Thought of the day

This thought is very very special to my heart. Yesterday, I was not able to sleep as I was consoling some of my friends over whatsapp since they did not clear their IPCC exams. This made me wonder about my results also which is about to come in a month's time. I was wondering about the Indian education system where a student puts his last drop of blood to prepare for his exams and he is not able to achive what he wants to. I accept that there is competition but what I want to say is those who are deserving should not be held back.

Same goes with me. I have given my everything to prepare for my exams, now if the result does not come positive I would be shattered completely. Those efforts which I made in first go cannot be made again. I dont know but I slept thinking about all this. But one thing I must say that the Indian education system should change. Success must be given to those who deserve. Anyways here comes the thought of the day written by me.

I know there were choices, options and alternatives, but when I look back I only see my zeal to make my life better.
-shikha

shikha

I got featured

Yes yes you heard it right. I got featured in one of the biggest blogs in the country. Omg I am on cloud nine right now. I feel like a celebrity. Wiseshe has been one of the first blogs that I have been following since a year.
This blog has been an inspiration to start my own blog. This blog has made it big and it will always be a benchmark for all the upcoming bloggers like me. Thank you anamika ma'am for posting this. It surely means alot to me. I seriously have no words about how happy I am. Just two words thank you www.wiseshe.com

Here is the link of my featuring
www.wiseshe.com/2014/01/meet-the-blogger-series-shikha-from-selfenhancing.html

Here is the screenshot.

shikha

Get stripped DIY nail art tutorial.

I love stripes on my nails. They give a very very edgy look. I feel them to be very sexy. And they are easy to do. If you are used to drawing straight lines, then you can master this art.
This time I have created striped nail art with a difference. I have combined two coloured striped and whoaa a new nail art..

This can be done on any base except black and white. Because I am doing stripes in two colours that is black and white..

Step one paint your nails with a red colour nail paint..

Draw three stripes with a white nail art pen in the left hand side of the nail.

Then draw three stripes with a black nail art pen on the right side of the nail. Try and make them match on the upper part.

Now you are done. You will get edgy nails in minutes.

Thank you

shikha

Products that got emptied in January

January was high on winters in Kolkata. I have been literally wearing my 3 pairs of socks, out of which two of them are worn out and the third one is on the verge of wearing out.
Since tomorrow is first day of february, so from tomorrow onwards all newspapers, all social networking websites, all TV channels and magazines will be flooded with pinks and hearts and roses and teddys and kisses and on and on for the upcoming valentines day. There is so much excitement for this day around me.
Also from monday onwards I will be busy for a training at CS institute do will be off from this blog for a while from monday..

Coming back to the post, I ended up a few things in the first month. Heres' the list..

1. Garnier BB cream. Thisis my second tube and now I think I will never turn back to it again. I have found my new love that us Ponds BB cream and I am kinda hooked..

2. Patanjali body lotion. It is a good herbal body lotion for the price. I am loving it.

3. Maybelline lip balm in berry blast. This is the best tinted lip balm I have ever tried with such a yummy smell. I must say its the most abused lip balm by me till date.

4. Habibs hair serum. Okay I admit this is not this month' empty but I took nearly two and a half month to complete this bottle. Not turning back to it again. I am bored ##yawwnn##.

5. Nivea 48 hour anti perspirant roll on. It is a good roll on for the price. I loved using it. The smell lingers for a very long time and it does not leaves white patches like other roll on deos.

6. Lotus herbals kajal. Okayy I admit I am a kajal addict. And this kajal is my favourite. I have actually seen my lower lashes growing after using this kajal. It is so abused that I even lost its cap.

7. Biotique bio margosa shampoo. A good herbal shampoo from biotique. It helped controlling my dandruff and flakiness and also made my hair soft. I has also got conditioner with it so its a good shampoo..

So tell me your stories of january empties..

How to make tinted moisturizer at home

We all love some kind of sun protection for our face and we also love some kind of cream that helps in hiding our blemishes and provide some brightening effect. So my brain struck into an idea, why not lets combine a cream and a sunscreen and make your own version of a BB cream?

