New skin.

I have tried eight products from Dr. Barbara Sturm’s line of skin care over the past seven months. Some simple math (that i obviously couln’t do myself) would tell you that that each and every product only impressed! (Except for the sun protection but we will get to that later.)

Here are some haul and product shots here.

Would you guys like me to do a review or day/night routine video? Let me know in the comments here or over at Instagram!

N x

 

p.s. this post isn’t sponsored or paid for, and neither will be the actual review.

Quick updates.

What have I been up to for the past half a year? Well, I got married, started a new job, found wonderful new representation in HH, sprained my ankle, had a surgery scare and I am currently typing this post with a carpal tunnel type situation in my right hand*.

2018’s been cas**. Hbu?

It has been one of those phases where a lot has been happening around the same time and I have just about managed a minute.

My next post is about my new found love for the weirdly expensive and magnificent products from Dr. Barbara Sturm. And, I will also be introducing some cool new features on the blog. Eh, well, cool is subjective. We’ll see.

 

 

*doc in two hours. god bless mandatory healthcare!

** shortening not-so-long words is my new thing. I may never stop. #thisis31

 

 

Skincare misses.

To be honest, I’ve never really had skin care fails. I always buy products that I instinctively know will be good for me, and I know my skin the best. And thanks to the endless fish rice balls my mum fed me as a baby, I have always had skin I’ve been happy with. Pair that with the OG good genes and I have had it good. Until I got restless when I couldn’t buy the Power Couple duo in Sephora in NY earlier this year and twitched uncontrollably until I did get my hands on them. And honestly, I think New York was trying to take care of me.

I eventually did buy the Sunday Riley Good Genes combo via Sephora and have it shipped to me, but I really just shouldn’t have. Rash and allergy acne ain’t cute.

I really really wanted to love this product but couldn’t and can’t recommend it for people with sensitive skin. It’s a pain in the backside, resetting all of that skin damage.

Pair that with Perricone MD’s High Potency Amine Face Lift and YIKEA. Thankfully this was a sample along with some other pieces I bought, and whilst it started really well with my skin feeling instantly softer and plumper; the rash was back within 3 days and it was angry!

(mind you, the product usage was spaced over months)

I moved back swiftly to my beloved Dr. Haushka oils and thankfully didn’t push this product as hard I tried with the Sunday Rileys.

Note – I’d promised myself that I’d stay away from acid-ey sounding and complex product names but since this one was a sample, I sort of lost track. Remember it’s all fun and games until your face starts to look like a baboons arse, so if you really do need real skin help, go to a dermatologist!

What have been your skin misses? Share with me on Instagram or here in the comments, I’d love to hear about them!

Greek pharmacies!

On my recent trip to Crete, I realised just how underrated Greek pharmacy products are! I indulged in a little haul, and will be reviewing them all soon!

Haul video featuring Froïka, Korres (oh, Korres!), Olivia and Pure Greek Olive!

Sunset vibe

A quick run to the supermarket for some local beer for baby J and this is what we wore.

Paired my VB jeans and top from Ali Express (balance!) with a vintage shawl from New Delhi, Dior Tribal earring and customised Scarosso ballet flats. Unfortunately, Scarosso don’t offer customisations via their website anymore (either that or my browser is missing weird a plugin) but their shoes are still really great, but unfortunately all leather.

Baby J in Levis Jeans, Timberland shoes and Nor Black Nor White Jacket.

Sunshine.

It was 18 degrees in Hamburg recently, and it was momentous, to say the least.

My best friend is visiting me from Mumbai and we decided to go out and do what we love doing best. Style and art direct each other ❤

Jumper – American Apparel, Dress – MNG circa 2008, Shoes – Scarosso, Earring – Dior, Glasses – Viu Eyewear, Bag – Louis Vuitton

Rabanne J. – Street style king. His pieces are picked up along his travels across India and Europe.

Dat bag though

Where my sunnies at?

Sunglasses hunting at Viu Eppendorf – they have the nicest, friendliest people working there!

They launched their new range (Ensoie x Viu) of sunglasses literally a day after I ordered my Patricia Schmid x Viu’s The Muse! Aah. Pain. The Rose from the new collection is next. I adore their shop, their team members, their designs and clearly keep going back because of a crush situation. #noshameinmygame

Icecream at Eis Eis Baby at Alsterdorfer Strasse. Their dairy-free strawberry ice cream is only like, the best in the city. No big deal.

More days like this to come with Summer hurtling towards us. I am excited, can you tell?

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Beat the blues.

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” BK Iyengar.

Mondays. When better to write about feeling stuck in a rut and unmotivated than in bleary weather and on a monday?

