One sunny afternoon...

It's been one year since I have blogged and it feels good to be back. It has been a very eventful year to say the least, but that story is for another blog. This, as promised, is a beauty blog, for those of us who are living small but dreaming big.

So, yesterday I went to Deira City Centre after work ( I must say, it felt strangely wonderful to be walking through the mall, and not be working there) with the intent of buying a smoothie blender, fully armed with a blinding list of an array of veggies and fruits for my (always broken) path of wellness. Whoever it was who first came up with the idea that mashing and meshing all your daily dose of fruits and veggies to be downed in one go is a GENIUS, kudos to you! The list went a little like this:

1. Blender (carrefour)

2. Spinach, Lettuce, Apples, Pears, Bananas, Parsley, Celery, Lemons (yes it's the glowing green smoothie!)

3. Ginger, Zucchini, Kabocha Squash, Tomatoes, Peanuts, Spanish Sardines, crackers, Bread, Milk, Maltesers, Canned Tuna (I was clearly hungry when I penned this list at my work desk)

3. Chicken (I was craving chicken tinola)

4. Beef ? (question marks are for optional items)

5. Check if carrefour has Loreal lipstick in Fairest Nude (because I cannot find it ANYWHERE in the UAE, yes I checked online as well)

6. Maybelline lipstick in Ambering Rose

7. MAC lipliner in Cherry

8. MAC blush in Dame ? (an old favorite)

9. MAC Fix + spray ?

10. A pair of black pumps (because my current ones, a very comfortable Vince Camuto 2 inch ones, are falling apart after one year and I have not even been wearing them so much)

Nothing too crazy right?

I headed straight for Bershka.

Their insane sale racks from last month have dwindled to a few racks of workout wear of various tank tops in juicy colors, track shorts/crotch shorts, some leggings here and there and some in your face floral miniskirts. (Shoes! I reminded myself) All they had were either chunky and glittery or the usual flats and I rarely wear flats except for my beloved Havies. I grabbed a couple of tank tops and this dainty little cardigan in Tiffany Blue.

They came in white, black, cream and that lovely seafoam blue. It's part of the new collection so I am pretty sure it will be there for some time.

New Look.

I walked in and was greeted by a whirlwind of sale racks. 50-70 off. Heaven right? All sized 14-16. I was too late! I walked defeatedly to the shoe section, keeping an eye out for black pumps and walked out of the fray (people were literally grabbing things off the shelves) with these:

4 pairs of shoes. 250 dirhams. Score!

On to MAC. Had to walk through the entire length of the mall since MAC was conveniently located on the opposite end of where New Loook was. Deira City Centre now has a Texas Roadhouse steakhouse, a PF Chang's and a something which I completely forgot the name but I am pretty sure they served Arab cuisine.

Upon stepping into the store, I think I looked lost to the SA so she scurried over and asked me if she could help me. I quickly told her I wanted the Cherry lipliner so I could not further tempt myself but she was soooooo nice that I let her walk me over to the chair (which I never do, being a former MUA for #$*&, one never knows if their brushes are properly cleaned and disinfected, hello facial warts!) where she proceeded to wipe off my makeup and slap on moisturizer, eye cream (now why didn't I get that??), foundation (I finally found my shade), blush (I tried both Dame and Peaches because it looked so good on Sonia Castaneda but it sadly made my look muddy) and freshened up my lipcolor (drop dead red). I didn't tell her that I used to work with makeup as well, it makes other SA's feel that you are trying to show them up if you do but that's just me (shoutout to my beautiful SA Oxana). My Teddy walks in just as I pay the bill and while he says I looked wonderful (he would say that even if I was covered in camel poo I tell you) he also jokingly asked me to hand over my credit card. The dang register was blinking the price right at his face when I thought I had so effectively blocked his vision. So we walked out with these:

I still have not mastered the art of blurbing my photos so the MAC items I got are as follows:

Studio Fix foundation in NC41 (I was formerly an NC35)

Studio Fix + Spray

Dame blush

Blacktrack fluidline gel eyeliner (blackest eyeliner I've ever tried and does not budge one bit)

Cherry lipliner

Mineralize skinfinish powder in Medium Plus

and an oil control lotion.

I still mildly hyperventilate when I think about the price.

Dropped by Boots as Teddy had to pick up a men's toiletry kit, and Boots had a buy 1 get 1 offer on most of their products and we, well he, went a little crazy.

Half of the "get 1" stuff by the way, he gave to me. Hahaha.

Needless to say, I didn't get a blender. I didn't get my vegetables, nor any food for that matter. At the rate I'm going I'll be eating makeup for the rest of the month until payday but hey, I'm happy.

XO