Everything you need to know about a Primer!

Hello! I know it's been a while since I posted on this blog, I'm still trying to figure out where the past 2 weeks have gone?! I've been on my toes, making brides look pretty:) It's a very auspicious month for weddings here in Chennai!


I finally uploaded a video on what a primer is! Do check it out.. But before you do, I wanted to add that  unlike concealers and foundations, primers don't need to "match" your skintone! One shade suits all! Although there are primers (like the MAC tinted primers) with tints of colour, you don't really need that! The basic primer which is a light weight, transparent/translucent fluid will work for all skin tones and all skin types! =)


Click here to watch the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkt4ugeK43c


Oh, if your applying makeup during the day, here's what you do:


1. Moisturize
(wait for a few minutes for it to absorb into your skin)
2. Sunscreen
3. Primer
4. Begin your makeup (concealer/foundation/pressed powder/eye makeup and so on!)


My current fav Primers:


1. MAC Prep+Prime Face Primer
2. Oriflame Perfecting Face Primer
3. Inglot Primer


Have a great day ahead!


Akriti :)

The Best Carrot Cake Ever!!

For those of you'll who don't know, I'm a sucker for desserts!! I LOVE trying out new desserts, taking pics to upload on my fb album and advising people on where to get GOOD dessert! Ha ha, I'm like a tour guide in Chennai when it comes to desserts, not even kidding! I love to bake too, occasionally though...


I was introduced to Carrot Cake when I visited London, my close friend dragged me to The Hummingbird Bakery and boy I was I mesmereyes'ed! :P It was love at first sight <3 

Mmmmmm

The thought of using a vegetable in a cake may seem unappetizing but believe me, you'll feel like your on Cloud 9 the moment you bite into the soft sponge with cream cheese icing oozing out of it! The best bit about this cake- CINNAMON!! Plus, you've got some of your 5 a day in there too= BONUS!!

Scruptious Carrot Cake!

My cousin Nitika is really passionate about baking! Her desserts are AMAZING! Ishika and I decided to get off desserts for a week, but after surviving for a few days, Nitika asked us if we wanted her to bake Carrot Cake! *_* Omg, there was no way we were going to  say no... So she decided to modify the cake a bit by adding "healthier substitutes" :P What makes this carrot cake different from the rest is that it's made using whole wheat flour! :D

The very talented Nitika! :*

The cake was DELICIOUS! Honestly the best I've ever tasted because of the extra cinnamon she added to it! 

Benefits of eating Carrots (not Carrot Cake =P) 

1. Improves Vision and Immunity

2. Anti-Aging

3. A Powerful Antiseptic

4. Healthy Teeth and Gums

5. Beautiful Hair and Skin

I wish I could eat Carrot Cake everyday and convince myself that I would get glowing skin! :D

The recipe she used is from "The Hummingbird Bakery" recipe book, and the ingredients that are highlighted in orange are the healthier substitutes Nitika used.. Ofcourse, you can stick to the original recipe to make a classic Carrot Cake!

Ingredients:

300g Soft Light Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
300ml Sunflower Oil
300g Flour (300g Wheat Flour, a.k.a atta)
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (She used 2 tsps Ground Cinnamon =)

½ tsp Ground Ginger (She skipped this step! You don't have to use this!)
¼ tsp Vanilla Extract

½ tsp salt
300g Carrots, grated
100g chopped walnuts, plus extra to decorate

Icing:

250g cream cheese
100g butter
500g icing sugar (350g icing sugar)
Note: She also added 2 tbsp of ground cinnamon to the icing because we LOVE cinnamon! 

Instructions

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.

2 Put the sugar, eggs and oil in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well mixed.

3 Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts with a spoon, then pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, (keep checking!!)  or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

4 When the cake is cold, spread over the cream cheese icing.

5 Finish with chopped walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.

To make the Icing:

1 Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.

2 Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.

3 Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy- for at least 5 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny.

P.S- She baked the cake in two batches and added a layer of icing in between for even extra pleasure! *slurp*


Enjoyyyy!


Lotsa Carrot Cake Lovin'


Akriti :)

Makeover- Bridal look for small eyes

Here is Ishika, my beautiful cousin, who volunteered to get a makeover! Since it's wedding season (at least down south in Chennai!) I wanted to create a Bridal Look just to give you an idea of the number of options there are when it comes to makeup!


