Loving It / Using It Vol. 13 – Vaadi Herbals Instaglow Almond & Honey Face Pack

Swathy · December 1, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Vaadi Herbals Instaglow Almond & Honey Face Pack product review for dry skin care

A while back I was sent out their clay based face pack and now we have this. I prefer this over the other one because this an apt product for winters. As the name suggests, the product is creamy and nourishing and I totally love to use it 🙂

Loving / Using It : Using It

Price: Rs 90 for 120 gms

Availability. generally available on online stores like flipkart, nykaa. Vaadiherbals.com is the existing brand website as well.

Packaging. It comes in a tube so easy to squeeze out and hygienic as well. It is travel-friendly too.

Type of Skin. It is amazing for dry skin, not so much for combination or oily!

Easy to Apply. If I can say that the above-mentioned face pack was easy to apply, this goes on like a dream. The consistency is that of a mousse.

Results. It leaves my face looking soft and glowing. The best part of the product is it can be used everyday.

Ingredient List not specified. Like the cuticle oil, the ingredient list is missing.

Overall Verdict

One of the really good face packs I have used in a long time so definitely, yes!!

Have you tried out the product? Did you like it?

Other products from Vaadi Herbals:

Loving It / Using It Vol. 10 – Vaadi Herbals Face & Body Scrub with Walnut and Apricot

Loving / Using It Vol. 5 – Vaadi Herbals Nails and Cuticle Oil

Vaadi Herbals Amla Thanda (Cool) Tail (Oil)

Kama Soap-free Face Cleanser Mridul Dupe {DIY}

Swathy · November 28, 2014 · 18 Comments

So, it has been ages since I have done any DIY. In fact, this recipe is also very old and should have been published long long back but I was too lazy to click the pics and put them on the blog.

Anyways, while in the Kama shop, I picked up their face cleanser and checked out the ingredients. They were all available at home so I decided to note them down and recreate the product at home!

And, yes, it was pretty much same. Only the Kama product was more finely ground and not as scrubby in texture. So, lets check out the ingredients first.

Ingredients

Chickpeas
Fennel
Almond
Turmeric
Camphor
Green gram dal
Oatmeal
Cinnamon
Rose
Neem

Method

Ok, so, the percentage of these ingredients is not really mentioned so we assume our own quantities and proceed with the recipe. So, the first ingredient is generally 80% of the product. So, you have a cup of besan / chickpea flour and 2% of all the other ingredients on a rough estimate.

I think what my mom did was she did not take as much of besan as was required. Instead, she made them all equal portions. Anyways, put all the ingredients in a huge plate (except camphor) and let them dry in shade for half a day or more. And, then, grind them as fine as possible.

Add camphor in the end and run the grinder once more. That’s it! Your homemade soap free face cleanser Mridul is ready! And, it smells more or less camphor-y and since we have a lot roses in it, a lot rose-y. But, yes, we need more of chickpea flour over there. I have just started using this DIY so will let you know the results in some time 🙂

Till then, you might also check out the product and try it on your own in the house, what say?

5 Simple Diet Tips to keep my family Healthy which you can also follow {Health}

Swathy · November 18, 2014 · 2 Comments

Lately, being the sole caretaker of the house and our meal plans, I have started drifting towards the easy and not-necessarily healthy meals. Breakfast is proving more difficult to plan in the long run. It looks like a mess menu with 7 days with different breakfasts repeated without break week after week which is really monotonous.

I have not yet been able to tackle this breakfast issue because of my laziness as well but some of the healthier things I have been able to incorporate in our routine has definitely improved our health overall. Unfortunately, hubs does not take eggs so the protein has to be made up from somewhere else which is as yet I am unsure of.

One Apple a Day keeps Cravings Away

One good thing hubs has is not munching and eating unnecessarily. He has a limited appetite when compared to my voracious one. And, he also has a very limited meal needs. I am the one who needs variety and I so wish there was someone at my beck and call.

Anyways, so to make our breakfasts more fulfilling and due to lack of time to include fruit in any other meal, we take one apple per day during the breakfast. As a rule, I would recommend the fruit at the end of the breakfast so as to help cleanse the teeth as well but eating fruits on empty stomach is also a good idea!!

banana with oats — photo credit: abbyladybug via photopin cc

Good Ol’ Dalia or Oats

Did I tell you I suffer from borderline cholesterol? Yup and what else can come to my rescue but the oats. Yes, I love dalia as well. I did not use to like it much but over the years palates have changed. If you are taking oats, I would suggest you to go sugarless way but then considering even I do not find it palatable, a bit of sugar can do no harm.

Lets go nutty

I love nuts – cashews or walnuts or almonds. I do go easy on the raisins and dates and pistas and all other dry fruits. But, I totally love pine nuts. We used to get loads of them in Simla from our friends (the fresh produce) but if you go to buy them in the market, you really do not find a fresh produce.

Anyways, either chop your nuts and store them or powder and store them and sprinkle them on the oats, dalia, sweets, salads, smoothies, milk shakes and what not? Best way to get omegas and good fats. Not only that, I have a huge amount of flax seeds sitting at home. Eating them raw is manageable but I am sure most would hate it so roast them and powder them in small batches and finish within a week or 10 days.

sandwich with cheese as snacks — photo credit: cygnoir via photopin cc

Snacking

As much as I love my gol gappas and aloo tikkis, they do not taste yummy unless you are in the right mood and then I am so lazy that getting ready to go out is a huge task. Instead, I can grab a sandwich or something else made at home. In fact, I have been gorging on roasted lotus seeds. I love them and I love chat masala so mix the two and a yummy and filling snack is ready.

Similarly, I love bread and there is a host of dishes we can do with it. The simplest starts with assembling all the raw salad veggies in between bread slices and my favourite is to mix cheese and onion and salt and put the mix between the slices and toast it in sandwich maker. A few minutes and you get an absolutely lip-smacking dish ready. Well, that is only for cheese and onion lovers though!!

And, finally Tea, Herbal or Not!!

No, I am not much enamoured of the fact that I have become a tea-addict but sometimes when I have been in the mood I have noticed that drinking any herbal tea helps prevent cravings. Specially talking about ginger tea, it is absolutely amazing that how filling it feels after having it.

Also, a good accompaniment to herbal teas are multi-grain biscuits. Now, it depends on whether you make at home or buy them in the market. I, for one, love the Mcvities brand of biscuits.

These are a few healthy things which are there in my routine. Forget exercise, forget drinking water and forget proper sleep, none of them are really happening with me. So, if you are going through the same phase as I am, I would suggest t come up with short cut health tips which you can follow without disturbing your schedule too much.

So, what are your regular health care tips? Those small things which you do in your entire day which does not feel really important but can do wonders in the longer run. A small routine change, a simple inclusion of a meal plan or a brisk walk of 10 minutes – what is your secret?