Lipstick Masala

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Below is a contributed post by fellow blogger, Leia. Along with her best friend, she currently runs a fashion site from London that regularly updates readers with the latest high fashion looks and must-haves. As she was one of our first followers here at Lipstick Masala, I am honored that she has kindly taken the time to share some of her favorite beauty techniques with us. If your hair is suffering from winter woes, this post is for you! Leia has outlined some fantastic tips and tricks that have left her hair beautifully thick and silky. Check out her fabulous site over at http://hifashionsl.blogspot.com/!

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For most of us, winter has finally arrived. Whether you love the season or the cold makes you depressed and homesick, one thing is for sure: winter wreaks havoc on your hair! Wind, dry air, and central heating can cause dryness and split ends. Here are some of my tips for keeping your hair luscious when the temperatures drop. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been tuned into any news channel over the past couple of days, you’ve by now surely heard about the fierce snow storm that continues to pound the East Coast of the U.S. Snowmageddon 2009 not only brought with it mountains of ice but has also subjected us to bone-chilling cold temperatures and glacial winds. Yesterday, driven crazy with cabin fever, I strapped on my fur-lined boots and mittens and ventured outside on foot. When I returned, my face was stinging from the brutal weather conditions. Today, I am regretting yesterday’s little adventure as my cheeks are chapped dry and so red that I could pass for Santa Claus’s offspring.

Unfortunately, dry skin does not just make an appearance during a rare snowstorm or two. Many ladies have complained to me recently that the winter air has been causing the skin on their face to tighten up and flake and no lotion or cream seems to be working to restore that moisture. Here is my answer: 1) If you live in a country where you have central heating on all the time, make sure to use a humidifier when you sleep at night – trust me, you will see a difference in your skin within a few days. 2) Don’t overdo it with the rich creams. Exfoliate regularly (for more information click HERE) and remove the dead skin cells on your face. This will help your regular winter lotion/cream penetrate better. If you still feel like you need something a little extra, then go a little heavier, but I feel like most of those result in clogged pores. I prefer treating my face in addition to moisturizing, which brings us to number 3) There are a number of moisturizing masks you can use that will bring your skin relief, my favorite of which is the Oatmeal mask below. It’s fast, easy, and best of all, costs next to nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

It takes a very special lipstick to attract my attention- I’m more of a gloss/liner kind of girl. That’s why the few lipsticks I actually do own are my prized possessions, bought after great mulling, surveying and consideration. So, you can imagine my horror when I returned from the hot tropical climate of Karachi with the melted, mangled corpse of my fabulous new, only twice-used, perfect red lipstick. Yes, the heat had broken it in two, allotting it the fate of many lipsticks before, lost in the same fashion.

Friends all around recommended two options: either use a lipbrush to pick up the color and apply to the lips or just buy a new one. Now, I’ll be honest – as much as I love spending hours in front of the mirror doing my makeup, I really don’t have the patience to use a lipbrush. Plus, does anyone really want to have to carry a brush and multiple tissues in their purse just for touchups? At the same time, I really had no interest in spending another $16 on the same lipstick.

For those of you that have suffered multiple (or even single) broken lipsticks because you either live in warm climates or asserted strength you didn’t know you had, there is another option. Read the rest of this entry »

These days, I find myself more than a little upset with Mother Nature. Her indecisiveness as to whether or not she wishes it to be winter or summer is not only causing me difficulty in choosing outfits every morning, but it’s wreaking havoc on my skin and hair. My confused, irritated scalp is dry and itchy and as I scratch at it relentlessly, it has begun to flake. Furthermore, my strands have turned dull and lifeless in the bewilderment of whether to produce oil or go into lockdown mode. I recently dragged my mother to our nearest ULTA store, where I spent twenty minutes contemplating which hair mask to spend $$$ on. Mom finally just leaned over and said, “Seriously, just put dahi (yogurt) in your hair.” When I inquired further, she informed me that when she was younger, everyone she knew would apply a plain yogurt mask to their hair, resulting in soft, silky, dandruff-free tresses.

Now, as a product of the eighties, I tend to doubt anything natural. My first inclination was to tease my mother and say “ewwww, mom, like, we have companies to MAKE that stuff for us now.” A lot of magazines will also tell you there are no proven benefits to using natural ingredients versus manufactured products. But the truth is, the advice of our mothers and grandmothers do hold a lot of merit. They didn’t have the luxury of free Kérastase treatments and blowouts – their techniques evolved from generations before them and were based on traditional and Ayurvedic medicine and/or an innate understanding of the human anatomy. Upon researching the effectiveness/science behind using yogurt in one’s hair, I realized our mothers were really onto something. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com

When our skin starts acting up, our primal instinct is usually to run to the nearest department/drugstore and grab the first “miracle” product we can get our hands on. We use it for about a week and then move on to the next remedy. I’m guilty of the same thing myself – while spring cleaning my bathroom cupboard two days ago I threw away two economy sized trash bags bursting with almost full bottles of face wash, lotions and masks. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on useless products. It was only until a few years ago when I came across a remedy for rebellious skin that not only works but costs close to nothing – the Aspirin Mask.

Yes, aspirin. On your face. Aspirin is a BHA, or beta-hydroxy acid. BHA’s are used in most face washes and lotions that are created to prevent acne. Heard of salicylic acid? Yup, that’s a BHA. BHA’s are exfoliators that work by deeply cleaning your pores and helping prevent the formation of new spots on your face.

Aspirin masks are known to reduce redness and inflammation while brightening the complexion. Read the rest of this entry »