It amazes me that I am back to do a blog post in such quick succession! #proudmoment ! So I recently went on a 10 day trip to Europe and I did it with a just a carry on and like all bloggers do, I had to be extra and blog about it! So here we are!
Category: My everyday ramblings
Hi Again!
Why hello there! It has been a while isn’t it? Quite a while infact…201 days to be precise! In between my last post and this one I quit my job, I got a husband and I moved cities! 😀 So this new hello comes all the way from Los Angeles! An Indian at heart, figuring her way through the Hollywood city would be an apt description of me now! 🙂
Zumba in Style!
What’s up everyone! It’s your favorite blogger (hahaha?) back with another post! I recently started taking up Zumba classes and boy have I been loving it! Dance + fitness + fun ? I’ll take all of that please! So a new fitness regime to a fashion blogger means :
1. A new Pinterest board full of Zumba clothes
2. A wardrobe full of Zumba clothes (not a wardrobe full…but hey it’s my blog and I get to exaggerate!)
The thing with Zumba is its such a graceful and fun form of workout and it’s really motivating if you dress in interesting clothes because it’s one hour of seeing yourself in the mirror and it’s all the better if you like what you see! So I thought it would be fun to share with you guys some of my Zumba-wear which I have been spamming Instagram with! Here goes!
Now that all the pic-spamming is over I’ll get to what exactly you should and shouldn’t wear for Zumba!
Shoes : Wearing comfortable shoes with a good grip is of supreme importance! Go for gym sneakers, dance sneakers or even your running shoes with a worn out tread. If however, you want “the real thing” Zumba.com has its own range of sneakers which look great on the dance floor because they are various shades of neon and I suppose they feel awesome too! (I use my Nike gym sneakers still!)
Clothes : Zumba is all about having mad fun and so Zumba classes are usually filled with people wearing the craziest and the brightest colors (for reference go back to the pictures above 👆🏽) While there are no hard and fast wears and don’t wears, it goes a long way to wear very comfortable and fitting clothes while dancing because in between all the struggling to keep up with your instructor’s moves the last thing you want is for your clothes to get in the way and disturb you! I love layering to Zumba because the style is full of torso movements and I feel less conscious doing them when I know there is one more layer of clothing between me and the world (ha!). So while there is no such thing as what to wear for a Zumba class, clothes you can avoid include-
- pure cotton shirts and tops since Zumba is such an intense work out, you definitely need some material which will absorb the sweat and wick perspiration
- Ill fitting clothes, long sleeved tshirts and ill fitting underwear
- Low cut tshirts because Zumba is all about jumping moving around and bending and you’ll honestly not work out to your fullest capacity if at the back of your head a small voice keeps reminding you to protect your modesty!
Some places I have found pretty cool Zumba clothes include : Myntra.com, Zumba.com, Nike, Westside and Jockey!
That would be all from me folksies! Have a fabulous rest of the week and just to rub it into your face, we in south India have just two more days to go before the loooong weekend kicks in! Yay yay yayyy! Love y’all 💋
Check out my instructor Bhavana’s Zumba work and know more about her classes at her Facebook page: Zumba fitness with Bhavana !!
How to pull of a Graphic Tee w/o looking like a 9-year old – Part II
Hola all you wonderful people! So the new year is finally here! I (very clichéd-ly) can’t believe a year has flown, sped, zoomed by so quickly! It has been a very good year but definitely hoping for better things in 2016! Aren’t we all? 🙂
So as the second part (finale!) of this Graphic Tee styling post, I bring to you two more ideas to style such funky tshirts without them looking age inappropriate on you! Let’s get started!
1. Skirt it or knot it
Wearing these tshirts with skirts are a very popular and easy styling way! Here I have used a Winter is coming (Game of thrones) crop top and paired it with my trusted pencil skirt! I have knotted the top because it sort of structured the look that way!
Pro tip: I used a H&M in-skirt and it gave the pencil skirt such a neat finish..no more you-know-which lines I’m talking about lines while wearing pencil skirts! Yay!
