Easy Hairstyle Idea For Long Hair

This time around I was inspired by this picture below. Its from Jason Wu show at Fall/Winter 2010 and the side braid from Alexander Wang SS2010. At the Jason Wu Show, the model's hair was twined with a black elastic and then twisted into a chignon ! I stuck with just the twining part and used my hair instead of black elastic.

Best done on freshly washed hair so you have some volume on the head like the models did at the Alexander Wang show - a little messy , a lot of fun !

The hairstyle reminds me of all happy things - spring/ summer , a day out with the girls, sunflowers and yellow How To ?

If you have bangs, go ahead and set them - I do & did .
Brush your hair and pull all of it onto one side.
Now pull out two strips of hair from either sides of your hair bunch.
Cross the two strips over the your hair, twining as far as the hair extends.
Add a hair tie where it ends. That's it !

Speaking of braids and hair ties I found two new hair gadgets on Sephora's website.

Boys...Episode 3

Time for Boys - episode 3 ! Check this segment out on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Its starts 10 minutes into the show right after the first break - HILARIOUS ! Its the Handsome Men's Club. Lots of eye candy - Ben Affleck, Keith Urban, Taye Diggs, Sting, Patrick Dempsey and many more surprises !



You know who else should have been in the Handsome Men's Club - Jeff Bridges. He is one handsome man. Have you seen him in the 1974 movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot ? I couldn't stop thinking " He is SO CUTE". Tall , blonde, blue eyes, deep dimples and that smile ! I am so happy he won the Oscar for Crazy Heart - Crazy good movie ! And he can SING !

Love,
Indian Girl

Easy Simple Hairstyle - Pony Tail Out Of A Bun

I've been having great hair days thanks to this new HerCut shampoo + conditioner. And this is the time to play around ! I was inspired by actresses who twist a tiny strand of hair around their pony tails hiding the hair tie. Except for this hairstyle you drown the hair tie with half your hair.

*don't mind the pajamas and the unedited pictures from the phone. This is The Real IG

This is how I did it

Do a side part.
Divide your hair into two parts at the back.
Pull the hair on the right side into a low side ponytail.
Now comb over all the hair from the left side over the center onto the right and roll it tight.
Now twirl the rolled hair around the hair tie and tuck the end in with a bobby pin.

* I still cant do a pull up...but am willing to try...

* behind those doors are all the beauty goodies

* Brownie points if you can name the products...

That's it ! You have a cute round bun with a pony tail coming right out of it ! I think it looks cute and hardly takes five minutes !

Bobby pins bend, break and hardly keep my hair in place so I had to use a sturdy metal hair pin which is not really invisible. But so be it.

Simple aint it ! You willing to give it a try ?

Love,
Indian Girl

Its Our Two Years Anniversary Y'all !

Its our 2 years anniversary ...

You and Me....

Us....

I bet you didn't remember. Did you ?

Did you ?

Jokes apart you know what I wanna say - THANK YOU !
Nothing. Absolutely nothing would be possible without you.

Love you the most !
Indian Girl

In Other News ....

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know that the " In Other News ..." Section is preceded by an actual beauty / makeup post.

But that's missing today.

Its gone.

Poof...

Give me a minute while I stack up a few pillows , plant my face on them and scream till my voice gives up. Then may be another ten minutes to have a good cry.

Just when I thought this was the last of my sour fruit days, my camera went and died on me. Just like that !

What is my blog without my camera. My camera is the soul to my blog's body.
The chicken to my soup.
The base coat to my nail polish.
The water to my bottle.
The tea to my cup.
The cutting to my board.
The...

You get my drift, I suppose.

Now give me another 1000000000000 minutes so I can dig a hole , take a piece of toast & jam with me and crawl into it forever.

But I cant do that either. I had to go get a stupid sugar-free jam which is nothing but a bottle of sour fruit. I mean I cant even crawl into a hole in happiness.

But I am now. Toast or no toast.
So...

Goodbye forever,
IG

What Do You Do About Pimples ?

