Products that I'm using currently (skin and hair edition)

     Hello my loves! I so badly wanted to make videos again but the whole editing thing is so not my scene...Snapchat was an alternative but I find it too short and then it gets irritating if you want to actually put something out there :P I'm trying my hand at this whole uncut raw footage kind of business. Though this first one is a tad long (really just a smidgen) but I wanted to cover some of the skin and hair products that I'm using presently with a rough roundup on them. Plus I get to put up my goofy side which I have to edit out in most of my videos just to get it to an acceptable length and I end up looking like a school marm teaching naughty children :D

LuxaDerme Bio Cellulose Mask Anti Aging

     Whoa there has been a lot of over the top makeup experiments going on lately...my skin needs a break from all the creativity burst so that it can settle down. I opted to try out the LuxaDerme Bio Cellulose Anti Aging Mask as I can spot some fine lines and wrinkles that were not there a day before :( Sigh! After the lovely results of the foot peeling mask I have high expectations from this. I have tried a bio cellulose mask earlier from a company called Jane Clare and absolutely loved the results of it. The problem with that was the ease of availability and the price point. LuxaDerme is an Indian company but the products are all made in Korea. If you have not used a bio cellulose mask earlier then the basic difference between it and the regular sheet masks is the material it is made of. Cellulose mask have a jelly like texture to them (usually made from coconut jelly) while sheet masks feels more paper/cloth like. 

LuxaDerme Foot Peeling & Exfoliating Mask

     Hey there people! Ok this section has been literally buried for too long now. I do mini reviews on my Instagram now where I put up a small demo for the packs as well as its results after washing it off as well as 12-24 hours later. So in case you have been looking for some face masks you can check those out as well. Before we get any further with this review let me just put up a warning straight off. This is a demo of the product in action and can get graphic (quote unquote). So if you just want to look at pretty things then this is so not the place for you. But if you want to see a product in some proper action then do read on. You have been warned folks :P I was sent a couple of masks to try out by LuxaDerme who have recently setup shop in India. They specialize in making mask sheets for your facial and body needs. All the masks are manufactured in Korea. I tried out the Foot Peeling & Exfoliating Mask first coz my feet needed some major TLC.

VLCC Lovable Lips Orange Lip balm

     You know how certain people can predict the weather coz of what is happening in their bodies? My eye be twitching or me knees are shaking...its gonna rain! Well turns out my lips can predict the cold...they are literal beacons for the onset of the cold weather coz they turn dry at the drop of a hat...one day I wake up with parched stretchy lips and be like...winter is coming...ya you saw that coming from a mile away :D But any hoo I go through so many lip balms/scrubs in these 1-2 months (that is like the winter we get...if we are lucky) that I don't even touch 1/100th of in the rest of the year. I somehow find it really difficult to find one that is moisturizing enough for me. Not only do my lips dry out but the area just below the lip line cause me a lot of problem. So usually the balms work on one and the not the other. One of the latest entrant to the lip balm market is the VLCC one where they have introduced balms for men and women. Let's see how one of these fares for me...

Dry Skin range from Janssen Cosmetics

     After the horrible dry skin phase I went through last year during winters I wanted to get an early head start year this time around. I have been on the lookout for something that can act as a preventive measure before the winter sets in. Luckily I came across some samples from Janssen Cosmetics. I have tried one product from their range earlier on and was very happy with its results. So it goes without saying that I had high hopes from my recent acquisitions. You can check out the review of what I had tried out earlier here. This time I around I tried out their Melafadin Cleansing Powder, Day Vitalizer and Night Replenisher (last two belong to their dry skin range).

