Archive for January 2013

Published by coralcrue

Coconut oil was the first pure ingredient that was used on my hair and skin from the time of my birth. The first bath was given by my dearest grandmother. She used carefully and lovingly prepared virgin coconut oil to massage my skin. Now when I massage my 4 month old nephew's skin with the same, I feel deeply nostalgic and rooted. It creates a bond of love between the act of nourishing his skin with a recipe dating back to a time when my grandmother and her great, great grandmother and those before her used. If you think about it in depth, it creates a very deep link to a time you can't possibly perceive but knew existed because of the tradition carried on to care for your skin with nature's purest ingredient.
I remember during the summers, we would have harvested coconuts lying all over the back and front yard of the house which would then be cut open, the thick white flesh exposed for days till it would shrivel and dry in preparation to be taken to the oil mill in gunny bags, returning with cans and cans of liquid gold- beautiful and luscious coconut oil- waiting to be sniffed. The first whiff of it is enough to take you to heaven. Immediately we would fill each of our bottles with it, use it and even distribute it with love to our neighbours and friends.
You see, my granny used to use coconut milk for her hair, face, body, cooking savoury dishes. The coconut cream with a hint of freshly ground turmeric would be smeared all over dainty hands, feet and face during the dry winter spells to soothen any dryness and in summer to de-stress the aridness of parched lips. We would come back from school with cracked elbows and feet, immediately we would be given coconut milk to apply all over before a bath. It would be massaged and allowed to sit a while before bathing.
Coconut water is a great skin soother. You can drink it and apply it externally to detoxify your skin and to get that natural glow. It purifies the kidneys and alkalizes the blood balancing pH. It is the next best thing after water, is naturally sterile and pure. Being identical to human blood plasma, there are claims of it being employed during World Ward II in substitution for blood transfusion of wounded soldiers in emergency conditions to replace a shortage of IV saline solution. It is isotonic to our blood.
Topically it is so versatile and hence it's used by the skin and hair care industry. It helps restore balance to skin and hair by keeping it healthy. It decreases cellulite, stretch marks and evens out skin tone. It is an effective antibiotic, it helps to fight fungal infections and protects your skin by forming a natural layer against these intrusions.
Did I forget to mention that my favourite chocolate is also made from coconut? Bounty :) Go coconuts!

Parachute Advansed Deep Nourish Body Lotion:

Coconut milk was used from time immemorial as a skin cleanser and nourisher to reap the benefits of beautiful skin. Coconut milk is a wonder ingredient and Parachute has introduced Parachute Advansed Deep Nourish Body Lotion using this wonder ingredient to give you that extra glow and to maintain the youthfulness of your skin. It keeps your skin supple and can be used by both men and women to attain beautiful skin. You are sure to fall in love with your skin. Treat your body to this wonderful formula that will keep your skin protected through this winter.

Have you had a chance to try out this product? If yes, do please leave a comment and let me know your experience with the product.
Goodnight, world :)

Published by coralcrue

Image courtesy: http://www.udaipurtimes.com

Hello everyone! :)

I was at the Pantaloons sale last night at Bharat Mall, Mangalore. I was frustrated at not finding sizes in several tops that were on sale. So I hopped down to Big Bazaar where I saw a huge ruckus. There was a big banner announcing 'Sabse Saste 5 Din' sale which houses lowest prices on an assortment of products. The place was packed with shoppers. I didn't have anything in particular to get but decided to have a look. There were T-shirts that were going for 80% off!! I got myself a light blue one to wear at home that cost me just Rs.50!!!! Not a bad deal, huh? big-bazaar

The sale will last from 23rd Jan to 27th Jan.

I am recollecting everything I saw, ladies were grabbing kurtis that were marked down to 2 for Rs.499 and the quality was pretty good. I tried a pretty green one on but then decided not to get anymore as my cupboard was all stuffed.

T-shirts for men were 50% off.

Other range of clothes for women were marked down to 60%,40% and 30% off.
I had barely picked up a pyjama for myself when one elderly lady came and snatched it from my hand. Then she looked at me with this evil grin almost suggesting,'Come hither, let's have a cat fight.' First of all, I had an injured finger. Secondly, my world is not going to end because I don't get to bill that pyjama. I was like take the darn pyjamas, I don't care if I walk around in underwear. But you most probably need it more than I do. It was so rude and funny at the same time. Her hubby came to our side and chided her too. It was so hilarious.