A few months back I wrote about My Anti Acne Regime . But this one on my nose was a tough cookie. It came into being a couple of weeks before Christmas and is only now slowly fading. I never mess with them by popping or puncturing. I just ignore its presence and don't even touch em...

The scar seems to be fading on its own.
But do you have any advice for me ?
Any products that has faded your scars in the past ?


Love,
Indian Girl

We Can Help Haiti Too

Hi Guys,

If you can please make a donation towards the relief efforts in Haiti. Anything we do will be helpful. If you know of any other charities involved in Haiti now, please leave information below in the comments section. Thank you.



Here are links to some establish organizations that are currently accepting donations

Yele Haiti - Donate Here

UNICEF - Donate Here

Red Cross - Donate Here

Doctors Without Borders - Donate Here

Lets have the people of Haiti in our prayers.

Love,
Indian Girl

Birthday

I'll take the rest of my day off to contemplate on my 26 years of living.

Or may be I'll just hang with my friends.

And eat.

Like a lot.

And contemplate on my 26 years of living.

Love,
Indian Girl

To A Wonderful New Year !

Indian Girl At Chickasaw National Park

This Christmas , a couple friends and I decided to drive up to Chickasaw National Park to spend our Christmas weekend there.

Little did we know a huge snow blizzard was on its way ...

After planning and unplanning several times we finally decided on Chickasaw because it was only a three hour drive from TX. This was important just in case the weather didn't permit camping and we had to get back home. Driving 10 - 12 hours for a day trip did not make sense. And if we couldn't camp , there was no fun staying at motels.

So, Chickasaw it was !

We started at five AM on Christmas day on our drive to Oklahoma. The night before we had a snow storm of epic proportions - well for us it was epic.

The roads were bad.
Terrible actually.
Slippery, icy and freezing cold.

So we drove slowly...keeping our eyes OPEN and driving with all the concentration in the world because one wrong move and the car would slip and slide into the shoulder or guard rails.

The roads we drove on...

Once we crossed TX and entered OK, we realized the snow was even worse here. I'd lost count of the number of vehicles that had crashed , lost its grip, swiveled and hit the concrete rails, crashes. We didn't see any but apparently many people were stranded in their cars all night long. There was at least one car or truck at every mile on the side of the road.

Scary to say the least.
Few of the abandoned cars

Snow everywhere

Cattle chilling on their ranches

And we continued driving slowly. By now the sun was on its way up and the tireless cleaning crew were on the roads clearing the snow, adding saw dust , bettering the road conditions. Big Thank You to them.

The snow clearing crew hard at work

Finally we reached Chickasaw.

Our car also got stuck in the snow. A fifteen minute push, pull accelerate got us out. Needless to say we were the only people in Chickasaw that day other than the park workers. Even the administrative office was closed but we knew it would be.


Thanks to a park worker Frank , we got to know about the safe hiking trails, roads that were cleared, bridges to avoid and icy hazardous areas to avoid. I really liked Frank. He gave us clear instructions and didn't scare us about being over careful. He made sure we used the right trails, told us it would be beautiful and made sure we made the best out of our trip. We followed his words and started on out hiking trail.

I bundled myself in several several layers of thick sweatshirts, woolen hiking socks, hiking boots, couple of gloves and the Cold Killer Mask .I couldn't have done it without the mask - it really kills the cold. Keeps your head, ears, nose warm. Of course the mask also makes it hard to breathe but I took breaks removing it so I could breathe through my nose & mouth.

The trail was the most pure, pristine thing in the world. Fresh white snow everywhere. Bright sun shining over our heads making the snow glisten like tiny tiny diamonds. Deers running around, digging their deep hooves into the fresh snow, birds jumping making their own tiny, shallow feet marks and us the humans dragging our feet along the thick blanket taking in the wonders of nature.

This was our trail...a beautiful white blanket of snow

Deer foot prints on the fresh snow



We only completed half the trail because the sun was coming up , melting the snow. The trail was getting icy & slippery. So we decided to get back.

After hiking we reached the camp grounds - snow everywhere. We cleared a small area set up fire and make camp food - Sausages & chili.


