My Fashion and Food Diary

I am not a fashionista. Far from it. In fact on a very honest note, I am not even fashion forward. Most of my shopping trips end up with my bag full of T-shirts and pairs of jeans. Or some girly tops once-in-a-while.
But not any more. For I am discovering fashion, (yes, yes, discovering) thanks to the fun, colourful and exhaustive collection at Rooja - an online store for luxury designer apparel and accessories.

One stop shop for fun shopping!

Like I said, I am a novice when it comes to fashion, but then I am gradually getting inspired to look beyond the boring T-shirts with philosophical quotes . And it was while browsing the many online shopping stores that I came across Rooja. What makes it it different is the exhaustive collection of national and international brands - Italy, France, USA, Belgium, UK - they have stuff from almost everywhere!

The MANY Brands

Plus the collection on this website is exhaustive - from clothes to shoes, bags, watches and other accessories, quirky stuff for home decor and hundreds of other fancy knick-knacks, you will find it all here, and that too in fun, bright colours. (I love colours!) And if the men reading this are a tad disappointed with all the girly-girly stuff being talked about, then you can take heart for this store has some uber cool stuff for you too - right from witty t-shirts to wallets and funky accessories to gear you up in style.

Fun stuff for the men too

And now for those who are wondering why I am waxing eloquent about the worth coveting stuff from Rooja, it is because I have bought some good stuff from this store, and want to show appreciation for their excellent service! And also because I wore some of their stuff on the show Drive with MTV Season 2 and it was fun sporting some fashionable stuff for a change! The next post lists what I bought!

My last post was about this awesome online store Rooja, that has an exhaustive collection of apparel and accessories for both men and women. And here in this post I list two of my favourite items that I got from Rooja.
As I shared in my last post, I wore these on the show Nano Drive with MTV Season 2, and it gave me a nice colourful break from the boring t-shirts and jeans routine. So here's my favouritest accessory from my Rooja collection - my car stole!

Cute, colourful car stole!

I wore this one to my heart's content, for it looks stylish and the fabric feels super soft on the skin. And it's colour - peachy pink - is vibrant, without being too bright for the eyes!
Here are some more pics with me sporting my car stole! Hope you like them!

Coming up next is another favourite from the Rooja store! Stay tuned! :)

P.S - Cross posted from solitaryreaperwrites.blogspot.in

This was one food experiment that turned out to be an epic fail. Not that the dish was a disaster, just that it was not what had I assumed it to be. Assumptions, ah!
At this popular south Indian restaurant, I thought of looking beyond the much explored Dosa section and settled for Idiyappam.

Idiyappam - now this name appears suggestive of a creative mix of idli and appam, dont you think? That is if you too, like me, hail from the north and where south Indian food menu more often than not revolves around the many varieties of dosas, idli, vada and lemon or curd rice once-in-a-while. So assuming idiyappam to be a close cousin of idli and appam, I ordered this item. Turned out, idiyappam is not even distantly related to either idli or appam!

Iddiyappam

As I said earlier, the dish was not a disaster, just a little bland. And here it was served with coconut milk, which obviously did nothing to add another flavour to the dish. It tasted more like bland rice noodles, and so probably a side dish of sambhar curry or some other vegetable curry would have probably made it more palatable. However a south Indian friend tells me that one way to eat this dish is to douse it in coconut milk, add a little sugar, mix it all up and then eat. Hmm...maybe next time, for now I know what iddiyappam is.

Recent trends in hair colour industry show that Ammonia-free permanent hair colour is quite in vogue and consumers are showing more affinity towards it as it is considered less damaging.

But have you ever wondered, if not Ammonia, then what?

A deep seated myth about hair colour highlights ‘Ammonia free hair colour as damage-free, because it does not smell so strong’. But the truth is, ammonia-free permanent hair colours replace ammonia with another - similar active ingredient which even though doesn't smell, can be worse for the hair.

This myth surrounding ‘Ammonia-free’ hair colour was busted by Maria Castan, Scientific Communication Expert from Wella Professionals. Maria is in India to educate women about various aspects of hair care and dispel traditional myths surrounding hair colour.

At a recently held Bloggers Meet in Delhi, Maria explained in detail about what ingredients go into making a permanent hair colour and how ‘ammonia-free’ is not necessarily damage free. In this interactive session, she also explained the reason why Wella has decided ‘not to go down the path of “no ammonia” for their permanent hair colour’.

From the Experts: Ammonia v/s No Ammonia

Every permanent hair colour needs an active ingredient, called ‘alkalizer’ so that the hair colour can enter the hair cuticles and colour it. Ammonia is the most common alkalizer which has been safely used in hair colouring for over 50 years. Certain permanent hair colours - sometimes referred to as ‘no-ammonia’ or ‘ammonia-free’ often use another alkalizer called ‘MEA’ instead of using ammonia, MEA is not a new technology. Demi/Semi-permanent colours have been using MEA for more than 20 years in a safe way. However, some permanent hair colour brands, in order to get rid of ammonia & its smell, have also started using MEA. But MEA is used in much higher concentration by these brands as it’s a less effective alkalizer for permanent hair colouring. And this can be much more damaging for the hair.

So the next time you contemplate about hair colour, keep in mind that ammonia-free is not really damage-free, and it all boils to its concentration in the hair colour. Ammonia has been safely used in permanent hair colouring and is known to be one of the best technologies for giving long lasting colour to the hair.

To know more about Wella Professionals, you can check here.

I enjoy cooking. But only till the time everything in the kitchen goes as planned. A couple of bungled efforts and my enthusiasm limps out of the kitchen door and stays put outside, recuperating.
So this time around while I was out recuperating from the horrors of a vermicelli dish that stuck to the pan and refused to mix with the veggies it was garnished with, a wonderful news came along. I was shortlisted by BlogAdda to be a part of a Charity Cook Off With Chef Kunal Kapoor, in association with Canolainfo. The invite said bloggers would be a part of a cook-off and the post the event, the food would be shared with the kids of an NGO.

