Wanna be Happy??

I always find that whatever I am going through there is always a song out there that says what I am feeling better than I ever could.So whenever I chance across such a song I will share it with you guys and if you have any such songs I wanna hear about them <3




Hope that made you smile!!!!!!!!!1

Lotus Herbals Anti-Tan Cooling Sunscreen:Review

I don't want to start off by emphasizing the importance of sunscreen because by now we've all read and re-read about this a million times.But did you know there was a song dedicated to sunscreen.Yes that's right a song!!! Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann advices you to wear sunscreen along with other little bits of wisdom.

So now that we have established the need to use a sunscreen I'm going to talk about my current HG sunscreen,Lotus Herbals Anti-Tan Cooling Sunscreen.I say current because no matter how perfect a product is I cant resist going out and sampling newer ones that I feel may have something more to offer (and sometimes I just fall for the pretty ads :-P).

What the product claims: Safe Sun Absolute anti-tan gel is a medium intensity cooling sunscreen gel especially formulated for oily & combination skin.It has the soothing goodness of Calendula and vanilla extracts.

Method of use: I apply it on all exposed areas of the body 20-30 minutes before going out.This allows the sunscreen to absorb into the skin before going out in the sun and will ensure its effectiveness.If you don’t apply before sun exposure then the sunscreen will still work, but not as well.


Price: Rs 195/- for 60g.This quantity lasts me up to one and a half months with daily application once a day.If I reapply then it lasts for a month.

My Experience with the product: It does everything that it says.It is a whitish gel which spreads easily and absorbs into the skin immediately leaving it non greasy and with a cool feeling.It feels like I have just applied some menthol candy on my skin and I love this :-P.It smells like camphor to me but the smell dissipates quickly and isn't strong enough to bother even my sensitive nose.It has both UVA (PA++) and UVB (SPF 30) protection and prevents both ageing and tanning of skin.It is among the few broad spectrum sunscreens readily available in the Indian market.People with very dry skin may feel that this leaves their skin a little taut but I always apply a light moisturizer immediately after washing my face and have never had this problem.


Will I buy this again: Absolutely and without a doubt yes.I want to try the SPF 50 sunscreen from the same range but will always have this in stock to fall back on if that fails.


I give this product 4.5 stars <3<3<3<3<. This is definitely the product I want with me when stranded on a deserted island(especially because I imagine my Island in a tropical sunny region with hammocks and and palm trees :-D )

Win a Sony Xperia X8!!!

Here an amazing opportunity for all you lucky readers in India.Head over to Shreya's Blog and get creative in order to be the lucky winner to get their hands on this beauty. The giveaway ends on  December 17, 2010 at 12 p.m so head over there before its too late :)

My Hair Journey-Potholes Included

I always had long hair.My mom used to oil and braid my hair daily and I used soft water from a well to wash my hair(I didn't live in a village we just had a well in our colony :P) weekly.That was the routine I followed for many years and always had silky,thick,shiny,LONG hair.It reached my waist at one point.

But then my mom got sick of seeing me with the same look for the last 13 years of my life and decided to chop of my hair.Till just below my ears.Seriously, how mean is that??!! That day I cried for at least an our like the contestants on America's Next Top Model on makeover day.It was such a drastic change but once I saw that my friends loved it I began to think it was cute too(what do you want from me,I was 13!!).But since my hair was well looked after it grew to many inches below my shoulder in a couple of months.That's what always happened.I cut it and it grew back pretty soon.But like it happens in all long term relationships I took my hair for granted and inflicted many tortures on it.
I went on diet(recommended by a dietitian),started exercising and discovered the blow dryer.If these sound like they should be good habits, read on.Whenever we go on a diet to lose a lot of weight(more than 10kg) it is essential to include multivitamin tablets in your diet because your new restricted diet will not be able to give you all the nutrients you need.Think about it : If your body needs 1600-1800 calories(the avg. 4 women) daily and you are only eating 1200 what about the nutrition from the remaining 600. In fact I would personally use a multivitamin daily regardless of your diet since with todays depleted soil and random eating habits our food does not provide all the nutrients.But at the time I did not know this and hence no multivitamins in my diet.

