Monday 7 October 2013

Fashion Tips from Recessionista


Dollar is soaring, rupee is falling, pay checks are coming but some figures are missing = My life at this exact moment. Recession has hit hard, rather harder than I predicted, expected or hoped. Nonetheless there are things in our regular lives which can’t be compromised and likewise there are things in our lives which can do with some adjustments. Trust me, adjustments are smaller but they can make big differences, economically.

Couple of months back I was regular to beauty parlours for manicure-pedicure, hair spa, body massage, face clean-up and many more things. But since I have spotted ONE missing figure from my pay check, I had to convince myself to spend wisely and save nicely. Last month I had decided to give a miss to professional beauty treatments and gave myself head-toe beauty treatment at home at minimal prices and to be honest I saved an amount of money which seemed quite a lot and which I was spending without much consideration before this recession phase.

Let’s have a glance at my before and after beauty expenditure.

Before Recession My Spending On Grooming Treatments:

- Hair Spa (Twice a month)- INR 2000 ($32)
 
- Manicure (Twice a month)- INR 1000 ($16)
 
- Pedicure (Twice a month)- INR 1000 ($16)


- Body Massage (Twice a month)- INR 3000 (Approx. $49)


- Face Clean Up (Twice a month) INR 1500 (Approx. $25)

Total spending= INR 8500 ( $138)


Current Spending On Grooming Treatments:

- Instead of going to hair spa, I have decided to use homemade egg white head mask twice a month and hair massage with Luke warm almond oil which followed by covering the hair with hot towel and leaving it for 5 minutes (repeat the same 3 more times) for twice a month.

Cost= Total of 6 egg whites = INR 42 (Less than a dollar)

          Bottle of Almond Oil = INR 500 ($8)

Total cost= INR 542 (Less than $9)


- Instead of going to the Parlour for Manicure-Pedicure, I bought a mani-pedi kit, a bottle of shampoo, packet of Epsom salt, pumice stone and a scrubber. Fill the bucket with bearably hot water mix a dollop of shampoo and half a spoon of Epsom salt and stir it well. Remove any previously applied nail-polish, dip your feet in the water for 10 minutes and then work on one feet at a time. First use pumice stone and then scrubber to get rid of all the dead skin. Clipped and shape your nails, apply some cream (any cream) on your cuticles and push them backward. Clean your feet and apply any nail-polish of your choice. For manicure, fill a deep dish or small tub (something like popcorn tub) with a bearably hot water, mix a dollop of shampoo and half a spoon of Epsom salt and repeat the same procedure as you had previously done on your feet.

Cost: Mani-pedi kit = INR 500 ($8)

           Pumice Stone = INR 25 (50 cents)

           Scrubber = INR 200 ( $3)

           Shampoo =INR 165 ($2, 50 cents)

            Epsom Salt INR 350 (Approx $6)

Total Cost= INR 1240 ($21) 


- Nothing can beat a professional body massage but still you can attain a certain level of relaxation and satisfaction with an alternative. I bought a bottle of body scrub and used the Epsom salt from the packet which I used for mani-pedi. Take a generous amount of body scrub on your palm and scrub yourself lavishly and then take a bath with lukewarm water and mix a spoon of Epsom salt in the water. You will feel positively relaxed.

Cost= Body Scrub= INR 600 (Approx $10)

           Epsom Salt = Used from the same packet.


- For face clean-up I bought a pot of face scrub and a pot of face pack. First wash your face and pat it dry. Take some face scrub on your palm, mix few drops of water and apply on your face. Massage your face in circular motions. Clean your face and fill the steamer with water (if you don’t have steamer than boil water in a pan) and take the steam for 3-4 minutes. Then use the black head remover tool on your nose, forehead and chin area. Then take an Ice cube from your freezer and rub it on your face. Pat your face dry and apply the face pack and wash your face after 20 minutes. Later apply some moisturiser.

Cost= Face Scrub= INR 300 (Approx. $5)

           Face Pack= INR 350 (Approx $6)    

Total Cost= INR 650 (Approx $11)

 
Grand Total = INR 3032 ( Approx $50)

All in all I saved= INR 5468 ($85)

If you are like me, struggling to maintain your life and style in this ever falling economy than I would strongly advice, spend wisely, save nicely.

Thursday 3 October 2013

Stay Chic, Stay Stylish!!


