Gucci : Envy Me

Dear Chryslynn,

I have known you as the only girl who is both: gorgeous, smart, fun, ‘has it all’ and yet is kind, warm and dedicated towards making this world a better place.  It is so easy for all of us to be full of ourselves but you make it look so easy to be humble and unassuming.

On your birthday, I thought of wishing you differently- on my blog :D AND I baked you this cake.

Okay, I didn’t :P You know I can’t bake-yet (only a matter of time, I tell ya!).  So even if I didn’t bake you this cake, I am dedicating this review to you as I feel it completely embodies our friendship. Mwah hon!

The Gucci “Envy Me” bath and shower gel is stuff wet dreams are made of. True to its luxury tag, the shower gel has a silky smooth texture- unlike any shower gel I have used before. It forms a rich, thick lather and a tiny droplet does the job. Don’t get fooled that it is a gel: each wash not only promises to satisfy all of your senses, but leaves you moisturised and smelling like a million bucks for the entire day. You can throw away your battalion of perfumes and creams now. Believe me, you won’t need it. I was also really impressed that the scent was mild and absolutely original.

The opulent scent is composed of Peony, Jasmine, Pink Pepper, Pomegranate, Pineapple, Teak Wood and Wood. And look at that bottle: its simple, elegant and once you get to experience it, you are gonna be pretty much addicted. In the process, I've only described Chryslynn to you. :) 

This also makes for an awesome gift and you need not bother about the age factor at all. It perfectly suits any woman between the ages of 21-80 years. The cost you ask? I would say it didn't feel like much to me and if it does to you, I would recommend that you look right through it. Everybody deserves a break and may be this is yours. Go ahead, spoil yourself silly.

Chris ma sweetheart, you are more precious and unique than this perfectly crafted wonder from Gucci and I love you, love, love you to bits!!!

Here’s wishing you a luxurious chocolate-marshmallow-rainbows filled birthday- 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Mwah mwah some more- mwah! 

Love you!!

Ashwini

P.S. Hey guys, thank you for being a part of Chryslynn’s birthday and you can go find your product here-

http://www.flipkart.com/gucci-envy-me-bath-shower-gel/p/itmdugt4vsgzt9fp?pid=BWSDUGT4VSGZT9FP&srno=b_1&ref=7ac46d04-6972-4ce3-8de1-827de4e186d3

The Inky-Pinky-Ponky state of affairs

Oh, so you finally made the time to go hit the departmental store and pick up your next body wash!Congratulations. There are good chances that the seasons have changed and you want to pick a new product. You've figured out two things: the budget and that you need it for daily use. Right O! Now choosing a product will be a cake walk for you...NOT! With the range of products available in the market today, sweetheart that was highly optimistic of you. 

Like us, I am sure that many of you frequently find yourselves in that situation where you have chosen 3-4 products and just don't know which one to go home with. You find yourself stuck in the aisle, helplessly looking from one product to the other and finally resort to singing inky pinky ponky to make your decision.  So I thought why not make a ready reckoner here! In this article, I will compare three every-day body wash  products that you might want to take home. To spice things up a little, I have titled the contest as "Beating the Blues" (which explains why all of them are fruity/flowery scented). Well, I know my winner but do post in your comments and let us know which ones you pick. Happy reading! 

As you can see these are three heavyweight brands in the Indian market: Nivea, Fiama Di Wills and Palmolive. I tried to make it a fair fight and chose three fresh scented, non-cream based shower gels all falling with in the price range of 150-200 Rupees.

Lets start with the Fiama Di Wills Brazilian Orange and Ginseng Fresh Revive shower gel: its smells energetic and can pack a punch into your morning. The shower gel has a smooth texture and shines like grounded Bappi Da's gold chain. That inspires me to sing "disco dewane" in the shower- every morning!! On the flip-side, the scent really doesn't last too long ( not even till the end of the wash) and doesn't lather too much which somehow leaves me thirsting for more. In other words, it makes my mornings O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y and I ain't gonna have myself any of that!

Palmolive's Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic is well, a tonic. I apologize for not taking the time to really lead you to my opinion. Sorry. The reason I call it a tonic is because of the one time the shower gel accidentally got into my mouth and eyes, I heard Alicia Keys loud and clear- This girl is on fiirrreeee, this girl on fire...I'm walking on fiiirrreee... The shower gel didn't smell decent, the texture was too thin for my taste and frankly, it couldn't taste any bitter(hey, I might as well taste it while it was there on my tongue)! What a traaagic Monday morning. Never again.

