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Blogging Series Vol. 4 – How am I able to try out so many products and its affects on my skin?

Swathy · February 10, 2013 · 4 Comments

This is a question which I have been asked quite a lot of times. Being a beauty blogger, I do get lot of opportunities to try out various products and being an enthusiast, I love to discover new brands. Anything which appeals to me, I make a point to try it.

Over the years of blogging, I have found many brands which appeal to me and I have also found out what kind of products appeal to me more and what are mere whims.

Good Skin Genes

I am thankful to both my parents for having great skin. Though, I prefer my mom’s skin a lot more but its hell lot sensitive as well. Mine is just perfect which troubles me with only a few products!
Good Skin Care
Changing products very frequently does wreak havoc on the skin. But, I have a few things in my routine which never change. One of those habits is using oils. I always treat my skin to something familiar everyday so that at least one aspect of my skin care does not change. 
Also, when trying out a lot of products, always keep in mind to change one product at a time instead of changing the entire set. That will ensure you know what does not agree with your skin. 

Also, another thing which helps is being able to judge what will suit you or not. That is where the knowledge of ingredient list comes in handy. Also, when you are trying out natural or herbal products, you should be shrewd enough to make out which brand is merely advertising for its benefit and which brand is actually worth it. 
Another point which I would like to make here is that always remember that price tag does not reflect quality. Some product may be heinously expensive and do nothing for you. So, always try to judge the products objectively and take time in doing so because sometimes we just get carried away. And, the ads and product packaging these days really don’t help there either!

One more point is that I always stay away from the products having actives like retinoids and other such things which can wreak havoc on skin. Once your skin gets used to those things, it becomes very difficult to judge how will the skin react to other products.

Patch Test
Ok, this is something I have never done but this is extremely important. Always try to do a patch test before trying out any product. And, instead of using your inner elbow, do the patch test on the skin behind the ear. Because, the skin on the inner elbow and the face can have different sensitivities.
How do you take care of your skin?
Related Posts:

Blogging Series Vol. 3 – Don’t forget to buy the domain first!
Blogging Series Vol. 2 – Blogging on the Go!! 
Blogging Series Vol. 1 – Giveaway Condemnations

“The Seeds of War” by Ashok K. Banker

Swathy · February 8, 2013 · 1 Comment

Mahabharata Series Book Two The Seeds of War by Ashok K Banker
love the illustration


Note: I was traveling for the past two weeks and came back only on Monday so I started reading the book only on that day. I am supposed to put up the review within a week after receiving the book but I am not sure when I received it. Thus, I am publishing it today and hoping that it would considered valid. Also, I have not yet been able to finish the book because it is very involved. Thus, my review is based on the part I have read. 


Ashok K. Banker is a famed author of the Ramayana series. All of his previous novels have been quite a hit, apparently! Ok, I have to admit that I did not hear about the author before I got this novel for review. 
But now, I can say that I would definitely want to check out all his previous books.  His previous work includes modern interpretation of Ramayana among others and now he has started on Mahabharata.
I have to say this that among the two great epics, Mahabharata appeals more to me because of the cacophony of emotions. There is love, jealousy, anger, hatred, passion, pride, virtue, misery, loyalty and what not? Each character in the epic is worth a study. And, every book I have read on the subject opens a new perspective. 
The Seeds of War is the second book in the Mahabharata series being written by the author. Since I have not yet read the first one, I can’t comment on the flow of the story but I think you can read the books independently. 

Mahabharata Series Book Two The Seeds of War by Ashok K Banker
click on the pic to read

The author clearly states in the introduction section that he has stuck to the original story and simply narrated it in his own style. This particular book narrates the story of people living way before Bharata who started the line of Pandavas and Kauravas. 
The book is divided into 9 pakshas or parts. I have read only 3 parts yet and am going to start the fourth. This book is about Bhishma and his vow of celibacy and to be a protector of the throne. And, how it leads to Mahabharata.
The goal of the book is to show how did the earlier events culminate into the ultimate war. It depicts The Butterfly Effect – a single event can cause a reaction in the chain of consequent events. When some great event is going to happen, things start falling in place much before the immediate people who affect or get affected by the event are even born.
As I said I have not yet read the entire book, I can only say that I have liked the book so far. The author has an easy way of writing and he mentions the philosophy involved in the dialogs very clearly. But, yes, you would need time to read the book. It is not one of the light and easy reads. 

This review is a part of the biggest <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"> Book Reviews Program.</a> for <a href="http://www.blogadda.com" target="_blank">Indian Bloggers.</a> Participate now to get free books!

My Hair Diaries – January 2013

Swathy · February 7, 2013 · 10 Comments

New year and new starts and I have again started taking care of my hair. Again the start was fresh and the first thing I did was chop off my hair to get rid of the split ends and damaged hair. I could not take a pic of my hair this time so excuse the missing pic. 
Also, my 10 days travel had affected my routine a bit and the products I carried were not the regular ones. Also, I did not use conditioner for those 10 days. But, there is one important observation I want to share. 

I have been oiling my hair with fingers or using this bottle which applies the oil right on the scalp. But, last year, I had also mentioned another way of oiling the hair using a cotton ball. Now, I am qualified enough to tell the difference between the two methods.
Firstly, the finger nails don’t interfere. Secondly, more pertinent to the hair fall issue, when I use cotton ball method, it does result in many hairs falling the first few times which many people have reported to me but gradually hair fall decreases. And, what I have noticed was after few weeks, only the very fine hairs used to fall, may be due to weaker roots. But, that also stops after a while.
While when I resorted to the less time taking and easy to follow routine of using fingers or the nozzled bottle, I found much hair fall while oiling and even during combing with a wide-toothed comb. This was something which had completely stopped when I was following the cotton ball method.
Products Used
  • Shampoo – Kamini shampoo + Neev Olive Neem Shampoo
  • Conditioner – L’Oreal Total Repair 5 + Liz Earle Botanical Shine Treatment
  • Leave-in – Dove Nourishing Oil Care Serum
  • Hair Oil – Kamini Oil + Sesa Herbal Oil + Patanjali Coconut Oil
Ok, don’t bother with L’Oreal Total Repair because it turns the hair really dry!! And, I think Sesa herbal oil is a good one. I bought a travel pack of it which had just 2-3 uses but it did impress me a lot 🙂 I am not gonna buy it very soon but if you are on a look out, its a good one to try. 
Oh, you know what, yesterday the Dove oil bottle BROKE! I know I didn’t even get a chance to try it another time but honestly I am relieved. Now, I know the problems with glass packaging 😀 It was really messy! And, yes, I am liking Patanjali coconut oil 🙂

Related Posts:
My Hair Diaries – November 2012
My Hair Diaries – October 2012
My Hair Diaries – August + September 2012

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