Hiya, Good Morning people. Well practically it’s dawn but after spending the last five hours in tossing and turning in my bed I decided to give up and start my day early (Really early). So I sprung out of my bed at 3:55 A.M, opened my drawers and fished out this beautiful coral-coloured nail paint which I just bought the other day and varnished my nails. Then idly I started browsing through Daily Mail on my laptop and came across an article about beauty secrets of French women (aka how French women stay chic and young throughout their lives). To be honest half of the “secret” mentioned there were either too tiresome, expensive or simply waste of time. So I though why not write down the list of the things (in general) which women can do to look impeccable at any point of time. So here it is:

- Never wear ill-fitted undergarments. Undergarments are as important as your dress. The shape/size of undergarment can make or break your look so choose wisely and rightly.


- No matter how tired you are when you returned home after attending your best friend’s wedding, night out or from business meeting, always always remove your make-up with good make-up remover before going to the bed. Surely you don’t want to wake up next day with bad break out and blotches on your skin.


- Always moisturise your skin after bath. Keep a pot of hand cream in your purse and apply it after every hand wash.


- Never leave the house with minimal make-up. Tinted moisturiser, kohl, single coat of mascara and some lip-gloss is sufficed to get you through the day.


- If you don’t have time for painting your nails then keep the buffer handy. File your nails and give it a good buff and voila you will have healthy looking nails in just 5 minutes.


- If your nail paint is chipped then remove it immediately.


- If you have dry hair then wash your hair twice in a week and if you have really oily scalp like mine that wash your hair four times in a week and if you don’t have time for wash then apply some dry shampoo. It works wonders.


- Drink loads and loads of water as it will flush out all the toxins out of your body and will leave your skin radiant.


- Introduce some raw veggis and salads in your food as it will keep any bloating or puffiness away.


- Work out for at least 30 minutes to stay fit and healthy.


- If you have got swollen or puffy eyes because of late night then use refrigerated cucumber or tea bags to get instant relief.


- Last but not the least never go anywhere without checking yourself in the mirror, fix whatever is a miss. AND please don’t step out without confidence.

Follow these simply tips and I promise that there won’t be a day when you’ll look anything less than impeccable. Stay chic, stay stylish! x

Sunday 21 July 2013

Single Girl In The City !

Yes. This is what it’s all about. This is what Bridget Jones is all about. A girl in her thirties, with few wobbly bits, one giant granny pants and couple of friends lives in the city and works in the office where she has fallen for totally wrong guy-a moron.
This is the first every chick-lit book I had read. This is the first ever chick-flick I had ever watched. This book introduced me to the genres chick-lit and chick-flick. Even today whenever I feel bit rundown it’s my “go-to” book/comfort movie. The reason why I feel so comfortable and confident with Bridget Jones around me is because she is a woman like you and me. In my life so far I haven’t come across one woman, single woman who didn’t like this book or loved its movie adaptation.
Though I have met few guys who wonder that what girls love so much about this book/movie because as per them it just tells an average story of an average woman. Tell you what, there is nothing average about it. Every girl identifies with Ms. Jones and I have a good list of reasons to prove this:
- Every girl falls for some bastard or total loser at least once in her life time.
- Every girl has had her heart broken. (Normally more than once)
- Every girl fills her mouth with tons of ice-cream and chocolate as a way of mending her broken heart.
- Every girl has her fair share of wobbly bits.
- Every girl has a pair of spanx tucked in the back of her closet. (She will never confess)
- Every girl feels that she is few pounds over her ideal weight. (Even if she weights 8lbs)
- Every girl has received some embarrassing gifts from her parents. (A stupid skirt, ugly skirt or horrible jumper)
- Every girl hates her mother as much as she loves her. (It’s complicated!)
- Every girl wants a man like Mr. Darcy.
- Every girl doesn’t get a man like Mr. Darcy.
Few of my favourite scenes and quotes from the movie:


Wednesday 5 June 2013

And They Lived Happily Ever After….?


Lately I have been super busy in attending bucket loads of wedding ceremonies and receptions and trust me you have no idea how much I love weddings. Beautiful cloths, breathtaking jewellery, scrumptious food, lavish ceremonies, music, dancing, laughing, eating…every single thing about wedding is my favourite. Soon everything comes to an end when one bid adieu to bride and groom who are already dreaming about their amazing new life together.