Gia Bath and Body Works October Subscription Box

     I'm a huge fan of subscription boxes as most of you would know by now. The anticipation of what little treasures are waiting to be discovered each time I open one is extremely thrilling and addictive of sorts for me. I went through a whole Memebox craze phase and suffered some major withdrawals when I couldn't get them anymore (well my wallet did a whole booty shaking happy dance at that :P). In recent times some Indian brands have adopted this concept which I feel is a brilliant move. Though I prefer multi-brand boxes as it gives me a wider range of choice but single brand boxes allow me to try out products which I might have been hesitant about investing in. I have been eyeing Gia Bath and Body Works for the longest time especially since I heard a lot about their soaps. And this October my wish got fulfilled :)

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask

     I first came across the concept of a sleeping mask when I discovered Korean products. The idea seemed strange at first coz since a young age we are drilled with the admonitions of our mothers to not talk while having a mask on as it would result in wrinkles. How does one sleep in something which essentially hardens up on your skin? How does it work? Is it safe? Well turns out that all my apprehensions were baseless as these masks are specially formulated to be gel like and though they do dry down (well most of them do) they don't form a hard layer of the standard packs. Most form a light film on the skin while some even stay wet all through. But they are mainly meant to deliver moisture to the skin and do that job to a T. 

Ganier Pure Active Neem+Tulsi High Foaming Face Wash

     Ah! The heat is terrible!!! That plus the humidity just saps all the strength you have and before you know it has knocked you out completely. To say that I hate this heat with a passion is an understatement. All those in agreement please raise your hands :D Not only does the heat renders one incapable of functioning like a normal human being but the problems that it brings in on top it is enough to drive one insane. Whereas in the winters my skin was like a greedy dessert drinking up whatever moisture it could find now it is turned into a literal oil well which can fulfill the demand of certain small sized countries! I kid you not :P Oiliness, rash, pimples....you name it....ugh! How is one to survive such odds?

Raaga Professional Gold Facial Kit

     Who doesn't love a good facial? An hour or so of pampering can do one's soul a hell lot of good :) I used to be quite regular with them back when I was in college. I wouldn't get the whole enchilada done ie to say I took the lighter version (aka sans the vigorous massage) since I was young. But fruit facials with the added benefit of a galvanic treatment were a must for me and probably one of the factors I have good skin. Unfortunately as life got busier my trips became lesser and now I would be lucky to do one in 6 months. So when I got an opportunity to review a facial kit from Raaga a brand belonging to Cavin Kare I was all gung-ho! Granted that the true bliss of a facial is all the wonderful massage that someone else does on you but I needed the power boost of sorts that only a facial can provide. I would like to mention that I have stopped using the Michael Todd cream, that I reviewed recently, sometime back so the results you see are the true indication of the kit being used.

Forest Essentials Store, Forum Mall, Kolkata

     Forest Essentials finally setup shop in Kolkata! I'm going to take a moment here and enjoy this warm fuzzy feeling :) It has been a year of changes for our city and a lot of brands are finally setting up a presence here. The retail scene has been picking up slowly but is getting stronger day by day. It is so good to finally have access to beloved brands in our backyard and not having to travel to other cities just to stock up. Some of us were invited by the PR of the brand to experience the new store and latest launches. I must say that from all the launches that I have attended so far this was among the top most simply coz of the one-on-one attention that they gave us. 

Michael Todd Ageless Face And Neck Cream

     Skin wise this was one of the toughest winters that I had to face. My face was dessert dry and none of my regular creams were doing me any good. I even switched to oil based serums and skin oils but still didn't get any relief! And to top it off I ended up breaking out!!! Can you even begin to imagine that? Dry painful skin with breakout and rash on it. I mean how does something like that even be possible?!? Even my favorite foundation couldn't give me the dewy looking skin that I loved it for. Thankfully I came across 2 products which helped me get a hold on the situation and return my skin to normal. Just in time too for my first film shoot :) I will review the product that helped me with my breakout/rash situation in another post. Here I will talk about the cream which helped to heal my skin and make it look "ageless"

     Whaz up chicas! Ok so from today onward I'm starting a new section on the blog - The Mask Informer. I had to make a separate section for it courtesy all the beauty boxes I have been getting! I have a Sample Corner in which I would cover these but somehow it didn't seem to be a good fit to me anymore. Sometimes these sheets are sold individually so it didn't seem fair to categorize them as samples. Well each mask type will be treated individually and by that I mean the review and ranking system will be specific to it and not a generic one. The tub packing ones will get a product scorecard in the end while the sheet masks will have the thumbs rating as you had seen in the sample corner. With that out of the way lets get on with the review...

