Dark night of the soul

In my previous blog “The Awakening” I talked about how my spiritual awakening started and how my whole life changed in couple of years. With each blog I’ll be taking you through a journey which you might be walking on currently without even realizing.

Awakening is your first stage which takes you on this incredible journey of self love & mastery in life. However as I stated in my previous blog, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna destroy you into pieces and build on the best version of yourself. So if you decided to take on this journey, then I am rooting for you here. On that note today I am gonna discuss about the second stage and i.e. is “The dark night of the soul”.

As the name suggests this stage is quite tough and we often find ourselves in between lot of darkness and pain. It begins after a significant event happening in your life. It could be a loss of a loved one, a breakup of a marriage or a long term partnership, or a diagnosis of a life threatening disease, an accident anything that crumbles your life and push you forward towards the unknown. The effect of anything breaking off your life would be very disturbing and would feel like a betrayal from the Universe. Not only you’ll be questioning the Universe but also, everything surrounding you at the moment.

You would feel that everything you had till now was a myth. Anything not serving in your growth would be cut off automatically. Toxic behaviors of friends & family would rise up. You’ll be noticing that once the people who really mattered, didn’t care anymore. Toxicity would surface around everywhere. The job you felt so secure in would start feeling like a burden, it’s like there is a void that needs to be fulfilled. You would wanna run away from everything. You would wanna start off everything all over again. It feels deep and dark.

It’s your soul that’s ready for growth and to be awaken to it’s full potential. Unlike depression here you question your existence, existence in this 3D world. “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?”, “What is the purpose of this life that I am living”, “Why everything that mattered once, has stopped giving me the joy?”, “Am I getting mad?”, “Why am I so helpless?” these are the few questions that would rise up time to time. Not only mentally it’ll be physically exhausting too. Disturbed sleep patterns, low apatite, once your comfort food won’t provide you that comfort anymore.

Not feeling good enough psychically and mentally are common while going through the dark night of the soul. If you’re exhausted and questioning your existence, then my friend you’re on the right track. Some people describes the Dark night of the soul as a spiritual crises. aka a spiritual depression or existential crises. It’s often confused as clinical depression and with good reason as it mimics all the symptoms of depression. Ummm but hey my friend don’t worry unlike mental depression this is a depression of your soul. Its a beginning of everything you ever wanted, your desires, the beginning of the summer of your life.

In simple words, it feels like a caterpillar getting ready in the cocoon to be the butterfly. So, don’t worry if it feels lonely right now. I am here to guide you on this journey, to make it little easier for you. In my next blog I’ll be talking about, how to deal with the “Dark night of the soul”. Until then keep hanging there cuz you’re on a ride. A ride towards being the best version of yourself!

Why “Toxic Positivity” is a harmful trend!

Alright!! Today I am gonna talk about something that I have dealt from time to time and I am sure a lot of us are dealing with it right now considering the circumstances that we are in today’s world.

“Good vibes only!”, “Fake it till you make it!”, “Don’t worry be happy!” are some of the most common phrases that we use in our day to day life. Not only we have created a façade around this positive mindset. Also, it has literally made everything so plastic. Grieve, pain, unhappiness, sorrow are just not synonyms, they are actual human emotions that we go through time to time.

Then why this fake ass toxicity around this half hearted happiness. In today’s world where we count money as the biggest happiness, I see people go insecure looking at each other’s perfect social media life. Honestly, I have done that too, there were times when I was breaking from inside with that smile on the face & sorrow in the eyes. Whom are we fooling at the end? I mean travelling in that Mercedes didn’t give me that happiness that I get now in my i10 when I drive it. That diamond ring on finger or those vacations in every 15 days couldn’t make me happy at all. But for the world it was all perfect. I had an amazing life, the Instagram was lit AF. All those “spread positivity” kind of captions on my pictures, ahhh!! I am ashamed.

Being a survivor of an "acute suicidal ideation disorder" as a teenager. I started noticing the same pattern in my behavior. Those panic attacks were swirling back into my life again. That's when I decided to not be the victim of this toxic positivity and get back onto the track again. Today I feel I have never been in such a peace but when I post anything on my social media people start assuming that I am going through some shit. But no, I now have the guts to express who I am. Today, I have the luxury of mental peace!

