Hello NYC

I have been missing in action for over a month now!! Looks like I suddenly disappeared from the blog world.
But that's not quite true.. The truth is I am in NYC and I feel I don't have enough time to even breath. Infact things like sleeping, bathing, TVing feel like a waste of time in the city :). (But I don't exactly skip any of those except the TV)..

I will be back soon. Shopping has just started. Got a DSLR to start with.. Rest will follow. I have been taking a few photographs, but honestly don't get the time to even transfer them. I know you're probably wondering what is she soo busy with, but the city has too much to offer. The stores are so huge that they actually buffle you with choices and turn you into an inefficient shopper! Here's one of our favorite ones! More will follow..

Forever 21 at the 34th Street!

A Visit to 'Devilz Tattooz', GK

The morning was filled with loads of excitement and anxiety! No I ain't that brave yet, it was a close friend of mine who was to get her first tattoo! I was only the moral support. We went to the Devil'z Tattooz tattoo shop at GK. The entrance to the shop was a little unimpressive as it was on the terrace, but it was nice and tattooed from inside.

We had an appointment for 12 noon, and the artist arrived at around 12:30. And the moment we saw the needle and the instrument, nervousness surpassed the excitement! It actually reminded me of one of those noisy and painful dental instruments. However, the whole thing got over in about 20 minutes and it was not as difficult as we had probably anticipated! And the outcome was exactly what we wanted! All's well that ends well. The artist did not speak much, but he did a good job. And by the time we left, there were atleast 7-8 more tattoo seekers. The place is quite popular!

The Design: We went for a very simple design, being the first tattoo. We chose an angel, a combination of feminism and liberation. This design cost Rs 4000.

So if you've been wondering where to get a tattoo done from, you could definitely visit this place once. I  have to admit, I am getting a little tempted too :). 

The Tattoo Instrument

The Outcome: Angel!

Tattoo After Care

• Wash off with cold water after 2 hours
• No soap for 3 days
• Skin will come off, let that happen naturally
• Apply an after care tattoo cream after 2 days for 1 month (thrice a day)

Faces Purple Eye Pencil: Swatches, Photos, Review

Sometime back I had reviewed blue pencil of this flock and I had said that I was planning planning to make a 12 color set of these Faces pencils :). So here's my second step to that set.

Earlier Prunella was my ultimate favorite for a purple. But unfortunately, it started giving me rednes after an eye infection. So though it is still lying half used, I can't use it. But I needed a 'purple' for sure. I hunted in a few brands, but either they were light or shimmery. I finally found my unadulterated, pure purple shade at the Faces counter at DLF Place and I grabbed it at once. Trust me this must have been my quickest purchase ever.


Product Details

• Price: Rs 249 for 1.15 gm (Currently a 10% off)
• Shade: Purple
• Range: Faces Long Wear Eye Pencil (Wide range of colors available)

Now, in terms of my review and experience, it is very similar to my review of the Blue shade here. It is the color that's different.

The Color
Compared to the Navy Blue, this has a slight, and I repeat very slight shimmer. This swatch is not perhaps not the best snap, but the color is nice, dark and thick. It's kinda smoother on the skin than it appears here.

The color is very similar to Prunella. Will compare sometime.


What I like about Faces Purple Eye Pencil

• The Color and Pigmentation: It lives up to its name and is a true purple eye pencil, with a good pigmentation, 2 strokes and you're done.
• The Texture and Finish: Its soft to apply and has very slight-shimmery finish. 
• Long Stay and Smudge-proof: Well it stays on till you clean it off! Also I wear it for 8 hours and it does not smudge unless you rub it real hard.
• The Price: While all these sound similar to Chambor Eye Tattoo or Colorbar I Glide, here's what is different - the price! It costs 250 for 1.15 as against 325 for 1.1 for Colorbar, without too much difference in the overall performance! And I actually got this for s 224 after the 10% discount. Price is a big plus for sure.

Overall Rating: 4/5 (Price gets some extra weight)

Will I Buy it Again? Of course, I have to complete the 12 color set :) and I have 10 more to get..

Revlon Plum Deluxe Nail Polish: Swatch, Review, Photos

Revlon nail enamels have been my favorite since a very long time. For me, nailpolish is something I don't like spending too much on. After all nails are made up of a tough protein, unlike the delicate lips or eyes :). All I want is somthing that does not smell horrible and does not wear off in just a couple of days. Revlon fits the requirements well.

Product Details

Shade: Revlon Plum Deluxe (315)

Price: Rs 130 ($3)

What I like about Revlon Plum Deluxe

The Color: Though the name is 'plum', the color is closer to a magenta. A plum has a slightly stronger violet tone.

The color perfectly matches that of pomegranate juice! I have even shown the comparison :)

It's a nice bright color, very wearable to office as well. It's not one of those 'Jhataak' pink shades.

Staying Power: With 2 coats, the color stays fine for 2 weeks.

The Price: It is quite reasonably priced at Rs 130

What I don't quite like about Revlon Plum Deluxe

Nothing serious, just that the color appears darker on the nails than seen from outside.

Recommendadtion: This is nice, cheerful color and the quality of revlon nail paints is pretty desirable. So I would definitely recommend this.

Revlon Plum Deluxe = Pomegranate Juice

My 'I Wish' Outfit of the Day!

