India Shopping

This is going to be all pictures of the stuff I bought in India. Nothing else. And of course some descriptions and explanations of what, when and why. Because I obviously can't help myself.

Let's start with the small stuff. I got presents (keychains) for work people and this awesome mousepad from myself from a store, can't remember what its called wait... got it, it's called The Bombay Store!


Got this Lakme quad - looks pretty but the quality is pretty shitty. I also got a bronze gold lipstick I didn't photograph, that's quite nice.


My aunt who was visiting India from the US brought me tons of mascara, as per my request and brought me the John Mayer CD I sent to her house off Amazon. Love this CD.


Also I bought this Marian Keyes book from Crossword in Shoppers Stop. It's good but nowhere near as good as Sushi for Beginners or Last Chance Saloon.

I also got The Mummy because it only cost me RS499 which is basically nothing compared to prices in Malaysia.

Other small stuff I got was these bindis which I got on the last day, at the last minute at the station road. It was madness. I'm so sad I didn't get more.


I got this top and shoes in Inorbit. The grey shoes are Miss Sixty, so cheap like RS2500. Only thing is I have NO idea when/where/how I'm going to wear them. I'm going to try wearing them to work tomorrow. Should be good.



Now for the Indian clothes! BTW I bought more than this but I got lazy photographing it. I did put the most expensive stuff in though. This first kurta I got on sale for RS500, I wear it to work, its nice and simple.

My cousin picked out this kurta. It's sooooooo pretty. I'm going to wear it for Ching Wen's brother's wedding this Saturday. Sorry this picture is so blurry but I can't be bothered to take another one.

My Dad picked out this kurta, completely love it. The dupatta and churidar are silk, while the top is cotton with embroidery. Got it from this store close to my aunt's house called Pagli. Cost about RS5500.



This sari my cousin gave me as a present. It's silk and very sweet.


This sari was on sale, about RS2000, I got it from Shoppers Stop. i love the 70's vibe of it.


I LOVE this sari. It's half net and half silk I think, got it from Jashan. It was about RS5000.



This sari was the most expensive, got it from a store called Sheetal. It was over RS12,000. It's so expensive it came with it's own cloth bag!



And look at these AWESOME shoes I got to wear with Indian clothes. The brand is Catwalk.


Finally I got this jewelry to go with my clothes. Let's start with these awesome ear-rings I got from Shoppers Stop, both Western and Indian clothing friendly. The bangle was a present.


This was a necklace on sale, sorry about the quality of the picture. Anyway it was about RS400. Got it from this jewelry store called Sia. Fake and fabulous jewelry.


These bangles were on sale, I think they were about RS1500 or so. They're very heavy, very fancy.


This necklace my Dad hated. I was shopping with him that day. Anyway I completely ignored him and bought it anyway. It was about RS1500 as well.


That was all my India shopping. Crazy, now that I look back on it. Too much even. I leave you with the image of my O.P.I. painted toenails, Got it done at a L'oreal salon around the corner from my aunt's house in Mumbai.

INDIA!

It's been awhile I know, and this is getting to be sort of a pattern with me. I get really busy, I go off somewhere and then I don't post anything. For ages. So here I am at work, trying to type the intro at least for this blog post.

I went to India mid February ish to visit my relatives and to SHOP.Shopping was officially on the agenda because the mom had money stashed away. Which was good.

So, yes lowdown on my trip before I get into the shopping.

My parents and I arrived in Mumbai super late Friday night and basically slept. The whole next week, and I'm not really sure what we did everyday because its sort of become a blur, consisted of shopping, eating and talking to the relatives a lot.

We ate dinner in the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple in Juhu, shopped in Inorbit in Malad basically everyday, ate Natural Ice Cream and ate Parsi Dairy Kulfi our last night there. I only managed to take pictures for about a quarter of the food I ate. Sorry Priscilla.

Anyways lets start with food pics!







Shopping pictures to come tomorrow! Or maybe the day after!

