Guerlain is a luxury French beauty brand known both for their skincare & makeup. I still remember the first time I got to try Guerlain Beauty products at an event maybe four or five years ago; I tried the Lingerie de Peau foundation & the cult Rouge G lipsticks. The experience was, something else! Definitely one of those memorable beauty moments for me. I did go to a beauty counter a few weeks later to buy my own bottle of foundation but sadly didn’t get a good shade match. Then Guerlain seemed to disappear from India for a while, but now they’re back & bigger than ever.

A few months ago I attended their grand relaunch event where they introduced us to two new products, the Abeille Royale skincare line & KissKiss Matte range of lipsticks. I’ve been trying this lipstick since September & I’m finally ready to talk about it!

Guerlain KissKiss Matte Lipstick Review

About: Guerlain imagines KissKiss Matte, a hydrating and plumping matte lipstick, intense like a lipstick and comfortable like a balm! The subtle spice extract it contains gives the impression of voluminous lips while the precious oils and the hyaluronic acid smooth and hydrate them. KissKiss Matte offers 9 captivating shades for all special occasions. The iconic packaging is adorned with a golden matte veil.

Packaging: This is definitely the first thing that attracts me to a product & it gains even more importance. Do you think people would bother buying Chanel or Jimmy Choo nail polishes if they came in standard bottles? I’ve heard time & again that Guerlain (along with fellow French brand, YSL) does the nicest luxe packaging & I have to agree.

The lipstick tube is shaped like rectangular & shaped like gold bricks, I often find metallic gold makeup packaging can look a little over the top but the muted colour & matte finish of the packaging keeps it understated & classy. The bullet itself is a pretty standard shape but it does have KISS KISS engraved on the side of it.

Shade / Colour Payoff: The 9 shades available in India run from daily wear nudes to reds, plums & even some vampy evening shades. Zesty Orange is a deep orange shade that doesn’t scream ORANGE but it leans pretty red, I’d say it’s better classified as an orange-red shade (one of my all time favorite kind of colours to wear!) Orange reds suit Indians skin tones so well (because of our warm undertones) & would look great with a slightly orange toned blush or even bronzer. I’d classify it as more of a daytime colour but you can easily wear it at night with, say, heavier eye makeup.

You get a lot of coverage with just one swipe but (which you can even wear as a stain after muting with your fingers) but I’d say it takes about two swipes for full coverage.

Formula: Guerlain waxes eloquent about how this is supposed to be a hydrating matte lipstick (which is so rare, as mattes tend to be very drying). It does have a lot of nourishing ingredients & goes on semi creamy. It does even have a little bit of reflective sheen for a while (which helps your lips look plumper), it’s definitely not a flat matte. It was definitely more nourishing & comfortable to wear than a lot of mattes out there & also very light, I wasn’t aware of a layer of paint on my lips, unlike with a lot of other mattes. Like with all matte products though, it helps to have nourishes lips, if you haven’t been regular with lip balm this does have a tendency to start feeling slightly dry a few hours in & it’s also more prone to settle into lines on dry lips.

Wear Time: For how comfortable it is, it’s also really long lasting. You’ll get 6-8 hours of wear easily. It does disappear a bit if you eat a meal, thankfully without leaving a mess.

In Conclusion

I’ve really enjoyed everything about the Guerlain KissKiss Matte lipstick. It’s gorgeous to look at, comfortable to wear & I find myself reaching for it very often. While hydrating matte doesn’t mean it’ll take the place of a lip balm, it is the perfect lipstick for folks who like how most matte lipstick look but not how they feel – I think I’ve made a convert of my mom, who usually yells something on the lines of NO MATTES!! every time I ask her to wear any of my lipsticks. So all in all, no complains really.

Cost & Availability in India

The lipstick costs ₹2,775 in India (for 3.5gms of product) which is quite fair considering the international prices, it’s also in line with products by other luxury brands in India like Estee Lauder.

Availability is still slightly limited, you can purchase from Guerlain counters at Shopper’s Stop Outlets across India. Apparently they should be on everyone’s favorite beauty ecommerce website soon, I’ll update you folks once that happens.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below! x

The post Guerlain KissKiss Matte Lipstick – Zesty Orange Review 💄🍊💋 appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

When I recently heard that Lakmé was launching their own Blue Mascara, I was ecstatic. It sounded promising, is easily available & most of all, pretty affordable. But is it any good? I’ve been using it for a week now, & here’s what I think of it-

Lakmé Eyeconic Curling Mascara – Royal Blue

₹ 350 for 9ml | Buy Online: Amazon / Nykaa

What they say: Giving your eyes an edgy makeover is one of the hottest new trends seen across international runways, and now it’s your turn to don the trend! This season, liven up your eyes with the deep colour pay-off of the new Lakmé Eyeconic Curling Mascara in Royal Blue.

This new mascara is packed full of color and gives your eyes a vibrant and distinct appearance. The shade is bold, extremely versatile and will glam-up any kind of look, making it a definite makeup must-have.