Wow, just the thing to lure me back into the kitchen. Though in all honesty I was nervous too. What if I was given some tough nut to crack. Some fancy Mediterranean dish, with a difficult-to-pronounce name? But all fears where allayed at the event venue - Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management. The cook off was not a cook off after all, for everyone was cooking the same thing - Moong Dal Ka Kalwa - and that too with a set recipe provided by Chef Kunal Kapoor. The halwa was to be cooked in canola oil and it was fun to see Chef Kapoor helping everyone with the cooking, cracking jokes and sharing recipe trivia with one and all.

Now before delving more into the recipe and how the halwa turned out, here's a bit trivia on canola oil.

Canola Oil comes from the crushed seeds of canola plant. These seeds are tiny and resemble poppy seeds, though they are brownish-black in colour.
Canola and rapeseed plants look similar but their oils are very different. Canadians researchers used traditional plant breeding to eliminate the undesirable components of rapeseed and created 'canola' - a contraction of Canadian and ola.
Researchers say canola is a very stable oil that doesn't break down at high temperatures, so it's ideal for sauteing, stir-frying, deep-frying and other high-heat applications.
Its smoke point - the temperature at which it begins to smoke and degrade - is one of the highest of all cooking oils at 242 degree centigrade.

Chef Kunal Kapoor giving cooking tips

Now coming back to the cook-off, there was a twist to the recipe as well. Add fruit of your choice to the moong dal ka halwa - yes - and the fruit options provided were - orange, banana and cheeko. I opted for banana for I was unsure of the tangy twist an orange would add to my halwa. But after eating Ms. Deeba Rajpal's tangy-sweet halwa, (she won the cook-off) I am sure the next time I try this recipe, I am garnishing it with oranges too.

Lunch at Katha

Post the fun cooking event, it was time to share the sweet dish with the perky kids at Katha, an NGO that works in the field of community development, child welfare, education and literature. The kids not just enjoyed the lunch sponsored by Canolainfo, but also had many a servings of the moong daal halwa, and needless to say, their constant demand for more halwa was well worth us cooks' efforts.

P.S. Masterchef Kunal Kapoor's Moong Daal Halwa recipe in the next post. :)

The Charity Cook-Off with Masterchef Kunal Kapoor was organised by Canola Oil. For more information about Canola, you can check this website.

So here is the Moong Dal Halwa recipe from the cook-off event mentioned in the last post. Since the cook-off event was sponsored by Canola Oil, this halwa too was cooked in canola oil.

Moong Dal Halwa

Serves: 10
Preparation Time: 10 mins (requires overnight soaking)
Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Moong Dal: 375 gms
Sooji: 62.5gms
Canola oil: 500ml
Sugar: 375gms
Water: 375ml
Green Cardamom Powder: 1.5 tsp
Pista sliced: 5 table spoons

Method

1. Soak the moong dal in sufficient water overnight. Drain all the water completely and grind it to a fine paste.

2. Heat canola oil and sooji in a karaahi. On slow flame cook sooji till it turns brown. Now add the moong daal paste. On medium heat cook the paste till it is thick and finally oozes out the oil.

3. Remove the karaahi from flame and transfer the fried paste to a metallic strainer/sieve. Let the excess oil drain out. While the oil drains out, mix water, sugar and cardamom powder and bring it to a boil, and then remove from flame.

4. Place the moong dal paste back in karaahi and start the fire. Heat it and add the sugar syrup carefully. Now cook till all the water is absorbed and there are no lumps. If you see any lumps just add little water and reduce it again.

5. For a twist in taste, you can flavour the halwa with fruits - orange or banana. Garnish with pista slivers.

Photo courtesy : Mrs Deeba Rajpal

So the good, happy and high (no puns intended) people at Bacardi have got all Christamas-sy and have organised this super cool blogging drive at Indiblogger – write about your favourite Breezer flavour and if you are lucky and write a really breezy (again, absolutely no pun intended!) post, you get to win a year supply of Bacardi Breezer. The first image flash after I read this was the delivery van outside my house taking out crate after crate of breezer bottles. Whoa! What a sight! Very inspiring! Hahaha. The second image or rather thought was of a quick mental calculation of the cost of a year supply of Bacardi Breezer. Double whoa! More inspiration. Hahah.

So I set down to plan my post. But first things first - select your favourite favour. The choice was from these six flavours:

1. Jamaican Passion
2. Cranberry
3. Blackberry Crush
4. Lime5. Orange, and
6. Island Pineapple

They look so deliciously inviting!

Well, I knew that Cranberry and Blackberry Crush taste absolutely yum and refreshing, my taste buds were alien to flavours of Jamacain Passion and Island Pineapple. The remaining two - Lime and Orange, I had tasted and found them quite regular, with their distinctive and yet common tastes. So my safest and bestest bet was to hop on the Cranberry bottlewagon! But alas, this wagon was full to capacity already, a clear sign that Cranberry ruled the roost so far as popularity was concerned.

So that left me with Island Passion, my second favourite flavour, and I did not lose any time in joining this team lest I be stranded while other breezer enthusiasts took off for Bacardi's Breezerland. But despite being here, my heart was still set for Cranberry and I waited in the shadows, hoping for some seat on Cranberry bottlewagon to fall vacant, waited for some Cranberry enthusiast to change his mind and shift teams! I waited, and while I waited guess what I did! Guess, guess!

I PLAYED THIS SUPER FUN GAME!

Catch the Flavour! On your phone!

Yes! This Breezer Catch the Flavouris so much fun and entertainment! You can choose to either bottle or package the Breezer and can speed up the game as per liking. For more fun, invite friends to play to compare your Breezer bottling and packaging skills through your scores! Play it on your laptop or download it on your phone and play on the go!

