Preventing pimples the Himalaya Herbals way

Guess I’m going to have a long affair with Himalaya Herbals!

I’ve never had any real skin concerns but dry skin, which I was born with, but using heavy moisturiser always helped. However since past few months the blessing of trouble free skin was taken away from me. Which reminds me of joke we used to make in school whenever any girl had pimples, “Sins of past life are bursting on your face” :-D. Now I really had to do something quick to hide the sins of my past ;-).

Before you read on hoping to discover some miracle pimple relief product, know that nothing can stop pimples from appearing if they are to appear, however you can always prevent them from increasing in number and rotting and popping.

The first change I made in my routine was to completely let go of face scrub, cause you do not want to irritate pimple covered skin, so the first rule is ‘Be gentle on your face’.

The next was to change my face wash (I had been using Za true white face wash for 5-6 months) to a gentle soap free face wash, luckily had Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Face Wash available in house(husband’s :-P), which made a quick different in appearance of new pimples; they reduced in numbers, it did not make my skin very dry and since pimples were not increasing at the same rate, I continued to use it twice daily.

Don’t you wish all the cleansing products came in pump up dispenser bottles?

Although it was preventing new pimples to occur, my old ones stayed and a few new ones kept popping along. This is where I made the third change into my pimple prevention regime, I bought home Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Pack and started using it three times a week. Now I wrote in the start that you won’t find any miracle product in this post, but this is the best face pack I’ve ever come across; totally does what it claims, prevent the recurrence of pimples and additionally made old pimple fade away in just two week of using! Although it says for normal to oily skin, it did not make my skin very dry and after every use my face started looking cleaner and cleaner.

Now here are the three simple tips from me which I learnt while fighting the battle of pimples:

1. Be gentle, stop using harsh products, totally dump face scrubs till skin is pimple free
2. Use a gentle soap free face wash; I cannot think of anything other than Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Face Wash
3. Use pimple preventing face pack at least twice a week; cannot recommend anything better than Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Pack

Now that my pimples are slowly fading I’m going to restart my scrub a week routine, greedily eyeing Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Scrub!

Note: I do not suffer from pimples all the time so the tips mentioned in this past may not work for permanent pimple suffering, sorry!

Zaina

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Himalaya Herbals: Revitalizing Night Cream and Clear Complexion Whitening Day Cream

Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if after all these months you’d like to meet…

This song at the moment sound perfect as I return to dear blog after so many months, so late but not too late(I hope).

And without wasting much time in wondering lets get straight to the good things I have to talk about Himalaya Herbals Revitalizing Night Cream and a few things about Himalaya Herbals Clear Complexion Whitening Day Cream.

Current skin concerns: Dry, pimples and a bit of patchy

Last few months I’ve ignored the skin care, so when the results started showing in form of pimples on face I had to do something. I started using Himalaya’s Purifying Neem Face Wash which is known for preventing pimples, pimples reduced but it made my dry skin very dry. So I needed some moisturisers at night, this is when I first got Himalaya Herbals Revitalizing Night Cream, which from the first night( 😉 ) made a big impression.

Himalaya Herbals Revitalizing Night Cream doesn’t make big claims, it would Renews skin cells, Hydrates skin, Repairs daily damage; simple daily skin needs, which is what I was looking for. Cream is very light, very moisturising and doesn’t make skin oily, smells of flowers but not too strong(wish Himalaya made scent free products). Very little amount is required to cover full face, and I wake up with soft skin in morning. For my extra dry skin this night cream worked so well that I used it in day also(I hope it is not illegal to use night cream in day :P), as it was working so well I thought let’s try the day cream from same range.

