The only resolution I have for the year Two Thousand and Thirteen is to work out regularly. I really really need to loose some weight. I also need to get back in shape...I used to be so fit. Like, P90x fit. So starting from Day 1 Insha Allah.

I am not adding diet to the list because while I'd love to limit my carbs and stay away from junk food, I know I wont be able to do so. Just think of all the left over cakes and pizzas from the new year eve. There's no need for failing from the first day and then feeling bad about the whole thing.

So long, 2012. You have been...uneventful!

I have a round face..with chubby cheek and barely any cheekbone...so I do a lot of "research" on best hair cut to flatter round face shapes...to make it a little less-round and add definitions.

So according to most of the hair and make-up stylists as well as my personal experience, the best way to counter-act a round shaped face, chubby cheek even a pear shaped face is to add volume on top.

This extra volume would totally give your shape more length and make it look oblong.

I've been researching hair straightening with volume (as opposed to Japanese rebonding because its too flat)  for my sister (I'm never ever going to chemically process my hair, no sir, never again) and came accross this new trend "Digital perm"

Looks down-right scary...like at any moment a mad scientist is your going to appear from nowhere to fry the brain...but behold...the end result is so darn amazing. Hello, amazing voluminous hair with glorious just the right amount of lose waves!!!!

Inspired by beautylish make-up challenge: These are the things I always do + never do during/for make-up :)

Things I never do:

• Wear contact lenses
• Line lips
• Wear more than one bangle on each arm for any occassion
• Line my whole eyes
• Wear shimmer on lips
• Wear Red lipstick
• Wear my hair pin-straight

There are just too many lip-balms these days. Different kind, different shapes, different prices, its pretty overwhelming!! I have used some of them...but still my faithful fairly common Labello chapsticks are still my most fav go-to lip balm for everyday use

Just my personal opinion, but I find lot of the expensive lip balms, butters etc kind of over rated. Yes my EOS balm looks really cute on my dresser, Body Shop lip butters has an amazing buttery texture and scent and so on. They also have pretty long staying power, compared to Labello of course, but I wouldn’t know.

I go through lip-balms like crazy. I wear them all the time. Then I took it off before I drink water or eat (which is a lot, I love to eat lol). Then I reapply again. So staying power is not one of my top priorities.  Even at night, I am a pretty restless sleeper and my lip balms wear off with 2-3 hours. So when I wake up, I have hardly noticed much difference when I use Labello or EOS. In fact, Labello stays on longer than lip butters like Body Shop

So I’d rather buy a few Labello lip balms which are around 200 taka and can be found anywhere here in Bangladesh than some shiny brand-name ones start from 600-1000 taka and provide more or less the same result.

I am a leave-in addict. Since I wear 2B hair naturally, I need a lot of leave-in to make them behave. I am always experimenting and searching for me.

So I have been using all my regular leave-ins regularly this winter...while they took care of the frizz and manageability issues, there is still winter dryness. Now, I have been taking extra care of my hair, once-a-week hot oil treatment and all but still, everytime I wash my hair, it feels kind of dry!

So the other day, instead of any leave-in or serum, I used some almond oil and am amazed to see the result. My hair feels so soft, shiny and not-a-single hint of dryness. My hair feels like summer!

Before I begin, just one very very major point everyone. Every oil is not same. Remember our hair lessons about hair layers and shaft from here?

Every Oil is not same: 

Now only a handful of oils can actually penetrate our hair that is can reach the cortex. The oil molecules play an important part in it. Most of the oils molecules are too big to penetrate hair, so when you are applying oil to your hair, they are just sitting there outside your hair doing nothing. So it is important that you choose a hair oil that will penetrate and work on your cortex.

went winter clothes shopping with my sister today...we are almost the same size so can share most of the clothes...

Might have been a bit overboard but hey these are extremely cheap...all between 300-600tk (4-8) USD...all brand new mostly made in Bangladesh garments stuff. I know a lot of shops and face book pages sells winter clothes starting from 2k+ and i have checked some of them out seemed nothing special to me ...

anyway i really wanted a red coat or something but didn't think could pull if it off :( :(

So I have been using oil cleansing method almost everyday these past week and time for an update. A very important update.

dropped by an exhibition arranged by some facebook page..

although there were a lot of items, I am pretty broke so just got an E.L.F. purifying pressed powder on spice as a memento. I bought the the same powder on honey a few weeks earlier and am really impressed by the coverage. It is really blendable, no visible residue whatsoever and gives a really natural finish. Also very good to set my foundation. Only problem is honey was too dark for my skin tone and even this spice one is too...maybe I'll get some lighter tones later as well.

