Happily Ever After

I finally got my hands on some pictures from Haley’s wedding. The wedding took place on a beautiful fall day – and the bride rivalled the breathtaking views from the Chateau Vaudreuil. She looked absolutely stunning and her makeup turned out beautifully.

All pictures c/o Handsome Monkeys Media.








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My Best Friend’s Wedding – A Sneak Peek!

One of my best friend’s Haley, got married a few weeks ago – and I was lucky enough to do makeup for a few of her events, including her Bridal Shower/Bachelorette and Wedding. She of course looked stunning, and I of course did not take any pictures (insert sad face – what was I thinking?).

I am patiently waiting for her photographers to add pictures from the big day – and check their site almost daily, but they are teasing me by only posting a few pictures at a time. Therefore, until I get my hands on more, here are a few teaser pictures. Enjoy!

Haley’s Bachelorette

Haley’s Wedding Day
Photo c/o “Handsome Monkeys Media”

Second photo c/o “Handsome Monkeys Media” – a young & fresh duo based in Toronto.

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Fall Inspired Makeup

Everyone knows – I absolutely love fall. From the soy pumpkin spiced lattes at Starbucks, to butternut squash soup to of course, the leaves changing colours (probably my favourite). What I also love about autumn, is the inspiration that I get from this season – especially when it comes to makeup. This inspiration is what I called upon to create this simple yet glamorous look for a friend of mine, for the day of her Ladies Sangeet (a Punjabi tradition to celebrate a bride, usually a week before her wedding). With her wedding being right around the corner, she wanted to look pretty and put together – without any over the top drama.

Fall Inspired Makeup

I used a simple combo of Mac eyeshadows to create this eye look, including: Arena (a shimmery golden peach), Coppering (an orange copper), Expensive Pink (pink with duochrome) and Folie (reddish-plum brown). All these colours paired together beautifully – and reminded me of the rich golds, oranges and pinks of Autumn – all without looking too red and orange. A perfect combo in my books! All these eyeshadows were brought together with Mac Blacktrack gel eyeliner and QUO false lashes – and tada! An amazingly beautiful glamorous look – without being too over the top or cakey.

Fall Inspired Makeup

Fall Inspired Makeup

Fall Inspired Makeup

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I’m back!

I realize that I’ve been completely MIA from blogging for, ummmm, almost a year (insert blushing face). Lately, I’ve been feeling the need of a creative outlet. Being overwhelmed by every day life, I’ve been feeling a little stuck in a rut – and then this week it dawned on me, maybe the best way to fix this ‘problem’ is to start blogging about one of my passions again.

I’m going to keep a realistic timeline, and hopefully post once or twice a week. I plan on posting about makeup products that I’ve been loving, make up looks that I create on others (need to start documenting again!), jewellery & fashion, and of course occasionally photographs that I take with my iPhone.

I absolutely love reading other fashion & makeup blogs – and hope that others will feel the same about the continuation of this one!

Sometimes, less IS more…

We often think that we need to pile on the makeup when attending functions as a friend’s wedding or engagement – but that couldn’t in fact be further from the truth. Instead of caking ones face with makeup and doing a heavy smokey eye (which I will never deny that I love) – sometimes, it’s classic to go for a understated look that is sexy, beautiful and put together.
The best part about makeup is that it has the ability to accentuate anyone’s best features – playing with light to camouflage any imperfections. So when going for a natural – yet sophisticated look – choose one feature to play up, using a neutral palette to bring the look together. The results are always stunningly beautiful!



The Big Night!

What’s the best thing about a big Indian wedding? Well, of course all the beautiful outfits – and with that array of outfits comes a change in makeup! Indian brides are known to have gorgeous and intricate outfits that are heavy in the department of embroidery and sequins. With such heavily detailed outfits, a brides makeup has to match – other wise she will look completely washed out. Convincing Sharina that a heavier eye would be more complementary wasn’t that difficult – and the results were absolutely gorgeous!




The Big Day!

Fall is my absolute favourite season… After all, what’s not to love? The leaves are changing colours, giving everything a stunning glow – which is so inspiring. All the different hues coming from the trees and sky lead to numerous creative ideas and of course countless makeup looks!

Since Autumn is such a beautiful time, in my opinion it’s the best time for a wedding – especially on a lovely Fall day! Clearly Sharina agrees with me – and was super lucky to have amazing weather on her big day. Sharina is all about looking natural, and wanted to look just that on her wedding day. She specifically asked for a look that didn’t make her look too overdone, but like her self – well, a glamazon bridal version of herself. I agreed, and used the golden hues of Fall as an inspiration for her morning wedding ceremony!

**Sharina is in the process of getting ready in these pictures – her hair hasn’t been done, nor is she wearing her jewellery which will all come together in making her look like a traditional Indian bride.




