DiorShow mascara, Beauty Blender, & MAC on Apothica.com?

DiorShow mascara, Beauty Blender, & MAC on Apothica.com?

I ended up browsing through the makeup on Apothica.com on one of my study breaks & I found out that they have a lot more products for sale besides the brands that are listed on their makeup brands page. I found so many goodies including the popular DiorShow mascara, the Beauty Blender, & MAC lipglosses. But if you click Christian Dior Makeup on the makeup brands page, it will take you to a page that says error. If you search Beauty Blender or MAC, the search shows no results. Then how did I find these products??

Since I have the link to Apothica in my sidebar, I thought I'd do this post on how to navigate the site to achieve the best results & find tons of awesome products. Keep reading to find out how you can navigate the site in a better way in order to find these products yourself!


Christian Dior Makeup DiorShow Mascara Waterproof #090 Black


Givenchy Lip Lip Lip! Lipstick #313 Blushing Red (Extreme)


Beauty Blender


MAC Lip Glass Lip Gloss Magnetique


Benefit Moon Beam Iridescent Complexion Enhancer


OPI Nail Lacquer #A20 La Paz-Itively Hot - Matte Nail Polish


CHANEL Quatuor Boutons De Chanel Les Folies Noires


After looking at some of these products you might be wondering why you didn't find them while you were browsing the site. Well, I'm here to share how.
Instead of searching for makeup by trying to look up the brand name, I suggest you click Makeup (on the horizontal menu). Then when the makeup page shows up, select See All Links under PRODUCT TYPE (in the vertical menu on the left). You will be overwhelmed by the amount of products & popular brands in each sub-category under PRODUCT TYPE. Select a sub-category (for example, bronzers, lip gloss, mascara, primer, etc.). That's exactly how I found these goodies!

By the way, all the products above have been linked to their respective page so you don't have to browse through tons of pages. Just click the image & it will take you to the products' page directly & you can add it to your cart.

Happy Shopping ;)

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Xenab's Atelier: Spring 2011 Formal Collection

Xenab's Atelier: Spring 2011 Formal Collection

It's very rare that I like almost all the pieces from a designers collection, so when I came across the Xenab's Atelier Spring 2011 collection of formal wear, I HAD to share! Here are some of my absolute favourites from the collection for you to enjoy.

Images are from the Xenab's Atelier page on Facebook









Aren't these just so FAB? Check out the complete Spring 2011 collection on the Xenab's Atelier page on Facebook. You'll fall in love too! I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on this designer.

Links:

• Xenab's Atelier page on Facebook
• Xenab's Atelier: Spring 2011 Formal Collection [album with the complete collection]

P.S. A fraud by Xenab's Atelier has been brought to my attention. I am a neutral 3rd party - I do not know the designer or the person who pointed out this fraud. I posted about this collection because I thought it was breathtaking, however, I thought it's important to let people know & make their own decision on whether they want to purchase from this designer or not. There are comments on the Xenab's Atelier page on Facebook from satisfied customers as well.
Be careful with all your online purchases & do your research about the company before making a purchase!

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Electric Sapphire

Electric Sapphire

I hardly experiment with makeup during university & tend to stick to my usual routine, which can be quite boring. Even if I want to change things up, I just don't want to spend time doing that especially at this time of the year when all the deadlines are close & exams are coming up. Yesterday I switched 1 product that I use in my daily makeup routine & even though it wasn't a makeover kind of change, it still changed things up a bit.



Sometimes all it takes to get out of a makeup rut is using coloured eyeliner instead of my usual black liquid eyeliner.

Products Used:

• Annabelle Cosmetics' Smudgeliner in Electric Sapphire [upper lashline + winged]
  
• MAC eyeshadow in Mylar [applied heavily in the tear duct area + swept lightly on the lower lashline]
• Lancome Hypnose (waterproof) mascara in Black [upper lashes]
• MAC Plush Lash mascara in PlushBlack [lower lashes]

How simple is that?

