Under eye concealers

One of my lovely readers (Ghazaleh) asked me about  under eye concealer, so this is for you dear and of course anyone  interested:

I do have under eye circles but they are not very dark, but when I am tired they go kind of more hallow. I went home and looked at my makeup drawer and separated all my concealers, so here they are. the first thing that comes in my mind is " what is wrong with me" and 2nd one is I have to use these stuff more.

1-Boi-ing- An industrial-strength concealer by Benefit; 2- Select Moisturecover by MAC;3-L'real True match;4-Forget it concealer by Biotherm;5-Radiant Glow by No7;6-Gentle cover concealer stick by physicians formula

Correcting and concealing this area is very easy and at the same time tricky, because you could end up with a natural look or a complete disaster. it is sort of like photoshopping your face.
In general  yellow or peachy tone concealers are good for dark circles under eye and get them in one shade lighter that your foundation ( sometimes 2 shade lighter for very dark circles).
Before applying your concealer ( or in general your makeup) you need to moisturize the under eye area ( and your face) this will help the concealer to blend well and prevent any "caking" effect.
There are 2 types of concealer, the ones that reflect the light which are good for areas that have shadows like under eyes or the area between your cheeks and nose.
The 2nd group are the opaque ones that are good for covering blemishes or redness in the face area.

How to conceal under eye:
If you look to the mirror your face slightly down you will see the exact position of under eye circle. now look straight to the mirror and apply the cream in areas that have shadow. the shape of under eye circle is different from person to person but in general you could start from your inner corner  and come down stopping before completing the half circle.

That's how I apply it; looks like this before blending of course ;)

To blend use a concealer brush or your fingers, slightly dab it on the area ( do not rub at all) and blend it with your face so there won't be any visible lines of concealer.

Concealer brush, but the best is to use your fingers 

The issue some people have with under eye area is that they kind of go hallow as well. so to fix that it is better to use silicone based concealer that contour the eye area and fills the fine lines as they conceals .
Tip: if your concealer does not have silicon in it you could set it with a powder like "PowderFlage by Benefit".

PowderFlage by Benefit

For the rest of the face after you applied your foundation take a small brush and put concealer on the areas that are red or you have scares or blemishes and blend it with your fingers. be careful with the shade you go or you will end up with big areas of discoloration which is much worse than redness.

Thoughts on my concealers:
My favorite would be Boi-ing by benefit, it covers and blends very well, it comes in 3 shades I have the medium one. but sometimes I don't have that much of dark circles but I want little bit of highlight under my eye; in those times I use "No7 radiant Glow"; it has medium coverage but very nice as illuminator.
I also liked the l'oreal true match but find the color that is best for you. it is a good one. I don't care that much for the rest shown in first picture.
If you live in a place that you have different cosmetic brands counters, go there and ask them about their concealers, definitely  try different brands and different colors before buying.


My everyday use:
I use Garnier Anti-Dark circle eye roller which is kind of 2-in-1 product every day. it is moisturizer with a little hint of color that  I think suits most skin types. I will talk about it in more details in a review post, soon.

So hope this was useful and let me know about your tips and comments :)
Mania

Date- Walnut cake

I was going through the book called " Williams-Sonoma CAKE" by Fran Gage and was looking at this recipe. the cake seems quite dense and due to its ingredients  it is quite filling too. so decided to make it for our trip to the cottage. looking at the page, I noticed I don't have all the materials so I made my own modifications to it, having no idea how it would turn out. but it was quite good actually and there is place to modify it like adding more date or if you like 1 tsp of coco powder.

This is a lovely book which I highly recommend to any cake lover like me!

Ingredients:
Pitted dates, roughly chopped:  1 cup
Walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped : 3/4 cup
Coconut shreds: 1 cup
Flour: 2 cup
Salt: just a pinch
Baking powder : 2 tsp
Cinnamon: 1 tsp
Eggs : 4
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Milk: 1/2 cup
Melted butter cooled to  room temperature : 1/2 cup

First turn your oven on to 375 F, oil up an loaf pan ( or any other shape pan). In bowl mix the dates, coconut shreds, walnuts, salts,  flour and baking powder and set aside; in another bowl  mix the eggs with sugars till they get to a  light yellow-ish color. add the milk and melted butter to the eggs mix slowly  for few seconds till you get a soft mixture. then add the rest of ingredients in the other bowl to the eggs batter. mix them all using a large spatula.