This brings us to the shower gel that has joined my list of favourites and is the clear winner of  "Beating the Blues": Nivea's Frangi Pani & Oil Shower Gel. The texture of the gel is clear & thick and it comes with pretty yellow micro-beads. It has a wonderfully neoteric scent that lingers on waaay after the shower. It forms a decent lather without leaving the skin dry. The bottle and the name reminds me of Yo-Yo's Aj blue hai pani ... Beach scenes on Monday mornings- who wouldn't like that? As Barney says, its "AWE-WAIT FOR IT-SOME!!"
Well, I hope this gives you some idea of what to pick on your next trip to the store. Until next time, happy bathroom singing!

Lively Bamboo, Bamboo Charcoal Soap, Lavender and Rosemary

The Lively Bamboo, Bamboo Charcoal Soap is beautiful to look at. A lamp black soap enclosed in thin white butter paper and covered with a thin brown sheet with the soap's name printed in Leaf green. I wish I'd taken a picture of the soap before opening it but I'd been waiting to open it for so long it completely slipped out of my mind.

The soap has a pleasant fragrance unlike the previous lavender soap that I had reviewed (read: http://www.soapnosis.blogspot.in/2012/08/lavender-and-basil-soap-fabindia.html ). The natural heady scent of lavender has not been overdone and is perfectly complemented by the woody fragrance of the rosemary. The fragrance of the soap doesn't lose its intensity even after a whole three weeks. It smells just as amazing as the first time you open it.  Full points for getting the fragrance right.

The soap uses activated charcoal ( a form of carbon that has a lot of pores to increase its surface area so it can help in adsorption in this case, of dirt that lies trapped deep in the pores of the skin) as a "mild" exfoliant. An ingenious use of charcoal with a valid purpose-exfoliation and detoxification of the skin which allows the body's natural oils to moisturize the skin after washing. My experience however tells me that this fine-grain soap is too harsh on the skin and dries the skin out after every wash. You can be sure that  your body will be scrubbed squeaky clean of any dry skin cells or dirt on your body but a wash after this soap will also require you to invest heavily in greasy moisturizer after a bath which is funny because the soap claims that it can "relieve cracked and dry skin".So, even though scrub soaps ought to be perfect for the winters to help exfoliate the skin, I wouldn't recommend it for the winters ,at least not if the winters in your town are any like the one that hits Rajasthan. It might work well in the monsoons though when the weather is still humid so your skin's natural oils can compensate for the dryness of the skin. Lavender is after all, a monsoon fragrance to be enjoyed with a hot water bath.

All in all, this soap is not to be used everyday. It may be nice to use once or twice in a month when you think your skin can do with an exfoliant to remove out all the grime and dirt that lies hidden in the deep pores of your skin and soak in the wonderful fragrance of the heavenly mix of Lavender and Rosemary.

Name: Lively Bamboo Charcoal Soap Lavender

Maker: Auroville Bamboo Centre ( http://www.aurovillebamboocentre.org/commerce.html)

Price: Rs 119 at Flipkart.com

Ice Cubes in your armpits!!

I hear you! Believe me I do. I know how it feels to sit in your desk and appear all "cool" and lady like when really there is a Niagara falls of the worst kind flowing through your armpits or bust line or wherever(lets cut the gory details). You tip-toe to the restroom and try to fix yourself-some perfume here, some talc there. You blot all the 'natural' sea salt spray from your body and return to your AC cabin with a look of delight. You get down to work, humming yourself a track and sipping on some water feeling like your teenage self. Ten minutes later, you feel like a giant sticky note. Argh!

 After a few days you realize, your deo doesn't do it, your bathing bar doesn't do it, your talc, SPF- none of them help!  After having showered in my own sweat almost every summer, the Mint and Tea Tree shower gel by Original Source comes as more than just a relief.
It is a vegan product made of tea tree extracts and mint concentrate which leaves your body with a tingling sensation. The first time I showered with it, I think I saw Alaska. It was 36C already in Bangalore and nothing helped to distract me from the heat. I had picked up the shower gel from the local store (Health and Glow, Bangalore) and had not paid much attention to it. I just thought that the mint would keep body odour at bay but boy, it did so much more!

