Pain in thighs {Your Opinion}

These days I feel like a 60 year old lady. Of course, dad always likes to call me "20 years old buddhi" :D [That was sometime back!!! Of course, I have aged and I am not getting any younger :(] I don't know why but since 2-3 days, I have this pain in the back muscles of my thighs and almost a constant headache in the back of my head (not the forehead). I really don't want to take medicines but seems like my headache won't leave me without a pill.

Have you gone through any similar state before? Any ideas?

Eyebrow Waxing - anyone? {Your Opinion}

Today, me and my friend were talking about threading and eyebrows and as you might already be aware, I have never got my eyebrows done till date. The only reason is because I can't bear the pain. Waxing itself is too much for me but at least its over in a single-go. So, a long time back, I found out that in US and almost all other countries, eyebrows are waxed and not threaded. 

I tried to find out in Hyderabad but it seems that the parlour and salon people are pretty much clueless about it!!! They have no idea that eyebrows get waxed too. Instead, they looked at me as if I'm off my hinges :D Anyway, so I wanted to ask if you have had any experience with eyebrow waxing? Do you know of any place in Hyderabad where eyebrows are waxed? 

Of course, I do know that its a dangerous proposition so one has to go to experienced and reliable people. Imagine coming off with waxed eyebrows!!! **horror** But, my friend told me that its pretty much less painful than threading and gives a good shape to the eyebrows when compared to threading. And, yes, even upper lips are waxed. That's I guess available in all salons.

Would you like to get the eyebrows waxed?

Image Courtesy: wellnesswa.com.au

How do I use Essential Oils? {DIY}

When I had posted my haul last week, many of the requests were on how to use the essential oils. The answer to that is that I use EO's practically in everything. So, let me just share some of my tips.

Skin Care

• I use couple of drops of EO's if I make my own scrubs any time. For example, today I made one - yogurt + besan after long long time and I used 10drops of ginger and 10 drops of Bergamot. But, that's actually a lot. Limit it to 10 at max. 
• I am using Fig and Honey moisturiser currently. So, I added a couple of EO's to it. I have around 150ml bottle of the moisturiser left so I could add up to 3ml of EO's (that's 60 drops of EO's). The math is done here. I added Patchaouli, Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Rosemary, Cedarwood, Frankinscence in equal drops (10 each). And, that's a lot, trust me. You can see a layer of oil over the moisturiser when you add. So, don't go overboard!!! 
• I add at most 10 drops of any EO to my bath sometimes if I want to relax. I have used Lavender, Neroli and Ylang Ylang till now. 
• I have made a toner using the EO's. I will post the recipe soon. 

Hair Care

• Let's start with the hair oil. I have added ginger, cinnamon bark, rosemary to my hair oils as they help in hair growth.
• Moving on, the next product is shampoo. I had added 20 drops of Rosemary EO to my Dove Shampoo and now, I have added 20 drops of Rosemary and 20 drops of Ylang Ylang to my Pantene shampoo. 
• Similarly, I added essential oils to my Liz Earle Botanical Shine Treatment and L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Masque. Though, I haven't used them since I have added the EO's coz of the treatment. 
• Also, check out my DIY aloevera scalp gel for hair growth which is entirely based on the efficacy of the essential oils. 

So, those are some of the tips on how to use essential oils in day to day life. And, of course, my perfume oils too. So, how do you use the EO's or plan to use them??

My Hair Dairies - April 2012

What I did in April? 

• Regarding the use of Rosemary EO for three months since January, I have not really got any evidence but I do believe that it has really helped my hair texture and probably helped in hair growth too. 
• I did add ginger and cinnamon EO to my hair oil this month.But, had to discontinue using it since I started on with a treatment.
• I gave myself a hair cut to get rid of the split ends. I did cut off a good amount of length and my hair is again back to the shoulder level :( but, then, I had to get rid of splits too. 
• Went on a hair treatment which I mentioned couple of days back. 

Products Used

• Shampoo - Pantene Total Damage Care Shampoo + Kamini's Keshika Herbal Shampoo
• Treatment - Kamini's Keshika Herbal Hair Tonic
• Conditioner - Liz Earle Botanical Shine Treatment + L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Hair Masque + Kamini's Keshika Milk Tonic
• Hair Oil - Biotique Flame of the Forest + Kamini's Keshika Herbal Hair Oil
• Hair Mask - Egg + Kamini's Keshika Multi-Herb Mix

Second Week Results of the Hair Treatment

• Hair definitely seems to be more shiny. 
• In fact, the hair coloring job which I wasn't pretty satisfied with, is showing well now. Though, I am definitely not loving the color :( I really want to use Lush Caca Maroon!!! I have a gut feeling I will soon do that :D

Related Posts:
My Hair Diaries - March 2012 
My Hair Diaries - February 2012 
My Hair Diaries - January 2012

Aloevera Scalp Gel for Hair Growth {DIY}

This is my first DIY which includes essential oils and are the heart and soul of this DIY after the perfume oil DIY.