Put the batter in your pan and bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes. check before taking out that your stick comes out clean from the center of the cake ( you know how).
Take it out and let it cool down on a wire rack. after it is completely cool take form the pan and cut it as you wish.
This cake is quite easy, delicious and rich; perfect for winter times.
Enjoy!

Mania

Products I won't repurchase series- E3: NARS Sheer Matte Foundation

I was in a hunt for a new and good foundation. Being a  fan of NARS cosmetics I decided to try one of theirs; with research my choice was narrowed to Nars Sheer Glow.

Just a quick note that I have combination skin which I guess is the most common type, little oily on the T-zone and normal in the rest of the my face. 

I went to the NARS counter and the lady who worked there recommended me the Matte one and convinced me since I have combination skin, specially in the summer time, the sheer glow one will look too glow-ii and kind of oily and shinny so I would be better off with the Matte one. 

She tested on part of my face and it was ok, so I got it. 

Let me just describe the foundation in just one word: Garbage. it is so dry that I can not blend it, where ever I put, it dry like a stain and if I try too hard to blend it it starts to shred and comes off. and the worse part of it it does not have pump !so you have to figure out a system to take out the amount you need and not waste the product.

It was a really big disappointment to me since I paid about 55 $ for it. the bad part was that I throw out the packaging so I could n't return it either. 

So now what I do with it, I mix it with other foundation; since it has a nice yellow undertone to it, I use it as color corrector to my other foundations that lacks the undertone color. 

There are some good points to it which are ,having a nice color, being oil free and medium coverage. it  probably will work well with very oily skins which I don't have. 

In the final note I wanted to add that don't expect your foundation to cover everything or don't try that because you will end up with face covered with layers and layers of foundation. use it to get an even colored skin and then cover any blemishes or small spots with concealer. blend your foundation well to prevent any lines on the areas that you didn't put foundation.

So here is my take on this foundation, till next time :)

Mania

New year is here....

Hi my lovely readers,

Happy new year to all of you, may this year bring  more and new prosperity, love and happiness in your life.

I was  on vacation from Dec. 22 and just came back today. we went to a cottage close by to our city for a couple of days which was very very relaxing.

Here is me walking in the snow, enjoying the white and cold outdoors :)

Then we came back home and the next day we went to Toronto and stayed with our friends for couple of days. we also visited Niagara falls and Toronto city itself.

View of the Fall from top ( just half of it)

just a beautiful tree in Falls' Casino area

It turned out to be a great vacation, which I needed so bad. I read some good books, finished about 4 magazines;which I am subscribed and did not have time to read since November; did some shopping which is always fun.

Our friend had a party for new year where I met amazing new people. she made her signature cheeses cake, which I got her recipe and made my first cheese cake last year ( here is the link to her recipe)

I wish you all the best in 2011 and till the next post bye :)
Mania

YOGA series: E2- OHM

So here I am again, with the Yoga post series. this week I want to talk about OHM which is chanted in the beginning or at the end of Yoga classes (or both actually, seen all the 3 versions).

I am sure you all had affected by music at least once in your life. Music is a universal language and often it changes our mood. well OHM is a universal sound that brings us back to wholeness.

OHM symbol is a sacred syllable in Hinduism,  which I won't go into that, here. it is made up of three Sanskrit letters: aa, au and ma. 

There are so many different definitions and beliefs on this word. but I am personally aware and read about some.

One says that the vibration and movement that is caused in us by chanting OHM allows us to recognize the movement of whole universe( like setting and rising of the sun and moon, water in rivers and seas,and beating of our hearts). 

another one that I know is that OHM is an eternal sound that covers all in the past. present and future.  it is also believed that the sound of OHM covers all the sound in the whole world. 

