Seven Deadly Sins Beauty Tag

1. GREED: What is your most inexpensive beauty item? What is your most expensive?

My most inexpensive beauty item is Johnson’s refreshing face cleanser which is part of their face care range and cleans away impurities and all make-up, it’s incredible though, it cost two pounds at the most but it smells really wonderful and clean and leaves your face really smooth and refreshed. I really love it. I would bathe in it if I could.

My most expensive is probably my Urban Decay oz palettes I think, they cost 35 pounds each, but they are packaged so prettily and you get 8 eyeshadows in each, a saturated lip colour and a 24/7 eyeliner. I love them, the Theodora palette contains a lot of natural colours too which I don’t have and the Glinda palette has a great selection of pretty pastel and brights that are really ideal for spring and summer. And then there is the Sigma Resort palette,Ii always spend stupid amounts of money on eyeshadow palettes, they are my one weakness, that and Cookie Dough, and Galaxy chocolate and Pringles. . . Now that the sun is finally shining!

2. WRATH: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with? What product has been the hardest to get?

I have a love/hate relationship with eyeliner, because I am so obsessed with watching tutorials and I always notice other girls' makeup and I think eyeliner really adds to it. Those perfect people with their rimmed eyes just look so effortless, and I can't apply it. I can't, not even normal pencil liner, or liquid or gel. I suck at it in fact. And this frustrates me, I can do my lower water line but not the top one. It really bothers me, only once have I been able to apply it and I was in shock for at least ten minutes.

As for what product has been the hardest to get, well, I watch a lot of Youtube tutorials and have just immersed myself and my debit card into all these incredible, must-have products that these Youtubers have introduced me too, and there are some palettes that I can’t get like Lorac palettes or most things from Sephora that doesn’t have a stand in Debenhams. Like Sigma products I can only get from Beauty Bay and it’s just a pain.

3. GLUTTONY: What is your most delicious beauty product?

I have this delicious tub of lip balm, it comes in a small pot and the scent is of vanilla and cream, it also tastes amazing as well as giving a good shine to your lips. I have ran out of the tub, but I got it as part of a gift set a few Christmases ago with vanilla and cream scented everything, it was so good. Good times, man, good times. But then, I very recently bought coconut scented oil a couple of days ago and have literally just been rubbing it into my skin every ten minutes, it smells incredible. I think I am addicted, need to stock up.

4. SLOTH: What beauty product do you neglect, due to laziness?

I never tend to wear full-on makeup in my every day life, I always wear mascara, eye shadow, and sometimes I apply foundation or a tinted BB cream. So I can skip a lot, especially contouring I rarely apply blusher because with my brown skintone I think you have to find the right shade so you don't look like an idiotic clown, and I only recently bought a bronzer.

5. PRIDE: What beauty product gives you the most self-confidence?

It honestly depends on the day, I think foundation can give you confidence, but usually I hate the idea of a layer of something thick on my skin, so I tend to go for the lighter coverage ones. I love eyeshadow, it adds a bit of colour to my face, because my entire self is just varying shades of brown minus the black hair, I love playing around with eye makeup and mascara of course is a must. I think all in all, it definitely the lashes, I curl and comb through my lashes before applying mascara and that makes me feel a lot better about my appearance.

6. LUST: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

Erm, tall, funny, I really think being just funny and goofy and kind can make someone really attractive, so sense of humour is really important. I like guys who are quite open and easy to talk to, I hate being the one who has to keep the conversation going, I like guys who just have things to say and are interesting, and of course being hot and intelligent helps. Being Ryan Gosling would help even more :)

7.ENVY: What items would you most like to receive as a gift?

Well, that’s kind of a weird question, I’m not very hard to buy for, I don’t mind fragrances. I would quite like a good solid pack of make up brushes, because mine are all jumbled, so I would like a nice varied set of say every brush you could ever even think of. But then my sister got a whole lot of makeup for her birthday from one of our recently married cousins, and they were really cute she got little eyeshadow palettes and creamy lipsticks and mascara, so anything really. Anything. I’m not like my Dad you won’t have to spend an entire afternoon in Debenhams trying to find me a gift!.

