July 2012 - The Beauty Gypsy

Could Chocolate Replace Sunscreen?

July 31, 2012 By anubha Leave a Comment

Need another excuse to gorge on chocolate? German researchers at the University of Düsseldorf have demonstrated that eating chocolate rich in cocoa solids and flavonoids (aka dark chocolate) can protect you from sun damage. And this is not about slathering the good stuff all over your body. It works only when you eat the chocolate since this releases antioxidants epicatechin and catechin that shield skin from the sun… yipppeeee!

Under the German study, women who consumed 326 milligrams of high-flavanol cocoa per day for 12 weeks had decreased sensitivity to UV light versus the participants who had just 27 milligrams per day. Another bonus for chocolate lovers? The women who ate more chocolate had smoother, more hydrated skin at the end of the experiment (16 percent denser, 11 percent thicker, 13 percent moister, 30 percent less rough, and 42 percent less scaly).

But here is the key question: Can you realistically add enough chocolate to your diet to reproduce these benefits? According to the researchers, it’s not that difficult: flavonoid quantities in the cocoa used for the experiment were “similar to those found in 100 grams (a little over 3 ounces) of dark chocolate”.

A word of caution, though: The study doesn’t claim that chocolate will provide adequate sun protection all on it’s own, so be sure slather on your broad-spectrum SPF while munching the sweet stuff on the side. That said, I declare this a good enough excuse to label my bittersweet indulgence as a therapeutic measure! So, tell me: what’s your favourite brand of dark chocolate? I need the suggestions to stock up for my skin!

Filed Under: Beauty, Skincare, Sun Protection Tagged With: antioxidants, chocolate, flavonoids, Skin, sunscreen, uv protection

Lush gets emotional about makeup

July 23, 2012 By anubha 3 Comments

Until now they have done it with the most gorgeously delectable scents. And textures. And “good” ingredients. I don’t know about you but there have been many, many times that I have found myself reaching for a grapefruit-laced Happy Hippy Shower Gel to banish the blahs or a patchouli-infused Karma Soap to help me focus. So, I was beyond excited with Emotional Brilliance – Lush’s brand new makeup line, which besides looking gorgeous also reflects the brand’s core philosophy of using natural ingredients, minimal preservatives and no-tolerance policy towards animal testing.

Play the colour game

I, for one, completely get how a beauty product is ‘emotional’: wearing red lipstick makes me feel more courageous, pastel pink eye shadow is reserved for those times when I am in “pretty and feminine” mode and a deep slash of black eye liner brings out my inner wild child. That’s because certain colours have the capacity to make us feel a certain way. And it’s not hocus pocus – this is a concept that’s firmly rooted in science. This is what Lush has drawn upon for Emotional Brilliance, working with renowned Strategic Behavioral Therapist Lady Kennedy, who specializes in changing people’s behaviour and attitudes.

This is how it works: walk into a Lush store and spin the colour wheel (or you can do it online), picking the first three hues you are drawn to – not your favourite colour but those that stand out to you immediately. All the colours have words attached to them and the order you pick them matters as well. The first colour chosen is meant to represent a strength or weakness in your life; the second represents a subconscious need; the third is your talent and what you will need to achieve the subconscious need. Lush believes that if you wear these colours, you truly wear the word. Maybe this sounds a little crazy, but I like the idea that wearing a bold blue liner named “Control” can help me have a stress-free day. Placebo effect? Perhaps! But I am all for bright make-up when in need of a pick-me-up in any case!

100% handmade goodness

Well! That’s cool! But to me what’s even cooler is the fact that Lush has managed to put together a complete, highly pigmented colour collection made almost entirely from natural ingredients. For example, the Translucent Face Powder lists talc, mica, jojoba oil, iron oxides and CI77947 as the ingredients – not the main ingredients, the only ingredients.

Then there is the packaging, which is enough to bring a smile to my face all on it’s own. The cute, vintage-y glass bottles are in equal parts utilitarian and earth-friendly. The clear glass allows you to easily see the colour, while also being superbly recyclable. AND the black caps are actually made from recycled Lush pots. So, full marks on the eco-cred!