Yeah there is a lot written about the ohm,  but easiest way to understand it is to actually do it.  

So close your eyes, in a quiet place and let your body relax and release your mind from your daily stuff. then take a full breath and slowly let the air out from your mouth with a sound of "Au" which will goes to the sound of "o" as you continue. about half way through of your exhalation, start to close your lips; by doing this the sound becomes as "mmmmm" naturally. by releasing the last part of your breath you could feel the vibration inside your . over the time the practice will be improved and you could feel the vibration all over your body and try to go deeper each time.
Hope you enjoy , Namaste!

* http://www.yogamovement.com 

Pineapple Torte

So this Saturday I was going through my recipes and looking for something exciting to bake, and I came across this one. I never made it before actually and  I gathered  notes of recipes a long long time ago! so have no idea where it is from.

Ingredients for the Cake:
Eggs: 7
Sugar: 7 tablespoon
Flour: 5 tablespoon
Ground walnuts: 10 tablespoon
Baking powder: 2 teaspoon

Preheat your oven to 350 F and cover the bottom of a  9 inch round pan with wax paper. separate the egg yolks and in a clean bowl mix the egg whites with sugar till stiff. add egs yolks one by one and mix in between. then add walnuts, flour and baking powder slowly till they are all mixed together. pour the batter in your pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes.

In meanwhile let's make the cream.

Ingredients for Cream:
Eggs :3
Corn starch: 2 tablespoon
Flour: 2 tablespoon
Sugar: 1 1/3 cup
Milk: 2 1/4 cup
Vanilla sugar: 6 teaspoon
Butter : 1 1/4 cup
Pineapple : sliced as much as you like

Put a sauce pan on the medium low-heat and heat the milk. mix eggs and sugar,add corn starch and flour and mix all with boiling milk. reduce the heat and mix the batter till the cream thickens. take off from heat and cool it down a little bit. cut butter to small cubes and add to the rest one by one and mix them well until nice and creamy.
Back to cake; now your cake in cooled down, cut from the middle. sprinkle the cake surface with pineapple juice. spread half the cream on the cake and cover it with completely with pineapple. then cover them with the rest of the cream. put the other half of the cake on top. you could use the same cream for the top of the cake or use white whipped cream.
cool down the cake for about an hour in a fridge and let the cream and pineapple taste absorbs to the cake ; then it is ready to serve. you could use any type of fruit you like ( pear, apricot, peach, you just name it).
Hope you try this and enjoy !

Mania

Spaghetti with Veal, Wine and Cream

One of my favorite food of all time is actually Pasta and any kind of meal from this family, but it had to be spacial. I am not a big fan of simple spaghetti and tomato sauce only. this is one the special ones for me. the inspiration comes from a recipe of " Tagliatelle with veal, wine and cream" from the book called "30 minutes meals, a commonsense guide". the original recipe used veal scaloppine cut in strips, white wine and at the end the sauce comes white . I made my own modifications to the recipe and had no idea how it would turn out at the end . but fortunately it  is was delicious, so hope you guys try it and enjoy it as well.  

Ingredients: 

( serves 4) 

Ground veal: 500 g

Chili powder: 2 teaspoon

Butter : 2 tablespoon 

Onion: 1 medium size sliced in long lean stripes 

Red wine: 1/2 cup

Tomato paste: 2 tablespoon

Salt: as much you like

Cooking cream: 2/3 cup

Spaghetti : 600g 

Italian Parsley : as much as you like

Green onion sliced and Parmesan cheese to garnish 

In frying pan add small amount of extra virgin olive oil with 1 tablespoon of butter ( the oil is to prevent the butter from burning). add the ground veal and chili powder and quickly fry till slightly browned. 

remove the veal from the pan or use another clean one, coat the pan with butter the same as before and add onion slices to the pan and stir till soft and golden. pour the tomato paste mix well and add the wine. cook rapidly to reduce the liquid. add salt, cream and parsley ,mix well for 1-2 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large sauce pan of boiling salted water till done. Drain well and keep it warm. serve the pasta with your meat sauce and garnish with green onion and Parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!