My 'The Body Shop' Skin Care Routine

Hey Everyone,

After a really long time and going through lots of trial and error and also spending (or rather investing) a lot of moolah, I have finally found a skin care regime that is actually working for me and is amazing enough to flaunt here.

Being blessed with  good skin is one thing but maintaining the same is another and it is easier to know when your skin does not seem to be as good as it should be. So contrary to popular belief that I needn't do much for my skin, I actually have to do much more.

So, within a couple of years of coming back to India, I found few amazing The Body Shop (TBS) products that are helping me to maintain my skin.

Without talking more, let's get on with this trio of products that I am loving right now-

1. TBS Drops of Light Pure Clarifying Foam Wash

2. TBS Oils of Life Intensely Revitalizing Facial Oil

3. TBS Oils of Life Intensely Revitalizing Gel Cream

TBS Drops of Light Pure Clarifying Foam Wash

Product Description- A rich and creamy foam cleanser to clarify and purify the skin.

My experience- Gives a rich creamy lather and the brightening effect can be seen after a couple of washes itself. It goes really well with my combination-oily skin. Only a drop works well for the whole face.

Price ₹1525 for 125ml

TBS Oils of Life Intensely Revitalizing Facial Oil

Product Description- Infused with three precious seed oils and a blend of seven essential oils, we've created the Oils of Life™ Intensely Revitalizing Facial Oil. The lightweight and quickly absorbing texture leaves a non-sticky finish, melting onto the skin, leaving it silky and soft. Instantly, skin appears smoother, more radiant, revived, revitalized and nourished. After 4 weeks, the signs of aging appear reduced, wrinkles appear minimized, and skin feels more elastic and firm.

My Experience- One of the best serums I have found in these few years. I was a bit skeptical about using oil on my mildly oily skin but when I felt the texture in the store, I thought of giving it a try and am glad that I did. I mix a couple of drops with the cream and apply twice a day. The skin really feels soft and smooth and definitely after using more than a month now, I can feel the difference in the texture.

Price ₹3095 for 30ml

TBS Oils of Life Intensely Revitalizing Gel Cream

Product Description- By infusing 3 precious seed oils from around the world, known for their revitalising and repairing properties on skin – Black Cumin seed oil from Egypt, Camellia seed oil from China and Rosehip seed oil from Chile – in to a dewy-fresh gel cream with illuminating micro-pearls, we created a lighter alternative to the cream that intensely revitalises skin. Skin feels instantly freshly hydrated and suppler. From the moment it touches the skin, this Intensely Revitalising Gel Cream delicately melts onto the face, leaving a fresh light finish without a greasy feel.

Cold-pressed seed oils to preserve potent properties and ensure the utmost affinity to skin.

Melting but light and non-greasy.

Skin feels freshly recharged with moisture, appears visibly smoother and revived with radiance

My Experience- The Cream comes in two variants- cream and gel based. Due to my combination-oily skin, I picked up Gel cream. It feels really light on the face and moisturizes very well. There is no oil buildup or greasiness on the face either during the day or night. The skin feels hydrated and fresh. 

Price ₹2095 for 50ml

My skin is really feeling great after using the Drops of Light Face Wash and Oils of Life Face Serum and Gel cream for almost two months now and I think I am going to stick to it for a while now... till I get something better. For me skincare is the best investment you can make for yourself. Makeup can hide all the flaws but its the good skin that makes all the difference.

Have you tried Oils of Life range from The Body Shop? How was your experience? Please share in the comments

Signing off for now

Website Review- Aplava

Aplava is a beauty website with a wide range of beauty products ranging from skin care, makeup, hair care, bath & body, fragrances and baby products too. The products are from various segments- drugstore to premium. You have to go online, select your products and they'll ship them free... Sounds Familiar? Of course! It is an online beauty site, so that's what they do!

But here comes something that makes Aplava different from the other online beauty websites- when you register your account, you are asked for your beauty profile. You have to tell about your Skin Type, kind of activities you do, your tendency to sweat, your skin tone, hair type etc. Then the products are recommended based on your beauty type so everything shown to you would be personalized to you. Isn't that wonderful. You won't see a wonderful foundation only to realize later that there is no color for your skin tone!