The Great Singapore Adventure

I got back 2 days ago from a dizzying trip to Singapore. I was there for my friend Tina's wedding to Karan (gorgeous couple) and also to just sightsee and shop. Unfortunately I am now also at home with a bit of back problem as a result of having an actual slip disc and having to do stupid lifting work at my office despite my protests that it was hard for me. Still I was ignored and then overstrained and hence now I am lying prone on my back for today and tomorrow. With a couple of minutes here and there at the computer for blogging time :)

I was with two colleagues from work, Lega and Vasanthi and basically we explored Singapore - fast and furiously. Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1:
Wake up at 4:00am
Flight at 7:30am
Land in Singapore at 8:30am
Go to hotel - dump bags
Eat lunch in Little India (was terrible)
Go to Vivo City - shop
Take the monorail to Sentosa Island
Walk on the Beach at Sentosa and take pictures
Go back to hotel and check-in officially
Eat dinner at Orchard Road with a stopover at Sephora (will elaborate)
Take public transportation (1 hour) to the Animal Safari
Catch home last MRT at 12:00am which stops halfway to hotel
Take cab the remainder of the way back and sleep at 1:00am

Day 2:
Wake up at 9:00am (too tired from the night before)
Breakfast at 9:30am
Off to Bugis street for some street shopping at 12:00pm ish
Lunch at Nando's (could not take Singaporean food anymore) at 3:00pm ish
Back to hotel at 5:00pm to get ready for Tina's wedding
At Tina's wedding at 8:30pm

Day 3:
Drinks after in Honeymoon suite with family till 3:00am
Sleep at 3:30am
Wake up at 9:00am for breakfast
Pack up bags by 11:00am
Off to Bugis area - this time to the malls by 11:30 am
Shop, shop, shop
Lunch at McDonald's at 2:00pm
Back to the hotel by 3:00pm
In airport by 3:50pm - check in
Flight slight delayed, left at 6:00pm ish

As you can see out itinerary was CRAZY.

What really struck me most of all about Singapore was the insane level of consumerism that seems to be the very lifeblood of the city. Especially Orchard Road. I mean look at it:


And it was like that EVERYWHERE on Orchard. Which makes me think, since I am planning on doing my Masters there... will I also get swept up in the frenzy and then fall flat on my face? I wonder. I don't want to go broke. But I do love shopping and have been known to indulge. Speaking of...

Sephora Haul

Urban Decay Primer Potion Professional Size, SGD 50.00


Basically a staple since I wear it everyday under my eyeshadow.

Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in Vintage Pink, SGD 79.00



I wasn't planning on buying an overpriced blush. However I left my beauteous Nars and Bobbi Brown Blushes at home so I figured ok nvm I'll buy a drugstore blush to tide me over. NOTHING worked. It was all incredibly unflattering. So I thought yeah, I'll splurge for another Nars blush. Turns out Sephora Singapore doesn't do Nars. What??!! I asked an SA for help. He turned out to be a Givenchy makeup artist who just wanted to sell me his stuff. He was convinced I would look good in peach something. I was convinced I would look better in pink. I was right. I bought the blush.

Bugis Street

Owl Necklace, SGD5.60 and Disc Ear-rings, SGD6.00


Cute no? Especially the necklace. It was one of those love at first sight type purchases.

Muji
I am obsessed with Muji. I think that if I could outfit my life from one store, it would be Muji. Seriously. Except I wouldn't have anything to wear to Indian weddings. Anyway here's what I got.

Make-up case, SGD29.90





How awesome is this make-up case? It can hold my brushes and it comes with a random polka dot thing that completely confuses me. I think it's supposed to hold tissue.

Leather Belt, SGD35.00


I wear a belt practically everyday and this one is really simple and looks like it's pretty decent quality so I bought it.

Long Cylindrical Plastic Containers, SGD1.90 and Pot Plastic Container, SGD2.30


I always travel with small bottles of liquid so this is basically perfect. The lipgloss pot is so I can depot my old Urban Decay Primer Potion that's gone hard.

