I was browsing through Facebook and had the idea for this post.

Undertone is one of the most important make-up secrets.  They can primarily be categorized as cool, warm and neutral.

• Cool undertone: (they are mostly pinkish/ redish or blueish) 
• Warm undertone: (they are yellowish or different shade of golden 
• Medium or Neutral undertone: they are a mix between cool and warm undertones ( it is kind of hard to explain but you will know it when you see on) for example, olive color!

(Image collected from net)

From the color of your concealer to the color of your lipstick, under tones can make or break it. Undertones are the reasons some foundation matches your skin perfectly while some don’t. You need to know your undertone to conceal your under eye perfectly. To cover the veins of your face and give you that flawless finish, you need a skin corrector as well as concealer, and again the skin corrector will depend on your undertone.

here are the reasons i shouldn't be buying any more make up

running out of space...needed to do some major organizing. so went to this cute little craft-shop called jhi jhi poka selling cute little organizers ( i already have a lot of their stuff so does my sister) and got myself a matching organizer.

and later i somehow ended up at almas and got myself another conditioner!!! but i am not sorry. This is TRESemme - Smooth and Silky Vitamin H and Silk Proteins Conditioner, which was the only i was looking for the other day when i bought the carring one. Anyway I usee too much conditioner as it is and they have long shell life so everything's cool.

Just look at these smashing reviews from Make Up Alley, and now tell me how could I not get one?

I also recived this from an online shop, body shop Dreams Unlimited Body Butter but this is my first and probably last body butter of this winter so totally justified :)

So how many times have you lovelies have been asked to do a protein treatment when you went to saloon to get your hair done or trimmed?

See I have fairly healthy hair (on of the upsides of no heat or processing) so they are like, "you have really nice hair you should do a protein treatment to keep it healthy". And then there were some other girl who had highlights on her hair so the saloon was like, "your hair might be damaged from color so you should do protein treatment" etc. Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against protein treatments per-say, but I just hate the  idea of how it is being used as a universal remedy of all-things-hair.

That is so not the case.

Protein can repair your hair. It can also damage your hair. So can moisture. Ever heard the phrase too much of anything is bad? Exactly. Now before I go into any details, lets get a few things straight. 

1. Hair treatments can be either a moisturizing treatment or a protein treatment.
2. Your hair can need protein, or moisturizer or both or none (if you have really really healthy hair) 
3. There is such thing called over moisturizing or too much protein and they will most certainly damage your hair. Here you wanted to do your hair some good and would end up making it only worse. 

So lets see what the damages are. If you have a fairly moisturized hair and still keep on moisturizing, it will feel lump and lifeless. It will stretch to infinity every time you comb or brush and in long turn will be prone to breakage.

If your hair already has enough protein and you keep getting those protein treatment, it will dry your hair out. It will become brittle and totally loose the healthy texture. You will experience frequent split ends on regular basis.

So you should always know if your hair needs moisture or protein and then take care of it accordingly. But, how would you know? Really simple. It is called a wet stretch test.

okay quick i am kind of busy with work so no time to explain which i suppose is a good thing becasuse honestly i cant justify buying any of these except for the Neutrogena Ultra sheer sunscreen (which is why i went to Almas on the first place...)

and certainly not another pair of shoes.

Remember when i started this blog becasue i needed an intervention? well its not working
seriously i will not buy anything i will not buy anything i will not buy anything for a whole week

Yet another idea I picked up from Make Up Alley! (Have I ever told you guys how awesome this website is?). Read about MUA’s take on Apple Cider Vinegar here.

Importance of using a toner: 

So I have oily skin and toner is a must. Even people with other skin types should also incorporate a toner in their daily skin care regime as well. Here is why.