Today we all are stuck in the situation that we never thought that we would be in. People are dying, you cant meet or greet your loved ones, every family is going through some deep shit. Still I see on social media bright smiles & empty eyes. But nobody talks about it. Like if you share that you’re going through something, you’ll be boycotted or considered as needy!

But yeah one thing I must applaud, are the trends around mental health, suddenly everybody start jumping on the bandwagon and spread awareness about mental health. Legit, the people who doesn’t even have time to ask their own friends or family about their whereabouts when they need you in real life, becomes life coaches. Giving positive speeches & sharing information around positive mindset.

I am not here to spread negativity, all I want people to understand that this trend of “toxic positivity” is making us more helpless. People are ashamed of feeling their emotions nowadays. Cause they fear their friends would not like them or their parents wont understand. Or it would not look good on the gram.

Damn, can we please take off these fake masks and be real for once? You can lie to everybody in this world but what about that one person, who can’t sleep in the nights? Who gets panic or anxiety attacks when they’re alone? Who burst into tears time to time. And that person is “YOU”. You can betray anybody in this world but when you start betraying yourself that’s when you start losing yourself.

I really want the young generation to understand that being vulnerable is not being sissy. Instead, it’s a sign of being a strong individual. It takes guts to show emotions to the world. In the world where all we were taught was to suppress our emotions, coming out and being vulnerable is sign of a Braveheart. The help is available in every shape and form and I don’t wanna give lecture on that.

At the end all I wanna say is don’t be so artificial that you stop feeling your own emotions. End this toxic positivity trend and let people be real humans. Who laugh, love & cry too!

Ask for help if you’re are not feeling good. It’s not just about “good vibes only”, its about “feeling the vibes!”

This blog is an open discussion. Go ahead and share your opinion in the comment section below! Let’s learn and unlearn anything that’s toxic for our mental health.

Help is available!

Is “hookup culture” killing “love”?

Being a millennial we had a chance of witnessing both the eras, the before internet and a new age world. Wherein the humanity has never been so evolved in the history in terms of living standards however in terms of love, we’ve never been so depressed. Does this new age world has lost the significance of such a basic yet so important aspect of our lives? Is speed dating or as the gen Z says “casual dating/hookup culture” destroying the idea of love in today’s life?

Back in the days while growing up dating was something that took lot of efforts from both the parties involved. Just an eye contact with your beloved gave those butterflies in the stomach. Those compliments made us blush eye to eye. The excitement of first dates, and if you touched each other by a stance woahhh!! the emotions ran crazily down the spine. Those chills were magnificent. Ahh!! those were the days. I still get goosebumps imagining my first such encounter!! hehe

Being on the later side of the 20s, looking for something real solid in this today’s world has become a dream that I saw when I was a little girl. Honestly, I miss efforts, commitment and consistency. In today’s world where websites like tinder and bumble has become our go to sites to visit when we are looking for some fun, has killed the idea of romance. Trust me I am not here to complaint but damnnn, I am old school, what to do. So I decided to write this blog to express my views on this trend called “Speed dating/hookup culture”.

Availability of Hookup sites.

The new age romance does not only seems to be shallow moreover it has killed the whole vibe of being in love. The availability of these sites and sex being so easily available has killed the romance behind the sacred feeling of love. So, if you have a fight with your partner now, you wont wanna fix it instead you would login to these sites and avail your options as soon as possible. Or just for fun you would login there and meet random people and hook up. Cause hey, momentary pleasures has taken over the real feels.

Intolerance to emotional needs.

As conversations has turned into texting/phone calls wherein real emotions cant be seen or felt. Social media being an instant fix for mood swings, just visit your favorite app and forget about your worries. Anger turns into ghosting, not respecting other people’s time and emotions hence no confrontation whatsoever. We are in the era of likes and followers but we literally forgot how does it feels to hold a real conversations in this superficial world. Even if someone wants to talk about their real emotions, that person is called as “needy” or “an emotional wreak”. And, Yeahhhh!! Who likes to be around such people! it’s so not cool right!!

Constant need of validation.

