Affordable Makeup Products for Beginners in India

Guest Post by Barisha

Hello Everyone,
Today my post is all about the best makeup products for beginners. These products are simple, easy available and moreover affordable for teens and college going girls. If you can't spend more bucks on high-end makeup products, this collection will definitely help you a lot. Go ahead!

Editors note: (Barisha! That's an amazing topic and I am also adding some quick reviews of the products in your guest post :) Hope this would make the post better and more informative.)

So let us start with women's favorite product, kajal. Many girls out there never step out of their home home without kajal in their eyes. No matter they are wearing foundation, concealer or bla bla but kajal is something which most of the girls cannot live without!

Kajals:

Faces Cosmetics Kajal
Price: Rs.99 for 3g
Quick Review: This kajal glides smoothly onto the water line and gives that blackest black finish with less smudging compared to the other kajals in the market. For this price, Face kajal is definitely a hit! It also contains almond oil which promotes eyelash hair growth.

Maybelline Colossal Kajal:
Price: Rs.150 for 0.35g
Quick Review: Is there anyone who doesn't know Maybelline Colossal Kajal here? This product is a huge hit among Indian women, especially for its long time smudge free quality. This is not a blackest black definitely but stays on eyelids for a long time compared to the other kajals. You need a good eyemakeup remover to remove this though.

Lakme Eyeconic Kajal:
Price: Rs.199
Quick Review: Doesn't it look like a competitor for Maybellin Colossal one? Of course yes and YES it wins the competition too. It has a better smudge free staying powder and 'smoothness' than the colossal one. It claims to stay on waterline for 10 hours. Whoa! This product is recently launched and has become a huge hit among all kajal lovers! Go grab one before Lakme increase the prize.

Eye Liners:

 

Avon Simply Pretty Waterproof Eyeliner
Price: Rs.90 for 7.5ml
Quick Review: I really don’t know why I have not seen any review on this product, this is the best-est-affordable eye liner I have used and I am using this for past 4years. It stays good for 5-6 hours (Stays even more time with light fading) without any fading and it is of course waterproof as per the claim.

Lakme Insta Liner Liquid Eyeliner
Price: Rs.70 for 9ml
Quick Review: This is one eyeliner which many eyeliner beginners swear by and this of course the first eyeliner of  many girls out there! This Lakme Insta Liner is easily available, very very affordable for the huge quantity and of course stays for a good time with less smearing. The only issue with this is the drying time. You need to sit under fan for 3-4 minutes to get it completely dried or else you might mess it up.

Foundations:-

Coloressence Aqua Makeup Base
Price: Rs.125 for 30ml
Quick Review: This makeup base is dirt cheaply priced and comes in 4 different shades for different skin tones. This gives medium to light coverage with an oil free matte finish which many of you oily skinned girls would expect :) A great buy and quantity for the price.


Lakme Face Magic Daily Wear Souffle
Price: Rs.99 for 30ml
Quick Review: This souffle comes in a really cute glass got with a screw lid :) It come in three shades namely Pearl, marble and shell. One needs to choose the perfect shade for their skin. 30ml for just Rs.99 if a dirt cheap price right? But this product absolutely works as a great daily foundation for 'foundation beginners' out there. Make sure to set it with your compact for a better staying time.


Lotus Herbals Pure Radiance Matte Glow Daily Foundation
Price: Rs.175 for 25ml
Quick Review: This is a wonderful light-coverage foundation for beginners which is not only water-based and oil-free, but also SPF 20 for sun protection. 25ml is decent quantity for the price too and hence this product is definitely a hit for foundation beginners.


Okay it is going long and let us end the Part 1 here :) The Part-2 of 'Affordable Makeup Products for Beginners' is coming up soon. There we are going to check an affordable collection of compacts, lipsticks, lip liners and blushes!

So girls, which is your favorite affordable makeup product in India?

Image source: 1, 2, 3

Can You Use Body Lotion On Your Face?