May. And I was still listening to last year's music (is it any wonder though, with all that TWY, Fireworks, TSSF, Transit, MO, TDS, TBS and blink and what not... there will never be another year like 2011, poppunkwise, atleast in my lifetime:|)...till this one came out :D

Misser's Every Day I Tell Myself I'm Going to Be a Better Person. I knew i'd fall in love with this album before i even heard a single song :|

Forever Came Calling's Contender gave me goosebumps. fucking goosebumps. cant stop listening since....

Handguns's Angst is just too muc &(*^V$#@&*HD@&*H)*. totally AOTY material.

bit on the hardcore-side but been jamming Heart to Heart's Heart to Heart a lot, really awesome stuff.

Also, Pentimento's Pentimento is an awesome album and its free!!

Really warming up to Make Do and Mend's Everything You Ever Loved, The American Scene's Safe For Now and Daytrader's Twelve Years :)

Here's an honorary mention. Yellowcard's Southern Air...listening to this album made me realize how much my taste has evolved over the last 1-2 years..before that, i'd have loved the album with all my heart (Yellowcard used to be my top artist afterall) but right now i'm just way too much obsessed with generic pop punk to be really moved by the radio poppish productions.

So what are your album/s of the year two thousand and twelve???

How do you respond?

I always knew I was narcissistic. ...when I was younger I tried to change and everything but it is not easy. You are just who you are.
Nobody is perfect!
So yes, people often accuse me of being narcissistic.Pretty rightly so. 
But you know what is the best thing about narcissism? We don't really care about what you think...so whatever people think of me, being a narcissistic or having "problems" or whatever, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!

Recived from a facebook page yesterday

e.l.f. Studio 144-Piece Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette
e.l.f face, foundation and kabuki brush
Glitter and neon palette
Wet N wild lipstick on pinkerbell

I know. I am not going to buy any more eye shadow for a year or so :(

Pretty idle day today...took some picture of my lipstick stash to kill time...

I dont really like wearing lipstick much, I mostly use lip balms. Even when I wear lippie, I dont like too much pigmentation. I like a stain-like finish or something that look slightly faded, like you have been wearing them for sometimes now, so most of the lipstick I own have medium to low or almost nude coverage.

Okay I just got a 15 gm mini of  Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing Bar for Face and Body. This is my first ever product from Clinique's  Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Line and I am so so so impressed!

Since its winter, I cant really use my regular facial cleanser because they all specializes in extreme oil control which would be a bad idea this season. I normally opt for Dove Pink bars during winter season but this time I am doing Oil Cleansing method on a regular basis. And while I always loved Dove bars, they can barely take off it is too gentle to work with all the oil leftover from oil cleansing method.

This is what I got from a facebook page today...

Mascara, blotting papers. body shop lip balm and clinique mini soap...specially excited about the l'oreal paris telescopic mascara just see all the raging reviews in make up alley..
that is why i had actually contacted the facebook page..the rest of items were totally impulsive

review coming soon :)

Tinted moisturizer can be an awesome product. It will moisturize your skin as well as help to brighten up and hide imperfections. Ever since I heard about it first, which is like 4-5 years ago, I have been dying to try one.

They are not available locally. I had to get them from aboard through third parties, so not a lot of option for first hand testing. I did my research, saw swatches, read reviews and bought a few of them over the period of last few years. Almost all of them had some kind of problem

• Not available locally 
• Not a lot of shades, specially for sub-continental skin tones. 
• Not suitable for my skin type…it is the worst of all. I have really oily skin which never even needs moisturizer during summer. Most of the tinted moisturizers I have used made my skin more oily, even the ones for oily skin. One or two of them were okay, but not as good as the moisturizer I have been using for my oily skin. I think this is the biggest problem of tinted moisturizer, you can never really find one as good as your current moisturizer. 

So I started thinking...why not make your own tinted moisturizer? It is quite simple actually; all you need is a moisturizer and a foundation. I mean what is tinted moisturizer really; it is just a moisturizer with a hint of tint/color.

