Black dress: Koovs, bought in sale

When I bought this dress few months back, it wouldn't fit me. After some weight loss in April, I tried it on again and viola it fit well with the help of shapewear.

This is how I wore it in April:

Footwear and sling bag : Promod

I am exceptionally proud of today's look. I try and wear each article of clothing in a different way each time. That is what makes it interesting. 

I bought the crop top from Forever21 atleast 2 years back and it has been lying in my closet untouched. I rarely discard clothes I haven't worn. This crop top is too tight and short to wear on its own. What was I thinking when I bought it? And it comes to my waist, making me look broad and highlighting my fat. But today, I, finally managed to inaugurate it. I wore it over the dress and it completely transformed the dress. 

Footwear : Promod

Please don't mind the hair. I didn't have time to do anything with them today. 

Maxis are difficult to wear. If you are lean, it is not an issue but if you are not in perfect shape they can make you look not-so-perfect. I don't like fat showing through my clothes and prefer to wear slightly loose clothes rather than tight fitting ones. All these conditions make it difficult to find the perfect maxi.
I bought this maxi from the sale at Chemistry during a visit to Kolkata few months back. The footwear is from Charles and Keith.
I am also wearing a shapewear slip from Marks and Spencer- my go to brand for lingerie.

This maxi makes me look curvier... maybe it is the horizontal stripes but that is ok. I miss Italy because I didn't have to worry about cleavage and bras peeking out. This maxi needs a little care in that department. 

What do you think? 

8 people have voted that I re-start this blog Vs 7 people who didn't want me to. So, with that one extra vote am making this effort.
I will start off with outfit posts. If you follow me on instagram, this will be a repetition but please have patience. Slowly and steadily, I will talk about more stuff.

Rules for the blog... which I have mentioned earlier:
- I will not be buying stuff for reviews. This makes no sense to me and is an absolute waste of money
- I am not paid for anything I say on the blog
- My outfit posts are what I wear on a daily basis. Unlike most fashion bloggers, I don't wear clothes to click photos for the blog.
- Don't expect any make up tutorials because I suck at them. And who the hell wears eye shadows during the day.... Ok. Ok. In Dehi malls, women do. But I don't. I threw away all my eye shadows 2 years back
- I use my phone camera and will try and use the DSLR

Let us start then. 

I was looking for discounts on massages on groupon and came across Vanity Cube. Instead of buying a coupon for a random massage place which could turn out to be shady I was attracted to the idea of someone coming home and giving the massage.

Vanity Cube is a doorstep professional salon in Gurgaon. Basically, they come home and give you salon services.
I had booked a Swedish massage, foot reflexology though the coupon and a hair spa and threading. I called them and booked an appointment, was confirmed that someone would come on time and one day earlier was asked to mail the groupon coupon. No hassles at all. On Saturday at 10.45 am the salon lady was promptly at my door. It warmed the cockles of my heart to see the punctuality; being a punctual freak myself.

She set up everything in the next 15 mins- covering on the bed to prevent it from getting dirty, towels, pot pourri, the oil. It was a very relaxing 1 hour and the massage was done well. I am not fond of rough massages and the pressure was perfect.
This was followed by hair spa where L'Oreal Professional products were used. I have the same products at home and do it at home once in a while but the lady spent a lot of time massaging my hair and giving me steam.
The payment was by cash but I think they are working on getting additional options like online payment.
The only issue was when she started asking personal questions like "Do you have kids?" "No? Why? What's your age?" "How much do you earn?" and she did not take a hint when I tried to ignore her.

But all in all, judging them only by the services they provide it is a good salon. I would never get facial done here because I prefer VLCC for my skin issues and Vanity Cube uses mid range products only. But for everything else- massage/threading/manicure pedicure/hair colour etc I would definitely prefer it over going to the salon myself.

I find going to a salon very, very boring and hate it when I arrive 15 mins earlier but the service starts 15-30 mins late. And I hate spending 1-2 hours in a salon, it is so boring.
Atleast with Vanity Cube I am at home... and can watch movies/TV/read a book during the service.

I have already booked another coupon on groupon for this weekend.

Edited to add: I shared this review with Vanity Cube and they called me to clarify a few things:
- They train their salon people and will ensure nobody asks personal questions in the future
- They do have many brands for facials- Cheryls, VLCC, Lotus etc. My suggestion would be to inquire before booking. 