Be it about looking for a perfect match or being the picture perfect in our selfies. The constant need of validation to be desirable has made this generation miss the basic point. You don’t need 10 people after you to feel desirable. One person who can love in you in million ways should be enough to be happy. I remember being in a coffee shop BC (Before Corona) times. Two young cheerful girls talking about how many men were texting them and how this Shreya girl had 4 guys for different purposes and how she felt like a queen. I mean c’mon you don’t multiple men & women to feel validated as a desirable human. The essence of desirability has lost its meaning.

Trend of friends with benefits

I would sound hypocrite if I say I wasn’t a part of this trend. Just like all of us even I availed these benefits time to time too. However after following this trend for a while I realized how shallow I started feeling after hooking up with someone over a period of time. How my garden of love felt dreadful after these half ass intimacy on the physical level. I started getting panic attacks, wherein for a while I felt desirable in the moment and later it gave me this uncanny feeling of remorse and disgust. Not only made me feel like an object, also I started doubting my own divine femininity. I still remember being in Bangalore and having a meltdown wherein I cried the whole night calling myself names. That was the time when I questioned my ways and realized this was not me. I was not enjoying this momentary feeling anymore and there was an urge to find something rock solid.

The Exchange of sexual energies brought more trauma in my body and life. The moment you share a physical intimacy with someone you not only share those body fluids, you exchange energies too. I started noticing the drainage of my own energies. That how unknowingly I was absorbing other people’s traumas and unhealed energies. Being an awakened soul I can very well differentiate between my own energies and other’s. This lead me to cut off this new age crap out of my programming and get back to my own truth.

Love is a scared feeling where two soul combine and grow together. This merge of two bodies & soul is not only sacred but also the most divine feeling a human can experience. If there is road block in the journey overcome it together, rather jumping off the cliff to get saved in someone else’s arms. Give each other time and space and figure out a solution. As they say sometimes you loose diamonds in search of stones. Everything that shimmers isn’t gold!

This blog is not to judge anyone on their personal choices. The people who know me would know that being judgmental is not my style. However, talking about the emotional trauma people are going through because of this hook culture is dangerous. There are still people of any age who still believes in love and commitments. However one bad experience crush them to the core and they develop emotional traumas around love. They start untrusting everything that has been taught to us about love. Which I find the really sad!!

I really can’t tell you what will work for you or not, cause hey! everybody is different and you know what works best for you. So I’ll leave this blog as an open discussion for everyone out there. Feel free to choose your side in the comment section below and enlighten me with your views. As for me there is always a room for learning!!

Signs you’re in a Toxic Relationship!

Let’s talk about something really common yet something we all make ourselves a part of it knowingly or unknowingly. Toxic relationships. What’s a toxic relationship and how do you recognize it? Cause at some point in our lives we all went through it and if I am writing about this topic then lemme tell you girl, I have been in one.

To be honest, no matter how easy it seems to be talking about it right now however when you are in one relationship like that you don’t even realize it. So here I come up with my guide to figure out if you’re in a toxic relationship and how to get out of it.

1. Understanding what is a “TOXIC RELATIONSHIP”

As the word define itself “Toxic” is poisonous. Now you’ll say that in your mind, “Ahhh!! I know the fucking meaning of it woman!!!” But what I wanna convey here is no matter how well we know the meaning in the dictionary sometimes understanding real shit, it takes time brother! Being in a toxic relationship will seem like you being in a perfect relationship from the outside but it breaks you from inside brick by brick. Something that makes you more aggravated than happy & content. So ask that question to yourself, “Are you REALLY happy in that relationship?”

2. The Red Flags!

Well, as they say to solve a problem you gotta know the problem. So in this point one will discover what exactly this fuss is about. Now we gonna talk about some of the red flags that you can use to recognize the misery you are in.

Every discussion turns out in a big fat fight. Well, it’s just not about fights its more about being so mean to each other that there is no reason but still you’re fighting.
You start humiliating each other infront of your close ones. Now this is not cool but we tend to do such things, as humans our rage emotion tends to fired up.
You start finding faults in each other’s existence. To be honest, it’s more like a fault in our stars. Ahh, jus kidding!
Both the partners starts lying about their whereabouts. Well honestly I personally hate this to the core. Say the fucking truth, I don’t understand this shit. Yes!! it will hurt but at least I wont be more hurt when I’ll know the truth. #smh
You start discussing your problems with others and not with your partner. What can be more harmful then this. As it’s a relationship not a party, that others gets the tea in between.
Physical & verbal abuse. My mum taught this when we were young. Taking or giving back the abuse to the abuser or the victim is not cool at all. The relationship gets over the day you start abusing each other in any form. I mean c’mon how can you abuse someone if you love them. That’s an absolute blunder.

