Leopard Print Nails

If you come here often, you would know that I absolutely LOVE animals. If I were an animal, I would totally be a Leopard. Or a Panther.

If I were a dog I`d be a Beagle, well because they`re so excited in life! Or an  Afghan Hound, cos they`re so elegant :D and cos of their poker straight hair plus they`re tall. So more Afghan hound than beagle.

ANYWAY.

Similarly I love animal print, but leopard print in particular. Not such a fan of leopard print in any other colour (pink/blue) apart from the one nature gave them!

Since I love nail polish too ( i love a lot of things u see) I combined them :)

I got two KONAD nail stamping plates (along with its stamper and scrapper) at Nails & Beauty. They have a whole bunch of KONAD stuff. They dont have Cash On Delivery but you can give them a cheque once the guy delivers it. So its pretty convenient.

They have great customer service as well, as a matter of fact the owner responds to your mails almost immediately! 

Konad Image Plate M 57
It has a zebra print too! and LACE!

(Sorry for the reflection, thats not a part of the plate,its just my window)

The leopard print design I`ll be using.

So this is all that is required.

Left-Scrapper
Right-Stamp

& Image Plate

Whoever invented this method of nail art is quite the genius. I LOVE how simple and easy it is.

1. Paint over the design you want, preferably with a thick nail polish. If you use one that is new and runny, it wont stick very well.

2.The scrapper has a tiny little blade on the end, which I wish wasn't so tiny, but anyway. The design is engraved on the plate in such a way that when you go over it with a scrapper,the nail polish remains in the indented parts.

3. After you have cleared the excess nail polish with a scrapper, you are left with what you see in image 3. Now with the rubber stamp just press on it. 

4. The remaining nailpolish i.e the design will now be on ur stamp!

                                     

5. Now just take the stamp and press it over your nails!

 This is what you`ll have in the end, obviously wipe off the extra print with an ear bud.

 I like animal print in small doses. Thus havn`t gone all out and leopard printed (yup! its a verb now) ALL of my nails. Just one nail on each hand. I also like how random it is.

Each Image plate is Rs 175, and the scrapper +stamp together were Rs.140.The image plates are a little expensive for something that small, but you will get some use out of it.

The other image plate has a stencil that gives a crackle effect, which is pretty cool. Separate post on that!

VOV was having a sale on Fashion and You some time back, and I grabbed some nailpolishes. Since I really think India has a dearth of brands that sell good nail colours, I grab anything and everything in that department, any chance I get.

They say Quick Dry on them, but they also turned out to be matte. Which I dont mind AT all.
I used the gold one, on the far right as my base colour.

I am not being sponsered by Nails And Beauty btw. They should now though :) No they`re the only ones who supply these Konad plates here in India so I am pretty excited :)

 I think Urban Touch has some kits too, but you can actually choose from various imgae plates on Nails&Beauty.

ZARA has a similar bag

Minimal Animal Print.

I want this blazer SO bad, and they had a major reduction on it too. So I went to ZARA, all ready to buy it but I didnt see it anywhere. Maybe that`s a good thing, cos I dunno how many times I would wear it !

My other Leopard print stuff. 

Scarf-Some random shop. Really cheap sorts, I think 50 bucks.

Sandals-ZARA

Flats-ZARA

I am saving these for the winter!

If you were an animal-what would you be?

&

Do YOU like animal print?

 Btw, Cynthia & Mehak, you should try this :)

Sarojini Nagar Shopping 101

Since I have suddenly started frequenting Sarojini Nagar once again, I thought of doing a post on how I try to get the most out of it. As I have mentioned  BEFORE I really don`t remember why I actually STOPPED visiting that place. Its the desi version of a Forever 21 or Zara actually. Cos they have all the latest styles for  as cheap as you can bargain! 


Also I have observed that they have copies of the latest trend faster than they used to. And now that I have discovered proper shoe shops that are doing the same thing i.e selling on trend things, I dont think I am going to make the mistake of forgetting about Sarojini again!


I am just going to quickly explain how Sarojini Nagar works for the uninitiated! I think it`s safe to say that we all know that major clothing stores (high street ones) from H&M to Zara to Marks&Spencers to stores like NIKE outsource their products to the third world countries such as India, Bangladesh etc to make their products. This works out ridiculously cheap for these clothing giants as labor laws are very poor in these countries and minimum wage is disgustingly low. 
You want to know how RIDICULOUSLY cheap it is for these stores? Having visited a factory that churns out clothes for Marks and Spencers last summer I got a first hand experience. One top (t-shirt/camisole/ganji) costs MAX 70 rupees. And Marks and Spencers sells it at about 9 POUNDS.. So i`ll let you calculate the profit!

