Make Up in the Rains

It has been raining, nay, pouring here in Mumbai for the last week. The weather is amazing, the winds are gusty and I am loving every minute of it even though I have gotten drenched everyday in the last 3 days - either while on my way to office or back home. I still think the rains are fab.

The weather around is a pale grey, everything looks deary and even at 2 pm it looks like it is 7 pm in the evening. Despite the watery hurdles, I still enjoy 'making up' my face for the day.

Below are some of the tips that come in handy for me during the rains for daily make up

1. Lots of women carry makeup to their office during the rains and apply it once they reach. This is a good option to ensure that your make-up never faces the wrath of the Rain God.

2. No Foundation for me: I skip foundation, base, concealer during the rains. No point really. I just use a good moisturiser as base. That's it.

3. Eye Make up: I trust only Maybelline Mascaras for the monsoon. The waterproof version never bleeds or smudges. Even transparent mascaras are great for monsoons. They set your lashes nicely with no danger of a color run-out.

For liners it has got to be water & smudge resistant - like Colorbar or even Bourjois Clubbing Contour Liner both are fab and stay fresh the entire day.

4. Cheeks: The high humidity in the air means that powder compositions don't work as well. Use mousse or cream or gel based blushes. They will stay on longer. NYX, Jordana, MaxFactor, MAC and Maybelline have cream blushes. For tints - The Body Shop & Bourjois.

I prefer to retire my pink peach blushes from the summer during monsoons and dig out my red & berry blushes. I like that intense, deep flash of color on my face during the dull, grey day. Something's gotta brighten up my day! That of course is just my style. You should do what you feel comfortable using.

5. Lips: No gloss girls, no gloss. The humidity in the air is gonna hit the gloss and turn it into sticky glop or worse just wash it off. Not Nice. I prefer lipsticks and lipbalms.

And just like my blushes, I retire my matt bare nudey summery pinks and dig out my creamy reds, berry & plum shades. I am digging Revlon Colorstay these days. :-)

If you need something very long lasting - try lipliners to fill in the lips. Lakme Glide On has some good liners, only they tend to make the lips feel a little dry.

6. Carry with you: A hand cream with you, my hands feel a little dry during the rains (I guess because of the wet-dry-wet routine) and also a tiny bottle of Lacto Calamine - it is very useful for removing eye make up that has smudged and well as to quickly moisturise and set a base for the face if needed.

7. In case it smudges: Dip one end of a tissue or napkin in Lacto calamine and run it underneath your eye to catch all the smudged mascara and liner and clean it up.

For blush, start with a clean slate. Don't try to repair. It will look worse. Just wipe off with tissue, use Lacto Calamine to set an oil free base and start again.

Foundation: Use tissues to remove all traces of moisture and use a compact to set things right.

I hope these help you. What are your secrets for dressing up on a rainy day?