Elegant Eves: January 2015

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

Hey ladies, today’s review is going to be about a natural soap by the brand Puresense. You will get the brand information and the way to get their products in the “First Impressions” post I did here. So now I will just jump to the review!

As you all know from the first post that I had received a set of six sample soaps and I would be reviewing them one after another in the coming period. The first I chose to use is the Orange variant of it because I have always LOVED citrusy fragrances! Read on to find more:

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

Packaging: The soap is encased in cardboard packaging with colorful images on it. The soap also has a second layer of cling-wrap on it.

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

Ingredients: Please refer image

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

My take on the Puresense Orange Soap:

Like I said, I had received a set of six sample soaps from the brand and the first thing which caught my attention was the heavenly fragrance! All the soaps smell so good and the orange soap’s fragrance is very much like orange juice mixed with malai (milk cream)! I remember we used to have a delicacy called “Kheer-Komla” made my by granny during our childhood where she would thicken milk, sweeten it and then add orange pulp when it was bit cooler. The result was a sumptuous orange flavored Rabri kind of thing. Oh God! I sooooooo want it now! :’( Anyway, the reason I am mentioning this is that this particular soap smells similar to that heavenly concoction :D

The soap contains orange peels in it which can be seen in the body of the soap. I heard that natural substances like fruit peels get translucent in the soap bar during the process of soap-making. I do not know how much that is true, but if that’s the case then the soap DOES contain lots of them in it!

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

The soap lathers quite well and there is minimum drying of skin after shower. I am saying this even though I have insanely dry skin. But yes, you would definitely need a lotion after you are done with bathing.

I have been using this soap for the past week and there is no irritation or allergy. The mild smell lingers on till I apply my body lotion. My differently-smelling lotions counters the citrus fragrance of this immediately :’( sob sob! I guess using a body lotion with Orange fragrance would make the soap’s smell linger longer. (I actually read the words ‘Linger-longer’ three times like nursery rhymes before I realized what I was doing!)

Overall, this is indeed a good soap and they are priced below Rs.100 so you can actually give them a try without having to burn your pockets! J

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommendation: Puresense soaps are definitely worth trying.

Enjoy the pics!! J

Puresense by Soap Opera Orange soap

With Love,

Aparajita

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Swatches of MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Hello beauties!!

I am facing a sudden phase of “I-hate-laptop-screen”. Needless to say, blogging is suffering a lot due to this L I am posting by fits and starts. Sigh! Anyway, let’s get on with this post which by the way, I am finally posting it after two weeks of clicking pictures!! This is the first MAC product review I am doing on this blog J I don’t know why I keep on delaying reviewing MAC products!! Maybe because at the back of my mind I can never justify the exorbitant prices that follows the MAC stuff. So, did this product justify the huge price tag it comes with? Read on to find out

Swatches of MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Price: Rs. 1,700 for 50 ml

Shelf Life: 3 Years

Ingredients:

Swatches of MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

My experience: I have always been “no-foundation girl”. I absolutely hated the thought of slathering my face with heavy cakey stuff. Only when I entered the beauty blogging world, did I come to know about foundations with different finishes and textures. As I reached my early twenties I felt the need of at least a sheer layer of product over my face before went out. MAC Face and Body is one of the most well-known light foundations in the market and many professional makeup artists swear by it! So I thought of giving it a try too. But since I live in a place where there are no MAC stores I had to rely on online swatches before I bought it from a friend in a blog sale. This is something I would never suggest to anyone because unfortunately, the shade I selected for myself was a darker than what would have suited me L My face is predominantly yellow-toned and products with strong yellow tones brightens my face. This, sadly, is a neutral toned beige shade. Read on to find more about it:

Packaging: It comes packed in a black cardboard box and the foundation bottle is of plastic with nozzle tip. It is extremely travel- friendly.

Swatches of MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Texture: Totally unlike heavy foundations, this is watery. Almost like milk. It thickens slightly if refrigerated (Youtube beauty gurus claim that this is the best way to store it). Face and Body foundation glides like a dream on skin and doesn’t clog pores. In fact, it almost feels like an intensely moisturizing BB cream.