This was without a doubt one of the best Christmas ever. I so look forward to visiting Chickasaw again this Spring. Will be fun to compare our snowy pictures with the warm green ones in the spring. If you are interested check out pictures from my trip to Big Bend National Park this past Summer here

Don't mess with the bison !
Naa...they seemed pretty docile. That doesn't mean you can mess with them.

Camping in summer is great but in winters, its more exciting and thrilling ! I wish we could have camped but the snowfall was too heavy and more was expected.

This is what I did this Christmas ! Hope your Christmas was warmer !


Love,
Indian Girl

Best Of 2009 - Beauty & Makeup Favorites

This is not an easy thing to do , at all ! So hard to tell what I love the most especially with lipsticks and eyeliners. After much thought, I put together a list of my most favorites products from this year. These are mostly products that I used the most, longed to wear everyday and ones that I look forward to using next year ! To me, they are THE BEST !

Go on and tell me - What Were Your Best Beauty Finds This Year !

Best Face Primer

SKINN Orchid Gel Mattifying Face Primer
Rock & Republic Tinted Face Primer

Best Foundation

Clinique Super Balanced Powder Makeup
Smashbox Healthy FX HD Foundation ( Its a brand new favorite. Will write about it soon)

Best Concealer

Julie Hewett Cream Concealer - Omit
Conceal FX by Cover FX

Best Eyeliner

Julie Hewett Too Good To Be True Eye Pencils
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Liner Pencils
Clinique Cream Shaper For Eyes
LORAC Front Of The Line Pro Liquid Eyeliner Pen

Best Eye Shadow

LORAC Starry-Eyed Baked Eye Shadow Trio in Starlet
Clinique Bamboo Pink Eye Shadow Quad
Julie Hewett Twilight Palette

Best Mascara

Max Factor 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumper Mascara
L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara

Best Eye Brow Fillers

Milani Easy Brow Automatic Pencil - Natural Taupe
Julie Hewett Eye Shadow - Vita

Best Blush

Cream : Julie Hewett Cheekie - Rosie, Clinique Blushwear Stick
Powder : Illamasqua Powder Blusher - Create, LORAC Baked Matte Satin Blush in Velvet Rope, Smashbox Fusion Blush - Regal

Best Highlighter

Estee Lauder Opulent Shimmer Powder

Best Bronzer

Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder
Illamasqua Bronzing Duo - Glint & Writhe

Best Makeup Brush

Smashbox Blush Brush #16

Best Lip liner

Urban Decay 24/7 Lip Liner - Wall Flower

Best Lipstick

Smashbox Photofinish Lipstick - Captivating, Exquisite
Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick - Baby Baby
Smashbox Double Take Lip Pencils
Lipstick Queen Chinatown Lip Pencils
Revlon Matte Lipsticks

Best Lip Gloss

Julie Hewett Lip Lush
Bobbi Brown Sheer Color Gloss

Best Moisturizer

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
Korres Materia Herba Moisturizing Cream
Kenzo Cream With A Sheen

Best Eye Cream

Biore Skin Preservation Fortifying Eye Cream
Kenzo Ice Cold Eye Cream

Best Cleanser

Korres Materia Herba Toning Cleansing Foam
Biore Skin preservation Even Smoother Microderm Exfoliator

Best Body Lotion

Jergens Sensitive Skin Relief Fragrance Free Daily Moisturizer

Love,
Indian Girl

Happy Weekend !

By GUESS. I want it. Love the flat chains. Christmas, Birthday - you pick.

Love,
Indian Girl

TEAM JACOB, y'all !

Finally I saw New Moon last night ! Yea yea yea Bella , Edward blah blah.

Lets talk Jacob.

Werewolves have never been this good lookin, have they ? Finger lickin delicious ! I got my paws all over him and have marked my territory.

I hope Part 3 is all about Jacob. Bella & Edward can be married off and living some where in the far off woods for all I care. I just recently saw a documentary on the wolves of Yellow stone and boy, are they a sight running in a pack !

But at 25 , it almost feels like a crime to be saying anything like this about a 17 year old. So, lets just pretend I'm 16, okay.

Jacob. Jacob. Jacob.

