GIVEAWAY!

The lovely Crystal of Valentine Kisses is having a MAJOR giveaway on her birthday and that is INTERNATIONAL as well. Ladies you DO NOT want to miss out on it because believe me the products are to die for. So hop on to her blog, show her some love and enter in the giveaway. Who knows you might be in for a treat ;)

http://xoxovalentinekissesxoxo.blogspot.com/2013/04/valentine-kisses-birthday-giveaway-win.html

Guest blogging: A short story by Mansoor Iqbal

This is abit of a diversion from my usual posts but I liked this story and thought of sharing it with you guys with the consent of the author :) Hope you guys will like it as much as I did.

 So Why It Hit Me So Bad.

So Why Did It Hurt So Much

You see, that young, lanky, handsome, curious, happy and carefree dog could have been me. It might as well have had 2 legs instead of 4. It might as well have had a walkman hanging by his belt and the earphones in his ears. The heat of that afternoon in June hit us both the same way. He could have been coming from a date, just like I was going back to work and still smelling of my Love.

You see, I spent afternoons with her in our house. That the idea was hers made our meetings in the afternoons more like small celebrations rather than a mundane duty. Maybe that young dog too had someone with whom it spent his afternoons and was happy going back to whatever dogs do in the infamous Lahore hot afternoons.

In that 10 seconds before my car hit him, I saw him suddenly yet clearly. He was as clumsy as I was. I slip while climbing down hills, I trip over steps, but over the years I have gotten better at anticipating. At least so I thought, but that’s another story. He too was shaky with unsure steps. Busy, exploring. His eyes were full of expression, shifting wildly from side to side, up and down. The expression was, quite aptly: endearing.

The service road was wide on which I was driving. It has a huge water drain that separated the service road from the main Highway. I saw the head and the front feet jump over the 3 foot concrete side wall. One would think that urban dogs knew about traffic. But this road was new and so was the dog. He was able to balance itself for just a second before he fell, leaped, slid, all at once, on to the road. I knew I was going to hit him. I looked in the rear view mirror to make sure no cars were present. But there was one just about to overtake me from the right. With no choice left, I stepped on the brakes. His happy and content expression was what I remember the most. And the basic law of physics, momentum, came into play. It was going to carry him in front of danger. The car slowed down and hit him at 40 km/h.

That happy expression turned into a young boy’s pain. The car kept slowing down. The front left tyre missed crushing him. I heard his body bang and roll under the car. The sound made more terrible with his painful cries. My expression reflected his torture and my inadequacy to do anything. The car kept slowing down and before the rear tyre got to him, he was out on the same side. I had slowed. He had rolled and panicked under the car for less than 5 seconds, yet it felt like an hour.

You see, one second of pain can last an hour or a lifetime. One hour of pleasure is forgotten almost immediately.

I kept watching him from the rear view mirror. He was absolutely shook. Like a drunk, it walked itself next to the same side of the wall out of harm’s way, which was a smart thing to do. And then it just sat down. Almost fell down. His head was up though. There was no blood. It was licking itself and panting but I knew he would survive. I could see its head moving. His image receded in the mirror to a spot.

I never thought that my afternoons would end like that. I never thought my house would end. But the afternoons ended and the house ended.

You see, I too am sitting next to a wall, out of harm’s way and panting.

P.S: If anyone wants to do guest blogging, feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to provide you with some kind of platform. Cheers! xx

 

Jordana EasyShine Glossy Lipcolor in Sweet Strawberry

I am a sucker for glosses, and when it comes to bright colors, I start drooling all over, Im not really a nude shade person , brights are what define me as a person. I will be reviewing Jordana EasyShine Glossy Lipcolor in Sweet Strawberry today.

ABOUT

Jordana Cosmetics is a family-owned business headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For over 25 years, Jordana’s philosophy has been to offer every woman the chance to experience superior quality, fashion forward cosmetics at extremely affordable prices.

Jordana’s commitment to high-quality cosmetics has enabled the brand to have broad and global appeal. Jordana has captured the attention and loyalty of millions of women around the world.  Today, women of all ages, incomes and ethnicities enjoy the exciting and colorful line making women feel and look beautiful!

