Natural hair colour lightners.

Hey Dolls,

Since I was a child I have been obsessed with haircare, I always boasted about my long perfectly straight hair but secretly always despised my pitch black hair colour, especially because my sister had brown hair. But I still never had the courage to just colour them and face any sort of damage. Therefore even now when I'm 21 years old, I still have untouched hair, but sometimes I use these tricks to make my hair colour almost brown. These tricks work for virgin as well as treated hair, also on any hair colour & type, so do let me know how these worked for you.

Lemon Juice

I heard about this tip first in the conversation between Skylar White & Marie Schrader in Breaking Bad. Being the curious kid that I am, I read up on this on Livestrong & found out that this natural beauty remedy has been around for forever, which is a testament to the fact that it actually works! According to Livestrong, when the citric acid in lemon juice heats up in the sun, it opens hair cuticles and lifts out the pigment. Just squeeze some lemon juice into a spray bottle, dilute with water (3 times the amount of  lemon juice), and then spritz into your hair before you head outside. (P.S. If you’ve ever used lemon juice to keep a cut apple from browning, you’ve already witnessed its amazing bleaching properties!)

Chamomile Tea

Chamomile is another natural hair lightener, said to be more gradual than lemon juice and therefore better for brunettes. It can be applied directly or added to shampoo or conditioners. Click here for more information.

Rhubarb

Instead of bleaching, rhubarb and rhubarb root bring a yellow that gives medium-light brown or dark blonde hair a lighter hue. Some recipes use just the rhubarb stalk (boil in water, then use the liquid to rinse through hair), others combine it with the powdered rhubarb root or even chamomile, and some use wine to steep the rhubarb. Click here for recipe

Honey

I’ve never tried this one myself, but if anything I’m sure that honey would be deeply conditioning. As Livestrong explains, honey contains the enzyme peroxide, which is an effective lightener when mixed with distilled water to activate it. Plus, your hair will smell yummy and feel soft post-honey treatment. please also view this article for more information.

Beer

Yes, beer. Beer is another method that I’ve tried & I can swear by its lightening properties (Refinery29). Use a light beer of course, and just keep in mind that you might not want to try this method right before you go to a family get-togethers. Bonus: The B vitamins and proteins in beer will repair damaged stands too.


None of these methods are a true replacement for salon highlights of course. But if you’re just looking to add a little extra brightness to your mane, these all-natural methods are pretty impressive considering the ease, availability, and low cost. Also, keep in mind that you may not see dramatic results immediately. I recommend repeating these DIY beauty treatments frequently to gradually lighten your locks over time.

Hope you use these tricks & do let me know if you have ever tried any of these or any other DIY hair highlighters? 

XOXO,
Anshika Agarwal

Inside My MAC Palette

Hey Dolls,

So anyone who follows makeup must know about the Urban Decay's Naked Palette, I'm a fan too as I always prefer my makeup to be close to skin tone and I only experiment with colors on my lip and nails! But Naked Palette isn't available everywhere and people often find difficulties choosing between the 3 options, owning Naked Palette 1 & 3 (which I struggled to get and finally asked my friend who was going to Dubai to get it), I can assure you that it is not worth investing in more than one palette at a time. I prefer Urban Decay's eyeshadow only because I'm just in love with the way these products are pigmented which is my priority! But nothing beats choosing a personalised palette which makes sure you spend lesser and use it up before it expires, to learn more about makeup expiration, click here.

I thought I'd let you know what my favourite most used MAC shadows are. I know it can be very overwhelming and often intimidating when you're in a store, as there is so much to choose from.
This palette is mostly made up of neutral shades as well as a few darker shadows, so I can create anything from a barely there soft daytime look to a night time smokey eye.
You can buy the empty 15 pan palette in MAC and then pick whatever colours you want to go inside.
I put new shadows in my palette to replace ones that were almost empty (where I could) to take the photos for this post, so you would be able to see the colours clearly.
I have the old 15 pan palettes - the new ones have a clear acrylic top so you can see the eyeshadows inside, whereas you have to open the old palettes to see the shadows.

You can buy the personalised parsonalized palette from their website or just walk-in to a store and ask their makeup professionals to help you, you can ask for guidence with the shades which goes best with your skin tone & I highly recommend to swatch on your arm to see the actual colour as it may get confusing.

Brule (satin finish) -This is a beige shade with a very subtle satin finish. I use this as a base shadow to even out my lid. I also use this when I want a very subtle highlight under my brow.
Omega- (matte finish) This shade looks unimpressive in the pan but once swatched it is a gorgeous grey toned soft neutral brown colour. I love to wear this shade mixed with Patina on the lid.
Soft Brown- (matte finish) This is a tan peach toned brown, it's a perfect crease colour. I also use it to blend out the edges of darker shadows.
Soba (satin finish)- This is a medium-warm brown camel shade. When looking at this shadow in the pan I can see it has a small amount of finely milled gold glitter particles running through it. However I cannot see the glitter when I apply the shadow.
Cork -(satin finish) This is a medium warm brown shade - it's a perfect crease colour.