Who's side are you on ? Spill it.

Love,
Indian Girl

The Only Thing I Feel Like....

I have loads and loads and loads of stuff to share with y'all !

I must tell you about this new blush + bronzer duo that I am crazy about. I swear I went to bed last night excited I could wear it again and woke up this morning excited to finally be able to wear it.

But I'm not gonna talk about it now...

And then I must tell you about our partnership with HerCut which will give all of us a chance to get our burning Hairstyling questions answered by Kyan Douglas from Queer Eye.

Isn't that awesome !

But No I don't feel like writing about it, either.

Then there is list of hand creams to love / hate. News about a concealer designed with me - a medium skin tone brown girl in mind.

But nope - I don't feel like doing any of this.


All I wanna do is tell y'all about Wayne. Yeah I'm on first name basis with him.

As is the rest of the world but we're not talking about the world, are we.

Lets talk about Wayne.
6ft Tall.
Blond Hair
Green eyes

Like that isn't enough he is a brilliant makeup artist too ! If there is only one youtube guru I could follow for the rest of my beauty blogging life it would be him.

(I'd follow literally too, except I'd be called a stalker. And we don't ever wanna be called that.)

Wayne is a professional makeup artist who has just the most useful makeup tips. You cannot have a bad makeup day if you listen hard enough. And it is hard to listen when such a handsome man is talking. Not just talking but winking too....

Please subscribe to him. I pay more attention to him talking than I ever did to any professor at school. Except for the one who rode in on a Harley. But that's another story for another time.

And if you do follow him / subscribe to his videos or plan on commenting, do leave him a note saying - Indian Girl from An Indian's Makeup Blog sent me here.

Love,
Indian Girl

IG's Words Of Wisdom

Hiya !

Hey Guys !

Happy Monday !

Your girl here is having loads of internet and computer issues.
Hopefully the ATnT guys will have it fixed soon and I can tell ya all about The Avon U by Ungaro Color Collection and answer the question - Can Face Primers Be Used On / Around Your Eyes !

Until then tell me what song are you listening to right now. Anything that you've got playing on repeat mode ?

Love,
Indian Girl

5 Easy Steps To Shiny Soft Silky Hair (My)

After I put up a picture of my hair on a very good hair day, some of y'all wanted to know what I did to it. Because I feel really weird about a writing a post called - My Hair Care Routine; I called it 5 Easy Steps To Shiny Soft Silky Hair (My).

Its all good, coz God forbid somebody sees me on a super bad hair day , I don't want them going - "Uh-Oh I don't want no hair care routine tips from that !"

Before I start, I do wanna say that I have fairly easy hair to work with. There are no major issues - it is regularly well behaved and easy to handle. I don't mean that in a prude way. But just thought I'd mention because I don't wanna credit all the goodness to products. (Mom, Dad - yes I am proud of the hair - Thank you.)


This is all what I do and has worked well on moi.

STEP 1 : Pre - Condition

The night before I always ( well, mostly) apply coconut oil to my hair. I massage it into the scalp and then liberally spread it until every strand is dripping of coconut oil. And then I change my pillow case into an old ratty grey one and go to bed.

I read some where that American women are not very keen on pre conditioning treatments. No No women, they make all the difference. Take it from this professionally non-professional Indian Girl.

STEP 2 : Shampoo

The next day is shampoo time. Currently I am using Pantene. Pantene has worked well for me since I was teenager and I'm glad its cheap. Use required amount of shampoo , work it into good lather and wash it off. I don't let the shampoo stay on my hair for long. It dries hair out - any shampoo does this. So, its a short shampoo ritual.

STEP 3 : In Shower Condition

After shampoo its time for conditioning. I use what ever is available. Currently I am crushing on two products - both under $10. Will tell soon.

After washing the shampoo off, I gently squeeze out excess water from my hair - Very Important. If there is too much water the conditioner just gets washed down along with the dripping water.

Apply conditioner .

Use a wide tooth comb to spread it - Very Very Important.
I use a brush but it is NOT recommended. My hair is always more softer and less frizzy when I use a comb to spread the conditioner. Always.

