My Autumn Skin Routine

 

Hello readers!

Hope you are great and everything around is awesome. Autumn here in Lahore is not exactly here yet but the wind has become drier and nights quieter, I love this time of the year and wait for it all summers. But with this time of the year comes a lot of skin issues and one needs to prepare skin for the cold and dry weather coming up. I have added a few things to my routine plus my skin messed up because of some mousse makeup I did not realize has gone bad and, on this Qurbani Eid my entire face was covered in zits because of that mousse so it was also something that needed to be taken care of.

My skin care routine is a combination of masks and serums  some of which I recently discovered, and I am also working on going bare face with just my moisturizer and sunblock on for as long as I can manage. Starting with the post, lets looks at the products that are my staple these days (please forgive bad quality photos)

Here is all that I am using, not shown in the picture is my Konjac sponge that I am using every other day, which is from Eco Tools. Which looks like this when dry

It looks quite hard and rough for face, but when you damp it with water it becomes something like this:

it is soft and wobbly after it has been damped. It exfoliates skin and makes it appear healthier, Konjac sponge feels soft and slippery and is weightless. You can also put some cleanser on it if you want, make sure to wash it after use and let it dry.

Moving on to the cleansers:

These two I love for many reasons, they both clean makeup and does not react with my skin and cause issues. They are easily available and can be found in any superstore or ordered online. I’ve been using Nivea Refreshing Cleansing Milk for years now and nothing satisfies me as much as it does. Garnier Naturals Micellar Cleansing Water is perfect for makeup removal and you don’t need to wash face afterwards (I do.)

Moving on to the face washes:

Each face wash here is for a different reason. When I am washing my face I am not exactly looking for something that improves my skin, I am just looking for something that makes my skin squeaky clean because of the humid weather. When it is not humid, these four works perfectly even then. There is no particular reason for picking them other than they really do give my skin a long lasting fresh feeling, they are easily available and they do not cause skin problems, after what the Tea Tree Foaming Cleanser has done to my skin (made my skin dry completely) I try not to use something for a very long period.

After the face was follows masks. I use these two:

I plan on writing reviews for both of these later. The Freeman Facial Brightening Mask in ‘Golden Grain’ has tiny grains in gold color. This is a ‘wash off mask’ it helps in giving my skin an instant glow, when I am not in the mood of messy masks can falls off on your clothes when dry and are difficult to wash off, I go for this, it burns my eyes when applied but I will not discontinue using for that reason along because my eyes are way too sensitive and have similar reaction to every other product. Next is ‘Instant Glow Face Mask’ by Spa in a Bottle’. This mask I sometimes use mixed with cold milk and sometimes with mineral water. Since past week I am using this mask daily before bed time and it is helping me with the zits, and tightens my pores, my zits are disappearing gradually.

Last but not the least are my serums:

These are all by Spa in a Bottle. The 24k Gold serum is supposed to be used underneath makeup in place of a primer, and it is used for day time moisturizing as well. I am not sure how well it is working and I’ll write a review for this once I am ready to give a verdict. Moving on to the tiny bottle, it is the Under eye Serum, I apply it once daily during the day time. The Youthful Glow Serum is used after I remove the mask, before bedtime.

I do neglect my skin before going out but when I am in the mood i do slather on this sun block, it doesn’t feel heavy and I really like the bottle (please don’t judge :P)

So here it is! I will review the new products added to my routine very soon, with prices, quantity and if I will buy those again or not.

Let me know if you liked the post and don’t forget to follow, I follow back!

Take care!

 

xo,

Rida O

No time for Spa? Read on!

Hey there readers!!

Been trying a lot of new things lately and the product rather two products I’m going to share with you right now are something I had in my wish-list for a long time but I’ve been too lazy to order anything online, sounds weird though, anyways here a picture.

I’ve rarely come across something that suits my skin (it is combination, mostly dry and prone to allergies) so I have to go through a tough process to try something out, whatever I try reacts on my skin, sometimes it is only zits, sometimes red patches and sometime the product causes major breakouts so it is quite painful. In Lahore’s humid weather things get worse! So these two tiny bottles are surprisingly very good for my skin, I thoroughly read the reviews before I placed an order and took two whole days to make up my mind if I should or if I shouldn’t get them because I really don’t want another of somethings lying uselessly around my space.