Sounds interesting! Oh yes it is interesting indeed. When I am in a hurry I forget to apply my sunscreen and later on I regret about it. So I thought to make my own tinted  moisturiser which is safe to use and contains less chemicals  as compared to other creams. It is very simple and easy to make and can be stored for a long period of time.

Actually the motivation behind the idea is the time factor and the money. We youngsters are always in hunt of good products at low prices. And I believe its best to protect our skin at this age as much as possible so that we can reap maximum benefits out of our skin at later stage. So I prefer using as much natural things as possible.

This tinted moisturiser I am talking about is very easy to make and combines some very basic ingredients which can be stored for a long time. But i prefer making smaller batches.

So lets jump straight to the DIY.

Ingredients
An empty container
Tinted loose powder, I am using lakme rose powder
Aloevera gel
Sunscreen

Thats it...

Firstly take some loose powder in an empty container. Make sure you sanitize your spoon to tranfer the powder.

Then take some aloevera gel in the container.

Finally take some sunscreen in it.

Now just mix all these and you are done.

You can even select your shade to make an even colour by taking more loose powder. It brightens my face and covers slight imperfections. It is good for daily use and contains benefits of aloevera and sunscreen.

You can even make a shimmer moisturizer by mixing some shimmer powder or liquid, I have used here Oriflame peach me perfect cream.

A final note, please make sure that you sanitize your hands before dipping your fingers in the container..

Thankkss..

shikha

Thought of the day

Indeed

Two minute makeup look tutorial

Makeup is something that i love doing. I mean any girl would not mind if something enhances her features.. My love for makeup has inspired me to start this blog. With so much passion in my heart i thought why not come up with a basic tutorial. This tutorial would help you out when you are in a hurry. I mean something is always better than nothing.
This tutorial requires some very very basic things. It just prepares your face in the morning. If you have a clean face without any imperfections you can very well go ahead with this look.
Requirement
A kajal
A lip gloss
A lip balm
A BB cream
A mascara
By now it must have been very clear to you that what I am talking about. People are actually confused of what to apply and what not to apply when they are in a hurry. So they tend to skip a few steps in their makeup.
Step 1
Wash your face with facewash and put toner.
Step 2
Applyy BB cream on your face.
Step 3
Apply kajal on your eyes. If you want you can line up your upper lid also. But here I am lining my lower lid
Step 4
Apply lip balm and then a lip gloss. The trick is to put focus on your  lips since the eyes are not done up so much. This would instanly bright up your face
Finally apply mascara and you are done.
Enjoy your look..
Thankks

How to keep yourself fresh while staying outdoors

This is a problem with probably all the persons out there. Since I have oily skin, my face becomes oily when I stay outdoors and thus it becomes dull and lifeless. Sun plays a very important role in causing harm to our skin. Tanning, pigmentation, loosing your glow are all because of staying out for a very long time. Staying fresh also becomes important so that you feel confident about yourself even if you have to catch up with your friends or a date maybe in the evening.

So here are few tips to keep you fresh even if you are staying outdoors for the entire day.

Before stepping out of your house apply sunscreen. And keep a small tube of sunscreen in your bag. This helps in providing some sun protection

Never leave your house without a bottle of water, if you know that you have to stay outdoors. This will ensure that your body is hydrated and also you will not feel thirsty

Keep a packet of wet wipes especially baby wipes because they do not have alcohol in them. Use them as often as you need. Wet wipes gives you a feeling of a clean and a pollution free face so you know that your face is not carrying any dust or oiliness.

Another thing on which I stress is keeping a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your bag. I prefer Himalaya pure hands sanitizer which is priced at Rs. 40 or so. It becomes a must to use a hand sanitizer before and after having your food so that your hands become germs free. 

Coming to the makeup part, I think to look fresh, a girl just requires just basic things- a kajal, a moisturizer, a lip balm. Also carry a comb with you so that your hair does not feel messed up. I know you must be thinking that the bag will become heavy but its not so, these are basic things that even a man should keep in his bag (apart from the makeup ofcourse) these are basic and very important things which most of us tend to skip but they are very important as a part of our hygiene and freshness.Also keep some candies and mint in your bag so that your mouth feels fresh and you become more confident.For girls, if you are oily skinned like me, you must also keep a compact powder so that your face feels bright and glowing.Wear comfortable and loose clothing and comfortable footwear so that you do not feel uncomfortable while walking or sitting and also you are able to carry yourself wellWhile staying outdoors don’t eat oily or fried food and also avoid cold drinks because it makes your face more oily and your body also feels weak. So as far as possible try and avoid these.Lastly try and smile as far as possible because you never know who is falling in love with your smile. I know I am overstressing on smiling but still its very important to be feel fresh, glowing and confident.