Time passes and one day you get a call at 8o’clock in the morning which literally made you jump out of the bed. It’s your friend, screaming, sobbing, yelling, shouting and muttering. “This is hell” she yells and all you could think is “huh”? This is the same girl who was the happiest girl on whole of the plant just couple of months back, this is the same girl who danced more than anyone else on her bachelorette and this is the same girl who announced a night before wedding “This is the best thing ever happened to me”. So why is she yelling that it’s so hard to manage everything? Why is she sobbing and muttering this is the worst decision I had ever made? Why is she screaming that what the fuck I’m doing here when I should have been on my way to that big meeting with my boss?

Let me say what I have observed in most of these bucket loads of weddings: This girl signed up for the wedding not for the marriage! (Yup! You heard me right). This girl thought that life was actually a fairy tale! SHUT UP! Beautiful cloths, breathtaking jewellery, scrumptious food, lavish ceremonies, music, dancing are the things which come with wedding. Adjustment and compromise are what marriage demands. A marriage needs your time, patience, love and care. You are no singleton now. You can’t sneak out for drink with your friends as and when you want. You absolutely have to manage the pile of dirt laundry and meeting with your boss, all in one day. Wake up girl! You are no Cinderella who is going to stay in a palace full of maids and servants. It’s real life for fuck sake! Stop complaining and work towards your relationship.

There is no happy ever after because life doesn’t end when a man aka prince marry a woman aka princess. It happens only in movies. Real life starts from here and real life fulls of up and downs, failure and success, happy and sad moments. No one can be happy each and every day. Every day is different. Take it as it comes and you'll see that life is so much more beautiful and difficult than what you have imagined!

AND girl whatever you do.. DON’T fucking call me at 8 o’clock in the morning. It’s a bad time to talk to anyone who is suffering from insomnia and who manages to doze off at 5: 30 A.M!

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Happy Holi!


Hey People! How are you doing? Me? Well I am doing fabulous because it’s the time of the year where I can actually paint my face with as many colours as I want and move around with my head held high without the care in the world and the best part is that nobody is gonna laugh on me. Why should they? After all it’s Holi and it gives me a right to put fuchsia pink in not only my hair but your hair as well and dance into the water without being cared to called pervert.

I love festivals be it any, my religion or some other religion because it is my excuse to try my hands in making sweets and cuisines and eating my heart out! HA!

Keeping my blabbing aside, Here I am wishing you and your family a very Happy and Colourful Holi.

May god fill your life with colors and give your dreams the wings so beautiful….”

-Swati Sharma

Friday 8 March 2013

For Beautiful You!



Three Beautiful Songs For Beautiful You- Happy Women's Day



1.) I'm A Women - Sex and the City 2





2.) Watch Me Shine- Legally Blond




3.) So Beautiful- Superchik



Thursday 7 March 2013

Happy Women's Day

You are gorgeous, fabulous, loving, caring and the best thing that could happen to men.. Happy Women's Day Ladies!


*Kiss Kiss*

Saturday 2 March 2013

Trying to fill in the blank!

Hello! Hello! I am so sorry because lately I have been out of the touch with my lovely readers and I do feel guilty about that. BUT trust me you guys have no idea that how difficult these last few days were for me. I am doing nothing but trying to do:
1)      Write a new novel (While waiting to hear the reply from few publications regarding my first novel)
2)      Write this gorgeous short-story for Belinda Travel’s Sunloungers  Short Story Competition (Which I had written in less than 36 hours and next morning deleted all the 5,345 words in less than 36 seconds)
I am going through that phase where I have so many adorable ideas and believable, relatable characters, I have words, I have thoughts but what is missing is that emotional connect with my story. This is the reason which is why I have spent last one week in writing and deleting, writing and deleting, writing and deleting. It feels like that I am stuck in some sort of writer’s block.
Now I am seriously trying to work the things out and I am sure that in a day or two I’ll be there. All I need right now is may be some time to sit and think (but not in front of my laptop because blank pages are terrifying). I am trying to bring out my emotions and passions and put them in words, words which will make people fall in love.  
WISH ME LUCK!
P.S: If you have any suggestion to help me in filling this vacuum than feel free to leave a comment below or email me. xx

Thursday 14 February 2013

Don't Need A Man To Define Me!


Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. No. Actually Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone who is into this Valentine stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-Valentine’s but I am also not a big fan of this day. Never have been.  One thing I never understood that how one particular day can be dedicated to love? Don’t you love your partner for rest of the 364 days? Currently I am single but if and when I am going to fall in love or going to marry someone I am going to make sure that that man don’t give me any flowers, gifts or chocolates on this so called “Day of Love”. Anyone can buy you flowers on Valentine’s Day but I am on look out for someone who can give me just one hug every single day for rest of my life.

I have literally seen girls ranting, complaining and desperately praying to have a boyfriend only and only because he can pamper her with gifts and dinner on V-day!  Oh girl why? I have always been single but I’ve never felt myself un-loved or unlucky for a single moment. Every now and then I pamper myself thoroughly with good food, good mani-pedis, good movies, good books, good vacations, good holidays, good coffee, good cloths, good shoes, good handbags and good lip balms, V-Day or no V-Day. I never felt a need for a man to do all of these things for me because I am a strong, confident and an awesome girl who can look after myself in good and bad. I don’t need a man to define me. I don’t need a man to shower me with gifts. If and when I would feel a need for man than it would be only and only to love and respect me, not for one day but for entire life.

I reckon if you are in love with someone than every day should be Valentine’s Day for you. You should love your partner every day, more than yesterday. AND if you are single like me than embrace yourself and don’t forget that you are precious and if no one else than at least you love yourself! AND that’s what important here…. Love!

Thursday 7 February 2013

Day well spent !

I am really sick today thanks to excruciating back and neck pain. Since today I was going to stay indoors all day long, in my bed, under the duvet, I decided to spend my day fabulously with some leisure read and glamour. So, before slamming my bedroom door shut on rest of the world I popped out of the house (very briefly) to get these:


                 
                             
I am always in need of bit of glamour! Anyway, my day went brilliantly with these beauties on my lap and hot water bottle on my side! *Utter Bliss*
Now it's 12:30 A.M in my side of the world and I am not felling sleepy, not at all, not even tiny bit so I thought why not spend some time on researching for my (ahem!) novel. So very quickly I dig out the CD of my absolutely favourite movie "Bride Wars" and I am all set to cuddle up with it for next couple of hours! Mind you I am doing it only and only and only for the research purpose!
While I get down to my work, you gorgeous ladies just relax, have a glass of red or a huge cuppa of coffee (like me) or do whatever suits you but take care of yourselves and stay fabulous!
Love you sweethearts! xoxo

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Dilemma of a writer! Would you make it sexy to sell?


It was in the year 2005 when I first stumbled through the pages of Bridget Jones Diary and that changed everything. I read the book in one sitting. It was hard to put it down. It was for the first time I felt that books could be fun and lively. Back then I wasn’t aware of ‘women fiction’ genre and it's writers for that matter. Hence every time I wnet to the book store I used to look for the books, similar to BJD but couldn’t find much. One day I asked the book shop owner to help me find the book similar to BJD and he found me The Devil Wears Prada. I finished the book within 24 hours and then I wanted to read more. It was like that BJD got me addicted to this whole new section of light, hilarious and romantic books. These books were such a pleasant change from the Paulo Coelho books (I read a lot of them).  After reading few more books like The Dirty Girls Social Club and The Nanny, I thought of trying something from Indian writers. After searching through and through I managed to find only one worth reading book, The Village Bride of Beverly Hills by Indo-American author Kavita Daswani. That was that. From the year 2005-2013 things haven’t changed as much as I expected.

Even today I struggle to find a single women fiction book by Indian writer which is hilarious, magical, mesmerizing, romantic and fabulous. BUT if I look at west, there is no shortage of women fiction/chick-lit. On an average I read-review five chick-lits every month and before I can finish one book I have another in my hand and i never get tired of reading book after book because they are totally mesmerizing and gorgeous.

Anyway, Two years back I decided to try my hands and write a kind of book which I would love to read (or people like me). I wrote a synopsis and three sample chapters and sent it to all four of the big publishers in India. While the proposal was rejected, two out of four publishers said that they liked my writing. It was a silver lining. One and a half year later I finally decided to sit and write a full-length chick-lit novel. After 6 months of hard labour I had a manuscript in my hand and this time I sent it to one of the literary agents instead of directly sending to the publishers.

Here is what he said:

“Though I like the story and your writing but it’s not up to the mark. It’s not as sexy as it should be”.