So, back to my story. I stepped into the shower, poured some gel out and the mint concentrate was just so refreshing and arousing at the same time. Lathered myself up and I started noticing that something was different. Took me about two seconds to realize that there were ice cubes in my armpits, around my neck, ice cubes tucked under my bust line , between my legs and....HOME RUN!!! 

Best bath I'd had in my entire life. Period. *toothy grin*
Moreover, it kept me cool for over 4-5 hours and I felt so refreshed!! I felt like a full 158 cms of chilled  Mojito, loose on the streets of the city. The light green bottle sits prettily too. All this for a price of 200 odd Rupees. Sigh! Life is sorted.

Go then, get your ice cube machine and invest in keeping your own sanity :) And lets hope you hit a few home runs too! ;)

NAME: Mint and Tea Tree Shower Gel

MAKER: Original Source, UK.

PRICE: 299 Rs.

AVAILABLE AT: Flipkart and Health & Glow outlets, Bangalore.

Khadi glycerine rose water soap

One day, Nur Jahan, tired from a hard day's work at the royal court, dispensing orders to her wazirs while her husband Jahangir, Emperor of the Mughal empire, lay stoned in the bar room of the palace after having 10 shots of god knows what and ganja called out to her lady-in-waiting to set a bath up for her. Having to handle an alcoholic husband and the entire empire by herself had taken a huge toll on the queen. The youthful beauty that had once mesmerized the king now had dark circles under her eyes and her skin had lost its usual lustre. Seeing her queen in distress, she set up a hot water bath for her and added to it a few rose petals.

As the queen undressed and set foot into the bath the maid had arranged for her, the soft, tender smell of the flower hit her. Very soon, the perfume of the flower enveloped the entire bath space and she found herself drift into a trance-like state. She dreamt of being in a rose garden with a million roses all around her, swimming in a vast sea of red,yellow and white. A knock on the door, woke her out of her dream. " There got to be something more I can make out of this" she said and this led to her discovery of rose attar (perfume).

The glycerine rose water soap seems to have been created out of the same sense of love that Nur Jahan  experienced for roses. The baby-pink coloured bar of soap is absolutely precious. It has exactly the right quantity of rose water so that the fragrance is neither over-powering nor hard to detect. It makes a delightful combination with a hot water bath and even after you leave the bathroom, the faint fragrance of the flower does not fail to linger. The glycerine portion of the soap is not hard to miss either; it leaves your skin clean and well hydrated. The bar of soap is absolutely unassuming and does not try too hard to sell itself. It lets its fragrance do the talking. Having a bath with it every night was an absolute delight and it set alight my passion for the flower. That beautiful flower, forgotten by the world!

The glycerine rose water soap by Khadi is totally worth buying at 45 rupees a piece and works brilliantly well as a night soap. The scent calms and relaxes your body after a hard day's work. Although the soap loses much of its fragrance after having used it a couple of times, it is still worth buying.Bathing with it is sure to bring back that lost romance with the rose back into your life!

Soap name: Glycerine and Rose water soap

Seller: Khadi

Price: Rupees 45/-

Bought from: Flipkart ( http://www.flipkart.com/khadi-pure-lavender-soap-glycerine-rose-water-pack-2/p/itmde5956fvmezcb?pid=SOPDE593XZNHHYGJ )




    

Lotus Herbals,LICORICEWHITE Skin Whitening Cleanser

" A 100% Ayurvedic natural remedy that effectively controls melanin, thus making the skin glow with fairness. Regular use of LICORICEWHITE makes skin visibly whiter and effectively works to remove blemishes. It contains premium ingredients like Licorice (Mulathi) and Manjishtha in their purest form"

Lets review this claim, shall we?

"A 100% Ayurvedic natural remedy..."   The soap lists the use of Licorice, Manjishtha, Nimbu chilka, Kesar and soap base as ingredients. Given that four of the five ingredients are natural, this one is granted to Lotus.

"....that effectively controls melanin, thus making the skin glow with fairness."   Licorice and Manjistha are both commonly used to cure skin diseases.Licorice is used as a skin whitening agent due to its inhibitory effect on synthesis of melanin whereas Manjishtha is used to treat skin diseases in many Ayurvedic medicines. So well, in a way, it does control melanin and it is supposed to make the skin glow with fairness. Lotus got this one right as well.

