Four Ways to Make Your Summer Better

It's getting​ hotter by the day, and God knows we start worrying about our skin, amongst other things, even more during these times. Here are some tips to make sure your skin is glowing and you are comfortable even through the hot, dehydrating summer days!

Aloe Vera Gel

A very versatile product, you can leave it on for a few hours after a grueling day in the heat, or even overnight. It acts as a cooling agent and it also moisturizes skin very well. It plumps up your skin, and helps regain the softer and smoother skin you love.

Drinking more water

Water keeps you hydrated and fresh. It is much more important in summer because there's a higher chance of dehydration, so you gotta be much more careful. Always carry a water bottle so you can keep track of your water intake. Oh and fruit water works wonders too! You could also carry a small spray bottle to mist your face once in a while to refresh yourself or simply carry a pack of wet wipes!

SPF Sunscreen

This is actually a prerequisite for all seasons but it's always good to pay extra attention in summer. Always look for an SPF sunscreen with a factor of at least 15, irrespective of skin type and ethnicity. Damaging UV rays can penetrate all types of skin. However, the lower the melanin content of your skin, the higher the SPF you require, because melanin is like a natural UV filter of sorts.This Kaya sunscreen is my personal favorite and I absolutely recommend it! Find it here.

Loose clothes

Loose clothes allows your skin to breathe easily and light colors does not trap heat as much as dark ones. Think soft colors, flowy fabric, and airy silhouettes. An extra tee shirt in the backpack will always come in handy.
An added bonus: These clothes are super comfy!

Would you like to see me talk more about specific skincare products? Let me know on Instagram/Twitter!

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My Top Six Uses of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is something the west discovered fairly recently, but we in India have been swearing by it for ages, millennia actually.
Coconut oil is deep rooted in Indian traditions and for very good reason.
Indian heritage uses many natural herbs and oils that are very useful in order to heal the body and provide nourishment and good health. I use organic cold pressed coconut oil, and that is the kind I would recommend.
Coconut oil is one such magical oil that provides so much! Read on to know my top six uses:

1. Moisturiser and lip balm - You can use this as a lip balm and as a body moisturizer. I have personally tried this and I am absolutely satisfied with the results! Your skin will very well moisturized without any of the harmful chemicals.
In a tropical climate like ours (India), it is almost always liquid, so in summers, you can use it at home before bed. When it's colder outside, it turns solid so you can carry it around in a little tub and use it during the day as well.

2. During and post shower - In the shower, use coconut oil as a shaving cream substitute. After your shower, apply coconut oil liberally all over your body. Coconut oil will hydrate dry skin, and helps to soothe skin after shaving. Coconut oil also has a natural SPF and is a great and easy way to protect your skin from harmful rays and sun damage.

3. Hair leave in conditioner - After you wash your hair, let it air dry or use a cotton t-shirt to absorb the water. After hair is fairly damp, or semi dry, apply coconut oil to the ends and part of the length of your hair. There is no need to apply to the roots. The ends need most nourishment so be most liberal here. Instead of using chemical laden conditioners, it is best to use a natural product like coconut oil. Your hair will thank you. This works best for thick/coarse hair. If you have fine or limp hair, don't use this as it will weight down your hair.

4. Vegan substitute in baking - It is a great substitute for butter, milk, eggs, shortening and so many more. Check out this link for comprehensive information. That website on the whole is a wonderful resource for learning more about your journey towards veganism.

5. Anti acne - Although people do believe that acne and pimples are caused due to oil and sebum in skin, and that oil would make it worse, they're wrong. Coconut oil has anti bacterial properties, and it will work to combat the harmful bacteria, which is the root cause of these skin issues. If you feel it is more severe, you can also mix it with a little bit of tea tree oil, as it has strong purifying and antibacterial properties. Just dab on a little, leave it overnight, and you will see a change in the morning!

6. Boost Nutrients in Smoothies – Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to any fruit smoothie for a boost of cholesterol fighting compounds. Side benefit? It improves the texture and taste of smoothies, while adding healthy fats to your diet. Over time, if you enjoy the taste, you can add it to vegetable smoothies as well. It'll help make it more palatable as people do take some time to get used to the taste of vegetable smoothies!

These are just a few of the awesome results that you can get from coconut oil. It is truly a versatile ingredient with uses from skincare to food to healing to being a part of your vegan/vegetarian journey! Would you like to see more articles about healthy, DIY and organic skincare? Let me know in the comments below!