Moisturizers are very important even if your skin is super oily or the weather is extremely humid, this Youthful Glow Serum from Spa in a Bottle turned out to be just great, I have been using it for two weeks and my skin feels softer in the morning when I wash my face and the texture is slightly better, can’t say a lot since it has only been two weeks. I love the bottle, love the minimalist branding, and the product costs Rs. 600/- which is great.

The next product I am using for my dark circles (I am a night person can’t completely get rid of them) is the Under-eye Serum, this serum is for puffiness around the eyes as well as for the dark circles. It is working great as well, the first time around I had slightly swollen under eye area after a few hours of use, but I could see a visible improvement from the very next day.

I love how the containers for both the products help you get the exact amount of product you need.

I only use about one drop of the Youthful Glow Serum before bed time and less than one drop of the Under-eye serum, spread it on the back of my hand, pick up the product with my ring finger and then lightly rub in the under-eye area. This quantity is just perfect for me since slightly more of it will make my skin super greasy in this weather.

Here is a summary of the featured product:

Brand: Spa in a Bottle

Product 1: Youthful Glow Serum, price Rs. 600/- (25 ml, use withing 6-8 months, preferably used at night before bed time)

Product 2: the Under-eye Serum, price Rs. 400/- (5 ml, use within 6 months)

You can purchase the product directly through their Facebook page by clicking here.

Although I might continue using them and would love to try more of their products, I would recommend that you go through their reviews on the page and take your time in deciding which product should suit you best.

Have you tried any of their products and would recommend anything else? Let me know in the comments!

All About Essence ‘Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets’ Launch in Lahore

Hey lovelies,

Hope all of you are doing great and having a great weekend like me. Most of my friends and coworkers know how I absolutely love Essence and their products and I got super excited to receive an invitation for their latest Trends Edition ‘Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets’ launch.

About Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets:

essence worked with four of the girls to develop the new trend edition “bloggers’ beauty secrets”. Diana zur Löwen from dfashion created a true all-rounder with her “touch up to go!” palette while Palmira from beautypalmira focuses on the eyes with her “vintage rose” palette. with “shape & shadows”, Mary Oliver from strikeapose presents a contouring palette for the eyes and brows in keeping with the latest trend, and Serena Verbon from beautylab ensures a wow-complexion and fabulous eye make-up for the summer with her “the glow must go on” palette. On top, the bloggers have revealed their favorite beauty tips.

All about the event and the palettes!

The event was set outside in a lawn with everything pretty and girly about it. There were samples to check, swatch, try and test. Every table had two palettes and all the tables had a different palette, so we could go around and check all of them, take pictures and have fun. Below is what the tables looked like. I really wish there were brushes and makeup charts so that we could test the products better without having to mess up our hands. I’ve still got to reveal my favorite palette, I guess you will have to wait a little more 😛

I absolutely love Essence for many reasons, few of them are their packaging that makes me buy the makeup I will never need, since I am more in to skin care products I can’t stop wondering the beautiful packaging they will come up with if they start making skin care products like a whole thing, they do have some skin care products though. I also love essence because of the quality of their products, absolutely love their face products. The prices too are very economical considering the size of the product and its quality. Here is a closer look at the palettes that were kept for us to try.

let’s take a look at the palettes!

All four palettes looked gorgeous, I am head over heels for the packaging and not just that, the products were super pigmented as I got to try all of them. Each palette had a brush and a large mirror. They all have lovely prints all around them. The palette is flat and stack-able and they wont take a lot of space if you like your things organized. Each palette has its own nail color and they look gorgeous, not only their bottle are pretty, the colors too are hot, I think I am getting all four! They had all the new products on display stations, I can’t get over how pretty everything looked.

The latest Essence Trends Edition palettes are available on their page only which should be a great thing. You can buy them directly from their Facebook page. The price of their palette is PKR 920/- and nail colors is PKR 335/-

Here is a picture of my goody bag, I received the ‘Touch up and go!’ palette and I am glad. I think my personal favorite is the ‘Shape & Shadows’ because I love brow products. This palette has a brow setting wax too which was pretty good!