1. Oily skin produces too much oil as it is. When you wash your face, it changes the ph balance of your skin thus leads to even more oil. The more you wash, the more oil it will produce. Sounds counter-productive, I know, but this is how it is. This is why toner is so important. It restores the ph balance of your skin, and the oil production will be back to normal again. It will be extremely helpful for people with oily skin who suffers from regular breakouts, acne, pimples etc.
2. Same principle applies for people with other skin types. Yes your skin may not get oily due to the change of ph balance but the ph balance changes nevertheless. And that can be dangerous for your skin. The more you age, the more hard it gets for your skin to restore the ph balance regularly. So if you are in your early 30s, start using a toner already! (link ) 
3. Disturbed ph level is one of the main reasons for fine lines and wrinkles. Use toner to avoid them and ensure healthier looking skin. 
4. When you are using a face wash/gel/cleansing milk/ soap to wash your face, it will leave a small amount of residue on your face. A toner will take care of these residues. So whatever your skin type is, if you are experiencing breakout, rash, redness after you wash your skin, try a toner. 
5. Toners play an important role in cell turnover process. 
6. It will help with the application of other product. Applying moisturizer or anything else after toner is way easier and will most definitely ensure better absorption. (link)

So now that you know the importance of using a toner, start using one. You can opt for any commercially produced toner. You can also make your own homemade do-it-yourself facial toner using apple cider vinegar.

I have already posted this in longhaircommunity, mostly due to the fact that it was them who convinced me to give it a try…First of all let me just start by saying, this is an 100% true story. I do not produce castor oil. I do not sell castor oil. I am in no way affiliated with castor oil….but I am baffled, telling ya’ll, I am baffled by castor oil. You all will be too, just wait. And use it.

I had been reading raves about castor oil since, forever. It has vitamin E (Link). It has other skin and hair benefits. (Link). It can help with dandruff (Link). It can repair damage (Link).  It can make hair grow at balding spots (Link). The good people in MakeUPAlley are even putting in on face and eyelashes (as well as here). (Link) It is known to make your hair grow faster (link)…if you are a regular at any hair care based community you know that they are always running some challenges. Go natural for 5 weeks, wear your hair down for 6 weeks, use honey for 8 weeks, use castor oil for 11 weeks. The last one was the challenge that I took, I mean I was skeptical about its having supposedly “growth super-power” but it’s a chemical free vegetable oil right so what is the worst thing could it do?

I have never been so wrong! In a good way! 

Look at my nails. Darn edges!

But I ran out of nail polish removers...so thought would make a quick stop to Orchard Point, a nearby mall, to pick one up.
This is what I ended up buying. Damn you, window shopping!

I needed an protein based conditioner, I mostly own moisturizing conditioners (I have low porosity hair so protein is not something my hair often needs), so yes Caring's Egg Protein Conditioner ( about tk550/ $8) was justified. I love Labellos, I got one a week ago but gave it to Ammu so needed one more. Face mask application brush, hair comb, eye brow pencil and ofcourse the nail polish removers were really cheap and doesn't count. However, I really DID NOT need yet another compact powder, but i just went ahead and got myself a L`oreal Infalliable(about tk600/$9) anyway!
The jwelleries were okay...i dont really buy them often. I have metal allergy,... i cant wear anything except gold for longer than 2-3 hour period without getting weird rash. But I really liked these. Specially this earrings.

Cost me about tk 380/ $5, nice, yes?
But wait...this isn't what the day was about it. So, Guess what? Its shoes. Two pair of amazing shoes. Just couldn't pass them on...

Aren't they pretty? Together they took about (tk1200/ $16)...now, wasn't that a great bargain? Justified? Hell Yeah :D

So, winter is coming…okay, I sound like Game of Throne. I miss Game of Throne.

Anyway so I decided I’d be doing a series of tips on how to take care of your skin/hair etc during this “kind of difficult” season. Let’s start with the very basic. Moisturizers.

Moisturizers for you:

Of course everyone uses moisturizers. Everyone should. Specially during the winter season. Now if you have extremely oily skin like mine, you may get away with no body moisturizing during summer ( I never need one) but for winter and all that follows, you will need to use a decent moisturizer.  If you have normal to dry skin, opt for oil based moisturizers. There are oil based lotions or body oils even body butter if you are looking for that level of protection. If you have oily skin, however, you can use a water based product if you want, though I’ll suggest you to give oil based products a try anyway, your skin might love them during winter.

Tip: Moisturize the right way:

But no, that was not my tip. My tip is (and it’s really a general knowledge but you will surprised to know how many people don’t really follow), always keep your favorite moisturize in your shower. In that way you can put some when your skin is still damp. Not dripping wet. Damp. Because by the time you step out of your shower and reach your dresser it will be too late.