Shade: The shade C4 is a neutral toned beige shade which would suit anyone in the NC-40-42 shade of MAC shade chart. I am NC 35-37 and this makes me go ashy. It would have been perfect if it were a bit more yellowy. Bad luck! L

Swatches of MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Pigmentation: This product is just perfect for those with fairly good skin because of the light coverage it provides. It can definitely be layered for more coverage. For me, a single layer with a dusting of compact powder closes the deal :P Also, it makes the skin SHINE literally, and so oily or combination skinned girls should steer clear of this. This is a total savior for dry skinned girls like me. My skin really literally “drinks” the foundation up :D It is oh-so-perfect for my skin; I only wish it was the right shade L

Have a look at the swatches now. Notice that yellow tones are completely missing L

MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Staying Power: It stays almost the whole day with a dusting of powder over it on my face. The latest I have had this on was for 10 hours. Of course, the face starts looking a bit oily on the T-zone after about 6 hours but nothing that a slight touch-up of compact powder cannot fix J

Fragrance: Kesar-milk! :D yes!! It totally smells like saffron flavored milk!! Yummy <3

Here is the rate chart for your all for a quick summary:

Pigmentation: 5/10

Texture: 9/10

Staying power: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

I absolutely LOVE this foundation for the effect it gives without any “made-up” look. But the only disappointment is the price. I can never justify spending so much on something which gives exactly the same amount of coverage as a BB cream gives to me. It wins over the BB cream only the staying power and the range of shades provided to cover almost all complexions.

Recommendation: This is a beautiful lightweight and sheer foundation which can be worn daily by those who do not like cakey look that heavy foundation gives. But for the price point, there are cheaper options available in the Indian market as well.

Finally have a look at the ‘Before’ ‘After’ pictures. I am here with all my imperfections in full glory J Once you have finished noticing how dark it is making me look, please do check the GLOW it gives ^_^ Had this been the right shade, it would have suited me to the T

MAC Face and Body Foundation in shade C4

Enjoy the pics! :D

With Love,

Aparajita

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Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Hello beauties!! I am totally irregular in blogging and my full apologies for that L But I will try to be regular henceforth [Cough!! Cough!! ;)] Coming back to the review, I had been driving one of my closest blogger friend, Samannita Di crazy to find me a dupe of MAC All Fired Up lipstick which is a G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S reddish fuchsia and around that time I couldn’t even think in my wildest dream about spending 1k on a lipstick! (MAC is even pricier now! :-/ ) So, she was sweet enough to find me a cheaper dupe in Faces Canada and Oh BOY!! I am addicted to this lipstick now! Read on to find more J

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Product Description: Matte finish for the uber chic! A vivid color burst that lasts more than 8 hours. Enriched with vitamin E and anti-aging oxidants. Creamy texture gives smooth, water proof high coverage. Available in a wide range of swanky shades.

Price: Rs 599 for 2.5 gms

Packaging: Sleek frosted black plastic body and the lipstick bullet is thin and perfect for super thin lips like mine :D A sticker with the lipstick’s name is pasted on the bottom of the body.

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

My take: The following points will summarize what I Think of this particular lipstick.

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Shade: The shade is a true pink with strong red undertones. The red tone is not that prominent in pictures because every shade tends to get lighter when clicked, but in person, the shade is a gorgeous reddish-pink. There is something very “Bridal” to it ^_^

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Texture: Smooth, buttery and intense. The lipstick looks creamy when just applied (as seen in the swatches) but settles to a semi-matte finish after sometime.

Pigmentation: Intensely pigmented and completely opaque. It covers all lip pigmentation beautifully. The swatches are single swipes.

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Feel: Light on lips and doesn’t settle into lines.

Staying power: Stays for over 7 hours on my lips without meals and even with meals it doesn’t fade away totally.

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Ratings:

Pigmentation: 10/10

Texture: 10/10

Staying power: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Yes!! This is another 10/10 product on my blog! :D The only con I would say is that the availability can be an issue because it gets out of stock soon. And also, there is some transferring while having meals.

Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte Lipstick #Read My Lips

Recommendation: In a nutshell, Faces Canada Ultime Pro Long Wear Matte #Read My Lips Lipstick a wonderful Reddish-Pink lipstick which would suit all Indian beauties. It’s a must-have product in your bridal trousseau as well :D