I get best results when I let the conditioner stay on for at least five minutes because there is a lotta hair to condition.

STEP 4 : Warm Water Rinse

After 5 to 8 minutes of soaking my hair in conditioner, I rinse it off with warm water.

STEP 5 : Cold Water Rinse

After the warm water has removed all the conditioner off, I follow it up with a cold water / not so warm water rinse. Been doing this since I was 16 / 17 . I read in a women's magazine (that I was then not allowed to read) that its good to give the hair a final cold water rinse before you send it packing in a towel. And I've done it ever since.

I like doing the cold water rinse because it cools down the scalp and when I wrap it in towel, I don't have the hot steam coming drying my hair.

So, that's my five steps to shiny silky soft hair. Of course I don't always have shiny silky soft hair because :

a. I forget to take the brush into the shower
b. I get restless and wash the conditioner off in two minutes.
c. I assume its been long and wash the conditioner off in one minute.
d. I start taking care of the hair on my legs with shampoo on my hair - perfect recipe for dry hair.
e. Hair is in dry mode for no apparent reason.

Now gimme your tips for great hair ! We all wanna hear from you and wanna know more and more and more !

Happy Weekend !

Other Popular Hair Posts You'll Love :

The French Braid - Anything I can do, you can do better !

The Snake Braid - Do It Today !

The 30 Second Romantic Hairstyle - 30 seconds or your money back ! No Guarantee.

Love,
Indian Girl

Happy Thanksgiving !

Err.... We are on Mumbai Mirror !!

Guys !

They wrote an article on AIMB at Mumbai Mirror !! Mumbai Mirror is a Mumbai based daily newspaper.

Wow , right !!

They were kind enough not to mention my list of fears or put a picture of my acne spots. Its all good things ! Double Wow ! Read the article here

And...and...the article is in the website area of the tech section ! Oh I feel so brainy !

Thank you Mumbai Mirror ! Thank you Mihir Patkar ( the author of the article) !

Do we have any readers from Mumbai ?


Love,
Indian Girl

My Anti Acne Regime

One thing my momma taught me that I diligently follow is - Not to pick on pimples.

Not that I don't follow anything else she tells me. I do. I am a momma's girl. But this one I will follow forever or till acne is eradicated.

It grosses me out when I see youtube videos of people teaching how to squeeze out pimples. I get the yucky feeling in my teeth - like when somebody drags their long nails on a blackboard. Yikes ! But some people are great at it. May be. I am not.

This is my simple regime.

Start off by throwing out all the chocolates in your house.

Or in my case the sub standard semi sweet chocolate chips.

Wake up. Wash my face with an anti acne cleanser.
I used this - The Body Shop Tea Tree Cleanser .


Follow with Anti Acne Light Oil Free Moisturizer. This time I used The Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish fade Night Lotion. My other choice would be Clean & Clear.



If it was a much bigger pimple I would dab a little Anti Acne Serum on the monster.

At night I wash my face with water, pat dry and dab the Isomers Daily Control Serum on the affected areas. I avoid any heavy creams and moisturizers on my face. I do use an eye cream.

To me this serum is the real hero of my regime. The rest are all supporting characters. This one dries the pimple out, reduces the redness and any pain / irritation. I've been using this for over a year and a half . Real hero material, I tell ya !

Sometimes if my face feels really really dry and I badly need some moisture I use Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel on the unaffected areas. It is a light but very effective moisturizer.

Twice a week I used the LUSH Dark Angels as a face mask. It soaks up oil and sucks all gunk out. I'll write a review soon. In short - extreme cleaning.


No matter what I do, I do not pick on it because I bruise like a peach. Every thing leaves a mark on my skin. Instead I choose a routine and stick to it to 2 - 3 weeks till the monsters disappear. I am starting to believe in Tea Tree's anti acne properties. Anything natural, I am all for it. Especially if it works !

What is your killer anti acne regime ? Do share ! We all have different things that work for us !

Love,
Indian Girl
PS : It must be noted that mine is not chronic acne. I get a few pimples here and there. If you suffer form chronic acne, it is best to consult a dermatologist.