Essie In The Cab-ana. If you have a tan/olive skin tone, you NEED this color. It is incredibly flattering and amazing for the summer :)

Updated Skincare for Fun in the Sun!

I did a post a while back about my general skincare routine, which still serves as the bare bones of what I do now, (http://makeupbyamrita.tumblr.com/post/44197920666/skincare-routine) but with the sun in full force I like to add a few extra steps to help keep tanning and burning at bay.

1. Sunscreen
Oh yes, this is so important. If you have an Indian mother or grandmother like I do, most likely at some point, the extreme importance of sunscreen has been made evident to you. If you don’t diligently keep up with your sunscreen, you will be forced to listen to stories of carrying parasols and wearing long gloves in the blistering heat and how previous generations really suffered for health and beauty as compared to us youngins now. I still know Indian moms who wear long sleeved shirts, socks on their hands, giant hats and giant sunglasses in the summertime just to drive their kids to summer camp. Extreme behavior aside, I like to use the Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion in Broad Spectrum SPF 50+ for Face and Body. I mostly use this for my face, neck and hands. The main reason I like this is that it doesn’t break me out. I used to use Neutrogena’s sunscreens for the face but I would still get break outs :( I love using the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Broad Spectrum SPF 100+ for my body. I know that a lot of people say that you don’t need to use anything above SPF 50, but the standards for testing SPF in America are less stringent than those in, for example, Australia, where people really see the sun, so I figure a little extra precaution never hurts. The newest addition to my sunscreen routine is the Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream in Broad Spectrum SPF 34. First of all, weird SPF number, and second of all I’m not totally convinced this is necessary. I do think the skin in the eye area is a lot more delicate, but I’ve personally never experienced a sunburn around my eyes so I’m not sure if this is totally necessary. For now, I’ll just go with it and see if I notice a difference by the end of the summer.

2. Face Scrubs
With the heat, comes sweat, and oily-ness. And with all that, come more breakouts! To help combat this, I’ve been using the St. Ives Apricot Scrub (Blemish Control) alternating with the less abrasive St. Ives Green Tea Scrub (Blemish Control). These make such a difference in keeping my breakouts at a minimum, and make my skin feel super smooth and soft. The blemish control line only contains about 1% salicylic acid, so its nothing too harsh. I still need to use a spot treatment on stubborn acne. I also think that scrubs help diminish the appearance of acne scars, which is great in case you do get the inevitable trouble spot.

3. Face Masks
For the summertime, I love using the Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask. This mask is way too drying for me in the winter time, but I like using it in my T-zone to keep the shine at a minimum and to prevent blackheads and blocked pores. I use this maybe once a week, or once every week and a half based on how my skin is feeling. It’s your traditional scary green face mask which dries and tightens up to pull out impurities. I definitely recommend moisturizing afterwards to avoid getting any dry patches.



What are your favorite summer skincare products?

Lori Greiner luxury deluxe wood cosmetic box with mirror. This thing is so amazing and houses the majority of my makeup. I don’t know if people would be interested in a more in depth review of this organizer, but if I get some requests I might go ahead and do one.

Review: Kat Von D Ladybird Palette

If you’ve read a few of my previous posts, you might know that I’m obsessed with matte shadows (Read: http://makeupbyamrita.tumblr.com/post/43621582516/matte-matchup-my-favorite-matte-eyeshadow-palettes). How many matte shadows does one person really need? Probably less than I have, but I honestly can’t help myself and it seems like more and more brands are coming out with amazing matte palettes. That, plus the gorgeous artwork on the cover of this palette sold me.

I picked it up via Sephora online (0.4 oz, $36) and really couldn’t be more pleased. The palette is some kind of metal that pops open with the press of a button, with a large mirror inside. The shades are not powdery at all, sliding and blending very smoothly. The only shade which I felt was weaker in pigmentation was the dark purple, Fur Elise. Otherwise, one swipe shows color true to pan. The palette also comes with a brown liner which goes great with all of the colors. I’ve never owned Kat Von D eye products, but this palette made a great first impression. The palette has a great mix of warm and cool toned shadows, and a good range of light and dark options. My favorite shade is probably the burnt orange (I’m biased, Go Longhorns!) named Cleopatra. It’s a darker version of the beautiful orange in the Stila matte palette.

All in all, super pleased with this, with the exception of Fur Elise :)

Photos of Products and Swatches Below!

Sorry for the hiatus in posting, I’ve been going through everything I own and essentially “spring cleaning”. The process started with my closet and has finally made its way over to makeup. I figured some new organization was in order and thought I’d post an “in progress” picture.