Make-Up Storage

There was a time when little bags or plastic boxes were acceptable to store make up, but no. We can make it all look beautiful as it sits on our shelves or on our counters or dressing table. Even those who have built in storage in their vanity tables and dressing tables would love to have what I am about to show you. Ever since the beautiful Kim Kardashian showed them for only a second or two on her television show, the craze caught on. It's almost as if people believe that if you store your make-up like Kim, you can look like Kim. As many look-a-likes as there are, I know that I could never look as wonderful as her, but what did I do? I travelled about an hour and a half to Muji and bought these clear acrylic cubes to store my growing collection of make-up. Not even skin care, just make-up. I bought 4 drawer sets ( 1 x 3 drawers, 2 x 5 drawers and 1 x 2 drawers with the flap lid), 1 envelope holder which holds small palettes and 1 desk tidy for my brushes and some of my foundations.  I do love them a lot better than the plastic boxes I had, I have to admit.

I still had a lot of skin care, brush cleansers and nail stuff which I really had nowhere to put. I googled make-up storage again and came across this beautiful carousel on QVC for cosmetics. It is called the Tabletop Spinning Cosmetic Organizer by Lori Greiner. I instantly fell in love with it. I told a friend I wanted it and I got it as a birthday present. It now holds all my skin care, nail stuff, samples and cotton pads. Its very handy to have you can keep it in your bathroom or bedroom. There are many uses for this, not just make-up. I know its something everyone can enjoy. (http://www.qvc.com/Tabletop-Spinning-Cosmetic-Organizer-by-Lori-Greiner.product.H164200.html) 

Another idea would be to keep it all in a train case. It is easy to travel with and can easily be organised However, one it is full, you either will have to buy a bigger one or another one. You are limited on space.

I am still in the search for more innovative ways to store make up. When something awesome comes out. You all will be the first to know.

To buy? Definitely invest in the QVC carousel. You will find some use for it.

 Not to buy? If you have a Vanity or dressing table, it may have been completely irrelevant to you and I'm sure you have a better spread than me.

Click on the video below to watch my make-up collection and storage video.

ProActiv Solution

Unfortunately for me, I am a sucker for celebrity endorsements. I like knowing that I can use the same products as a celebrity. What I should have known is the amount of extra work that they put into their look and skin is something that an average person may not be able to accomplish. Thinks like a lot of sleep and 4 litres of water a day and of course the strict diet. This is something I tried and failed to do. As an Indian, I consume a lot of oily food such as fried food and curries. and luckily for me, before Proactiv, I only had an occasional breakout.

For quite a while, I had been lusting over the idea that ProActiv Solution can get rid of blemishes. I honestly thought it was too good to be true. I never suffered from acne, but the occasional break out was always annoying. Being a victim of stress on a day-to-day basis was making my skin break out with some of the toughest spots imaginable. Having combination/ oily skin was not a dream, but i would prefer it to dry skin.

While admiring the skin of people like Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Williams and even P.Diddy, I looked up a lot of reviews. Every where  I looked, I saw mixed reviews. 50% good and 50% bad. I was torn and decided that I wanted to try it. I some how came down to the conclusion where it didn’t work for people with dry skin but it did work for people with oily skin. So how would it work for combination skin? So my experience with ProActiv is simple. Here’s what happened. The first thing I did before ordering Proactiv was to get a moisturiser to use with it as the kit didn’t come with one. 

After that, I ordered it and I was really excited when I received it. I tried everything but the refining mask on the 1st day. After one day I saw the one spot I had vanish and I was really pleased. Within that week, I saw more spots popping out of my face on my cheeks, forehead and jaw. I kept using it thinking that the Proactiv would make it disappear. I kept checking the leaflet over and over again to make sure I was using it properly. I was following each direction properly and i know I did.  
 

After a month I watched a video on YouTube.

It confirmed that I was using ProActiv Solution properly and correctly, but I kept breaking out. My face was getting worse and worse. I had big wedding coming up. My cousin, who was close to me like a brother was getting married. And I wanted to look perfect. But my face wasn’t clearing up. I used the refining mask a lot but it didn’t do anything except dry my skin out. I was not happy, but I wanted it to work so bad that I just kept using it. After looking back on the wedding photos, I realised that I had to stop. Also, I was so thankful to Sheer Cover for doing such a great job in covering these ugly blemishes.

Once again, I turned to YouTube to see if there was anything I was doing wrong and I started to see more bad reviews. I saw a lot of people who were turning to products like Cetaphil to clear up what ProActiv caused. And obviously with me following the crowd, I bought Cetaphil. I never really used something that was not exfoliating. But I tried it for as little while and saw that I need to stick to this long term to get the benefits of Cetaphil. But then my mother said something wise. “Stop putting chemicals on your face. Start to go organic now.” First I thought, what can a bunch of fruits, nuts and vegetables do for my skin? I really wasn’t sure what to think.  

Once again YouTube came to the rescue. There is a man on there with his own channel called AcneErasingSecrets. David (The Skin King as he calls himself) did not recommend any product that I had been using in the last two months. He also suggested that going organic is the way. From that point on. I gave up on ProActiv and Cetaphil. And I have not looked back since.

To Buy: If you have major acne issues.
 Not To Buy: For an occasional breakout

 

05/04/2012

It is less than a year later and I now know why ProActiv did not work for me. I had a conversation on the Facebook with the man in the Video above names Taylor. He was kind enough to explain to me that ProActiv will not work unless you use the Green Tea Moisturiser by ProActiv. I am actually not willing to try it again with the the moisturiser for my own personal reasons. My skin still hasn't fully healed from a year ago. However, now I know how they make their money. 

To Buy... WITH THE GREEN TEA MOISTURISER

Check out my Videos on ProActiv Solution and my journey going through these products.