Hope you liked reading, which palette do you like most? Do you like Essence cosmetics too? 🙂

Love,

Rida O

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My winter favorites

Hello beautiful people I hope you are doing superb. Today I’ll be writing about some of the products I am really finding helpful in this weather. Although I am not the kind of a person who can’t do without a certain product, for instance I was recently traveling and at the time of packing up I couldn’t think of that one thing I can’t travel without, I do have some favorites always but I also usually get bored with products easily. Anyhow, here are the products I am religiously using these days and I am finding them very helpful in winters.

For Skin:

The Body Shop Tea Tree Foaming Cleanser (review here)

Neutrogena Sun Screen SPF 90+

Nivea Refreshing Cleansing Milk

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Beautiful Day Cream (review here)

St. Ives Apricot Scrub for sensitive skin

 

For lips:

Maybelline Baby Lips

The Body Shop Born Lippy stick

EOS Lip Balm

Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter Peach Parfait

So you see my winter picks are not very hard to find and are easily affordable and available.

What is your winter skin care regime? I’d love to hear!

Love,

Rida Omer

[Don’t forget to follow me, I follow back 🙂 ]

 

Vacations! Part I

Hello fellas!

I recently had this opportunity to sneak away from Lahore to a friend’s (Amna’s) place for a couple of days, it was long due! many plans made and left unfulfilled and I decided to stick to this one plan I made and I did so. Luckily my husband had to go for a work trip to RWP and later Murree and that was it! I packed my bags and left for Islamabad.

The place where my friend lives is a beautiful town a couple of minutes drive away from Islamabad and it is totally a heaven on earth, green hills, stream, greenery everywhere and winters! I had an amazing time out and I hope she did too 🙂

So, I would really take the pleasure in writing about the last day first, the Chrysanthemum Exhibition started on 4th Dec.

We saw the event page on facebook, set our expectations high and planned our entire day around it which includes my departure as well. Well, according to the page and event, it was supposed to start at 11:00 am, it didn’t. We thought they are still setting up the displays and stalls and we will return at around 2:30, we did ask people around (there were hardly any, except for the participating men who were still decorating their spaces) and they said the inauguration is at 3:00 pm (sad!) So we returned at 3:00 pm and the place was far from ready, we did see a few people coming in, as excited as we were.

I decided to write lots more about it but hey it was a fun time nevertheless, me and Amna still managed to get some great photos and I guess that was more important, to have a good time before I leave and I did!

Sharing some of the shots, hoping you will love them! And I will be writing again about the rest of the stuff from the vacation.

Hope you enjoyed!

Love,

Rida Omer

Review – Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Beautiful Day Cream

Hello there awesome readers, I hope everyone is doing great in this awesome weather!
I am back with my verdict on Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Beautiful Day Cream. I received this product nearly two weeks back from Andalou Naturals Pakistan, yes! they do retail in Pakistan. After receiving the product I did my little research and found out that this brand is loved my many and it wasn’t available in Pakistan before until recently a friend started retailing it here and was willing to send me a product according to my skin type, for review.

I have discussed earlier about the packaging and other little details and I’ll be directly moving forward to the product it self and my verdict.

I actually found this product worth replacing my current moisturizer with. I really like the fact that even though the consistency of this cream is thin (not runny) it still moisturizes my dry skin perfectly for almost an entire day. The fragrance isn’t overwhelming and I really like it that it has only a small faint rose like smell. I had started noticing difference in my skin after two days of use and that was impressive, I sometimes mix it with my sun block and foundation and it does not make my skin oily even after that. This product, since it does not have SPF can be used at night as well. I think this 50 ml jar would go on for about 3+ months which is not bad, because you only need a small amount for your face and neck.

This product can be worn with or underneath makeup and sunblock.

Andalou Naturals has a wide range of products for every skin type and they are easily available at Just4girls.pk and Daraz.pk.

This jar is worth 2260/-

I would recommend it to the ladies who have dry skin issues.

I hope you loved the post and found it useful.

Love,

Rida Omer

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Beautiful Day Cream

Andalou Naturals is a name I wasn’t familiar with because of it’s unavailability in Pakistan, until recently when an old friend started retailing it. I then started my research and found out that this label is all the rave among people who go for only and only natural products. I was really impressed by the reviews and repurchases people made after giving Andalou Naturals a shot.