• Can You Use Body Lotion On Your Face?
• Body Lotion On Face - Would It Cause Any Side Effects?
• Why Don't We Use Body Lotions on Face?
• Extra Dry Facial Skin - Would Body Lotions Help?

We are frequently receiving these kinda query from our readers and the answer is simply NO! We are now going to discuss why one shouldn't use their body lotion on face and what ill effects it would cause. So if you have any idea of using your body moisturizer to moisturize your facial skin, then kill it. It is not that every body lotion would react bad on your facial skin; some might work well in fluke too but why should risk? Read below and know more on this.

Difference Between Facial Skin and Body Skin

Cell Turnover Rate of Skin:
Skin dryness and less environmental exposure (When compared to facial skin) causes slow skin turnover rate in body skin. Due to this, the natural exfoliation process slows down in body skin and thus it stays rougher and scalier than your facial skin. On the other hand, due to the sebaceous glands and excess sun exposure, the natural exfoliation process takes place faster and more frequently in your face skin when compared to the body skin. This makes your facial skin naturally more sensitive than your body skin.

Skin Thickness:
Our facial skin is usually 0.20mm thick whereas the body skin is 0.60mm thick. From this, obviously we can say that our facial skin is more sensitive when compared to our body skin.

Is It Okay to Use Body Lotion on Facial Skin?

As already said, the answer is No. Because of the differences in skin nature and thickness, usage of body lotion on more thin and more delicate facial skin is not that advisable. Body skin is usually drier than the facial skin and thus body lotions are specially formulated with heavy moisturizing ingredients that would lead to clogging of pores on the facial skin.

Is Body Lotion on Face Okay In case of Extremely Dry Skin?

Even though your body lotion is light in texture and your skin is extra dry, you shouldn't use it on your facial skin as some of the ingredients present in it might be allergic to your face. Not at first, you may also face facial breakouts and such with regular body lotion usage on face.
   Have you ever noticed something on your body lotion? Most of the body lotions are more scented and coloured when compared to the light facial lotions and moisturizers. Don't you think that those artificial fragrances and colours would affect your super delicate and sensitive facial skin?
       So it is better to avoid body moisturizers on your face anytime. Whatever skin type yours may be and however gentle those body lotions may be, do NOT use it on your facial skin without consulting with your dermatologist (There is very less chance that any dermatologist would recommend a body moisturizer for face)
      

Side Effects of Using Body Moisturizers on Face

So, Summing up the all the above factors, here is the list of facial skin problems you might experience if you use your body moisturizer on your face, instantly or may be with regular usage.

• Acne breakouts
• Clogging of pores
• Redness
• Itchy skin
• Excess oil secretion
• Greasy skin
• Other allergies

Facial Moisturizer On Body - Is that Okay?

This is completely alright and this wouldn't surely give you any side effect because of the gentleness of the facial lotions. Hence, in case you run out of your regular body lotion, you can pour some facial lotion on your palm and smooth it over you body skin to provide it required moisturization. You can do this without any fear however you may need to reapply the facial lotion in short intervals to prevent dryness on your body skin!

P.S: For some, your body lotions may perfectly suit as your facial moisturizer but before continuing this, consult with your dermatologist once to ensure that it wouldn't cause any side effects or skin allergies in future.

Hope you find this article helpful. Have you ever used your body lotion on face? 

Do share your suggestions, comments and feedback below!

Image source: 1, 2, 3, 4

Top Five Ideas to Shop Cosmetics Online

Online shopping has become a huge craze among people around the world nowadays. Especially women today are much interested in shopping cosmetics, apparel and such online. Before two years, there were only few Indian online shopping sites available but today, it has been developed a lot and we can see many online shopping sites popping here in India. When we run out of our regular skincare/makeup product but have no time for physical shopping (Or lazy huh?) online shopping helps a lot and acts as a quick fix! Soon after placing our order, we receive it in next few days, that too with great discounts. Isn't it? Then who won't love shopping online?
         Today, we are going to check 5 best and easy ideas for shopping cosmetics online. These tips would help you to purchase beauty products wisely and also help you save your hard earned money.