Made In Chelsea Style: Louise Thompson

Ignoring her epic ability to cry at the drop of a hat, I swear her tears could hydrate the whole of Africa, I love her style. It's very simple and chic and best of all, easily accessible. She wears mostly oversized jumpers, collared shirts, or embellished collars with leggings for the day. And at night-time she mixes it up a little with figure-hugging white dresses or an LBD occasionally paired with a sparkly blazer.
The thing I most admire about er however is her God-given ability to accessorise, she manages to make the simplest ensembles look like haute couture simply by pairing it with statement necklaces and stackable rings. I love it. Her look appears very effortless from her clothes to her minimal makeup where her adorable freckles show through (why don't Indians have freckles, WHY?!). This was jut a short post, and here's a video of some o her best style moments. I hope you get some inspiration. Please comment, I hope you guys like it.

Online Shopping Addict: How to Become a Savvy Online Shopper

For some inexplicable reason ever since I have gotten to university, I seem to have gained a new addition to amplify my addictive personality. It's nothing to cause major concern, I have a, what I believe to be normal, relationship with alcohol for a student at least, I haven't tried any dangerous, mind altering drugs. But online shopping gets me every single time. On a whim, I'll casually open a few new tabs in my browser and type the magic words: H&M, River Island, TopShop, Miss Selfridges, ASOS, New Look, Zara, Urban Outfitters, getthelabel.com, bohoo.com, missguided.com. And the next thing I know I have ten new parcels en route to me in the post, to the point where when they arrive I have no recollection of what I selected to buy.

The problem with this is, it's not very savvy and it is expensive. I buy things whimsically, if they look nice and pretty I'll purchase: I am the ultimate consumer. But, more often than not, I make mistakes, things that look good on the model wouldn't suit me as much, I absolutely hate it when that happens, or even though the product is lovely it is ridiculously expensive (cough cough TopShop) and I would only wear it a limited amount of times, I'm not Millie Mackintosh if I went to lectures in Boutique dresses I would get stared at for all the wrong reasons. So this is a helpful  guideline, I hope, on how to become a savvy online shopper.

1. Use online outlets to browse the sales specifically. As there is usually a much wider range than what you would see in store.

2. Set yourself a price limit, in the advanced search you can cap how much you are willing to spend on merchandise, I tend to cap at around £20, but depending on the shop i.e. TopShop and Miss Se
lfridges, the good stuff in those collections are around £40.

3. One word: ASOS. I love this website, it has so many different brands. I have recently started using ASOS Marketplace and got two pairs of fabulous boots. One TopShop pair that would have cost £90 but I got for £30 and a tan pair from New Look which would have cost £20 but I got for £6!

4. Ebay is also great, learning how to use it is something I would definitely recommend  After all, everyone has clothes they don't wear anymore instead of chucking them away, donate them or give them to one of those Cash for Clothes companies, if you're not going to try and sell them.

5. Always envision how your potential purchase would look on you, would it suit your skin tone? Is it a flattering length? Do you have anything to wear it with in your wardrobe already? If you don't have the funds to buy a whole knew outfit, then really is it worth it? If it's just going to sit in your wardrobe not collecting compliments then leave it, your money could be better spent.

6. Do take consideration of weather, fair enough if you're going on holiday and you want to buy your body weight in gorgeous tropical print bikinis, but every year i get suckered into buying summer collections, since March I have been filling closet space with crop tops and flirty summer dresses and shorts and have I had a chance to wear a single one. No. Be smart and realistic.

7. Always go for clothes that can be staples, clothes you can dress down or up and will be versatile. For me those are leggings, oversized jumpers, shirts and skater dresses. I love all of them and practically live in them, they are so versatile and can be adapted to warm or cold weather.

8. Before you go surfing those high-priced brands (my personal favourite being All Saints and Ted Baker) look for similar alternatives in other exclusively online stores like Very and bohoo. I sometimes find great websites when flicking through a magazine.

9. Keep your student card handy and always check if there is a discount code for that day, Dorothy Perkins usually have discounts quite frequently at least that is what my mail tells me. So check it, you'll kick yourself later on when you realise how much you could have saved.

10. Finally check the returns policy, if you're unsure about an item and you still insist on buying it, check on how you could return it and when you would have to return it by, is there a store near you? That is why ASOS is so great, it's free postage and packaging when you return their items so if you're not sure just send it back no muss no fuss. All Saints is harder, the only store, as far as I know, is in London and as they don't allow you to return online purchases in Selfridges, for me it's a bitch to return any items so I have to think long and hard before I buy especially considering the price tags.