Liquid Lips (Rs. 1,300 / US$22.95)

lush, makeup, emotional brilliance, color, colour, colour therapy

First stop: the liquid lip colours, which to me are the best part of this product line. As per my colour wheel suggestion, I power up with Power (sorry for the pun) – a shimmery reddish-orange that goes on like whipped butter. It applies well, feels weightless on the lips and is intensively moisturising (it’s packed with organic jojoba oil, candelilla wax and rose wax) without being slippery. The pigmentation is amazing – one swipe gives full opaque coverage though you can soften the effect by layering it with a lip balm. The wear time is also pretty decent (I got about four hours) though you need to remember that this is not a stain, so it’s not fair to expect all-day durability.

Cream Eyeshadows (Rs. 1,300 / US$22.95)

The bright yellow Lifted also goes on easily with the sponge-tip applicator. However, like any cream shadow, it creases pretty quickly on bare lids – so you will get on best with a primer. It dries quickly, completely setting in less than a minute (one needs to blend fast!) but once on, it lasts literally through the day.

An added bonus: the base contains a soothing combination of rose petal infusion, almond and jojoba oils, and cupuacu butter, all of which have amazing skincare benefits for the eye area.

Eyeliners (Rs. 1,300 / US$22.95)

The bright, shimmery teal Motivation is made with the same base as the cream eyeshadows, which means that it’s pretty blend-able and incredibly long-lasting (think heavy rain-shower and not one smudge!). Plus, the bottles hold 8g of product – normally liquid eyeliner is 2g – making them good value for money! However, at least for me and my clumsy hands, the quaint dropper handle makes the liner brush a little tricky to control, so I skip it and use my trusty Tom Ford instead.

Skin Tints (Rs. 1,100 / $18.95)

Another product I am impressed with is the skin tint, which is designed to be mixed in with a Colour Supplement or moisturiser. However, it can also be used as a skin primer or a tinted base with its combination of simmered oats, almond and jojoba oils, cocoa butter and orange flower water that help remove unwanted shine while nourishing the skin.

I especially like Charisma, a bronze hue that leaves you with a nice, glowing complexion (almost like Chanel’s Soleil Tan de Chanel) and is perfect for contouring or warming up the skin.

Feeling Younger – an iridescent pink highlighter that’s pretty similar to MAC’s Strobe Cream – contains a “magic orange” pigment, which makes skin look bright and glow-y. It can be used as a highlighter on the brow bone and eyelid to really open up the eye; on the cheekbone for a youthful glow; or on the décolletage for a sexy shimmer.

Translucent Powder (Rs. 1,100 / $18.95)

This, actually, is my least favourite product in the collection. Technically, the translucent light-reflecting face powder can be used over foundation to set it in place and create a shine-free finish or on its own to even out skin tone… however, I found it a bit too chalky and difficult to blend, so would deem it skippable. However, it does have the merit of containing absolutely no preservatives or mineral oils, making it a good bet for those with super-sensitive skin.

Eyes Right Mascara (Rs. 1,100 / $18.95)

With only one preservative (most mascaras on the market contain between 4-6), this gentle mascara can be worn even by those with the most sensitive of eyes. It’s packed with wheatgrass to condition and nourish the lashes, along with Japan and Carnauba wax to help it remain completely clump- and smudge-free. The end result is a set of really fluttery and naturally full looking lashes – those aspiring to spidery ones should look elsewhere.

All in all, it’s a pretty solid collection. Does it catch your fancy? What colours are you drawn to? And which ones influence your mood the most? Do tell!

Filed Under: Beauty, Blush, Eyes, Makeup, Mascara, Powder Tagged With: Color, colour, colour therapy, emotional brilliance, Lush, Makeup

What you (still) don’t know about Lady Gaga’s new fragrance

July 18, 2012 By anubha 3 Comments

I can’t think of any perfume in recent times that has garnered the levels of intrigue and hysteria that surrounds Lady Gaga’s Fame. The blogosphere is flooded with the ad campaign and everyone is debating everything, right from what it says about the pop megastar’s psyche to the connotations for the feminist movement.

At first glance, the image shot by Steven Klein looks like a Birth of Venus incarnation of Lady Gaga infested with spiders. On closer inspection, the creepy-crawly creatures morph into magnificently buff men, who are free-climbing the singer’s body (and what a terrific body, I must say!) in what would be a fetish fantasy for some and a terrifying nightmare for others. And that, I think, is just what the Lady – who has built an entire global career of provocation and shock value – intended.