Sexy? Seriously? What about witty, engaging and fresh? Sorry Mr. Agent it’s not an erotica or romance!

 Well then I decided to go back to my original plan and sent it to the publishing houses directly. The book has been rejected but some of them said in their rejection letters that either they liked the writing or the story but still it doesn’t match their publishing programs. They were probably right because when I checked on their sites there were hardly any chick-lits from Indian writers. When I read few of those published books, I seriously had no idea that how those books could be published? More than chick-lit they were family dramas or plain chaos. Books in India who are written by women for women are either extremely dark or full of a lot of sex advices and non realistic take on life and career. There heroines are not lively, bubbly or even ambitious like the protagonists of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk, Jane Costello, Claudia Carroll, Holly McQueen, Polly Courtney and Scarlett Bailey. There is no magic or glamour in those books. I don’t know what’s wrong in Indian women fiction/chick-lit market! But I do need an answer. Anyone?

I seriously doubt the quality and supply of chick-lit in Indian market. Why my book is needed to be sexy if I want to publish it? Well since all big publishers think that somehow in spite of being a good story or writing they can’t publish my book I think I am gona look for more options. But I am not gonna give up or add couple of erotic scenes in the book to make it fit for the publication!

Saturday 19 January 2013

Dubai! Like A Dream!

Bang on time! Everything was perfect from the moment I set foot in the Delhi International Airport. Flight was on time and even the queue at the security check was nearly inexistent. Three hours long flight was spent in watching “Meet Me in Saint Louise” and “Gone with The Wind”. Once the flight landed at the Dubai International Airport, I was among the first of the people to exit the flight and well well… there was this huge surprise for us and that was a shinning white Hummer Limo waiting for us outside the airport to take us to our ultimate destination aka Atlantis The Palm Hotel.

                                                                 Atlantis The Palm
 As soon as we reached to the hotel in a knackered state, I was greeted with the most amazing and fresh wind which ever touched my skin. It was awesome. It was first time ever when I was going to stay in an eight star property and it was for the first time ever when I was going to wake up in a bed with a view of the ocean. *Scream*.
                                                                                     View From My Bed
It was just like a dream. It took me good 36 hours to absorb the fact that I was actually in the lap of the luxury you can only ever dream of. Three nights and four days were spent in walking by the beach at the early morning hours, looking at the Dubai Skyline for hours, visiting The Lost Chamber aquarium, taking rides in Global Village, shopping at Iran stall (Global Village), people and brand watching at the Dubai Mall, eating the most exotic French food and strolling through Meena Bazzar.
                                                                  Kempinski Hotel

On the fourth day we shifted to the Kempinski Hotel. We did all kind of technical fun here like visiting Burj Khlifa, shopping at the Dubai Mall (shopped everything from Chanel to H & M, whatever came in my vicinity), living few Bridget Jones moments in the Ski World (Mall Of Emirates), riding on the Sand Dunes in Hummer, watching exotic belly and sufi dance performances and at the end of the day soaking swollen feet in the hot and bubbling bathtub.

And then it was time to come back home.

                                                         Always Travel In Style

All in all I had the fabulous holidays. I am always going to keep these memories with me forever.
                                                               Thanks for the memories!








Wednesday 9 January 2013

The Holiday!

Finally, finally the day has arrived and I’m off to Dubai for Dubai Shopping Festival + a lot of adventure. I just can’t wait to dine on the cruise, dance in Cavalli, have fun in desert safari and most important to shop at the fabulous Dubai Malls. Whole week I kept on dreaming about Prada bags and Jimmy Choos. Oh.My.God. Though I’m sure that when I’ll be there I would want to buy almost everything in my vicinity but since I’m not a light traveller and since my luggage is already way over the limit I reckon I’m going to do a smart shopping so that I don’t have to pay massive airport taxes! Wish I knew how to travel light!! *Sigh*

Anyway in middle of cursing myself for luggage packing disability, I still managed to squeeze this in my overflowing suitcase:

Take my words it’s a miracle detoxification tea. It's very healthy plus very tasty almost addictive. Strongly recommended. On this holiday I’m going to eat my heart out but since I am in no mood to upset my gym trainer once I’m back, I definitely going to make sure to destroy the evidence of the potential crime.
See you in a week till then take care! *kiss kiss*
P.S: I have to be up, get ready and leave in 6 hours and I can already tell you that I am late! *Meep*