Lipstick Masala

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Dear Lovely Readers,

In addition to this site, Lipstick Masala is now also writing the beauty column “Beauty and the Brush” for the Express Tribune newspaper.

We’d love it if you would check out the latest article HERE and leave us some feedback. The column is printed (and posted online) every Friday, so check back weekly!

Hugs,

This article was first published in the Express Tribune, Pakistan on 4/16/10. It was written by Lipstick Masala for the column Beauty and the Brush.

The advent of spring coincides with the start of the wedding season, and mehndi invitations begin to arrive by the dozen. Panic sets in as one frantically runs to and fro from tailors and/or designers in a desperate attempt to have them sew knockoffs of designs from collections shown at fashion weeks. There is an equal frenzy in browbeating mothers into providing matching jewelery.

But when it comes to the “defining moment” that is applying makeup, most women devote relatively miniscule time and reach for the cliched black kajal and pink lipstick.

Why not break with worn out traditions and dare to embrace the bold accents and styles presented on runways this spring? Today’s beauty trends reflect the vibrant hues of nature – jewel-toned eyes mimicking oleander trees and azure skies, fruity lips evoking images of peach-lined fruit stands. Remember those bright purple and yellow eyeliners you pondered at the local Agha’s or Al-Fatah but elected in favor of your go-to black? Return to the store and grab the colorful liners. And while you’re in revolutionary mode, seriously think about tossing out your flatiron.
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Last Spring, I chopped off nearly ten inches of the hair I had so painstakingly grown out for two years. It was a bit drastic, and I wept for my lost locks for days. But, it was a much-needed change. For me, Spring is about reinvention. Even though I trim my hair several times a year, the Spring appointment with my stylist is the one where I experiment with new lengths, shapes and colors. After the last remnants of winter have faded away, I embrace a new look, a new season and a way to set the trend for how I plan to look for the rest of the year.

For those of you that, like me, have grown weary of your signature coif, there are dozens of trends you can try out in the Spring 2010 season. However, before you arrive at your salon with a ripped out magazine page of Reese Witherspoon’s new haircut, you must keep one important detail in mind – your face shape. Thousands of ladies each year are on the receiving end of a disastrous haircut, not because their stylist was snip happy with the scissors, but because they didn’t realize how different their bone structure was from said actress in the magazine photo.

So, ladies, before you venture out to reinvent yourself, here’s a quick breakdown on how to choose the right cut for your face type. You don’t want to spend the rest of the summer in a ponytail hiding the catastrophe that is your new hair ‘do.

Although there are dozens of face types, the four most common face shapes are: long/oval, round, heart and square.
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