Also when you exercise a lot its important to wash your hair daily which I didn't do.All the sweat and oil trapped in your can weaken it at the roots and cause breakage and lead to scalp infections(hello dandruff!!).And lastly the hair dryer and okay Ill admit it occasionally the iron.No not the hair straighter but an actual clothes iron(hangs head in shame :(( ).Many girls in the hostel followed this method to straighten their locks and so I decided to do the same.NOT a good idea.Initially my hair was silky and frizz free but unknown to me the damage was occurring.All that heat caused massive split ends along the shaft if my hair and the ends were dry as straw.
And all this w/o even using a heat protectant.

Sooner or later we all have to face our mistakes and I  had to do the same.This time(one year ago) when I cut my hair it refused to grow.Now my hair is lightly wavy with loose curls at the ends so I assumed the curls were hiding the length.But even after many months it had only grown a few inches.Now this may be the normal speed for some of you but since I always had fast growing hair this worried me.So I decided to do some research and come up with some answers and solutions.

Here is what I have been following for a few weeks and plan to continue for a few months to see the difference in my hair.

1. Eat a low calorie(healthy hair on a fat me is not the goal :P) but high in protein diet.I do this by determining my daily protein needs(GO HERE) and cutting calories by reducing carbs and fat.
2. I take daily multivitamin supplements with my meals.Also I drink 2 or more liters of water but this is not difficult since I'm a water baby.
3. I also take cod liver oil capsules daily.Initially I started with one at lunch and dinner and then progressed to 2.The bottle(SevenSeas SEACOD) says we can use 1-2 three times a day.I am already seeing benefits from this.After using them for about two months religiously I saw new short strands on my hairline.I never had bangs so this is new hair guys!!!(If you are planning to use this though just be careful of the amount of vitamin A in your multivitamin since cod liver oil has vitamin A.I would recommend having a nutritionist asses your diet and guide you on the options)
4. I am on the lookout for flaxseed oil to replace the above since it has no Vitamin A and I can take my multivitamin in peace.
5. I no longer use the hair dryer daily but only once or maybe twice in case of emergencies and always with a serum.I am working with the natural texture of my hair which just naturally emulates the romantic waves trend :-D

My hair is already growing longer and I will update you on the results and any changes/additions I make to my routine.A deep conditioning mask is next on my list! So tell me what you think and what worked for you. Empathy from other tress -stressed sisters is welcome and appreciated.

My Perfect Imperfections-TAG (UPDATED)

I've noticed a lot of people on Youtube are doing videos on their imperfections(mostly physical) and perfections and thought that it was such an amazing idea.We've all known people who according to us look just amazing and seem just "Perfect" and whenever we see them we can't help but launch into a never ending comparathon that usually leads to crazy shopping, ice cream eating and/or huge telephone bills.

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But it may surprise us to know that even these people see flaws when they look at themselves in the mirror.While it may be easy to brush aside their insecurities as over critical or vain behavior(especially when they complain about flaws that ain't even there) its important to remember that we are all guilty of it.While you may hate your curly hair someone else may love it or you may despise your bushy eyebrows while someone else is filling in their scant ones while secretly cursing you.
So the reason I loved this tag was that it was great way to show people that no one is really perfect and the girl you admire might even be insecure about the same things you are.And that's why i'm bringing this TAG into the blogging domain and starting off with 3 of my imperfections.

1. This will come as no surprise if you have read my review on Vaseline Men's Lotion. I have man  hands.Now I know my genetics aren't in my favor here but what really bums me out is my hands aren't even similar.My right hand has darker and thicker knuckles than my left hand and so  people may think they are the hands of two different people.
2. Now my second imperfection are my feet.They aren't too big or too small so I've always loved how I can get my feet into most of my friends shoes (and doubling my shoe closet) but a pair of shoes whose material i was allergic to as a child left dark marks on my big toe and bunions on the side of my feet which make me so conscious of wearing flimsy sandals or flip flops.This one is especially hard since I LOVE shoes(at least I have my peep-toes to comfort me).
3. My weight.Now I know this is something I can control and am working on getting where I see myself being overweight all my life has skewed my self image so I always find myself questioning whether losing the weight will be enough.Now what that weird statement means is that I don't know what I will look like when I'm thin and I find myself questioning the outcome and maybe just expecting too much.