"Regular use of LICORICEWHITE makes skin visibly whiter and effectively works to remove blemishes." Now this one I have a problem with. You see, I used the soap diligently every morning and every night for about 3 weeks, and it did not make my skin "visibly whiter". Now there could be two reasons for this. Either three weeks doesn't  exactly fit the definition of "regular use" or that my eyes have been severely wrecked in the 21 years of my existence. Anyways, I waited day in and day out, looking at the mirror and asking several people if I had in fact become any fairer that I was before. Sure, a few said that I looked clean and fresh and many other flattering adjectives( See, how soap reviews also help you judge whom and whom not to believe! ) but not one of them stated that I looked fairer than before having used this soap. Maybe it did make my skin white, who knows? But I can say, for sure, that the whiteness wasn't very "visible".

"It contains premium ingredients like Licorice (Mulathi) and Manjishtha in their purest form" . Well, I have no way of verifying this. Besides, I would like to believe that the world is a good place and that Lotus Herbals would not make a claim that is not true.

Would I recommend the soap to anyone? Sure. Even though it does not stand up to its claim of making the skin "visibly white", this gel based soap that smells like watermelon bubblegum (Don't be shocked. Licorice is used as a sweetener in candies) is still worth a try. The soap cleans you up just right and  although it has no specific moisturizing property it does leave your skin nice and soft unlike other moisturizing soaps that make your skin feel greasy and oily which is why it is such a perfect soap to be used any time of the year. The Soap is also very attractively packed and and is sure to make you want to run out and buy it.

So, all in all I would say it is a worthy investment at 70 rupees. But when any of you do end up using it, wait for a period of time that would justify "regular use" of the soap, find out if it makes it "visibly white" and let me know, will you?

Seller: Lotus herbals

Soap name: LICORICEWHITE Skin whitening Cleanser

Price: Rs 70/-

Bought from: Flipkart ( http://www.flipkart.com/lotus-herbals-licorice-white-skin-whitening-cleanser/p/itmd9ast2z5jhqdn?pid=SOPD96AY8RMDZHMW )

Vaadi Sandal soap with saffron and turmeric

Remember the time Veerappan was a huge menace in the South? He was charged with everything from man-slaughter to kidnapping, to poaching of elephants to sandalwood smuggling. Among his many misdeeds however the last one seems to have stuck the most, giving him the moniker ‘Sandalwood Veerappan’. Veerappan obviously thought very highly of the value of this ingredient and so do I. I would like to believe that is the only thing Veerappan and I share in common. I love sandalwood soaps and I really expected this one to be a diamond in the mine.

I took a very long time to make my mind up about the soap (two weeks almost).It was hard to really figure out what I thought about it. It was a nice soap. Not mind blowing, spectacular stuff just nice. The translucent, plain bar of soap was uninteresting (I like interesting shapes and sizes in soaps) but it did its job well. It lathered well, had a pleasant fragrance that lingered for a long time and made my skin feel clean. There isn’t  much more that I could possibly say about it. All the characteristics I have just listed are, if you have noticed, quite, oh how should I say it, ordinary.

Vaadi had good intentions.  The sandalwood, saffron and turmeric combination is actually delightful and anyone who enjoys a good earthy scent would find it very enticing.  Like I said, it is a nice everyday-use soap but tweak the ingredients a little and it would have been spectacular. Like for example, if the soap had a cream base instead of the glycerine and that itself would have taken this soap up several notches. The soap does have the advantage of being affordable (it is priced at Rs.25/- ) and having the right mix of ingredients which might entice the loyal sandalwood soap audience but my only regret it is that it could have been so much more.

All in all, this soap does not demand your complete devotion and loyalty in the soap department but it is definitely worth a one-time wash. It’s been almost 8 years since the death of the notorious Sandalwood Veerappan but I am sure when he smuggled 10,000 tons of sandalwood to the US for 22,000,000$  he thought it would have come to better use than in the Vaadi soap. He obviously knew the real worth of this soap and had he been alive today I am sure he would have had added one more charge to his chargesheet.

Seller: Vaadi Herbals

Soap name: Divine Sandal soap (Skin whitening therapy)

Seller : Flipkart

Price; Rs 25/-