Time to invest in some Cleansing Conditioner

Meet As I Am Coconut Cowash Cleansing Conditioner, the next product on my to-buy list

Co-wash is the new rage. It is where you use conditioner instead of shampoo to wash your hair...

Why you ask? Well for one, shampoo strips off all the natural oils from your scalp and hair leaving it dry, brittle, vulnurable to shedding and breakage. Think about your skin after a harsh cleanser and not following up with moisturizer. Same principle really.

This is specailly applicable for curly/wavy hair ..that is how the whole no-poo movement came into place. That is, totally cold turkey on shampoo.. using either alternative shampoo or sulfate/silicone free shampoo

Please search net for more info on no-poo if you're interesed. But I will tell you one thing...all the people who have tried it or been trying it, 99% have experienced positive results. It is an amazing read.

How to Highlight your face: Following the traingle method

So a lot of people have been asking me about how to highlight your face and when I try to explain the triangle method they look at me funny lol...so I made this tutorials to explain.

It is pretty easy. And work with every face shape..because you're not just taking a random point and using it for all face for all face shape but working with specific points ( eyes, nose etc) of your face which may differ from face shape to face shape. So it is really versatile.

Before I begin, there can be a lot of ways to highlight your face. You can use a cream highlighter or a foundation, after you apply foundation or even before you apply foundation, specially if the cream highlighter or foundation is tad too light and you need help blending.
If you are using a powder highlighter, you should apply it after foundation>blush/contourer or any other creamy product that you're> compact or setting powder..it will last long this way.
You can also use both a cream foundation/highlighter and a powder highlighter if you're going for a night party look.

So I mostly do highlighting after correcting> concealing> foundation> contouring(blended) and then highlight

I use a foundation 3-4 shades lighter than my skin and a concealer brush to trace the region and fill it up. And this is how I trace (Open the image in a new window to see the original size)

DIY AHA watermelin-lemon Face Mask

Remember my post on how to make home made DIY face mask...recap here

Here's a fun demonstration of one of my most fav recipee of summer: Watermelon and lemon AHA face mask.

The solution is really watery so you will need compressed face mask to apply it. By all means, you can simply splash the juice on your face but it will dry up in like 2-3 minutes and for AHA to work on your skin, that is to exfoloitae, to brighten up, to remove sun tan, to fade marks, to reduce the apperacnce of pores, to help with break outs, to help with anti-aging thing (yes AHA does all that...search google if you dont believe me) you need to give it a little more time...
Thats where the compressed face mask comes into play..you can drench it with the juice and apply the mask on your face and the skin will be in contact with the juice aka AHA. You can keep the face mask on for 30-40 minutes or until dry and AHA will have that much time to work on magic.

So here is your basic water melon lemon solution. I simply squeezed a piece of water melon (about 6-7 table spoon of juice) and one forth of a small lemon (1 table-spoon). Water melon is really mild, if your skin can not stand the strongher lime based fruit juice ( lemon, lime, orange) you should go with water melon. However, to get the full benefit of AHA, you would need strong acidic fruits ( again lime based fruit, grape even apple)...so this is a middle ground. You have your regular acidic fruit, lemon juice and mild highly hydrating fruit like water melon. I normally use a lot more lemon (about 50-50) because my skin can stand it...its conditioned to acidic juice...but for a beginners, I suggest to start slow, half or a table spoon of lemon juice.

My foundation routine for oily skin: highlight+ contouring + blush + full face make-up : step by step (products only)

A brief run down of how I do a full face make-up and what products I use...its pretty basic, full coverage, yet flexible enough that changing a product or two can totally make it medium coverage or even natural no make-up look.