The brands range from Maybelline, L'oreal, Dermalogica, O3, Bodyography, Braun, Faces, Gillette, Just Herbs, Olay, Revlon, Sebamed, Vichy, Wild Earth and many others.
The check out process is simple and delivery is free. You get complimentary samples with every order.
There is a loyalty program for beauty shoppers- Apalava Prestige, wherein you are given double points for every purchase and also early access to deals and new products!

Another wonderful news is that they are having upto 50% off Summer Sale. I am sure you all would love to check it out!

I am going for my shopping spree... Are you coming???

Signing off for now

Review- OrganicMill Face Lep & Aloe Day Gel

Hey Everybody,

Yes... it's been really long that I haven't been here but I have been doing some amazing stuff, about which I'll talk some other time. 

This post is regarding some interesting products that I was sent from OrganicMill to try and review. OrganicMill is a Greater Noida based company founded by Ms. Dishi Jain out of her passion to do something different with beauty products. She started with organic and natural formulation for lip balm in July 2015 and has not looked back ever since. She has around 15 products in her kitty ranging from skin care, hair care, soaps etc. and is coming up with few more soon. All products are made personally by her when ordered and contain all natural and organic ingredients.

Out of her range of products, she sent me Aloe Day Gel and Face Lep.

ALOE DAY GEL

Product Description- Aloe Vera Gel with SPF 30 helps to protect your skin from harmful UV rays and aloe vera helps in various skin issues  like Acne & Pimples, Ageing, Dehydrated Skin, Sunburns, Pigmentation and Marks. It gives you fresh and healthy skin with a glow.

Ingredients & Instructions

Review

Aloe Gel was one product I was really looking forward to. Aloe vera with Sun protection could be the best thing that you can put on your face in summers specially if your skin is combination-oily like mine. It could be great summer time product as aloe vera also helps in soothing sunburns. The tea tree oil will help to counter all skin types of skin irritation.

The gel was quite soothing and cooling on the skin. Kept my skin oily free for around 4 hours. I usually apply it in the morning and put on my makeup over it.

A wonderful product this is.

Price

Rs. 450 for 30gm

FACE LEP

Product Description- Face Lep is a blend of 20 herbs and flowers (Neem, Manjishtha, Aloe Vera, Turmeric, Tulsi, Red Sandalwood, Khus etc.) with Fuller's Earth (Multani Mitti). It helps to cure various problems like pimples and acne, open pores, blackheads, acne marks, ageing and suntan. It also helps in enhancing, exfoliating and nourishing the skin making it clear soft and radiant.

Instructions- The product is like a powder that can be used with OrganicMill Toner or green tea extract for oily and sensitive skin and can be used with curd for dry, normal or ageing skin. Keep it on for 15-20 minutes and rinse with water.

Review

                                        

I used the Face Lep with green tea extract and kept it on for 15 minutes. Then scrubbed before taking off with water. It left my face really soft and smooth taking off all the white heads in the first use itself. I use it every 2-3 days as a face scrub now. 

Price

Rs. 500 for 70gm.

Both the products are really good and gave the desired result. Apart from these, OrganicMill has other products like Lip Balm, Lip Scrub, Toner, Body Scrub, Hair Oil, Night Cream, Under Eye Cream, Bath Salt, Glycerin Soap, Hand and Foot Mask and are coming up with new products soon. Products are decently priced and I am going to go back for few more things.

How to Order?

The products are custom made on order. To place order, You can connect on Organicmill FB Page or can call/whatsapp +919971648091.

Reader's Offer

Quote 'makeupsutra' while placing the order and get 10% off on your first order.

Looking forward to try more products and share the review.

See you all soon, Signing off for now

Review- An Experience that reinstated my trust in Lakme Salon

Lakme Salon used to be my go-to place whenever I was looking to get pampered since 2010 both in Bangalore and Delhi. After we left for Japan in 2011, Lakme used to be the preferred place for beauty services whenever we used to come back. 

In 2014, when we moved back to Mumbai, I was looking to get rebonding done for my hair and went to a Lakme Salon because of the trust I had on the brand but was not very happy with the service and also the attitude of the staff. Anyways, I brushed off the experience as one off but again a similar thing happened at a Lakme Salon in Delhi where I went for getting my hair styled for an occasion and had the worst possible experience. The staff was not sure what to do and ultimately I had to guide them to get something done. This completely shattered my trust in the brand and I decided never to go back to Lakme again as the quality of services and staff had deteriorated significantly.