The Royal Blue shade enhances and also intensifies the colour of your eyes, making them pop. The mascara is equipped with a smart curl brush for easy application and is completely smudge-proof, waterproof and long lasting. Go on, give your eyes an Eyeconic makeover.

First Impressions / Packaging

Mascaras either promise length, volume, curling or a combination of all three. This one, as the name suggests, focusses on the latter. The packaging of this mascara is exactly the same as the regular Lakmé Eyeconic Curling Mascara (black) which has been around for a few years. In fact, if you have the original one it might be difficult to distinguish at first sight, although there is a colour coded sticker at the bottom. I never tried the original one though, as I tend to go for thickening / volumising mascaras most of the time.

My natural lashes with no added product. Please ignore the less than perfect liner application.

The brush is the typical shape that I see on all curling mascaras. My lashes are fairly straight & do benefit from curling, but I am too lazy to use an eyelash curler most of the time. This did give me some ‘lift’, it didn’t really compare to what a curler would do, but obviously better than nothing.You do have to take some time to see that the lashes are properly coated, but the final effect is quite stunning & very visible.

Makeup | Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liner, Colourpop Ultra Satin Lips in Frick N Frack, Nykaa Nails Matte in Blue Jellybean

Outfit | FILA Black tshirt dress, Wanderer Anchor wrap bracelet

I quite like the effect of this mascara. Like my Inglot one, it doesn’t do much to enhance thickness, but it does lift. The Blue is vibrant & bold, & it shows up pretty well even on naturally dark eyelashes.

On some days when I want very voluminous lashes, I’ll use a very thickening mascara first (I’m currently crushing on the Maybelline Barbie Big Eyes mascara) & layer this on top. However, when layering on a jet black mascara, the blue doesn’t stand out as much.

I’m really happy with this mascara, & if you’re looking for an affordably priced blue mascara in India, I would defintiely recommend it! I secretly hope they release more shades too, like purple! You can buy it online here. x

The post Lakmé Eyeconic Curling Mascara in Royal Blue Review appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

But I’ll also be the first to admit, I love New Years. I love the weather in Mumbai at this time of the year, but more importantly, the feeling of starting afresh. I started this blog on 5th of January 2009. I posted my first YouTube video on 8th of January 2014. And in both cases they weren’t things I’d been planning for long. The blog was started on a complete whim, YouTube required a little more forethought. Both came about rather organically – I guess the first half of January just feels like the perfect time for new beginnings.

2016 was a great year for me. But it was also very hectic, which means I did fall behind on some personal goals & back into old (bad) habits. One of my biggest (& longest pending) of those goals is to declutter a bit. While I might like minimal fashion + décor, my real life is anything but. I can turn shopping into a sport & am a bit sentimental with my old things. I’m trying to be brutal with discarding old stuff I have but I know it’s equally important to not immediately replace it all with new stuff.

And there are a few very good reasons to go on a beauty ban or detox –

• Declutter. This is the biggest reason for me, as I’ve realized I have way too much stuff, & I need to get rid of a large portion of it to maintain my sanity. Shopping, PR Samples, Monthly Beauty Boxes were all piling up & it was getting a bit crazy. That’s part of the reason I cancelled all my subscriptions too. Having less things & more empty space still remains my biggest motivation.
• Minimize Waste. Unlike décor or clothes / shoes, beauty products have a finite shelf life which is usually anywhere between six months to two years. As a blogger, I receive a lot of products to review (& I also use my profession to justify a lot of frivolous purchases) & I usually test it out for a month, review it & then move onto the next product. Now I’m making a conscious effort to go back to older products & finish using them up before they go bad. My mother raised me to be very mindful & not waste any food, I don’t see why the same principle can’t apply to makeup (unless it’s really bad or unusable).
• Finances. When I was thinking about reasons to go on this ban, the first thought that popped into my head was, “I’m not doing this for financial reasons”. I remember being a student, pining for products, struggling to save pennies so I could afford to buy a MAC lipstick. I like that I have spending power now & I work hard so I can treat myself, right? But even I realize that I was spending a sizeable chunk of my monthly ‘petty cash’ on beauty products, & while I may not be a great saver, not spending on beauty means I can spend it elsewhere, whether it’s indulging in some new shoes instead or saving up for my next trip.

And so I’ve decided that 2017 is going to be a huge makeup detox year for me. I’ve always resisted the thought of a makeup ban because I tend to do just what I’m not supposed to & going on a self-imposed ban might be too much of a temptation, followed by the shame / guilt when I inevitably break it. This is not an absolute beauty buying ban. So here’s what the makeup detox will mean for me –

• No New Lipsticks. This one is without a doubt the most important. I just have too many lipsticks, every colour I could fancy & I’d like to use them more.
• No New Hair Care. Shampoos & Conditioners are another thing I’ve amassed too many of, & I’d just like to get through more of them before they expire. I might consider buying styling products if the need arises.
• No New Nail Polish. Nail Polishes, along with mascaras have some of the shortest shelf life ever. I’ve owned so many but I’m ashamed to say that I’ve finished just one bottle in my life. So I’m going to work more with the ones I have & more importantly purchased a bottle of nail polish thinner, so I can fix gloopy nail polish instead of being forced to discard it.
• No New Body Care. Again another case of having way too many lotions, creams & scrubs.

