It's March, phew!!! surprising how months just fly past and you struggle through the days. I am back with my empties for this month. I am trying to finish up products, before I move back to Cochin.

Jhonsons Baby Wipes: A regular in my empties list. I use these wipes to remove makeup, as stage 1 of my night skin care routine.
Yay or Nay: Yay, as these are the best cost-effective wipes available in the market.

St. Ives Purifying Salt Body Wash: I love this brand, the only issue is availability. This particular body wash, has fine salt like exfoliant. Very fresh smelling, if you like ocean, you would definitely love this body wash. Priced at Rs.480, they last for a long while.
Yay or Nay: Yay, but I may not repurchase this as there are so many variants to choose from.

Olay Age Addict Day Cream: Part of my morning skin routine. I mix this day cream with my Sunscreen for hydrating my skin.
Yay or Nay: Yay. Repurchased

Photo Bloc: My HG sunscreen (with SPF 50+) recommended by my dermatologist. Unlike, so many others in the market, this one doesn't turn my skin into an oil mine, keeps my skin matte and does not create a white cast. The new version however has a light brown tint.
Yay or Nay: BIG YAY. Repurchased

Forest Essentials Narangi and Nagkesar Ubtan: Works decent for an ubtan. Smells like oranges, very gritty and grainy, making it difficult to apply. It comes in a tub, and the label says that ubtan has to be used in 6 months, but it is difficult to use up so much product in the stipulated time. Doesn't dry out the skin excessively, but dry skinned beauties need to follow up with a good moisturizer.
Yay or Nay: OK. Not repurchasing.

Dior Forever Foundation: I got the sample, when I purchased few Dior goodies, I loved the foundation, but the sample shade was not a good match. It was a pink tone foundation, and I was not able to match within the available shades. The foundation stayed for 6+ hours with only light shine in my T-Zone. On my never end hunt for an awesome HG foundation, I have found a good one, Estee Lauder Double wear foundation in 4N2, Spiced Sand.
Yay or Nay: Nay

Night time skin care routine

9 hours shift, travel, constant AC exposure, how much more will you torture your skin?. It took me 27 years to understand and realize the importance of a good skin care regime.

Skin Type: Normal
Skin Concern: Uneven skin tone

I play some random music, watch Youtube and religiously follow the said routine every single day.
I start with removing my eye makeup, which is mostly kajal smudged under my eyes . I use Maybelline Eye and Lip Makeup Remover. I use the bi-phase liquid with a q-tip and carefully remove traces of eye makeup.

I use a Johnsons Baby Wipe to remove the foundation or any other makeup on my face. As I wear foundation, I follow it up with The Body Shop Vitamin E Cleanser. This step makes such a difference as the makeup does not completely  go off after step 1. I wipe off the cleanser with a cotton pad.

I use my Just Herbs Silksplash Face Wash to clean my face. At this point, my face is squeaky clean and a tad bit dry. The next step is to hydrate the skin, for this I use Just Herbs Fair'e Skin Lightening Gel, it contains Mulethi-Khus essence and after using this my skin feels hydrated and fresh. For my under eyes, I use Just Herbs I`Clear gel, it hydrates my under eyes.

At this point, I usually take a shower and after 2 hours or so when I am ready to hit the bed, I apply 2 drops of Vaidyarathnam Kukumadi Oil and massage my face nicely, the oil is said to improve your skin texture and bring in radiance. I re-apply my eye cream and then hit the bed.

This may seem like a lot of products for some of you, but trust me guys, a routine can make a lot of difference. Apart from my daily routine, I do have like a mid-week routine where I throw in my St. Ives Apricot Scrub, and use Just Herbs Petal Soft Anti-Tan Rose face-pack twice a week.

November Favorites

Feels good to be back and that too with a Favorites post. November has zoomed past, and we are already on the doorsteps of year 2015. This year I made some crazy crazy purchases with many turning into absolute favorites and some of the favorites are keepers for life.

Nivea Power Fruit Fresh Body Wash

I love hoarding body washes. At any point in time, I have at least 3 body washes rotating in my shower. Currently, I have the below listed ones:

1. St. Ives Purifying Sea Salt  is a nautical shower gel, with micro salt granules.
2. St. Ives Oatmeal and Shea Butter is a rich and creamy shower gel.
3. Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, the quite essential sweet smelling body wash.
4. Nivea Power Fruit Fresh, the star of the month which comes in a transparent purple plastic bottle. The body wash is induced with revitalising Achi berry scent and is rich in antioxidants. It  is a sweet smelling body shower with a tinge of citrus flavour. The new formula produces better foamy lather than its previous counterpart.

Cost: The 250 ml bottle will cost you 185 bucks.

Just Herbs Silk Splash 

This is an iconic product, I use it in the morning, to wake myself up. The face wash is very refreshing and comes in a transparent bottle with a pump dispenser *Thumps up for that*. It smells of honey and oranges and is slightly thick in texture. It cleans and refreshes my normal skin without drying it out. I have a problem with some of the face washes drying my face out, I'm looking at you, Dove face wash!!!!.  This face wash is supposedly suitable for all skin types, is organic and does not contain any Paraben or Sulphate. Rest assured that there are no harmful chemicals that your subjecting your skin to.

Cost: 245 bucks for 100ml.

Chicco Baby Shampoo 

My hair has been behaving pretty well lately, except for the bout of dandruff after every wash. I use Tressme , but realised that the shampoo may be a little too harsh for my scalp. I have been hunting for a Paraben free formula and I found Chicco baby shampoo in my local supermarket. The shampoo comes in a white bottle, is clear and runny in texture with a non describable scent. The shampoo cleans my scalp pretty well , but this shampoo is ineffective in removing excessive oil from the hair. Also, if you have thick hair like mine, you might find yourself using far more product than what your used to.

Cost: The price of 200 ml shampoo is 199.

Real Techniques Powder Brush

Enough has been said about the iconic RT powder brushes, it is a very fluffy brush, with golden handle. You can use this brush to powder your face after you have applied your foundation. The bristles are synthetic and soft, I love how it feels on my skin. They clean easily with MAC cleanser or baby shampoo. Two swirls are all what it needs to cover my entire face. I use it along with my MAC Studio Fix powder. They can easily purchased from Luxola (I bought mine from this store),  RT website or iherbs.com.

Cost: The cost of this brush is 10 dollars.

Maybelline Color Show Feisty Fuchsia 

This is a perfect summery nail polish shade to perk up your dull day. The color instantly lifts up your hand and foot complexion. The nail polish chips of in a week. I have worn this shade atleast 3 times since I purchased them last month.

Cost: 75 bucks

MAC Lip Pencil in Spice

This is a hand me down from a friend of mine who purchased it for her wedding, as her lips were pigmented and all of the lipsticks were showing as double shade on her lips. The MAC MUA suggested that she can use spice lip pencil to hide the pigmentation and then apply any lipstick on top. It did the trick, but she is not cosmetics crazy person and handed this over to me to put to good use. This pencil is the perfect nude shade for dusky beauties. It has slight peach, pink undertone that prevents it from washing me out. Being a matte formula, it stays for 5+ hours. The only issue is that its a sharpen able pencil and does not qualify for Back to MAC.

Cost: 990 bucks (1 year before)

Home Centre  Vanilla Candle 

Coconuty - Vanilla smell, check.
Cute glass holder, check.
Good sillage, check.
Have been burning these every single day.

Socks

I love socks. I love wearing warm cozy socks to keep my feet warm. Winter or faux winter in Bangalore is too cold/harsh for my poor feet, and I need to wear atleast two pairs to keep them warm.

So there you go, these are my favorites for the month of November.