I patronised other salons specially for my pedicure. My regular pedicurist left the salon and one day after reading a lot of reviews about Lakme Salon, Hiranandani, Powai, I decided to go there and get my pedicure done from their Star Pedicurist Mr. Prabhakar and also booked an appointment for Face Cleanup with Shilpa.  

On reaching the salon, I was taken to a private room for cleanup. Shilpa suggested to go for Tangy Cleanup considering my combination skin and an Algae Collagen Mask. She was very particular about hygiene throughout the service and explained and showed all the products she was using on my face. It was a good experience but I told her that I'll give my feedback after 2 days when my skin settles down after the cleanup. And after two days, my skin is feeling wonderful!

Next was the appointment with Mr. Prabhakar. He suggested to go for the basic aroma pedicure because of the less time I had in hand. The pedicure was amazing, not a speck of dead skin on my feet and a relaxing massage. I was also told that his family is been into this field as pedicurist for decades now and he himself is working for more than 20 years. Yet, after completing the service, he asked me to check the feet for dead skin or dirt... I was wondering, where could this man go wrong with all those years behind him. It was an amazing experience and looks like I'll be a regular there.

Jasleen, the owner of the salon was courteous and humble; and is doing a great job of maintaining the image of the brand with her staff. With this experience, I think I can go back to Lakme with restored trust.

Would you like to share a similar experience, Please do so in comments! Looking forward to hear from you all!

Signing off for now

Quest for the Perfect Pedicure!!

Once you've seen or experienced better things, you cannot come back and be happy with the usual stuff. This is exactly what happened to me after spending few years in Land of Perfection- Japan and Beauty Conscious Singapore.

I love my feet as much as I love my face... a little more maybe ;)

Pedicure is one of my favorite beauty ritual done every 15-20 days. Moving back to Mumbai a little more than a year ago, I started on with my quest to find a place where i can go for my pedicure ritual. I tried almost every possible place- big to small, home service to the biggest salon brands and every time I think  the things are going on perfectly and this could be the go to pedicure place I am looking for... in comes a blunder. And more often than not it would be not applying the base coat while putting on the nail paint... (my pet peeve when it comes to pedicure) and I am back to square one making a note of not going back for pedicure. Another thing that bugs me is when the technicians/ therapists do not understand the difference between a transparent nail paint and a base coat. 

So, coming to the point... I went to BBlunt, RCity Mall, Ghatkoper for threading (Yes... that's where I go to from Powai to get my eyebrows shaped and their Therapist Manju does a fab job every time) and I decided to try their regular pedicure... hoping to get the service I was looking for. 

BBlunt is a well known brand for hair services. I am a regular with them for haircut as well.

Manju took me to their pedicure station and started with the service... Foot salt soak instead of a regular shampoo/ cleanser soak, nail paint removed and cuticles were tended to without cutting off the skin along... the feet were scrubbed to smoothest possible without a hint of dead skin remaining... believe me I've had problem here as well. the heels would be scrubbed for the sake of it and just a day later you can see the dead skin buildup. After finishing off with the foot scrub, followed by a massage, the feet were washed again to take of the remains of the cream. This was the first time I had anybody doing this in Mumbai... usually your feet are just wiped with the towel and that's also not done most of the time unless you instruct them to do so. Again I had my hopes soaring high and I waited for the next step...

I was asked to select the nail paint from a decent collection of more than 30 colours...(10-15 is the usual number that I have seen in most places) and in the meanwhile Manju started on with the base coat application on nails... I mean really? Getting a coat of base coat without asking for it and without listening to why it is not required with the particular nail paint I had chosen (Kidding me... are you??)... I was elated and then she went on with the nail paint and finished off with the top coat. She gave me open toed spa slippers to wear while my nail paint dries and I moved on for getting my eyebrows done... all the while in 7th heaven, blissful and delighted with the pedicure that I had just been through.

Along with that, don't get surprised if I tell you that I found my almost perfect Red nail paint there (if you don't know what I am talking about... read here). The shade is Nubar 181 Fire Sparkle... 

If you talk about the price, I would say it was decently priced at Rs.850/-. The products used were BCL Spa Organic range.

They also have a BBlunt Signature Pedicure, where they use all Dermalogica products priced at Rs.1500/- I am definitely going to try that out as well.