And so while I waited, hoping to eventually become a part of my favourite Cranberry team, I became a pro at packaging and bottling! Cranberries, pineapples, limes, blackberries et al, all sorted in their respective bottles!

Bottling or Packaging? Take your pick!

Bottling like a pro!

Packing it all up!

And while I mastered the game, seats in the Cranberry team fell vacant for me to hop onto it with much gusto! Yay to that!

So now that I have finally managed to catch Cranberry Express, here's why I so love this flavour...But, well, before I wax eloquent about why Cranberry is my favourite flavour, here's some some gyaan about Breezers first - for all those who think it is an out and out alcoholic drink, or as some say in Hindi, that it is...eh...sharaab. This gyaan is sourced from wikipedia and can be cross-checked with various online forums and relevant websites. But then you can also check about the alcohol content right on the breezer bottle too.

Bacardi Breezer is a fruit wine-based alcopop with 4.8% alcohol in India, 4.4% in Australia, 6.6% in the United Kingdom and 4.5% in Europe. It comes in a variety of fruit flavours: lemon, peach, pineapple, apple, ruby grapefruit, lime, orange, blackberry, watermelon, cranberry, coconut, raspberry, blueberry, pomegranate, strawberry, and mango. In India, Bacardi Breezer was the first entrant in the ready to drink category.

So you see, Breezer is not an out and out alcohol beverage and has very little alcohol percentage. In fact many reviews about the product say that it's a very peppy drink with strong fruity flavour. So now that the are basics of Breezer done with, here's why Cranberry flavour is my favourite flavour!

Cranberry, my favourite flavour!

MY DEBUT BREEZER! Cranberry was the first breezer flavour I ever tasted! After much apprehension about whether it was a hard drink or a soft drink and much debating about its alcohol content, it was my brother who finally convinced me to try one. And the choice of flavour too was his - 'Try Cranberry, it's quite fruity and you will like it.' And needless to say, I absolutely loved it!

ALCOHOLIC SHERBET! It is rum mixed with fruit juice but it's the fruity cranberry that wins over the rum. It tastes like fruit juice mixed with soda, giving a nice sweet and tangy flavour.

IT REFRESHES!Besides the good taste part, cranberry flavour is pretty refreshing too. If you thought that breezers will get you intoxicated, here's this myth busted. It's quite mild and just about tingles your tongue.

TINGLE & MINGLE! Like I mentioned earlier, Breezers have very little alcohol content, so this gives me a chance to mingle a bit more with those friends who are social drinkers and prefer hard drinks...so while they swirl their whiskeys and rums, I have my own fancy breezers to give them company! Better than the boring fruit juices!

ATTRACTIVE COLOUR! As much as the tangy flavour or rather the tartness of cranberries tastes good, the attractive orangy red colour too is very inviting! Plus it's been packed so beautifully in cute glass bottles! Beatiful and inviting packaging!

Cranberry, first among equals

So this was my take on my favourite Breezer flavour! Which one's your favourite? Which flavour do you love to catch? Tell, tell! Share, share! :)

This post has been written for Catch the Flavour Blogging Drive sponsored by Bacardi Breezer in association with IndiBlogger.
Photo Courtesy: picturejockey dot com

So there goes my first reason as to why I need to recharge my hair!

For all you who are wondering what am I doing there sitting precariously on that ladder, well I am on my way to the topmost terrace of my building! Why? To fly kites! To see my kites rule the skies this festive season of Lohri and Makar Sankranti! In my housing society, the kite-flying competition is on since a few days now, and everyone of my neighbours have staked their claim over the title of Champion Patangbaaz! Needless to say, I too am in the fray for that title! (Blush, blush, but with a steely resolve!)

I absolutely love flying kites and guess what, I have been faring quite okay till now! However the only glitch in this smooth sailing is my unruly hair! When out there on my super breezy terrace, I can either keep my unruly hair in control or fly the kites with gay abundance. Both of them DO NOT go together! You see... my hair have a mind of their own. Chance or no chance, they try and defy gravity and are always on the lookout for opportunities to be on their own and fly around in different directions. So my only option so far has been to bundle them together in a rubber band, pin up the loose strands and then put on a cap to keep them all in place, and of course in control too! Too bad, this effort makes me look more like a stuck-up woman on a mission, rather than a girl having fun flying kites and shouting...Aayi Bo, Aayi Bo! (A victory shout in Punjabi, meaning the kite is cut)

Sigh!

Before I amuse you more with my scary-hairy stories, let me start from the start - the school days when I was not allowed to cut my hair, and still they refused to grow the way I wanted them to grow! Wonder if there was some conspiracy theory at work! Anyways, so the moment I was independent enough to take my own decisions (read - what clothes to wear, what hairstyle to keep) the first thing I did was to get my hair sorted! Yes, I opted for a no-nonsense, easy to manage cropped cut. And the hairstyle remained so for a really long time.

And this how they looked just about a few months ago! :D

Sorting them short!

Yes! Keeping them cropped was easier than bearing the agony of standing in front of the mirror and muttering day in and day out - 'Mere baalon ka kuch nahi ho sakta! They have a mind of their own!'

But now, after almost 5 years of really short hair, when boredom has finally set in, I have decided to give my hair a chance again! But looks like they still don't actually deserve a chance. I pin them hard, lest the loose strands rebel and incite the pinned crowd too! Time and again, I hide them under scarves and caps!

Capping them up!

And in all these hair woes, its my travel photos that go all awry! Random non-posy photos are a strict no-no, for I wouldn't know which different directions my hair would have decided to turn to, making me look more like a frenzied traveller than a happy tourist! On the other hand, the posy photos are boring, for they look all made up! Imagine - Every single hair in place! How so? Thanks to the many pins! And if they fail, there's always a cap, a scarf or your jacket hoodie to take care of things!