If these pieces, in anyway do not correspond to the design sheets that are handed out, they are rejected. These mistakes wont really matter,because they are minor for us, but major for companies that want ALL the pieces to look EXACTLY the same, and in a CERTAIN way. If there is even the slightest discrepancy they say no to it.


Now I am not really sure what the procedure for these rejects officially are, but I have heard some companies instruct the factories to burn them or discard them in such a way that they dont fall in the hands of the wrong people (i.e the Sarojini seller types)
The things being sold here are also surplus stuff, or maybe stuff that got left behind when it was being exported or came in too late.

Of course it being India, everyone is looking for a profit and to make easy money, so what if it is somewhat illegal.
From what I`ve heard from the grapevine (and it`s a REALLY strong grapevine) people buy these rejects on the basis of WEIGHT not the amount of pieces. That is how these sellers in places like janpath and sarojini make a profit, and we get a good bargain simultaneously. You may come across pieces where the tag is cut off and you can only see the edge of it. Thats done so that the factory cannot be traced back to.


Sarojini Nagar has something called 'fashion street' and a sprawling vegetable market. I hope you know which one we`re focusing on : )


So after that introduction, here`s how I like to shop at Sarojini so that I reap its full benefits! :)

• First of all, before leaving the house, carry an extra bag, apart from you usual handbag. I carry a jhola. When you are buying stuff from the open air shops, they will give you stuff in small not-so-sturdy bags. And assuming you are on a serious shopping spree you will collect these plastic bags quite fast.And so will the rest of the crowd around you. If you put everything you buy in one bag, which is YOURS, there is a lesser chance of you actually losing or misplacing one of the little bags or leaving it at some shop. Also it`s GREEN :)
  
• If you`ve been to Sarojini before you know it`s a downright maze. You can get lost pretty easily. That`s why I always start from the same spot, every time. This way I some what know my route and remember which shops I have liked previously and know where they are.
  
• Go in the daylight. You will see the true colours of the clothes. The market is not very nicely lit in the dark, and it`s not the same. Despite the crowd there, I somehow still don`t think its quite safe to go there when it`s dark. It has numerous alleys. So yeah. Daylight=Good
  
• Going there in the daytime has its downside though. Specially in these summer months the afternoon sun is crazy. But to tell you the truth,that has never stopped me. But just to be safe from getting that unwanted tan or the heatstroke, carry a hat or cover your head with a stole.

My mother is the one wearing a damlation over her head. Upon seeing my Masi, and remembering that she forgot to get something to save herself from DILLI KI GARMI she quickly bought the dalmation  for Rs.50

• If you are looking for something particular, always look everywhere for the best deal. Its happened to me so many times that I have bought something from one stall, I walk a bit further and I might find the same thing at a lesser price or maybe the second stall has more variety! If you are going to the shoe shops then definitely check out all of them before settling on something, as you can`t bargain in these ones and you should look for the best price!

• Ask the guy for Every colour he might have. This way you can have variety. As I mentioned above, the pieces being sold here are rejected ones. So there might be a problem in sizing. Always measure the sizes that the guy might show you, first against each of the other pieces then against yourself. I have bought t-shirts, that fit me like a glove but their tags says LARGE. So maybe thats why they get rejected. So ALWAYS CHECK SIZE. Don`t go by the tag.
  
• While you are checking for things, ALWAYS ALWAYS check for tears, loose buttons, missing buttons and stains. These clothes are transfered  from one place to another in big bundles and are bound to get damaged. If  a button is loose, you can probably buy it and get it fixed. But say no to ugly and big cuts and stains. It will be your call actually, whether its worth repairing or not. I have bought stuff like skirts and dresses which are slightly bigger and gotten them altered. But I stay clear of clothes that are cut, if you want to buy despite a cut, show it to the guy and ask for a discount immediately!
  
• Keep the fact that these clothes have been transported in really bad conditions. And have been stored in the dust and god knows how many people have touched them. WASH BEFORE WEARING!
  