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Poser in Purple

Poser in Purple

A look that I did for a birthday dinner that I went to last night. I played up the eyes & used a blush to add some colour to my cheeks. The blush wore out by the time I got in the mood to take pics - hours after I got back home from the dinner. I only wore lipbalm since I was going to be eating anyway so I couldn't be bothered to make an effort with that - didn't apply anything on my lips before taking pictures either.





Was in no mood to touch-up my makeup, just felt like being a poser.


P.S. only the face pics (1st & last) are edited via Picnik

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Huge Teeka from Gerrard Street (Toronto)

Huge Teeka from Gerrard Street (Toronto)

I absolutely love huge teeka's and for my best friends wedding, I knew I had to wear one. Wanting to wear a huge teeka was one thing, but finding one that matched my bridesmaid outfit was another. I was on a very short time limit & had a few hours at the most to find this teeka, so I headed down to the Indian & Pakistani area of Gerrard Street. If you don't know what area I'm talking about, it's pretty much a section of a street that has all Indian & Pakistani stores with clothing, jewelry, home decors, grocery, restaurants, etc.



I went from one store to the other & was disappointed with what I saw. The closest thing to what I wanted was overpriced & I wasn't willing to spend so much on something that I wasn't loving completely. I was almost out of time since I had to head back to the consulate, wasn't in a good mood (had gotten into a small accident while driving to downtown Toronto & was not happy that I couldn't find something I liked after visiting so many stores), & was just sick of the lack of good customer service, but I decided to try out one last store.

Business card of Sajawat - the store where I picked up the teeka from


Sajawat
1475 Gerrard Street East,
Toronto, Ontario, M4L 2A1
(416) 519-6408

When I walked in the store, I didn't have any expectations & didn't expect to like a teeka here either. I was proven wrong quickly, when I started going through the teeka's and found something that I fell in love with. My mum was so relieved considering how picky I am, haha! The teeka came in 3 or 4 different sizes (I want to say 4 but I'm not 100% sure). I was completely sold on it & the hardest part for me was deciding between the 2 biggest sizes. I ended up choosing the 2nd biggest one because the beading on it was absolutely perfect! There wasn't that much of a difference between the sizes, but depending on your facial structure & size, it would definitely make a difference. I have a big face as compared to others, so this huge teeka suited me.

Taken with flash so that you can see what the red beads in the teeka would look like under sunlight, with light hair, or against fair skin.


I'm pretty sure the teeka was part of a bridal set because they had hand jewelry that matched & probably had everything else too - at this point I was overjoyed about the teeka & could care less about anything else. I was so happy that I was willing to pay the ridiculous price ($30-40) that most of the smaller teekas at the other stores cost. This teeka, however, only cost me $15! I was SO surprised that I considered contacting the other bridesmaids since we had all decided to wear teeka's at the wedding. I was already running late & didn't have a way to show them what the teeka looked like, so I didn't end up contacting them.

Look at how flexible that teeka is!


Besides all that, I loved that the teeka was flexible, so it wouldn't sit flat against your forehead.
Another thing (not teeka related) that I was happy with was the customer service I received at the store. Most of the time when I'm in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) & visit a desi store, I always have problems with their customer service. The people working at the stores act like they have too much pride to be working there, they don't seem like they want to help you, or they only want to help you to force the sale of a product on you & not because they care. This can also be because I'm accustomed to the customer service in the Niagara region, but most of the time the lack of customer service from desi people in the GTA annoys me way too much. At Sajawat, however, the customer service was great, which was a bonus for me.

Left - shown completely so it looks like a bridal teeka; Right - hidden to tone it down


The picture above shows 2 ways that you can wear the teeka. On the left, the teeka looks like something that would be fit for a bride. I didn't actually wear it to the wedding this way - the picture was just taken for the purpose of this post. The picture on the right is an actual picture of me wearing the teeka at the wedding. Even though the teeka is huge, I wore it so that my hair was covering most of it, which really toned it down & made it more appropriate for a bridesmaid.

So at the end of it all I learned that you can get good customer service from desi people even in Toronto & you can find an awesome, reasonable, huge teeka, but you just have to be patient & look a little.