Dull hair under the hood please!

Needless to say all these shenanigans to tackle my perennial bad hair days, take quite a heavy toll on my routine! Pack the hair, unpack the hair, plot about keeping them in place, worry about their dullness, worry why they are not shiny enough despite the fancy shampoos and spas, and last but not the least worry about how to hide them in more fashionable ways!

Too much of worrying, isn't it! And this is why I want to recharge my hair!
I WANT TO RECHARGE THEM FOR I WANT TO FLAUNT THEM! SIMPLE! :D

Let them be so smooth, shiny and recharged that I never ever wish to hide them under caps and scarves!
Let them be so beautiful and recharged that I never ever have to dig into my handbag to sort them out right before a random photo shoot!
Let them be so recharged that the next time I go on a holiday I spend more time frolicking in the pool than worrying about chlorine's ill effects on my hair!
Let them be so bright and beautiful that I remain ever ready for all the fancy parties and get-togethers that my friends organize, that too right after office hours!
Let them be so recharged that all my photos look naturally beautiful!
Let them be so happy and recharged that I remain ever ready to face any camera pointing my way! Yay!

And now it looks like my bad hair days are soon going to be history, for I have just stumbled upon this awesome websitethat offers solutions to all our hair woes! And from what I see, this site has all the magic potions to recharge and rejuvenate all kinds of lacklustre hair! And if the magic works, it is sure going to recharge my life too!

So ciao for now! See you next time with a glowing story of my recharged hair and recharged life!

All new Sunsilk hair coming soon!

This post has been written for 'Recharge your hair, recharge your life' blogging drive sponsored by Sunsilk, in association with IndiBlogger.

This beautiful song from Dove got me dreaming. Dreaming about lustrous long hair. Lustrous long hair that cascades over my shoulders. Cascades over shoulders and does not get tangled and messy. Oh see, the train of thoughts. Ah, wishful thinking.

Then there are Rekha's two beautiful braids! They too keep making an appearance off and on. Sigh!
What? You don't know the story of the braids? Did I never tell you all how infinitely jealous I was of Rekha's awesome long braids in the movie Khoobsurat! Every time I come across the movie, besides the beautiful songs, it is just her hair styles that attract all my attention. And in the movie, more often than not, she is shown sporting this same braided hairstyle.

Miss Goody-Two-Braids

As a school girl I so longed to have long hair - long hair tied up in two beautiful braids, with red satins ribbons adorning them. I so longed to play with them, shifting them across the shoulders, making false moustaches with them or just playfully toying with them absent-mindedly. Too bad that my mother thought short hair were easier to look after and were less coming consuming when one had to get ready for school - one hurried swoosh of the comb and you were done. All my pleading to let me grow my hair would fall on deaf ears and a quick trip to the hair salon once a month would ensure that I had my hair neatly chopped and all in place, like a good school girl.

And then that short hair so became me that I took it in my stride - my cropped hair style, or rather the lack of it. But then off and on, the deep desire to have lustrous long hair stirs around in some deep dark corner of both mind and heart and tries its best to make its presence felt. More so when I see women with beautiful hair flaunting their crowning glories, playing with them - so confident, so proud.

It is then again that the wishful thinking makes a comeback. I say wishful thinking for lustrous long hair cascading over my shoulders is a distant dream for now. I had really short hair till about a few months ago, and its only now that they have started to touch my shoulders. Going from this -

to this

has been lot of hard work. Hard work in the sense - lots of oiling, shampooing, conditioning and yes, de-tangling too, for you see tangled hair was an experience that was considerably new to me, what with my almost cropped hair! Nevertheless, despite my best efforts at growing them long and strong, the results, I must confess, have been far from satisfactory. The hair seems to be growing at snail's pace and that too sans any cheer - they look dull and drab, lacklustre to be more precise.

They are far far off from the dreams I have had about them. But then this playful melodious song from Dove has now got me all motivated. May be redemption is near, and may be my hair will live and grow - and grow beautiful and healthy at that. So that one day I will tie them in two beautiful braids, adorn them with satin ribbons and will play with them - shifting them across my shoulders, making false moustaches and what not. :)

This post is written for the Dove Go Play blogging drive on Indiblogger, in association with Dove.
Photo Credits: www.youngistan.in, unboxedwriters.com

In my post about why I wanted recharged hair, I had ranted about how dull and lacklustre my hair was. So much so that I often had to resort to hiding them under scarves and caps and hoodies. But then I had also hinted that my bad hair days were soon going to a thing of the past for I had just stumbled upon this awesome shampoo and conditioner combo that offered full-proof solution to all my hair woes!

Oh how I would have loved to give you a before and after demo, too bad I could not find one photo where I have left my hair uncovered! Oh wait, looks like I found one! My unruly hair having a field day literally!

Unruly hair, story of the past

But never mind, for that 'before' hair is now a thing of the past, and this is how my hair looks like now! Happy, healthy, shining and 'recharged'! :)

My recharged hair!

Honestly speaking, this photo was a candid shot, taken by a blogger friend and later when I saw this photo, my first reaction was - Wow! Is that what my hair looks like? I am sure I am sounding narcissistic, but I sent a quite a few minutes admiring my hair and thanking my stars that I opted for the magic potion that recharged and rejuvenated my lacklustre hair! And for all you who might be wondering what that magic potion is....here it is...tanaaa na...!

This beautiful Sunsilk Natural Shampoo and Conditioner hamper has won many a sceptical hearts. But then more than the ribbons and leaves and beautiful packaging, its the goodness of the shampoo and conditioner that is being lauded by those perennially woebegone about their messy hair issues. Why, even I was one of them till about a month ago - worrying about my hair woes. And I must say that it was a pleasant surprise to see my hair look good not just in air-conditioned rooms but also stand strong against the wear and tear at the beach - sun, sand and salt - and still going strong!