Boss' Christmas Present Bag, SGD1.90


Cute bag no? I photographed her whole present though. Got the Man U Desk Calendar from the Book Depository for USD7.95 and got the novelty Christmas M&M's at Cold Storage for like SGD8.00. I think it's a super cute gift.

So that's basically what I got. I actually think they're all really good buys EXCEPT for the Singaporean version of Her World which was complete shit. It was basically like a very long advertisement and the articles had teeny tiny print.

Singapore on the whole was a lot of fun. Super tiring though. Also my friend's shoes went missing in the hotel which ended up being a whole big drama. I felt really bad though especially since it was their first time out of Malaysia. Actually it was really interesting to travel with people who have never been overseas before. It made me appreciate that I've had the opportunity to travel all over the place much more.

Better sign off - wanna watch BONES!

Super Overdue: US HAUL!

I was supposed to do a huge post on all the stuff I bought in the US which I completely haven't delivered. Basically it's been taking me forever because I had to take the pictures (which are not so great) and then I had to edit them and then I had to write the actual post. All of which took some time because, as per usual, I am going through my perennial I-don't-know-what-the-hell-to-do-with-my-life phase.

But lately I think I've kind of figured out what I want to do SO here I am finally writing this post. That and the fact that because I did a chemical peel today I'm at home from work. BTW chemical peels hurt like HELL.

So let's get to it - I'm going to do it store by store.

Online Shopping Haul

Nordstrom
Nordstrom was one of the stores that actually let me buy stuff with a non-US credit card. The initial plan was to go crazy shopping at Sephora online but I was completely thwarted by their US credit card only policy. In any case Nordstrom totally came through and I bought the following MAC staples. Oh yeah, MAC also totally rejects non-US/Canadian credit cards.

So this is the MAC 116 Blush Brush. I got it because it was recommended by Temptalia as a good brush for blush beginners which I definitely am. It has actually totally lived up to its reputation, its easy to pat on the blush and then sweep it to blend. The brush is a good medium size and is quite flat.

This is the MAC 219 Pencil Brush which is supposed to work as a precise crease brush and also as way to work color near the tearducts. Note that I wrote supposed. So far I've found it kind of difficult to work this. It's just so conical shaped and kind of fat that I find it difficult to do anything really precise with it.

This is the MAC 217 Blender Brush. For the longest time I thought this was completely useless because I initially bought it to be a crease brush but its way to big to work on my eye. It does however make a really invaluable blending brush especially when working with dark colors.

The MAC 239 Shader Brush which is like The Holy Grail or as beauty fanatics like to put it HG of all eye brushes. You can really just use this for everything and its just the perfect brush because it gives you a lot of control and you can just pack the color on. It's mentioned on basically every single beauty blog and its totally worth the price. I use it every single day.

Ebay
Again, as the result of not being able to use my credit card in different places I turned to Ebayyyyyyyyyyy. I bought Be Curly which is essential in my hair taming regimen and I also bought this amazing product:

Urban Decay Primer Potion - it makes my eyeshadow stay put all day long and works like a dream in humid Malaysia. Totally lives up to the hype.
























Amazon

Ok I bought Ella Enchanted because my cousins have borrowed this book and never given it back and I loved it as a child and seriously they totally know I want it back and I don't know what the hell is wrong with them.























So this is Benefit's High Brow, which is basically a matte light, light pink pencil that you're supposed to put under your eyebrows to make the shape really pop. It's actually got a really nice creamy texture. I find that it's a little cool on my skin but I'm sure if you're fairer or basically... white it's pretty good. But as long as I blend it well it looks pretty good.



























Now for when I actually got to the U.S.

Dillards
Dillards was actually super fun because the people there were really nice and it basically had everything anyone would need but it wasn't huge and overwhelming which was nice. Only thing, the clothes were fairly hideous. Especially the prom dresses.

