Not all of us can manage to squeeze in a trip to the salon before each wedding we have to attend, which calls for investing in products that’ll make getting ready for the festive and wedding season {generally, too} a whole lot easier.
I’ve rounded up a list of products worth investing in for a fuss-free, long-lasting, and high-impact DIY glam-up routine.
A good primer can do wonders for your make-up. It basically does for your skin what a body shaper does for your figure; it smoothens, conceals, and hold things in place, so whatever you wear on top of it looks immediately better. You can even pick one with colour-correcting benefits to combat redness and dark circles. Just use a pea-sized amount and apply evenly all over face and neck.
#LBBPicks: L’oreal Base Magique, Benefit Porefessional, Make Up For Ever Step 1, Natio Ageless Illuminating Primer
A corrector looks like a concealer, except it comes in colours you probably never thought to use on your face—orange, green, yellow, etc. It’s meant to neutralize and hide the dark, under-eye circles in ways a concealer just can’t.
Peach {for fair} or orange {for dusky} works great for Indian skin tones. Apply on the under-eye area and tap with your ring finger to blend it out until you hardly see its true colour. Add on as you go along, if you feel the need.
#LBBPicks: NYX Conceal, Correct, Contour Palette, MAC Studio Finish Conceal & Correct Duo, Bobbi Brown Corrector, Make Up For Ever Corrector
There will be a lot of picture-taking this season. Instead of just a BB Cream, I suggest going for a foundation that gives you a flawless finish, especially under flashing lights. Make sure you have one that matches your skin tone. Keep your eyes out for keywords like ‘photo perfect’, ‘long wear’, or ‘HD’; these formulas will usually blend in with your skin more naturally.
#LBBPicks: L’oreal True Match Foundation, Revlon PhotoReady, MAC Pro Long Wear, Lancome Idole Ultra, Dior Skin Forever
Can there be a quicker way than eyeshadow crayons to get your eyeshadow on while ensuring pigmented colour delivery and long-lasting finish? I don’t think so. With these babies, you can literally colour your lids, rim your eyes with kajal and head out the door.
I love that it usually comes in colours that make a great base for a smokey eye.
#LBBPicks: Coloressence Pearl Effect Eye Shadow Pencil, Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Stick 24H Water Proof, NYX Full Throttle Shadow Stick, Ciaté London Skinny Shadow Sticks
If there’s one palette that’s hot this season, it has to be Nudes by Maybelline. In just one palette, you have the perfect shades to serve as your contour, eyebrow and eyeshadow powder {which also work great partnered with the eyeshadow crayons}.
#LBBPicks: Maybelline The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette, Maybelline The Blushed Nudes Eyeshadow Palette
It’s not really an Indian festive look without eyeliner. If you mostly do your make-up on your own, I hope you’ve ditched the pencil liner for a retractable liner by now. Retractable liners save you time on sharpening, and are completely fuss-free. Some even have a blender on the other end of the pencil, making it super easy to blend it out into a beautiful smokey eye.
#LBBPicks: Lakme Eyeconic, Loreal Kajal Magique, Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner, Benefit They’re Real Push Up Liner
No time to go to the salon to get your nails done? No problem. Just stock up on some of the beautiful colours from Nykaa’s Nail Enamel Collection for such emergencies. I’m obsessing over their recently released matte collection which is right on trend. With rich pigments, you only need a single coat of this to get its true colour if you’re rushing to head out the doo, and it dries quickly, too!
#LBBPicks: Nykaa Matte Nail Enamel
Once you get the hang of it, hair extensions are the perfect solution for bad hair days. I now have three different styles of hair extensions so I can quickly jazz up my look whenever I need to. My personal favourites are the clip-on Ariana Grande-ish ponytails.
#LBBPicks: BBlunt Clip on Hair Extensions, Luv-Li Professional Hair Extensions