Let the Good Times Roll – A Review

I wanted to write a blog post to break the jinx and  put an end to the long hiatus I have been taking from writing-has it been almost a year since i wrote really?- Time flies! I thought what better way to start off than by talking about a skin care product I have been loving!

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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! 💋 

 

Sorry I had to scare you this way! Peace \/..
 
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: 

  1. 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. 
  2. It is not one of the expensive lip scrubs in the market especially when seen in relation to the result it gives.
  3. It is very easy to massage it into the lips because of the completely granular texture.
  4. 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: 

  1. 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. 
  2. 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:

  1. Very, very very effective! Really buttery and hence moisturises and retains the moisture for really long.
  2. It has absolutely no tint or white cast and is completely transparent. 

Cons: 

  1. Does not particularly have a yummy taste if that is a con for you like me 😋 
  2. 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 😂😋

Plum NaturStudio All-day-wear Kohl Kajal – A Review

You know how they say “things just fell into place”? That’s what happened to me with this post! I was not going to post this week because I had nothing going on and I really wanted more articles in my skin and beauty theme! But miraculously, late last week Plum Cosmetics sent me their newly launched Plum NaturStudio Kajal cum liner for a review and the review is Readyyyy!!

So Plum Cosmetics is a brand I have been loving for a while now. I have tried their Green Tea face mask which works very well for me. As a brand they stand for a couple of things : it is india’s first online cosmetic brand which is always free of parabens, phthalates, SLS and other harmful chemicals.

This Kajal-cum-eyeliner came to me last Thursday and they sent it with a Dual sized pencil sharpener and a complimentary face wash too (yayyy)


I have been using this pencil through the weekend and on Monday I wore to office conducting a small experiment of sorts where I took pictures of my eyes in regular intervals to show you guys how the liner and the kohl hold up!

The pencil itself looks something like this:

It is a pencil but gives a highly pigmented and dark gel-like finish which I love! The brown area which is usually wood in normal pencils is PVC-free plastic and that makes it a little tough to sharpen.

The plum website has the following words about this Kohl liner

For the first time in India, an ophthalmologically approved kajal pencil with a gel-liner like performance. 100% smudge-proof, water-proof single-swipe brilliant black kohl-cum-liner that’s also gentle on your eyes.

Ingredients used:

Hydrogenated Castor Oil : Highly hydrating and nourishing for skin and hair with healing properties. The hydrogenation makes it stable and compatible with the other ingredients.

Rice Bran Wax : A relatively unknown but amazingly effective moisturizer that lends creaminess and hydrating properties to any formula!

Natural Vitamin E : Needs no introduction as an antioxidant skin care specialist that’s essential for hydrated, younger looking skin.

Do note that owing to its high performance benchmark, this product is not all natural – but is 100% safe and tested by dermatologists and ophthalmologists.
Moving on to my experiment and then to the pros and cons:

On application 

  

  
It took me roughly three minutes to complete the eyes – kohl plus liner. The same stick is to be used for both purposes. Now I am a liquid liner junkie and I find gel based liners very tough and impossible sometimes to apply but this pencil does the trick very well giving a dark and beautiful finish to it. It is your perfect friend for a smokey eyed look!

Four Hours later 

Until four hours I swear there was no difference in the way the kajal and the liner held up and I found no use in uploading those pictures (which is a good thing by the way haha!) and hence moving straight onto the fourth hour 

By the end of the fourth hour this was the look. The eyeliner and the kajal look just the same except that the kajal had slightly come out of the waterline. I have a pretty watery waterline and I am guessing that happens with time with any good liner.

Seven hours later



 Now here was the where I found fading. The eyeliner on my left eye and the kajal on both eyes were gradual fading by the seventh hour. But the liner on the whole was still holding up well, just that the bright dark black had become lesser intense.

Nine Hours later 

  

  
At the end of nine hours the kajal had faded a little more and spilling more out of my waterline and into my lashes and right outside my eye and the eyeliner a little more faded. I would be lying if I said it was just like when I applied it cause that’s not true. The fading is pretty obvious but I have never ever used an eyeliner or kajal for so long anyway!

