Saturday, February 26, 2011

More than skin deep

In the last year or so I have come to rely on google for everything....looking for something?...anything...google! And one of the things I frequently look for is to get info/reviews on products,places and services, especially in the city I live in i.e bangalore. So here is an attempt to do just that -- once a week I put together my personal experiences of the same. And I would restrict myself to the positives. And yes, most of it might be 'girlie' stuff!
We'd all like to be brand loyal, just so that we dont need to keep experimenting and suffer bad products and waste time & money. And I hope my endeavor is of help to readers who stop by. I would love to receive comments, start a dialogue and have some fun! :) So here goes.....

After a 3 month gap(owing to a freak bus accident), I resumed my one hour morning walks this week. And the clothes lover in me suddenly felt this urge for some new t-shirts(that extra incentive for the first few days to actually get up when the alarm goes off!). 'Westside' has a very cool range of casual 100% cotton t-shirts priced at Rs. 249 ; round neck as well as V-neck,solid colors with chest prints as well as stripes ; called 'westside essentials' with a very cute satin neck label made like a bow! There is a range priced at Rs. 199 too but the fabric is lighter and hence, according to me not so convenient for exercises/work outs. Decent range of designs and colors and very good value for money!! By the way, I choose to use them for my walks but they are good enough to be casually worn otherwise too.

The deodorant freak that I am, the latest pick is 'Black' by Adolfo Dominguez, the Spanish label which has just opened its first store in India at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon(the fragrances were by the way available even otherwise in Indian cities at the chain stores). Its actually a cross between a perfume & a deodorant. Priced at Rs. 700 for a 150 ml, its just ...ummm...heavenly! :)

For close to a decade I have applied henna on my hair for conditioning and coloring, the last few in salons for the ease of it all. But a recent experience of the poor quality of henna(hence the color) made me go scout for good henna powder. The pick was Biotique's 'Bio Henna for dark hair' which is 'a natural blend of henna leaves,mango kernel and the bark of the arjun tree'. The 90g pack/box costs Rs.199. If you have long hair, you might have to use the complete pack for application on the whole length. The henna powder is extremely fine and forms a smooth paste when mixed with plain water.And the resultant tint is quite flattering. Of all the henna products available in the market that I have tried out, I'd say this is the best and is good value for money(considering no salon worth its name charges less than Rs. 350 for the shortest hair lengths, that too using poor quality henna).

Those who have dry skin(like I do), most of winter goes fretting over moisturizers which arent creamy enough and creams which arent greasy! This winter I discovered the range of 'Jergens' moisturizers(available in 'Health & Glow' outlets). There are different options available for different requirements like 'Ultra Healing' , the 'Extra Dry Skin Moisturizer', 'Original Scent', the 'Dry Skin Moisturizer with cherry-almond hydrators' and so on. Manufactured in the US and imported, a 295 ml bottle costs Rs. 229. Again, there are many brands in the Indian market priced less but I'd rate this much better than any of the leading brands(with misleading ads should I say?) for the quality of the offering.

I could actually go on and on but would like to hold some thoughts for the next weekend! :)

Till then...Ciao! :)