• When I saw the Pink-Coral dress i wore for my conti, even though it was lust at first site, I wasnt sure I would ever wear it, and nor was my mother. My mother said"Idunno if you`d ever wear it, whats the point" I agreed and walked away. The guy fell for the truth and halved his price! So my mother yesterday used this again, this time as a bargaining trick and I bought another dress for 150/- HA!
  
• And in this heat remember to 

HYDRATE!!

but carry a bottle of water if you don`t think these things are safe :)

or have some deliciously pink cotton candy!!

I want those bow flats on the right! But for the winter!

I have saved the best for last. I have fallen in love.
With these beauties..!

I found these in the first shoe shop (no, thats not the name, I always forget to see the name, its not KINS nor is it Soft&Sleek, although these two have nice platform pumps as well)

They were for Rs.2095! And ohmygod they were so damn comfortable.
Alas! I did not buy them. What would I do with them? Where would I wear them? I AM 5 freaking 8 feet tall. After slipping these on, I was towering above everyone, and it`s safe to say the shop didn`t need a security camera anymore. I had a 'birds-eye-view'. I was a giraffe. I could go on...

Anyway, I`AM in love. I am going to have dreams about these. Their sheer velvety-ness. Their comfort.

:(

Please head on out and try them out. For my sake!

I think I won`t rest until I buy them! But I cant torture them, just kept in my room gathering dust. WhatToDo!?

Dilli Ki Garmi, the dlf parking building coming up in the left and the pretty clouds :)

There is a documentary I think the BBC made on these third world countries and the factories and how these clothing giants exploit them. I dont remember the name nor do I remember if it was in India. Or maybe it was in Mumbai? Not sure.

But the factory I went to, was in the NCR and it was very clean and had no child labour. Marks and Spencers have extremely strict guidelines and rules. If anything goes wrong, its their name and reputation that is on the line.

(I am saying this by my PURE experience, I am in NO way associated with Marks and Spencers, haha I WISH I WERE though!!)

Also at least I think that with the growing awareness and the growth of the medias influence, there would be very few clothing companies that would be indulging in these illegal ways, knowingly.
An interesting fact? Bangladesh is fast becoming the place for these clothing stores to go to for its cheaper than INDIA rates and much much worse labor laws.

I really hope I didn`t bore you.

If I did please feel free to tell me! 

Todays funnies have been brought to you by College Problems! 

Check it out, its ridonculously TRUE

The Perfect @ Home French Manicure

I really like a simple French manicure (not the Rani Mukherjee acrylic kinds!) but I am not going to go to a Salon  and pay them something like Rs.500 to do something I can do at home.

I have been doing my own French Manicure for a long time but the problem always comes with the white tip of course. I always did the white tip with the nail polish brush. But obviously they are much thicker than the line you want on your tip, and so its not very precise. Sometimes it ends up being really thick. All this just means doing the tip over and over again.




But this time I used a thin Paint Brush to do the job. 

Its a normal paintbrush that was lying around. Its No. 5

Because its much thinner you have a greater control over the line and you can also color in any mistakes.
Just dip a little less than half of the brush in the white nail polish and paint the tip. After you are done just wash off the brush with some nailpolish remover.

I used Colorbar exclusive 40 (two coats) as a base. It is a little more pinker than the usual base coat. Colorbar exclusive 37 for the tip.
(Both Rs. 150)

Do you like French Manicures?




From now on every post will have a funny picture at the end which is the result of endless hours of randoming on the intra web. Also I would like to spice things up a little bit, cos I am cool like that : )

Knots In My Hair

I randomly saw this picture somewhere and I instantly loved it! I soon figured out how to do it, and its so damn simple! It doesn`t show this nicely on jet black Indian hair but still its a nice detailed but messy little up do.


I tried doing this the day I had shampooed my hair and the silkiness works against this hairstyle. So I suggest you try this when there is some amount of buildup in your hair which provides some hold.

1. Dive your hair into two sections.
   
   
2. Tie a knot using the two sections. Just like you would with a rope or a string
   
   
3. Repeat. Tie another knot.
   
   
4. Done

I was surprised that it didn't open up. But it would be better to use some bobby pins from behind and some hair spray.

Actually I would suggest using hairspray once after you have parted your hair in two sections and then using it again once the two knots have been formed. It will provide a good amount of hold.

Don`t worry about sections sticking out, its supposed to be messy.

This hairstyle will work best on someone who doesn't have too many layers. Cos the layers ARE bound to stick out.