Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A Short Hair Story


I can qualify as a model for a commercial on dull and lifeless hair. Trust me, I can offer a lot of variety in hair woes – dry, weak, frizzy, limp etcetera etcetera. The only thing which comes next to glowing skin on my secret wish list is shiny black hair and the overwhelming response to my post on glowing skin proves that we all girls share the same wish list, well, more or less, don’t me? Its comforting to know that someone out there empathizes with me as I embark upon the forlorn hope of shiny black hair.

I have been a tom boy for nearly half the time I‘ve spent on the earth. A tomboy with long hair is so uncool so I sported short hair during my tomboy hey days. The adulation for my mushroom hair cut combined with zero maintenance was reason good enough for keep short hair for 15 good years. When the sweet sixteen bug bit me, I decided to break the monotony and grow my hair long. And then came along the frenzy of hair care regime which, I thought, would to make up for the lost time.

I wasn’t genetically wired to have very long hair so the collective wisdom of mummies, aunties and didis came to my rescue. The ubiquitous items on their list found their way to mine – amla, reetha, shikakai et al. Ignorant of the proportions in which each of these have to be mixed before application, I applied a generous amount of only amla on my head and my hair ended up looking a shade of crow! That was the first and last time of my tryst with traditional hair care. Sooner, mehendi became a hair conditioning staple. I would pull all the ladies in the household for the mehendi regime and Sundays would turn out to be a day of green domes where heads belong. Full marks to this one though. It turned out to be quite effective and I would rejoice at the sight of an extra mm of length.

This bliss wasn’t meant to last long. I got carried away and went it for a perming treatment. My long-ish straight-ish (neither long nor straight) tresses which I had laboriously grown reduced to half its length. My curls evoked mixed reactions – some liked it, others were polite in saying straight were better. But when my bratty nephew described me with curls as a maverick scientist, my heart broke. I couldn’t wait for my straight hair to grow. Salon visits for a trim became as regular as groceries shopping. I ended up cutting off every bit of my curled locks and that brought me back to square one. I was left with bobbed hair, roughly the same amount I had years ago.

I put my hair through a more rigorous grind this time around. My hair would let out my eating preferences and I would end up covering it up with an explanation – vinegar – chinese? Yes, I love chinese food .So what, if I occasionally apply on my head too?!! ; egg – ofcourse, I am non-vegetarian ; beer – sorry, I don’t booze , its adds bounce to hair I’ve heard, so m just trying. Persistence did pay in terms of length but the shine was elusive.

Along came the streaking and coloring trend. Before I decided to take a plunge, my friend who went for a burgundy look started turning red with every wash and I just thanked my stars for not being too hasty. My long-ish and straight-ish hair needed a change and rebonding was an ‘it’ thing. After the perming fiasco, I was wary of any chemical treatment so bought myself a hair iron. It came handy in giving my hair a rebounded look but I had no respite from chemicals as I had to rub in a copious amount of hair mousse every time. In hindsight, it added a new attribute to my hair – brown-ish! :D

Whenever I enter a shop for buying skin care products, the sales assistant invariably tells me, “Ma’am, can I show something for your hair, too?”!! It leaves me confused whether she’s trying to hard sell or suggesting me to do something about my hair. “No, thank you. I’m just looking for something for my skin”, I retort.

I have grown comfortable with my brownish hair. Infact, I like it bcoz it look somewhat naturally colored. But I hit the panic button when my niece’s sketchy description – my hair is a color of branch. BRANCH??? Can u beat it? I headed straight to the Body Shop and this time when the sales assistant offered me to show some hair products, I told her to bring it on! I bought Grapeseed Glossing Serum and Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter.
The Body Shop's Hair Serum for dull and frizzy hair  ;)
Picture Courtesy : Inky Pinky
I’m sacrificing 10 extra minutes of my morning sleep to follow this new hair care regime. If I notice any visible changes in my hair texture in a couple of weeks with application of this serum and butter, I’ll definitely post a detailed review. Until then, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the betterment of my long-ish, straight-ish, brown-ish hair…

P.S. What’s your hair story? Any tips for me?
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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

What the F!