I cant take credit for the idea though, it is really popular in net and blogs. I can just add my two cents.

Yesterday I went to a party and did a full face. Primer (milk of magnesia), skin corrector, concealer, foundation, translucent powder etc. That is a lot of product.

I have really oily skin but with dry and flaky patches around my nose and on my chin. This has always been a mystery to me. People with dry skin may have dry flaky patches but how could my extremely oily skin get them? It is even worse during the winter when no matter how much moisturizer or even thicker option like almond oil I apply it is always flaking....

It may not be really noticeable inside the layers of moisturizers but with the application of foundation brings the worst of it. Even during the hot summer days, foundation makes my face look really flaky, dry and peeling at places.

It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger,
But then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand that I'm never changing who I am

Now that you are acquainted with what is oil cleansing method? How does it work? The benefits of oil cleansing method lets move on the actual process shall we?

Why Different Processes?
There is no universal process for oil cleansing. Different people use different oils in different quantity. It all depends on the availability of the oil, skin type, skin condition and allergies. And also what works the most. It all comes down to that, the method that works the best for your skin. So what works best for me may not be the optimal one for you. If you are not getting all the benefits of oil cleansing, it may be that you just haven’t found your perfect blend of oil and process yet. So keep reading and researching until you manage the one. I can just show you how to start...

Standard Practice: 
The most common practice of oil cleansing method is perhaps to use a blend of castor oil and sunflower seed oil. It is described in the acclaimed The Oil Cleansing Method website by The Beauty Bottle. You can also use other oils like olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil, grape seed oil, hazel nut oil, hemp seed oil, essential oils depending on the availability, preference, allergic condition etc

That is a lot of oils, right? Notice any oil missing? A very common one? Yes, coconut oil. Do not use it for oil cleansing because it has a high probability of blocking pores and causing breakouts.

Oil Cleansing Method Recipe: 
So anyway, the recipe goes like this, use a blend of castor oil and sunflower/olive/whatever else oil you want for oil cleansing method. Now, castor oil plays an important part and thus mentioned specifically because even though it is oil, it works like an astringent. That is, it removes oil like nothing else. This is why you should never use castor oil alone on your skin, it will dry it out. But mixed with some other conditioning oil (olive/sunflower seed /and so on) it will take effectively clean up your pores; get rid of blackheads/whiteheads/cysts/pimple/dry patches/everything that’s stuck on your pores the whole ten yard.

So since it can be kind of drying, the ratio of castor oil to other oil will depend on your skin type. It is a trail an error process really. But according to most of the skin care website/blogs etc the standard ratio is something like that

• For oily skin use 30% castor oil and 70% other oil
• For normal and combination skin use 20% castor oil and 80% other oil 
• For dry skin use 10% castor oil and 90% other oil.

That is unless you are allergic to castor oil, in that case feel free to use any other oil/blend of oils. Like I said trial and error. For example, I do not like sunflower seed oil so I opted for olive oil instead.

 

Keep an open mind girls. I know washing face with oil sounds insane but bear with me. It will all make sense.
Remember chemistry lesson? I don’t. But anyway, simple rule of chemistry, like dissolves likes. Oil dissolves oil.

Face Cleansing 101
Now when we clean our face, the main objective is to clean the oil/sebum produced by our skin and all the make-up/ dirt/blackheads/whiteheads/cysts/other problems etc that comes with it. All the commercially available facial cleanser strips our skin off that all that natural oil and can never really take off all the make-up/dirt/blackheads/whiteheads/cysts/other unless it is like really strong which is of course not something you would want to use regularly. If you value your skin that is.

Oil Cleansing method:
Now the oil cleansing will do the opposite, it will take care of all the make-up residue/ dirt/blackheads/whiteheads/cysts/pimples/ other stuff  to100% but will not remove 100% of the natural oil and sebum from your face.

(Image Collected from Net)

I often forget or feel lazy to put some lotion/moisturizer on everytime I wash my hands, that is until I came up with this idea!

Sometimes people feel that they should start taking care of their hands only after 35 or 40 since it wont start showing signs of aging till then. But I believe prevention is always better than cure. Besides its winter, every-time water comes in contact with your hand, it is vulnerable to dryness, regardless of age or anything.

Just see how you feel before and after you put some moisturizer on, you will know its making a difference.