2. Go Laid back
Going for the laid back look is probably the easiest thing you can do with such tee shirts. For this look I have chosen this wolverine tshirt (courtesy : sister’s wardrobe! Hehe) and paired it with my Khakhi shorts and my denim shirt. A last minute addition were those nerdy specs because my friend thought and I agreed, that it bound and sealed the look…I don’t know why we did that and that’s precisely what I was telling her when she clicked this first shot! Haah!
Pro Tip: I know pairing such short shorts with sneakers is the cutest thing to do, but try pairing them with flats or something boho like these mini boho gladiators I’m wearing because that looks pretty cute too! Lol (not pro at all!)
Outfit Details : Winter in coming crop top – Myntra, Pencil skirt and khakhi shorts – New York and Company, Nude pumps and boho gladiator sandals – Westside, Wolverine Teeshirt – Marvel comics website (I think!), Denim shirt – Street shopped in Mumbai, nerdy glasses – flicked from my friend!
So that brings us to the end of this post! Hope your first week of 2016 went by eventfully! I couldn’t wait with such good photos until Monday to post and hence this change in schedule! How’d you like this post? Tell me I’m all ears! 😍
P.S.: It was a new year and I HAD to do something new, so on Jan 1st I went and got my nose pierced! Cool eh?
How to pull of a graphic tee w/o looking like a 9 year old! Part-I
Hi everyone! Since I gave away the whole theme of the post right at the title let’s jump into the main content straightaway!
So I thought there are four ways to get away with wearing a graphic or a cartoon tshirt without having to look like :
a) You are sporting a right out of bed look or
b) a 9-year old basically!
I thought I’ll do this post as two parts with two ideas each and here they are!
For the two ideas of this post I chose a colorful graphic tshirt full of butterflies!
1. Give the look some structure
Adding an extra layer like a shirt or a jacket or a blazer is the easiest way to look put together! Since I’ve done the shirt over tshirt look several times (and since I simply wanted to wear the red blazer) I decided to go for a blazer 😬👍🏽 Take a looky!
2. Give the look some much needed BLING! ✨✨
For the second look I kept the rest of the look the same and replaced the blazer for a statement necklace ! A heavy necklace or a pair of earrings really take such a pre-teen-like tshirt into a suave and sophisticated outfit! I know you might at first think it is crazy to wear bling with cartoon and graphic tees but once you find the right piece of jewelry you’ll love it! Take a peeky!
Outfit Details : Red Blazer – ONLY, Butterfly Tshirt – Gift, Jeans – 109•F, Statement necklace – Some Instagram account (forgot which one!), Heels – Zara, Watch – Fossil, Sunglasses – Rayban
I will be back next week with two more ideas to look neat in a cartoon tshirt but until then make sure you try the two ideas in this post! ❤️ Happy Monday!
Buy Rice Back – Ft. My Name is Kumar Foundation
About the My Name Is Kumar Foundation
When Renee Schreurs and Tim Loonen came to Chennai in 2012 little did they know their life was going to turn upside down. Being associated with the CARE foundation, Netherlands born couple Renee and Time came for a six months visit to Ozhalur which is a small village near Chennai. When it was time to leave they realised they had created such lasting bonds with the children there that they knew they had to do something in order to provide better quality of living and education for these kids, (their kids almost!), and that is how the MyNameIsKumar Foundation was set up.
This voluntary, social organisation, supports the CARE foundation in providing all the resources required to lead a complete nutritious and a well educated and balanced life for 37 children who if not for this foundation would have to resort to begging to fend for themselves coming from the abject poverty they live in and cannot even think about education.
Story behind the Funny Name
One day Renee and Tim were taking around a few kids who were old enough to join schools to all the local schools so that it could be decided which school they wanted to join and this one kid called Sathish had a lisp and was finding it difficult to spell his name without stammering. This earned him some amount of teasing by the other kids. So when the Principal of the next school asked for his name he was quick to say “My Name is Kumar” which had everyone rolling in laughter. It was this quick witted moment which gave this foundation its name! Let’s meet some of Kumar’s friends who are now part of the 37 kids. Find more such pictures at www.mynameiskumar.org
What we can do to help
For four months every year, this couple are in India looking after the needs of the foundation, meeting people, crowdfunding and spending time with their 37 kids and the in house volunteers who actually take care of these kids
The main source of raising funds by this Organisation is through the http://www.buyriceback.org/ movement. The entire South India uses and reuses its Rice Bags as rice bags at first and they as mattresses and carpets because they retain warmth. This recyclability of rice bags got this couple thinking about the fun ways of reusing them, and just like that the spark to recreate them into useful things like totes, big shoppers, makeup kits and laptop sleeves was born! Proceeds from sale of these articles beyond the basic cost goes fully to support the needs of the My Name is Kumar Foundation.