Just a little bit of Spice…

How does a ‘natural girl’ spice up her look? Well, it can easily be done by adding a little bit of drama to one’s eyelids and smoking it out – using mainly natural colours (I used my Naked palette by Urban Decay). The results are a beautiful and neutral look – with just a bit of edge to add a pop that makes your eyes scream – come look at me!




The Fountain of Youth

It starts from a young age – media puts these ideas in everyones head; aging is bad – being young is beautiful. I’ll admit that even I’m a sucker for society’s fight against aging. The day that I turned 25 I became obsessed with avoiding wrinkles – not something I’m admittedly proud of.
With a new found quest of avoiding crows feet, one of my good friend’s told me a “secret” to anti-aging, something that I should have started in my early twenties because it’s so simple – unfortunately this secret only sank in last year. We’ve all heard it – the sun causes wrinkles, yet how many of us actually register this fact? What’s the best way of avoiding wrinkles? Avoiding the sun! But how can that possibly happen? (I’m beyond guilty of sun worshipping with oil). So let me rephrase that – the best way of preventing wrinkles is as easy as sunscreen. Yeah!

Skin Tint FX Moisturizer - SPF 30


So on the quest for the perfect facial sunscreen, I went to my local Pharmaprix where I absolutely adore the girl at the cosmetics counter (how can I not bond with a girl over makeup?). She told me about the Cover FX line – and in particular their Skin Tint FX moisturizer with SPF 30 (which by the way is not actually tinted – foundation is still needed). I’ve been using it religiously since last winter. I mix it in with my regular Biotherm moisturizer every morning – rain or shine. The Skin FX moisturizer is amazing because it actually acts as a primer before foundation – evening out skin – helping the makeup go on smooth and last all day.

Biotherm - Skin Vivo Night


This is where my story may get a little more intense (not really). Last weekend I was doing some “back to school” cleaning of my room and I came across a sample of the Biotherm Skin Vivo night anti-aging cream that one of the girls from Pharaprix had given me. I decided to give it a try and have been using it every night for the last week. As of yet, I haven’t noticed a difference (Biotherm claims that this product will take ten years off your skin in four weeks) – but to be fair, I don’t really have any wrinkles yet and am just trying it out in the name of “prevention”.

Biotherm - Skin Vivo Night


Here is my breakdown of this product:
The cream has a very unique consistency and tingles slightly when it comes into contact with the under eye area. It is slightly drying (which I feel is better than being greasy, because grease = acne in my books) and if it is worn during the day (I haven’t done this yet) needs to be mixed in with a moisturizer. The full size product retails for $75.00, which I find to be extremely pricey – especially since it is not anti-aging and moisturizing.

This leads me to my next point, a little food for thought perhaps. Are anti-aging products worth the money – or are they just “fancy” moisturizers? We know that wearing sunscreen helps in the prevention of wrinkles – but using anti aging creams in your twenties – will that help in prevention? Or is just more products to spend money on and to put on your face? What do you think?

Trend Alert: Fall Eyebrows

Let’s face it – your eyebrows can either make you or break you. Beautifully groomed and properly shaped eyebrows can make a face look complete. So say goodbye to thin, over-tweezed eyebrows, because Fall 2011 is all about the natural (which I love) almost “boyish” eyebrow. The projected makeup trends are all about the defined eyebrow – darkened in with black (not brown!) pencil (or shadow) – which I absolutely love and rock on a daily basis thanks to my South Asian roots. So, if you’re not born with a thick and lush set of brows – no problem, after all that is why we have makeup!

Before - No Makeup


After - Natural Glam Makeup - with Groomed Eyebrows

Remember, when defining your eyebrows, it is always best to start with a good tweezer – specifically a tweezer that has a tip that is pointed or slanted. Here are three steps that I follow (remember, if you’re not sure – go see a professional before you begin tweezing!).
1- Imagine a vertical line going up from the outside of your nostril towards your forehead. The inner part of the eyebrow should hit this imaginary line.
2- A straight line going out from the outside corner of your nostril past the outer corner of your eye marks the end of your eyebrow (almost at a 45 degree angle to line 1).
3- Your arch should be found approximately two thirds of the way from your inner eyebrow.

I personally do not like the look that a pencil gives when used to fill in eyebrows because I find it a little too harsh and doesn’t look very natural. Instead, I opt for an eyeshadow or eyebrow-powder. After foundation (but before any eyeshadow is put on), I define eyebrows. The first step that I do is using an eyebrow gel (or clear mascara) I brush the hairs in place – this leaves them looking groomed. I then fill the eyebrows in with a brown eyeshadow (depending on ones hair colouring) with a slanted eyebrow brush.

Remember, clean and groomed eyebrows will perfectly compliment and complete any makeup look. So if you’re a huge fan of thick eyebrows, grab some eyeshadow and an eyebrow brush and get to work!