This is ofcourse only products only, as I am not, and will never never be comfortable with sharing my pic in public. Deal with it :)

Cleanse:
So first of all, I just wash my face with a oil control face wash and apply watered down witch hazel, which is what I am using as a toner these days...Since my skin is bit flaky, I always do a thorough oil cleansing the day before I'll apply foundation. Or whatever product I use, there will be flakes..hated it..but oil cleansing method has solved all the problem

Moisturize:
I have super oily skin, so for moisturizer, I prefer something gel. Right now, my fav moisturizer before foundation is Garnier Moisture Rescue.

Avon ADVANCE TECHNIQUES Frizz Control Lotus Shield Anti-Frizz Treatment Review

Okay. This is my most fav hair leave-in in the world but I wont necessarily say this is the best leave in the world because I think just as with any other Avon product, it can be a hit or miss. Just read the Make Up Alley reviews, not really that great are they? But there are also tons of youtube and blog reviews that raves about the product, so yes, it all comes down to individual hair types, it suits some and doesnt suit the others.

So here is my holly grail...it comes with a very sleek box and the bright orange color is really tempting. The graphics designer inside me loves it.

D-I-Y Home Facial: Conair Facial Sauna System Reveiw and How to Use

I bought this last december but was stalling the review because there is just too many parts too many pictures to be taken and lets face it, when its steaming, its a bit hard to take pictures. But have been getting requests to share my opinions on the product so here they are.

I was never really regular at getting pro-facials, mostly because, this sounds weird, but I dont feel comfortable with random stranger touching my face. I also have problems whith who-knows-what they have been putting on my face. Finally I have always found the facials a bit painful, the stream is suffocating, they way they sometimes try pick one or two pimples downright hurts and the exfoliation is never upto my liking...its just never as good as doing it myself. So I thought to hell with it and ordered a home-steamer online...

Garnier BB cream review

This is my first BB cream and so far I am pretty impressed.
Now there is a reason that I have waited so long to try a BB cream..I wanted to buy one of those Asian ones I have been hearing so much ravings..but when I saw this in India thought what the hell...Even though it is not technically the same version, I have heard good things about Garnier BB too...

I think this is also available here in  BD, no idea about the price though, I got mine in 199 Indian rupee. Now, as with any Garnier product, the packaging comes with a lot of info

The Body Shop Vitamin E Illuminating Moisture Cream Review

I have been reading about this cream for ages. But the "illuminating" part made me pause...I have oily skin. I have sub-continental skin-tone. Didn't know if it was a good idea to incorporate pink color! and glitters! Specially ordering online, as I have no idea how it would turn out.

So when I found a Body Shop showroom during my recent India tour, this is the product that I tested first. And fell in love in first sight try.

This, is a moisturizing cream with a twist...an illuminating twist if I may...

Bath and Body works Body Mist Coconut and lime: short review!

So I was browsing some super shop in Delhi where I saw this Bath & Body Works counter. Randomly decided to try out some products including body mists...they didn't have a lot of collection but the coconut and lime one was just wow! From the first sniff, I knew I want this in my life.

This body mist was a part of Bath and Body Works the Caribbean collection ...It wasn't anything new though, smells just like a regular coconut and lime drink. Yet pretty exotic.

The price reasonable as well, some 300 rupee, in taka i guess it would come down to less than 450. Not bad for 200 ml/ 6.7 fl oz.

Short Review of e.l.f. Essential Duo Eye Shadow Cream: Black Licorice

I had such high hope for this shadow-duo ...perfect combo for easy smokey eyes ....cream so no fallout..but really bad pigmentation and even worse staying power :(

I just dont understand..I have thier 144 ES palette and that is quite good..even better with a primer..E.L.F is like hit or miss to me...dont think i will be buying any cream eye shadow by them ever again.

Panasonic Ionity Hair straightener review

Finally tried my new hair straightener...I dont like to straighten my hair much so waited for like 1-2 weeks till I felt like wearing my hair straight yesterday hence got to testing. Here is my short verdict

First of all..no heat control dial so constant heat on same temperature, which wasn't a lot, even my Phillips iron in medium heat setting would heat up my hair more...anyway it is a good thing for me since i dont like to heat my hair much anyway but if you have kind of coarse hair, you'll need more heat for sure.