I fast. For a plethora of reasons, like being able to meditate better, giving my body a break, to my personal shoutout every week to Lord Shiva. I find it helpful and restorative to cathartic. There is a multitude of reasons one can fast for, but every person has a specific way. I eat only dinner and cooked the Sattvic way. I will be writing about Ayurveda, its incredible simplicity and benefits, and my favourite tips in the next post.

Yoga isn’t just asanas and physical exercise. It is a way of living. It is diet and a state of mind. The asanas are but a tool to help us get there better. Even though I love my inversions in public places as much as the next person, I have come to realise (the hard way) that unless my mind is happy, no amount of core strength can help bring me joy.

I fast and work and stretch and live my life on a (relatively) empty stomach because loosening the strings of dependence on the most basic of things is life-altering in tiny sublime ways that can change your life. It opens up windows to your personality and character that you didn’t know existed. It is all very helpful and terrifying at the same time. It helps you stay on course. It helps you stay grounded. And most importantly, it offers you peace.

It is amazing that five years of one day a week fasting has offered me the will to go vegan (my favourite meal at 20 used to be curried chicken liver), to become an Ashtanga yoga teacher and practitioner, move to new a country, learn new languages. I can’t honestly say that fasting alone has brought me these challenges/ changes, but I like to believe that doing things that seem like a pain in the bottom and an incredible inconvenience, can and will reveal parts of your personality to you in the most amazing ways. In the most desperate of situations, life will offer you a path. An option, a choice. And that path will change your life in the most fantastic, ‘I can’t believe this is me now’ way. I was desperate five years back, and I found a tiny sliver of hope with my prayers and fasts on Monday. It was small and little and it changed my whole life to the point of who I am now would blow my 24-year-old self’s mind. (self high fiiiiive).

So, I am fasting. It is Monday. My tummy is growling because I have the privilege to choose to go hungry, and for that I am grateful. It is a reminder that a lot of people don’t have the things that I, sometimes, take for granted. And finally, I am okay with being uncomfortable, maybe if only for a day – it is to help me get my head out of my own butt and think beyond myself and my primal needs.

Get uncomfortable. Get hungry, get heartbroken, get broke. Try and do something you never thought you could and watch life help you blow your own mind.

Do you fast? I would love to know if you do, and why. Coffee drinkers who have been able to quit, I would love to hear from you as well!

 fast friendly food – made with shaved coconut, milk, sugar and lots of love!

Mood.

Guys, I am back after my little sabbatical. Things had gotten a little hectic… but now I am here again and very excited about it!

Lately, I have been missing university and thinking about just how much art and design we were surrounded by, all the time. Got me thinking of me as an LCF kid now. I’ve been feeling a CK 90s kinda way, so I constructed a mood board for the vibe I am feeling this season. Clean and simple, all minimal and extremely sexy. I have never really dressed like this. I tend to lean towards dresses and lace and feminine styles. But there’s something about this summer and I, I suppose. I am going to be in a new decade of my life!

Kate Moss for Obsession by Clavin Klein, and Vogue.

Accidental treasures.

You may think I am exaggerating with the title, but my recent trip to niche-beauty.com was literally this. I lost control and all I wanted was some ol’ Eyeko.

I love NB.. They have an amazing buying team who are obviously very on it. They have free delivery in Germany, and even better for me, same day pick up in Hamburg from Uzwei.

So what I did was, set out to buy my sweet little mascara but ended up buying a whole of By Terry, Perricone MD, Lipstick Queen, Percy&Reed and Face Stockholm. And no mascara. I forgot to buy the mascara.

I started off with my Sunday Riley primer (which I love and is also from NB, what do you know! The foundation I use very sparingly because By Terry doesn’t have a foundation for my skin shade of brown and the darkest shade is still too light for Indian skin, what.do.you. know!)

I followed it up with some Perricone MD No Blush Blush which is a horrifying small bottle for something that retails for 37 something bucks but I got over it. I had Mexican food to get me through the shock.

So post Guac, this happened and I was quite happy with it. I had to dab on way more than 1-3 dots on my cheekbones but then this happened and I was quite happy with it.

I moved onto By Terrys Touche Veloutée in Sienna around my eyes and dabbed it along with my guac-ey hands (no makeup blender, no worry) and went a little monkey crazy on the Aqua Lip and Cheek tints. Those are truly fantastic. It reminded me of the Bourjois tints that were all the rage back in University, helping trick people into thinking you were healthy and ate apples and such. And whilst no one is buying into that lie anymore, these are still worth their buck! Its on sale on NB for 29 from 40 something, if there were more shades, I’d get them but there aren’t so I’ll let my wallet breathe.

