Luxola India Review - Shipping, Tracking, Customs, COD information

I have heard of Luxola long before entered India. How? Well, I have relatives in Singapore and when they decide to visit India, they ask me if I want something from their city. Like any other relative on the receiving end, I jump 10 miles at the chance and make a list, but for that I need to know what’s available in Singapore, and what’s a better place than online stores? Luxola is based in Singapore, all products shipped from there. I’m very happy about Luxola’s presence in India, however, a lot of the products are quite expensive and I get why it’s so. In Asia, especially Singapore, western brands are pricier than they are in their native places. So, couple of months back when Luxola started promoting themselves through Indian bloggers, I decided to place an order with them. Here is the link to their site - Luxola India Website

I’ve heard of Zoeva brushes from youtubers and I was elated to see them at affordable prices on Luxola, but the ones I wanted were out of stock. Now this is something that happens quite often at Luxola, there is a chance that by the time you wait for one thing to come back in stock, the other thing(s) you want will go out of stock. This happened with me anyways; I wanted Zoeva 227, 228, 230 brushes and the Sleek Makeup Contour Kit. 227,228 were OOS & when they came back, the contour kit was OOS. I decided to order the Sleek Faceform instead. I could have avoided that, but firstly, Luxola(as of now) offers free shipping only on orders above Rs.2300 & I wanted to try the famous Sleek contouring products. When I placed an order with them, Luxola India was just two weeks old so I wasn’t sure if it would reach me since my hostel is in a pretty remote place and the products are shipped from outside India, so I opted for the COD option. Yes, yes, yes…there is a COD option(with no extra charges), so all of you who are afraid of international shipping can opt for it.

I received my order in -wait for it- SIX days!! I’ve never experienced faster free shipping than this. The package was shipped from Singapore. I did not have to pay any custom tax and I was able to track my order through their website. All the items arrived in top condition, all items were bubble wrapped together & placed in a envelope padded with bubble wrap, nothing was broken. I feel they should individually wrap palettes because they are prone to break.

The Body Shop Vanilla Brulee Shower Gel (Limited Edition)

The Body Shop Vanilla Brulee Shower Gel is actually a thick shower cream. Its not as thick as the Cocoa Butter Shower Cream, but its thicker than the Brazil Nut Shower cream, both of which I had tried last year. I love creamy shower gels during winter time but I would never spend as much on one. My sister however, had no qualms splurging on this bottle as its “limited edition” & “Christmas special”, although we both know that TBS offers almost the same flavors every Christmas – no innovation here ladies!

I have been using it for a month and I must say, The Body Shop Vanilla Brulee Shower Gel smells delicious when you smell it from the bottle or take it out on your palm. However, when its in use, the smell is quite faint. Needless to say, after bath the scent is not detectable. It feels moisturizing but doesn’t actually hydrate my body, although that maybe because my skin is too dry. It has SLS, right there, as the second ingredient but there’s barely any lather when its in use. For something that’s limited edition and 1.5 times the price of the normal shower gels, I expected the ingredient list to be littered with less chemicals…oh well, wishful thinking! They also mention that its soap free on the bottle, but clearly its not detergent free..haha.

Carmex Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm in Pomegranate

About Carmex:

Originally created in 1937 by Alfred Woelbing in his family kitchen, Carmex lip balm is now essential to our beauty kits. With its iconic canary yellow packaging and retro feel, the classic Carmex healing lip balm pot now sits alongside a host of fruity, squeezable lip salves in cherry, strawberry and orange flavours.

Carmex Ultra Moisturising Lip Balm SPF 15 – Pomegranate

- Ultra moisturising formula with shea butter and lanolin
- Vitamin E to prevent drying and chapping
- Sweet pomegranate scent
- SPF15 protection

Like every other girl, I’m a lip balm hoarder. I gots to have them all! Which explains why I paid 1.5 pounds + Rs.400 taxes for this lil baby(I had ordered many other things along with it). To be honest, the custom tax hurts, but I freaking love this lip balm! It’s the Carmex Ultra Moisturizing Lip Balm in Pomegranate.  Its smooth, non-sticky and gives that barely-there feeling on my lips as long as I don’t put on too much of it. Its very cooling (much more than the Carmex tube balm & has a superior formula than it) so it gives that stinging/tingly feeling on the lips. Carmex Ultra Moisturizing lip balm is similar to my favourite EOS egg lip balm, texture wise, EOS is little more balmy, but both feel weightless on the lips. Also, its slightly heavier than the L’Occitane lipbalm.