That was quite an extensive list, I apologise if a lot of it felt like common sense, and I really hope it helps even a little bit. For me on my list, the first thing is to take my own advice, but then I suppose you learn from your mistakes, and now I can pass on my "lessons" to all you wonderful people. To leave you with one last piece of recycled advice from Confessions of A Shopaholic, repeat after me "Do I need this? Do I?" and of course remember there is always Primark. The most bargainous shop of all, seriously if you can't trust yourself online go to Primark. The day they get an online store, I will be transported into figurative heaven. Thank you for reading and please comment, if there is in fact anyone out there. I'll upload some pictures of my fantastic bargainous purchases in my next post.

The Body Shop Haul

I absolutely adore this shop and can never walk in there without wanting to buy at least 3 things, and fortunately for me they seem to consistently have a 3 for 2 deal on.In addition to this, I got a card for this store which resulted in me getting a freebie, always a good thing. Plus, I get a £5 voucher in the month of my birthday which is June, so it is now my mission to get as many store cards as possible! Though I should mention, though this card does get you discounts, it only lasts a year and it is not a store card you do not have a credit limit. So, all in all, I splurged and went a little crazy, getting a total of 5 things. And here are some lovely pictures demonstrating my out of control spending.

1. Aloe Lip Care (for sensitive skin) Conditions and soothes very dry lips. £5.00


This was originally what I entered the shop for, I thin lip care is very important, and the night before I had been browsing the net for a good lip conditioner and was contemplating buying the one from MAC which had rave reviews but cost around fourteen dollars and probably a lot extra with shipping costs etc. So, considering that I was going to town anyway I thought I would buy this one, it was quite expensive considering ordinary  lip balms like Lypsyll are not much more than a pound (or exactly a pound if you go to Poundland). But, I really like the squeezy tube it's in, it makes for easy application, I am not sure how long it lasts, but it smells great and works incredibly well for chapped lips. And my lips are always chapped so this purchase was a necessity.

2. Vitamin E Gentle Facial Wash. Creamy skin-caring daily cleansing with built in anti-oxidant protection. Rinses away make-up and impurities. Suitable for all skin types. £10

It's quite a decent sized bottle and should consequently last a goof few months. For me personally, I would use this at the end of the day for taking my makeup off, or in particular for when my skin is feeling too sensitive for the abrasion of a facial scrub. It is very creamy and feels luscious against your face, but htere isn't a great after-effect aside from the pleasant scent. It is very gentle, however, so if your skin is especially sensitive I do recommend it.

3. Vitamin C Microdermabrasion. Weekly home spa exfoliation, with Vitamin C rich Amazonian camu camu and Community Trade Shea Butter. For Dull skin. £10

I much prefer facial scrubs, and I like the ones where you feel the effects immediately so this is perfect for that, I would use it first thing in the morning to brighten the skin and give it that lift to make you look bright eyed and bushy tailed. It's quite a strong one and it is recommended for weekly use not daily, so I would use it on Mondays, to brighten my skin in preparation for the week ahead. It does feel good, you can immediately feel it work and afterwards, your face tingles a little and to me that is the sign of a good product.

4. Coconut Beautifying oil. Dry oil for face, body and hair. Moisturises, smooths and illuminates. £9

I have yet to try this on my hair but I have heard very positive things about this new range of oils, there were many different scents, my friend, who I was with when purchasing these goodies, opted for the mango scented one and that was a very authentic scent. The coconut one is a little more mild. The good thing about this product is that it gives your skin that  perfect summer sheen, for when you are baring any skin. I am curious to find out it's affect on the hair though.

5. Warming Mineral Mask. Self-warming, deep cleansing, kaolin clay treatment. For all skin types. FREE with card or £10

This was the free gift that came with signing up for the card, it is very intense but works exceptionally. As soon as my friend used hers she tweeted me and said "My face feels like a cloud" and if that's not a thumbs-up I don't know what it is. As it is so intense it's not a product you need to use very frequently, you could get away with using this once every two weeks I would say, so the bottle lasts longer and you get your money's worth. After using a mask as penetrating as this, instantly my pores felt liberated, I like to soak my ace in warm water to just ensure that my skin is clear. I usually feel incredibly healthy after using a mask and decide to eat fruit and guzzle down water, but in reality this lasts about five seconds. Still, it is nice to feel refreshed.

Overall, I am very happy with my collection, it was expensive but I fully believe in the long run it will be worth it. Right now, it is the exam period and my skin is looking dull and sleep deprived, plus I am prone to getting stress breakouts and don't have the time or the skills to prepare and consume real healthy food. So this is one way of giving your morale a bit of a kick, facial scrubs always make me feel rejuvenated so I sincerely recommend them. I hope this was helpful and more soon, I'll give you an update soon on the coconut oil and how it works on hair. Thank you again and please comment/like or whatever it is that shows me that this blog isn't a waste of everyone's time. In addition to this, I intend to post a YouTube video of my haul, but I am a little apprehensive so once I upload that I will post it down below also. Thanks again.