Himalaya’s Clear Complexion Whitening Day Cream which claims to Hydrates skin, Lightens skin tone, Clears complexion; now I’m only interested in ‘Hydrates skin’ part cause we all know nothing can change the color of your skin :D. I’ve been using it for a week, can really say that day cream is not as awesome as night cream. Again very little amount of cream is needed to work full face, to me it smells a bit of fuller’s earth and looks also of same colour(though it is not present as per ingredients list). The only issue with day cream is when I go out my face starts to sweat and looks oily, which makes it good only for indoor and winters. Oh the day cream also has UV protection, no no not SPF but breakthrough herbal sunblock CINNABLOC™, can’t say if this really works against sun.

Himalaya Herbals Revitalizing Night Cream costs 200 Rs. for 50 grms and Clear Complexion Whitening Day Cream 250 Rs. for 50 grms and are easily available at stores and online. Added advantage, both creams are alcohol and parabens free, also did you Himalaya Herbals is cruelty free, yay!

Have you tried any of the face creams from Himalaya Herbals, which is your favorite?

Zaina

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The Purge Project – Makeup drawer cleaning

Hello Everybody!

Long time, sigh!(I want to apologies to dear blog, however there were no valid reasons to stay away from posting. I will have to make up something, so I will just say, I have been extremely lazy. Oh yes, there is one thing, work is not good, which makes me sad and all I want to do is sleep away this time…)

Before I go into full fledged sad story of my work life issues, here is something which might interest you(Though I wonder how showing the products before throwing them away make any sense, but here we are!). So read on if you want to know what all I found while cleaning my makeup shelf one day. These are not monthly empties or such but the products which are lying in for years(nothing older than two years though) and should have been shown bin long time ago.

I put them in ugly plastic bag to make sure this time they really go out.

1. Mascaras – Not exactly so old, but I realized that I do not throw old mascaras even after buying new, as per beauty rules they must be purged after three months. I admit that I use them for more than beauty rules guide, 6-7 months sometimes a year, but never more than that.

Maybelline Colossal mascaras are my all time favorite, most of the time I have two of them, one waterproof and one washable. I prefer washable mascara cause removing them is little easier, but as per need I store one waterproof also.

Revlon Water Tight mascara is one of the worst mascaras I’ve ever come across; smells horrible, doesn’t voluminous, doesn’t lengthens, it just black liquid with awful smell. I used it once and never after that, stay away girls!

Essence I love extreme volume mascara is the best! I actually have a full post review of it in drafts which I wrote sometimes in last year but never posted it, and don’t seem to remember the reason. Would you like to still see the post? Let me know in comments. 😉

2. Lip-balm

See it is still all new

The first one is very old cute lip balm which I got from dm shop in Germany cause it looked so cute, and that is the reason I had not thrown it. Which I never used at all, opened it once only to sniff and discover that I cannot use something with this smell. Fragrance is not bad, it is sweet cherry smell but for some reasons I’m not able to digest it.

Nivea Fruity Shine pomegranate is the most favorite tinted lip-balm of all times, but this one is the old packaging which now has been replaced with boring packaging, that’s the reason I kept it long after it was over. Just to hold onto that cute tube.

Maybelline Baby lips in Peach Kiss was hidden somewhere in corner and hence escaped the purgatory. This one smells awful, doesn’t do much for chapped lips, I used it only a few times.

So, I think for lip-balms one major turn off for me is the smell, if it can’t smell decent or be scent less we will never get along. What is the one thing that annoys you even if the product itself is able to perform?

3. Lip-gloss

The Ruby one was a gift from a friend which came in a makeup kit, it just doesn’t work, wear time is very less and it is too sheer. So this one goes to purgatory.

NYX mega shine lip-gloss in French Kiss had been the biggest disappointment, and after this I resolved not to buy makeup online without trying the color in real first. The lip-gloss in itself is gorgeous but the color doesn’t work for me, it washed me out completely, in tube it looks much darker but on lips turns very pale peachy pink. Sad story!

4. The expired products

L’oreal Paris infallible lasting perfecting foundation was my wedding foundation which is very good for heavy coverage, it is waterproof and works best for parties and night look(though it photographs ghostly in flash). This is the one product which crossed it’s best before date before me finishing it.