Photoshoot Time!
It was a few months ago that I happened to meet this inspiring couple through a mutual friend (Hi Jaydeep! 😋) and we decided to do a mini photoshoot featuring these bags and laptop sleeves (and Renee and Tim in Indian clothes which they looked adorable in!) which by the way are so colorful that they are such a fashion statement and we had so much fun doing it. Here are the pictures!
For a long time the BuyRiceBack initiative was carried out in several countries through local agents and stockists and now finally they are in Indian ❤️😍 If you are feeling generous and you want to touch and change the lives of 37 beautiful children all you got to do is log onto http://www.buyriceback.org/shop to purchase these colorful and super useful and sturdy bags. Incase you are from India and the website does not accept your purchase, all you got to do is shoot an e-mail to renee@mynameiskumar.org and place your order there. (The team is working on setting up a webshop in India, so fret not! :D) You can also choose from their wide range of laptop sleeves, makeup kits and pillow cushions through the same site. Also, for donations, contributions and collaborations please head over to http://www.mynameiskumar.org/donate-now/ and show these kids the love they truely deserve!
Tim and Renee I think you are so inspiring. Keep touching these lives and know that we are always rooting for you! ❤️
Lips don’t Lie! – Winter Lipcare Unsolicited Advice For You :’)
A two week and a few days hiatus later I’m back with my next post. Blame the festivals the mini vacations and the incessant rains for this disappearance but now I’m back and I know you are celebrating about that! (No? Anyway…moving on 😛 )
Lipcare has always been a tough ordeal for me come winters and I’m looking through Lipcare products throughout the year to protect my lips from chapping and bleeding during the cold months.
I never write reviews or endorse skincare products which I’m not extremely happy about (easy to decipher since I have done just two product reviews in one and half years of blogging!)
So after years and years of failed products, miserably dry and chapped lips I very recently came across not one but two fabulous Lipcare products and trust me when I say this, these are only two products you will ever need for healthy glowing lips this winter! It is the Juicy Chemistry Orange Candy Lip Scrub and the Soul Tree Lotus and Kokum Butter Lip Balm.
Now if you are following me on Instagram (@frillthrills_fashionblog) you’ll know I have gone bonkers over this lip balm. It took a great deal of self control for me to not post about this lip scrub too on Instagram just to maintain the suspense factor! 😈 #imevilandiknowit. Without further random quabbling lets dive straight into the brief reviews I have done about these products
Juicy Chemistry Orange Candy Lip Scrub
Priced at Rs.200 this lip scrub is one flavor from their wide range of flavors which include ChocoMint, Fruity Grapefruit, Tingly LemonMint and RosyRose. Being a sucker for all things citrusy I went for this one without giving it a second thought! It has a sugary texture and is totally yummy to taste (it is like eating the sugar of the Orange Joojips if you know what that means!) It is thick and coarse and all you got to do is take a pill sized amount on your finger or a soft baby brush and rub and massage it well into your lips. After about 5-10 minutes wash it off (or be like me and lick it up!) with lukewarm water and its soft luscious lips in the house baby! 💋
This is from the JuicyChemistry range of skincare products which is a start up making so much progress in the skincare space today. They are based out of Coimbatore and this is what they have to say about their skincare line:
In a nutshell they are 100% natural, it is chemical free and Paraben free. Now for the Pros and Cons of this scrub:
Pros:
- There is a remarkable difference you feel almost instantly upon using the product and more so within a week of regularly using it. I use it thrice a week and my lips have started retaining the moisture and not getting cracked through the day like they usually do. The effect however, is profound on the day of use but lesser on the second day.