What else...what else....stationary and toys were on discount too.

Luggage was 50% off

Then there was a march by some group of men shouting slogans. Initially I thought there was some sort of protest going on. When it got closer, it was a bunch of employees screaming and shouting,'Buy 1 bucket, get 1 free'. That was really scary and noisy. Did not like that one bit. It went on for ten minutes.It was annoyingly rude and disruptive.

Other key offers were- ooh yes!! Strawberries were marked down to Rs.29! Ketchup, their big packs were around Rs.59.

Bombay Dyeing Double Bedsheets were Rs.1149 for 2 sets

Prestige Induction cooker - double stove was Rs.10,990 approx with a free range of their cook ware.

And the best part for me was, The Faces outlet of cosmetics was marked down to 25% off. Being the eyeliner freak I was I went ahead and billed the solid black eyeliner pencil. YAAAAAAAAAY!!!

I suggest if you want to check it out, you go in at 9am when the gates open. Else it will be tiresome. Check the quality of clothes before choosing them. Watch out for evil pyjama snatchers and maybe carry a pair of ear plugs. Noise pollution.

Have a fun day :)

Published by coralcrue

In my household, Himalaya Herbals is a trusted name and brand because of their claims of manufacturing their range in line with the principles of Ayurveda and also that it is an Indian brand.
So any new product launches from them are always tried and tested before it becomes a staple in the household shopping list.
I live in a large, joint family so you can see almost every member having one or the other product from Himalaya.
Some time back they had launched hair care which clearly states NEW Improved in a green circle on the top corner of the bottle and that it is devoid of SLES and other harmful chemicals so I got to use many of their new shampoos. This particular one was bought during that time.
And I finally got over with two bottles and am ready to review it now.

I was particularly having very dry hair from August last year and opted to cut off all my hair in September to grow out healthier hair.
So let's see if it helped my moisture-beaten locks. When I say dry, I mean REALLY, really dry. Like nothing can save it. So even if this really says extra moisturizing it had better live up to it's claims.
During the first washes to test a new shampoo out, I never use oil or conditioner, just to see how it fares. I do this comparison test with every new shampoo I try. Just to see how much after or before care products will be needed in further usages. In subsequent washes, I use oil and conditioner as per requirement. Did this live up to the test?

You need a blob of about this much product if you have thick and long hair. To get some lather you need slightly more product. It does leave your scalp clean but if you have oiled your hair heavily, you will need way more product.
I found that it doesn't remove oil too well, I need a harsher product for the days I use oil or any treatments.
I would use this only for gentler washes.
I have to say this doesn't give any form of moisture to the hair. If you hair felt like hay before you used it, it will feel like better hay after. The claims are completely nullified. And I have been trying to finish this product for a while now. I know what I am saying. Please Himalaya, you need to completely turn around this product and re-formulate if you mention extra moisturizing. It does not do it's job.

On the plus side it has onion,fenugreek, sesame, licorice,aloe and netted melon as key ingredients. They are all excellent for your hair.The ingredients seriously impressed me so much!!!
This smells really nice. I like it in those respects.
However, you will have to deep condition if you use this as a shampoo, I always slap conditioners and serums after.

If you are interested to purchase it, you can buy it here
MRP- Rs.115 for 200ml
Packaging is good. Easy to use.
Shampoo is free of SLES, Parabens, Silicones, Synthetic colours and artificial foaming agents.

Published by coralcrue

The January Sales are back on at the mall, every store has something to offer in terms of discount. I did not have the time to explore the shops as much as I wanted to. Time did not permit me but finally I got to go today and here are some of the shops that are offering good discounts. I hear the sales are going to increase over the week so time to loosen those purse strings. Have a look at what stores are on sale at the moment. There are many more stores but I could only do so many for today.

The ladies section here could have done more with variety especially with respect to dresses.

At Fab India, I was disappointed to see that only selected merchandise was on sale and there really wasn't that much variety again. I had been to the Delhi and Bangalore outlets and was spoilt for choice. They also never have the famous depigmentation cream or some of the body sprays stocked here.