Why am I so obsessed with Fashion and Beauty?

Unlike some people, I only relatively recently began to get into beauty in a serious way, it wasn't something that clicked from the moment I was born, it wasn't an innate drive rather for the first fourteen to fifteen years of my life I couldn't have cared less. When I was younger, I wasn't a tomboy exactly, all this materialistic stuff just didn't interest me in the slightest. The clothes I wore were all a variation on a theme: jeans, T-shirt, jumper. I never wore nail varnish, unless I went to a wedding because they were considered a special occasion. At school, right through up until secondary (high) school, we were required to wear uniforms, so again I had little reason to be bothered about fashion and what was on-trend and wasn't. In addition to this, I was quite a shy child at school, I simply preferred to be invisible so I would wear little make-up and always have my hair in a plain and simple plait or ponytail because I didn't want to draw any attention to myself. I always felt that any scrutiny was bad scrutiny, this, of course, was before I discovered the genius of Oscar Wilde.

When I entered Sixth Form, it was the same situation, I had started to wear eyeshadow and mascara, because they were the easiest types of makeup to apply, but on most days I wouldn't bother, I didn't think that makeup application would make too much of a difference and I didn't want people to notice me because of the pretty glittery eyeshadow on my lids, I would rather they think I am pretty based on natural beauty and this is still true. There's a negative perception that people who are superficial enough to grant such importance to clothes and cosmetics are vain and shallow, when I think it should be stressed that just one part doesn't make the whole.

But one day, in the summer of my first year at Sixth Form (that would be junior year for Americans) my sister and I had planned a day out in London, a girly day full of shopping and seeing the sights; we had very high expectations. Naturally, being Britain it was on top form that day and rained constantly, so we spent the majority of it looking for places to hang out inside. So after going to M&M World (one of my favourite places to date) and ambling down Covent Garden, splurging in Harrods and finding this adorable tea shop with every single tea known to mankind, we spent at least three hours in Selfridges. We walked through each designer department staring at the glossy bags with security alarms that would cost more than two months rent until we reached the beauty department. It is ginormous. And I absolutely loved it.

All around us were long legged, perfectly waxed, tanned and made-up Amazonian women, with an arsenal of make up brushes strapped around their tiny waists. These make-up artists looked like models and my self esteem just deflated as I looked on with awe. They were perfect, and though I knew it was essentially expertly applied make-up that had allowed them to hide their flaws, if they even had any, I was still envious of their flawless finish.

So after this incredible day out, which was more fun than I could have imagined, I started to pay more attention to what I wore. Bearing in mind I was still lazy so I never put a full face of slap on and sometimes I didn't apply anything, but I did pay more attention to what clothes I donned, I became addicted to nail varnish, I love it and tend to match it to my mood rather than my clothes. And then I discovered a little thing called YouTube and started watching all these different make-up tutorials and gradually got more interested and started to buy more of the products, especially eye shadow paletttes.

I'm not rich or even well-off, my parents won't pay for my indulgences and I respect them for that, so everything I buy is either a product of my own hard-earned money or saved up cash or the miracle that is student finance. So if I don't post new products, or things from MAC and other high-end brands like YSL it's because some of us are still feeling the recession. Thanks for reading and I will post again soon.

Very First Post: Short Introduction :)

Hello all you lovely people,

This is my face:

My name is Kiran, I am an eighteen year old Indian girl (soon to be nineteen!!) who attends the University of Warwick as a first year Psychology undergraduate. I absolutely love clothes, make-up and anything cute or pretty. So I thought I would just, like a typical 21st century child, share everything I love with the world. So my posts will be about what I've bought lately, make up reviews, I absolutely love eyeshadows, so there will be a lot of palettes and swatches on this blog. Be prepared. But obviously, I am aware that there are a million other blogs like that and I follow some of them myself, so to make things a little bit different, I'll probably post anything that inspires me also, whether it be a quote, a book, a film, any suggestions would be welcome. I hope you like it and that you don't get bored, I'll endeavour to keep things interesting for you guys. I should probably mention that I am obsessed with food too, so if i post pretty meals which I probably will just indulge me, and with that I am going to eat some lovely food at Nando's (which will be in my next post most likely). Thank you and I will post again soon.