Photo Credit: Well-beingsecrets

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Review - Aplava.com

Hi guys! Now I don't often post on beauty products and suchlike, but I just HAD to write about this place. Two reasons, mainly.

One, a lot of you have asked me to write about skincare and haircare - products as well as styling tips (thank you all for the compliments on my hair!).

Secondly, this website is actually different. Now, I've always loved staying up to date with innovative startups, and I will continue to do so. I feel like the startups scene in India will really help our country reach new heights, but that's a story for another day. Aplava is one such startup based out of Bangalore, the startup hub of the country; and it's growing in leaps and bounds.

Pronounced as “Aap Luv“, it is Sanskrit for "taking a bath to purify oneself". Aplava sells authentic skin care, hair care, wellness products and fragrances. There is a separate section for men and children.

Aplava is a beauty shoppe with a difference. How is it better than the rest of them? Let's find out.

So far, so good. What's their key differentiator?

1) Take a personalized profile quiz - Here, you create a profile with requisite information. Aplava's algorithm will then analyse that information.

2) Receive personalized recommendations - Based on your responses in the first step, they run your details through the algorithm to tell you about your skin health, skin type, and recommended products.

3) Build your regimen - Pay heed to their recommendations, and start improving your skin with the help of their double whammy, algorithm + dermatologist advice.

I especially liked the 'Ask the Expert' section, because what is really the point in having loads of products if you don't really know what works for you? Better to ask than to blindly experiment and harm your skin in the process.

For all you makeup and beauty buffs out there, check out the 'Just Arrived' section for updates about their newest offerings. 

They've also conveniently divided their products into three sections - Best Sellers, Exclusives, and Sale Products.

Let's just say that instead of concentrating on writing this article, I ended up 'researching', which actually meant that I was completely stalking their website and staring at all the skincare products I wanted to try. 

Just look at the detailing of the filters on the left. I love websites that can filter their products/services well, that's just half the battle done in terms of customer attraction. Aplava has done a beautiful job of that, and somehow their product placement order selection is so good that I wanted to try each one of the first six products I saw there! I would not be surprised if they use a back-end algorithm for that too. For all you beauty buffs who can't be bothered with what I'm talking about, suffice to say, you will find what you love without struggling to look for it. You might even find something new to fall in love with that you didn't even know you needed. Something like toning water. It is an awesome thing to have, trust me. 

Overall, I think the website is really helpful. Whether you are totally into beauty and skincare, or just starting out a regimen of your own, this will really help you gt better. Their use of technology to ensure your skin is happy, well, what can be better? I especially appreciate the dermatological advice. After all, an expert opinion always helps.

The only thing I can see as a drawback is that they don't have the multitude of products that more established brands/websites have, but that's really a very minor issue, because what they do give you is so much more, and they are stocking up on new products ever so often. Do visit the website; I bet you'd love the effort they've put into skin profiling and providing expert opinion to all of us. 

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3 Ways to Give Yourself Some Love in the Morning

It’s really not too hard. Why do we make it so hard? The pressure of everyday life gets to you and in all the rush you have no time for yourself. It is very easy to forget ourselves while running around trying to get everything done. We are caught up in a whirlwind of activity where we don’t even have any time to think anymore. It gets to us. And what’s even more surprising is that we CHOOSE this. This kind of life is actually a conscious decision. We choose to put ourselves through this strain.

It would be really nice to say ‘make radical changes in your life and lead a life of calm’. But that isn’t really possible. Changes cannot be made overnight. Here are a few ways to love yourself that you can squeeze into a hectic morning:

Wake up 10 Minutes Earlier than Usual

The sun activates your natural circadian rhythm, which in turn affects your endocrine system. Put an alarm for 10 minutes before the time you regularly wake up. Once the alarm rings, get out of bed, go to the window, and open the curtains wide. Stand there, and bask in the warmth of a new day. Breathe deeply and let it wash over you. Even 5 minutes of this is enough. It activates your body, waking you up and ensuring that your drowsiness disappears, keeping you upbeat for the day.

Pick Flavoured Water instead of Morning Coffee

Since you spent those 5 minutes in the lovely sunlight warming up your body, you can skip the coffee this morning. Caffeine won’t be required for the kickstart since you’ve already done that for yourself. Isn’t that neat? But...water is a necessity, everyone knows that. However, if you actually sit down and check how many people drink the requisite amount of water as per their body weight on a daily basis, you will find a comparatively much lower number. Flavored water is easy to make, just slice and add any fruits of your liking to the water! This adds flavour and makes it more palatable, while ensuring that you increase your intake.

