Fashion Panache

Written by Bhushavali

"Are you Nuts?!", I asked my vanity case and it said "Nope. But I have many within me"!! As I took out an almond soap from the shelf I suddenly realized it's been so many nuts that I'm using in my skin care section!!!

Starting with the Khadi soap about which I already reviewed here. One of the variants in the Khadi soap is Apricot!

Moving over to my scrub and it said Walnut! Yup, the Himalaya Herbals Walnut Scrub.

Next in the list is a soap! The Himalaya Herbals Moisturizing Almond Soap containing Almond & Rose. It also has extracts of Lemon, Vetiver / Khus, Manjista, plus several oils including Wheatgerm. Its a 125 gm soap with 76% TFM. You know what's the best - the aroma. It has a very pleasing aroma. Bathing using it, actually leaves you relaxed, thanks to the aroma. Nuts in general, have a very high oil / protein content, thanks to that, the soap actually left my skin very much soft and supple. Many a times, soaps have this tendency to strip the skin off the oils and leave it stretched. Well, good news, this doesn't do it! And ofcourse, as always Himalayas has the 'No Animal Testing' policy which adds a feather to its cap!

Next is not a soap, but a liquid body cleanser. Biotique Apricot 100% Soap Free Body Cleanser. Apart from Apricot, it also has Turmeric, Wild Turmeric, Ritha (remember the soap nuts our moms used in the home made Shikakai preparation for hairwash?!) and Bitter Oleander. It's a not-too-thick and not-too-watery lotion, red - hot pink in color. It has this extremely pleasing, herbal aroma. Come on, when you mix apricot and turmeric, what can you expect - a very fabulous aroma! I didn't even use a loofah, but it lathered pretty well. Its not a soap at all, so obviously it didn't leave my skin stretched or stripped off its natural oils and left my skin much softer. Think of it - how would it be in a bath-tub filled with warm water and this lathering, herbal aromatic, body cleanser. You just don't need a spa!!!

Follow me on Google Plus, Bloglovin', Networked Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest!!!
visit my online shop at www.bhushavali.com

Written by Bhushavali

Summer has started to show its full power with the temparatures soaring to 35 deg C above, in my part of the world. Even AC is not doing any justice in this kind of a weather. And the worst part, its just April, the worst is yet to come in May!!!

Ofcourse, sunscreen is a must in this. When the sun is practically killing people here, a mild sunscreen would never work for me. I need a minimum of 40 SPF. And Lotus Sun Block in SPF 40 was one of my favs. But I'll tell you about that later on in a later post. Another product that fits the bill perfectly is Biotique Sunscreen. Biotique is an Indian Brand of skincare. Its a brand of herbal formulations and the best part its not tested on animals and has no harmful chemicals. Biotique Sunscreen comes in 2 forms, as a lotion in a squeezable cylindrical plastic container and as a cream in a jar.

The 4 varieties they have are, Aloe Vera Sunscreen at SPF 30; Carrot Sunscreen at SPF 40; Red Sandal wood Sunscreen at SPF 50; Aloe Vera Sunscreen at SPF 75. And all as both cream in jars & lotion in cylinders.

I tried out the Red Sandalwood Sunscreen. Its called the Biotique Red Sandal wood Sun Protection Lotion with Natural Minerals - Bio Sandal SPF 50. Apart from Sandalwood, its ingredients include Saffron, Wheatgerm, Honey & Bark of Arjun Tree.

I've always liked Sandalwood ever since I was a kid. I've seen my grand dad grinding small Sandalwood pieces to create paste. The moment I opened it at the store, I was reminded of that and I couldn't resist myself from buying the pack.

The aroma was fabulous with the real smell of Sandalwood. The consistency was of a typical lotion type and was not too thick or too watery. It did not make my skin look oily! Yet, it worked almost as good as a moisturizer. It spread so well that a little quantity is enough! See that pic, that quantity in my palm is enough for my both hands from half of my upperarm!!! Fabulous, no??? Only drawback is I couldn't find the UVA factor... Still, it worked pretty well. My skin is prone to tanning and with it, the tanning was much much less! I was standing in heated up sun with no shade, nothing, from 11:00am to 12:30pm and for that my tanning was much much low!!! (No cream, nothing can make my skin 'Not to Tan' in a 35 deg C above sun, when I'm standing in the sun at noon, can it???). So practically, it was very very good.