Clockwise from top left: Brule, Omega, Soft Brown, Cork, Soba

From left: Brule, Omega, Soft Brown, Soba, Cork

Espresso (matte)- This is a matte dark brown, again perfect for the outer corner.
Mystery (satin finish) This is a dark brown cool toned shade with purple and grey undertones - perfect for the outer corner.
Mulch- (Velvet finish) This is a warm bronze metallic shade with gold glitter particles running through it. I wear this shade all over the lid.
Woodwinked (Veluxe pearl finish)- This is a warm golden metallic shimmer shade. I wear this shade on my lid. I've heard people saying they can't wear this shadow because it looks too orange toned on them, but I have found that it looks more gold on me. I love it.
Patina (frost finish)- This my favourite Mac eyeshadow. It is a pale taupe with grey undertones with a golden metallic finish.

From top left clockwisw: Espresso, Mystery, Mulch, Patina, Woodwinked

From Left: Espresso, Mystery, Mulch, Woodwinked, Patina

Swiss Chocolate (matte finish)This is a matte red-.brown I use this in the crease, or in the outer corner with soft brown in the crease.
Sliver Ring (veluxe pearl finish)-  This is a grey sliver shade, it's not metallic but it has a sliver sheen finish to it. I use this on the centre of the lid over Knight Divine when I'm doing a smokey eye.
Knight Divine (veluxe pearl finish)- This is a dark blue toned grey with a slight sliver sheen. I use this on the lid when I'm doing a smokey eye. This is the only shadow I have a slight issue with - I find that I have to really build up the colour on the lid (the payoff isn't the best) but I love the colour. This shade wears evenly and it's lasting power is great.
Print (satin finish) - This is a grey shade with finely milled sliver glitter through it. However, the glitter isn't noticeable, when applied it looks matte. I use this in the crease for a smokey eye.
Carbon  (matte finish) black shadow, I use this in the outer corner when doing a smokey eye. I also use it along the upper lash line when I'm doing an everyday neutral look when I don't want to use liner.
I have had no problems with the shadows (except Knight Divine). They have good colour payoff, are really blendable, long lasting and they wear evenly.

Clockwise from top left: Knight Divine, Print, Carbon, Silver Ring, Swiss Chocolate

From left: Swiss Chocolate, Silver Ring, Knight Divine, Print, Carbon

If you would like me to create any beauty looks with some of these shades just let me know in the comments. Or if you would like me to do another post on the rest of my MAC palettes just let me know.

Please note I purchased all of the products mentioned & the links provided are not affiliate links
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XOXO,
Anshika Agarwal.

Oil Pulling, Make it your hobby!

Have you'll heard of Oil Pulling by it’s acronym, “OP.” I came across it while doing some random health searches on the web and later I looked it up on youtube to learn more after trying this and seeing the benefits I'm hooked so if you haven't tried it yet I intended to break it down what it is in as simple way as possible.

What is Oil Pulling. Oil Pulling is taking any type of oil, while coconut oil works the best it can be done with sesame oil, sunflower oil, even olive oil and putting a few table spoons in your mouth and swishing it around. So you put oil in your mouth and “swish” it around the mouth. When you are finished, you spit it out, you use warm water and rinse your mouth out. You do not ever swallow it. You may swallow a little incidentally, don’t worry about that. Just don’t swallow the entire amount. You do this for 15 to 20 minutes daily, Do this for 5 minutes if you'r not comfortable it can be slowly increased. You may feel disgusting or uncomfortable when you first put oil in your mouth but trust me after 2-3 minutes you become used to it. Do not spit it in your house sinks or toilets, coconut oil in particular has been known to clog drains. So just dispose it in a plastic bag or trash. 

Oil Pulling Benefits: for me, evoked a deeper more fulfilling sleep, gave me energy, improved my teeth and gums to a point that I now have 0 issues, and killed carb cravings. Now, this is conjecture as there are no real studies out there (we can talk about that later), but I firmly believe that the improved sleep, lowered carb cravings and increased energy are due to oil pulling it also balancing blood sugar. I know, it sounds crazy, but something is happening and it’s rather consistent among people. Other people have seen improved skin, improved if not cured sinus issues, detox of poisonous metals, cured chest congestion. 

 The two biggest hurdles for those wanting to try or continue trying oil pulling tend to be making time for it, and the taste and texture in the mouth. Oil pulling takes around 15 to 20 minutes a day, so finding the time is something everyone has to decide for themselves (I do it while surfing, watching episodes and blogging). You can do it while taking your dog for a walk or making breakfast or packing lunch.

 The other issue, flavour and texture, Ziggy Marley has launched what seems to be, the only version of flavoured Cold Pressed Coconut Oil that doesn’t make use of sugars, thereby compromising the health benefits. Instead, aroma is added, but the flavour turns out pure, non-intrusive and incredibly palatable. Using this to oil pull is an amazing solution for those that don’t like the taste, in addition, it leaves a wonderful lemony ginger flavour in the mouth afterwards (freshens breath).

During an interview with E! News, the always fresh faced Gwyneth Paltrow said,  ”I just started ‘oil puling,’ which is when you swish coconut oil around [in your mouth] for 20 minutes, and it’s supposed to be great for oral health and making your teeth white.”

Do try this once before dropping the idea and spread it around tweet me and tell me how you felt about it at the end of the day and like the post if you thought this post was interesting or useful. For other articles related to teeth whitening click here.

XOXO, 

Anshika Agarwal.