Trust me when I say I could go on but the purpose of this post isn't a crib fest so lets move on to the fun portion of the evening - 3 "Perfections"!!

1. As much as I dislike my hands I love my nails.I know, I'm weird.Anyway I have always had smooth shiny nails with a wide nail bed that is perfect for painting them an array of colors.And after religiously taking cod liver oil capsules for many months they are strong and grow really fast.
2. The second thing I love in myself and would never change are my dimples.It makes me wanna smile just thinking about them and I have received tons of complements on them.And the best part is I have one on each cheek.Say cheese 
3. My skin.Now despite the tag my skin isn't an image of perfection but it is to me.I have combination dry extremely well behaved skin.Now I put my skin through a lot with eating junk,not exercising regularly,sleeping at unbelievable hours and going out w/o sunscreen and most of the times even forgetting to moisturize(both of which I have now stopped).But my skin doesn't ever breakout,just the rare pimple which heals with just eating well for a few days and keeping my fingers away from it.It's also remarkably resilient and survived in the humidity,sun of Goa as well as extreme cold and dry heat of Gujarat and everything in the middle w/o much interference from me coz until a few short years ago I just couldn't be bothered.

So those are my insecurities,vulnerabilities and joys about my body laid bare just 4 you.Be kind and while your reading about me let me know what yours imperfections AND perfections are.

                                                              

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P.S I just realised I made it sound like I only wanted 2 kno abt ur imperfections(suddenly English is my second lang). I wud love 2 hear abt all the things u love about urself coz there nothin makes me happier than a woman takin pride in herself.The purpose of this post was only to declare that each of us is Perfect in spite our imperfections.So comment and let me know            

                     

Brighten up your Holidays:UPDATED!!

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Who doesn't love recieving gifts.With the festival season upon us(especially in India) everyone in the blogging community is joining in on the fun and holding so many generous giveaways.

Lisa at http://goldenglowww.blogspot.com/ is holding a Surprise Giveaway.She hasn't revealed what the prize will be so the only way to find out is to go over to the blog and enter the giveaway.

Evelyn at http://www.beautyambition.net is celebrating 600 followers with an awesome giveaway.One lucky winner will win the Urban Decay Book Of Shadows Vol III .The giveaway is open till 3rd December 2010 so hurry over to her blog.

FashionedInFinland (http://fashionedinfinland.blogspot.com) is giving away not one but two gorgeous Sleek palettes along with Shu Uemura eyelash curlers and TKB mini samples.

Joy at http://mytopbeautybuys.blogspot.com is having a Christmas giveaway of the lovely goodies you see in the pic above.There are many things to be won including Too Faced Pixie Pin-Ups eye collection (how pretty is that name), Too Faced Shadow Insurance,Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara in Intense Black and many many more.So check it out guys.

I absolutely adore painting my nails.If you're like me head over to http://www.beautyburg.com/ to win a set of 18 adorable OPI minis.The colors are just gorgeous <3.My personal fav is "Just a Little Bit Dangerous"
(In <3 with purples)




P.S I just had to let you guys know about Anamika's Giveaway over at WiseShe.

They are some wonderful products and its open to international readers too.She has provided us with many opportunities to increase your entries (and chances of winning), so hurry over to her blog and Enter,Enter, Enter!!The giveaway ends on 21st of November at 11:59 PM.

mariealamode is having her third giveaway on her blog with lots and lots of exciting goodies so check it out girls.Giveaway closes on November 30th and it is open internationally.

Happy Deepavali to All

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Wishing you and your family a Joyous and Prosperous Deepavali

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                                    Remember to Have Fun but Stay Safe :-)

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                              And don't miss all the yummy SWEETSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!