How To Sanitize Your Makeup !

Hi pretty ladies! 

You know how we can get a little crazy shopping makeup? I don’t think I’m a hoarder, but I definitely have a lot of makeup. The thing is, once some of my makeup crossed a year or so, I started feeling little icky about using it! I do keep my makeup in the best condition and I’m sure anyone would, after all, that stuff goes on your face. But I still felt like it’s gotten pretty old to continue using and throwing out just a year old makeup was out of the question. Then one day, one of my favourite youtubers aka Sineadycady, did a video about sanitizing makeup and voila! It was exactly what looking for. I immediately started collecting all the stuff I would need (that’s why I ordered those spray bottles from eBay) and sanitized my entire makeup collection. I also looked through some blogposts for further help and now I finally have a guide that I follow every time I sanitize my makeup. Actually, this post was supposed to go up in August but better late than never. So here I am, sharing all that I’ve learnt with you!

What you’ll need:

1. Rubbing alcohol: Just ask any medical store. The pharmacist I went to said that its used to sanitize a body part before injection.

2. One spray bottle (I bought mine HERE)

3. Q-Tips/Ear buds

4. Cotton pads

5. One bowl/glass

Why rubbing alcohol?  It is used for disinfection or to soothe, cool, or warm the skin. It is a type of denatured alcohol and is unfit for human consumption. Rubbing alcohol is most often used to disinfect medical instruments and human skin, especially in the case of minor injury or to prepare the skin for an injection. If left on the skin for two minutes, 70% ethyl alcohol will reduce the bacterial count by 5%. People should be careful when applying rubbing alcohol to the skin, as it can be toxic if used over large parts of the body. It can be poisonous if inhaled, so it should be used only in well ventilated areas. It evaporates quickly.

Let's get started...

Why I've been missing

Hi everyone,

I know I've been gone since the end of August and its almost FOUR months since. If I've ever felt that time passes quickly, I've never felt it more strongly in the past three months. At the same time, I felt that it could not pass fast enough. Confusing huh? Remember back in June when I mentioned I'll be entering my final year soon? (this post) Well, that's what happened. That's what got in the way. I reached a point where I realized that I could do only one thing perfectly and I would have to leave the rest so that I could do it right. I felt that that was a wise choice, once I finished that, I could continue with the rest of my life. And so I did exactly that! I decided to forgo all sources of entertainment -movies, social media, hangouts and all hobbies - blogging, reading, running, just so I could concentrate on final year placements and I'm happy that I did because I was able to secure an awesome job. I wasn't able to stay completely away from Twitter though..oops. I'm sorry I just abruptly stopped without any explanation, but I honestly didn't think it would take sooo long :( I thought I'll be back in a month, but then it slowly became two and three and finally I got a relief in the form of holidays. But I'm glad that busy phase is over, and now I can do some fun stuff and catch up on all that missed out on ! 

For all of you who were worried, all your messages warmed me right up! It feels nice to be missed :)

PS: hope you like the new theme, Happy Holidays !!!!!!!!

Four Fountains De-Stress Spa Experience

Last weekend, I got the opportunity to try out Four Fountains De-Stress Spa and I’d like to share my experience with you. I went to the Powai branch, which is moderately easy to locate because of the banner outside the building. If you're confused, you can always call the spa and ask for directions.

From my visit, I can conclude that Four Fountains is really serious about de-stressing. The waiting area has a backrest which has been specially handcrafted using wooden beads to massage the back. There is an aroma of lemon grass diffused throughout the spa, I’m a huge fan of citrus-y scents. The door handles massage pressure points on the palm which releases pent up stress and right after your spa is complete, you are served green tea which helps to stay relaxed. The ambiance has mostly wooden bits and bobs, like a cabinet housing some candles and show-pieces.

