Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Nostalgia

From  Photographer Sharon Nayak .  Check out the rest of the images from this shoot via Behance.

TGIF!

Story of my life via lifeaccordingtocelia

Some links for your weekend, and what I will be surfing:

My daughter, upon seeing her pumpkin roasted: "Oh no! I was saving that for Christmas when I was going to cut triangles in it and a squiggly line!" Sorry darling, but your pumpkin is destined for greater things.

The Sari Ceremony:  the Indian version of a debutante's coming-out party.

I don't know about the wallpaper, but I really like these headboards.

Simple stationery with big impact.

Not sure what to wear for the upcoming Eid celebrations. I have my eyes on this, also, I need a new winter coat, and I'm really into this military jacket, or this one.  What do you think?

Also, cannot wait to watch this movie!

Tricks of the Trade: Lash Extensions

Eyelash Extensions being applied to a model.  Source Best of Beauty via NY Mag

Last week, I wrote a post about false lashes for your wedding make-up repertoire, and I thought it would a be a good idea to follow up with a word about eyelash extensions.  Like falsies, these are fake, sometimes made of synthetic materials, other times made of mink or human hair.  Unlike false lashes, however, you can't apply them yourself, and they don't come off at the end of the day. 

Lash extensions are made to stay on for about 2 to 3 weeks, falling off over time, as your natural lashes would.  They are an excellent option for desi brides, since we have more than one event, sometimes spanning over the course of a few weeks, or a couple of months, that we need to be dressed up for.  If you choose to go this route, you may even be able to keep them on for your honeymoon, which I think is a huge bonus.  They are a lot more natural-looking than false lashes, since they are applied individually by a trained aesthetician, who can make them as bold or as muted as you prefer.  There are several major brands, including Xtreme Lashes and Butterfly Lashes, and you can ask your makeup artist to direct you to a salon that offers this service. 

The downside to eyelash extensions is that they are costly and you can't wear mascara over them, except for water-based ones, which won't hold up to all the crying you may end up doing during your wedding.

Real Bride: Live Love Learn

I have a thing about tattoos, I've always wished I had the guts to get one, and I love a little bit of skin-art strategically placed.  So I think I chose my next bride based purely on this picture alone:

Ummmmmm...hello sexiness.  Throw in that pearl necklace around the bride's coif, and I knew this bride had style that I could not pass up the opportunity to showcase.  This, and all her other gorgeous moments were captured by international documentary photographer Radhika Chalasani.  You may have seen her were work on CNN where this picture of Anderson Cooper at the site of New Orleans disaster is featured at the beginning of his photomontage intro.  I also highly recommend reading her unique perspective on this wedding, plus checking out some additional pictures, via her blog post.

Did you see the shot of them leaving the mandap in a horse and carriage?  They are so beautifully framed by the heart-shape. And I am loving that bowtie the groom is wearing.  Sometimes in life, italics are called for. 

Radhika Chalasani is a new-york based photojournalist who takes on a limited number of wedding shoots each year. To view more of Radhika's wedding photography or to contact her, visit her blog and wedding photography website (she offers a wedding photography registry and gift certificates!) or to see a sampling of her photojournalistic work check out her portfolio.

The Zen Bride: Minding Reading and Getting What You Want

Somewhere along the way, I mistook my husband for a mind-reader.  I assumed that because he loved me, and wanted to share his life with me, he must know exactly what it would take to make me happy.  I suspect that I am not alone in this assumption.  I imagine that a lot of women feel that their husbands should know just what they need without us having to say it out loud.  Because asking for what you want might take the romance out if getting it, you know?

As time passes, and we don't get what we want, disappointment creeps in.  One day, we all (me included) turn around and say, but this is what I wanted, and you should have known. Of course, I am greeted with consternation and a little bit of incredulity.  Well, why didn't you just say so?

The truth is asking for what we want can be intimidating because it could lead to the revelation that our significant other can't or won't give us what we need.  No one wants to realize that the person they love doesn't fulfill their every desire.  It's inevitable that when two people make a life together, they will eventually come up against something where they will both want something different, and one person will have to acquiesce to the other.  It's easier to avoid that conflict by not being direct about what we want.  Strength in marriage comes from accepting we can't always have it our way, and if we want something, sometimes we just have to ask.