Lakme enrich satin lipstick in 133 is not expired yet but it has grown into something strange which is ugly, see for yourself…

That’s all the trash I could clean out for now. How often do you clean your makeup stash? Do you also keep products even when you can’t use them just cause of cute packaging?

Zaina

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I just had a preview of post before publishing and realized it is such a long post.

Vaseline lip therapy: Rosy lips and Cocoa butter

Hello everybody!

I wanted to share with you guys the cute little Vaseline Lip Therapy tins, aren’t they cute? A ‘Rosy Lips’ and ‘Cocoa Butter’ petroleum jelly!

Every time I would go to grocery shopping and eyed them(like 90s Indian villains, lol), one day finally I picked two little tin tubs.

A different pose…

Do they work? They are not lip-balms, so I wasn’t expecting any protection or softness to lips. Rosy Lips has very little pink tint, which doesn’t show on my lips, it smells like roses but artificial. But hey, the tin is pink! 😛

Cocoa Butter does make lips a little moisturized as compared to Rosy lips, but again not much heavy on protection from chapped lips. This smells like real cocoa, amazing!(Same smell as that of ‘Vaseline Total Moisture Cocoa Glow Lotion‘).

It was really hot in Bangalore last week(38 °C,sigh!) which made them little runny, guess they are not meant for hotter climate, I had to store them in fridge. Is that the reason they are not sold in India? In here we have Vaseline lip-therapy in twist up lip-stick like packaging, which I haven’t tried so cannot compare, sorry.

When it comes to saving lips from dryness, cocoa butter is best amongst two. Oh, it says same on side on tin; ‘Soothes dry skin and lips‘, hmm means good for dry lips. While Rosy lips just says, tint and cares, not much huh?

I think I bought them for £1 each (~93 INR), but they are sold at different rates depending upon which store you buy them from.

Have you tried any products from Vaseline lip therapy line?

Zaina

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What’s better than Gold? Rose-Gold!

Hello everybody,

Do you like gold? No? Good, neither do I. Which is odd as Indians are famous for their gold obsession(anyone would easily justify it as investment or savings for rainy days, for all of them I say, very poor financial planning). Did you know India is the largest importer of Gold in World? (trying to throw a few fun facts here and there, bad idea, you say?).

As much as I hate to admit, even I hoard quite amount of gold jewelry(currently sitting in locker, cause I only wore it once, at my wedding). Gold may not be such a good thing, but gold plated/colored goods are dear to me; cups and saucers with golden lines, golden buttons and more than that anything which comes in rose-gold finish!

A little history before I get into details of rose-gold goodness. Last month I had a short work travel to UK, which gave me a chance to acquire all the products you may see in coming posts, so lets get started with HnM rose-gold makeup tools…

I picked up these two tools from HnM from their ‘Selected’ category, aren’t they gorgeous?(HnM has their own makeup stuff as well, but nothing that could have my interest)

My first eyelash curler! I’ve always been too scared to the idea of using eyelash curler, so never bothered to get one. I’m still trying to get used to it, I use it very slowly with utmost care, still little scared. This one works, and I can really see the difference after curling.

There is one extra rubber to change in the pack, I’m not sure how I will know when to change it? Help me here if you know.

There is the beautiful dual functional blusher and foundation brush, the colors rose-gold metallic and off-white(?) glossy handle look so beautiful together. I needed blusher brush, at first I picked a kabuki brush from same line but then I saw this and thought, why not have a foundation brush too. (I should have got kabuki brush as well, it is so cute 😦 )

The blush brush is soft, and picks powder blush easily to apply. The bristles are made of synthetic hair(what is that anyways), so not natural which is a relief cause I do not like anybody’s else’s hair touching my face, eww. The little color you see on brush is cause I’ve not washed it from my last use 😉

I did not need foundation brush, I prefer applying with fingers. I’ve used this brush to apply foundation and it is really easy to cover places like sides of my nose(sorry this is also not washed after last use, so there is some foundation color on bristles). Neither of brushed has shredded even a single hair, which is a relief!