Disclosure: This teeka was not given to me by the store to review or I was not paid in any way to write this post. I found a great teeka at a store that had good customer service, so I wanted to share it, especially since I have received questions from people on where I got this teeka from.

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Boycotting My Flat Iron

Boycotting My Flat Iron

I wanted to buy a large, round, vented hair brush for a while & recently I purchased it. In order to see if I really liked it, I decided to put it to the test by using the brush to blow dry my hair straight without following up the process with a flat iron. It took time to blow dry, but I loved that my hair was straight, had a lot of volume & wasn't pin straight. Since then I decided that if I can get better results by blow drying my hair, then I'll stick to that instead of applying direct heat through a flat iron. I have washed my hair 6 times since then (for reference, I wash my hair every 3-4 days) & I have not used my flat iron since! Oh, & have I mentioned that my hair is naturally curly? Yup, curly not wavy.



My weapon of choice while blow drying my hair is a brush called Beautique Large Metal Thermal Round Brush that I got at Sally Beauty. In case you are interested, I got the large one & the model number for the large brush is 738628.



Sally Beauty's website states that "Beautique Metal Thermal Round Brushes contain a thermal core that holds heat from a hair dryer longer reducing drying time." The brush is curved, so it fits the shape of your head; the handle has a good, comfortable grip; & as it states on the brush, it is very light, which makes the brush easy to work with. This brush has definitely played a big role in giving my hair volume.

Besides the volume, another thing that I like is that blow drying makes my hair look a lot thicker as compared to what it looked like after I flat iron my hair. One thing that I don't like about blow drying is that I get a lot more flyaways after I'm done as compared to when I'm done flat ironing. This can easily be fixed using some sort of mousse, hairspray, etc. but I prefer using less products on my hair, so I don't do that. I also have stubborn hair on the sides, which take a lot longer to tame using a blow dryer. It's also a pain trying to blow dry long hair, not only because it takes longer, but also because my hands just start hurting after a while.



I absolutely love how I can create curls at the end that look so natural, volumized, & effortless. I have created more defined curls than what you will see in the pics below, but this time I didn't want that look. If you want defined curls, you can do that with a round brush & then use hair spray to hold the curls. I just like how the ends are not completely straight, but have a bit of texture & my hair overall has a lot of texture & volume when I blow dry.



I'm loving that I don't have to use a flat iron to get my hair as straight as I want it. It's a step toward starting to take better care of my hair along with using hot coconut oil & some homemade treatments more often. I think the next step for me should be finally getting a haircut so I can get rid of the split ends of my split ends! Eek, I know.. I'm bad.

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My Deepak Perwani Handbag

My Deepak Perwani Handbag

I had posted about the handbags from Deepak Perwani's S/S 2010 collection almost a year ago (click here to see that post) & everyone loved the handbags!

I loved the handbags so much that when I heard that my aunt from Pakistan was going to be in Dubai at the same time as me last summer, I thought I'd ask her to inquire about Deepak Perwani's handbags. My aunt got one of the bags from the collection & my uncle & aunt ended up giving me this handbag as a present.

I'll be honest, when I saw it in person I wasn't as thrilled because the handbags looked AMAZING in the pictures that I had seen online but in person it didn't look as good. It just looked like this fabric that I think (not completely sure) is pretty common in Pakistan with yellow, green, red, & black colours & patterns. Only difference was that the fabric was blinged out with sequins & inexpensive looking gems & stitched as a handbag.

The more I saw the bag though, the more it grew on me. I loved the shape & the way the coloured sequins & gems looked when the light hit them at different angles. It was also a unique handbag & I knew that I wouldn't find anything like it in Canada. It soon became a winner since I love things that are different, with a pop of colour (or colours in this case), & something that you wouldn't see people around you carry.

I've only taken this bag out twice in Dubai but with spring & sunshine around the corner, I'm hoping I'll get to add a little bit of colour to the scenery in Canada when I sport this colourful bag outside.