Thank you

Image sources google.com

shikha

Write For This Blog

Okay, here goes an opportunity to all the readers of my blog, you can send me your articles and I can publish them on my blog. Slowly and steadily this blog is growing big and now its time to take a step further and thus I take the opportunity to invite you all to contribute your articles in this blog. Regarding topics, it can be on anything like food, relationships, hobbies, DIYs makeup or you can just let down your feeling to me. Right now I cannot provide you with any monetary compensation but I can assure you with the traffic you will get for your blog. Or you can see it as an opportunity to express yourself..

Regarding the rules, I have not put any stringent rules except that the writeup should have a minimum of 500 words.

As a final word you can drop your posts at my mail malooshikha@gmail.com
Or you can just pour out your feelings about this blog or just ping me to say hi. I would feel elated..

Thank you

Happy Republic Day

India is celebrating today its 65th republic day. Congratulations to all Indians.
Jai Hind

Its saturday

Sorry for not putting up a post yesterday because I went to ecopark. Oh it’s a lovely place. And I must say its huge park. We were a group of 9 girls so you can well imagine what a fun it could have been. I am still feeling tired.. enjoys the pics…

Since its weekend so there are lots of plans lying up for me..

Love

I wore a black white printed cotton top with blue denims. Since it was a sunny day i had to carry my Puma sunglasses. Wore a very little makeup with just lip balm and a BB cream and ofcourse kajal.

thankks

Leopard print nail art tutorial

Leopard print is everywhere, be it in clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and even nails. The easiest way to create this look is by the way of a nail art. I find it super easy and super chic. My nails create a fashion statement in themselves. I even like zebra print on my nails and I have a separate post on it lying up.

It just needs two basic colours one light and one dark. The trick is to keep the lighter shade as the base and the darker shade as the print. The outlining can be done with any colour but I prefer black over all the colours because black as a colour is very strong and its just great for outlining purpose. Black completes the look for any sort of nailart. Now you don’t have to waste your money to get nailarts done at reputed salons. You can create it on your own and you it does not require a good hand at drawing. Now ditch your boring manicures with simple monotone colours and give a super classy manicure to your hands because they deserve your attention.

So here comes the DIY. As I said you require 2 nailcolours and one outliner. Here I take a golden colour nailpaint and a dark brown nailpaint. You can create this look with even colours like pinks and blues they look equally chic and sexy but the trick is to keep pink as base.

Step one -paint your nails with light golden colour nail paint.

Step two – draw dots from a dark brown nail paint. They must not be in a sequence otherwise they will look odd. Place these dots randomly.

Step three – now in this step draw outlines with a black nail paint but don’t draw full circles. Just random outlines needs to be done. Here the trick is to create it with random hands otherwise they will not give a real look

Step five – finish up this look by coating it with transparent nail paint so that it gives a shine to the nail art and helps it preserve for a longer period of time.

Hope you like this tutorial.

Thanks..

Patanjali Ojas Aquafresh Body Cleanser

This time it’s a review on a patanjali soap. Since I am not a big fan of shower gels (they tend to make my skin dry and are loaded with chemicals) I love using handmade soaps because they are not harsh to my skin and does not make my skin dry at all. Previously I used only handmade soaps from Khadi and now I have totally converted to these soaps from Patanjali. I am yet to try Fabindia soaps since I have many people raving about them. But right now I am very happy with my Patanjali soaps so I am not in mood to try anything new in soaps right now.

