Hello Mini Binny!

I welcomed a new addition to my family of gadgets the other day - an iPad mini! Now I'm finally in the exciting world of Instagram, Vine and all the other fun things my long-abused iPhone couldn't manage.

You're my pumpkin pumpkin, hello mini binny!

Oh hai(r)

I'm not sure yet if I should just run a single personal Instagram or make a Neemly-exclusive Instagram. It becomes time-consuming switching between accounts to upload different pictures! But I doubt that many of my non-beauty blogger friends would care to see tons of pictures of makeup, outfits and the like, so I will probably set up a Neemly-gram soon so I can filter accordingly. :) 

Stay tuned!

x

Neemly

Vegan Breakfast Treats!

With my new job has come a new routine - namely, having to wake up & be out the door at 8:30AM to start the drive down to our factory in Faridabad and be in at 9:30 sharp. Despite my best efforts, I'm not much of a morning person, and I found myself skipping breakfast more often than not the first few weeks. I finally resolved to change that, and have been having fun trying out some fast & easy breakfast options - all super healthy, and vegan too!

Why vegan? Well, I'm not one. Not even a vegetarian. But I was a vegan for about five years (from the ages of 15-20), and I do like to incorporate a lot of meatless, dairy-free items in my diet. I find when I go easy on dairy, my skin is clearer, and I also like the health benefits that dairy alternatives like soy (in moderation) and coconut milk give. But I definitely love my butter, dahi, and cheese too (and yes, chicken and seafood and all that), so don't expect me to go 100% vegan again any time soon!

Breakfast option #1: peanut butter oatmeal granola bars. Adapted from this recipe. I used coconut milk and a pat of coconut oil, and evaporated cane juice as the sweetener. I also added in chia and flax seeds (about a tablespoon of each) and about 10 finely chopped dates, and used muesli as my crunchy addition. They came out very moist and they break relatively easily, but they're super yummy and very filling. I've been taking one in the morning along with an apple and it keeps me going until lunch! One batch seems good for about a week's worth of bars.

Breakfast option #2: triple berry smoothie! I've been eyeing these boxes of frozen berries at La Marche for a while and finally decided to try them out. I add equal parts of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries along with unsweetened soy milk and litchi juice (50-50 each), as well as a sprinkle of raw sugar to add a bit of extra sweetness. It's all fairly eyeballed, I add in maybe a 1/2 cup of liquid and start blending and then gauge if I need to add more to get it to the right consistency.

Makes a nice big glass and is a great way to get lots of fiber + antioxidants in for the day! I've also been enjoying this as a post-work snack. My biggest recommendation with this would be to use good quality juice that doesn't have a ton of added sugar - Ceres is the brand I use, and they have a massive variety if you can find them in stores! And avoid using white sugar whenever possible - the more unprocessed the sweetener, the better.

Hope you feel inspired to have something healthy. :) Let me know if you try any of these out!

x

Neemly

Happy Birthday, Neemly-style!

Yesterday was my birthday! It was a low-key one, just took the day off work to relax and went out to dinner in the evening with my boyfriend. Had a bit of time to play with some looks, one day one and one for the evening, so here you go! 

In the morning I tried out a simple 60's eye, a la Lisa Eldridge - see her tutorial here. I used my Bobbi Brown gel liner in Caviar Ink, extended downwards at the end rather than my usual upward flick. It was an interesting change but I don't think I'd wear it regularly - cat eyes are more flattering on me!

A close-up:

During the day a few baby monkeys came to visit my balcony - the first time I've ever seen them out there! A friend said Hanuman had come to visit and wish me a Happy Birthday. They were cute until they started making a mess of our plants!

For the evening, I went over my day look with black eyeshadow (from my new Naked Basics palette - MUST do a review soon, I'm so overdue!) and make it smokey. I don't usually do pure black smokey eyes because they look a bit too intense on me, but I was in an experimental mood!

I later added my grandmother's necklace to the outfit, after realizing that it went well with my dress. She passed away last year and it was the first time I'd worn it since my mom gave it to me. Was happy to be able to wear it on my birthday. :)

For dinner, V and I went to Smokehouse Delhi in Khan Market. Part of the Smokehouse chain, this one opened up fairly recently. As expected, the food was great:

Cucumber basil lavender cooler - DELICIOUS. And something so fancy about drinking something decorated with a flower.

Roasted garlic and plum tomato fettuccini. Sauce was amazing but the pasta could have been a touch more al dente.

