Changes...

So, it's obviously been forever. I know. I apologize for falling off the map. It was kind of a dark winter. But, spring is here, the flowers are back in bloom. I made some changes in my life and got some help, and things are getting much better. The future is looking bright again. :-)

It's been about 7 (omg) months since my last post, and lots of things change in that long. :-) In my case, that mostly means lots of new acquisitions! But, first things first...

I CUT MY HAIR!!!

Before...

 

After... OMG!!

WHY, you may ask... I know I certainly did as soon as the scissors started doing their work... but honestly it was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I donated about 10 inches to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for kids with cancer, and after styling and whatnot, I'd say I lost a total of about 13 inches. My hair was the longest it's ever been before that, and after that it was pretty much the shortest it's ever been, at least in my memory. And even though I had a lot of low moments after I did it, I'm still glad I did. Those little girls could use the hair a lot more than I need it. And hey it's hair, it grows back.  :-)

That being said, I did have some lessons learned... 

1 - I asked for short layers, and I shouldn't have. Layers are good when you want to add volume, and volume was the last thing I needed. I have a lot of hair (I mean a lot. I'm Desi after all), and without all the length weighing it down, it just went... out. Like, sideways. The layers just made it go more sideways. And I'd have to blow-dry to give it some semblance of sanity every morning, and the blowouts just added more volume. So for a while it was wash, blow dry, flat iron a little, and use product to try to keep it sleek. Going from my usual morning routine of wash and go to that was a little bit of a shock. If I did this again, I'd ask for either no layers or some very long layers just to give it a little bit of shape.

2 - I asked for bangs, and I definitely shouldn't have. As Lotus always says, I have a death wish for bangs. I always feel like they'll look cute and then as soon as I have them I hate them. Having to deal with bangs along with the rest of the hair craziness was just too much. Next time I'll leave them out.

It's been growing out pretty good, I cut it back in November and it's about at my shoulder blades now, and my bangs have grown out to a more manageable length. I can put it in a ponytail now and can even do a small bun! I'm debating putting highlights back in soon, since all of mine got cut out.

Other things... oh, yeah, this happened... just this past week, actually...

Yup, those are all new. Aren't they beautiful??

HOLY SHOE HAUL BATMAN!!

Ok, ok, before you freak out, let me just say, my shoe situation was getting dire. I have a bizarre habit of wearing out my shoes like crazy. I don't mean I get bored of them, I mean literally wear them out. The screws start poking through the heels and making CLACKCLACKCLACK noises wherever I walk, or the stitching starts tearing... in some shoes I've straight up gotten holes. And for some reason it's really hard for me to find decent shoes, and I'm always hesitant to spend a lot because of the whole wearing out thing. But this year, with summer rapidly approaching and me with no functional sandals, flats, or pumps left, I finally said screw it. I got all of these (literally in less than a week) and threw out more pairs than I bought. Yeah, I couldn't even donate them, they were that bad off. Needless to say I feel much better now. :-D

Let's see... other stuff...

Top: Sephora Draw the Line Eyeliner Sampler
Left: Sephora Mascara
Right: Inglot 5 Piece Shadow Palette
Middle: MAC Fluidlines
Bottom: Clinique Shadow Palette

Of course I had to jump on the Lip Crayon Bandwagon!
Top: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Lip Crayon in Roomiest Rose
Middle: Revlon Lacquer Balm in Provocateur
Bottom: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Lip Crayon in Curviest Caramel

A couple of close ups of my faves...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this eyeshadow!!! (will get its own post shortly)

Mmmm... so delicious :-)

Anything else? Let's see, we bought a new car. Which of course is fun, but definitely more so for the boy than for me. :-) I prefer my own toys...

Love my new stuff!! More details to come.  :-) It's good to be back! Have a great weekend all!

Yay Birthday!!!

So, my birthday is actually in September... oops. I started writing this post back then, and then things started happening (more on that later), and I never got around to finishing it.  :-( I just looked at it for the first time again today, and even though it's MONTHS late at this point, I still want to give credit where credit is due. And everything I mentioned in it still holds true.  :-) So, here it is...

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Highlights on Dark Indian Hair at Home

Swoooooshyyyyyyyyyyy

Okay.

So.

I'm kind of having a mid-young-life crisis.

Smart Liner for Dummies

So, I know it's been like forever since I last posted. It's been kind of insane.  I have not even bought that much makeup.  Le sigh.

I did make time for one thing, though.  Sephora Smart Liner.

Remember when you first tried liquid liner? And you spent hours trying to master it? And all you ended up with was a spidery mess on your eyelids?  Or some weird zig zag line? And after all that, you wiped the liner off in frustration and gave up?

Invincible Makeup!

So there's nothing better than getting all dolled up (sexy outfit, fancy makeup) and going out for a fun night... Or heck, even just staying in and feeling pretty. But what's the fun in it if the second you start sweating on the dance floor or getting teary eyed (sappy movie, marriage proposal, allergies, who knows what the day holds in store), it all ends up melting off your face? And let's face it, no one likes spider eyes (I always think of the Mirrors music video where the chick's mascara is all over her cheeks... Yick!). So as much fun as it is to put makeup on, the other half of the battle is making it stay put! And there are ways, my friends, there are always ways.

Cat Eyes on a Random Summer Day

So I had some time to myself today... and nothing pressing to do... which is rare these days, as I'm sure you can tell from the embarrassing infrequency of my blog posts... so I puttered around for a while, read a book, took a leisurely bubble bath, threw some stuff in the slow cooker for dinner, and then I decided, I'm going to play with makeup!!!

And this happened.

Ozone Sandal Face Wash

Homeys-

Apparently that word is not commonly used in the youngsters' vernacular these days - but who cares. I still use it and, therefore, it belongs in Websters Dictionary.

NEWayz (bringing back memories here), I was in New York on New Year's weekend, during most of which I was struggling not to freeze to death.  It was really cold and really windy and we all would shuffle into any darn store that looked interesting to get a break from the howling winds.  There was a reason to our cold madness, and one of those was to check out all the cool shops offering Indian goodies.  We walked into the Bhutala Emporium, which is basically a shop full of religious, meditative and health books, idols, and other products.   Of course, when I walked in, I gravitated towards the shelves of women's beauty products and picked up the Ozone Sandal Face Wash, pictured above.