Patanjali is one such brand that is superclose to my heart. I have made my entire family to try these soaps and they have been thanking me for this.  My friend tease me that whenever I shop for my  wedding, the first thing that I am going to raid is a Patanjali shop. Well I could not agree less. Reason being they show instant results and they are actually herbal products with minor preservatives. They do not have any fancy claim to their products and most importantly they are price friendly. Do I need to say more??
They have total 8 variety of soaps including neem soap, multani mitti soap, mogra soap, mint-tulsi soap, gomutra soap, aloevery soap and finally haldi chandan soap. This aquafresh soap is priced at Rupees 22 for 75 gms. Can you believe for the price it offers. Well at first I was little skeptical to try this soap as I was not sure about the quality but when I tried this I became a fan of this soap.

Read further to know more.
My father is a fan of his Pears original soap during winters. This patanjali soap also looks same as the pears soap and so I replaced his pears soap with brand new Patanjali soap and when he used it he said it is far better than the pears soap. Later on that day at night while returning home from office, he brought 10 aquafresh soaps. “happy me”. Enough of ramblings now.
Coming to the review, it is nicely scented handmade soap which is true to its claims. Company claims that this soap is useful in rejuvenating, nourishing and glorifying the skin. Useful in removing dryness and roughness of skin. It contains shudh suhaga, haldi, tulsi, giloy, amba haldi, neem, aloe vera and gomutra. No fancy claims so I am impressed.

Coming to the packaging, it does not look like a soap from Indian brand. It is nicely packed with plastic cover inside the outer cardboard cover. Now I can raise a question to other brands of soaps like ITC, they are offering the same packaging, so why they charge so much for a soap? I mean they are merely selling a bathing bar which only helps in cleaning the skin, nothing much... It lathered pretty well without drying out my skin. I have been using it for a month and I can comment that yes it has helps in glowing and rejuvenating of skin. I can see that glow on my face. Although I don’t use it on my face but I guess it is also safe to use there also. My only concern about the soap is that it melts out pretty fast. It last me only 10 days with daily use. But I guess all handmade soaps have this longetivity  only so its okay.. The fragrance of the soap is amazing, it reminds me Jhonson's baby soaps. Smell is there for around 20 minutes which is good.




Summing up
Pros
 A mild handmade soap from Patanjali.
Great ingredient list
Does what it claims
The price. I love this price
Does not dry out my skin
Good soap for daily use
Nice smell
Nice packaging

Cons
My only con for this product is that it doe not last long and also it is only available at the patanjali outlets only.
 I give it 4.8 out of 5. It is a great product and I recommend it to all

Nivea whitening cell repair and UV protecting moisturising cream

This tub of cream from Nivea has been a savior for my entire family this winter. This a big white coloured tub from the brand which did its job perfectly. Read further to know more.
Nivea is a well known brand in making lip balms, lotions and creams. Everyone has used the cream which came in blue coloured round tub from this brand once in their life. It has a great smell and even does not feel oily at all. This cream is another good work from this brand.

As soon as you open the lid you are greeted with a sweet refreshing smell which does not bother my sensitive nose. Since the tub is used one I lost the silver covering on the lid. The packaging is very simple and fuss free. I like it! Coming to the texture of the cream it is a white coloured cream which is very very light in texture and moisturizes equally well. It did not cause breakouts in my skin. This cream is priced at Rupees 170 for 100ml which is indeed impressive. Well coming to my part I am not a big fan of using moisturizers and cold creams on my face. I have a fear that they will make my skin oily and cause breakouts. That Ayur cold cream has caused me tremendous breakouts. But I trust Nivea somehow. So without second thoughts I applied it.

It felt very light on my skin and did not make it very oily. But the company claims that it has brightening properties which I did not find. It made my skin a bit darker and did not provide that glow which I expected. So my thumbs are down on this part. But the cream as a whole is very smooth. The fragrance lingers for a while around 20 minutes and then it fades off.

Since my skin is not flakey so I am not able to comment on whether it is able to cure skin flakiness. It moisturized well around my eyes and nose area. The tub claims to have camu camu (I don’t know what’s that ) and acerola cherry for skin brightening and also 40X vitamin c which is good for skin. It also claims to provide UV protection but I feel it would have been better if they would have mentioned the amount of UV protection. But I am happy that a cream is providing some UV protection so office goers do not have to worry about sun protection. Also the ingredient list is mentioned in the back of the flip covers which has a long list of ingredients including parabens and glycerin and other chemicals. It kept my skin moisturized for the whole day. I guess it’s a decent cream for the price. It is available at all the departmental stores so availability might not be an issue.