Frankly, the image does nothing for me but then I am hardly the core demographic for Fame itself. It’s a little too “angry” or “sinister” for me and is clearly much better suited for the beyond-edgy, cool and sharp silhouetted, who will be able to carry off it’s enigma like a second skin. But my personal aesthetics aside, this perfume is surely going to be a sell-out and even I will be picking up at least one bottle to study it’s slew of scientific and design innovations, which include:

• It’s the first-ever black coloured perfume, though the liquid turns clear once you spritz. According to Coty, which invented new technology for this black-hearted juice, ”The soul of fame being black was the intellectual foundation of the colour of the fragrance.”

• Fame will not smell like blood and semen. Instead, it’s a blend of “tears of belladonna, black incense, saffron, honey drops, pulverised apricot nectar, crushed tiger orchid and jasmine sambac. (Though, come to think of it, I have never actually smelt all these things together so maybe they do smell exactly like blood and semen!)

• Rather than having the usual top, middle and basenotes, Fame is crafted like a “trampoline”, where the notes come out randomly.

• Fame will come in three sizes, ranging from US$19 for the rollerball to US$79 for the “Ultimate Masterpiece” – a heavy egg-shape bottle that is a direct homage to Lady Gaga’s Grammy egg-hatching moment.

• A black soap, body lotion and body wash will also be launched in the coming months.

Will you be buying the fragrance? What do you think of the new ad? Freaky or fabulous?

UPDATE

And now there is a short film promoting Lady Gaga’s Fame perfume. Called Formulation, it’s all part-French-art-house, part-Breaking-Bad, part-Godard and shows a group of buff lab workers cooking up the perfume in Paris’ Haus Laboratories. Honestly, it’s slick and definitely memorable – a definite improvement on the vanilla girl-flipping-hair ones that we are normally saturated with… but it still doesn’t make me want to buy the perfume. Take a look and tell me what you think!

Filed Under: Beauty, Celebs, Perfumes Tagged With: advertisement, black perfume, Fame, fragrance, lady gaga, perfume, trampoline structure

Holy & Holistic: Discovering Ila Skincare

July 17, 2012 By anubha 2 Comments

Recently, I chanced upon a gorgeous brand called Ila, which felt fabulously luxuriously blissful against my skin while calling upon ‘vibrational energies’ to soothe the senses. Developed a handful of years back by Denise Leicester, a Brit who came to India and fell in love with it’s culture, traditions and flowers, it offers up a sensual medley of floral and plant extracts, natural mineral oils and Himalayan salt crystals. The word ‘Ila’ comes from the Sanskrit word for ‘earth’ and there is a sacred place in northern India at the confluence of the Sarasvati and Drishdvati rivers known as Ilayaspada, which is considered to be extremely holy.

“Beyond organic”

In keeping with it’s name, Ila is devoted to the ancient practises that respect the sanctity of Mother Earth while calling upon it’s healing energies. According to Denise, “Everything in our products comes from a plant or mineral – nothing else.” But the brand goes even beyond the merely organic – every single ingredient is not only free from synthetic chemicals but is also sourced directly from local producers who cultivate and harvest them in harmony with nature.

Roses that hold an ancient promise

For example, the Rose Damascena from India comes from a family that has been growing and distilling roses for many generations according to centuries-old methods. The water is drawn by solar energy, then mixed with petals in copper vats and heated by natural fire-fuel. The spent petals are fed to the cows, completing a cycle that begins and ends with nature. The end result is a distillate of Rose Otto with a depth and a richness of scent that is so potent, I can smell the fragrance and feel it’s silken touch a full 12 hours after washing the Body Balm for Feeding Skin and Senses off my skin!

Moroccan memories

Similarly, the Argan Oil from Morocco is made by a womans’ co-operative whose skills have been passed on down the Berber generations. It’s crushed, filtered and cold-pressed in the way it always has been, using many hands and just a few simple mechanical aids. Denise and her colleagues eschew middle-men, choosing instead to travel and handpick the “purest sources” themselves, thus laying the foundations for fair trade. The reason? “The purer the source and the process, the purer Ila’s products will be and the more suffused with the earth’s natural healing energy.”

Beauty through chanting?

The products themselves are artisanal and hand-blended in an environment of “peace and purity”, accompanied by the rhythm of energy and balance-imbuing chants in the English countryside. This is to imbue the finished potions with all the pure vibrational energies of nature that work in consonance with therapeutic ingredients “to improve natural beauty through the health and vitality of our skin, to increase well-being through the transforming effects of energy healing, and to connect to a greater sense of inner serenity.”