Eyelash curler costs £3.99 (~370 Rs.) and dual blusher and foundation brush was for £4.99(~460 Rs.).

So do you guys like them? I wish I had picked up more rose-gold tools, maybe next time.

Zaina

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Fun QnA

Hello, there there…

Work is hectic, not voluminous but consuming. Earlier today in my head I met myself, the conversation was much fun I had to share with world. Here are some Q n As I had with myself, enjoy:

All are Red(sunlight makes some colors look strange)

 

1. You bought a pretty lipstick but when you apply, it doesn’t work for you, what do you do with it?

I try really hard to work with pink lipstick, I would love to have a soft pink color on my lips, but as is the tone of skin pink doesn’t work, sadly. Every now and then I end up buying pinks(swatch on hand looks like it may work on me but it doesn’t). First I try to work with brush, you can really handle colors better with lip-brush, some colors which may wash out face on full opaque coverage can be applied with brush, of-course light hand sheer color, and sometime it works.

But mostly I give away such lipstick to Mom(she has fairer skin) or friends. Like this one time Husband bought a pretty pink lipstick for me, even though it was a gift and I wanted to keep it with me as a token, I gave the lipstick to my friend(properly explaining husband why I will never be able to use it, he understands). I think it is better if someone can use it, I don’t like lipsticks to be wasted.

2. Why so many lipsticks of same(red) color?

First thing to understand here is that it is not a color, it is the color; The Red. Which is so versatile that one cannot settle for one color-variant, and one cannot buy all of them(think finances), so little by little we shall have all The Red.

3. What’s the next thing.

Blushes! I have just two, I have realized(very late in my life) how boring face looks with same color all over, we need to add some color, some depth(may learn contouring next to this next). Also cup-cakes baking.

4. Lipstick expires, what you do with it?

I still use it, after ‘best before date'(but I save the labels which has best before date on it, don’t know why cause I don’t mind the dates). However I do not have anything older than five years with me, cause five years back I never had a single lipstick(I know this precisely, cause I bought my first lipstick when I relocated to Pune). I remember having lip-balms thought, cause dry skin and chapped lips cannot survive, they were more of survival things(lip-balm) than fun(lipstick). I had tinted chapsticks, strawberry and cherry. So that was the only color I had on me.

5. Lipstick or lipgloss

Lipsticks of-course. But a couple of lipglosses are there, which I use when I cannot use lipstick(read when I have chapped lips). I’m not for shine and glitter but more of color, so less love for gloss, my ideal lipstick would be a matt finish with balm quality.

Well, it was fun, we should do this often!

Shall we?

Zaina

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Great everyday foundation: ZA True White Liquid Foundation

Hello(I can’t decide on greetings to start with, it is like current weather in Bangalore; winter in morning and summer in noon and evening, so HELLO!)

When it comes to foundation, everyone’s skin has specific needs. I must tell(again) my skin is extremely dry, color is pretty much like most Indian’s; medium-tan, and there are a lot of unwanted moles. For my base makeup on weekdays, I need something which is easy to apply and has natural finish(BB cream+compact powder are easy pick for lazy/running late days). Applying foundation everyday must be hassle free, quick and should give natural finish, thats where ‘ZA True White Liquid Foundation’ comes to rescue.

Za comes from family of many brands under Shiseido. Za was launched in India last year. They started with skin-care range, recently Za launched two products for makeup; Za True White Two-Way Foundation(compact powder) and ZA True White Liquid Foundation.

ZA True White Liquid Foundation comes in six shades, and I match with OC30, darkest shade with yellow tone(which means darker beauties in India will not find shade match, Za should really consider and add darker shades as it is such a beautiful foundation).

