I have been reading so much about at-home peels and thier amazing results, finally decided to try for myself. But did my research first. Went with very low strenght, 35% glocolic peel from skin  beauty solution. Figured out once I start slow, I can build up a tolerance and then go higher and maybe try stronger peels like TCA later.

I get a lot of messages every week asking about hairfall problems. I myself have suffered through this during different stages of my life. Back when I first started chemical processing. Rebonding and hair colors and highlighting. Then I stopped doing all those and it was all fine for a while and then boom hair started falling again. Turns out it was my thyroid.

Anyway so with the universal solution of oiling your hair and stopping over processing, there are also a number of other things to be done here. I am writing it all down so I can simply forward this link instead of replying everyone individually about things that I know of.

I have been trying to grow my hair out for sometimes now. I do get my end trimmed every 6 months or so but my last hair cut was atleast 14-15 months ago. My Hair has grown from not even shoulder lenght to almost waist lenght in this time period. Mind you, my hair doesn't normally grow in this rate. I credit it all to atleast once a week application of castor oil (wrote a detailed post on it back a while here) 

Have been planning on writing a post on my full skin care routine for a while now....

So a few notes on my skin first. I have extremely oily skin. I have sun tan and general discoloration on my forehead, outer cheek and some spots on chin which is my most break-out prone and problematic area. I am also prone to blackheads (nose) and whiteheads( pretty much whole face but mostly chin).

Thus my priority is not only moisturizers and oil control but to keep blackheads, whiteheads, breakout etc on check therefore AHA. Also trying to even out my skin tone by using HQ to get rid of sun tan and marks. Trying to improve the texture as well, plus whatever anti-oxidant benefits I can find so added Vit C. Plus I am 27+ years old so introduced very light dose of Retin-A too.

Because you cant use Retin-A, AHA etc on same day/night ( or consecutive even, for beginners like me), I am going divide my routine into 5 days/night circle. I know it sounds like a lot of products but its not really, most of them are repetitive. Plus I never really bother much with high end products, like if its doing something special ( for example I am eying Paula's Choice for AHA/BHA next) but say moisturizers or cleansers? I cant feel any difference and Alhumdulliah everything pretty much suits my skin so yes my special priorities are problems like suntan/oiliness/breakouts like I mentioned earlier.

For the last one month, whatever face mask I am using, after the allotted time, like 15-20 minutes, I have been washing off the mask with a cleanser instead of rinsing off with only water.

I am scared of the mask residue specially cleansing or purifying ones because they are strong) what the long term affect might be. Also how the leftover residue would interact with moisturizer or block pores or cause breakout or whatever.

 Even home made face masks like juice or aspirin, washing it off with cleansers so it neutralizes the ph level (these juice and aspirin masks can be quite acidic) and also makes my skin less sensitive to sun (specially if I am going out, never go out in the sun with residue of acidic mask)

Some may argue that washing off face mask will limit the ability of the mask for work after the allotted time. That is say, you apply a purifying mask, keep it on for 15 minutes, wash it off with cleanser, the mask is no longer purifying your skin. If you had washed it off with only water, it would; have. So you think you're getting more/better result? In my opinion that is just wrong. Because masks are not designed to work for a longer period of time. 5-20 minutes is all you need. So if you're washing your mask off with only water and happy with it, no problem. But if you experience redness, rash or even breakout after applying face masks. try it. Wash it off using a mild cleanser. It is a safer and much sanitary option

Basic Sunscreen and other products with SPF

I know a lot of people skip using an actual sunscreen because the product they use have some kind of spf on it. and lets face it, everything has spf these days. Moisturizer, foundations, bb creams, face powders, what not..but are they enough?

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.

In my opinion, it is one of the most important and easiest way to ensure healthy hair, skin as well as general physical condition. Take a multivitamin. Daily. Its that simple.

Even if you eat really healthy (which is hardly possible if you are a student or working or whatever with all skipping meals and junkfood and eating out) you may still not getting all the vitamins and minerals that your body needs on a daily basis. And dont worry, there is no such thing called over-multivitamin...whichever you do not need, your body will dispose of it naturally.

Mulch-vitamins will ensure your growth. It will help the internal organs to work effectively. Immune system will work better when your body is not lacking any essential nutrients, i.e. fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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)

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)

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. 

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.