Serum.... the miracle worker...

Hello to all the lovelies out there....
Its been so long since I've posted something new... I have recently started using a skin serum and I must actually shout out that it works... it totally totally works.... You would say.. I use a good moisturizer and everything.. Do I still need a serum? The answer is yes. A serum is a skin product that has a very high concentration of certain active ingredients. The molecules of the serum are also smaller to better penetrate the skin to deeper levels and deliver these active ingredients where they are really required. The active ingredients can be anything from high concentration of vitamin C or hyaluronic acid ( to reduce fine lines and wrinkles) or glycolic acid ( which exfoliates the skin to bring out underlying newer and healthier skin). 
      Ideally, the serum should be used when your skin is still damp after washing. Not wet, but damp. What I do is that after washing my face and using the toner, as explained in an earlier post about basic skincare routine, I use the serum. I use just a few drops and apply it to my forehead, cheeks, nasolabial fold (the fold in the skin extending from the side of the nose to the side of the mouth), around the eyes and the rest on the neck. 2-3 drops generally suffice for this entire area. The eyes should be carefully treated. Just pat the serum around the eyes with your ring finger without letting any get in the eye. Don't forget to use the serum at night when it will have a better chance to repair all the damage the day has inflicted on your skin.
After the serum, wait for a few minutes for the serum to get absorbed and then you can go ahead and use your moisturizer, eye cream and other things...
The serum that I am currently using is the Clinique repairwear laser focus. I must say that my mother who is nearing her retirement age also uses the same product and is extremely happy with it. I have notice a marked difference in her wrinkles on the cheeks and neck. For me, my crow's feet(wrinkles at the side of the eyes) are less pronounced. We have both been using this serum for the past couple of months. Ladies, lets not be brave and let the expert do its job... A Skin Serum is good for you. Choose whichever brand suits you.
All the best.

A totally kickass smoothie...

I made this great smoothie with whatever I had at hand. And the best part is.. it so nutritious.... Don't believe me? Just wait till you hear the ingredients....
Ingredients:
● 1/2 a bunch spinach, cleaned and blanched
● 1/2 or 3/4th apple cut into small cubes
● I used guava juice straight out of a carton, you can use orange or any other juice with no added sugar or preservatives.
My spinach was left over from the previous day when I had made soup. I had frozen the remaining portion. It also had a little black pepper, salt and cumin powder. Believe me, these things just enhanced the flavours...
Ok, so for making this smoothie, I put all these ingredients in the blender andddd..... blended away like nobody's business... Voila... smoothie ready...
Dont add ice cubes if your spinach is frozen like mine was.. But otherwise do whatever makes you happy... The best part is you know there are lots of vitamins, antioxidants and iron going in your body to make it stronger and raising your immunity...
All the best...

Determining your skin undertone for your makeup

Hello all you beautiful people...
Have you ever had an experience with foundation looking fake on your skin, lipstick looking dull or gaudy or your jewellery looking flat on you????
Well, I think I know why... You are most likely wearing makeup with contrasting Undertone to your skin...
Now you would ask " ये  undertone किस चिडीयाका नाम है??"
Well, your skin is a certain shade and then it has a certain undertone... ie. warm undertone, cool undertone or neutral....
If you've seen certain foundations of the more expensive variety, they have these things on their shade numbers.. I know you have seen W2, N4, C5 and wondered what that is...The letter is the undertone and the number is the shade. (MAC has an exact opposite way to numbering, so ask their sales executives). Mostly, the girls at the counter here in India have no experience and try to just sell their product instead of helping you determine your undertone and shade perfectly.
So how do you find out your undertone? Thankfully, there are a few ways... Look at the inside of your wrist. Do you see all those veins? What colour are they? Green, blue or do you see both the colours? What colour of jewellery complements you? Golden,  silver or both...  If your veins look blue and silver complements you, you are a cool toned girl... Your undertones are pink, blue or red. If your veins look green, gold jewellery makes you look like a princess,  then you are a warm toned gal and your undertones are yellow, golden or peach... And if your veins are a mix of green and blue and you can rock any kind of jewellery,  well, you are a neutral toned gal...

Even if you are a cool toned girl or a guy, buy neutral or warm foundation as these do not oxidise so easily and blend better with your skin... 

You can apply the same principle to your other makeup items like lipsticks or glosses, blushes, bronzers, etc.. Cool toned people can rock cosmetics with pink undertones and warm toned people can rock cosmetics with yellow or peach undertones.. Neutral toned people are just lucky, aren't you? 

Well, all the best..

These L'Oreal foundations are all the same shade but the one on extreme left is w3, the middle one is N3 and the one on the right is C3.

Quick review... Colorbar Ultimate Eyeliner

I was running out of my eyeliner and one other had become too old to safely use in the eye area so I had to go to my neighbourhood mall, Viviana.. I wanted to try Colorbar and hence went straight to that store.. Got this pen-like eyeliner with a felt tip for Rs. 550/-
My views:
Pros:
● looks good.
● handles well
● felt tip is fairly pointed for precision.
● the colour is super intense.
● has a shiny finish.
Cons:
● rub your eye one or two times and it comes off.
● not at all waterproof after drying. Does not last beyond a couple of hours.
● dont know how long the felt tip would last if you are using it on a regular basis.