Ila products have garnered a number of awards and are available at premium outlets across the world (including the Four Seasons Spa in Mumbai, which also offers up terrific spa rituals based around the same, for the benefit of Indian connoisseurs). Prices normally start at approximately Rs. 2,000 (or 35 British pounds, depending on which part of the world you are based).

Filed Under: Beauty, Celebs, Flowers, Fruits, Oils, Organic, Skincare, Spa, Spices Tagged With: Argan oil, Beauty, chant, eco friendly, Ila, Organic, rose, Skincare, Spa, sustainable beauty

10 French Beauty Secrets That Don’t Require Dieting

July 12, 2012 By anubha 6 Comments

When it comes to beauty (and diet, and fashion – damn them!) French women are known the world over for looking gorgeous all day, every day. How do they achieve this? By figuring out that less is fabulously more. Which means they spend more effort taking care of the basics – like the health of their skin– rather than slathering on pounds of foundation and concealers to fake a glow. And how do they do this? On my last visit to France, I convinced mademoiselles from Paris to Provence to tell me their secret stories, which have been handed down through the centuries.

1. The French love their grapes and not just poured into a bottle of wine. These juicy fruits contain loads of antioxidants, vitamins, oligo-elements and essential oils to improve circulation and step up hydration. And nothing could be simpler: Just slice a few grapes in half and rub the fleshy part over your face for a few minutes. Let the juice dry, then rinse off thoroughly.

2. French women stick to a scrupulous and preventive skin and body care routine – this means regular facials and massages. Don’t have time for a spa visit? Do like the Gallics: Mash a handful of cherries and pomegranate seeds, then apply them as a face pack for 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Their natural enzymes will help brighten and firm the skin.

3. Harsh cleansers are an absolute French no-no. Instead swab off eye makeup with sweet almond oil, which will gently remove residue while also softening the skin.

4. French woman know that hydration is important. So, in addition to drinking water throughout the day, they advise downing a glass as you get up and another before you go to bed. Why? It keeps skin and hair hydrated, flushes out toxins from the body and curbs appetite.

5. These radiant-skinned mademoiselles know that circulation is integral to beauty as it makes the skin glow. And for this, they religiously splash ice cold water on their face every morning. This gives the complexion an icy boost, making it glow and feel super-fresh.

6. Another way to bring home the je ne sais quoi? Splash breasts with cold water to improve circulation in this fragile area as well!

7. Since centuries, French women (and men!) have known that the essential oils of lavender, geranium, neroli, rosemary and rose are unbeatable anti-aging ingredients. Similarly, they also know that jasmine, frankincense, myrrh and carrot seed rejuvenate the skin by encouraging new cell growth. And the simplest way to use them? Add 50 to 60 drops of one or two of these oils – my favourites are jasmine and lavender – to 4 oz jojoba oil and store in a pretty glass bottle. Massage this fragrant concoction into your skin every day (or night) for a gorgeously youthful appearance.

8. Then there are tomatoes, which are chock-full with anti-oxidants such as lycopene. Women in the South of France wipe the juice from fresh tomatoes on to their skin to cool down during the long hot summers. Sounds divine, doesn’t it?

9. The Parisian Beauty Editor of Marie Claire – my former workplace – has super-smooth hands with glossy nails and not a dark spot in sight. So I pestered and pestered and pestered her for the secret, which turned out to be a traditional French hand-bath made from cold water, coarse sea salt granules and a little olive oil. Scrub your hands in this for 5-10 minutes, then dab some almond oil on the nails – I have been doing this for the past two months and my hands have never looked softer or lovelier!

10. Finally, for something truly luxe and historic, try this historic French recipe that dates way back to the 1600s: Take 4 ounces almond oil, 3 ounces of extra virgin olive oil, 1 ounce of shaved candle wax (preferably beeswax), two tablespoons of onion juice and 10 drops of vanilla essential oil. Put the almond oil, olive oil and wax in a heavy bottomed pan and warm just enough to melt the wax. Then add the onion juice and vanilla essential oil. You will have to keep stirring the mixture to keep the ingredients from separating; and be especially careful about the onion juice because it will start lumping if the mixture gets too hot. Cool this creamy concoction and massage it into your face, neck, arms and feet at bedtime. Leave on overnight, then use a gentle face wash, toner or moisturiser in the morning. The result? Buttery soft skin like you wouldn’t believe!

Filed Under: Beauty, Bodycare, Classic, Detox, Skincare Tagged With: Beauty, cold water, French, grapes, ice bath, Paris, Provence, recipes, Skincare, tomato, traditional