Summing up

Good points about the cream

• A light moisturizing cream
• A good cream available at a good price
• Fuss free travel friendly packaging
• Keeps skin moisturized for the entire day
• Contains UV protection so atleast some sun protection is there in a cream. So even if you forget applying your sunscreen, it won’t be much of a problem.
• Contains vitamin c and glycerin as its ingredients.
• Available easily

Some not so good points about the cream

• Long list of harmful chemicals
• Made my skin a bit dark so the whitening claim is false.
• Since it’s a tub packaging so I have to dip my hands in the tub so it is not much hygienic to dip your hands evrytime while using
• Does not mention the amount of UV protection

It is a decent product from the house of Nivea, if you don’t mind a bit of skin darkening and chemicals then you must definitely go for it. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Thank you

DIY coffee cocoa mask for glowing skin

As you all know I am a big fan of DIYs. This time it’s a DIY with cocoa and coffee. And its equally tempting. We girls just love chocolate and when it becomes a part of our skincare, it gives an amazing heavenly feeling. My room gets filled with its amazing aroma. The entire winter, hot chocolate has been flowing in our blood and it’s high time that it flows through our skin too. This is a simple at home mask which gives a spa like feeling at the comfort of your home. I actually end up licking a part of this superb mask.
Okay so you all have become very excited by now. Read further to know more about this DIY.

Ingredients
Coffee- it is loaded with antioxidants which can prevent premature skin ageing. It helps in preventing the appearance of cellulite and also removes puffy eyes. It acts as a good exfoliator for dry skin and makes it silky and smooth.

Cocoa powder- it is very rich in antioxidants including vitamin E, helps to keep your skin supple, glowing and young. It has lots of minerals including calcium, potassium and zinc. This also helps in preventing cellulite.

Honey- who doesn’t knows the benefits of honey in skincare. It acts as a natural moisturizer and has antibacterial properties. It is also full of antioxidants which helps in clarification of pores and gives a healthy glow

I can see you all getting tempted to try this DIY. Trust me it gives a very healthy glow which lasts throughout the day and with regular use, it with make your skin smooth and glowing. Just massage your skin for 5 minutes and wash off with cold water and check out the difference yourself.

Firstly take some coffee powder in a bowl

Add cocoa powder

And finally add honey to make it in a consistency of a paste

It is indeed tempting and I bet you will end up licking it.

 You can also add almond oil for added benefits. Now you don’t have to rush to parlors for your face cleanups. You can get it done at the comfort of your home with easily available ingredients and it takes just 15 minutes of your time.
Do we need anything more??

My battle with my hair

Oh my hairs have never been easy with me. They are actually taking some kind of revenge from me (I don’t know why..) Till my school days, even my skin was not in terms with me, but gradually with constant care and facials, my skin has improved a lot. But I don’t know what to do with my hairs.

Actually the story goes like this. My mother does not have very good skin but she is very very fair, so the same traits are passed on to me as well. But still I have maintained my hairs to a lot of extent but still they are not in a state in which I want them to be. I have shoulder length hair with oily scalp and dry hair.

 Someone told me that the real beauty of a woman is defined by the length of her hair and since then my battle with my hair has started. I have been suffering from dandruff, premature graying, hairloss, thinning of hair, split end , even baldness(aloepacia)and what not. I actually feel pity on myself now. After school I started taking care of both my hair and skin. I have tried all possible hot oil massages, luxurious oils, shampoos, conditioners but the texture of my hair did not improve. I tried all the home remedies to improve my hair condition but they refuse to improve. Then earlier in 2013 I was diagnosed with aloepacia and that has become the biggest nightmare of my life. It took so much strength to stand up with self confidence. Doctors told me that the biggest reason behind hairloss is stress and tension. I don’t know if they were right but during my CS  finals exam in December 2013, I lost more hairs then they were supposed to be. I lost confidence in each and every advertisement shown in the T.V be it shampoo or conditioner or hairoil etc. to me all these are utter bullshit which do not improve my hair condition.