Kids wear: I could see lots of tots running around pulling clothes and toys and screeching,'Noooooooooooooooooo!! I don't like that mumma!!' hihi Spoilt for choice you bet.

I am eyeing a peach top from Levis and one other dress here.Note to myself to haunt this space again. Kids wear was not too bad either especially the polo t-shirts for tots. Have to go back here for me and my nephew.

Lifestyle is usually my favourite haunt but the last season's collection was thoroughly disappointing, even if they throw away stuff, I just might not pick it up. Waiting for their new collection with anticipation. Some of the accessories are 70% off in women's but for men it's around 25% off right now. Why doesn't a Globus store launch here. I usually find tonnes of things to get from their collections! Spruce up, Lifestyle!

Need a pair of new denims, tempting huh?

Again, very disappointed with the women's collection here. Except for that purple dress on the mannequin there was nothing else that was worth looking at. Infact, there wasn't anything to get from that store for women. They do have a better range for men here.

For the boys.

Reliance trends Shoe store, nothing that caught my eye here.

They have a real sale going on in here but again waiting for better quality t-shirts to be stocked up. They have tees from Rs.99 onwards.

Can you believe I came out with not a single shopping bag? I am hard to shop for. Quite picky but more for quality than anything else.Have you gotten around to sprucing up your wardrobe lately?

Published by coralcrue

Hello all you lovely girls and boys out there!
Today I would like to bring to you what I have imbibed from this book authored by Rujuta Diwekar.
I am all game for reading well-written and readable books on Health and Staying Fit.There is a series of health books written by leading nutritionists and health gurus from India that have been published recently, and I want to read them all. This is one of them that set the trend for Indian fitness writing. I grabbed this book way back in 2010. Sadly, only finished reading it ....TODAY!! lol Some reader's speed huh. I hope to start on another book today itself, let's hope I finish it well before two years ;)
If you have written one of those amazing books out there that I am talking about, do send me a mail, I promise not to take two years to read and review it. ;) Did I just blow my chances away of reviewing a stunning book? This book has not been sent to me for review, just so you know, I picked it up myself because it intrigued me. I'm glad I did.

Buy Don't Lose Your Mind Lose Your Weight

Image courtesy: Flipkart.com

So let's talk about the book. It features a statement from Kareena Kapoor right on the front cover. With her figure making waves all over India, who wouldn't be tempted to get this book and take a peak in at what she eats?

It is written in a very simple language, anyone will be able to read and understand. There is a lot of talk in the book which some of you may not find useful but I guess the author was just trying to create an open external dialogue with the reader to keep their attention and it does work for most of the time but there were times when I didn't have that kind of time to sit and read it all. Leisure was not always my friend last year. Somewhere towards the end I started getting a tad muddled but I had highlighted the points that worked for me so I just focused quickly on the essence of the book.

Rujuta Diwekar completed her Sports Nutrition course in Australia.

In this book, she tells you to eat your favourite foods but she highlights on what time of the day and how they should be eaten.
She tells you not to starve or overload yourself with chemically processed foods, which is what most of us do in this fast-paced life.
She tells you to eat first thing in the morning, not more than 30mins from wake up time. I used that and it works in many ways. That's a good one, Rujuta. Read the book to find out the rest :)

All in all, it's an economical buy(@Rs.199, flipkart.com has good deals on it), quick and easy read if you just stick with the book for a week you can get through it. I did not, I lost interest somewhere and then came back to it after a long time but I knew I had to finish it because I need to know
.
No rocket-science explained in here but it is the most important things that we neglect the most. And for that I would definitely say read it once and remember how important it is to live in a disciplined way. I was expecting some useful exercises to be highlighted and shown with pictures or diagrams in this book, that is what it definitely did not have. As I am typing this I am flipping through the book again just to see if I have really missed seeing any diagrams in there, how come, no exercises? Ofcourse, she stresses on it like crazy but no pictures. There is a mention of Kareena Kapoor benefiting from Surya Namaskars. Salute!

She has come up with another book, I am interested in reading that too because this lady has some interesting tricks up her sleeve.

Published by coralcrue