- It is not one of the expensive lip scrubs in the market especially when seen in relation to the result it gives.
- It is very easy to massage it into the lips because of the completely granular texture.
- Knowing it is 100% natural is reassuring because however hard you try some amount of the product does go into the mouth and you can’t avoid it (unless ofcourse you are another me and you, on purpose, like licking and tasting the product!)
Cons:
- While the product description did ask me to finish the Lipcare process by following this lip scrub with a lip balm I was hoping this by itself would work in keeping the lip from drying. But that is not true. When I tried stopping with just the lip scrub I realized my lips were just exfoliated and it had to be completed with the lip balm without which it was becoming dry pretty fast.
- Unlike popular myth I wasn’t, at least in the couple of weeks I have been using the product, been able to see any change in the color of my lips. The scrub does not remove sun tan or discoloration and just helps for dry chapped lips.
On the whole I give this product a whopping 4 on 5 stars for the fabulous result it gave me.
Soul Tree Lotus and Kokum Butter Lip Balm
I have in the past used the soul tree range of moisturisers and have loved it. I have a bad habit of hoarding on lip balms in my constant search of finding the perfect lip balm and hence when I went to the store recently and saw that soul tree had a lip balm range I dint think twice to buy this one. Priced at Rs.195 it is a mid-range product. It comes in a tub and it has a mild flavour. Through the day I apply it every once in a while probably 4 to 5 times a day for best effect.
Made completely of various organic and natural butters and ghees and essential and edible oils this lip balm claims to be Ayurvedic and natural. (And I’m sure it is true because the shop I bought this from is a 100% organic store stocking only such products.)
It has a buttery texture (you don’t say! 😜) and has an amazing and instant effect on the lips and this does not wear out for upto a day which by far is the longest any balm has had an effect on my lip. Now for the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Very, very very effective! Really buttery and hence moisturises and retains the moisture for really long.
- It has absolutely no tint or white cast and is completely transparent.
Cons:
- Does not particularly have a yummy taste if that is a con for you like me 😋
- Not the cheapest product in town.
On the whole I give this product 4.5 on 5 stars with a 0.5 minus only for the rate.
That my friends brings me to the end my two favourite lip product reviews. You’ll thank me later for giving you the two best product suggestions for flawless lips this winter.
Have a fabulous rest of the week and stay tuned for more such interesting posts from me ❤️😋
P.S. This is not a paid or a sponsored review. No one would pay me to rant so much about products I love I swear 😂😋
One Pencil Skirt Two Ways
What’s a Monday without a post from me right? Wrong! Don’t tell me you were wondering why I dint post a post on Monday…I wouldn’t buy it even for a second but yes lament about it I will! Due to some technical glitches faced by this technically severely challenged fashion blogger (I had to convert CR2 files to JPG…nope I dint know how to do that 😬 judge me!) I was unable to post yesterday but fret not here I am with a new post and this one today is about a pencil skirt which I came to own a couple of months ago. Now a pencil skirt can be a tricky piece of clothing especially for the ummmm…how do I put this subtly…the pear-shaped people like me! I have always shied away from them but then I realized I could make it work if I paired it with the right blouse. So here’s how I used my pencil skirt to create a morning and an evening look (both however shot in the afternoon…sorry you should have seen that PJ coming 😝💁🏻)
Morning Look
For the formal look I kinda toned down my bright coral-peach skirt with a teal shirt which hit the right length such that it covered the problem areas well enough 👍
I kept the look pretty simple with a gold tassel long chain I have been obsessed with and a coral flower earring. I opted for my Zara flats which are both comfortable for an all day use and a bit dressy too with all the gold detailing.
A close up under some white light so that you can see the 1) winged eyeliner swag I’m pulling off 2) the actual color of my top and 3) the winged eyeliner swag I’m pulling off…oh yeah!
Evening Look
The evening look was without doubt so much more exciting to create! I’m the most comfortable person in bubble tops but I find they do absolutely nothing to accentuate our figure so when I realized I could play around with the blouse since I had a structured skirt my hands instantly reached out to this fun bubble top I love!