What I am allowing myself – essentials like eyeliner, interesting base products & some skincare. I’m was hoping to keep this up until the end of the year but decided keeping the ban until the first half of November would be more practical, I’ll allow myself some indulgence during the Black Friday & Christmas sales. I know there are times I might falter, especially during travel when seeing a lot of new brands can be quite tempting. That’s why, if I end up buying one nail polish, I’m not going to punish myself about it.

I feel pretty optimistic about this mainly because I feel ready to do it. The only way I can make this work is if I see it as a positive change & not some kind of crutch or inconvenience. It’s also necessary to not be too hard on oneself. If you make a mistake, don’t let that be a defeat.

This won’t change too much for the content you see here or on YouTube, I will continue to review any interesting press samples & I still have to do videos on my Bangkok hauls (which you should see spread out through Jan & Feb).

Is there something you’re trying to cut out from your life, do less of, or buy less of in 2017? I’d love to know about your plans – Let’s do this together! I’m going to do a check-in post in early July to let you know just how things are going. x

The lipstick is Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Creme C603 (Midnight Blue). I’ll share the full look I did with this beautiful blue lipstick on my YouTube channel soon!

The post The 2017 Makeup Detox appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

Label by Ritu Kumar dress // Daniel Wellington Classy St Mawes watch // Fossil Sydney Crossbody bag// Steve Madden Marsh sandals

Photos by Sheila Vaz

This is possibly one of my favorite personal style posts of all time, because it’s understated yet glamorous. When I saw this dress at the Label store, I knew I couldn’t leave without buying it. I paired it with red & gold accents to go with the neckline detailing. I’ve been using this Fossil bag to death, because the fact that I can use it with or without straps just makes it very versatile. And it’s small enough to look elegant for parties but still deceptively roomy so it fits everything I need.

Here’s the Get Ready With Me video (GRWM in YouTube slang, haha!) that I filmed with this look. It’s basically just my everyday makeup with a few additions to make the look party ready. It doesn’t need a ton of items too & should be very easy for anyone to do, even beginners! x

The post Bohemian Glam appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

I don’t put on makeup every single day, but if I do, you can be sure that I’ll fill in my brows. I’ve found that it makes such a big difference to my look & just takes a few moments. However, I also make sure to stay away from eyebrow pencils as they tend to give a very harsh, fake & overall unflattering look.

A lot of people love using eyeshadow to fill in their brows but for over a year my brow ‘weapon’ of choice has been the Sleek Brow Kit, a tiny handy palette consisting of a powder & brow gel. I use extra dark, even if you have really dark / black hair it’s important to avoid using black but use dark brown or grey eyebrow products.

So when Maybelline launched the Fashion Brow Duo Shaper, needless to say I was really intrigued. On paper is seemed fabulous: two natural colors options, a retractable wax & powder all in a sleek pencil format, & to top is all it was priced at just ₹245. Would it live up to it’s claims? I bought it as soon as I could, used it for a bit & made a detailed video demo + review (above). I thought I’d write a mini written review as well, although it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as the video.

As I mentioned above, the product is available in two color options. With a base produt I would’ve upset but when it comes to brows these options will definitely suffice. Both are natural looking & should suit a wide variety of Indian skin / hair tones, from very light (brown will cover that) to darker / black hair (grey is your best friend). The pencil is compact & sleep & feels quite solid too. It features a retractable thin stick of wax on one side & a sponge + powder on the other, both sides have caps that fasten securely yet aren’t troublesome to open.
Since my hair is colored red but my natural hair roots are dark brown / almost black I figured that either shade would work for me. Both do, but I ended up liking grey better. They’re both subtler than my Sleek Brow Kit, grey is just the slightly darker one. The wax is stiff & they’re easy enough to use, even if you’re a complete beginner at filling in your brows you really can’t overfill with this.

At the end of the day I’m happy to report that I ended up really loving these! It’s budget price makes it very accessible & it’s great for beginners who are starting to fill in their brows. I’ve ended up keeping my Sleek palette aside just because these are so easy to use & take up almost no space in my bag as I tend to do my makeup on the go a lot (it saves time + gives me something to do in Mumbai’s traffic. If you’ve been considering this purchase I’d wholeheartedly recommend it!

The Maybelline Fashion Brow is available online on Nykaa & Koovs (it even has free shipping on koovs!)

Do you fill in your brows? What kind of product do you use? x

The post Maybelline Fashion Brow Duo Shaper Demo + Review appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

What do you think of my Glamorous Gloss look? Would you experiment with purple lips?

love,
Magali

The post L’Oréal Cannes Collection 2015 | Glamorous Gloss Look appeared first on Magali Vaz | Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel Blog.

Natural-Looking

Very Good Pigmentation

Compact Packaging

Great lasting Power

love,
Magali

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