The Touche Veloutée was important because the only concealer that has ever truly worked for me was Nars creamy concealer in biscuit. But no cruelty free, no go. I quite liked this one. It was closer to my skin shade and didn’t get chalk-ey. I did blend it like a miserable ol’ bat so hopefully with a better blending job, I’ll know more. So far, the shade matches and that’s all I care for at this point. Saving the best for the last, I tried my lip colours. I love them and had high expectations.

I tried Lipstick Queen Endless Summer in Hang Ten. (Also on sale on NB). This was unfortunately not pigmented enough for me. It made me look a little sickly but with some of that lip tint in orange, it was all good and dope and in order again! Happy times. It passed the usability test. I can use it, albeit with some help but I can use it and that’s important.

Wearing the Hang Ten by Lipstick Queen with By Terry Aqua Tint in orange. I look grumpy but I am actually really pleased.

And finally. The lady of the hour. The By Terry click stick. Also the one that got me the cool new By Terry pouch. A. Thank you! B. This one is a true winner. I used the #6 or Rosy Flush and it was a fantastic matte pink. Very pigmented, a little light for my skin, but honestly most pinks in Germany are, so I’ll stop complaining about that. This is the best buy of the lot at 29,50. It gives great matte coverage  and that which passed the burrito test! (It’s not really a ‘test’, I just ate a burrito after I wore the lip colour) and it looked fine. I am a little finicky about lip colour looking as flawless as possible so I did reapply it after but it was fine without it. I love this one by* By Terry(?*) and I am really excited to try the other shades. Finally something to shake up the good old NYX Matte Lip Cream boat. After a couple of uses, you do notice the massive difference in how much more moisturised the lips are with the By Terry though.

Just Rosy Flush on

Rosy Flush with some Aqua Tint in red. Do I look pleased enough?

ps. how many times did I use the word excited in that last paragraph? rhetoric question, do not count and answer ffs.

point being, good times!

Skincare, Korean style.

As the lot of following me on Twitter or/and on Instagram would know, I’ve had a skin debacle earlier this year dabbling with the Sunday Riley Power Couple combo. My skin was an itchy, acne filled mess, and I do not usually have to deal with acne unless I’ve been eating past 10 or sleeping poorly. I have had to invest a massive portion of the summer trying to get my ‘normal’ skin back and thanks to Peach and Lily, I did!

Now all you know about the Korean way of skincare is most probably true and here’s why it works for me. I adore fussing over my skin and the process of applying multiple layers of different consistencies of serums and creams make the entire process so… pamper-ey and great.

Now, my task was to keep the combination of 10+ products under 100 euros and do my best in assuring they are cruelty free. A lot of Korean products retail in China so this was an elephantine task, but I had a week off of work and was raring to go!

Thankfully amazon.de is a babe and I had all my products in 25 days – from Korea!

Started off with good ol’ double cleansing, ampoule, essence, eye cream, emulsion, cream and sunscreen!

Awkward family photo. Photographed in order of usage.

The winners of this set are the cleansing duo of DHC oil and Su:m 37 rose cleansing stick – they are great for makeup removal and cleansing dry skin, and since I am still on the lookout for the right toner (on the move for Be the Skin Botanical Power Toner), I follow it up quickly with Mizons Snail repair Intensive Ampoule. Here is where it got tricky for me because whilst I can live with products that don’t ‘do much’ for me, I loathe products that set my skin in reverse. Bentons Snail Bee High Content Essence made me break out into red inflamed acne and so now, I skip over directly to the eye cream. Not Korean, but still the best I’ve used. Institud Arnauds Youth Eclat Eye Contour cream is a fantastic product that I first bought it in India a couple of years back when it was still available there, and it has magically lasted me until now! Also makes for a dope lip moisturiser.

But my true star, my true love from this set is the Skinfood Sake and Peach emulsion. As the name suggests, it has the consistency of emulsion and smells like slightly boozy peach. Perfect! This product has singlehandedly changed my mind about ‘runny’ moisturisers, and my skin! I love love love it. I got the Mizon Snail Recover gel for a double whammy of moisture for nighttime but unfortunately, it only works well solo. It is a great moisturiser on it’s own, but along with everything, it’s another inflame-ey nightmare, so with a heavy heart, it rests on the shelf with the Benton essence.

I use the Korres Emulsion Yoghurt with SPF 30 for sun protection. It smells of mango lassi to me and with that, and I am good to go!

I am very happy with my current routine, it’s 15 mins every night and every morning and with the right toner and essence, I think I’d be gold!

Winners.

Not so much.

Just water cleansing phase post Sunday Riley.

Only Mizon recovery and ampoule phase.

With Benton snail bee in the routine phase.

With everything but Benton and Mizon snail recovery. Ignore the deviated septum. Tadaaaa!

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