Hair happy at the beach

One look at them and it reassured me that my hair was in safe hands, or safe re-charger rather. So what it is that works for Sunsilk Natural Recharge range? Here are a few pointers -

What works for Sunsilk Natural Recharge

Sunsilk Natural Recharge Shampoo is infused with Ginseng plant root and oil that strengthen and nourish the hair.
Ginseng is a herbal plant that is believed to restore and enhance normal well being and is currently one of the most widely bought herbal supplement.
The shampoo and conditioner have been co-created with Jamal Hammadi, who's an expert in natural ingredients.
A big plus - this one is Parabens-free. So you don't have to worry about chemicals ruining your hair and health.
The fragrance of both the shampoo and the conditioner is pretty mild and soothing, so you if you have an aversion for shampoos with strong overwhelming fragrance, this one's another winner for you.
I have frizz-prone hair, and was happy to see the conditioned controlling the frizz factor.
The shampoo and conditioner combo are both pocket friendly. The 80ml pack of both the shampoo and the conditioner costs Rs. 60, while the 180ml pack of both is for Rs. 132.

Check check - Reality Check

And now time for some reality check too! My hair have taken well to Sunsilk Natural Recharge shampoo and conditioner, but then I will be frank in acknowledging that some of its claims have gone a bit overboard.

The shampoo claims of thicker, fuller and 5 times stronger hair, but well, am yet to see this kind of result. My hair feels healthier, yes, but 5 times stronger? No.
If you have dandruff prone hair, then this on is not going to be of much help. It will clean your hair al-right, but dandruff issues will persist.
Again this shampoo is no remedy for hair fall issues.

So that's about it with the reality check, not much to bog us down, isn't it? Plus the pros far over-weigh the cons. I have been using this shampoo & conditioner combo for over a month now, and I am really satisfied with the results. I can go swimming, go trek in the sun and in general be outdoors this summer without worrying about my hair looking dull and dry. If I am confident about my hair looking healthy and happy today, I have Sunsilk Natural Recharge to thank. :)

This review has been written for a blogging drive organised on IndiBlogger, in association with Sunsilk.

I am not a regular product reviewer, but it was the goodness of Aloe Veda Turmeric Clarifying Face Wash that prompted me to write about it. I reckon we all use face washes - many that promise a fairer skin, many promising cleaner pores, while quite a few assuring us of reducing fine lines and wrinkles. But at first glance, Aloe Veda Turmeric Clarifying Face Wash offered nothing. An unpretentious bottle that talked about the ingredients inside.

First detail to catch my attention was Sulphate Free, for there are not many face cleansing products in India that cut out sulphate from their ingredient list. So what is so special about a product being sulphate free? Here are a few pointers-

Sulphate is a chemical added to produce more foam/lather in the hair and skin cleansing products. Most common sulphate is Sodium Lauryl sulphate, used in shampoos, toothpastes, and other cleansers.

Sulphate strips the skin and scalp of natural oils, which are essential for skin's health.

They can cause skin irritation and in the long run, do more harm to skin and scalp.

Second detail on the pack was Paraben free. This term too has been in vogue of late. Here's why the tag paraben-free matters-

Parabens are chemical preservatives used to increase the shelf life of cosmetic products.

Lately there have been studies and reports that say parabens may be linked to breast cancer and fertility issues.

In some studies, skin problems such as dermatitis, and skin allergic reactions have been linked to parabens.

These and some more details on the pack and I was sure that I wanted to let go off the the excessively foamy and fragrant face washes I have been using, and try something organic and frill-free for a while. And having learnt about the ill-effects of parabens and sulphates, I was keen to try this product.

Key Ingredients: Turmeric Paste, Vitamin E, Aloe Vera Leaf Extract, Aqua, Cocamidopropylbetaine, PEG 7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Glycerine, Polyquaternium 7, Decyl Glucoside, Xanthan Gum, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, Allantoin, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate

Product Description on Bottle: This clarifying sulphate-free formula contains turmeric paste and turmeric oil that controls acne blemishes, blackheads, dark spots and hyper pigmentation. The Aloe Vera nourishes the pores, removes toxins, and cleans make-up without stripping the skin's natural oils and moisture content.

My Take: I have used this face wash for a month now, and it has really helped clear out blemishes and has evened out my skin tone, thanks to the abundant turmeric extract in it. I have a combination skin, and it cleanses the skin really well, neither drying it nor leaving it oily. Moreover since it's chemical free, I feel reassured that there's no side effect on the sly happening. Again, because of absence of sulphate, it's not very foamy but lathers well.

Pros of the product:
- Chemical free formula

- Non-foaming, so washes off easily
- Spill-free packaging
- Easy on the wallet - 100ml bottle for Rs. 160
- Shelf life of 2 years

Cons of the product:

No con really, but it has no artificially added fragrance and smells strongly of turmeric.

Note: Some skin types may be allergic to certain natural ingredients. So it's always advisable to do a patch test before using the product.

If you were to go by food stereotypes, my family is the most unlikely Punjabi family one can come across. Pure vegetarians, we stay away from heavy spices as much as possible. While we have our fill our fill of rajma-chawal, kadhi-chawal and winter quintessential aaloo ke paraanthe with white butter, it's simple, non-spicy regular food that rules on the dining table. From the mundane ghiya, tinde, tori in summers to gaajar, gobhi, matar et al in winters, we all love veggies and in combination with salad, raita, chutney and achar, roti-sabzi makes for a dominant feature on our dining table.

Now since a few members of the household are regulars on the London-Delhi route, a lot of international cuisines too have been jostling for a place in the regular menu. Variety of sandwiches, fusion experimental stews, spaghetti, easy on spices enchiladas made out of a variety of tortillas...these too keep featuring regularly on the dining table.