Source: The Neo Bride by J.J. Valaya via Vogue India

Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Bohemian Beauty

Source: Pinkvilla

Aishwarya Rai does Paris in this month's issue of Hi Blitz Mag.  for the rest of the scans from this shoot, check out pinkvilla, by clicking here.

Tricks of the Trade: False Lashes

Indian wedding trends increasingly are leaning towards the theatrical.  Think of the Bollywood style wedding videos produced by photographers like Film-Style Weddings.  In makeup too, tools customarily reserved for theatre and film and making their way into the mainstream wedding market.  False lashes, for example, were first introduced in the American film industry in the fifties, but these days, most brides are probably comfortable with the expectation that they will wear them to enhance their wedding day makeup.

What It Is
I'm actually a plain jane in real life, so when I walk into MAC it can be quite intimidating for me.  Although I love makeup and writing about it and applying it on others, my own repertoire is relatively simple.  I mean, I don't even own a mascara.  So no wonder I felt very intimidated to talk to one of the girls at MAC for info and advice for this article.  She was really helpful and sweet, though, and I went back a couple of times to ask more questions.

Made from animal fibres (mink or fox) or synthetic materials, better quality false lashes tend to be handmade.  Bigger makeup brands like Shu Uemera and Makeup Forever devote considerable resources to actually developing various styles of lashes to achieve different effects, but more on that later. The lashes are shaped and woven to a curved band, which you would attach to your natural lashline with an eyelash adhesive.

Types of False Lashes

Although there are lots of different variations on the basic false lash style, there are pretty much three basic shapes used to create varying effects.  They are:

The full-centre lashes: These make the eyes seem wider, more open, and give a lift to the whole face by drawing the eye centre and upward. These are the most dramatic, in my view.

The full-corner lashes:  These create a "cat-eye" effect, draw apart close-set eyes, and even out the whole face structure.  They also look kind of fluttery when you blink or laugh.

The "spikey" lashes:  These are made by attaching small bundles of lashes intermittently along the band, rather than consistently all the way across. The girl at M.A.C. told me these lashes are the most popular with brides cause they create a doll-like, pretty-girl look without being over the top.

All the lashes were very kindly modeled for me by my sister.  Aside from the lashes, she is wearing clear mascara and a little eyeshadow.

There are also individual lashes, but since they are mostly used to fill in sparse lashlines and don't have the dramatic effect that bridal makeup requires, I haven't included them.  I want to mention here that this post is not intended to be a review, all the lashes picture above are excellent, salon-quality lashes purchased from beauty and makeup supply stores.  I just wanted to demonstrate the different shapes, and I chose the ones store assistants pointed out as popular with brides. If you are looking for a review on which lash is best, you might want to try a different blog.

How to Apply (and Care For) False Lashes

1. Curl your natural lashes (mind you, some people say this should be last step, it's really what works for you)
2. If you are new at this, lay a mirror flat on the table in front of you to help you see what you're doing and apply liquid liner.  Allow to dry (again, some people do this step after they finish, I prefer to do it first because if I make a mistake, it's harder to correct with the lashes in).
3. Use tweezers to pull the lashes off the plastic and gently bend them with your fingers to soften the curve, place on your lashline to check the length. If they are too long, use scissors to trim the end (bit by bit!) until they fit your eyelid.
4. Apply a tiny bit of glue along the band line and wait till it dries and gets tacky, like a sticker.  Once the glue is dry, carefully lay the lashes down along the lash line and press to attach.
5. Apply mascara (I do this before putting on the lashes, but again, try both ways, since I've read both) and makeup.
6. Flutter those babies in his direction and make him melt!

To take them off, use tweezers and slowly(!) peel off the lashes, use an ear bud with some makeup remover to wipe the glue off them and place them back in their packaging so they retain their shape.  You can use them more than once, upto 15 times, if you take care of them well.

My Two Cents

Overall, I am not a huge fan of false lashes, I think they are uncomfortably dramatic for my personal style.  On the other hand, some people want or need a dramatic change for their wedding day.  For these brides, who maybe wear mascara daily, or have lashes that don't benefit from a few coats of mascara, false lashes are a great option. Another huge bonus of wearing false lashes is the illusion of a symetrical face structure, because they balance out the shape of the eyes and draw a clear line across which the eye (and camera) moves.