And it doesn't have to put any expensive hand creams which advertises to moisturize your hands for 24 hours or something. Just some regular moisturizer will do. because what are the odds that you will not wash your hand in 24 hours? No matter how good the hand creams are, they will not last after coming in contact with hand wash or cleansing agent. So I'd rather go with an inexpensive option like Johnson and Johnson (it comes with a plump which helps) rather than body butter or expensive brands because I'll be using it a lot and it does the work.

Take care of your hands. Its one of the first things people notice about you. Happy winter :)

You may often find hair described as 1a, 1b, 2c, 3a etc in different hair website, blogs, forum etc. This hair type detection process was described by Andre Walker therefore it is widely known as Andre Walker System. The whole characterization is based on the texture and curl pattern of your hair.

Why must you know your hair type:

• It will help you to characterize the need and process of your hair. For example, often specialized shampoo, conditioner, styling products target different kind of hair pattern and texture.
• It will also help you to process your hair. Different kind of hair requires different time, products and procedure for curling, coloring, straightening etc. 
• It will aid to styling as well. From selecting an easy to maintain haircut to the appropriate styling product, you will need to know your hair type. 
• Most importantly, if you want to communicate about your hair, for example, asking expert opinions in hair based blogs, online community like Long Hair Community, Long Hair Care Forum, Naturally Curly, Curly Nikki etc, you will be asked to state your hair type. It is the first and foremost requirement.

So are you ready to determine your hair type? It is quite simple actually. According to Andre Walker System, hair can be divided to 4 types and subtypes.

1. Type -1: Straight
2. Type-2: Wavy 
3. Type-3: Curly 
4. Type-4: Super Curly

 

 (Image collected from net)

This is my first The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask and after only one use I am really really really impressed. So thought of writing a review and sharing it with the world!

Like any other body shop face masks, it came in a plastic tub. The price is also quite steep for a 100 ml mask. It is selling 12 Euro in the Body Shop website but I paid 1500 taka from a Facebook page.

...including all the mud masks i'm currently using :)

Which are

• Shills whitening mud face mask
• Shills Brightening mud face mask
• Dead Sea Mud face mask

Quick tip girls: use conditioner to shave for amazing result..

Using soap or shower gel for shaving is not recommended because the foam from these products are not suitable and the commercial female shaving products are pretty darn costly but conditioner comes really close texture and effect wise...in fact, i buy really cheap conditioner like sauve or V05 only for this purpose :)

• It is cheaper than commercial products
• It is always available
• Using soap, shower gel or anything kind of skin cleansing products will lead to foams which may cause problems while shaving
• conditioners will soften the hair and prepare them for easy shaving
• they are highly enriched with oil and moisturizer therefore can and will protect your skin during and after shaving     

So next time you are about to shave, reach for your conditioner and give it a try. I promise you will never look back again!

A quick review of Avon Solutions Banishing Cream Skin Discoloration Improver : my most most most favorite solution for any skin problems.

 May that be a little pimple or a full blown breakout, if I use it at night, it will go away in the morning like magic. This is the best pimple counteract ever. It also has great skin correcting ability helps fading some of the marks and evens out my skin tone. Best thing about this product is, it works really quickly, like I said overnight solution to pimples or breakout problems, helps to fade new pimple or rash mark pretty quickly too.

The only problem is the texture and consistency is really thick so can never really use it during hot summer days on an acute oily skin like mine. Also not available locally, its a pity really, Avon has some astonishing products.

It is extremely moisturizing even in this harsh winter. A little goes a long way so the price ($8) and the tax and other import cost is totally worth it.  

Anyway I plan to be using this cream regularly this winter to stay ahead of the weather lol I mean clear of breakout, winter rashes or general skin problem.

I really really really hope they never discontinue this product <3

Dandruff is a common problem during winter season. Even people who do not suffer from this problem during summer, myself included, may be affected by dandruff during winter. The harsh weather, germs,  not moisturizing your scalp enough, fewer production of sebum even some of the facial products ( ie. moisturizer) that might get into your scalp can be behind it. Whatever the reason is, you need to take care of the problem. Dandruff looks really yucky and can cause serious hazards like hair fall and thinning, creating barriers so that the sebum can not reach the hair and the hair products or nutrient can not penetrate the scalp etc.