Ingredients

• Aloevera Gel
• Rosemary EO
• Lavender EO
• Cinnamon Bark EO
• Ginger EO

Method

I used the Rustic Art aloevera gel for this recipe. I would not recommend fresh aloevera gel because of two reasons - first, preservation issues and second, you are not sure of how much quantity you have and how many drops of EO should be added. Thus, its better to use the commercially available aloevera gel. Take 100gms of the product and remember my guidelines to using EO's. 

In skin or hair care, you should use only 1-2% concentration of EO's and do not exceed as it can actually be allergic and harmful. So, for 100gms of aloevera gel, we can add 2 gms of EO and we use the equivalence of 1ml = 1gm though that's strictly not true. So, according to the 2% concentration, we can add 2ml of EO's. 1ml has 20 drops so 40 drops of EO per 100ml/gm of any product.

Add 10 drops of each essential oil to the aloevera gel. Mix it and leave in a dark place for 24 hours. Rosemary takes care of dandruff, Cinnamon and Ginger stimulate hair follicles and increase blood circulation and Lavender is conditioning for the hair besides helping in hair growth. Do not use more than 3-4 EO's per DIY as too many EO's might interact negatively with each other and can make the product extremely potent as well.

Results

Apply this gel on your scalp right after you finish with your entire hair wash and shower. Do not apply it when you hair is dripping. Wait the hair to get dry a bit and then apply to the scalp so that it doesn't cause breakage. There are two advantages - your scalp is clean so the product gets absorbed quickly and without any fear of trapping dust and since the base of the product is aloevera, it moisturizes the scalp nicely and prevents itching, flaky scalp and other scalp problems.

I made this DIY before I left for Delhi and have used it just once. Now that I am on a hair treatment, I am not using anything except the products prescribed. That's mainly to test the efficacy and worth of those products. But, I can vouch for one thing that this scalp gel does help in hair growth. Why? Remember the ginger tonic I mentioned? 

We are using ginger essential oil in this recipe and when I had applied this gel, it had tingled my scalp and gave me the feeling of warmth more than that ginger tonic does. Don't worry regarding the tingling. Its just coz of ginger. Even if you apply ginger juice or onion juice, the scalp tingles a bit and also makes the scalp warm meaning the blood circulation has increased. And, the gel doesn't make the hair heavy or greasy or anything. In fact, it keeps the scalp moisturised and the hair around the roots soft. It can be applied daily as well.

And, I am really hoping that you will give it a try :)

Sunscreen Regulations in India {Sunscreen}

Oh, I know you are bored by my posts on sunscreen. But, yes, I am obsessed. Did you know applying sunscreen can even help you with the pores problem? Yes!!! So, next time check out a good sunscreen :) And, now, a little about Indian regulations on sunscreen.

In India, sunscreen is considered a cosmetic and there is no maximum SPF rating. India has different registration lead times for sunscreens depending on if the product is made locally (3 months), or for import (9 months). India requires the manufacturer to release the full product formulation, including the quantitative formula with declaration and disclosure of functions of ingredients. All label text must be disclosed during the registration process along with the product specs, manufacturing process, chemical and microbiological testing methods and any data supporting product claims. India requires the manufacture to run a minimum of 2 pilot batches before registering a sunscreen. India requires specific stability testing requirements to show shelf life of the sunscreen. Testing may be done using accelerated methods of exposure to extreme heat. However, any data that is accelerated also needs to be confirmed by real time testing, so the process takes longer than the 3 or 9 months since the real time data (for up to a 3 year shelf life) needs to be available to register. (Source)

I have always wanted to know how sunscreens are regulated in India. This bit of information has definitely calmed down some of my apprehensions in the sunscreen products. But, of course, there should be a maximum spf rating otherwise who knows, tomorrow, products will come with sfp 150. Just Imagine!!! (just like Bebo says in Jab We Met).

Read more posts on sunscreen:

Do layers of sunscreens help? 

Sunscreen and Myths 

Dark and Dull Skin in summers 

Zinc Oxide vs Titanium Dioxide

Is my sunscreen working?

Surfaces and Radiations

What are UV Radiations?

What Sunscreen should I buy?

Sunscreen Ingredients

Use sunscreen 365 days a year

How much sunscreen do you apply?

Sunscreen: Role in anti-aging Skin Care

Another good deed today ;D

Ok, so not exactly a good deed but you know I caught Anamika long long back. Ok, I know I have lost you guys on this. It's just that the news is too ecstatic. So, let me be a little coherent. 

You know Anamika from Wiseshe, right?? I know she is pretty famous. So, here comes the big news - she is pregnant and currently in her eighth month :D And, I am soooooo happy for her. But, you must be wondering I am ecstatic? 

So, here comes something about me. I have amazing perceptive powers. But, I didn't know they would work online too :D I saw Ana's Karwachauth snap when she had put it up in facebook and she was glowing in that and looked little plumper and chubby!!! And, I had immediately thought she is pregnant. I so wanted to ask her but I thought that might not be good. Anyways, its a practice na that people don't really disclose such stuff in the first trimester. So, I thought if its a good news, she would have disclosed it. And, frankly, its a delicate topic. So, you see my perception works well enough in the virtual world too :D

I am very happy for her and wish her all the happiness on Earth :) And, did you read about my yesterday's good deed :D