’s incredibly hard to choose!

Well, today I’m reviewing the Twilight Woods Body Lotion.

At first I thought the scent would be woody and mild but I was surprised to get a very wild forest kind of scent. What on earth is wild forest you ask? Sweet, floral, fruity… put yourself in Avatar’s Pandora and imagine what it might feel like…

Something of the sort.

The quality of the body lotion is so good. It gets absorbed quickly and doesn’t leave any sticky residue. It doesn’t feel greasy at all. Your skin feels very soft and supple, and it smells amazing! I think the scent is slightly stronger than White Citrus and lingers on longer. If you liked Moonlight Path, you’ll like this one as well.

This lasts well and keeps my skin moisturized for the day. At night I reapply it.

You get about 236ml of product for around Rs. 900.

Please note, the images were taken when I had bought the product. Yes, I have used plenty of it before I thought of reviewing it.

Bath and Body Works is widely available in India now, yay!! For the longest time I despaired over the lack of availability and my prayers have been answered! You can buy it from quite a few Indian online stores now. See, the checklist below. You can also check out CupoNation.in to see if you get discounts and deals on it. They also have a lot of fashion, beauty, skincare websites listed and can save you some money!  :)

Checklist

Name : Twilight Woods Body Lotion

Brand :  Bath & Body Works

Colour : Off white

Consistency : Soft and creamy, thick.

Texture : Smooth cream

Fragrance : fruity and floral.

Application : Over dry skin

Skintype : Any

Ingredients: Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, protective Vitamin E among othera

Product Amount : 236ml

Packaging : Bottle with switch opening

Price : Around Rs. 900

Available from :  Purplle, Goodlife.com, Nykaa

Final Rating : 4/5

 

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Hey, I was going to do a full tutorial like I usually do, but my camera ran out of battery and I was too lazy… oops…

So I thought I’d so a quick review. It’s a really simple look, but I’ve used colours I don’t wear often. I was experimenting! Olive and gold is a combination that looks gorgeous against deeper skintones. I was quite in the mood for a dramatic look! I usually don’t use so much of liner.

Hope you like it!

What to Use

1. A neutral olive green shadow. I used Mac Swimming. Yes, I know it isn’t olive green, but I made it work.

2. A bright gold eye shadow like Mac Amber Lights.

3. A dark green eye shadow like Inglot 414. I blended this with Swimming to get an olive colour.

4. Your favourite black kohl. I used Mac Technakohl Liner in Graphblack.

5. Highlight colour like Mac All That Glitters.

What to Do

1. Moisturize and prime your lids. We start off with the olive green eye shadow. Just pat it on right at the center of your lid and pack in a lot of colour there.

2. Use a blending brush and lightly sweep it across the lid. You don’t want to cover the entire lid in the colour. Just keep it to the center but extend on the to ends.

3. Next we use a lovely gold colour and pat it on the inner side of the lid. We then take the dark green and pat it onto the outer corner of the lid.

4. With a tapered brush, take the same dark green half way across the crease in a thin line. If you have very deepset eyes like mine, you can skip this.

5. Now take a trusty blending brush and sweep the inner half of the lid. This is smoothen out the gold to olive transition.

6. Now do the next on the outer half. Also make sure the crease colour blends in well.

7. Take the highlight colour and sweep it across your brow bone.

8. Take your fave liner and draw it on your lashline and waterline. Add a thick liner around your eye. Finally, join the two at the outer corner and draw a little tail! :p

Hope you like the look! I think it’ll look great on festive wear! What dramatic looks do you like?

The post Quick Tutorial : Olive and Gold Eye Look appeared first on Xuvious.

Hope you all had a good weekend! I just saw Star Trek and I loved it! Today, I’m reviewing an item that’s been in my skincare routine for the last 2-3 months. And I can’t do without it!

La Roche-Posay is a french skincare brand and have a lot of products for treating various skin imperfections. Now there is a lot of confusion over what the products exactly do. You see, there are three Effaclar products and they work well together or separately as you require. I’ll try to explain the difference between them all in brief below -

1. Effaclar A.I. – The  AI stands for anti-imperfection. It’s a targeted spot treatment cream for breakouts and acne. So when you have breakouts in certain areas of your face, just apply this at those spots. This is not a serum. You can  use this as and when you need it.

2. Effaclar Duo – This is mainly like a serum and is to be used all over the face. It treats acne, inflammation but also imperfections below the skin such as blackheads, congestion etc. Hence, the duo meaning dual action. With Duo you get the best of of worlds.

3. Effaclar K – This is also meant to be used all over the face but treats imperfections below the skin like blackheads, whiteheads, clogged pores etc. It’s a lot milder than Duo and A.I.

Now onto the review of Effaclar A.I. I really wanted something to use for my breakouts that would work when they initially appear and vanquish them!

So when I see any signs of breakouts or acne forming, I promptly apply this and within 2-3 days it’s gone. There’s no scarring or spot left behind. If the formation is large, you might need to use this twice a day regularly and it will take a while. I find this works best when you use it on new breakouts to nip it in the bud. Sometimes, I also use this on the little bumps that appear and it deals with those as well.

I don’t use this everyday though. On some days when my skin feels free of bumps or acne, I skip this from my routine. But I’d say about 3-4 times a week, I do use this.

The cream is white and lotion like, of thin consistency but it is’t runny. The packaging is like those medicinal creams but with a nozzle which really helps apply it properly and no product is wasted.

