Haul from India: Fair and Lovely Winter Fairness

Product name: Fair and Lovely Winter Fairness

So it wouldn't be a blog about India unless we mentioned a fairness cream, especially one as popular as Fair and Lovely. Being Indian, you know we had to do it. I personally am against the whole skin whitening craze, but I happen to be in the minority. Monika, however, is an advocate, so here is her take on this very popular product.

First of all, Fair and Lovely works REALLY well for her skin. In fact fairness is the least of the benefits she gets. She first started using Fair and Lovely in middle school, when your skin is going through that horrible phase where it breaks out and refuses to cooperate. Her mom's friend suggested that she try Fair and Lovely, and she did. The first week she used it, it broke her out, but she was told to keep using it, so she kept at it (When using this product you may break out, but it's only because it's deep cleaning your pores by bringing the dirt to the surface). After that initial week, she has not broken out again, save for a random pimple every so often. Lo and behold, the damn cream worked. Plus, she was able to skip the whole awkward-teenage-bad-skin phase. Not a bad phase to skip right??

The key benefits Monika saw with the Fair and Lovely line were:

• It kept her skin moisturized
• It helped with the acne
• It evened out her skin tone
• It has triple sunscreen which protects her skin from the sun
• It also works as a really good makeup primer
• The triple sunscreen is awesome; it's like a natural makeup

The Winter Fairness product is a new addition to the Fair and Lovely line. The difference is that it has active moisturizers to help hydrate your skin during the harsh winter weather. The original Fair and Lovely lacks this quality, making skin slightly dry and cracked. Monika's experience with the Winter Fairness is that it made something really good even better. During the winter, it kept her skin moisturized without making it too oily, and it still had the same benefits as mentioned above. Monika's rating: A++. It's definitely one of her essential products.

For best results, use twice daily on washed face and neck.

Price: Around $1 per tube if bought in India. It's also available in most Indian stores, but in the U.S. you should expect to pay anywhere between $4-$6.

Haul from India: Pond's Gold Radiance eye cream

This next product is one of Monika's favorites.

Product name: Pond's Gold Radiance Youth Reviving Eye Cream with Real Gold Microparticles

Yes, Monika is aware that she is only 26 years old, but she realized that her mom has a lot of eye wrinkles, which of course made her want to take care of her eyes at an early age. Enter Pond's Gold Radiance!

Monika picked up this product in India, as mentioned earlier, because she saw a commercial which made it look really cool. Her main attraction was the real gold microparticles inside the cream. Indian commericals have a way of making everything seem glamorous :)

This is what the box claims:

• It treats the first signs of aging and is infused with real gold microparticles
• It refreshes tired eyes, diminishes puffiness and the look of dark circles, making your eyes look instantly brighter and younger

Directions: Use twice daily by dotting small amounts under the eye area and gently spreading outward

In Monika's experience, this cream is amazing! Most eye creams tend to burn or irritate her, but this one doesn't. Even though it says to apply under the eye, she also applies it on top of her eyelid, since that's where most of the wrinkle problem is in her family. So it's versatile. Her eyelids feel quenched and refreshed, like she just gave them a drink of water. It diminishes the puffiness and dark circles, and the gold flecks in the cream add a hint of shimmer and sparkle which makes her eyes look brighter. All she does is apply some of the cream and some eyeliner and she's good to go!

As far as the wrinkles, she hasn't noticed a *huge* difference since she didn't have that many to begin with and she's only been using it for a couple of weeks, but it does add some light to her dark eyelids. Her final grade for this products is A++!

Cost for the cream: Around $15 or so, bought in India. It may be more expensive online, but it can be purchased there.

All Pond's products are non comodogenic

Haul from India: Livon Silky Potion

Hello faithful blog readers! I want to talk about some specific products Monika discovered on her recent trip to India (she will be posting pictures shortly). In this section I'll talk about the hair products, and there will also be a discussion about the cosmetics in the makeup section.

The hair products she found are as follows:

1). Livon Silky Potion--A detangling hair fluid. This product is designed to work with a unique formula called CutiSoft, which "instantly softens and smoothens the hair cuticle, transforming your rough, dry and brittle hair into soft and silky hair". It also nourishes, defrizzes and detangles using Vitamin E.

• The product is ideal to use on damp hair, but can also be used on dry hair to bring it back to life after styling.
• On the days you skip washes, you can apply Livon to slightly re-wettened hair to bring back its health and shine.

Monika's personal use also found that the product does all of the above, PLUS it's lightweight and will not make hair oily or greasy. She was able to use it 2 days after she washed her hair and it completely brought the life back. She used it in Mumbai, a city notorious for humid weather, much like our own Houston :) However, there are 2 disclaimers to keep in mind:

1). Monika has very fine, silky hair which is also curly. She has used it on both curly and straight styles. However, people with thicker, fuller hair may have different results.

2). This product contains mineral oil, which some people feel dries out their hair. If this is you, beware

The only drawback that she found was that once the product was brought back to the states where the temperature is significantly cooler, it did not hydrate as well as she hoped. The lesson here? Use this product more in the warmer, more humid climate. Our final rating is a B+!

Side note: For people who have hair like mine (thick, frizzy and somewhere in between curly and straight), I will post a follow up once I try it for myself. In the meantime, hang tight and keep checking back.