While roaming around in the malls yesterday, I saw this interesting dress at one of the shops in DLF mall at Saket. Pretty unique! Could serve as a very interesting wedding gown too :)
See it for yourself.

Places to See in Agra - Day 2: Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri

The post continues from here. Taj Mahal is something that neither needs any introduction, nor any history lessons! The place is so so popular that there may be a situation that you may not even be able to enter the site since it is flooded with visitors! And that is what exactly happened with us :(. The number of people waiting at the ticket counter were far more than the total crowd at the Delhi Slut Walk! In general I would advise against visiting the place on a Sunday or public holidays. And if at all those are the only days you have, you should go in the morning.

Timings: The Taj Mahal is open from 6am to 8pm. Tickets are sold till 5:30 pm. It is closed on Fridays.

The Experience: After the failure to enter on Sunday, we headed there early morning on Monday. The cars have to be parked 1km from the site and you have several transportation options thereafter. You can walk, take a horse cart or even an electric auto. But beware of the tourist guides! They would always tell you there's a huge queue and they would get you in quickly, but they lie most of the times!

We had a smooth entry. No food/ tripod allowed! The place was beautiful but quite crowded even at 8:30 am! Ofcourse it was the Independence Day. The Taj Mahal is one of those places that a photographer must visit at least once! And the weather was perfect, a little cloudy but not hot at all. We spent almost 1.5 hours there, roaming around and taking pictures.

From there we headed towards Fatehpur Sikri, 40 Km away from the Taj Mahal. Fatehpur Sikri is a far more peaceful place. But let me warn you, the tourist guides are very annoying here! Just shove them away. It is also very huge. The complex includes royal palaces, courts, the dargah and the Buland Darwaza. In fact if you are interested in some history, you should take a guide along! They don't cost you much. Alternately, you can take Wiki print outs with you.  By now however, I had an overdose of red :).

The drive back was absolutely horrible. We were directed to some road via Bharatpur and it was the most broken road I have ever traversed on! Finally we reached after driving for 9 long, difficult hours!

Now here's my journey through my photographs.

The First View of the Taj Mahal! 

I almost wanted to run to see more of it..

The Gate to the Taj Mahal

Finally..the Taj, A Complete View

Any trip to Taj Mahal is incomplete without this pose :)

One of the Minars

The Red Sandstone Boundary and The Yamuna

A Monkey taking a Leisure Walk by the River Bank

A little bit of a Discrimination :(

People, People Everywhere..

Thingsto Buy from Agra

Fatehpur Sikri

Dargah

On our Way Back Home..

Hope you had fun being a part of my journey :)

Places to See in Agra - Day 1: Akbar's Tomb and Agra Fort

This was a long weekend and we decided to drive down to Agra. I had seen the Taj Mahal, but that was long ago! I could barely remember anything. So it was time to refresh some memories.

The 190 km drive was to Agra was not too bad, but definitely not the best one. The weather was by our side thankfully, it was cloudy and pleasant. We reached our destination in about 5 hours. On our way, we made two haults at a Dhaba and then at Akbar's tomb. I have always been very excited about eating at road-side dhabas, they serve you the tastiest and truly authentic food.

Akbar's tomb was on the way and not really planned. It was a nice and peaceful monument, not overly crowded.

After checking in our 'Grand Hotel', we headed to see the Taj Mahal. Agra as a city is not very appealing. It's not very clean, and the 'guides' really really get on your nerves'. They would almost run after you everywhere. Unfortunately we went there in one of the busiest possible days and all the tourist places were super-crowded! We actually stood in the ticket queue for Taj Mahal for an hour, while they had shut the counters to control crowd. The queue to enter the Taj Mahal was more than a kilometre long. It was sad how they could mismanage a world heritage site like that! We and many others gave up and went to the Agra Fort.

Anyway, a bit of my usual History lessons (Courtsey: Wiki) before we proceed to the photos!

Akbar's Tomb
The Tomb of Akbar the Great is an important Mughal architectural masterpiece, built 1605-1613, set in 119 acres of grounds in Sikandra, a suburb of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Akbar himself commenced its construction in around 1600, according to a tradition to commence the construction of one's tomb during one's lifetime. Akbar himself planned his own tomb and selected a suitable site for it, after his death, Akbar's son Jahangir completed the construction in 1605-1613.

Agra Fort
This is located on the bank of Yamuna, 2.5 Km from the Taj Mahal.  It is one of the most important and robustly built stronghold of the Mughals, re-constructed by Akbar on the remains of an ancient site known as Badalgarh when he he made this his capital in 1558.

It was only during the reign of Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, who built Taj Mahal, that the site took on its current state. Unlike his grandfather, Shah Jahan tended to have buildings made from white marble. At the end of his life, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, in the fort. It is rumored that Shah Jahan died in Musamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with a view of the Taj Mahal.

And now some pics..

Break for Breakfast @ Milan Dhaba

Gate: Akbar's Tomb

Inside the Site

A Tomb

Deer Posing for a Snap

Agra Red Fort

 

Red Fort: Diwan-e-Aam (Hall of Public Audience)

Red Fort: Diwan-e-Aam (Hall of Public Audience)

Red Fort: The Other Side

And, he was on top of the world!!

Finally made it to the Taj at 8:30 the next morning! I will post the pictures soon!