1. Choose Your Online Shopping Store

As I said, there are several number of online shopping stores running nowadays and moreover, many new ones are popping up day by day. You might find it interesting to from all of them, or few of them but remember you cannot always have good shopping experience with all the sites. So avoid trying new inexperienced sites more often just because of craze. Read online shopping site reviews and make a decision where to shop first. There are many real time shopping experience shared on the net, especially if you are looking out for a cosmetic shopping site reviews, you can find them easily on beauty blogs!
  If you are already experienced with any specific site and in case once you feel their delivery and customer service is good, then stick to it. Do not change your shopping site often as it might confuse you about their service, product quality and delivery time. If you are an online shopping beginner, then better choose a site with COD option, that is Cash On Delivery.

2. Check their Customer Service Before Shopping

This may sound a bit lazy to do but this is a very essential step to confirm before you shop online. If you are interested to shop from a specific online shopping site, make sure to note down their email address and contact number. Drop them a mail first, with some simple queries such as "Is there any exchange policy available in your site?" and "Can we shop with the COD option?"
     Even though you know all these before, do drop them a mail and check how and how soon they respond to your query. :D This would definitely help you a lot to judge the customer service of a shopping site, making your shopping safe and secure. In case of any trouble after payment or shopping done, you need to contact them, Right? So do that before itself and check once. Alternately, you can also check with their social networking fan pages to read what other customers have posted and queried. This will let you know better about their service, delivery time etc.

3. Fix The Budget Before Placing Your Order

Choose your budget first before starting to add the products to your cart. For example, say Rs.2000, then you need to stick with Rs.2000 for this month (Or week huh?) whatever happens. This would definitely avoid you from shopping unwanted products just due to your love at first sight with them :D We girls do this a lot with cosmetics but later realize we don't even use these products much.
  Even after choosing the products and adding them to cart, list them out in a paper and just approximately estimate how many times you will use a specific product, how much does it cost, what is is shelf life and how much it is important in your beauty/makeup case. If you find any product not-that-useful, then remove it from your cart. This would help you avoid wasting money on products that you don't need.

• Read: 7 Tips to Save Money While Shopping

4. Read Product Reviews

This is the very important step making your cosmetic purchase online! Remember you are not buying a mobile, a book or a mixer grinder online to just add it to cart and make the payment. You are buying cosmetics where you need to be very careful with the shades, texture and fragrance! Don't you agree?
  Every time we shop cosmetics from the stores and showrooms directly, we do swatch those products, smell and test them before buying but does the same applicable with online shopping? Obviously no! You also cannot just believe with the SHADE chart given on the site as the shade might be different on your skin. So make sure to find and read product reviews of a specific product before shopping it online if you are new to that product. You can also get suggestions from your friends regarding this. More than skincare products, especially while doing purchase on makeup items, you should be very careful with this review reading step or you might just end up in wasting huge money in a wrong shade for your skin type/tone. So make it a habit reading product reviews online before shopping cosmetics online!

5. Subscribe to the Mailing Lists

Last, but not the least step! This will help your pocket a lot. Just choose 5-10 favorite cosmetic shopping sites of yours and subscribe to their mailing list. By this, you will receive updates about regular offers, discounts and coupon codes those would help you a lot in saving huge money while shopping cosmetics online.
   Do NOT forget to check these kinda mails especially during festival days such as New year, Christmas, women's day etc to get amazing discounts! You can prepare and have a ready list of high end makeup products (Most of them are pricey of course!) and use these festival day offers to save huge amount on them.

Hope you find this article useful. Follow the ideas and shop wisely.

Do share your online cosmetics shopping tips, ideas and such below if you have any.

In case of doubts, feel free to drop a comment below as well. Happy shopping!

Image source: 1, 2, 3