Wanna test the power of the human mind? Read this:
I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

Freaky, isn’t it? Well, in nutshell it says that the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole, irrespective of the order of the letters. In case you are wondering why I’m writing this on a predominantly fashion blog, that’s bcoz the brand in question has used this mind game to their advantage and created an extremely popular clothing line: FCUK!

If your mind is repeatedly reading this as the F-word, the branding is a success as it has served its purpose of grabbing enough eyeballs and creating a recall value. I myself fell into this word trap and the realization that it stands for French Connection United Kingdom dawned upon today after seeing a billboard with their latest advert of watches that read FCUK – French Connection for Time. Silly me! And I found this a reason good enough to blog about…

French Connection is a British fashion brand known for its edgy and high street styling. It has its presence in more than 1500 outlets across 25 countries worldwide. Though French Connection was found in early 70s, it was introduced in India only in 2007 and is available in over 20 stores across 10 cities.

Anything French has a stylish connotation, which could be the reason behind this fashion-forward brand’s name. Apart from churning out chic clothing, accessories and skin care products, French Connection has always created innovative campaigns – the controversial ‘fcuk’, Fashion vs Style and their latest offering The Man and The Woman through which French Connection unveils its new collection.

The key looks for ‘The Woman’ this season are dresses with sequins and corset detailing ; cropped military pants; cigarette pants with ankle zip for a more refined look ; ruffled shoulders, shorter cropped and clean collarless designs in winter wear and knitwear with beading, stripes, military shoulders and flowing styles.

Autumn Winter Collection 2010
Image Courtersy: French Connection Website
 Browsing through their website was as refreshing as their collection. Their official blog has interesting sections like trend alert, who wore what, outfit builder, best sellers, look book and the dish for you to rustle up a quick healthy low cal meal. Now that’s what I call a bagful of goodies!

Here a few of the recommended picks from their bestsellers list:
Image Courtersy: French Connection Website
As I wind up this post, I recall that I had bought a French Connection top in bargain shopping from Bandra last year. I had dismissed it as just another European brand and tucked it somewhere at the back of a pile of clothes in my closet. Now I realize that FCUK at that price was a STEAL. I can’t wait to go home and search for fish for my prized catch. Some days turn out be days of realization and how!
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Pink Diaries: Facebooked!


Facebooking is my vice. And so is blogging. But for last few days, I was finding it difficult to keep in tune with both at the same time so I decided to whip up a sinful concoction and ta-da, a ‘Pink Diaries’ page was born on FB.
It was unnerving to see the text at the bottom that read “0 people like this” so in a cursory gesture of my wandering mouse, I became the first 'like-r' myself. Few more clicks followed suit in different pockets of the virtual world and that was enough for the text to rise to the top. I am mighty pleased to read “27 people like this” and would like to thank each one of you for joining the pink bandwagon. It, sure, is gonna be a fun ride!

Inviting those of you who haven’t joined the fun yet, please join my page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Diaries/164858450206634

Lets celebrate girliness, collaborate and think pink ! ;)
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Monday, October 11, 2010

Partying made easy with Remanika


A shopping jaunt this weekend acted as the perfect retail therapy that I was dying to endure. Apart from soothing my senses and satiating my shopaholic soul, it helped in upping my brand awareness. Among the places I shopped at, one of them was Remanika . I always find their stuff enticing – partly because of the unusual palette of mauves and greens and partly because of the jazzy look of their exclusive stores. And when I took a sneak peek at their campaign for the latest collection - Pink Martini, I couldn’t help but notice…partly bcoz of Remanika and party bcoz of my natural inclination towards anything Pink :)
Born out of the need to be a differentiator in apparel brands by creating experimental styles for youth at affordable prices, Remanika has graduated to a a well recognised youth clothing brand in metros. From a single store in south Bombay selling 'Go-sexy'-trendy youth wear and club wear for women in 90s, Remanika has come a long way.

