Beauty Tips - Have you found your right shade?! ;-)

We all have a fair idea how important it is to apply an undetectable base on our skin if we want to carry a gorgeous face :) We always wonder if we have picked up the perfect hue that suits our skin tone ! Don't we? 

Here are few basic tips which helps you pick your perfect shade!

• Whenever you go to any departmental stores to pick a foundation, whichever shade you think is closer to your skin tone, try that applying a thin line of it on your cheek bones , blend it with your fingers on to your skin to check if that matches with both your neck and skin color on the face. You will know if that is your exact shade if it fades into your skin without much blending. Light is very important . Choosing the shades under the natural light helps to judge better though.

• Next but very important thing is the type of the skin you have. Dry skins would need a foundation with moisturizer in it that helps their skin looks hydrated. Oily skins would require foundation with loose powder, More like bare mineral powder that blends with the oily skin to make it look radiant the right way. 

• Time to consider the skin tone- Pale, Medium, Dark. I would ask people with pale rather very fair skin tone to stay away from the shades of pink as they tend to have some redness as part of their skin tone already. In order to neutralize that ruddiness check for the hues that is labeled beige or buff. Medium skinned people should look for light beige , classic ivory , olive or some tan colors with warm undertones. Asian skin fall under this middle of the skin tone spectrum where skin has lotsa yellow in it. Dark skin people in order to avoid a gray casting should go for tan, sable or chestnut shades to look classic

Check the link below to experiment with the shades before you go perplexed going to the store and deviate in unwanted isles :)

Divs Loves to play with shades

After you have found your perfect shade in any of your favorite brands you girls have to try this site below which helps you find your similar matches in various other brands and gives a list of various products which might interest you!

Divs Mantra to open the doors of colors

Now some basic application tips based on what kinda foundation you use-

• When you have a cream or liquid foundation best way to apply is to use your clean fingers which helps blending into your skin easily as the warmth of the skin melts the foundation fading it the right way into your skin

• when you use powder based foundation, cream to powder or a thicker liquid foundation use the the sponge to blend properly as it provides more coverage. Please note that you just tap to give an even finish and not rub it roughly on the skin.

• If you have foundation brush , that helps you give a velvety touch and glow to your skin. Its nothing but painting your face with it when you have liquid or cream foundation.

My personal favorites?? I have tried some but my personal favorites being Bare minerals and L'Oreal so far. I have heard a lot about MAC off late. Why not keep trying and feel fresh every day when we have so much to try after all and look gorgeous! What say?? What are you waiting for? ;-)

Nellikai tambli ( Gooseberry tambli)

Ingredients :

Nellikai/gooseberry/amla ( fresh or frozen ) -  2-3nos
Grated coconut - 2-3 tbs
Pepper - 5-6 nos
Ghee - 1tsp
Buttermilk - 1/2cup

For tempering :
Oil/ghee - 1tbs
Mustard - 1tsp
Majjige menasu( balaka) / red chili - 1no
Asafoetida - a pinch

1. Wash the berries and deseed them.
2. Fry pepper with little ghee.
3. Grind berries, fried pepper and coconut to a fine paste.
4. Mix it with well whisked buttermilk and add salt to taste.
5.  Add tempering to this and enjoy it with rice.

Prepare the tempering :
In a small pan heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. After mustard seeds splutter, add   ' majjige menasu '  which is cut into 2-3 pcs. Now add asafoetida .

First Day - On the Soil of USA

We all know each experiences of life small or big has many things to say, teach and learn. Although the saying "Experiences cannot be explained but it can only be experienced" holds good every time!

This is one such experience that happened when I first landed on the soil of a new country other than my motherland India. This experience was required for me to realize how much I loved my home town. Ever since after that my pride for India has always stood high at all times!

Our Flight landed at Newark airport-New Jersey, It was a cold February day(10th Feb 2007), typically looked like the day after a heavy snow storm. Snow flakes all around, cloudy, freezing cold for a girl like me who had been lived all 23 years of her life in a cozy city like Mysore in Karnataka where the temperature never dips down below 55 degrees fahrenheit. Added to that, I arrived soon after our wedding with my husband who was technically as new to me as the city was (tweaks of a typical arrange marriage which mostly everyone experiences) :) There was this mixed feelings which I experienced when I landed on the US soil. I was missing those familiar faces which I loved so much and never thought that I would one day fly away this far from them followed by the feeling of anticipation, apprehension, identity crisis which almost baffled me until I met Prasad in the airport (known acquaintance of my husband, happens to be our very good family friend now) who arrived to pick us and took us to their home (while listening to melodious kannada songs (Never dreamt I would have such a grin listening to my language #Respect) in their car which made me feel home right then) where we met his beautiful family (wife Hema, Kids and their parents). The way they embraced us with love is truly a memorable experience which gave me the kind of strength which was much needed at that time frame. It helped a lot in that cold depressive weather to have someone like them around on an unknown land. I remember not having a weather proof jacket or the right shoes for that kind of negative temperature and had to shop the very same night we landed. We spent 5 nights there at Prasad(s) and with much reluctance moved to our apartment to settle down for a year and found a sweet adobe to move to where we currently reside with a new addition to the family our adorable munchkin, our darling son :) Time flies... perhaps some first experiences of life can never be taken out of the memory rather it will always travel with you back in time to remind you of the true essences of life, our roots which pulls back to show us the face of truth and purpose of the living.

Happy B'day India

Hey dear Today is your B’day, you must be very excited, must have plans for b’day. Some millions of people are going to celebrate your birthday like they do every year  for past 67 years.

You are a lovely darling of us. You have given us an identity to stand with the crowd in the world. We all speak different languages, we eat different food, we worship different gods, ( some of us even don’t worship), but still you have bond us together. Actually we don’t have anything in common except the identity as your kids.

It is a sheer happiness moment whenever we see any of us walking on the roads here some thousand miles away from you, we can connect them easily, we can share your bond with them and starts talking , after talking for some time we manage to find something common in us, it may b language, food, religion, or city where we belongs to. This small encounters reminds us of you. The happiness in communicating in our mother tongue is just beyond words. We stay here like others but develop our familiar world inside the walls. After closing the doors we are in our land where we cherish our culture, ideals , religion, language everything close to our heart. My other brothers are spread over the world and happily they are spreading our culture, taking your pride on a new height.

Thanks dear ‘INDIA’ for giving us values, and teaching us peaceful coexistence. We are proud to call us Indians. Happy B’day India… We are far away from you but you are always close to our heart..

Food - Instant Tomato Thokku

Tomato thokku is a very simple and delicious South Indian delight that comes in very handy when we don’t have time to cook.
It is a perfect side dish for any kind of food, a delicious addition to your daily cooking.

Ingredients

5-6 Big fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp oil
5 medium sized green chilles (or adjust to taste)
a few curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
few pinches asafoetida powder, hing
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
salt to taste

Method 

Wash the tomatoes and pulverize in the blender along with green chilies.

Heat oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add the ground tomato. Add the salt and turmeric powder. Cook on a slow flame, stirring every so often, till the mixture thickens. The oil will start to seperate out from the tomato paste and the mixture will begin to resemble a pickle/jam consistency. Add the chilli powder, switch off the stove and leave to cool.