3) Recognizing the signs, still can’t get out of the vicious circle.

Honestly, somewhere we all understand the basics of a broken relationship but we can’t get out of it. It happens, it took me years to understand how toxic we became for each other before taking the step to move on with our own soul journeys. But hey, you gotta take that step otherwise you’ll be stuck there forever and it will break you to the core. Not only you’ll start questioning this divine feeling of love but also the intention of any other human that’ll genuinely care for you. But my friend you gotta break the chain.

4) The Talk.

Now this is the most hardest part, cause you don’t wanna hurt the person you spent your years with. That one person who was there in your ups and downs. I get it! I get it! but it gotta end my friend. Otherwise you’ll make it so dirty that in future all you’ll be left with is the toxicity generated in your heart and soul. Sit with your partner and talk to them. Communicate your inner self infornt of them. No matter how hard it seems but trust the process. Remember that this is the same person with whom you discussed the world with. Don’t underestimate the power of confrontation.

5) The Breakthrough

So my friend if you reached to this point that means you are on the right path but let me warn you after all this chaos the real shit begins. A toxic relationship leaves you with this emptiness that will pinch you again to get back with the same person as you’re used to abuse. You gonna miss them, you’ll feel like talking to them and sort it out. Cause hey! It’s love at the end. That person mattered to you once and who’s prepared for this. However, this is the real test that you gotta go through. The real test to respect yourself enough to not go back in the same viscous cycle. There will be days when you’ll be extremely happy that you’re out of it, and there will be days when you wanna run back to the same person cause they felt familiar. Listen, if you cross this stage you’ll be much more happier in your life. Just trust the process mate!!

6) HEALING

Healing, as the name sounds so healing, it’s not at all. It feels like you’re burnt down to the core and you gotta rise back again like a phoenix. Unlearn everything and learn everything again. Facing all your daemons and punching them right in the face. Give time to yourself, meet yourself again. Find your hobbies, confined in your friends. Go out my friend you’re single again!!! HUNT!!!

7) Never stop believing in love!

Love is the most happening thing that Universe could bless us with. Surely it hurts, but the right one will come and give you exactly what you need. You don’t have to beg or explain love to this person. They’ll show you what it means.

Anybody can be toxic in a relationship that doesn’t mean that person is bad. It’s just the circumstances that makes it worst for us. Remember it takes two hands to clap. Don’t be a dickhead and just blame and shame your partner. Instead just forgive. Forgive them, forgive yourself and move on with your life. We all are toxic in someone’s story. Just like god is right now in this Corona times. People who are losing loved ones are cursing god and people are getting saved they are full of gratitude. So don’t be afraid to accept the reality and move the fuck off in your life!!

If this helped you! Don’t forget to share your stories with me.

Till than Happy Healing!!!

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Hear me out!!

Sitting in the room where I grew up, nothing seems normal as it was an year ago. Tears rolling down the cheeks, heart beating faster than usual. All we can hear is a loss of somebody’s life every moment. Suddenly everything seems to be burning down under the fire. Global Pandemic is a real deal as it seems now.

Talking to self has become a normal habit for everyone, now nobody can pinpoint on it. As we have isolated ourselves not only from the world but also from ourselves. The beliefs are shaken, it doesn’t seem to end, unless not everyone gets hurt by the haunted reality.

Father was paralyzed in 2021 and now going through a will issue too. Keeping myself positive is becoming a task everyday. He don’t want to live, but can that we humans decide? I wish we could. They say god decides everything in this world, so is it true that what’s happening is decided by the Universe? Are we just a mere props in this circus called life?

However it is, it’s beyond understanding of my mind. Feels like my mental health is taking a toll on myself now. Wanna say so much but don’t want to explain. And explain, explain to whom? Who’s not going through a turmoil right now. We all are dwelling in our traumas at the moment.

