Skincare Routine - Order of products/steps

This was a neat info graphic I came across on CosRX site

It may seem excessive, but you may add/remove steps as you see fit. This mainly gives an order of the steps and products.

Quick and dirty on the natural Deodorants

This is gonna be a quick review of the naturals deos I have tried. This is all for me, a fairly active, sweaty brown girl. I have been used to the protection offered by clinical strength supermarket deodorants, so maybe my standards are really high. I am open to the fact that no natural deodorant will provide me the protection that a chemical-laden clinical strength deo offers, but I am not opposed to the sweat, it's the stink that builds in 24 hours.

These are listed in the order of preference/effectiveness

1) Piperwei: This is a gray solid stick deo, which smells okay. And as expected works beautifully due to the charcoal in it. However, because of the charcoal, it makes the pits appear darker when applied.

2) Native: This has many scents and I have tried a couple. The only one that functions fairly well is the coconut vanilla one. The others don't performs half as well. No idea why the difference.

3) Kopari: This is a very pure coconut oil based deo. It smells wonderful and I love applying it. However the pits get the stank within 12 hours. And that is a fail for me.

4) Lume : More like Lame. It does nothing for me. It is super sticky. And I hate that it has to be rubbed in by hand. Apparently it can be used on other parts of the body, but I stick to the pits. The stickiness never goes away and makes me feel uncomfortable. And the stink is back within 6 hours.

5) Baking Soda: I have tried pure baking soda mixed with water and it functioned beautifully EXCEPT that I have painful welts and cysts form in the pits which lasted a while and left major pigmentation in their wake. I am afraid to try deos with baking soda listed as an ingredient due to this experience. I believe I am allergic. But if you're not, then baking soda is the best ingredient to get the stank out.

Special Mention: LUSH Coconut Deodorant Powder was the best natural deo I have ever used. As all companies do, they discontinued this wonderful product. I hope they bring it back someday. Until then, maybe I should try recreating it with some Corn Starch, coconut oil, and some essential oil drops.

Kryolan Dermablend

More about hair oils... Kalonji and Amla and Mustard...

I've been losing a LOT of hair lately. Although the hair is longer now, the number of hair per square cm./density is very low. I hate it! I have been using Kesh King hair oil from India for the past 3 months and I don't think it has done anything to help stop it.

I've used Navratna Red Hair Oil from India as well to stimulate and tingle the scalp. When applied, it does tingle for 10 mins. or so but I don't really know if it has done anything either. Though I do have a lot of fly-away/baby hairs now visible.

Kalonji (Black Seed) Oil is supposed to be miraculous for new hair growth, so I will try that next. Also Amla is supposed to help, so I have bought Khadi Pure Amla Oil (pure meaning, no fillers like mineral oil etc. in it) to try as well. In the next month or so I will prolly do a half and half concoction of these two oils and apply weekly(will also look into adding mustard seed oil, why not make the most potent concoction?). Then I will try it for 3 months to check for reduction of hair fall as well as for new hair growth.

I know that reduction on hair fall is a more plausible possibility than creation of new hair, but you never know. The hair that fell, hopefully their roots will still be alive and get rejuvenated with my nurturing which will lead to sprouting of new hair ;) (one can dream, can't I?).

I'll keep the blog updated with progress though.

Small L'oreal Haul

I purchased the following 4 L'oreal Infallible eye shadows from the Ulta 40% sale: 759 Burst Into Bloom, 557 Glistening Garnet, 333 Golden Sage, 335 Golden Emerald 

These colors are stunning in real life and the pictures above were taken in natural daylight and are kind of making the colors appear washed out. Do check these out in person when you get a chance. 

Eyelash growth enhancers: Products and Reviews

Mascaras have been around since 4000 B.C. and hence are one of the oldest cosmetics known to mankind. Long lashes are a universal sign of beauty and femininity. From an evolution point of view, I'm guessing it is tied to attractiveness: long fluttery lashes --> flirty --> mating and procreating; and that's all evolution is about, maximizing your chances of mating and procreating ( leaving procreation aside, not much has changed ;) )

Here are 3 products that I have personally used and can vouch for from my personal experience.

1) L'oreal Lash Serum: 3rd one in the picture below, available for $12 to $15 in the US. It is a plain and simple conditioner for your lashes. Pop it on each night before you sleep and I guarantee you will see a difference in 3-4 weeks with daily application. I have noticed however that the difference is fairly small and goes away as soon as you discontinue the application. All in all, this is a great no hassle product and I highly recommend it.

2) Smartlash Eyelash Enhancer (does not contain prostaglandin): 2nd one in the picture below, available for $25 to $35 in the US. It is a bit better in terms of lashes. It has a thin brush for applying it to the base of lashes but apply too much and you get it in your eyes and it burns! So be careful. Avoid the product if you have sensitive eyes. I definitely see results from applying this one in 3 weeks or so as well. However, after a while, the results plateau. It is still not as extreme in terms of results like Latisse (contains prostaglandin) or some higher grade products. All in all a great product, if you know the risks associated and don't want to spend a bucket load on eyelash treatment.

3) Mix of Castor oil and Avocado oil (placed in a l'oreal lash serum vial for ease of application): The most natural one on the list and is the 1st from left in the picture below. Castor oil is a very popular 

I have always had average lashes but with the use of the above mentioned products, they're getting better. Below, 1st pic shows my bare lashes with only the oil applied to them, 2nd pic shows my lashes with one coat of the L'oreal Butterfly Lashes Mascara (sorry for the freaky looking, poor quality pic). 

I bet if I was more regular with the application of these products, I would see a bigger improvement.

New Face Mask

It's not new but a modification of the Tumeric one I had posted a few weeks ago. This one uses an organic Tumeric & Sandalwood powder in place of the besan and includes raw organic honey as well. Being of Indian-birth, I LOVE the scent of Sandalwood. Besides, if you Google about sandalwood, you will see a ton of healthy skin benefits. Here's what it looks like (I bought this on eBay from seller Amber's Organic)

MASK INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp. Amber's Organic' powder shown above
• Additional Organic Turmeric (you can never have too much turmeric)
• 1 spoon Raw Organic Honey (I could've also used Manuka Honey, like the turmeric mask)
• [Whole Milk] or [Organic Yogurt + Freshly squeezed Lime juice] ... (don't use lime juice and milk together since lime will turn/spoil the milk)
• Since this can be kind of drying and pulling on the skin, I could have also added some almond oil

Here's a beautiful pic of me with the mask on:

All in all I loved this mask. I will try to keep it up.