Hair Care

Salon Range Products or Natural Products for Hair? {Your Opinion}

Swathy · February 25, 2014 · 1 Comment

I have always been torn between these two. Well, for starters, I love experimenting with natural products and home remedies!! But, on the other hand, professional products are well-researched and prepared and categorized exactly for your hair type and issue.

If you ask me to choose between the two, I would be hard-pressed. These days my hair care routine or habits have changed so much. If I look at all my hair diaries which started way back in 2012, I used to use over-the-counter products and stressed more on natural brands (mainly Biotique) or home remedies. But, slowly, I can see myself transition into using hassle-free products.

I have started spending more and buying SLS-free shampoos and professional range conditioners because the regular conditioners do not work for me at all. Ok, one reason I can say natural products or herbal brands appeal more is the expense. The professional products are usually very expensive. I would love to give Kerastese a try, its not that I can not afford it but somehow I do think before going for it, not that I can guarantee Kerastese will work fabulously on me!!

Also, lately, I have started hating applying products which are gooey and need a lot of pre-processing or post-processing like mixing some herbal hair powders with water or something else or mashing banana and papaya into a mix and applying it or even curd, for that matter. For one, the smell is awful and second, you really need to make sure nothing is dripping all over the house while you are working with all that on your head.

So, I have reached a compromise with myself and have started buying ayurvedic oils which I try to diligently apply before every hair wash. I do love to check out different ones so you will never find me sticking to one which is quite sad in one way!! And, I have started buying organic shampoos and conditioners, not professional yet, which reduce my time in the bathroom. Also, as a leave-in, I am sticking to natural oils for now because they are working great.

What do you prefer – the natural or herbal products or the salon or professional ranges for hair care?

How to Apply Onion Juice for Hair Growth – Part I

Swathy · February 24, 2014 · 39 Comments

Since I have mentioned about using onion juice for hair, I have received an onslaught of questions from various readers and they all ask me the same kind of questions. So, I thought I would create a small FAQ sort of post which will be helpful for one and all.

How does Onion help with hair growth?

Well, onion has sulphur which is an essential nutrient for hair growth. So, regular application of onion juice on the scalp enables the scalp to absorb the nutrient and nourish the follicles.

Big onions or small, red onions or white?

Big or small does not really matter but big makes the job easy! For one application of onion on my scalp and hair length which is medium, I prefer half an onion of medium size. And, red onions have more sulphur content than white ones so prefer them.

How to apply onion juice?

Grate the onion – squeeze the pulp and extract the juice in a bowl – take a cotton ball – dip in the juice – apply on scalp – cover the entire scalp and hair length – let it dry for an hour – wash off.

Onion juice becomes powdery when it dries off so be careful and do not comb your hair after applying the juice!

How many times should the onion juice be used on the scalp?

It is completely safe so it can applied as many times as you want. But, if you want my advise, apply it every time before you shampoo depending on the condition of your hair.

Femina Salon and Spa Magazine Review

Swathy · February 20, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Femina Spa and Salon Aditi Hydari issue at Perfect Skin Care for you

Price: Rs 100

Femina presents its latest addition to the slew of magazines in her kitty, Femina Salon and Spa. The goal of this magazine is to promote the beauty basics customized to the Indian skin tone and hair type. And, it does that with a bang in this issue of its!!

So, let me start with the cover girl feature of Aditi Rao Hydari. I totally love this lady and the magazine covers a snapshot-cum-tutorial session detailing gorgeous hairstyles ranging from refined fish-tail braids to carefree waves and an interview with this lady discussing her beauty secrets (click on the below picture to enlarge it and read the tutorial)!

its so chic!

She is one of the very few woman I actually admire looks-wise and reading her interview was fun. The flawless skin is thanks to the female genes in her family and she loves her eyebrows the most. I do too (her eyebrows, I mean)! The shape is just awesome. And, she loves natural remedies and relies very less on makeup.

i love this!

Princess Jasmine knots from Walt Disney cartoon Aladin

my favorite current trend – the OMBRE effect I would love to get dark mahogany with blue highlights!

Moving on, the hair care section is HUGE! It includes all the latest trends in the hair styles right from braided twists to ombre hair effects. The section has a talk with Chelsey Lloyd, global expert, TIGI about hair coloring basics and which colors best suit the Indian skin tones and the Do’s and Dont’s for the hair colorists. And, she also emphasizes that the colorist should make sure that the hair should be healthy initially so that the color would show up nicely.

these are my two favorite looks of all!!

Next is a section on makeup, the higlight of which in this issue is the dramatic use of eyeliners. Followed by a tete-a-tete with Bobbi Brown. And, a few Q&A sessions with Ojas Rajani and Colleen Khan.

And, the final section is the spa and salon section which talks about some of the professional spas, a little about salons across the metros, features hair stylist Deepak Jalhan and a lots on hair color which is very useful if you are one for it!!

My Verdict

Overall, the magazine is a treat for beauty addicts with the bonus of being customized to Indian audience which makes most of the tips practically usable. A few things do bother me like some of the color combinations in the magazine are little difficult to read. They have used red at some places which glares in the eyes instead of being readable.

And, the glue for the magazine did not hold well. I, for one, handle the books and magazine delicately but still it did not stand well which is sad 🙁 I do not know if that should be mentioned in a review but then here it is!!

Have you read the first issue of the magazine which features Yamini Gautam?