Now moving onto the pros and cons in bullet points

Pros 

  1. The thick beautiful dark output. I have never got such a beautiful result in any eyeliner and I loved that!
  2. Being very sensitive eyed I was so worried that this kajal might not suit me (trust me the most expensive kajals I have bought are still sitting in my drawer brand new because they didn’t suit my eye:( ) but this one is so gentle on the skin! I loved it.
  3. It’s very long lasting and going by a whole day without touching up my kajal is pretty unheard of for me and it was a reality with this one yayy!
  4. A lot of Kajal stocks claim to be two in one but I have been able to use none of them as eyeliners. But this one is truly 2-in-1 and works wonders on top and below the eye!

Cons

  1. Rate : At Rs.425 it’s not particularly the cheapest Kohl stick in town. I guess we pay the premium for the quality and the fact that it’s two in one and because it suits all skin and eye types!
  2. The sharpening part is pretty heart wrenching. I needed to sharpen it every time to get a smooth thin eyeliner line and when I sharpen it I see so much of the product getting smudged and wasted on the sharpener and I was pretty disgruntled about that!

So I would give this NaturStudio All Day Wear Kohl Liner a sure 4.5 on 5 with a 0.5 negative only for the second point on wastage because it truly scarred me guys! (😂) Here’s a link to the Plum website where you can order this Kohl Liner for yourself. For a limited period they are giving off the sharpener free for every order of the liner so hurry! 😍

http://plumgoodness.com/products/naturstudio-all-day-wear-kohl-kajal
Have a beautiful rest of the week my beautiful readers! ❤️

My Nightly Skin Care Routine!

Ever since the last post came up about skin care people have been asking me to share my skin routine! And I thought the only routine I religiously follow is the nightly one and so it would be only fair to talk about my nightly routine in detail with you guys 😊 

The thing about skin routines is that whatever you read up about it on the internet it is in the end a rigorous trial and error before finding the products that work and don’t for your skin. I for one tried three brands before finding something that worked for me! So let’s get started! 

  
For the past six to eight months I have shown unwavering loyalty to one brand for my night time routine – Kama Ayurveda! Now I know this is not so friendly on the pocket but this was pretty much the only brand that worked for me so I have learnt to love it despite its price! 

My routine is the usual CTM -cleansing – toning – moisturizing because that helps my combination skin breathe easy all night! 

Step 1 : Remove Make up 

  

The first step would be to remove the make up that has been working on your skin through the day. I use the MAC Gently off Eye and Lip Makeup Remover because it works like magic to get off the almost goth like edgy eyeliner and kajal I have on through the day! 

Step 2 : Cleanse 

  

To wash my face I use the Kama Ayurveda Rose and Jasminr Face Cleanser. Of all the Kama products this has to be my absolute favorite one! I have never used a face cleanser which doesn’t lather much but still removes the oil and grime just fine like this one! The lazy me loves the fact that literally two splashes of water does the trick 😝

Step 3 : Tone 

  

 For toning I use this light and lovely Kama Ayurveda Pure Rosewater. I spray it on my face and let it on for a minute to sort of sink in. A chemical toner should at this point be wiped onto the skin with a cotton pad and not be allowed to stay on the skin I suppose but this being natural rose water I quite like it to remain in my skin so that’s where it stays. 

Step 4 : Moisturize 

   

 
Once the toner rose water has sort of sunk in I Moisturize my skin. I alternate between two products in this step. One day I use the Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion and the on the next day I use the Kama Ayurveda Kumkumadi Miraculous Beauty Fluid. 

The Blemish Fade Night Lotion does exactly what it claims. It calms down the acne and irritated skin and even closes open acne scars. I love the pump packaging it comes in. The trick in moisturizing is more to do with the massaging rather than the actual product itself. Take a small quantity of the moisturizer that works for you and ensure you work it into your skin in wide circular motions on your cheek forehead and in up down motions on and below the sides of the nose and your neck. 

The KumkumadiMiraculous fluid is a potent oil which works it’s magic just like that! Just two drops of this liquid does the trick for the entire face. It doesn’t matter that you have oily skin. This fluid works on your skin through the night and gives it a beautiful glow the next morning once you wash it off. The packaging and smell are a slight put off but the results make up for these shortcomings. 

Step 5 : Moistize the Lips 

  

The last step is moisturizing my lips. Now this step I have added to the usually prescribed routine because I’m a person who eats up the lip balms I use through the day 😐 I also have a tendency to chew my lip while concentrating at work which really makes my lips a wreck! So I apply a lip cream or balm through the night so that my lips are back to a chewable condition the next day 😋 

Step 6 : Sleep Tight! 