I have wanted to buy temporary hair colours for so long now...
- L'Oreal Professional launched them few months back but they don't sell the bottles. You have to avail of the service in the salon...
- Body Shop launched the hair chalk but it is quite expensive at 1000 bucks
- I ordered temporary hair colour from asos usa website but they did not reach me

I was so happy to see B:Blunt's new range on sale on purplle.com. Along with shampoo, conditioner, serums, waxes they have launched washable hair colours.

I bought the hair colour in blue shade, the same one the stylist had applied on me. He wanted me to buy all 4 and I was tempted but finishing this itself will be a task.
The bottle is a spray can which contains 54 ml of colour for 300 bucks. How cheap is that!!! The stylist told me it can be used 15 times. Even if it lasts 10 times, that is 30 bucks per use. Damn cheap.

I didn't apply it at home but the stylist applied it for me at the salon. You just need to take a strand of hair, place at tissue at the bottom and spray. Easy peasy. Don't worry if you get colour on your hands, it is washable.
The stylist applied it on my hair at the bottom... so the colour can be covered up if I want to and it looks better as a peek a boo.
I had expected the colour not to show up on dark hair but it has shine and shimmer and looks bright blue.

This is what it looks like.

Applied on the lower layers of hair. 

Peek a boo

With flash 

Without flash.

The colour makes the hair rough where ever applied but they did not look frizzy. It can be washed off whenever you want. I shampooed it off today and my hair are back to normal. There was no excessive bleeding of colour. In fact, I went swimming with it today and the colour did not come off. I was wearing my swimming cap, of course but my hair get wet anyway in the water.

If I finish this bottle, am going to buy the other 3 colours- green, bronze and copper, for sure. 

I discovered few days back that B:Blunt has a salon on Gurgaon. Why didn't anyone tell me? Anyway, I didn't need a haircut because am trying to grow my hair beyond my shoulders for the first time in 31 years of my life. But I decided to try the salon anyway and get a trim. I am so tired of unruly looking hair. Every few months after a trim they become out of shape. Plus most salons do not know how to cut hair. Everytime I end up getting layers. Isn't there anything else?

B:Blunt is located in South Point Mall on Golf Course Road. I booked an appointment for hubby and me. He wanted a hair cut and I booked a junior stylist for him and a senior stylist for me. I was not happy with the décor of the salon. It looked cheap... as in not cheap crowd types... but non expensive. This is quite a shocker because salons like Looks and Geetanjali which have similar charges look so much more expensive and luxe. The stylists themselves looked quite ordinary... no wacky hair styles or any style per se. I got a bad feeling about this but the appointment was booked, I was already at the salon and my hubby's hair cut had started. No way to back out now.
The senior stylist Javed asked me what I wanted. This is rule no 1 before visiting any salon... always know what you want. I have learned this after many unfortunate incidents. The stylist is not a mind reader and you need to know what kind of hair cut you are looking for. I told him I wanted a trim to give some shape to my hair since am growing them out. After a shampoo and conditioner, he gave me a fabulous hair cut. I was impressed by his knowledge of hair- not just about hair type but the way hair falls... what kindof hair cut will make my face look less round etc etc. What he finally gave me was some layers at the bottom since my hair are wavy... he gave few layers to make the waves bigger... volume on the top since my hair at the top fall straight... and fringe/bangs to cover my forehead. I am super impressed with the fringe... nobody has cut them this way before and I have visited all the good salons- VLCC, Lakme, Looks, Geetanjali, Enrich, JCB etc.
We also discussed hair products and I was happy to note that am using the right products for my hair. A post is coming up on that soon.
And in the end he decided to apply temporary hair colour from the new range of B:Blunt.

This is what I got. How cool is the blue colour? Totally matches my tee. See how the fringe falls?

And this is what my hair looked like earlier... this is after using gel and serum.

I think B:Blunt is a great salon for hair services, wouldn't recommend it for anything else though because I just didn't find it luxurious enough. Also, need to mention that my hubby was not happy with his hair cut. He had given a free hand to the stylist asking him to do as he pleased... the stylist gave him the same hair cut he always has.
Book a senior stylist only. 

So, here are this month's empties.

Kronokare body lotion:
I got this as part of my envy box. Btw, I have not bought the envy box this month because the products didn't look exciting. I can walk into Sephora and get Kama ayurveda samples for free. Why pay for them?
I had received a sample of 35 ml. It has extracts of lavender and thyme and is parabens and SLS free.
It is an Indian brand and has an interesting website though their instagram feed is ridiculous.

The lotion smells of lavender (which I do not like), is white in colour and thick. I found it a little hard to blend because it is thick. I prefer lighter lotions for my normal skin.
The plastic bottle is also quite hard making it difficult to get the last of the lotion out.