As in this time I am going through this, I am sure there are people like me who’s going through the same. May be our stories are different, but feelings are same. At least I have a platform to write down my thoughts and feelings. However I am sure there are people who must be shouting in their heads & hearts, so that someone can only listen to them.

I’ve decided to utilize this platform in order to get connected with as many people as I can. As, as humans all we need is someone to listen sometimes. If you’re going through tough times at the moment and want to get your stories published here so that we build a community to support each other. Also, use my Podcast “Lets Talk” to get connected to as real people as I can. I would feel obliged to be connected for the same.

Corona is not only affecting us psychically, it’s denting our mental health too. Let’s stand by each other and not let anybody feel alone.

You can send your stories at tj01041992@gmail.com where we will make sure your identity is kept anonymous if you want it to be. Let’s get connected humanity as this time shall pass too.

The lioness she’s become!

Singing it out and loud! Did you hear the howl?

The lioness that she’s become, was once a little girl trying to be just loved!

Her smile, the twinkle in her eyes, the lovely banter. It was all her trying to be in the center.

The world revolved around her life, was that a myth or it was something to be believed?

Once she was out there she didn’t care, little did she know she had to care.

The world out there is full of a mess, did you know she was just unaware.

One day she woke up and met a man! The man who made her believe that she was the wild princess to be handled.

She trusted him with her whole heart, the man took everything from her apart.

The hunger of love and acceptance made her weak, was she a princess or jus a meek?

She followed him on the path of love, with blindfolded eyes. He held her hand and left her in the corner.

The leap of faith she took on him, was that enough to be in the league?

Her smiles soon turned into sorrows, was it her or it was your own horror.

Soon the princess became a slave, her intuitions turned into blames.

She cried and cried. Why do I have to be always lied?

He made her believe that she needed him, was it love or just his narcissism?

The stabs on her back soon became unbearable! She could no longer be the part of this table.

She took a toll on her life again, she stood back up to end the game.

All these years the tears that become her weakness, she took the pledge to make them her power.

The girl no longer wanted to be vulnerable, she realised she is a lioness with no fear.

She bit him with all her pride, not to hurt but show him his side.

He could no longer go with the flow. The lioness was back, but this time with a glow.

She promised herself to stand again, to turn all the wounds on heart to be her lessons.

Now when she looks back again, the little girl was lost but the lioness rose!

Things I learnt in a month!

I always believe that you go to the places where the Universe takes you. The things and the lessons that are already written under your destiny file. Nothing happens for no reason, and without reason, you do nothing! I’ve been going to this fantastic place called “Wework” in Gurgaon for a month and so now. Met so many different people, different talents, different mindsets. I mean you name it, and you will get that energy wandering here and there, somewhere. But one thing is for sure it’s full of positive and magnificent people.

People with the same interests, people with something new to teach, something to share always and always ready to help. In a comfortable and trendy term “Networking”. It’s a fantastic place to do networking with like-minded people. People who are passionate about their passions, always ready to collaborate. It’s like if you have one thing in mind and wanna talk about it, you get the right amount of people to talk about it.

Coming here changed a lot of things in me and not only adapted, I learnt a lot of things. You can change thoughts, people, feelings but learning is something that keeps you going. Its a food for your soul. Just the way you came in this world without any information and knowing what the divine is putting you into. Similarly, it’s kinda been my experience here.

A young guy can tell you so much about life and explain to you something that you think is such a big problem, but for him, he laughs and just say it without any intention of healing you. But isn’t the same way, the Universe put things in front of us. Once things get done, we start to manifest what we were looking for.

Similarly, my journey here has made me realise so many things that I wouldn’t have thought that I’ll be learning. The motivation to get up every day and come to this place to do things that you wanna do. The things that keep you going. It’s like a bright shining light coming towards you to make it happen.

Motivation

Motivation on a gloomy day to wake up little early than the previous day. Motivation to write what you love. Motivation to put your next step towards your goal as everybody is motivating you to get forward with you or without you. Telling you your strengths and area which requires your attention. Smoking sessions with masala tea in hand, talking about life to utter nonsense. Everybody just forgets their worries and keep moving towards their goals, which they might just have set an hour ago. This freshness and candidness keep me motivated to move forward and gives me hope that in the end it’ll be done.