This can also be worn under makeup so that’s a plus!

My only hitch about this is that leaves a dry lotion after a few hours which can look weird. But I generally use this at night only, so doesn’t bother me much.

It feels very medicinal when you use this. You get 15ml for Rs. 890 and it’s been well worth the money spent.

Photos below!

Checklist

Name : Effaclar A.I.

Brand :  La Roche-Posay

Colour : White

Consistency : Thin but not runny

Texture : like a light lotion

Fragrance : none

Application : Over skin at targeted area in morning and night.

Treatment : for acne, imperfections and spots

Ingredients: Water, DI-C12-13 alkyl malate, cyclohexasiloxane, propylene glycol, aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, PEG-100 stearate, glyceryl stearate, cetyl alcohol, PEG-4 dilaurate, PEG-4 laurate, zinc PCA, sodium hydroxide, capryloyl salicylic acid, xanthan gum, acrylates/c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, iodoproponyl butylcarbamate, PEG-4, fragrance

Product Amount : 15ml

Packaging : Tube with narrow nozzle

Shelf Life : 12 months

Price : Around Rs. 890

Available from :  Slassy, VioletBag, MedPlusBeauty

Final Rating : 4/5

 

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I’m so glad it’s the weekend!! I’m working on Saturdays as well and I miss that extra holiday. :/

But there’s always blogging and my readers to look forward to on the weekends!

Today I’m reviewing a really pretty polish for summers, China Glaze High Hopes. It’s from their Up and Away collection. I had bought this along with Lemon Fizz. I really need to wear this more often now!

I really love the colour. This is what I call a true coral. But for the most part, it’s a coral that veers more towards pink rather than orange. I think it’s a shade that will look good against all skintones as well. It’s bright and eye catching, but not neon.

This applies really well. The consistency is on the thicker side but not unmanageable. It spread quite well and evenly. You could, depending on how you apply, need only one coat or two at best.

This doesn’t chip easily and stays on well for 4-5 days. There is some minor tipwear depending on what you do. If you need it to last the entire week, using a topcoat is better.

The polish has a nice creme finish which isn’t too glossy or high on shine. You might need a topcoat depending on your preference. I find is ok to wear without one though. It’s still glossy enough.

The brush is narrower than OPI, I’d say medium and what most polishes comes with. It isn’t my favourites but quite alright to work with and I’m used to it by now.

With China Glaze you get 14ml for around Rs. 500. You can at times find reasonable discounts online though. I love the colour and the quality!

Photos and swatches!

The post China Glaze High Hopes Nail Polish appeared first on Xuvious.

1. Rebecca Minkoff : Mini M.A.C : Almond

Good leather, very wearable. I’ve been wanting this bag for the longest time.

2. Soap and Glory : The Righteous Butter

I’ve read really good reviews about this. And now that’s its available in India, I really want it!

3. Mac : Mineralize Lipstick : Style Surge

It’s the perfect colour for summer.

4. Pipa Bella : Pastel bib necklace

It’s such a good statement piece to have. I don’t really have any pastel necklaces.

5. Caudalie : Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum

I’ve been reading up stuff and I feel like I need a hydrating serum for my skin. This might just be the one!

I wish I could stop wanting things, which is a bit pointless to discuss here. So, what have you been wanting or saving up for recently?

The post Wishlist : May 2013 appeared first on Xuvious.

This is a post about how excitement induced by the sight of glitter, can overcome logic and reason. You’ll have to see the photos to know what I mean.

I first came across the Superglass collection on Temptalia’s site.  And it was like love at first sight. I remembered seeing these on StrawberryNet and so I lurched for them! It was on discount, I took it as a sign from the universe and bought it promptly in the shades Fab Frenzy and Totally Bang!

Now that the story’s ended, let me rave about this lip gloss a little more.

This is not the best lip gloss in terms of consistency and there are some parts of the finish that I do not like. But, I haven’t come across anything like it! It looks very pretty indeed!

The Superglass lip glosses are pigmented lip glosses although they are not opaque. They are filled with microshimmer, glitter and iridescent flakies. Yes, all in the order. It looks really beautiful and the gloss has so much depth.

Fab Frenzy is a deep plum colour. It’s more of a pink undertoned plum rather than a blue one. It has gold and fuchsia shimmer along with flakies that are a combination of gold, purple and pink. You can see that they are change colours based on the lighting. It’s incredibly gorgeous.

For a gloss like this, it’s thicker than usual but not sticky or gloopy. It just feels heavier on the lip and while applying. I find that while it’s pigmented, it’s not opaque and can look uneven at times. With the glitter and flakes, achieving an even look can be quite a task! Also, the particles are not heavy or rough. You don’t feel them per se, but the gloss just feels a tad bit heavy. The flakies however, stay out and don’t move around at all.

The packaging is sturdy and I like the hexagonal bottle. The brush is a flat applicator and small enough to work around the corners as well.

My only beef with this is the slight unevenness and the thicker feel which some people might find uncomfortable. Other than that, I’m so pleased with this purchase. I don’t have anything like it!

This stays on for about 5 hours and then fades. While fading it just appears like a bit of a glossy stain. These come with a bit more quantity than the Dazzleglass, 4.4ml for around Rs. 980.

Photos and swatches below!

The photo below is taken with flash.

Another one! It’s sooo pretty!!

Both photos below are taken indoors.

The swatch below is with flash.

The swatch below is without flash.

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