Bollywood Bride: Amrita Rao in Vivah - Part II

This is a continuation for a previous post, to see the first part, click here.

The movie was endorsed by diamond jewellers, D'damas, and I believe most of Amrita's Jewellery came from them. The locket she is wearing above, is a particular piece they kept focusing on in the story, as it was a gift from Prem (Shahid Kapoor) to Poonam (Amrita Rao). The style of the necklace if very western and contemporary, obviously aimed at introducing the Indian market to thinking about jewellery and diamonds in a different way.

This outfit is my fave from the movie, purely for the colours.  I saw a suit in these colours in Pakistan and I didn't

end up getting it cause the shopkeeper wouldn't give us a reasonable price (darn bargaining!), so to this day I

still have it on my brain.  In retrospect, I should have bought it. 

Good morning everyone.  Sorry for the delay in posting this.  I am really uncomfortable with two-part posts, and when I do write them, I try to get all the posts out in one day.  Unfortunately, I ran into some delays yesterday.  Anyways, back to the movie.   

This scene really reminded me of an old movie from the eighties or something, with the colour, lighting,

 and even Amrita's look.  She looks a little bit like a modern Madhuri to me in this picture.

Amrita's style in this movie is very consistent, which I always like, I hate when they go off on too many tangents.  For the most part, she wears Shalvar Kameez and accessorizes simply, with big, dangly earrings.  As I'm watching this movie, I'm reminded a lot of my own wedding.  My husband and I had a "semi-introduced marriage," as I like to call it. It was all very formal and traditional, but we were kind of knew each other from before and were given loads of time to get to know each other before the wedding day.

 

Watching this movie, I feel like I should have watched before I got married so I would have known exactly how a "good Indian girl" behaves as a bride. It's obviously meant as an education to Indian youth about the rewards of pure love and abstinence and all that stuff. The movie does contain its fair share of stereotypes, but there are some forward-thinking ideas there as well.  The aim is obviously to blend tradition with modernity in a way that's accessible to young people.

I feel that it's treatment of the bride and marriage are fairly unrealistic, and I don't knwo anyone who follows all the rules of "propriety" anymore.  Nonetheless, there is something to be said for the wisdom of our culture and I suppose it's better not to knock it entirely.  There are lots and lots of looks in this movie, and I could honestly have spent another post to feature them all, but I'm just going to limit myself to a few parting screenshots.  All screenshots are from my copy of the 2006 release of Vivah, from Rajshri Productions.

Bollywood Bride: Amrita Rao in Vivah - Part I

Vivah, starring Amrita Rao as Poonam, opposite Shahid Kapoor, who plays her love interest Prem, follows the story of a young couple from engagement to marriage. This movie is atypical of current Bollywood cinema, in that it follows the old formulas for Bollywood love stories, with a varying cast of interesting family members, a tragic backstory for the heroine, comic relief in the form of a kooky little sister, and a vacation in a mountain resort complete with a waterfall.

The engagement period is sort of a sweet in-between for most couples, and I think the decision to focus on this period, highlighting the expected mores of our marriage rites was conscious. When more and more Indian youth are leaving the traditional arranged marriage formula, I suspect this story is intended to preach the values of time-honoured tradition. 

In keeping with the whole formula, Amrita's look throughout the movie is a rendition of the classical Indian beauty.  With minimal makeup, long black hair, often pulled back in a bun, braid or left loose but combed and unstyled, the look is pleasant.  Even her expressions live up to our ideals of femininity, coy, eyes lowered, lips parted and always silent, Amrita is so sweet it makes my teeth hurt.

Amrita, styled as a traditional village girl, in a cotton silk skirt and kameez, and big, beaded hoops.

This picture reminds me of my in-laws' haveli (summer home) in Pakistan and our trip

to the mountains. There's a certain kind of freedom and openness there that I miss!

As is the usual case with these bollywood posts, there's a lot of looks to cover, so I won't be able to do it all in one post because I don't have time.  I will post the rest later, if Google is done its maintenance in time.

My Weekend: Yay for Makeup!!