Inspiration

This world is made of things that you can get inspired off. Inspiration is a feeling that keeps us moving. Every corner of this place is full of inspiration, a person sitting next to you might own up a successful business, but you would not know until you talk. The people around are so down to earth that it inspires me to be like this. From a person cleaning the place to the people owning this place, everybody works with a smile on their faces. People with startups hustling and bustling are working in front of you. If you see something is getting created, you wanna know more about it and there the inspiration starts kicking off.

Gratitude

In this fast-moving and changing world of the new era, people often forget to pay their gratitude towards things that are due. But here people show gratitude towards the things you do. I am not saying that we should do things to get appreciation, but it’s the last thing that one can give to anybody. For example, Yoda! Yoda was a small pug that the community manager had to pet for his friend for a month and so, got so famous and everybody loved him. A dog show was organised just for him. A small thank you and goodbye to that cute little fur ball of energy. I mean when you see a small pug wanking his tail all around in the office, corridors you forget everything else and start playing with him. He made so many people smile, and people showed their gratitude towards him. Not only everybody was happy for him that he is going home, but it also made everybody sad that HE IS GOING HOME!

Confidence

I lack confidence, and I admit it, it is not visible on the exterior, but it definitely is there. Talking to new people by just out of nowhere was never my cup of tea. As inside my heart, I deal with the fear of rejection. Whether the other person will connect with my vibe or not. Whether they will understand where I am coming from. This fear often represents me as a shallow and rude personality. I’ve dealt with this pre-conceived notion since childhood. However, being here has boosted my confidence in a different manner. I meanwhile writing this blog only I made two new friends across the desk, I mean that’s what I like to believe. We talked about my blog, my work, their work, life, books, motivation, depression, any possible topic that I would not talk about in my first conversation. But hey, that’s how you understand that you connect with people. Right!

By the way, I got the motivation for writing this blog today because of the conversation that we had today with my new friends!

Positivity

After my college getting finished up in June, I had no idea what I am gonna do next. I mean the same dilemma that you get after you complete your studies. You know what you want! But you don’t know how to achieve it or how to move towards your goal and that extra energy that you have in your heart to conquer the world while studying starts giving you anxiety. The power that you can not channelise properly start taking a toll on you, leaving you with full of negativity. Meeting people here learning about their strains, their achievements sparks positivity in me too. The pavement towards my goal has started to be paving, leaving me positive about it. Sadly I won’t be continuing here from next month, but yeah that’s for a better future, eh!

I wanna write so much, I wanna talk so much about this place, but I don’t think that my words would be enough. On that note, I would end this blog talking about my experience at WeWork. A place I would always cherish in my life, a small part of my life journey but leaving a significant imprint on my heart.

Till then keep hustling and juggling guys! Life is all about it!

How to choose Nude lipsticks for Indian skin tones!

As I stated in my last blog, Nude Makeup Lookbook that nude is definitely the shade that’s here to stay. The year 2019 is all about wearing your attitude and rocking your confidence in style. On the one hand, all the big beauty moguls are coming up with the crazy and neon shades in the eyeshadows range for your eyes; however, the preferable look for the lips stays “Nude lips” only.

Well honestly that’s how it should be, if you want to flaunt the bold look on the eyes, you gotta keep the focus on the eyes only. That’s why everybody is rocking the nude lips with funky reds, blues and neons! Sounds simple right, but it’s not that simple ladies. Choosing the right nude colour lipstick is as tricky as choosing the right skin tone foundation.

As colours are made of different shades in the same way, lipsticks are made of different shades and undertones apart from the chemicals, well we aren’t talking about that today though! A lot of brands are coming up the nude lip colours, and Indian celebrities like Kareena or Alia are definitely nailing the lip colours in the advertisements. I mean at least these brands are now thinking about the Indian beauties. I am happy about that, but then, there comes the skin undertones difference in her and a lot of us. Despite being an Indian, the lipstick that looks bomb on Kareena washes out my face. But as I say, every skin tone is beautiful and different.

To understand better, here is your guide for choosing the perfect nude according to your skin tone!

