Whenever, it came to attending parties or special occasions, I had always been that helpless chicken running around in all different corners of my house with my head cut off, trying to get both myself and my stuff together for the party.

Now you can well imagine, how tough it would have been for me to look calm and glamorous for the occasion in a scenario like this. The more I tried to make an impact, the worse it made me look. One fine evening, while relaxing at home, I got a call from my hubby regarding an urgent party to attend.  Continue reading

Hey, that seems an awesome prize! Couldn’t help to reblog Tam’s post here. Visit, like, share, participate. Its fun!!

Skin care and cosmetic industry, since inception have been trying to discover that perennial fountain of youth in the laboratory. Though, over the course of years, skin creams and anti-ageing potions have become more and more effective albeit expensive, the search for that magical potion that can actually transform your skin and restore your natural glory is still on.

The science of skin care and beauty, however, is much simpler than we all think and perceive. So, when it comes to that flawless beauty, its not just what you put on your skin that counts but what you put in your mouth rather matters more. Natural beauty comes not from the million dollar youth serum you put on your face but from the magnificent fruits and foods that nature gifts us with.  Continue reading

This oil first caught my fancy, when I saw its ad on the Sunday morning newspaper in the beginning of this year. It was from Dove! My eternal love! And it contained Hibiscus and Argan oil. Had already heard and read great things about both these ingredients but never got a chance to try them.

And this time, when my favorite Beauty brand used the two precious ingredients in one of its new and imperial looking product, I had to try it. Half of this year has passed and I am through with half of the bottle. Time is ripe for the Dove Elixir ‘Hibiscus and Argan Oil’ Hair Oil Review, so here I go.

I had always seen my grandmother apply a red colored oil to her hair after washing. She had the most gorgeous hair I have ever seen. She has never used any chemical product or dye and even today most of her hair are black! On asking her the reason for her thick shiny and jet black hair, she told me its the weird smelling and odd-looking oil called ‘Javakusum’.

I passed the thought like any other of my Grandma’s myth. Both my mother and sister too had thick dense hair. Giving all credit to my genes and believing my hair will remain thick, black, and lustrous hair, no matter what, I started experimenting with different shampoos, hair-dos and other hair care products.

It was only when my hair started showing signs of damage, I started looking for solutions. Frantically searching the net for hair fall rescue and remedies for dull, rough hair, I stumbled upon the magical effects of ‘hibiscus’ in fighting the signs of damage, hair fall, and premature greying of hair.

And when I found Grandma’s ‘javakusum’ or hibiscus in such an attractive packaging, I couldn’t resist myself from buying this magical oil from Dove. And the fact it combined the power of hibiscus with the wondrous Argan oil, which is actually very hard to find and highly expensive in Indian market, it added pizzas to the overall product.

My Experience with Dove Elixir:

Dove Elixir Hibiscus and Argan Oil

Never being an oil person for the grease and strange scents, I especially loved its ultra light consistency and fresh fruity fragrance. Trust me, the fragrance is ethereal! The oil comes in an extremely attractive glass bottle with a pump dispenser that gives the oil an imperial and classy touch.

The actual oil is transparent in color with frosty pink hibiscus petals settled at the bottom. The oil seeped into my scalp and hair pretty quickly. True to its claim, the oil did made my hair luminous when I applied. Now I wanted to see, whether the luminosity and softness stays even after washing the hair in the morning.

Holy God! My tresses actually retained the softness and the shine! Being light weight, it was effortless to wash it off my hair. Since, I loved the fragrance so much, I applied a few drops to my towel dried hair just as a perfume. As an added bonus, not only did it tame my frizz but also made my hair glossy!

However, there is a catch. All these magical effects are temporary. Its been 6 months I am using this oil and there has been no drastic change in my hair texture apart from a little softness and volume in my hair now.

I still love the product and it has made me replace both my hair oil and leave-in-serum for this two in one package.

Price: 185/-

Quantity: 90 ml

Available in Three Variants:

Pros:

• Imperial packaging
• Heavenly fragrance
• Ultra light weight
• Non greasy
• Contains most exotic hair care ingredients like hibiscus and argan oil
• In expensive
• Can be used as a styling product, leave-in-serum, moisturizer, shine serum….

Cons:

• Glass bottle can be prone to breakage
• Not travel friendly due to heavy glass bottle
• Inefficient dispensing pump
• Does not provide any miraculous or drastic change to hair texture overtime

Rating:  4/5

My Final Take:

Overall, I found this oil as a great hair care product. It does matches most of my requirements and expectations. It has definitely saved me from spending huge bucks on expensive shine serums and styling products.