Jordana features modern packaging, advanced formulas and trendsetting-shade ranges. Most of our products are still proudly Made in USA.  These unique distinctions have earned Jordana unparalleled dedication, complete product satisfaction and the subsequent loyalty of consumers all over the world.

Jordana continues to be the leading brand of value priced cosmetics and after 25 years Jordana remains Beauty’s Best Buy!

REVIEW

This is a gorgeous bright red color with a very creamy texture. The consistency is pretty amazing considering the price and I love the fruity scent of it. It tastes like a combo of strawberries and cherries *yum*. The gloss easily lasts for around 3 hours which is pretty good considering I usually eat up my glosses :P it is not super shiny or sticky which is another plus. The packaging is handy though I could do away with the annoying cap, it always ends up ruining up the gloss while putting the cap on. Honestly I love this shade.

Pros

Pigmented and creamy

Fruity scent

Is not sticky

Lasts for 3 hrs

Cheap

Cons

Packaging could be better

Wont like it if you are not in to scented gloss

Wont like it if you are not a bright shade person

Rating: 4/5

NOTD: Medora of London nail enamel in 434

This poor thing had been lying in my closet since ages so i decided to put it out of its misery and do a nail post for a change. I will be reviewing Medora of London in 434 today. So lets see what its all about.

ABOUT

Medora of London (Pvt) Ltd. was established in 1961 and is today one of the leading cosmetic companies in Pakistan . It is committed to its objective of providing high quality products at affordable price.
With brands “Medora”, “Delycia” and “Diplomat” being one of the best sellers in their respective categories, Medora of London has become a household name today. The trust gained has been as a result of constant improvement in the products by our team of chemists who are continuously striving to meet the expectation of the consumers.
Having a network of more than 200 distributors, the company is able to serve its consumers all over Pakistan.

REVIEW

 

The shade that I have applied is 434 of 16ml, its a very girly pink colour with a very decent consistency. I applied double coats although the color is fairly well enough so that you can make do with one single coat as well. It mostly depends upon your personal preference of how much you want to build up the color. The nail enamel dries pretty quick, I applied on one hand and when I came back to re do my fingers, the enamel had dried. Pretty quick I must say. I had this on for two days and there was no chipping off either. The applicator is decent and there is no staining. The only thing that bothered me was the strong smell but that is only temporary so not much of a big deal. Lastly it is priced less than a dollar so its super cheap considering the quality of it. 

Pros

No chipping

Dries fast

No stain

Lareg variety to choose from

Easily available

Super cheap

Easy to remove

Cons

Strong smell

Rating: 4/5

 

Book Review: The Six Sacred Stones

I will be burning this book right after Im done writing this review. As long as I can remember, it never took me this long to finish any book but this one did it for me, I would open this book, read a page and then snap it shut because it required an intellectual level of a teaspoon for someone to have to actually comprehend what Matthew Reilly is trying to explain to his readers. SO much God Damned repetition of the same stuff,over and over and over again. Not to forget the absurdity of the nicknames that you will come across in this book for instance who names someone Pooh bear, Princess, Wizard, Huntsman. In a particular scene where these so called heroes are going o rescue Wizard, the only image that kept popping in my head was a bunch of puppies going to rescue a guy named Wizard who evidently cant perform magic to save his life. To top it off, exclamation like Wham, boom, blast, whiff, whoosh, what the hell am I reading, a comic strip? There are twins who instantly give u an impression of the Weasleys twins(Harry Potter reference). this book could have been finished in around 200 pages but I have to give it to Matthew Reilly, this guy has a talent, Oh yeah, how to unnecessary prolong a book. The hero who has been out of action since 18 months can be seen fleeing from life threatening situations without even a single scratch. I get it, its fiction but seriously What the hell am I reading? never thats all I have to say, never am I going to pick up anything with Matthew Reilly written on it. 

Rating: 1/5

My Top 10 movies of 2012- Part 2

5. Skyfall

I know a LOT of people hated this movie, but I really liked it. Now before you start rolling your eyes, let me just clarify why I liked this one. The fact that it actually showed us a more personal side of James Bond, a little insight into his past life before he became 007 really intrigued me. I loved the concept and it showed that even without all the fancy gadgets, Bond can still pull off some serious shit and save the day. Thats how I saw it, true there wasnt a LOT of action going on like in other Bond movies but at least it didnt follow the same old typical pattern of where he forms an alliance with a *bond* girl, kicks some ass and saves the day *yawn*. And of course I love the song by Adele too :p

4. The Avengers

This movie was so much fun, all the action and the excitement of seeing some of the greatest superheros getting together despite their differences to save the world, precious right :p My favorite character was Black widow, what a surprise that one. Love Scarlett Johanson , she is smoking hot and a great actress and she looks fabulous when she kicks some evil butts :p.