The foundation texture is quite thin, has very fine luminous particles, and light sweet smell(I am very bad at identifying fragrances 😦 ).  Za liquid foundation gives light coverage, which can be build up to medium. There is no specific wear time provided, on me it stayed for good five to six hours, I figure it is not waterproof as well(wore it to swimming pool to check 😉 ). It also contains SPF 25, still Za recommends to pair it with SPF 15 or higher for UV protection.

What makes ZA True White Liquid Foundation best for my everyday use? Let’s count:

1. Ease of application, due to light texture it spreads and blends smoothly
2. Natural finish, it is not too heavy or not too light, but just the perfect natural finish
3. Moisturizing(or dewy finish), heaven for my dry skin

Za products are available in makeup sections of most of the shopping malls, and are also available online.  ZA True White Liquid Foundation 30 ml costs Rs. 950.

What are the qualities that you look for in everyday foundation?

I have been using ZA True White Cleansing Foam for two months, so far it is being good, I shall write about it in coming posts.

Zaina

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Bake soft, moist and dense ‘Carrot Cake’

Look how beautiful! Those white clouds on surface are from powdered sugar sprinkle

Following the red/orange trail of carrots, I also made a carrot cake. Carrot cake Universally approved needs no introduction. As an amateur baker I always look for distinguishing properties of any cake, what make a carrot cake the best in lot; soft, moist, dense and natural sweetness of carrots. Let’s bake a easy and filling carrot cake(before winter is gone). This recipe of from Nita Mehta’s book Cakes & Cookies, there are slight variations from the original recipe.

Those tiny black things are cinnamon, lack of fine powder(Need a new grinder!!!)

Ingredients

1. Finely grated carrot – 1 and 1/2 cup
2. Egg – 2
3. All purpose flour – 1 cup
4. Baking powder – 1 tsp
5. Baking soda – 1 tsp
6. Powdered sugar – 3/4 cup
7. Vegetable oil – 1/2 cup
8. Powdered cinnamon – 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Preheat oven at 160°C, grease(flour and butter) 9 inch round baking pan
2. In one bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder
3. In another medium size bowl beat eggs and powdered sugar until pale yellow and frothy
4. Gradually add oil in egg and sugar mixture, while beating continuously, keep the mixture aside
5. Add carrot to flour mix from step 1, like coating carrots with flour
6. Finally add carrot-flour mixture to egg-sugar-oil mixture, mix with wooden spoon or whisk
7. Pour cake mixture into baking pan and bake for 50-55 minutes in preheated oven. Check by inserting a toothpick in center of cake, if cake is done it should come out clean

After toothpick test, right out of oven

Wouldn’t you agree Carrot Cake is best tea-time cake?

Zaina

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Oh and I finished Dexter! Finale season was worst of all, and the last episode was worst episode in the worst season, sigh!

Winter Essentials: Dad’s ‘Gajar ka Halwa’ Recipe

I’m home!

It’s been so long, believe me, I tried to be back soon but something* came up.

Now that I’m here I am going to note down the yummiest sweet one could make with carrots; Gajar Ka Halwa by Dad. Why Dad? Talk about that after recipe…

Gajar ka Halwa in all its glory

Makes enough for 2-3 days for a couple.

Ingredients

1. Red Carrots – 1 kgs
2. Milk – 1 liter
3. Sugar – 250 grams
4. Cardamom – 2-3 pods (seeds)
5. Ghee/Butter – 2 tbsp
6. Assorted Dry fruits – 1/4 cup (raisins, almonds, cashews)

Note: You can change the quantity of this recipe by using the proportion; Quantity of carrot in kilograms equals the quantity of milk in liters, and sugar is usually 1/4 of carrot weight(also depends on how sweet one likes the sweet 😛 )

