Swathy and Sky - Page 78 of 417 -

Does your hair color reflect you?

Swathy · July 27, 2015 · 10 Comments

Okay, I had wanted to keep this for the next instalment of My Hair Diary but it is too tempting to miss out so here goes!

I finally got my hair color and I have the perfect red and I LOVEEEEEEEEE it 🙂 So, I just have one good pic of my hair. As of now, I just could not find time to take the perfect pic for my hair.

Anyways, Mr. P hates the hair but incidentally even my father did not hate the color entirely and I did get many many compliments for the color. And, that makes me happy. And, now, I so agree that getting a hair makeover is the best way to cheer yourself up. After a bad spot of health, the cysteine treatment and now the hair color has gone a long way in improving my mental state and of course the extremely painful injections have played their own part!! Can you imagine I had to take two injections every alternate day for a week and it had become so difficult for me to sit 😀

I am deeply saddened by the death of the former president, APJ Abdul Kalam Azad. He was magnificient and those who have been around him would know that he was just so approachable and humble. An inspiration and legacy to look up to forever.

Anyways, do let me know what you think about the color?

The Book Corner Vol. 1 – What I read all this year?

Swathy · July 24, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Last year, I did book reviews for almost all books I realized that I am not much adept at reviewing a book, its not my forte! So, this time, I decided to keep the reviews only to a paragraph and do a round-up of the books I have read so far. So, yes, this year has been rich on psychological thrillers with the ones with wrecked marriage and psychopathic couples on the top of the list.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Who has not heard about this book? I have read it too late and I have not yet seen the movie but when I caught up with its first look on the television, I think Rosamund Pike nailed the character of Amy and I know you must be lost if you have not read the book or watched the movie so I would just leave you with – there is a reason you have heard about the book so much and all around!

The Silent Wife by A.S.A.Harrison

I have this habit of finding out similar books in a particular genre which I happen to like and this book is one which comes after Gone Girl. I do not really remember being impressed with the book at all and you can really skip it. Btw, this is again about a disintegrated marriage and lady who is living in denial.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Well, it is all following the cult and I am not sure if I really like it but I think its ending is very satisfying unlike Gone Girl. So, yes, you can try it. It definitely engages you while you are reading it but it would nt stay with you after finishing it!

How to use Henna and Indigo to naturally darken brown Hair?

Nayantara Karnik · July 22, 2015 · 48 Comments

Since I hit my 30s, I’ve been noticing greys creeping up one by one. Maybe not 50 shades, but enough to be noticeable! Sadly, most of them turn up around the crown of my head and end up being very visible. Ever since I decided to grow out my hair, I’ve been trying to take care of it better and part of that was to stop using chemical dyes on it.

I just got tired of the whole cycle of getting damaged and split ends, cutting it then wondering why I wasn’t able to grow it out. So around 3-4 years ago I decided to start using henna. My henna of choice is the one by Shahnaz Hussain, and I’ve been happy with it. I actually like the smell and love the way it conditions my hair.

But, from 8-10 greys or so, I now have loads more…sigh, the perils of ageing!! And, I really detest those bright orangey-red threads running though my hair. I literally had nightmares of my whole head turning a ghastly orange. After the usual internet research, I found there were 2 options to naturally colour hair dark-brown to black, though it doesn’t seem to be used commonly in India. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Both these methods involve the use of indigo, and as fate would have it, when I happened to step into the local organic store a few days later, I spotted it on the shelf, so picked up a pack. This is the one that I’m using, and it’s available on flipkart and amazon, probably other sites too. Since then I’ve used it twice, and I did get better results the 2nd time I used it. Just like plain henna, it builds up colour with each use.

By the way this is the same indigo used to dye denim, and it can’t be used on it’s own, it’s always used in combination with henna. So, if you would like to know how to use it, read on ladies (and gents)!

So, the thing about the indigo molecule is that it literally needs the henna to hold onto the hair shaft and they are used together either as a 1-step or 2-step process. In a 2-step process, you get a deep blue-black colour, which I understand colours even lighter toned hair and the 1-step gives you a deep auburn to dark-brown shade.