Soya and pine nut ratatouille. This was really yummy, and an interesting entree for vegetarians, for sure. Would have skipped the tofu pieces in here though, they were a bit bland and took away from the well-seasoned ratatouille. The soy steak underneath was quite tasty though.

We were stuffed and passed on dessert, though we took home some pastries from L'Opera - still yet to be eaten!

V being his cute self.

One of the best things about the restaurant is its ambience - the whole space is covered in hand-drawn illustrations harkening back to Khan Market's golden days, done by my uber-talented and amazing friend Kriti from Turmeric Design. Just look at these:

My favorite piece was the typewriter, which you can see in the above shot. But it's all amazing! Definitely go check it out.

Here's to another amazing year! And while I'm in a celebratory mood, let me say thank you all so much for reading this blog - it's been so fun building friendships and getting to share and interact with all of you!

xo

Neemly 

Nars Lipstick Swatches!

Hi everyone! I'm back with a long overdue post. I had several swatching sessions while I was Azara's place in Chicago last month and I'm slowly getting around to putting them all together! Up today: Nars lipsticks (and one lip gloss!)

From left: Rouge Tribal Larger than Life Lip Gloss, Dolce Vita, Afghan Red, and Schiap lipsticks.

Nars lip products are hands down my favorite. Their Velvet Matte Lip Pencils are the absolute best things ever, particularly for dramatic/retro looks, and their sheer formula lipsticks are super wearable. Dolce Vita is probably my favorite lip color of all time, as it gives just the right amount of "oomph" and my-lips-but-better look and is wearable with pretty much anything. I have it in the Velvet Matte pencil version and the sheer lipstick as well, both formulas I like very much. It was also fun to try these new-to-me colors which Azara had!

On to the swatches:

Rouge Tribal lip gloss - a deep burgundy with flecks of subtle glitter. I'm not a huge lip gloss fan but I did love the color of this one. I think it would be better paired over a lipstick, to give more depth to the color. 

Schiap - a Nars cult classic. Almost neon pink (but not quite), very bright and fun.  Couldn't work for everyday wear for me, but definitely party-appropriate! 

Afghan Red - a blue-based, more deep muted pink than red. This really is a gorgeous color, though I found it didn't wear down very well over a night of wearing it out. Might just be my lips though! 

Finally, Dolce Vita, my favorite. I'm sure you're thinking "but why? That just looks like bare lips!" Exactly! It's natural and pretty and also easy to apply - I don't even have to check it in the mirror, I can just swipe it on from the bullet and go. Makes wearing it at work a breeze because I don't have to constantly check my lips to see if the product is rubbing off too much, I can just reapply every few hours and know I'm good! 

Which is your favorite? Any other Nars colors you'd recommend? There's a lot I still have yet to try! Gypsy lipstick and the Cruella Velvet Matte Pencil are two I have an eye on. 

x

Neemly

Introducing bhane.!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I recently switched jobs - I just joined an awesome new fashion brand, bhane., as their brand and culture manager! I've been busy this last week, settling into the office and getting into the swing of work. We have lots of exciting things coming up, so definitely be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and visit our site to shop for yourself! www.bhane.com

All the pieces are super well-made, comfortable wardrobe staples. I'm still growing my own collection, but I'm absolutely in love with the slim fit denims at the moment - I'm wearing them in black in the picture above! They fit amazingly and have just the right amount of stretchiness. Also pictured is our denim shirt in mid-indigo, technically for men but I tend to like to mix in some menswear in my wardrobe and I love this shirt - really soft and such a great color!

Everything is priced to be accessible, starting at Rs. 450 for t-shirts/tanks, and nothing is more than Rs. 2100! So both your closet and your wallet can be happy. :)

Let me know if you try anything from the shop - would love to hear your feedback! Our spring collection is on its way too, so stay tuned for lots of cute shorts, dresses and more!

x

Neemly

The Neemly on Beauty Fool!

The super lovely Renee from Singapore-based blog Beauty Fool invited me to write a guest post on the beauty scene in New Delhi. Hop over to her blog to read it in full, as well as check out the rest of her interesting posts!

Thanks so much Renee for inviting me to write! Delhi ladies, what do you think - am I accurate? Would love to hear your thoughts!

x

Neemly

OCC Extra!

I meant to post this with my OCC lip tar swatches, but completely forgot! Here's what my hand looked like after my first round of swatching. I had used a bit of clear gloss to even out my lip texture, hence the shiny spots you see! And on my nails I'm wearing Essie Sand Tropez, my current favorite shade.

Just a little behind-the-scenes glimpse! :)

x

Neemly