     Hmm...when given a choice between goofy and straight laced one should go with goofy right? Tickles a person's funny bone and has more appeal...well at least that's what I tried to tell myself when I decided to use this picture :D If I scared the bejeezus outta you then I apologize :) If I managed even a smirk for my silliness I consider it a job well done! Well back to topic...I have been on a complete maniacal spree to finish up the stuff on my vanity. And really by the end of it you start to loose it a little. Just when you think that the next use would be the last and you will finally be done with it...it just surprises you and lasts for a use or two more. Really those last few drops keep mocking you and when it finally....finally calls it quits....you are just left staring at it like a maniac...coz you were sure that it would last one more use...

     Towards the end of February I got a package from the PR of Avon bearing their newly launched Anew Vitale range of products - the day cream and a face wash. Pretty pink pearlized packing the lovely mild floral scent had me looking forward to it. Since winters had recently ended back then my skin was going through a troubled phase. My forehead was quite dry and peeling...something very strange that I had not encountered before. My regular cream was not helping one bit and exfoliation would take care of the problem for a day or two at max. I generally have a combination skin but at times it swings in all directions so much that it is hard to keep track. To be on the safe side I preferred to stick to moisturizers. But as the saying goes it wasn't cutting the mustard for me (lol...I think there is a saying like that). Let's just take a quick look at the basics of this product before I get on with how it fared for me.

     Ok I will start with a slightly sour note :( It is so not fair that Sephora India opened a 2nd store in Delhi itself and did not branch out to another city instead...I mean really not even in Mumbai?!? What are the chances of us Kolkata girls seeing any action then? In the year 2500?!? Boo!!! Ok I had to get that rant off my chest :P As you may know I picked up a couple of pieces from Sephora Singapore. I really wanted to get some of their newly launched nail paints but that particular store was not carrying any and I was really not keen on picking anything from their makeup range simply coz I had a lot of stuff in my basket already from the other brands. They had this huge kiosk filled with different types of mask sheets and this was one of my choices. So let's take a quick look to see how it performed. 

     Hello my sweets! Today I have a special treat for you. Over the years, I have gone through many magazines and books in hopes of finding THE magic potion for one's skin. Does it not feel like that? That you are trying to find that one formula which promises you the "Fountain of youth". Will give you beauty comparable to Helen of Troy or hair which will cause Rapunzel to burn with envy :D But the sad truth is that only regular and proper TLC can do anything. The only secret is consistence and hard work. Albeit some formulations will suit you and other will not. But one needs to be conscious about their skin from early on, prevent damage from occurring during the initial years and then keep the damage at bay towards the later. I bring to you 5 recipes to try out. I hope that one of them proves to be your personal magic potion.....Enjoy!

     I got a sample of Jane Clare Blueberry Revital Firming Mask sheet in my September Glamabox. After my not so pleasing experience with the HydroSpark HA Hydrating Serum I really wasn't expecting anything from this mask. But in the spirit of finally using all the products that I have been stacking and since it provided a quick review option I decided to give it a go (heck I'm all about transparency :D). So did it bowl me over? 

     I got a pack of this Pumpkin Ade Mask Sheet of L&P Cosmetics in my November edition of Glamabox. This type of product has gained a huge popularity in recent times especially coz of its ease of use. Especially these Asian brands have been a huge hit and the sheer variety that they bring in is staggering. I so love their attention to detail and the great packing designs they bring in. My skin has become quite dry in recent times due to the change in weather and I need all the TLC I can get. So let's see how this one fared. 

     Heard of the expression "little bundle of joy"....well Glamabox is a little box of joy :) After my first box from them I have gotten hooked to them so bad (in a good way of course) that I need to get them every month. And it goes without saying that my December box is on its way too. Not only that my friend Dolon of Poutpretty is a convert and even her December one is on the way after she experienced the pleasures of the November one. So without much chitter chatter lets just unbox it.