Buy this only if you are sure you won't touch your eyes and if you don't use a primer.

I found this a waste of money. If the eyeliner comes off so easily, its not worth it...

Orders from Amazon and Ebay...

Hello. ...
Its been too long that I've written something.  It was because my cousin was getting married and she's the closest thing I have to a sister (I have a younger brother). So I had devoted myself to that 'noble' (haha) cause... I can still hear my husband cribbing about how much money I spent (wasted) on clothes, jewellery, blouse stitching, accessories and what not... But I tell you, totally worth it.... My sister looked like a million bucks.. She ought to, she was the bride.. But even I looked worth a few hundred thousand... Not baddddd.....
So to get to our subject today... I was looking for some long necklaces to wear at the wedding... I searched so hard... at so many places.. But the cost was not justified at all... I mean come on, Rs. 7000/- for a necklace that I wont wear again... Then I saw this necklace called 'mango mala' on www.ebay.in . And it was just about Rs. 490/- . I thought why not.. With shipping, I paid Rs. 520/- . Of course, this order came from within India... and was delivered within 10 days... It came securely packaged the the earrings came with extra rubber backs... Wore this with my nauvari saree and it looked fabulous. (Check out my photo on fb ;))
The second thing I ordered was from www.amazon.com . This year it is really cold and I especially felt my skin so itchy and dry.... My husband found this really cool deal on Bath & Body Works lotions. I am a huge fan of BBW products and have also gifted stuff from here to my friends and relatives. So this deal was to choose any 6 lotions for.... I guess $30ish... and the shipping worked out another $30... So $60 in total.... which works out to around Rs. 4000/- on a higher side.. Plus I paid another 520/- towards duty.... Still works out cheaper... Some BBW products are available on flipkart.com but they are individually priced at Rs. 850/-  to Rs. 1300/- depending on the scent. Also I got some scents not available over here.
My only complaint is the time it took for the parcel to arrive. It took over 4 weeks. I could track the parcel on USPS within 3-4 days of ordering and it showed that it'd reached San Francisco Airport but then nothing.... So I guess, all the delay was at our Foreign Post Office. Ahh.... the Indian red tape... Anyways, my parcel arrived with extra packaging from Indian Post. So I guess they opened it up... but the individual bottle wraps were not opened... You can see only 5 bottles as I gave one to my sis, the one who got married...

All in all, I'm happy with Amazon and Ebay and would highly recommend it.

Review: Oriflame triple core lipsticks

I ordered the new ( new for me) Oriflame triple core lipsticks from a lady who has the agency. Received the order in a week's time and I'm happy...
• Packaging: the lipsticks come in a black packaging which mentioning everything from the weight to the shade, ingredients,  etc.. Not very sleek but functional.
• On opening the package: the tube is a dull silver colour, which I really liked.
• The lipstick itself: The lipstick it composed of 3 concentric circles. The innermost is a lip balm. Next is a glitter circle. Outermost is the lipstick.
• On application: the lipstick is creamy, soft and feels good on the lips. This I'm sure, is due to the lip balm core. They say it has avocado, jojoba oil, chamomile, vitamin E oil, etc.
• Shades: There were 8 shades to choose from. I chose Ravishing Rose and Explosive Pink. I loved the rose one. It is a subtle shade, excellent for everyday wear. The pink one is also good but maybe I'll reserve it for special occasions when I dress up.
All in all, I really liked the lipsticks and will recommend it to all you beauties...

Yeh "bond" hum nahi todenge...

Yeh "bond"??? Not the shaken/stirred Bond but I'm talking about the bond between the teeth and various resin materials we use nowadays to fill a tooth. By now all of you reading this must have atleast one tooth-coloured resin filling in your mouth. Dental composite resins are types of synthetic resins which are used in dentistry as restorative material or adhesives. Synthetic resins evolved as restorative materials since they were insoluble, aesthetic, insensitive to dehydration, easy to manipulate and reasonably inexpensive. Composite resins are most commonly composed of Bis-GMA monomers, a filler material such as silica and in most current applications, a photoinitiator. A photoinitiator is a substance added to the composite material which catalyses the setting of the resin by applying light of a certain frequency. Technically the silver amalgam fillings are good and last longer when properly done. But they're also unsightly and cant be used on surfaces that have no retention to hold these fillings.. In short, they can't be used in the anterior aesthetic zone.. Also there is the growing concern of mercury being present in the silver fillings. This is where the Composite Fillings come in. They mimic the tooth structure and blend beautifully to give a lifelike appearance. Stronger composites are used for restorations in the teeth with decay on chewing surfaces. 

So all in all, composites are the way to go... So dont go to your dentist asking for 'chaandi' in your tooth. Go 'au naturel'...