Now I am scared to death of anti-dandruff shampoos. Even the so-called natural ones have really strong chemicals which instead of solving the problem can cause even more problem including dry hair, less shine, damaging the outer layer of the hair, weakening roots and finally hair fall. Almost everyone I know experienced more hair fall than normal with any dandruff shampoo. So as usual, I have been looking for a natural remedy.

I tried hot oil treatments, I tried lemon juice I tried a number of other things and while all of them did help with the dandruff problem to some extent, nothing produce better result than apple cider vinegar.

Now, I love apple cider vinegar, it is my most favorite toner in the world. I wrote a post about it, you can read it here

I love winter season I really do. I love to wear winter clothes, from colorful hoodies to posh jackets. I love the absence of heat, specially outdoors. I love the way my skin is no longer oily.
What I hate is what the weather does to my feet and hands.
Sometimes putting just some body lotion is not enough. Even after I put some body lotion I still suffer from occasional dry patches in my elbows and feet and wrinkles from cold on my fingers. This is where layering comes into play. I try to do this almost every night overnight so that I can wake up with baby soft elbows, hand and feet. If you have any other dry spots in your body ( for some people knees) you can include them for layering too.

• Step-1: Ofcourse it is a must to start with a damp skin. You can wash your hands, lower arm, elbow, ankle and feet with a shower gel, or only water. If you dont want to use running water for some reason, you can simply spray these body parts with water. Just make it damp, thats all.
• Step-2: Massage on some body moisturizers on the damp skin specially concentrating on your elbow, feet, fingers etc. You can use anything your prefer, from strong body butters to light body lotions.  Try not to use body oils though it will not hold the next layer.
• Step-3: Wait for a few minutes for the moisturizer to sink in. It should totally be absorbed by your skin. Then take some petroleum jelly, glycerin or non-peritoneum jelly (if you dont want to use mineral oil, I am fine with it though, as long as I am using it on my body and not on my face) and massage into your skin over the moisturizer.  
• Step-4: You can also do this for your face. First, use a facial moisturizer on damp face, massage and let it absrob
• Step-5: After 4-5 minutes take 4-5 drops of almond oil and massage your face again.
• Step-6: This concludes your overnight skin layering. Now if you are as much of a restless sleeper as I am you may want to wear some socks, gloves, arm warmers etc. 

This is my most fav sheet face mask ever!

I used to buy them from my most go to shops like Priyo and Almas..but after a while they stopped selling them. I was sooo hearthbroken...I breifly considered getting them from India online but it is not as easy as getting something from UK or USA. 

Anyway so today I went to this shop, Stardust, after, like ages. It was literally next to my high school so I used to go there every now and then with my friends, but after I graduated (which is soo long time ago, damn I'm old) I haven't really been there at all..so imagine my surprise when I found these in Stardust today...along with some other stuff I didn't think was locally avialble. 

I am so going to visit this store regularly :D

Oh mom gave me this perfume today...have no clue about the Brand but the scent is really awesome

Since many of you have been asking me about good facial moisturizers to use during this winter...here are my two cents.

A little background about my skin first. I have extremely oily skin so during the summer, I use not only oil free but also oil controlling moisturizer.  Even that doesn't help me much. But ever since I have been using Milk Of Magnesia all my oil problems has gone away...you can read about it here.

So thing is, people have different kind of skin. So what suits best for my oily skin will not be the perfect option for people with dry skin. But today I will share a tip which will help everyone to have the best of facial moisturizer. And it wouldn't even cost you much. 

Anyway, these are my most-go to moisturizer during summer. It took me a lot of trail and error methods to find the ones that works best with my skin, do not cause break-outs, help to fade acne/pimple marks and to most importantly stops making it oily. 

This review was requested multiple times. finally getting around to it now...

So before I start reviewing Garnier Anti Dark Circles Tinted Eye Roll On I must say, thier previous version,  Garnier Brightening Eye Roll one was one of my most favorite products

I used to use it regularly, literally every night and most of the days, for 1-2 years and it worked wonder. Okay, not as much my new fav Ponds one (read review here) but close. In fact it is the unavilbility of this product that lead me to discover the Ponds...

I know it is not discontinued, but I couldn't find it anywhere, only the new Garnier Anti Dark Circles Tinted Eye Roll On was available and it had really high review so I deicded to try it anyway.