So it looks like I have found my go to place for pedicure... What are your expectations from your pedicure?? Share in comments.

Signing off for now!

Review- Mink Laundry Service

You all must be wondering if I am out of my mind to review a laundry service here on this beauty and makeup blog!

But considering myself as an Image Consultant, where I help people to select, maintain and keep their clothes in a good condition, Laundry services become an important part of your wardrobe upkeep and now-a-days, most of us prefer to go to a professional laundry service for maintenance of our clothes on which we have spend a good amount of our income.

Apart from the usual outfits and clothes, there are some clothes or accessories that can't be washed or cleaned at home and we need specialists for them. These could be your embroidered or embellished clothes, delicate silks, formal shirts, leather/ suede handbags or probably your shoes.

So to tell you how this all started, I was approached by Ashish, who along with his two partners has come up with a laundry startup and I was so looking forward to such a service. They had their launch offer "5 Clothes on Us!!". That sounded wonderful and so I decided to go ahead trusting them with 5 of our (mine and hubby's) clothes.

Since I was more keen on testing out their service rather than just using up the exciting offer, I decided to give them 5 different types of clothes that require different expertise.

Also, they promise an unmatched service, which makes the offer even more interesting and exciting.

So, I took couple of days to sort my clothes. To try out the services and efficiency, I decided to give five different garments- a stone work and embroidered kurta, a silk sari, a jeans, a formal trousers and a formal shirt (last two being hubby's). 

All these will require different set of procedure for laundry and care. Also the final presentation of each piece would be different. After I was ready with my cothes, I decided to place the order. So I opened their website http://mink.co.in/ and got my order scheduled for pick up.

Within 10 minutes I received a call to confirm that their pickup personnel will be at my door step within 15 minutes... That sounded quick!!

So I was waiting, eyes glued to the clock and tadaaa... in 10 minutes bell rang and I saw a gentleman in crisp white shirt and blue jeans and introduced himself as Rohit from Mink and was there to collect my order. I was impressed with the dressing and appearance of this gentleman, I mean how many times have you seen a laundry pick up guy dressed in Smart Casual?? He was carrying a non woven fibre bag to collect the clothes and told me about the quick check in process. 

The "MINK" Laundry Bag

This would mean that they'll just mention the number of clothes collected on a receipt and take our signature and once in office, they would connect with the client over e-mail or whatsapp to inform about the condition of clothes received. Also, being knowledgeable in textiles and laundry process, I asked Rohit if he would like me to give a brief as to what has to be done with every garment but he sounded quite confident about the textile experts at MINK who'll know what to do. So, I decided to zip my mouth and let them figure out. Rohit left promising the delivery within 2 days. 

In sometime, I received a whatsapp message regarding some damage on the embroidered kurta and I was asked if they should proceed further. I gave them a thumbs up!

The next evening, I get a text that my clothes are ready to be delivered and confirming the time of delivery. I told them to come the following day.

On Tuesday evening, Ashish came carrying a paper bag (again dressed in Smart Casuals)... Each garment was individually packed- kurta and shirt in a paper bag with all the packing material and as good as new. The jeans, trousers and sari were folded well and were packed in a non woven fabric bag. I was greatly impressed. The clothes were looking as good as new and I am still not willing to open them up.

Definitely, I would rate them as Outstanding in their service ranging from-

• The ease of scheduling the pick up, 
• The customer interaction with pick up and delivery personnel, their attitude and presentation, 
• Quick check in process
• Update on the status of clothes received
• Presentation of the clothes received

The prices are comparable to the other similar services but definitely the experience is unmatched. I could trust them with my clothes and would definitely be seeing them more often.

OFFER FOR READERS
Are you all interested in trying out their services or want to make your clothes as good as new... Give your clothes a makeover with the special offer only for readers of my blog. Mention the code MAKEOVER while placing your order and get three of your clothes done complimentary by MINK. For the time being, MINK offers services in and around Powai and Andheri but will be taking over Mumbai in no time.

Share your experience with laundry services that you've availed so far and also what are your expectations from MINK in comments...

Place your orders by visiting http://mink.co.in/ or WhatsApp/SMS/Call 808080-2442 and don't forget to use MAKEOVER!!

Something more exciting coming up soon for you all... so stay tuned!

Signing off