Friday 27 February 2015

Back With a Bang (Hopefully) :D

Asalaam O Alaikum people,
Hope you all been good.
It has been ages since I posted anything.The purpose for this blog was to focus on various aspects of beauty in our lives. It may be make-up, skin-care, nature, art or books. Beauty is not fixed in just one thing hence the name of my blog. I started off focusing just on the physical beauty aspect and began losing interest soon enough. Taking pictures etc.. is not really my strong point and neither do I use these things often enough to give a precise review on their lasting, finish etc.. since I rarely stick to the norm (not that I am successful in pulling that off either). Plus life happened. 

Anyways... Now I am back with my primary passion which is the beauty of books, the storytelling, the passion, the world-building, the magnificent characters and how they speak to us. There is something for everyone, hopefully. I will try to be regular, considering how lazy I am (yea yea.. I know), I will also try adding some beauty, nature and art bits too. 

The reviews will be mine and mine only. Entirely honest (I will be pulling my punches though... It is much easier to criticize badly when we are not the ones writing or making something and since I am trying my hand at writing, I know how tough and heartbreaking it can be when someone is harsh regardless of your feelings...)

If you like my style, you are welcome to stay, read and comment to tell me. I would love to hear from all of you.
p.s. Crazy that I am, I got two blogs by the same name and content.
https://unlikelybeautyblogger.blogspot.com
https://unlikelybeautyblogger.wordpress.com
Many reasons for that but the main is; for the time being Goodreads is only supporting Wordpress for auto review publishing and I got more followers here. On the other hand I love love love my template and interface on the blogspot and totally do not want to give it away. So up to you to follow whichever one you like or are comfortable with. I will be doing both for the time being and pulling my hair out at the same time (*facepalm*)

Book Review - Truth And Humility

Truth and Humility (Captive, #1)Truth and Humility by J.A. Dennam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love love love this book. Ms. Dennam has created such unique and vibrant characters that you cannot help but love-hate them. They all stand out on their own while perfectly complementing each other. Every one of them has flaws and qualities which makes them human and seem like they are based on real people and dynamics. They will speak to you and make you feel what they do. Making a movie of such fabulous characters would be a challenge, especially for the actors. Although I hate the author for the unexpected tragic twist, I understand where she was coming from and why the twist was needed. Get ready for heart-pounding adrenaline, sarcastic humor and for your heart to be broken. This is a definite keeper and not to be missed! I cannot wait to the next book in this series.


- To read the complete review, see more at: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Book...

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Thursday 22 November 2012

Sigma Beauty -- BLACK FRIDAY (free-shipping worldwide)


As-salaam O Alaikum girls,
How are you all doing today?
I was not sure if I should make these posts for the next couple of days especially considering the situation all over the world for Muslims but then I thought, it is human nature to want to hear and read good stuff too to get over the bad things otherwise everyone would be suffering from depression, so I thought why not.. :)
Great news for all the girls who have been wanting to try Sigma Beauty products. This year Sigma is offering free shipping; domestic and international, for 2 days.. Yes you read correctly.. 2 DAYS = 48hours!!!
To avail this opportunity all you have to do is enter the code BF2012 at the time of checkout. One thing I should mention here is that the monthly 10% discount code, which is there on right side of my blog, is not applicable with Black Friday free shipping, so keep that in mind while shopping. You can only use one code at a time. You will get the free gift though on purchase of $30 or more. The sale will start on 22nd November at 12AM (Central Standard Time) and end on 23rd November at 12AM (Central Standard Time), so please check your time-zones accordingly before placing the orders.
So what are you waiting for? Go splurge here.. ;)
As for me.. Am thinking about it since I recently splurged and I usually keep myself on a tight budget.. May be I will convince my hubby to order for me.. *evil grin*
Till next time..
Take care and have a great day.. :D