For non-oil girls, the hair oil can prove to be wondrous and for others it can give them a refreshing break from their regular greasy and messy oil.

Will I buy Again:  Definitely yes.

My deepest thanks to Tams of http://nakedbeautyblog.wordpress.com/ for nominating me for The Versatile Blogger award day before yesterday. The nomination comes as a pleasant surprise.  Continue reading

First of all, a huge thanks to Dai of http://collegegirldai.com/ for nominating me for the Liebster Award. The award is meant for blogs with under 200 followers and presents an interesting way to be seen and discover new blogs. Here are the rules:

Continue reading

Pond’s Triple Vitamin Body Moisturizing Lotion was the first product I bought, when my fascination for beauty and skincare started. At that time, this triple vitamin body moisturizing lotion acted as my body lotion, hand cream, foot cream, cracked heel repair cream and even sufficed as a lip balm, whenever, I ran out of one. I always had this dry skin problem and this body lotion from Ponds perfectly quenched my body’s thirst for moisture. Continue reading

This post comes in response to:

WEEKLY WRITING CHALLENGE : FIT TO WRITE

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/writing-challenge-health/

I feel fit to write this post today, after successfully battling anorexia for ten big years of my life. For anyone who has had a brush with an eating disorder or has a loved one suffer through that, can understand perfectly, how the obsession, compulsiveness, and perfectionism of an eating disorder can drive a person to almost total frenzy.

Continue reading

Gold Facial and Gold in Skincare

“Go for Gold”, advised my esthetician as a solution to my dull, lifeless skin. “Gold stimulates collagen and enhances complexion”, she alleged convincingly, leaving me with no doubt regarding the gold facial treatment.

‘Gold’, the most expensive natural resource and the most precious metal, obviously is the benchmark against which the worth of everything else is measured. It is the ‘gold standard’, ‘gold medal’ and even ‘heart of gold’. We associate everything perfect with gold.

So we have gold facials, gold radiance creams and even gold cleansers and gold scrubs as the gold standard of beauty. And why not, Cleopatra, the reigning queen of flawless beauty and radiant skin, used 24 K gold masks on her face while sleeping.

Even our Kings and queens in ancient India wore numerous heavy ornaments made of pure gold to cover their bodies instead of clothes. The science behind use of gold in skincare is, gold imparts a youthful glow and as per Ayurveda, gold can treat various skin conditions.

Gold Facial Review: My Bad Experience

So when my esthetician advised me to go for a gold facial, I readily agreed. As I lay on the table, letting her hands work the magic of gold on my tired and lackluster complexion, I imagined being Cleopatra enjoying the luxury of ultimate skin care and waking up with imperial beauty of flawless skin and wonderful glow.

However, when the treatment finally ended after full one hour, the exact time a Bollywood movie reaches climax and the heroine learns a horrifying fact about her life, I discovered an equally horrifying fact about my skin and my gold facial treatment!

I was nowhere near Cleopatra, not even my original self! I looked horrible. There were bruises all over my face. My skin had turned all blue and red from the heavy massage. “Don’t worry; this will soon subside in a day or two. Glow generally comes after 2 or 3 days of a facial treatment”, my esthetician consoled after perceiving my state of mind.

Glow never came. What showed up instead were ugly pimples and unsightly boils. Yes, I got a bad break out due to allergic reaction from so called ‘gold particles.’ Gold can cause allergic reaction in some people.

Products used: Nature’s Essence Gold Kit

Duration of treatment: 45 – 60 minutes

Cost of treatment: INR 1000

Truth about Gold Radiance Creams

Now about the latest buzz of using real gold in skin care products by many leading beauty brands such as Ponds and Shahnaz Husain. Since, these products are from reputable beauty brands and cost heavily, the billion dollar question is: Are they really worth their expensive ‘gold’ price?

The answer is, absolutely not.

First, for the hefty 1000 bucks you are paying for gold is actually not pure gold and even if it is gold it is not absorbed by your skin. The gold molecules are too big for your skin to absorb. They remain only on the top layer of the skin, giving you a temporary glow. The moment you wash your face, all glow is gone.

Second, gold has been found to be a contact allergen after the latest 2001 scientific research. It can cause skin irritation and contact dermatitis in certain individuals with sensitive skin.  On these gold creams and gold facials, Judith Helman, New York based dermatologist said, “At best they will do nothing and at worst they will give you irritation”.

