MAKE-UP REVIEW: Feathered Flick Eyeliner by Topshop

I came across this 'feathered flick' eyeliner style in a series of make-up tutorials by high street brand Topshop, which appealed to me because it's so simple and easy to do and yet has a dramatic and effective end result. It seems to involve a slightly messy 'feathery' strokes along the eyelids pointing upwards, and nude, shimmery lips to complete the look.

You can find this video and more at TopShop's make-up channel for more ideas and news. I'm not sure when I'll find the right occaison to try out something as dramatic as this, but it's still an interesting look and worth a try! Some of you may wish to try a toned-down version to suit your look, and perhaps something to mix with your eyeshadow. What do you think of the look?

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Green and Gold dress by Nilofer Shahid

I've seen this outfit floating about on the Internet a few times, and I love the sunny gold, cream and yellow mixed with the vibrant green and rainbow-coloured dupatta and 'chatta patti' (an style of work involving piecing material together - think quilting). And yep, it's another Nilofer Shahid outfit, which was exhibited in the Bridal Couture Week last November:

  Images belong to Irfan Sheikh Photography

I love the vibrant yet feminine colours of this piece, it's beautifully made and yet still looks like such a simply cut dress. It's a dress that reminds me of summer gardens and gorgeous golden regality. Here's another picture of the same dress (looking a bit like a peacock displaying it's tail), glittering with all the gold tailoring on the dress. What a lovely, glamorous outfit and what a lovely way to put such bright colours together.

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Romantic Blue Earrings from Anwar

Earrings are such a romantic gift, don't you think? One scene which will always stick out from that excellent film Anwar is when the film's namesake hero gives a pair of lovely blue earrings to the woman he's fallen in love in. And what lovely earrings they are,sparkling blue and silver and beautifully crafted to go with the lovely smile of the wearer. Anyone got any earrings like these?

All images owned by directors and producers of Anwar

IN MY WARDROBE: Deepika's 'Om Shanti Om' Hot Pink Dress

I have a dress in wardrobe from a few years back, which wasn't really copied from anything, but still reminds me a lot of the hot pink dress that Deepika wears in her debut movie, Om Shanti Om, as shown below:

I know there's not a lot of similarities,but my version of this dress was an long hot pink anarkali dress with diamante work and stone work along the neckline, under the bust (as an empire-waist style), along the cuffs of the sleeves and as a motif pattern all over the rest of the dress I think that the main thing about it that reminded me of Deepika's dress was the swishy flow of it and the glittering silvery parts, as well as the fitted chiffon sleeves (not to mention the colour!). Not much to go on I know, but I'm a geek like that (and I'm always looking for ways to convince myself that I'm so stylish that I'm actually a secret-walking-Bollywood-wardrobe). But judge for yourselves, here's some pictures below:

 

I think my favourite part of this dress if the long sleeves with fitted cuffs. The dress actually came as a short-sleeved outfit, but I prefer long sleeves with most of my outfits so I got the sleeves taken off and used them as cuffs for the end of the chiffon sleeves I got made. It's a really great trick for outfits with short-sleeves that you may want to change the look of, actually.Despite the fact that I'm not really a fan of pink (especially the commonly seen hot-pink which has been done to death), I actually do like this outfit, it's simple, it flows in a very flattering way, and this way, I get to pretend I'm Deepika ;)

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Bina Khan MUA

Bina Khan is a very successul make-up artist in the South Asian, known especially for her softer-look bridal make up looks. She is based in Karachi, Pakistan, but travels around a lot of London and America as well. At current, she is one of the biggest make up artists in Pakistan, with an impressive clientele and a beauty salon which also teaches beauty classes for those who want to learn how to do make up like Bina Khan. She currently has her own Facebook group and her own blog, and also writes for Pakistani magazine Newsline, giving her thoughts on make-up and useful tips. What I love about her make-up style is her subtle, blended look, and her very soft lips and smokey eyes signature look which she has become famous for. I love this look as this is something which suits many Asian women, rather than the caked-on-white-powder look with glaring red lipsticks of the old days. I also find that this toned down look has the effect of making the natural beauty of the wearer shine out more.

Here are just a few pictures of her work, both bridal make-up and party make up:

The ever gorgeous model Aamina Sheikh modelling for Bina Khan

  From Bina Khan's article on blending eyeshadow

Fashion designers Sana Safinaz get made over by Bina Khan

Bina's Brides:

All photographs in this post belong to Bina Khan

I'm sure you've guessed by now that I'm quite a big fan of Bina Khan's work and her style, it makes a nice change from the dramatic look I've seen on so many people! Some people have criticised that Bina Khan's look is a little repetitive and relies on the natural beauty look too much, a view which I can understand (because who sees themselves as being naturally beautiful?! apart from supermodels that is), but I think that people who choose to go to Bina Khan do so because they want this look, and because they feel more comfortable with a lighter amount of make up which doesn't change their face into looking like someone else. Personally I admit that I like Bina Khan's more dramatic look, the dark eyes and the dusky lipsticks, as these stand out more (and if you're paying a lot of money you want it to look like you have make-up on!), but I think that Bina Khan is a great artist, and most people who see her for both party and bridal make-up seem very happy with what they get :)

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Sequined Khusay from Unze

I LOVE love love wearing khusay (otherwise known as 'indian slippers') they're easy to run around in, look suitably traditional for my tastes, and can easily be matched for an outfit, especially if you don't want to dress up too much (although it takes a while to get used to wearing very flat shoes, and its confusing having shoes which don't have a left or right!). Combine this with my latest phase, sequins, and here are some khusay slippers which I couldn't resist buying from Unze, a well-know khusay brand (although it also does sandals, slipper and court shoes). There were several colours available, a range of colourful metallic colours, but I finally settled on a bronze and a black pair.

First up is the bronze coloured ones, which I was quite pleased with as it was a lovely rich colour and nice and shimmery without looking too flashy:

 

The second pair I purchased were these black ones, which were even more subtle than the bronze ones, and would be easy to wear with most of my clothes:

 

 All in all, I think these are great accessory for the summer and a very pretty way to jazz up an outfit. I like how sturdy and well made these slippers are as well compared to a lot of other ones you may find on the high street, and they were very, very reasonably priced! 

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Aishwarya's Black Dress in Taal

One of the most iconic dresses (out of many!) in Bollywood films and songs which will always stand out for me is Aishwariya's simple black dress in one of her earlier film, Taal. Amidst a colourful backdrop of dancers, lights and  a very traditional, homely dance hall, Aishwariya cuts a striking figure in her simple long black dress and churidar, and looks amazingly elegant. I also like the simple jewellery, the haath-phool and the simple earrings, which don't destract from Ash's beauty.

 

 All images belong to director & producer Subhash Ghai

With long dresses in today's trends, I think it is great when we look back at old videos from the last decade and see things that are still so wearable in today's fashion. And it looks so easy to dance in too!