This attention pose has become something of a favorite though everyone around actively hates it 😂 
For this look I decided to carry my golden glitter clutch and I brought out my much used and abused glitter pumps. I traded the quaint tassel chain for this chunky peach beads and completed the look with my used and reused cat eye glasses!
And again a closeup shot because forgedaboutme just look at that cute kids face painted 😍
Outfit Details : Formal Teal shirt – Westside, Pencil Skirt, bubble top and tassel long chain- NewYork&Company, peach statement necklace – Walmart, Gold flats – Zara, Gold Platforms – Westside, Watch – TommyHilfiger, Earrings – Mumbai Roadside, Clutch and glasses – Polkadotandyou, Coral purse – Capresse
Picture Courtesy – Pranav Agarwal
That would be all from me folks 😍 Enjoy the rest of your week and hope you feel inspired enough to bring out and flaunt those pencil skirts which have been sleeping in your closet for a while now. Ciao!
Did you know I was on Facebook and on Instagram – @frillthrills_fashionblog. Follow me to get interesting updates and cute selfies 👻
FestiveFun IndoWestern ColorBurst!
Hi and GoodMorning my lovely readers! Hope you had enough and more fun this past weekend to take on Monday headstrong! 😛 As a final part to my festive fun theme here’s my last IndoWestern fusion look. I have paired my palazzo pants which has shown its “flair” on this blog long ago with a contrast kurta and a colorful dupatta! Let’s go straight into the look!
I love this pink and blue combination and I often wear this kurta to work with blue bottoms. So pairing it with these blue palazzos were a no-brainer!
I completed the look with a topknot and a gorgeous pair of heels in the same colour scheme!
Sorry about the squinting in every photo! We shot this look in the afternoon and the sun was in my eye at every angle!
Another way of wearing this look and making it look a little festive is wearing a tank top and wearing the dupatta around it knotted at the waist like a jacket! Take a looook!
My beautiful neckpiece is seen at last in this look! Yayyy 😍
Such a look is so easy to recreate because who doesn’t have palazzos these days and they look gorgeous with kurtas. Also, if you are one of those girls who has lost interest in wearing jeans then these outfits are the way to go babe trust me! Advice from a person who’s been there and done that!
Outfit details : Kurta and Palazzo pants – Fabindia; Heels – Flipkart; Square long chain – Sundari Silks; Tank top (racer back) – Jockey; Dupatta – Mom’s very old and Unknown!
That’s all from me folks! Hope you enjoyed this short and sweet post! Please tell me that you’ll try recreating this look for the festivities ahead! Have an amazing week! May all your to-do lists have nothing but satisfying strike throughs by the end of this week! 😂😃 Ciao!
Customised Sneakers – A DIY
Do you have a Pinterest board full of these beautiful hand painted sneakers which is all over the internet now? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Do you love doing DIYs as much as I do? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Are you randomly going through my blog because it popped up on your RSS feed? Then you’ve come to the right place (just kidding…but stay anyway please ❤️🙏🏻)
So last week I had a day off and I decided to do something fun! 😍 And that’s how this customised sneakers idea was born 😊let’s jump right into the DIY!
Things you’ll need
Step 1 : Draw half circles using the coin throughout the shoe. You might want to imitate the design on one shoe more or less equally and similarly on the other shoe. Also decide right at this stage which are area which will have the design and which parts of the shoe are going to remain blank!
Step 2 : Since my theme was watermelons I painted the half circles red. Since a lot of layers and coats are going to come above this red don’t worry if the paints or the borders are not too precise.
Step 3 : Paint the background with any neutral or contrasting shade. I went for black. I decided not to paint the flaps inside to give it some black and white effect. Unfortunately I forgot to click pictures at this stage. 😟
Step 4 : Add the detailing required to complete the watermelon. Draw a first outline with a dark sap green and the next outline with a sort of light minty green. Add the seeds inside. I went for white seeds because that stood out better than the black seeds!
Step 5 : Allow the shoe to dry for sometime and touch up all the areas which require some perfecting and touching up. A second coat does make a significant difference!
Step 6: Lace it up and flaunt it like it’s nobody’s business! HAHA!
Hope you’ll enjoyed this DIY! Please try it soon and tell me what you painted and how it went! 😍
shilpaviswesh.com 