But when it comes to dinner, nothing makes us happier than the regular dal-roti. A few days of a different menu - veggies, or pasta or spaghetti or eating out - and there would come an uniform chorus from everyone - some light dal tonight please! Right from Papa Puri to the oh-so sophisticated been-there-done-that Beta Puri, everyone would go - yeah some respite from fancy food please. Make dal tonight! Comfort food, stomach soother, call it what you will - nothing brings our family together than a simple dal-roti dinner. Moongi dhuli, moongi sabut, masoor ki dal, urad ki dal, maahi ki daal and what not - but for us kids in the family, it's always peeli daal, orange daal, green daal...and yes, kaali daal! Hahah...

This is how an almost perfectly laid out dinner looks like on our dining table - yellow moong tadka daal tempered with chopped onions and garlic paste and beautifully garnished with coriander leaves, fluffy rotis slobbered with home-made ghee, neat ringlets of onion, capsicum and tomatoes for salad and mint chutney to add some spice to the otherwise moderate meal! And ll of this ready to be washed down with diluted salted lassi! Wholesome, isn't it?

Now while this meal to me is fulfilling to say the least, my only grouse is the 'steel ke bartan' they are served in. If you would have noticed I wrote 'almost perfectly' laid our dinner, and it's these steel ke bartan - the pateelas, the dongas and the kadchis that dilute the beauty of the food, and add that 'almost' to the perfect dinner! If only all that food came served in elegant and trendy dinnerware, it would add much beauty and visual appeal to the dinner table. Something like the gorgeous Melamine range from Borosil- comforting and delicious home-made food served in these trendy dinnerware would so compliment each other! And I am sure the dal and the chutney would look much more appealing arriving at the dinner table in smart microwavable casseroles instead of the clumsy dongas!

Ah, looks it's time for some kitchen-ware shopping from Borosil right away - to add a huge dash of class, colour and trend to the kitchen and the dining table! So I will take your leave now. Hope you enjoyed the post, do share what your favourite food/meal is! :)

This post is a part of My Beautiful Food blogging drive by Borosil, in association with IndiBlogger.

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I HAD never much cared about shampoos for quite a few years of my life. Thanks to my close cropped hair, details like this ABC shampoo was good for curly hair, or this XYZ would turn a mass of rough hair into something that even Rapunzel could get envious of - did not concern me at all. So long as it cleansed my hair good, ANY shampoo was good for me.

But then just a few months ago, a severe attack of boredom made sure that I abandon my (now)old indifferent hairstyle and opt for something new, something different. AND So, I started growing my hair long, to escape the monotony of twiddling my fingers when it came to big and small chit-chats with friends about this hairstyle and that, this awesome shampoo and that! The boring close crop HAD to go!

But you know how it is, trying to grow back your hair after keeping them really short for a quite a long time. So while the monotony of short hair gradually withered away, I was left with some perennial hair woes - rough hair, stubborn frizz and yes, SPLIT ENDS! It did not take me long to realise that for those dealing with hair woes on a regular basis, happiness is something else!

So, it was no long that the perennial hair woes had me too discussing sundry shampoos and the miracle they promised to work on different hair textures! And needless to add, details like ABC shampoo is good for curly hair, or this XYZ turns rough hair into something that even Rapunzel could get envious of - now concerns me big time! And talking of hair woes while there are a few shampoos that promise healthy and and lustrous hair, there are not many that assure you of 'split end free' hair! Yes, and this was why TRESemmé's SPLIT REMEDY range of shampoo and conditioner got me all curious and excited!

Thanks TRESemmé India for the lovely hamper

TRESemmé, the international hair care brand is on Mission Beautiful Hair, turning every hair woes stricken lady into gorgeous ramp ready Rapunzel! While their different shampoos and hair strengthening conditioners are taking care of the tricky tresses, their stylists are enlightening pretty young things about the various ramp ready hairstyles! Not long ago, (the times when I was indifferent to the fancy world of niche shampoos) a few of my friends had become fans of TRESemmé, all thanks to their collection of products suited for different hair types and hair problems. There’s Keratin Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner for frizz-free hair, then there's a whole range of Smooth & Shine products for rough and dry hair. And for those who have issues with humidity and windy weather playing spoilsport with their hair, they can opt for Climate Control range of products. And the pretty young things stricken by the hair fall problem should definitely try Hair Fall Defense range of products, which has, besides a special shampoo and conditioner, an anti-breakage treatment masque to nourish the damaged areas. And coming to the hair issue I was plagued with - split ends - and lo and behold, this magic potion from TRESemmé was here to tackle that!

Scissor-free solution to split ends

This beautiful TRESemmé Split Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner combination has won many a sceptical hearts and its goodness is being lauded by those perennially woebegone about their otherwise gorgeous hair's split end issues. Why, even I was one of them till about a month ago - worrying about my hair woes. But I must say that it was a pleasant surprise to see my hair look smoother and of course healthier.

And for this I had TRESemmé Split Remedy to thank, for it’s not often that one gets to experience the pleasure of professional hair care in the comforts of one’s own home, without having to step out to visit a salon! With lesser split ends, my hair looks smoother and I can wear it loose for as long as I want. Moreover, with this magical solution on my side, I no longer need to worry about my hair suffering wear and tear at the beach or in fact any where outdoors! I can be out for as long as I want, come back home and use my magic hair potion and voilà post shampooing and conditioning my hair feels as gorgeous and shinier as ever! One look at them I feel re-assured that split-end woes and bad hair days are now a thing of the past.