Another draw for me to Remanika, though it might sound silly, is that it rhymes with my name…my real name, that is ! ;) But it is interesting to know that the brand was named 'Ramnika'-a Sanskrit word meaning a woman who is appealing to eyes but people called it Remanika so over the years it has been rechristened to its popular name.

Edgy style, sexy cuts, and lean fits have become Remanika’s signature style and blending in western cuts with traditional Indian embellishments lend a unique touch to their apparels. With target segment being young women between 18 to 35, there’s something for every young hip thing in town. New collections are introduced every season and their names are as interesting and vibrant as the collection itself : 'Lipstick Jungle' for the urban educated woman who has seen a sea of changes in her character and role ; 'Go Getter' for those fashion conscious who are on the move ; 'Plan it Earth' and 'Chemicals Between Us' eco-friendly collections ; ‘Open Road’ for youngsters facing varied choices and my favorite Pink Martini ! 
A dress from the Open Road Collection
They have a couple of new ventures under brand name 'Ruggiero' and 'Rachel' that are slated to become as popular as the flagship brand. Ruggiero is into bulk wear-cargo pants, trek wear, layered clothing- for go-getter women and Rachel is exclusively for Reliance Trendz fashion stores. I checked out Rachel clothing myself and am delighted to tell you that with Rachel, Remanika goes quite easy on the pocket without compromising too much on style.

Remanika is available through exclusive outlets and multi-brand outlets like Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central and Reliance Trends in 90 outlets across 27 cities. So next time when party wear worries play on your mind, don’t look further – Remanika is just a mall away! :)

Photo Credit : My good friend Shweta (alias Mili)
Shweta is an IT professional-turned-photographer, a style queen, a yummy mummy and an ardent follower of my blog who scores very high on the pink quotient !
For more of her fabulous work, do check out her photography website http://www.tclphotography.com/


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Friday, October 1, 2010

Carpe Diem,baby!


That translates to “seize the day” and I did just that yesterday while indulging in the unplanned mid-week break. Such a welcome change it was from the rut of my 9-to-5 weekday life. I curled up in bed with my remote for some serious channel surfing, a luxury I get to enjoy only on weekends. I chanced upon one of my all-time favorite flicks on a movie channel which I’ll never mind watching yet one more time. I savored Runaway Bride with the same appetite as I did the first time and this movie is indeed worthy of it!


Picture Courtesy: imdb.com
 I’m sure most of you would have watched it atleast once but for the uninitiated, Runaway Bride is a movie about an attractive young woman who had been through a series of unsuccessful relationships and the thought of marriage makes her so jittery that she leaves her fiancés at the altar on her wedding day!! She’d fall in “love” with anyone who fell in love with her, and life was great until the wedding day. Then she’d run and she had done that not once but thrice! This earns her infamous reputation and the nickname “Runaway Bride” played by the gorgeous Julia Roberts. The story revolves around her and a reporter (Richard Gere) who is attempting to do a factual report on her and her upcoming fourth wedding attempt that is under immense public speculation.




The movie lives up to the expectation of romantic comedy genre and it a treat to watch…for the witty dialogues, the comic timing, the mushy feelings it evokes , the slice of life moments like her choice of eggs – scrambled, poached, sunny-side up with every new relationship and for the sheer screen presence of those two drop-dead gorgeous stars. Every time Richard Gere smiles, his crowfeet make him all the more desirable...LOL: D And when these two of favorite peeps onscreen get hitched at the end, I’m ecstatic and crave for more when they ride away on horseback as credits roll.

Highly recommended…those who haven’t watched it yet, better watch it NOW and those who have, a second or third watch will act as chicken soup for your romantic soul ! So when the opportunity comes calling, Carpe Diem, baby! :)
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