The only change that I saw in the texture of my hair was by applying almond oil from Patanjali. It reduced my dandruff to a lot of extent and made my hair soft. So you can see that I love my almond oil like anything. It is no less than a miracle for me. Then I tried switching over to herbal alternatives but it was of no use. Patanjali kesh kanti shampoo made my hair super-dry. Hot oils just improved my hair for a single day, the next day my hair felt so oily. During summer months, my head used to be super oily and since it is of curly texture so you can well imagine how difficult it was for me to manage my hair. With so much frustration in my head I used to go to the parlors every time to get my hair trimmed and after trimming my hairs used to become super-short. Now I am about to cry.. “weep” ”weep”. Even I tried the most reputed salons but whoever turned up to my hair for trimming only said that my hair was in worst condition and something had to be done to them. I have lost count on how much I have heard for my hair. I seriously wanted to say these people that they are being paid for trimming and not for opening their mouth to say something that I knew, but still I kept quiet . And now I just trim my hair at home only. I get frustrated with those fat ugly parlor ladies.

Now I have lost hope to recover my hair. I am just trying to be happy with whatever I have. I have realized that God has been very kind to me by giving me an amazing life. I have learnt to stay happy with my hair for they belong to me and only me. Whoever loves me will not love me for the condition of my hair but for the heart that I possess. As they say beauty of skin fades but beauty of heart remains forever..

So next time when you say someone that you are not beautiful, just wait and think that it takes a lot of courage to stand with a confidence in front of you. If you cannot praise about a person just don’t demoralize him. It’s not about beauty, it about a person.

Thank you

Image taken from google.com

Nivea aqua effect Refreshing facewash

Its winters in Kolkata and my skin is behaving quite well this time. I am a more of a mint flavoured person. I love the flavor in my food, my facewashes, soaps and other items. But during winters when it is still cold, you cannot bear the extra cold effect that mint flavor gives you. But during hot summers, this flavor is such a relief. But I love my mint teas during winter months..

Coming to the facewash, it comes from a trusted brand called Nivea. Ah! They make super awesome lip balms. This month I have completed Nivea pomegranate tinted lip balm and I loved its smell and colour. It gives a very healthy shine to my lips. Since this facewash was from such good brand I did not think before trying this. Read further to know how it fared on me.
It is a light blue coloured body with a white flip cap. The texture of the face wash is good. It is neither too thick nor too runny. At my first look on this facewash I thought it too be of a very refreshing minty type facewash (I hope you understand). But it did not have that fresh feeling at all. The tube mentions that it’s a refreshing facewash but it does not gives any feeling of getting refreshed.

It is priced at Rupees 99 for 75 ml which is pretty good for the price. But when I used it in winters it dried out my skin. My face was crying out for a moisturizer. Since I have dry skin in winters, it can be expected from a facewash. But on the cleaning part, this facewash did a good job of cleaning my face and removing all the oil and dust. This tube is available at all departmental stores and online as well. It gave a slight brightening effect due to its cleaning properties which I loved. It has a long list of ingredients which contains SLES and three types of parabens. Since I am not good at chemistry, I am not able to explain you the effect of having three types of parabens in a single facewash. All I know is that parabens are harmful for skin. But these days, which facewash doesn’t have parabens? So it does not bother me. But still it has a long list of chemicals which is not fare to a facewash. According to me, facewash is a thing that everyone uses in their skincare regimen for atleast two times a day, or maybe more. So it must contain minimum amount of chemicals. But still nothing can be done.

Coming to the fragrance of this facewash, as I said it is not that refreshing as I thought it would be. As you can see the colour of the facewash says that it it gives a refreshing feeling but the fragrance is very mind and does not stay even for 5 minutes after washing the face.

Summing up

Good things about the facewash

• It comes from a trusted brand called Nivea
• A good facewash for summers
• It’s a tube so very easily it can be carried in a handbag and travel friendly
• It has mild fragrance
• 75ml for Rupees 99 is a decent thing for a facewash

Not so good things about facewash

• It dries out my skin
• It does not give THAT refreshing feeling
• It contains a long list of chemicals

I give it a 3 out of 5. go for it girls..
Thank you