So friends, if you like me of yore, are indifferent to niche shampoos, or are still stuck with the thought that there's no solution to split ends besides regular visits to the salon, rest assured that there indeed is a 'scissorfree solution to split ends! :)
And yes, how about this for a parting shot? ;)

The sample for this product review was sponsored by TRESemmé India in association with IndiBlogger.

Wella Bloggers Meets are all about infotainment - latest information about products and services from the Wella Professionals' world seamlessly weaved into an entertaining event! The brand's recently held bloggers meet was one such do, where Wella Professionals and Wella Expert, one of India’s best known hair stylists - Sapna Bhavnani interacted with bloggers in the Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle category and introduced the all new 'Oil Infuso Colour Service'.

Sapna highlighted how Wella Professionals newly launched ‘Oil Infuso Color Service’ provides long lasting color results and takes care of hair health. This unique service has color infused with Wella Professionals Oil Reflections to protect hair from damage. And this coming from an hair expert who herself is pretty popular for her hair colour experiments, makes sense indeed.

Wella Professional Experts

How Oil Infuso Colour Service works

Wella Professionals OIL REFLECTIONS special formula, with Vitamin E, creates a protective barrier around the hair, neutralizing free radicals and protecting against damage. During color service with Wella colors, oil nourishes hair and enhances structure. The service helps protects hair protein, locks in moisture and provides long lasting color results hence offering the desired color results while taking care of hair health.

Expert-speak

Here's what Sapna Bhavnani had to say about Wella's Oil Infuso Colour Service - “Oil Infuso Color Service is especially formulated with the power of oil that infuses color with properties to protect hair from damage. After experiencing the service myself I am confident that with this color service, you will look great, achieve long lasting results without comprising on hair health.”

Besides detailed information about this new hair colour service, the meet saw lot of photo op fun too! And with Sapna being her usual peppy self, no wonder everyone wanted to get clicked with her. Besides, there were quirky props aplenty to keep click-happy bloggers occupied with their camera! :)

Posing with the props!

To know more about Wella Professionals, you can check here. Also if you have any concerns about hair color, this old post can help you with that. Looking forward to your views. :)

Am not much of a make-up user. My make-up kit or rather utility kit has hardly ever gone beyond a few bare essentials - lip balms, BB creams and mascara, which I only apply off and on. For people like me, who are wary of using make up, the regular black mascara sometimes tends to get too obvious, in the sense that I would feel too made-up if I were to apply mascara every day. And that's where transparent mascara comes to my rescue. It gives the much needed boost and volume to my eyes-lashes, while staying inconspicuous. So the latest addition to my measly looking make-up kit is the Miss Claire Transparent Mascara.

Okay, so I did not buy this one on any recommendation. The cosmetic shop I bought it from had just one option - saying that this was the one that sold the most and was also used by professional make-up artists. I took his word for it. And it has every bit been worth it.

Packing and Product Details:

This one has no external packaging, just a clear plastic wrap sealing the cap of the plastic tube. Since the tube is transparent plastic, one can see the gel content inside, and make out the thickness of the gel and also the quality of the application brush. Also there is no other detail about the ingredients, as in what has gone into the making of the gel.

About the product:

Miss Claire Transparent Mascara is a clear gel mascara, with medium consistency that is neither too runny nor too thick. On application, it gives a nice even texture and is very light on the lashes and also dries out quick. Though it claims to add volume and length to the lashes, but I'd say that this claim is a bit far fetched. However it does define the lashes and makes them look glossy and distinctive. In all it's a good product to use to make your eyelashes look all groomed and glossy.

Canola, the premium priced cooking oil being market by Canada is slowly and steadily making inroads into the Indian market. While the leading chefs and decision makers from the food industry are gradually acknowledging and promoting the health benefits of this oil, average Indian family still seems sceptical about Canola's relevance in their kitchen shelves. And this is why representatives of Canola Council of Canada are travelling across potential markets to spread awareness about Canola oil and promote its exposure in different types of cooking. To this effect, they recently organised a bloggers meet where health benefits of Canola oil were discussed in great detail.

If you remember, last year Canola had tied up with renowned chef Kunal Kapoor for a Cook for Cause event, where I got to be a part of the team of bloggers who cooked for the lively kids from the NGO Katha, an NGO that works in the field of community development, child welfare, education and literature. This year, besides the informative session of Canola facts, it was popular chef Surjan Singh (aka Chef Jolly) and his interesting recipes that added the fun element to the otherwise focussed-on-facts event.

Now before delving into the finer details about health benefits of Canola oil, here's a recall of the canola oil trivia I have shared before.

Canola Oil comes from the crushed seeds of canola plant. These seeds are tiny and resemble poppy seeds, though they are brownish-black in colour.
Canola and rapeseed plants look similar but their oils are very different. Canadians researchers used traditional plant breeding to eliminate the undesirable components of rapeseed and created 'canola' - a contraction of Canadian and ola.
Researchers say canola is very stable oil that doesn't break down at high temperatures, so it's ideal for sautéing, stir-frying, deep-frying and other high-heat applications.
Its smoke point - the temperature at which it begins to smoke and degrade - is one of the highest of all cooking oils at 242 degree centigrade.

As mentioned above, the focus of this meet was spreading awareness about the health benefits of Canola oil, and Canola panel, represented by Mr. Bruce Jowett, Vice President of Marketing Development, Canola Council of Canada, Ms. Ritika Samaddar, Registered Dietician and Nutritionist and Chef Jolly. While Mr. Jowett shared interesting insights on the latest consumer research on edible oil consumption patterns, Ms Samaddar talked about the various health and nutritional benefits of canola oil and how it helps you get fitter.