We had so much fun doing this look but it took ages thanks to my camera! ha ha.. as you can see, I'm still trying to figure out how to use it!


This is a soft copper smokey look with a defined eyeliner which wings inwards near the tear duct.. As I wanted to open up Ishi's eyes (which are somewhat small) I've made sure to use two coats of mascara!l  I've also used a beautifulll pigment from MAC (it was a limited edition pigment, I forgot it's name :(  sorry) on top of the eyeshadow which you will see in the pics below...

What is a pigment?

A pigment is basically, loose eyeshadow- it can either be matte or glittery.. They are extremely pigmented (hence their name) so make sure you use just a pinch on your eye lids..
I've used a glittery one because I want to bring out and enhance Ishika's eyes, so frosty eyeshadows do the job! Before I forget to mention, be careful with pigments, beacause they tend to fall all over the face.. Keep a tissue below or do your eye makeup before the base so you can clean out the fallouts...

Product Description given below :)

I hope you like the look!

BEFORE

Ishi without any makeup

After the concealer and foundation

Pressing in powder to lock the base

MAC Coppering eyeshadow

MAC Limited Edition Pigment (I forgot it's name)

Blending a dark brown eyeshadow to add depth

.......................................................................

AFTER!

How stunning is she!?!

 I swept on some contour powder and highlighter to enhance her features and balance out the entire look!

Product Description:

Face:

Primer: Oriflame

Concealer: MAC Studio Finish NC 35

Foundation: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua- Beige Ambre Desert

Pressed Powder: MAC Pressed Powder- NC 30

Blush: Nars- Amour
Bronzer- La Prairie
Highlighter: Lakme Absolute Moon-Lit Highlighter (for the cheekbones)

Eyes:

Eyeshadow Base- Kryolan

Eyeshadow: MAC Coppering + MAC Pigment (inner corner)

Eyeshadow: Oriflame Smokey Brown Trio Eyeshadow

Highlight Colour : M.A.C Ricepaper (brow bone)

Eyeliner: Maybelline Gel Liner

EyeKohl: Lakme Absolute 9-5 Kohl Ultimate

Mascara: YSL Volume Effect Faux Cills- Noir

Lips:

Lipencil: MAC Spice

Lipstick: MAC Sea Sheer + MAC Cosmo

"LIKE" my facebook page: Mesmereyes Makeup for free beauty tips! 

Have a lazy, relaxed Sunday! =)

Hair Tips!

I spent the afternoon with Anabela, a super talented Hairstylist from Portugal who has been in the industry for over 35 years! She owns more than 15 hair salons in Portugal and travels around to give professional training to upcoming Hairstylists...

Anabela is here in Chennai along with her husband who is working here for a year to complete a project before being relocated to another country. She is on a break, helping young orphans in Kanyakumari with food and clothes =) She's one of the nicest people I've met! She really motivated me throughout our conversation...

I was so excited when she offered to cut my hair a teeny bit shorter! It was cut, styled and blow dried in literally 15 mins, no jokes! I had a few layers which made me look so much younger! =D 

Anyway, so I asked Anabela to suggest a few tips on how to look after hair in tropical climates and she came up with these 3 SIMPLE TIPS: 

1. Always, Always use a conditioner. I'm sure some you'll have heard this a million times , but it's worth mentioning again! Make sure you don't apply conditioner on your scalp, start from the middle and move towards the end. Rinse off with cold water.

2. Never use boling hot water while having a shower because it strips your hair off it's natural oils and can make your hair frizzy...

3. Opt for a regular oil massage (once or twice a week). When you massage the oil into your scalp and hair, you must lock in the oil for atleast 15 mins. To do this:

Wrap your hair with a saran wrap (the ones used in kitchens) or a shower cap. Now you want to let the oil get absorbed, so use a hairdryer (turn it to high speed) over the plastic wrap for atleast 30 mins. Proceed with your regular shampoo+conditioner routine. This is a quick and effective way to get a hot oil treatment at home!

Bold and Beautiful

Posing with Anabela, a true inspiration!