Luckily I received the first PR sample ever sent to try in Pakistan by Andalou Naturals and that sure felt awesome.

It is a 50ml jar with an impressive packaging. I like this container, it looks like you’ve purchased something expensive and worth buying. The lid closes properly and the product does not stick to the edges of the jar. The formula is not very thick which made me wonder if it will stay even for a couple of hours after application and well it did. The cream inside smells a lot like The Body Shop Vitamin E Cream but that did not have anything to do with the rosy smell. My husband does not like it when I am using any product with overwhelming fragrance but he did not notice this one so we can say it is mild, and I appreciate that.

Andalou Naturals uses fruit stem cell science, and have a wide range of products that covers most of the skin types. I am so far very happy with how it makes me feel after application. I have a combination to dry skin and I usually find it difficult to get hold of a moisturizer that works out well for me, and this one, although I have only used it for four days, twice daily, I feel good already. I am however not giving my verdict right away and I will be writing again in detail after two weeks of use at the very least 🙂

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Beautiful Day Cream is available at Just4girls and Daraz.pk and they have a facebook page where you can purchase this from.

The price is PKR 2260/-

I hope you guys enjoyed reading,

Love,

Rida O

 

[Pr samples sent for review, this post however is based on my honest opinion]

Long time no blog

Hey guys, how have you been! I have been away for quiet a long time and I have tons to review and talk about. I have been very tied up lately, left the job, had exams and had my anniversary in between and its been 3 awesome years now (MashaAllah!). My anniversary was on the last day of my job and he got me flowers when he came to pick me up for both the reasons I guess, I never asked because I loved them so much and didn’t bother (haha!)

The Flowers ❤

Later we went on a quick lunch date and I cooked dinner for his colleagues and that is usually the way anniversaries are celebrated if you are a working couple in our part of the world 🙂

I am done with my exams and I am back to writing and doing stuff I love, which includes writing, designing, doodling and cooking! How I loved and missed cooking, not that I haven’t been cooking lately, I was just not getting enough time to cook anything special.

Here’s some Nutella tea cake and doodles from my sketch book for you!

So, that was most of the stuff I had been doing while I was away, I hope you loved reading and the pictures too.

See you with another post shortly!

Love,

Rida

A Little DIY Project I Did

Review: French Manicure with Sweet Touch

I have literally been doing french manicure since I was 13 or 14 which is too young for that in my geographical location, and I’ve used a variety of nail polishes and tried way too many methods. I have recently purchased this new set of Sweet Touch french manicure colors which is not exactly a set I had to choose them separately.  These three colors you see? And here’s the manicure!

I did it late night and went straight to work early next morning hoping I’ll take proper photos once I am back home. Unfortunately it started chipping of during the day which is a bummer! I have really painfully round shaped nails, round on the start, curved on the surface and just round beyond words and I have to shape them round, which is why the round tipped manicure. I do not apply or take help from those tape guides for french manicure. I like square and flat nails more, the color appears more on them because of the visible area, in my case, the color appears less because round and curved nails are more on the 3D side if that makes any sense and hides the color on the sides.

Coming back to the Sweet Touch manicure. There is something terribly wrong with their brushes, all three of them are thick and flat which is not good for applying thin lines unless you have enough practice. The edge of the brush is round from  one corner and I do not understand why. The product quality is average. The formula is thin and it isn’t ideal for french manicure particularly the white paint. I will use it up but I will be very careful if it comes to buying them again.

Sweet Touch cosmetics are easily available online and in local stores nationwide and the price range starts from PKR 160/-

Have you ever tried their products? I’d love to know your feedback!

Love,

Rida O

A peek into my designs – life beyond a shopaholic ~

Apart from my love for makeup and shopping, I am a shoe designer and I love working on my designs. My shoes are handmade and hand embellished, and I’ve been doing this since 2010, started off as a part time hobby, it turned into a business in no time. Sharing pictures of some of my recent stuff, really really hope you love what you see!

These ‘Kolhapuries’ are handmade from the core and each one of them has a story behind its design. I like chunky designs and I find it really hard to do less and go overboard at times. Apart from these there are my painted bags!

Most of the bags aren’t recent, and I usually do not do a lot of them, just a couple.

Hope you loved the peek inside my designs 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Rida O