Got these Steve Madden sunglasses because I've been looking for like Eurotrash sunnies that are not too glittery or monocle like. These are great they're a little CRon, a little aviator and they look goooood on.



























I got super excited when I found out there was this Lancome special where if I bought stuff worth $32 I would get this free bag and lipstick and some other stuff. Anyway what I did buy where these two eyeshadows above, they are Color Design Eyeshadow in Exhibition and Kitten Heel. To be honest they really don't blend well and don't stand out that much. So they were pretty much $17 a pop disappointments. But I do wear them... so I guess its ok.

Here's the GWP (Gift with Purchase) I got!
















































































I got a Lancome eco friendly bag, a makeup bag, a lipstick (kinda pulls a bit too orange on me - should be good with lipgloss), a dark brown eyeliner, Hypnose mascara (yaay!) and the most gorgeous Juicy Tube- the color is apparently Pink Horizon. Sorry the swatches are so crappy, it was a really cloudy time so I wasn't getting much light. That and I can't take pictures.

Walmart


These are the Revlon luxurious single eyeshadows which I've mentioned before. Technically I bought one of them at CVS and the other two at Walmart but whatever. They're pretty sheer but they are super pretty and really soft and easy to work with. Totally worth the $4.99 pricetag. I got the Perle and Satin finishes. I know a lot of people don't like to wear shiny/glittery eyeshadows on a daily basis but it's like then why bother wearing make-up at all? Plus I think maybe because I have a darker skin color I can get away with more glitter. Right?

Kohl's

I bought this shirt because my Mom made me. Anyway it does look super cute on and I wear it to work pretty much once a week.






















This backpack was super cheap like $20 and I was tired of carrying my Eddie Bauer sling bag around because my back was killing me so I got this crazy pink Adidas backpack. I know I totally look like a kid when I carry it but its so comfy and carries everything so perfectly that I don't care.






















Sephora




























I was looking forward to going to Sephora more than anything else when I found out I was going to the US. I know... but still! It was actually quite awesome mostly because I could actually buy things like Nars and Urban Decay. Also though I didn't buy any, Stila's eyeshadows are beautiful.



I didn't really want this. What I wanted was the Naked Palette but that wasn't going to happen because its only been released like now. So I got this instead. It's really pretty and all but I have two issues with it. I don't think the colors really pop that well on me and also the ones that have glitter have major glitter fallout which means I can only wear them at night. Which sucks ASS.


This is probably one of the best things I bought. It's a Nars Blush in Lovejoy and its this reddish brown blush with gold shimmer. Not flecks of glitter like Orgasm but just shimmer. I thought Nars would be too shiny for my oily skin but it actually looks amazing on, even if I do have to use a light hand.




















Target!

I went insane in Target because of two reasons: 1. It is awesome. 2. It was like down the road. ANYWAY I got a shit ton of stuff which included...

A black Mossimmo dress. Such a pretty dress on me. I know its super plain and I actually have no idea where or when I'm going to wear it given how casual my job is but I really don't care because it makes my body look beautiful.
























I bought 3 Loreal Voluminous mascaras because it actually does live up to its hype. Yes it seriously clumps but its also $5 and gives volume to my lashes without because trashy. And its $5.
















Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss. Because my mother told me to buy it.


































































I got Sonia Kashuk's eyebrow comb and sharpener, Tweezerman hella expensive ($25!) tweezers and Goody's ouchless hair bands, hair clips, hair pins and scrunchie things. Great staples to have. I've been using the Tweezerman tweezers everyday since I got it. Ditto on the rest.

Store in the The World of Coca Cola in Atlanta

The t-shirt doesn't fit me even though its a bloody medium... the postcards are cute though. Not quite sure who to send it to...





That's pretty much it. I'm really broke post all the indulgent shopping but I really couldn't help myself since I probably wont be going Stateside anytime soon. Here's a picture of ALL the stuff!