Here are some pointers that will help with a better a understanding of how canola oil works is good for health -

Low is saturated fats - Canola oil is slow in saturated fat. Saturated fat raises the bad LDL cholesterol in the blood and has been linked to increased risk of coronary heart diseases.
A source of omaega-6 fat - Omega-6 must be consumed in diet and is important for the brain and for the growth and development of infants.
High in omega-3 fat - Omega-3 fat must also be consumed in our diet, as it helps protect against heart attacks and strokes.
High in mono-unsaturated fat - Mono-unsaturated fat may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering bad LDL cholesterol in the blood and helping control blood glucose.
Cholesterol and trans fat free - Trans fat raises bad LDL cholesterol and lowers good HDL cholesterol.

While Mr. Jowett and Ms Samaddar emphasized the health benefits of the oil, Chef jolly explained about the texture and taste of the oil, explaining how the oil adapts to most Indian cuisines and leaves no lingering smell. He also prepared two interesting snack items,which were cooked in canola oil, and also shared the recipe of the same (sharing the recipe in the next post). The event was rounded off with high tea, with a sumptuous spread of delicacies cooked in canola oil.

Chef Jolly cooking with canola oil

High tea spread cooked in Canola oil

The Canola Bloggers Meet was organised by Canola Oil in association with Blogadda. For more information about Canola, you can check this website.

Hi there! In my last post about Canola bloggers meet, I had promised to share two interesting quick snacks recipes shared by Chef Surjan Singh (aka Chef Jolly) and here I am with one of them. So get ready to make super-quick-to-make and super-health-to-eat Pan-fried Chickpea Patty! Yes, Chef Jolly has given an interesting twist to your regular chickpea (kabuli chana) and turned it into a patty with a difference. Cooked in canola oil, it's light on the stomach and yet very filling.

So here we go!

Ingredients:

100g chickpea (Kabuli chana), boiled soft
50g malai paneer/curd cheese
2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 tbsp caraway seeds or cumin seeds
1/4 tbsp black cardamom seeds, crushed
1 medium spiced green chilli, finely chopped
30g coriander leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice,
1/2 tbsp asafetida powder
Salt to taste

Chef Jolly at work

Method:

1. Coarsely blitz boiled chickpeas using a food processor and add roasted caraway, curd cheese, black cardamom seeds, green chilli, coriander leaves. Mix well.
2. Add 1 tbsp canola oil in a hot pan and temper asafetida.
3. Add the chickpeas mix and blend again with salt to taste and lemon juice for tanginess.
4. Make small balls (table tennis ball sized balls), and use the centre of the palms to flatten them.
5. In a hot, non-stick bottom pan, pour remaining canola oil to pan-fry the patties golden brown evenly on both sides and serve it hot with a side dip, relish or chutney.

Alternatively, you may glaze it with canola oil spray and oven bake it at 200 degree C for 10 minutes on each side to serve it with a tangy dip.

And here it is - ready to it!

The second recipe is coming in the next post. Stay tuned. :)
The Canola Bloggers Meet was organised by Canola Oil in association with Blogadda. For more information about Canola, you can check this website.

Welcome back! Hope you tried your hand at making them chickpea patties, and found the taste every bit worth the time spent making them. So as promised, I am back with recipe number 2, shared by Chef Surjan Singh Jolly at the Canola Bloggers Meet. This one is called Smoked Eggplant mash, with toasted croute.

So here we go!

Portion Serves 4

Ingredients

250g eggplant (large), smoked over coal ambers

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp garlic clove, finely chopped

2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped

3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 sprig coriander leaf washed and finely chopped

Salt to taste

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

3-4 toasted bread strips

Method:

1. Wash the eggplant, wipe it dry and place it on a char-grill/roasting tray and roast in a pre-heated oven at 250 degree C for 20 minutes or until the eggplants bake skin on.

2. Peel the skin and wash it under running matter, if you wish you can remove the seeds inside.

3. In a pan, add canola oil and all the ingredients listed above, except for the toasted bread strips.

4. Mix it all well and cook for 3-4 minutes.

5. Check for seasoning and serve the eggplant mash a spread on toast.

6. You can also this mash as a sandwich filler.

The Canola Bloggers Meet was organised by Canola Oil in association with Blogadda. For more information about Canola, you can check this website.

Succulent, melt-in-your mouth burgers, and chilled draught beer makes for one evergreen and fuss-free combination. And the Westin Gurgaon's just concluded Beer, Burgers and More Promotion made sure the patrons had their fill of this delicious combination. The hotel's signature all day diner Seasonal Tastes keeps coming up with interesting promotion themes and the week gone by was all about sumptuous burgers and unlimited pours of chilled draft beer to go with it!

What made the beer and burger combination more interesting was the fact that guests could sit right next to the live cooking counter and personalise their burgers according to their taste - right from the kind of patties they wanted, to the filling choice of bread and the filling that went in. There were option aplenty both the vegetarians and the non-vegetarians - from soya and tofu patties to shrimps and chicken, you name it, they had it.

Besides the Beers and Burgers, the 'More' in this themed promotion too was a foodie's delight. From mouth-watering golgappa and chaat counter to elaborate buffet spread, there was enough variety to make even a picky eater spoilt for choice. Even yours truly couldn't help but try 'sample' after sample of golgappes and chaat papdis! :)

So the next time you are wondering about where to indulge your taste-buds, head to the Westin's Seasonal Tastes,

for you are sure to be greeted with a food theme that you will find hard to resist! Happy eating!

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My Recharged Hair, Courtesy - Sunsilk Natural Recharge Shampoo & Conditioner

Product Review: Aloe Veda Turmeric Clarifying Face Wash

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Bloglovin

Split Ends Free TRESemme Tresses!

Wella Color Up Your Life Bloggers Meet

Miss Claire Transparent Mascara - Review

Canola Bloggers Meet: To Understand Canola Better

Recipe: Pan-fried Chickpea Patty (By Chef Jolly)

Recipe: Smoked Eggplant Mash, toasted croute Patty (By Chef Jolly)

Beer, Burgers and More at The Westin Gurgaon