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Tuesday 30 October 2012

REVLON shade Sheer Peach


As-salaam O Alaikum all you beauties out there or just lurkers like me.. *winks*
For nail of the day post, today I want to show you a Revlon shade Sheer Peach. I got this shade totally by fluke. My mom had asked my aunt in UK for a Peachy shade (pretty shade which is pigmented). My aunt misunderstood and got this sheer one. Since my mom does not like sheer polishes, I took it. *wicked grin*
Now about the shade. This is a really really sheer shade. One coat will give a transparent look which slight shimmer and gloss if you look closely. The shade in the pictures is coming out to be very bad for some reason but otherwise it is a fresh shade perfect for manicure or people who like sheer polishes. The brush is again thin, similar to Sweet Touch's so it takes two-three swipes to cover the whole nail. I noticed that when I tried layering this shade, it became patchy looking giving a yellow patchy stain look though only if you look closely. From far it looks really nice but since my hands are usually in my line of vision, I do not like putting it on that much. Another reason, I do not really like completely sheer shades myself. LoL. Now on to the pictures. (Again, please excuse the quality of the pics. Most are taken at night though I did manage to get one nice one during the day time.
The pinky finger-nail has one coat while the rest of the nails have two coats.
Daytime


Daytime

As mentioned in the under the picture, I only put on one coat on my pinky finger. I did this so you can see the difference. Do you see the patchiness in others? Even after soo many pictures I could show the actual shade which looks better in real. If you guys like it, then go to the Revlon counter and swatch it first (though I do not know if this shade is still in the range). May be what did not do for me will work for you. :)
Well this is it for now. Let me know what you think of this NOTD. Would love to hear feedback from you guys.
Till next time.
Take care. :)

Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer


As-salaam O Alaikum girls!
How are you all doing today? How was the long weekend and Eid? Had loads of meaty food or just mingling with friends and family?
My first day was very tiring and next two days I was just sleeping. Wanted to do an EOTD but I forgot to take the pics when I got ready. I did take a couple when we were back at night but not as good as freshly done make-up. I just might post it. Lets see.
For today I would like to continue the review on Neutrogena Healthy Defense daily moisturizer which as I mentioned in my previous post, got it as a freebie with Neutrogena Wave during its promotion sales.
Have you guys ever used Neutrogena moisturizers? I had used one before and it was a huge disappointment. This was Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture which came in a bottle. I am posting the picture of the bottle and a swatch of the moisturizer.
Nope I did take this swatch on my hand. The reason being, all Neutrogena moisturizers have a strong smell. I do not know how to describe it. Something like baby powderish I guess. It stays all day long. The smell I get used to when it is one the face but hands is another matter. Anyways, this particular moisturizer did not suit me at all. It left me greasy everytime I put it on whether my skin is oily or dry (I have combination, extremely oily and greasy in summers while very dry in winters, same areas.) It felt heavy and honestly my face looked dirty whenever I put it on making blackheads visible etc. Due to this I was not very keen on trying the new moisturizer but then I thought why not give it a try. I am sooo glad I did. First take a look at the box, ingredients etc and then I will tell you my opinion (sorry about the picture quality.. usually I find time at night to do this stuff soo pictures are accordingly and I do not have a really good camera.)
Like the previous one, this moisturizer also has a strong smell to it but am willing to put up with it because it is really nice. I used it in summers and it hardly felt greasy. In fact it easily blended in leaving a satiny look. I usually just apply setting powder on my face to minimize sweaty oily look when in a hurry. It works great under foundations too. Making the foundation application easy. In winters it made my dry patches a little more patchy so I put on more then regular amount to moisturize them. It has spf 30 using Helioplex protection which is a plus especially for the summers. I found the following description of Helioplex on wikipedia:
Helioplex is a formulation of broad-spectrum ultraviolet (UVA and UVB) skin protection containing avobenzone and oxybenzone made by Neutrogena.
Avobenzone-containing products have decreasing efficiency after a few hours of sun exposure, but the addition of oxybenzone reduces the amount of degradation that occurs.[1]
Aveeno advertises its products using this formulation under a different name of "Active Photobarrier Complex."
Interesting huh? To read more about what it says on the box itself, try enlarging the picture. I tried my best to make it readable. A very small amount is enough for the whole face. If you put on a lot, yes it will make the face look greasy after a while.
Would I recommend it? Yes except for girls with very dry skin. Will I buy it again? Since I rarely go out in the sun so my tube is still half full but when I run out, yep I will definately buy it again unless something better comes along. ;) It is also non-comodogenic so it will be suitable for acne prone skin. Suited me at least. I think this is easily available in stores which carry Neutrogena brand.
If you have already used it or heard about it do let me know. I would love to hear from you all. It is getting a bit boring talking to myself. Don't you think? *winks*
Till my next post..
Take care!