Spend a Gadget - Free Hour

This one might be a little hard to do for most of us, but trust me, if you can manage this, it will be totally worth it. Once you turn off your alarm, and spend your five minutes of sunshine time, you’ll be awake enough. Quickly check your phone to see if there are any changes in your schedule for the day. Either way, unless it’s an emergency, put it away. An emergency means something unavoidably important. Your manicure appointment slot being changed does NOT constitute an emergency. So, put away your phone, and do the rest of your morning activities. You will get done a lot faster too, without the continuous distraction of your smartphone or tablet – I can go on with the list, but I’m sure you get what I mean. You can have the radio on though. It would be a nice change.

Try these for atleast a week, and comment below when you see the changes!

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This is Why We Love Comfort Food

What is it about comfort food that really appeals to us? We just love the whole idea of it. It appeals to our sentiments and makes us soft and nostalgic. 

Sometimes it reminds us of home. Sometimes it makes us feel like a child again. And sometimes it makes us feel better on a bad day. The thing is, humans build powerful relationships between sights, smells, sounds, textures… and memories. We build mental relationships, connecting things that we relate in ways that are meaningful to us.

That scent of aam panna that takes us back to summery childhood days. We can actually scrunch up our eyes, taste it so vividly; a melange of flavours that reminds us of leafy verandas and vacation time.

Or maybe a warm bowl of mac and cheese. A simple meal, but it is one that sends our senses into overdrive. The gooey yellow cheese, the perfectly baked macaroni, the simple homely flavours! Just writing about it reminds me of the hearty meal that makes you feel so happy and warm, and cheers you up a little bit.

A warm meal on a cold night, curled up in a cozy sweater with a favourite book – can you think of anything nicer than that?

 

Or a bowl of piping hot sambar? Not as a accompaniment, but just that. You can just drink up a bowl or two; and when you’re sniffling from cold, the sambar makes it disappear right away. With its potent combination of herbs, spices, and hot peppercorns; this is something that warms up not just your body, but your soul as well.

Or maybe mom-made rajma chawal. Isn’t that the best? Immediate hunger pang relief. You know you’ve searched for the best rajma everywhere, but nothing is as good as the secret recipe that your granny passed on to you. It’s a combination of spices and love, and nothing can beat that.

 

Talking about home food, how about pickle? Imagine you are in a new city, adjusting to the life and pace and food and habits. You come back to the lonely rented flat you call home now. Open up a cupboard in the kitchen that has a jar of pickle and nothing else. Mom lovingly packed up a couple of jars for you to take. You open the jar, scoop out some pickle, eat it with some leftover roti, and somehow, surprisingly, you are strangely content. It feels like home, or mom’s warm hug. You go to sleep happy.

Originally appeared on Foodbahn. You can read it here.

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Do You Think You're Beautiful?

Do you think you are beautiful? If you do, is it because you've been told you are? If you don't, is it because you haven't? 

I have read multiple articles across various platforms, written by women who are so affected by other people's opinions of their body and their life. Don't be. Society doesn't deserve that kind of attention from you. What is society, anyway? A vague, faceless, teeming mass of people who don't have anything to do with you - they just want to judge you and give you unwarranted advice. You didn't ask for their inputs. So why do you listen?

You think it makes sense for you to adjust to what society wants to see? They tell you you're too dark, too fair, too skinny, too fat, you have weird hair, you wear weird clothes.. who cares? As long as you are happy with yourself, nothing else matters.

I see women write articles about how they were told by an aunt to start using fairness creams or else nobody would marry them. These women let it affect them. It affected their life and their self esteem. They valued themselves based on how 'society' told them they deserved to be valued. To all you women, I have just one question. Do you really think that this is the right way to react?

Do you think you need to base your opinion of yourself on what everyone thinks? I'm not going to be one of the multitude that tries to force my opinion on you. I think you are the person who knows what is best for you. You know what you need to do to keep yourself happy.

But if you really want to know what I think, I will tell you. I think society follows a herd mentality that has pervaded every aspect of their lives. If you let them, they will do the same to you. They will pull you down into a cookie cutter mold till all your individuality is lost and you aren't you anymore. You become one of the teeming mass of people that makes up society. And then you are acceptable. Because you are not an individual anymore.

If you want to know what I think, it is only this - stop caring. Your opinion should be the one that matters most to you. I don't care if you are skin and bones, or if you wear XXXL clothes, or have purple hair, or a million piercings. I think you are beautiful as you are. And nobody can take that away from you, as long as you let them. 