The most interesting features is the twin external ion nozzles i think...I have used ion irons before (again phillips one) but this works better...it turned my hair extremely shiny in a matter of minutes.

It is also quite large so I could take a big chunk of hair (5-6 inch thick) and iron only once or twice and done. Ofcourse I wasn't looking for pin straight finish, I never do, barely  straight with volumes and little waves. The whole process took me less than 10 minutes, 5-6 I guess...

So anyway, while it is certainly more expensive than phillips (phillips was about 3.5 while this is almost 5k in Bangladeshi taka) its totally served my purposed, less heat, easy to work with a lot of hair and time saving. I also really loved the design, reminds me of dolphin somehow :p...feeling pretty much happy with the purchase.

Always wash your face after you wash off hair conditioner to prevent facial breakouts

Often, people shampoo their hair first and put on conditioner and then go about washing. scrubbing body, face etc to get the conditioner to stay on for the longest time possible. I used to do this to. Until I read the danger of it in one of the dermatology websites.

Hair Conditioner, is a super thick compound which has silicone, different kind of hair moisturizer (which may or may not be 100% oil free) plus other chemicals. It can not be totally removed only by water. This is the whole point of putting conditioner on your hair actually. Even after you wash it off very well with water, it will still be coating your hair to prevent it from damage and making it shiny, soft, etc.

Which is all good, except when you are washing your hair, some water will inevitably pass through your face. Conditioner diluted water. Just like your hair, it will also leave a residue on your skin, on your face and even on your neck and body. Now since the residue is not much, it should not create any problem for body, but for face it is a different story. Even a tiny bit of leftover residue can lead to break-outs.

So even after you are done washing your hair and everything, the conditioner residue on your face will still be there, since we already established that water alone can not remove conditioner residue completely. You will not see it, you may not even feel it, but it will be there.

Healthy Shop White Face Sea Salt Scrub: Short Review

Like almost everyone else, I had also been struggling to use Healthy Shop White Face Sea Salt Scrub...I got it when I got a bunch of Healthy shop goodies few months back...I normally like H S skin care products a lot...not quite the international standard like Body Shop or Lush but definitely better than the products available here in Bangladesh.

However, this is the first product from this brand which was a huge disappointment. It just too much. The color blue is too weird. Blue!! I kid you not.

The salts are too strong. Burnt like hell the moment it touched my skin. I washed off right away but still ended up with rash and allergy-like reactions. And I do not even have sensitive skin.

E.L.F Studio Lipstick: Seductive & Captivating: Short Review

Digging elf lippies a lot lately..

(From left to right: E.L.F Studio Lipstick in Seductive and Captivating )

okay not much staying power but the pigmentation is just enough for regular use...pretty natural color that doesn't draw much attention....& moisturizing, can totally double as lip balms...and all these for just a dollar...need to get some more shades :)

DIY Aspirin Face Mask, Witch Hazel toner and Coastal Scents Silica Powder: My new 3-step for pore & problem free skin

I have really realy really oily skin. So naturally, I have large visible pores. These makes my skin look and feel kind of bumpy. They attract blackheads, white heads and other problems. These are the areas where my skin breaks out the most. Sometimes its ugly looking pimple, sometimes its just some rash or redness... Thing is, they create problems and they look weird. The pores are even more prominent with any face powder that I used, no matter if its translucent, mineral or compact.

Seriously, of all the skin complications, pores have always been my number one problem.

Previously I have used some pore-minimizing products like Murad T-Zone Pore Refining Gel with moderate success, but they are not available locally and they are darn costly. So I have been looking for a cheaper and preferably D-I-Y option forever, you know, me being such a D-I-Y freak :D

Recently, I have started to use D-I-Y Aspirin Masks, Witch Hazel Toner and Silica powder and together, within only a week or so, they have minimized my pores more than any product ever did!