There's nothing like messing around with makeup to diffuse a little stress, right?  I got together with my sister this weekend  and we put our amateur-ish talents to work for a post I've been wanting to write for a while now, but kept putting off.  We messed around a lot, but I got the pictures I needed and the post is almost done! I don't want to give it all away, but there are a few obvious clues in the picture.  I will have it up some time this week.

Worth Noting: Asiana TV - rated, and Blog Lovin'

Asiana.tv
I sometimes joke that there is not enough life for me to try on all the clothes I love.  After scanning through Asiana Wedding's online version via Asiana.tv, I am no longer joking when I say that.  I Am One. Hundred. Percent. Serious.

Screenshot from the new online version of Asiana Wedding Magazine.  I think the male model on the

right page is the same guy they've been using for about 7 years since he won Asian Bachelor of the year. 

Also, that gorgeous  dress which is causing me some serious envy attacks is from Mona Vora.

Asiana Magazine is off the chain, and since I haven't been England for a while (sniffle), and cannot be asked to pay the 25 dollar postage, I haven't looked at it in a while.  I had forgotten how instrumental this magazine has been to my inspirational drive.  Every page is full of fashion goodness and out of the box ideas on design and style.  While the rest of the new Asiana site is still in beta, they have uploaded the magazines for your perusal.  I really recommend that you take the 2 minutes to answer the uncomfortably nosey questions (they are trying to identify their demographic, but still, it made me uncomfortable to have to tell them my birthdate and home city) in order to get access to this content. 

If you are jaded with what you are seeing online, this magazine will quickly change your perception of South Asian fashion and what you could wear on your wedding day.  It's not nearly the same as having the magazine, since the picture is annoyingly small, and zooming in means you can't see the whole page at once, but it's better than not getting to see it at all, and I am tempted to pay the postage to get the magazine in my hands now.  A reader once asked me to scan a few pages to show the magazine's style, and unfortunately I had to refrain because of copyright.  Hopefully, dear reader, you are seeing this now and are able to head over to Asiana.tv to see the magazine for yourself.

Blog Lovin - My Dulhan Diaries
My Dulhan Diary is the story of an NY desi bride journaling her way to the Mandap.  I love the catalogue of ideas and inspiration to be found here.  My fave posts are: her collection of desi bridesmaid pics, an idea i've been toying around with, but have never gotten around to writing and this collection of tanishq jewellery snaps by Sharon Nayak.

To check out this blog, or other blogs click on the Roll Call link in the menu bar above.  Alternatively, if you are a South Asian Bride with a talent for writing and have your own blog to chronicle it, lemme know so I can add you to my blog roll!!

Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Beguiling

Source: Aamer Kapadia Photography

...because beauty doesn't stop for the weekend.  Every now and then, I stumble on an image that holds my imagination and memory captive. This beautifully composed shot by Aamer Kapadia is just such a picture.  I saw it AGES ago and couldn't forget about it until I shared it.

Designer Bride: Karma Bridal Collection

Yaaay!  Friday is here again! with the short week, I was behind on everything and I am grateful that it's over, so I can use the weekend to recalibrate and start fresh next week.  My kids were barely dressed for school this morning, and I'm pretty sure my mother is wondering why my son is wearing the exact same clothes he had on yesterday.  TGIF!!!  I couldn't bring myself to end the week without posting however, and I have been saving this for the end of the week.  

Source: Karma Collection, Pakistan

My husband commented that I am not writing as much as I used to, which is true, mostly because I have been so busy.  But since beautiful clothes speak for themselves and are easy on the eyes, hopefully I have an excuse today.  Karma Collection is based out of Pakistan and has an excellent website, with clear descriptions, relatively good pictures and PRICES, click here to check it out!  See you all next week.

The Accessorized Bride: Art Karat Presents the Maharaja Collection

Inspired by the heirloom collections of the Maharajas, Art Karat's latest collection, designed by Asha Kamal Modhi is an homage to the Mughal Ranis.  With shows all over the United States, Canada and the UK, it's extremely accessible, and I can't wait to see it in person.

Source: All images are from Art Karat's Homepage

The collection is characterized by pearls droplets and a modern take on the kundan tradition. There are multi-tiered necklaces with matching chokers, as well as oversized pendants on beaded strands.  The use of lighter coloured stones, and sharp geometric settings keeps the collection modern.