Do you know what else is beautiful? Confidence and positivity. If you are confident in yourself, and have a healthy dose of self esteem, I bet you nobody will be able to refrain from liking you too. Because you like yourself. Because you have worked hard to get where you are in life, you work on yourself - mind and body - to better yourself everyday. And does anything really matter more than that?

I think not. 

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Alternatives to Heat Styling - 1

In a previous post, I wrote about how heat styling is not good for your hair. I'm sure you guys are thinking, 'well, yeah, but what else can we even do?'

My favorite go-to style tip for when I want some natural wave in my hair is to braid it. I do not use product at all. No mousse, no gel, no hairspray. Nothing that would suffocate my hair. And it works!

This would require washing your hair the night before.
Okay, let's go -

Brush out the tangles using either a wooden comb or a boar bristle brush. I personally prefer a wooden comb.

Make sure you remove all tangles.

Wash you hair as per usual - shampoo, condition, deep condition.  Whatever you normally do. There is no extra step to be taken here.

Don't brush it or comb it. This is why we did that step before washing.

Let it air dry slightly, till it is semi-damp. 

The reason we do not braid it immediately after washing is because the hair is very porous when wet. This increased porosity leads to the hair being very stretchy, which in turn leads to hair being more prone to breakage and formation of gaps in the cuticle. Braiding it or styling it when wet can irrevocably damage your strands.

Tie your hair into a loose braid. Or two, like Heidi. Or more. To get the effect in the picture above, I had tied 4 braids. Go crazy!

The more the braids, the tighter your waves will be. Mine actually had a crimped effect.

Sleep on it. 

Since your hair is still a little damp, it'll take the shape of the braid as it dries.

Wake up, shake your hair out of the braids.

Revel in your awesome effortless wavy hair. 

Note : After a few hours, when I had been messing with my hair and running my fingers through it a lot, it still looked like that; just the waves had loosened up a bit, and it gave a little more effortless air to it.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and do comment below if you would like to know about more alternatives to style your hair with no product and lots of love :) 

Why I don't like Heat Styling

All of us know that using hot tools and heat styling isn't really good for our hair. Yet we insist on doing so. Why is that? Just to look a little better, we are sacrificing the health of our hair. We already know it is damaging. We know about split ends, and straw like hair but we continue doing things. Today, I'm talking specifically about heat styling though.

Hair fibers are essentially made up of proteins. The protein in our hair and nails is called keratin. therefore, even though our hair fibers aren't technically living, it is still made of proteins and they need to get nutrition for the hair to be healthy. For this, you need to baby your hair and care about it just like you care for your skin. You don't skimp on moisturizing and treating your skin well, so why not extend the same courtesy to you hair?

When you use hot tools, you are making your hair brittle each time you use it. The strands become dull, dry, damaged; not to mention scary split ends! Reducing the use of hot tools can go a long way in repairing the hair damage to your strands.
 
Heat makes your hair brittle from the follicles all along the hair shaft - all the way to the tips. So it isn't a healthy option under any circumstances. The heat actually boils and drives out the water from the shaft, leading to cuticle damage as well as breaking the proteins, leading to brittle, easily breakable hair.

I do not use hot tools AT ALL on my hair. I experiment with my hair a lot, but I do not use any daily heat treatments on my hair. I use it very very rarely. The last time I used a hot tool was at my cousin's wedding a few months back. And I used a hair dryer set on low. That's all. No hot tools, no products.

I understand that not all of you would be able to completely quit heat styling, as many of you are so used to it, but trust me on this, try to cut back a little everyday, and you'll get used to going all natural with your hair. And your hair will thank you for it too!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and do comment below :)

What is Beauty All About?

All the world over, everyone strives for beauty in some form or the other. 

Inner beauty, 'outer' beauty; whatever it may be. And that's a good thing. Making yourself the best version of you is an admirable goal. It's a process; a journey. And both aspects are equally fulfilling.

Making yourself a good, warm, amazing person is one of the most selfless acts you can do. You are making yourself a better person, and spreading happiness all around. If you come in even passing contact with such a person, they would just brighten up your day. They're so full of positivity that it adds a touch of sunshine to your day.

Making yourself more attractive - physically - is also a good endeavor. Of course you want to look good. Everyone does. So why not be pretty in each sense of the word and make yourself happy, while spreading joy all around?

When it all ties together and gives you a sense of satisfaction; that is when you know that you have truly unlocked another level of peace, and this is what we all strive for, knowingly or unknowingly.

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