3. Django Unchained

 Quentin Tarantino has done it again, this guy is a genius. Loved loved loved Leonardo DiCaprio in it, he is so good at what he does. Too bad he keeps getting snubbed by the Academy, someone surely has a serious beef against him there. That being said, Leo might have given one of his bets performances in this movie after Blood Diamond. A western film which captures the adventurous story about a man named Django(Jamie Foxx) who teams up with Dr King Schultz( Christopher Waltz) to rescue his wife from a plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo Dicaprio). The movie shows about the level of brutality the black slaves had to endure before Civil War and how one man rises against the system to get back what he has lost. This movie has so much going on, from brilliant performances to some really great scenes, too over the top at some points, yes but that's Tarantino's trade mark. DO WATCH IT.

 

2. The Hobbit

Damn this was a tough one, being one of the biggest fans of Lord of the Rings trilogy (books and the movies) and The Hobbit too, I came this close to picking it as my number 1 movie of 2012 but then I didnt. You will find out why soon. I have been following The Hobbit ever since Peter Jackson announced on his face book page that he has gottne the rights of the movie, (yeah Im that crazy). So its safe to say that i was the first in line to see it when the movie released, I was a bi nervous seeing this , mind you, because I knew after having experienced LOTR, I couldnt help but miss all the other characters and if I would be able to like Bilbo as much as I loved Frodo. Well the good thing is I loved this movie, from the start I was gripped especially because of the 3D effects, wow, there were a few scenes which were just breathtaking. And I loved how Peter Jackson started a little touch of LOTR in the beginning of the movie *nostalgia*. Some ppl complained about the movie being too log but then Peter Jackson always makes sure not to leave out the tiny little details which make a movie great. I love the whole franchise and I cannot wait to see the second part which releases in December this year.

1. The Dark Knight Rises

Need I say more, umm I think the name says it all. The biggest movie of 2012 and what a masterpiece. Christopher Nolan has set the bar extremely high for any future filmmakers to take up this comic character and make a movie on him and come any close to this trilogy. Christian Bale, what an amazing actor, he owned the character, his flawless performance and his sultry looks *sigh*. This has been a pretty good year for Anne Hatheway, she gave Cat woman a new meaning, I had no idea she would be this good playing that role, i had my doubts but she was fabulous and lastly Michael Caine, I dont think Batman would be Batman without Alfred, he brought that balance in his life which his parents left. Lastly Tom Hardy as Bane, a lot of people kept comparing him to Heath Ledger, sheesh people, stop comparing the two villains, they dont have anything in common, This movie is worth every single penny, if u have to watch a movie, ANY movie, watch this one. Amazing special effects, and get ready to be blown away by the performances. 

Image Courtesy Google

FAV Looks from OSCARS 2013

I know Im not the only one who watches the much awaited Oscars just for the sake of finding out who takes the Academy home, Im as equally eager to find out who wore what. So this year wasnt any less glamorous as of the previous years. Here are some of my favorite looks from this year.

Ahhhhhhh how much I love Jennifer Anniston and her classy look, she keeps getting better and better with age.

Amanda looks absolutely gorgeous, I love this color on her.

     

Naomi Watts in her metallic attire , drop dead gorgeous.

 

All I gotta say is, Smokin Hot Charlize.

 

Last but not least Catherine Zeta Jones, looking like a goddess.

Some of the looks that didnt do anything for me

What was Anne Hathaway thinking O.o

Halle Berry has a body to die for, then why o why cover it up in something like this?

Getting really really bored of Adele's style, yes yes she is fabulous and all but enough with the black.

I dont know what was going through Jennifer's head when she decided to adorn this dress.

Really let down with this look, I was looking most forward to Jennifer Lawrence's look, not impressed. Have seen her in much better attires in BAFTAS and even other awards, didnt do much for me this time.
Which was your favorite look form OSCARS 2013?

Image Courtesy People.com