Dearest Readers,

We are currently working to bring you the new and improved Lipstick Masala site. As we make our transition, we ask that you please excuse our dust and continue to enjoy archived content as well as new material that is being added.

Love,

Lipstick Masala

We know we’ve been gone for a minute, but we promise – we have a great excuse! There is a new baby in the house and we’ve been turning all our attention to her little hands and toes. But, we’re back and we have some great articles lined up for you. We will also be responding to any outstanding comments and emails as soon as we can. Bear with us over the next few weeks as we work to further enhance the site for you, our lovely loyal readers. If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see, please send us an email or post a comment, we’d love to hear from you!

Love,

Lipstick Masala

Photo Credit: http://wowowow.com/

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If you’re wondering where we’ve disappeared to – don’t worry, we haven’t abandoned you! We’re away for the week, hard at work. Trust us, it’s not by choice – we’d much rather be here with all of you. We will be back in just a few days! Promise.

Photo Credit: all4myspace.com

Lipstick Masala has had the honor of passing 10,000 hits in just 3 weeks!

We would like to take a moment and thank all of you for reading our site and passing it on to your friends and co-workers. The more readers we have submitting their own tips, the greater the benefit to all of us! Please continue to spread the word: add us on Facebook (click here) and we are now also on Twitter (click here).

Thank you for all your support and encouragement!

Love,

Lipstick Masala

We at Lipstick Masala would like to take a moment to wish our partner-in-crime and muse for this site, SP, a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you in Hyde Park!

Photo Credit: allhotasia.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to write a quick note to say thank you for your support. We’re honestly overwhelmed by all the nice comments and messages we’ve gotten over the past few days! We’ve been getting hits from all over the world, even as far as Tokyo! So, thanks for telling all your friends, word-of-mouth really makes a difference!

Thank you to all those who have shared their favorite products, the community is growing slowly but surely, and soon we hope more ladies will feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts with each other. All comments are welcome, we encourage people to interact – this is a forum for everyone to learn from each other. Tip: If you would like to answer someone’s question or ask someone in particular for their opinion, then you can just hit the reply button under that person’s comment.

We’d love for you to add us on Facebook (Click here and become a fan) and help spread the word!

Photo Credit: flickr.com/asadnomani44

I was introduced to the phenomenon known as “Asian Radar” my freshman year of college. My roommate used the term to describe the way we zone in on and analyze other Desi girls we see at restaurants, bars, even walking down the street. We can be catty at times – we giggle a little when we spot someone colored orange from the wrong bronzer. Yet, at the same time, we secretly wonder the name of the nail polish she’s wearing and what product she uses in her hair to make it so shiny. We are both critical and also completely fascinated by each other. On numerous occasions we even try to reproduce a look we’ve seen on another Desi, often with tragic results. Foundation too light for our skin tone. Eyeliner smudged on our eyelids. You may cringe at the thought, but the sad truth is, we’ve all committed a beauty faux pas at one time or another. How many of us have looked at old pictures of ourselves and wondered, “WHAT WAS I THINKING?!” How many times do we wish someone could have shown us how to wear our eyeliner a certain way or had helped us choose the right shade of lipstick for our school/work event?

So, who do we turn to in order to find the answers to our beauty questions?

After speaking to many Desi ladies over the past few weeks, I have found one thing we all have in common. Frustration. Most of the magazines, ad campaigns and websites are directed toward Caucasian, African American, or East Asian women. So, what about us South Asians? Hello, people! Together, we make up over a fifth of the world’s population! Are we simply destined to aimlessly wander makeup counters hoping to magically find someone that will sell us the right product for our skin tone? Or are we meant to buy a product just because it looks breath-taking on the ravishing Aishwarya Rai? I don’t think so.

I created this forum so we can share our secrets on the products we love best with our Desi sisters. How much easier would it be if we could swap the tips and tricks that we have come to swear by that we know make us look good, with each other? Most of us have learned more of certain colors, hair products, and makeup application techniques from our friends or through disastrous trial and error rather than from magazines. It’s time we had a place to come together and exchange ideas. Maybe we can even save one of our own from the dreadful fashion errors we’ve subjected ourselves to in the past.

In order to demonstrate the importance of advice-sharing, and for the overall good of our Desi clan, let me share one of my not-so-great beauty moments. One year, I decided to go to the Prescriptives counter and have what they call a “custom blend” foundation made for myself. It seemed to look fine in person, so I proceeded to use it at my birthday celebration the following weekend. Nobody has seen those birthday pictures… until now.

The foundation that seemed to match my skin tone under normal lighting managed to look like I had rubbed chalk on my face under the flash of the camera. I share this with you ladies, as this seems to be a common problem among us Desi girls (if you don’t believe me, check out your friends’ pictures on Facebook).

I only wish someone had been around back then to tell me how important it is to take pictures of yourself before buying and committing to a new foundation.

Needless to say, I definitely did not make that mistake on my next birthday.

So, pass this blog on to every Desi girl you know, pull out your makeup kit and let the fun begin. We hope to have the message board (forum) up and running soon, where users will be able to interact with each other directly and ask each other anything beauty related. Let’s share the wealth ladies!