In search of the coveted glow...

How far would you go for that perfect skin that glows like a 1000 W bulb? I betcha a majority of the ladies just wouldn’t mind giving their eyes and teeth for that (what use that glowing skin would be sans eyes & teeth is beside the point :D) Jokes apart, it is that quintessential quality that every lady aspires for…some are born with it, some earn it with hard work and the rest keep striving till they achieve it…And then there are some lucky damsels who fall under all of these categories. If you have gone through your fair share of skin troubles in your younger days, you tend to realize its value even more, like I do!

Glowing skin is considered harbinger of health & happiness but there’s something quirky about watching that glow on someone else’s face…an eerie feeling that implores you to explore the closely guarded secret of her glowing skin even if it takes befriending your nemesis who has the privilege to her proximity and what follows is a wild goose chase starting with the same brand of beauty products to following the skincare regime and ending with making a beeline to the salon she frequents. If all that fails, you try to ascribe the possible reasons of her glow – hmmm must be love! or psst, is she expecting? or to top it all, blame it on her genes !!

In growing up years, my girl’s hostel was the perfect arsenal to combat the menace of skin troubles. With shoe-string budgets, there never was any spare money to dispense on beauty treatments. Going natural was rather a constraint than a choice. My skin savored a healthier diet than my tummy. A trip to the neighborhood grocery store was less for appeasing the taste buds and more for the elusive glow. The shopping list was as vivid as it was divergent - milk, curd, tomato, papaya, lemon et al. I wasn’t alone in this noble endeavor. A symbiotic relationship existed between the bevy of beauties vying to beat the competition. After all, there’s no greater joy than hearing your name resound when the classic poser pops up,”Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” :)

When an already fair & glowing roomie brought a sandalwood stick, the others followed suit to foil her bid to overtake others in terms of complexion. My room looked like an arena for flexing muscles developed by endless extraction of sandal wood paste. On the brighter side, we earned some extra brownie points from the hostel warden who thought we had suddenly turned religious as she likened the chandan smell to agarbatti :D. A multitude of colored faces filled the rooms of our hostel..thanks to the innumerable varieties of face packs – brown-multani mitti, orange-papaya, green –cucumber, yellow-besan and what not! Nobody mind gulping down utterly bitter Safi tonic when someone mentioned my cousin owes her great skin to Safi. Similar was the fate of karela which until now had always been subjected to step-motherly treatment. Every room had a corner dedicated to these sacrilegious rituals – one roomie massaging away to glory, another scrubbing a tomato and others rubbing their finger nails together as a yoga exercise presumed to bring that wonder glow: D

Picture Credit : Kaya

I have donned some of these roles off and on – the performer and the spectator. Several years have passed since then but so much yet so less has changed. The same quest continues to this day. With less time to spare and more money to dispense, natural products have made way for expensive cosmetics and salon treatments. This quest took me to Kaya Skin Clinic last week. I was intrigued by their ad of ‘beautiful skin that glows from within’ and went ahead for Kaya Everyday Radiance service. This Kaya experience was good, as it has always been, in terms of service and professionalism but am still waiting for the glow for the last 5 days! I check myself out in the mirror every morning for the glow but alas it eludes me even today…I am reminded of my trusted neutrogena facial cleanser lying in my vanity bag. As I reach out for my bag, I notice some brochures lying by my bedside table. One of them reads “Rejuvenate your Skin this summer as Kaya Skin Clinic introduces Aqua Radiance. ~A new service based on water, oxygen & air technology~”. I stole a cursory glance at myself in the mirror and to my surprise, I saw my skin and eyes both glowing in anticipation :)

P.S. What's your secret? Pink Diaries would love to have it jotted...