Beauty and Personal Grooming

Pears Oil-Control Soap – it’s being promoted in a big way these days. But that’s not the reason why I picked up this soap. With the goodness of lemon flower extracts that are supposed to have astringent and oil-control properties, I felt that it’s a soap that would be just right for my acne-prone, oily skin. And indeed it is a wonderful product; I have been using it for several weeks and I love it. The soap itself is transparent and pale-greenish in colour; the aroma is quite pleasant and soothing to the senses and lingers on for quite sometime. And the best part - despite having astringent qualities, it didn’t dry my skin. And as claimed, it only cleared off excess oil from the skin while retaining the natural moisture and my skin felt fresh and clean after bath . For just Rs.24/- for a 75g bar, it’s a good buy. You can also purchase expensive ones  from Amazon, Pears Oil Control Bathing Bar, 75g or it's equivalent Pears Oil Clear Hypoallergenic - Non Comedogenic Soap 125 gm (

Spent too much time in a smoke filled room? Spray on a hydrating mist , ideally one, which is brewed with free-radical fighting green tea to add moisture and refresh a dull-looking complexion. Right after spritzing, apply a gel-based moisturizer ( Avon SKIN SO SOFT Original Moisturizing Shower Gel Original , Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel 1.7 oz Tube or 4.2 oz Pump or Shiseido Pureness Moisturizing Gel (Oil Free) 50ml/1.7oz ) to damp skin (it will adhere better) for an energised glow. (Guest post by Smitha)

Get your lip liner facts right! Tips from a well-known aesthetician: * Pick a liner that matches your lips and not your lipstick – it’s more natural and won’t leave the dreaded ring when lipstick starts fading. * Don’t apply liner all the way to the corners of your mouth; stick to the area that need definition; like the bow and the lower arch. * Never ever line glossed lips – it will never look natural. (Guest Post by Smitha)

Is it necessary to use shampoo and conditioner by the same company? This question keeps bugging us, usually as shampoo tends to finish before the conditioner. Pros say that it isn’t really essential to use shampoo and conditioner of the same brand, you can go ahead and mix and match different shampoos and conditioners to see what works for your hair. Chris Gummer, a researcher at Procter & Gamble, England  however advises: “If you do mix brands, try to find products with ‘complementary technologies’. For example, if you have dry hair, you want extra moisture all around.While it’s true that a same brand combo gives you that conveniently, hydrating formulas from different labels work fine too."

Use the skin on the inside of your wrist to see which nail-paint tone suits you best. If your skin has a bluish tinge, polishes with cool undertones work; if it has yellow tone, opt for warm colors. Sheer shades are the most user-friendly. Choose pink/clear for a pinkish tone and beige/peach for yellow skin tones. Give your nails a four-day breathing break each month. (Guest post by Smitha)

* For acne: Drink lime, papaya and cucumber juice to cleanse your system. * For heartburn : A combin ation of carrot and cucumber juice to cleanse your system. * For asthma : Try juice of apricot, lemon, pineapple, peach, carrot, radish and celery. * For obesity : Lemon, grapefruit, orange, pineapple, papaya, tomato and lettuce juice are recommended. * For detoxification : Wheatgrass juice removes toxic metals from the body and restores vitality. (Guest post by Smitha)

A lot of beauty products supposedly contain fruits, but in what way? No one’s been around squeezing fresh mango juice into a vat of your favourite shampoo. If that were the case, you’d have to store all such cosmetics in the refrigerator. “The label may read ‘papaya’ or ‘orange’ but most of the time, ‘fruit’ means ‘extract’-material taken from the skin or pulp that has had some of the phytochemicals removed from it” says Rebecca James Gadberry, an instructor of cosmetic sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. Look at the ingredients, and you will see that words like “acid”, “extract”, “oil”, or “enzyme” follow the name of the fruit. The higher this component is on the list, the more potent the concentration. (Guest Post by Smitha)

In fact, so obsessed are Indians with a fair complexion that in addition to fairness creams, usage of cream bleaches to lighten skin colour also is on the rise. A survey conducted by a leading bleach manufacturer has in fact revealed that around 90 percent of women bleached for a fairer complexion while only 10 percent bleached to camouflage superfluous hair. If you are fond of bleaching, here are some points to keep in mind to make the maximum use of this cosmetic preparation . (A few tips about bleaching, the benefits of bleaching, precautions to follow while bleaching etc are mentioned in these posts: The wonders of cream bleach and How to apply cream bleach . Do read those posts as well.)

Kajal or a kohl pencil is usually used to line the inner rim of the eyes. I have used several kohl pencils but by far I have found Shaeyes Herbal Kohl Eyeliner to be the best. It’s a flower based eye kohl containing Triphala, almond oil and other precious herbs. The flower extracts help to relax the eyes while the pure almond oil encourages the growth of luxuriant eyelashes, it claims.

I happened to use Roopgarva Face pack from Gayatri Herbals and quite liked it. With a unique blend of pure herbs such as neem, tulsi (basil), jesthmadh etc and the wonderful multani mitti that removes the dirt and grime from the skin, it makes your facial skin look thoroughly cleansed and glowing. Good for oily, acne-prone skins and in summers. Roopgarva face pack

Better mental health makes you see things in the right perspective. So try and improve your mental health and everything will click for you. Also go over these quotes on mental health and mull over them: The feeling of being valuable - 'I am a valuable person'- is essential to mental health and is a cornerstone of self-discipline. -- M Scott Peck The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson Sanity remains defined simply by the ability to cope with insane conditions. --Ana Castillo There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain. --R.D. Laing Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all. -- Bill Clinton Mental health problems do not affect three or four out of every five persons but one out of one. --Dr. William Menninger All feelings are transient. Feelings are like spring breezes that pass through one's day.

I have tried Fiama Di Wills shower gel and loved it. ITC’s products have always been rated well by consumers. But have you tried their shampoos? I haven’t, but my friend who has used the variant ‘Everyday Mild’ says that neither is it a ‘bad shampoo’ per se nor is it out of the world. She washes her hair daily and therefore wished to use something mild on her hair. Her hair is not exactly straight and tangles easily after a wash. This Fiama Di Wills—Everyday Mild shampoo with the extracts of Thyme and Juniper and claims of imparting soft, tangle-free hair seemed just the thing to her. Plus, she liked the packaging; in fact, the bottle was transparent enough to see the color. After using it for over a week she quite liked the aroma of the shampoo and it did leave her hair tangle-free after a wash. However she found that when she had thoroughly oiled her hair the previous day before shampooing , it did not exactly cleanse her hair that well, she had to reapply it a number of times to

In the course of the day, your hands are subjected to a lot of abuse. You might be caring for them on a regular basis but accidents do happen, sometimes.    Like for example, you topple a glass jar/expensive crockery set inadvertently and in a frantic bid to gather the scattered fragments, glass pieces get stuck in your palm .   In such a case, don’t panic and tug and pull the pieces out—this might lodge the minuscule pieces even deeper into the skin.