Will I re-purchase? No but may try other products.

Marks and Spencer antiperspirant roll on
MRP Rs 199 for 50 ml. This is my 2nd bottle of the roll on. It comes in a plastic bottle with a white roll on. The liquid inside is red in colour and contains water lily. I like the smell. It is fruity and fresh, one of the reasons I bought the roll on.
It works quite well and keeps me sweat free for 4-5 hours even while working out.
The only problem is that the white roll on part gets stuck sometimes and I have to roll it a few times for it to get working.
The bottle has lasted me a month and I use it atleast twice a day.

Will I -repurchase? Not right now. I will try on something new but if I don't like it I will definitely pick it up again.
It is available in all Marks and Spencer stores.

Ponds white beauty cream.
MRP Rs 199 for 50 gm.
I was looking for a moisturiser which will moisturise and keep my oily skin matte. I rarely use drugstore brands but decided to try this one.
It claims to reduce spots and has SPF 20.
The cream is in a glass jar which is very stylish and safe for travel. The cream is thick but spreads easily. I did not find it very moisturising... I didn't feel it penetrate my skin but rather sit on top of it. It goes on completely matte which is a big bonus.
Overall, I did not like the moisturising part of it... but it gives a matte effect which is good.

Will I re-purchase? No

I have been reading soooo much about this lipstick online and yet they have not yet launched in Delhi NCR. How can they be a hit already? Good PR?
I bought the shade Peach Club from asos.com. It cost me around 900 bucks including customs which is the price in India.

It is a lipstain which is a mix of lipstick and lipgloss. The consistency is that of a thick lipgloss which is completely opaque. The applicator is doe foot and applies well. 

The shade is a coral... mix of pink, red and orange. 

 

It applies comfortably and becomes matte in a few minutes... stays on for 4-5 hours and then fills into the fine lines. It becomes dry and I generally have to apply a lipbalm on top which turns it glossy.
It stays on for light eating and drinking but starts to come off after a heavy meal. Thats when it looks bad and needs a touch up or application of lip balm.

This is what it looks like immediately on application.

All in all, am ok about it. It does feel dry after a few hours and enters into fine lines which is a big con. But the color lasts since it becomes a stain after application of lip balm.
I don't plan to buy any more of these. 

I went crazy shopping on body shop website during the 50% sale. I had been eyeing the blueberry range since it was launched but did not want to spend unnecessarily. But with 50% off, it is all affordable now.
Another range that I love is the Ginger Sparkle. I hate ginger in my food but love the Body Shop range. Love the spicy smell.

I bought:
- Ginger sparkle gift set
- Blueberry body scrub
- Blueberry body lotion
- Cramberry reed diffuser set

Blueberry body scrub: MRP Rs 1195. Got it for 50%
I have been drooling all year over this. It smells so delicious. But did not want to spend 1k on a scrub. And now I bought it. After this, I am set till 2015 and do not need any more body scrubs.

Blueberry body lotion: MRP Rs 695. 250 ml. 

Needed a body lotion and picked this up for 50% off. 

Cranberry reed diffuser: MRP Rs 2595
I have become obsessed with the house smelling nice and have placed a reed/oil diffuser in the living room, bedroom and bathroom. I have the cranberry diffuser oil (picked it up 50% off in the previous sale) and it smells awesome. So, I had to buy this one. Expensive even after the discount.

Ginger Sparkle gift set: MRP Rs 2495
Last year Body Shop launched their X'mas collection which had vanilla, ginger and cranberry ranges. I became obsessed with the vanilla range specially the bath gel. Then I tried the ginger one and vanilla was soon forgotten. Had to pick this up at 50%.

It includes :
Body butter 50 ml

Shower gel 250 ml

Body scrub 75 ml: And now I don't need a scrub till 2016

 A cute heart shaped soap

How cute is the container...

Really like Body Shop service. 2 days after ordering I mailed them asking when it was getting shipped. An executive called in the next hour and informed me. The order reached the very next day. Hope they keep this up. 

Finally... after months of waiting (yep, I was waiting)... Forever21 has started shipping to India. The shipping is free for orders above Rs 2500. For orders less than that, shipping charges are Rs 300-500.

I ordered a dress 3 days back and received it today. How fast is that!!!

Haul from forever21.com

Very happy with this. Now, I don't need to buy from asos.com. Anyway, the customs charges are killing. And I don't need to travel to Delhi to shop from this store.