FAIR & LIGHT SKIN

People with fair skin tone looks beautiful in the nudes with a pink undertone. As a brown undertone nudes will give a darker lip colour, and it makes the lipstick appear darker than needed. Which apparently will make your lip shade darker instead of the nude you thriving for. Pink undertone nudes will mix beautifully with your natural lip colour giving you the pouty nude you want. Below are some of the nude lip colours that you can rock!

Lakme 9 to 5 Weightless Matte Mousse Lip & Cheek Color – Blush Velvet

Nykaa MATTE-ilicious Crayon Lipstick Lacy Luck – 10

Faces Ultime Pro Longwear Matte Lipstick – Ultime-Lust-On

MEDIUM & OLIVE SKIN TONE

Mostly Indian skin tone is beautifully made with the warmer undertones, which is why we tend to fall under the “Medium or Olive skin tone” category worldwide. Nudes with yellow or orange undertone suit best for the olive & medium skin tone. As the yellow and orange would cut down the little unevenness and darkness of the lips that most of us “the Indians” deal with. It will neutralise the darker pigmentation of the lips and will give you a gorgeous nude look that you looking for. Some of the reasonable picks for medium & olive skin tone are mentioned below.

M.A.C Matte Lipstick – Mehr

Maybelline New York Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick – Barely Nude

Huda Beauty Liquid Matte Lipstick – Trendsetter

DARK & DUSKY SKIN TONE

The rule for my hawt and sexy dusky girls is to go darker with your lip colour. Nudes with red undertones work deliciously for coloured skinned girls. Chocolate brown nudes look sexy and give the oomph that you are looking for your nude lips. Just be sure not go with lighter shade as it will wash out your face. Below are some of the suggestion.

Nykaa So Matte Lipstick – Hot Shot Espresso 19 M

Lakme Absolute Argan Oil Lip Color – Buttery Caramel

Huda Beauty Demi Matte Cream Lipstick – Day Slayer

Tips for rocking your nude lips!

To rock a nude lip always make sure your lips are super moisturised. As these lipstick shades rely on natural hues of your skin colour.
For Indian skin tones, the nude lipsticks tend to wash out the face if not applied with a proper base.
You can apply concealer under your lipstick to pop out your nude. If you don’t want to conceal your lips directly, then prime your lips before applying concealer.
You can always wear the natural matte look with the nude, however by adding some lip gloss you can rock the nudes like a diva.
Nude lips compliment smokey eyes the best. Bold eyes and subtle lips never go out of fashion.

Remember whatever lip colour you wear, never forget to give the sexy pout!

Maybelline FitMe Liquid Foundation Review #FitMeAsIam

Alrighty! Alrighty! I raise my hand in the air and accept that I am guilty as charged for committing the crime of wearing the wrong shade of foundation! For a long time man! Way too long! Either it’s too dark, too light, or it used to get greyed out or just fade out!

Don’t act its only me ladies, we all have done this same mistake, especially us “The Indian beauties”. We are so diverse with our beautiful colour complexions, skin tones, undertones. But the bigger brands never understood the diversity of our skin tones. However, I am glad that now in 2019 Indian women are also getting the chance to enjoy the foundation that is matched not mismatched!

At least finally somebody on this earth understood the pain of mismatched foundation for us at a reasonable price for sure! Yes, I am talking about Maybelline’s FitMe Matte & Poreless Liquid Foundation. I know ladies we don’t get time every day to do full face glam, just like Kardashian’s do! I mean c’ mon how can someone has such lavish life man! I mean I love them but I don’t know for what reasons. Anyway, back to reality we don’t have that much time every day in the morning. But we love the extra glow, don’t we ladies!

The lightweight formula of Maybelline FitMe liquid foundation makes sure that you wear it like a queen in the morning and just go with your day like a boss. It’s a water based foundation with sheer buildable consistency. I love how it just blends in the skin and gives good coverage.

Why it’s a perfect match :

Maybelline has come up with 40 shades of liquid foundation for the women of all the colours around the world.
It’s lightweight.
Buildable coverage
Works for all the skin types.
Controls oil and gives a matte finish for good 6-7 hours.
Covers blemishes and skin unevenness.
Comes at affordable price.

I have taken up the Maybelline #FitMeAsIam #FitMeHalfFaceChallenge to show how it fits me as I am.