Method

1. Grate carrots
2. In a heavy bottom pan/sauce pan, add milk and grated carrots. Boil carrot and milk together till there is no milk left. Continuously stirring if on high flame or you can leave it on medium flame and stir now and then, just to make sure it doesn’t burn and stick to bottom
3. After the mixture is thick(when all milk in gone in air) add sugar. Sugar will release water and the mixture will again become thin, which should be cooked until there is no liquid left(stirring is important)
4. Temper carrot mixture with ghee and cardamom. In a separate small pan, fry cardamom seeds in ghee and pour on carrot mixture
5. Garnish with sliced/cut assorted dry fruits and indulge!
6. Can be stored in refrigerator up-to a week

Boiling carrot and milk

A humble look

Are you watching closely?

Winter always called for Gajar Ka Halwa, it is mandatory to make this at least once every winter. Dad always made this for us; one cause he loves cooking(now and then) and two grating carrots is too much of work for Mom. There were days when we woke up in morning and were presented with Gajar Ka Halwa in breakfast, Dad always cooked this in night, like overnight magic.

This is the basic version of recipe, most people like adding Khoa to enhance richness of flavor. If you wish you can add khoa after Halwa is cooked and off flame, but still hot and give it mix, just before garnishing.

Zaina

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That something is Dexter. I watched two seasons before marriage, since that I had time between two jobs(leaving old and joining new) I wanted to make a lot of posts and schedule them for every week, but thanks to starting with Dexter season three I couldn’t stop. And now that I’m on final season (SE08 E09) I’m sad that it is going to end and dreading the finale which has been criticized widely.

The Holy Grail everyday black kajal – Lakmé Eyeconic Kajal

If anyone asks what is the one thing which I have been using for longest time from makeup, you may guess lipstick but sadly no, it is kajal. I’ve been smudging my eyes black long before the flood of kajals from every other brand. The initial one was the total natural charcoal which came in a small round box, and we would apply with match stick (it is funny now), which would definitely smudge a lot, smokey look for free yo. The breakthrough in my kajal routine came with Hashmi kajal, which I found during my first (all by myself, work travel!) to Delhi. I bought two twist up Hashmi Kajal sticks for 25 rs each. It was brilliant, did not smudge and stayed on for good 3-4 hours intact.  Soon the two Hashmi kajal I had got over and I couldn’t find them in Hyderabad anywhere, and no one was there in Delhi to buy and ship to me.

The next better thing I got hold was Streetwear pencil liner, which worked better than box kajal but not as good as Hashmi. I continued using it until the famous Mayeblline Colossal was launched, 2010 I think. It was a breakthrough in Indian makeup market and was immediate hit, and still is, just that I have found something better or best.

Later that year Lakmé launched Eyconic range(which had only black kajal and mascara initially), and I tried it with no more expectations than Colossal. Which is when I realized how better it is, and until we try new things we would never know what we are missing 😉

This post is not a comparison post of the many kajal available in India(just one note though Lakme eyeconic is must more intense and applies darker than Mayebelline Colossal ). I’m going to let you all know why eyeconic is my holy grail everyday kajal.

The first best thing about eyconic is that it does what it claims, no smudge, 10 hours and all that (note that I have dry skin and I apply kajal on lower lash line). I use it everyday in work week, it is smooth, comes in retractable pen form, easy to apply and stays on for 9-5 plus two hours more of traveling to office 😀 It is waterproof, and face-wash proof too, I use olive oil to remove it. My yearly consumption is 4~ eyeconic kajals 😀

The white variant from same line is not much liked by me, first it has shimmer, tiny glitters which is not what I wanted. Next it is too creamy, if I apply on lash line it interfere with lashes and due to too creamy texture get on lashes, and the color payoff is not as intense as black. Other than that, the staying power of white is pretty amazing.

Here is my look with Lakmé Eyeconic.

Lakmé Eyeconic Kajal Black is easily available at 200 rs while the color variants including white will cost 250 rs.

Which is your everyday HG kajal?

Zaina

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