Third, if you carefully watch the ingredients, you will notice that the active ingredient in both Ponds and Olay skin care range is NIACINAMIDE, i.e., vitamin B3, which is also there in many other reasonably priced skin care products. So be it Olay Total Effects, Olay Natural White, Ponds Gold Radiance or Ponds White Beauty, the main ingredient is niacinamide, a proven anti ageing and skin whitening ingredient rest all is marketing!

So the next time you hear your heart beating for the gold, remind yourself of the good old phrase, “All that glitters is not gold”.

PS: The article was originally published on Aug 11, 2013 and now three years later, my stance on gold facials and products still remain the same. The incident still bugs me to this day. So girls, the lesson learned here is do your proper research before you undergo any kind of skin or facial treatment. And if you’re looking for that so called ‘glow’, let me tell you it won’t come from ‘gold’ but from something as simple as improved blood circulation and skin tone correcting ingredients such as AHAs, BHAs, and retinoids.

My raw food obsession began when I was in college. The food cooked in my hostel mess was pathetic. Luckily, we had a fruit shop at our campus. First, I replaced my breakfast of inedible ‘paranthas’ with a refreshing glass of mango shake. On those hot summer days, it gave me that much needed satisfaction and energy.

My rosy cheeks that had turn pale from that unsavory hostel food, started blushing again. Gradually, I replaced my diner too with bananas and a glass of milk. Very soon I was glowing with full health. I started spending more time in library, reading books about fitness, health and beauty. I discovered, how wonderful raw food diet can be for weight loss and health.

I turned vegan. Not only did I stopped eating eggs, drinking milk and banished all dairy from my diet but also stopped eating all cooked food. My diet comprised of only fruits and a little bit of salads. First, I lost all curves, then my skin became sallow and dull. My hair started shedding and my cheeks became hollow.

The debate between raw vs cooked food is still hot. While many raw food enthusiasts especially Tonya Zavasty, author of “Your Right to Be Beautiful: Miracle of Raw Foods” have achieved wonders with 100 % raw food diet, many like me have met with undesired outcomes. This brings me to this post, to enlighten all beauty freaks with the importance of right food and nutrition in realizing their dream for fabulous skin and shiny hair.

I am neither for cooked foods, nor for going totally raw. When it comes to beauty, middle path is the best. No doubt, cooking kills certain essential enzymes, vitamins and minerals in some foods, but cooking also kills many harmful bacteria, chemicals etc. present in fruits and vegetables today. Also, cooking sometimes softens the food making it more palatable and digestible.

So here are some tips on which foods should be cooked and which are better eaten raw.

Never Deep Fry Your Foods:

Deep frying foods releases free radicals that are notorious for causing all sorts of damage. From causing pre- mature wrinkles to diseases like cancer and heart attack, free radicals are extremely dangerous to our overall health & wellbeing.

Always Cook Your Spinach, Carrot and Other Greens:

Spinach, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, and all bell peppers contain antioxidants like cartenoids, ferulic acid, etc. which are best delivered and better absorbed by the body when cooked. Ferulic acid is a well known anti-ageing and skin lightening nutrient.

Savor Your Tomatoes in Ketchup and Puree:

Tomatoes are the richest source of Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and a natural sunscreen. Studies have shown that 30 minutes of cooking tomatoes on low heat increases lycopene content by 35%. Great reason to relish your ketch up all the more!

With Nuts & Fruits Take the Raw Route:

Nuts contain many essential fatty acids that are great for skin and hair. However, on heating or cooking, these turn into bad cholesterol which is dangerous for the body. Similarly, fruits contain many essential vitamins especially vitamin C, which gets destroyed in cooking.

Garlic & Onion, Abstain from Heating Them:

Garlic and onion are best eaten raw. They contain many powerful compounds like Allicin, Sulphur, Zinc and Calcium that have amazing health & beauty benefits. They also contain selenium, which helps in the absorption of Vitamin E in the body. Cooking destroys many of these essential compounds.

Last but not the least, always chew your food well, savoring each morsel as you eat. Natural beauty begins from making right choices. Eat the right foods and experience the magic of health and beauty permeating all the areas of your life. Blissful eating!!

PS: The article was originally published on Aug 7, 2013 and here’s the latest update on the topic:

“British Journal of Nutrition published a study, which found participants who followed a strict raw food diet had normal levels of vitamin A and high levels of antioxidant beta-carotene (found in dark green and yellow fruits and vegetables) but relatively low levels of the antioxidant lycopene (red pigment found in tomatoes and red bell peppers, among others). This brings to the conclusion that not all vegetables eaten raw are healthier and nor all cooked or processed foods is unhealthy.”

Pics Credit: Google