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"MOOZ-lum" The Movie: Toronto Theatrical Release

"MOOZ-lum" The Movie: Toronto Theatrical Release

"Do not let a few people shape your view on an entire faith" -Taqua in MOOZ-lum



I have never written about a movie on this blog because no movie has truly intrigued me as much as the trailer for MOOZ-lum has. This independent film (written & directed by Qasim Basir aka Q) has relied on the internet, especially social networking for marketing, & since I have been waiting for this movie to release in Canada it only made sense for me to help get the word out through my blog that MOOZ-lum is coming to Toronto!

MOOZ-lum Theatrical Trailer from Qasim Basir on Vimeo.

Even though this movie has already been playing in some AMC Independent theatres in the U.S., it has been a harder struggle to get it to play in Canada. I was SO excited when I saw that the movie is going to be released in Toronto on the February 25-27, 2011 weekend! Visit the link to the Toronto Theatrical Release event page on Facebook below for more details. The event page on Facebook now says that it will be playing from February 25th to March 6th, however, showtimes & tickets are still not available.

I'm hoping I can go see this movie & maybe even have a short review up on here, but for now I'll leave you with a plot synopsis & links to various places where you can find MOOZ-lum online.

"Amid a strict Muslim rearing and a social life he's never had, Tariq (Evan Ross) enters college confused. New peers, family and mentors help him find his place, but the 9-11 attacks force him to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life."
-via IMDb

Find MOOZ-lum the movie online here:

• Official Website: http://moozlumthemovie.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/moozlumthemovie
• Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/Moozlumthemovie
• Toronto Theatrical Release event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110696415674094

Achievements so far


Has anyone watched MOOZ-lum yet or is waiting to see it?
Or is crazy enough like me to invite all the people on my Facebook who live in Toronto or somewhat close to the MOOZ-lum: Toronto Theatrical Release event page and then blog about the movie too?

Either way, spread the word because social media & word of mouth is all that the movie has relied on so far since it is an independent film.

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Clothing haul

Clothing haul

Someone had asked me to do a haul post, but I hardly go shopping. I went shopping recently, so I thought I'd do a haul post. Prices are listed without taxes. If the items were on sale when I bought them, that's mentioned as well.

URBAN BEHAVIOR
Original Price - $17.80


GARAGE
Original Price - $29.90
Sale Price - $10


URBAN PLANET
Original Price - $19.95
Sale Price - $9.97

Original Price - $12.99


H&M
Original Price - $19.95


RW&CO.
Original Price - $58
Sale Price - $19.95

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Positive Thinking is Key

Positive Thinking is Key

The year started on a bad note & since then I've been hearing about so many problems that some of my close friends are facing. It would be different if it was 1, or 2, or even just 3 of my close friends who have been going through some major changes - but it's more than 3! These changes involve their families as well, which makes things much more complicated.



The past month has been an emotional drain from listening to everyone; having long conversations about uncertainties, the present, & the future; discussions on obligations & responsibilities; sitting across the table & holding back tears because we are in public; a mix of feelings, etc. Some of these friends seem closer to approaching the light at the end of the tunnel now though, so things are starting to look better for the most part.



My thoughts on all these problems is that I guess we're all starting a get a taste of the real world as graduates & soon-to-be-grads!



Even though 2011 hasn't been as bright so far, February is a whole new month. Positive thinking is key!



February is a month of celebrations:

• This month starts off with a birthday. The birthday of a person who taught me a lot, but the lesson that I probably value the most is on living in the present instead of thinking & re-thinking about the future like I used to. I can't say I don't think about the future, but I just don't mentally exhaust myself from thinking about it so much either.
  So if you ever read this, Happy Birthday! & as I always tell you this time of the year: Go easy on your liver, please.
• Mid-February brings around the birthday of another close friend, who has been with me through one of the hardest times of my life & was always there for advice & support. When the time comes, I will wish you as well, of course.
• & then at the end of February, it's my 22nd birthday!
  

I'm hoping that the month of love will bring more cheer & bonding in all our lives.
That's all for now. Don't forget that positive attitude!




Images from Elie Saab's Spring 2011 Couture Collection (via Style.com) as eye candy to spread some cheer via fabulous fashion!

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