Oh, for dessert we both ordered a Tiramisu EACH! Just like me, Anabela is obsessed with Tiramisu<3 Haha!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lotsa love =)

Makeover- Gold + Forest Green Smokey

Here's my lovely friend Roshni, who dropped by for a quick makeover on her way to a friend's Sangeet.. As usual, she was running late (haha sorry Rosh) so everything was in a rush! Keeping that in mind, I began applying makeup, not having time to highlight her cheeks and contour her face, which really stands out in pictures! Oh, and Roshni hates blush, so I've just put a wash of colour on her cheeks, nothing fancy!

This is Rosh, after applying moisturiser and primer! ( I wish I took a "before" pic, without applying any products! I remembered only later!)

And after makeup... 

I curled her lashes and applied two coats of mascara.. Loveee her eyelashes!!

Product Description:

Face:

M.A.C Studio Fix Foundation-  NC 37

M.A.C Studio Finish Concealer- NC 42

Blush- Lakme Absolute Cheek Chromatic Baked Blush - Day Sheer

Eyes:

Eyeshadow Base- Kryolan

Eyeshadow: M.A.C Bronze and M.A.C Amber Lights

Eyeshadow: Bobbi Brown - Forest (crease)

Eyeliner: Maybelline Gel Eyeliner

Mascara- Lakme Absolute Flutter Secrets Mascara

Lips:

Lipstick- M.A.C- Mocha

Sun Damage! Unbelievable? Believe it...

This pic is a wakeup call to all of us who completely neglect sun protection as part of our daily skin routine!! :O

The gentleman below is 69 years old and has been a trucker for 28 years.. The left side of his face was exposed to much more sunlight than the right, leading to a condition called dermatoheliosis! It's unbelievable how sun damage is a the major contributor to premature aging!

Honestly, alot of us underestimate the importance of sun protection! I used to be one of them until I entered the beauty world and learnt about Skincare... There was a point when I used to go on to all my friends about how essential suncreen lotions are, and I myself never used them!! I regret not using one earlier but hey, better late than never!

 Every day counts... (so dramatic lol!) The long term effects of sun damage will eventually catch up with you and make you look 20 years older! Applying sunscreen everyday, no matter what the weather condition (sunny or cloudy), will work wonders to protect your skin! It can help prevent dark spots, pigmentation, wrinkles and prolong the aging process! It takes barely a minute to slap some onto your face, so make sure your equipped with a sunscreen!!

Not all sunscreens make your skin appear greasy or make you sweat.. If you pick up the right one according to your skin type, your sorted! =) Oh and also make sure its "non-comedogenic"  (i.e, it won't clog your pores) 

Two of my fav sunscreens:

Lakme Sun Expert- SPF 30

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer- SPF 30

Both Neutrogena and Lakme have an entire range for each skin type! The Lakme Sun Expert range also has some cool After-Sun face washes and masks!

Thanks for stopping by! =)

KKR inspired look!

The 2012 IPL champions- Kolkata Knight Riders!!

Heyy everyone! Sorry I' disappeared for a while! Been traveling for Bridal makeup in and out of Chennai... I just realized that I haven't uploaded this pic on my blog! For those of you'll who haven't liked my fb page, please do so! :) I try regularly update my status with beauty tips! :)

So, during the IPL finals, I was so confident CSK would win, so I had all my makeup ready to start the CSK inspired look... (yellow eyes + red lips)... So there I was, applying a wash of yellow eyeshadow on my eyes, all set to complete the CSK look! To everyone's surprise, KKR fought back, played a brilliant game of cricket and snatched the trophy from us! I was soo annoyed because I had to remove all my makeup and start over again! ha ha.. So I sat up all night, took my own sweet time and finally finished the KKR look, only to remove it right after and zzz

I decided, for the next IPL, I'm going to do a makeup look for every team!

KKR Inspired Look

Product Description:

Face:

M.A.C Mineralize Foundation-  NC 35

Blush- Lakme Absolute Cheek Chromatic Baked Blush - Day Sheer

Eyes:

Eyeshadow Base- Kryolan

Eyeshadow: Inglot- Pearl Eyeshadow #606P (inner gold)

Eyeshadow: M.A.C Pigment- Push the Edge (Purple) on the crease/ outer V

Highlight Colour : M.A.C Ricepaper

Eyeliner: Oriflame Smooth Definer- Black

Mascara- Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express

Lips:

Revlon Color Burst Lip Gloss- Strawberry