To show how the foundation works on my skin, I have done a half face challenge in which you can see I have just applied the foundation. No other product. To find your perfect match of the foundation all you need is, to swatch the foundation from your cheek to the neck. As due to our undertones the skin on the face looks different from the skin of your body.

The skin on your neck will help you in finding your shade perfectly. As I have a combination skin tone, the skin on my cheeks gives an illusion of a cool undertone. However, as most of us in India, I fall under the warm undertone category. The shade Classic Ivory 120 from Maybelline fits me perfect. It gets me an instant glow I am looking forward to without changing my skin colour.

It’s a user and pocket-friendly both. So grab your shade today and say #FitMeAsIam!

How to achieve even skin tone using colour correctors!

Being a makeup artist first thing people always ask is “What should I use to get rid of acne marks?” “How do I get an even skin tone?” “How to get rid of acne? For that matter. Well, I’ll be as honest and blunt as I can, and I don’t want to make any false promises or give wrong information out there.

Okay! So in eleven months of fashion and media course from Pearl Academy, we learnt a lot about skin, hair and makeup. But in any beauty or makeup school, you will not learn how to treat some skin problems. They will teach you about skin, for example, the types of surfaces, the kind of skin diseases, colour theories to cover up those marks with the help of makeup. But definitely not the treatments.

For that, some people invest their time and money in studying and get their Doctor’s degree in the skin speciality, and they are called “Dermatologists”. Just like somebody gets a heart attack, they go to a cardiologist not to some heartbreak healer to treat their heart issues, or if somebody gets a bone dislocated you don’t visit a gym trainer, you go to an orthopaedic. As a gym trainer can tell you a lot about bone structures but definitely can not do a fracture treatment. Similarly, the skin is the largest organ of our body. When you got issues with that, you need a dermatologist to treat that not a makeup artist. As everybody is different, so as the eating habits and skin issues.

I know my example skills literally sucks sometimes, but that’s what I mean to say, a beauty influencer or some makeup artist cant treat that acne issues or skin diseases for you. You need an expert to handle it. But yes, one thing we can definitely do is to let you know how to or what to use to hide your skin concerns.

I can’t fix your skin issues permanently, but I can definitely let you know what you can do to hide your imperfections with the help of makeup temporarily. So let’s get started with understanding the importance of colour correction in our makeup routine.

Colour corrector for ACNE: GREEN

As you can see in the above colour wheel green is the colour that has been mentioned as a complementary colour against red.

A green colour concealer will cut down the redness of the acne scars and the redness of the irritated skin. After moisturising the surface and applying the primer, use the green colour corrector on the desired areas followed by applying your foundation on top of it. Green colour will neutralise the redness of the skin, the acne scars as well as the blemishes too.

Colour corrector for Dark Circles and uneven skin tone: ORANGE

The under eye skin is generally more sensitive and thin other than our rest of the surface of our face. Hence, you would be able to figure out that it appears slightly blue in colour. Blue being the primary colour in the colour wheel, you would notice orange is the complementary colour on the colour wheel.

By applying orange colour concealer, it will cut down the blue tone of the dark circles, brightening the under eyes area. You can use an orange colour concealer to neutralise the dark pigmentation around your mouth and on the uneven skin tone on the T-zones of your face, followed by your foundation on top of it.

Colour corrector for the yellowness of the active acne and puffiness: PURPLE/LAVENDER

Though I would never suggest anybody to apply makeup on their skin if they are dealing with active acne as it will worsen the situation. However, if you are in a position where you can’t avoid it, then the Purple/Lavender is your colour.

Yellow being the primary colour, purple/lavender will neutralise the yellowness and the swollen skin here. Followed by applying your foundation on top of it.

Makeup is an art that you do on your face, a walking talking canvas for that matter. Just like an artist know his/her colour theories while painting, in the same way understanding the colour theory is essential for your makeup too. However, understanding your skin is equally important.

If you are going through any skin issues like acne, uneven pigmentation, the irritating redness then visit a dermatologist and get proper treatment. As I always say, every skin is different, everything reacts differently on different people.

Makeup is to enhance your features, not to give you a new face! And NOBODY is PERFECT!

Read about Face Primers here: Every Skin is different, so does “Face Primers” should be!