Ya that doesn’t need a picture does it! Haha 😉 

So guys that’s my nightly routine. It’s always good to have such a night routine because that’s the time your skin gets some solid time to rest and the least we could do is make it feel better with this simple CTM routine! 😃 all the best finding the products that work for you! Honestly it’s a long drawn process and finding your skin’s calling could take months! So do it slowly if you must but start off soon all the same because trust me it does make a difference! 

Have an amazing week ahead readers! Hope you enjoyed this post! ❤️

  
A selfie just because! Haaaa! 😘

Five tips for great skin! ~ A Guest Post! 

I know I’m a day late but hey hey hey I’m here now! 😎😍😎 Today I bring to you a really cool guest post by the Fashion for royals team ! Now I have made it pretty vocal on my blog and my Instagram account that makeup wise I’m highly unwise but that’s not all together true when it comes to skin care. I have a detailed nightly routine (what!! I promise!) and I take whatever steps possible to keep my shiny oily skin from running into too much problem! Since skin care is a topic I absolutely love I was thrilled to hear from the Fashion for Royals team who wanted to do a guest post on my blog about their five tips to beautiful skin! Now Fashion for Royals is a fashion blog which has been trying to get the latest and greatest of anything and everything in vogue to its readers. Fashion for Royals is fun, creative and extremely informative and I love checking on their blog regularly! So without further yapping here is what this team thinks are the five most important skincare tips! 

A Hi-5 to Better Skin!

  

 We all want better skin, but the problem is that achieving it seems to be becoming increasingly complicated. The fact though, is that it really doesn’t have to be so confusing. Bettering your skin comes down to five simple steps. We all know them, but sometimes we just need reminding.

1.Drink

Drinking enough water is the first rule to having healthy skin. Not only does water help to keep you hydrated, but it’s great for your metabolism, too. Make sure that you’re not substituting your water intake for caffeinated drinks, though, as the caffeine content is dehydrating and pretty much counteracts any goodness you’re getting from the water. Herbal teas are fine, as they are caffeine-free.

 2. Eat
Eating clean is crucial when it comes to achieving clear, healthy skin. Processed foods containing high levels of refined sugar and salt can be just as bad for your skin as forgetting to moisturise. Get rid of those nasty processed items and restock your fridge with lots of fresh fruit, veg and meat. When it comes to condiments such as mayonnaise, it’s always better to make your own so you know exactly what’s going into it. The same goes for baking.
3. Sleep
It sounds simple, but we lead such busy and stressful lives that sleep actually moves further and further down our list of priorities. Every adult needs 7-8 hours of proper, quality sleep every night. Set an alarm for half an hour before you need to be in bed, and start your bedtime routine then. Try to avoid screens for the last hour before you go to bed, and make sure you don’t eat too close to your bedtime.
 4. Sweat

Sweating is not only good for your body since it usually comes with a workout, but sweating is actually really good for the skin as well. It opens the pores, drawing out and releasing all the dirt and grime in the skin, also releasing all those toxins. Just make sure you wash your face after a workout, though, as the residue will otherwise just sit on the surface of your skin and seep back in over time.

 5. Work

Working out your whole body is great for your skin, but you can also work out your face alone. We often end up neglecting the hundreds of muscles in our face, which can result in headaches, poor circulation of blood and even an increase in wrinkling. Working out the face increases the blood flow to the skin, making it appear more radiant and keeping the skin fresh and healthy. Relaxing all of those muscles will also keep you looking younger and relieving any tension you hold in the face.
  
Contributed by Archana Bansal   

Archana is a Marketing Expert by profession and a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger by passion. She currently writes for FashionForRoyals.com – a blog through which she pursues her love for fashion and all things beautiful.

Thank you so much Fashion for Royals team for these beautiful tips and reminders! As you said we might know most of these tips but it often takes a little nudging like this to actually implement and work on the tips we know! Please head over to fashion for royals through the following media and show them some love guys 🙂

Website: fashionforroyals.com

Facebook: FashionForRoyals or 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fashionforroyal 
That would be all from me! Until next Monday this is me signing off! Have a lovely week peeps 😍😘