Rave!! Parachute Summer Refresh Body Lotion Spray

During summers, I came across this really pocket-friendly, innovative and super useful lotion from Parachute. Parachute happens to be brand that I tend to overlook, but luckily, I spotted this during one rare trip to a convenience store. This is a body lotion that has to be dispersed with a spray… yeah! Something that can get through the nozzle of a spray has to be very thin right? Well this one absolutely is! It’s a very lightweight lotion that spreads easily, get absorbed quickly and moisturizes the skin as well. I’m very finicky about lotions being lightweight because I hate the feeling of having something on my skin.

Price: Rs. 120 / $1.99

Qty: 100ml / 3.38 oz

Nail Polish Crush ! ~ Rimmel Lively Lilac

So its official, I have a crush on this nail color. Its called “Lively Lilac” and its from the Rimmel I <3 Lasting Finish Range. I just can’t stop wearing it. It’s a lilac that doesn’t look dull, and unlike most pastels, it doesn’t make hands look tanned. Very “lively” indeed. Its brighter than it looks in the some of the pictures. With Lively Lilac, one coat is nice, but not enough. My nails need two coats for complete opacity. It is definitely streaky but you can even out the streakiness by layering. The polish looked nice and fresh for 5 days after which I removed it. It did fade from the tips but that’s something I experience with every polish, even the ones that claim to stay for 10 days! I was happy too see that except for tip fading, there weren’t any major problems in the wear, it didn’t chip or turn yellow-y(that happens when your fingers mix with turmeric). I don’t do any work in the kitchen with my hands though, I just wash them a lot. Now here’s the sad part: Firstly, it makes my nails orange, and secondly, I’ve had this polish for just a month and its already thickened up so much. It might have thickened up because I’ve used it every week, but still, this is not something that I expected after owning the polish for just one month.

Price: Rs.145 / $2.40

Qty: 8ml / .27 oz

Utility Pouches from India Circus and How You Can Use Them

Recently I got to try out the ‘Utility Pouches’ that India Circus sells. In case you don’t already know, here’s a bit about the brand:

India Circus is a contemporary design label offering affordable and sophisticated designs by renowned designer Krsna Mehta, Design Director of India Circus. The collections offer various life-style products, ranging from home decor to personal accessories. India Circus designs seek to introduce modern sensibilities to Indian aesthetic traditions. With an All-Indian palette, India Circus draws inspiration from the flora & fauna as well as the rich heritage of India. IndiaCircus’s philosophy is very simple. We seek to bring to you a range of products right from home decor to personal accessories that is flavoured with the Indian aesthetic. Neither are our products too traditional and archaic, nor are they very futuristic. They all are a fine balance of the old and the new, the classic and the chic…in short, completely contemporary.

The site has crossed international frontiers and today has partnerships with groups such as WestWing, Fab.com, HauteLook and so on, with maximum traction coming in from buyers in  Middle East, Asian countries, Australia, Europe, America & Canada. IndiaCircus also has offline tie-ups in France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, USA & Indonesia. The aim of IndiaCircus is to target specialty & concept stores (dealing with interiors/home accessories) as well as departmental stores.

You can buy the products online from http://indiacircus.com/. They ship to over 200 countries

I must say, I have been enjoying these utility pouches, or makeup bags as I like to call them, of late. They are pretty great multi taskers with respect to storage, and the fact that they have quirky prints and pretty colors makes them all the more reachable. I haven’t used both bags for long, but so far the quality seems great. Here are the two pouches that I choose:

The Body Shop Lychee Blossom Shower Gel... Yeah, Lychee :D

I’ve tried a lot of fruity skincare products in the past, raspberry, blueberry, cocout, passionfruit… You name it and I have tried it.. Or so I thought, till I came across this Lychee Blossom shower gel by The Body Shop. I have never come across ‘Lychee’ (or as I like to spell it ‘Litchi’) in a product before. Did you know that this exists, or maybe I’m not the only one living under a rock all this time?