Fragrance etc.
Posted by: Sunayana on: January 14, 2010
Anyone who knows me well knows that I love things that smell good. I’ve discovered some good products recently, and let go of some that I have loved for years.
I haven’t tried too many Lush products, the Wiccy Massage Bar (which I bought in Chicago) was nice before it melted, which it did as soon as I reached Surat. Everyone who got a massage with that loved it, but I personally didn’t think the bar itself was all that great (yeah I give good massages), I’d maybe give it a 3.5/5 rating. In Ahmedabad, I bought the Demon in the Dark soap, which is supposed to smell like mint, clove and apple juice. I could hardly smell any apple juice, and this soap wasn’t invigorating or rejuvenating as claimed, so a very big disappointment. I would give it a 2/5 rating. Even though going near a Lush shop is enough for the smell to hit you (and most of my guy friends absolutely refuse to enter a Lush shop), the fragrance in the products doesn’t seem to last that long.
I’ve been a Body Shop fan for many years and have tried almost all their product types – body butters, lip balms and butters, shower gels, scrubs, EDT, soaps, lotions etc. Even though it breaks my heart to do this, I have come to the conclusion that the products are just not worth it (much to the relief of my parents, I’m sure, who would have had to shop for stuff from there on their US trip otherwise). The body butters are lovely, but they do not last more than a couple of months. The Strawberry Body Polish is one product I wholeheartedly recommend, it lasts really long, smells lovely and does its job well. Almost all Body Shop EDTs give me a headache these days, I just tried Love Etc. today, and was not impressed. Apart from the completely fruity lines (like strawberry, mango, satsuma, papaya and so on), the products just smell a little manufactured (for lack of a better word). Maybe my tastes have just changed. Soaps – 2/5 (ordinary ones are as good), Shower gels – 4/5 (not drying, last long), Lotions – 3/5 (ordinary ones are as good, but they smell nice), lip balms and butters – 3/5 (very good but too expensive).
One brand I discovered recently is Nyassa, India’s answer to Lush, apparently. The soaps are good, not drying, like many of the other handmade soaps are, but I haven’t found anything that smells very good, apart from Berry Berry, which you will hate if you don’t like smelling like strawberries 
The salt scrubs are good but not great, maybe 3.5/5. The moisturizers and body butters seem too expensive to me. Nothing really smells that great, there are some nice Rose based products if you like the smell of roses, I don’t particularly.
So yeah, my current love is Maroma Vanilla perfume, I’m really happy with it so far, lasts long, not expensive and smells very natural, 4.5/5. The only small complaint I have is the smell of the top notes and middle notes, I can’t quite figure out what they are, but I don’t like the first few minutes of the fragrance. After that, it’s all vanilla in the base notes. Waiting to try the other products in their range.
“There’s lots of good fish in the sea…maybe…but the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring, and if you’re not mackerel or herring yourself, you are likely to find very few good fish in the sea.”
— D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
(Eliot, Burnt Norton)
One year.
Posted by: Sunayana on: December 6, 2009
Education is the best gift you can give to someone.
RIP.
Just. Awesome.
Posted by: Sunayana on: October 9, 2009
- In: CHSBism| feminism| women
- Leave a Comment
Update+vacation
Posted by: Sunayana on: July 24, 2009
So, it looks like I’m going to be in Hyderabad till mid-October at least, I’ve decided to continue working here. I’ll take a one month break later to apply to grad school.
I’m heading off to Bangalore tomorrow for a week, mainly to meet my lovely cousin Madhuri, who is going to the UK for a masters. This trip couldn’t have come at a better time, I really need a break.
After coming back, I’m going to be insanely busy, so I’m going to stay away from Twitter, Facebook, GTalk and the blog for a while. Will be back in a month or so.
Book Wishlist
Posted by: Sunayana on: July 17, 2009
I’ve decided to gift myself a couple of books every month.
To read:
Bonk by Mary Roach Done! 
Code Craft by Pete Goodliffe
Quirkology by Richard Wiseman
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow Awesome. Highly recommend this one too.
Genome: The Autobiography Of A Species by Matt Ridley (I’ve wanted this one for years!) Still to read.
To collect:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 by George Orwell
The Best Of Satyajit Ray by Satyajit Ray
Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas From The Computer Age by Paul Graham
Sweet Valley
Posted by: Sunayana on: July 14, 2009
Sweet Valley High, along with the less popular Baby Sitters Club were my favorite series of books back in middle school. I was never a big fan of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but they were definitely less damaging than SVH. Some of the Baby Sitters Club books were alright, although in hindsight most of them were really, really dumb.
Sweet Valley had its own variants – Sweet Valley Twins (which were about two identical blonde twins in 6th grade), Sweet Valley High (the twins and their friends in high school) – for which the recommended reading age was 12+ and Sweet Valley University – recommended reading age 14+ (yeah, like we followed that!). All of my friends in school read Sweet Valley (it seems to be more popular among girls who grew up in Ahmedabad, probably because Crossword had shelves full of them) and you weren’t considered cool if you didn’t.
The SV High series was basically about boys, popularity, cheerleading, cliques, stupid mysteries, accidents leading to comas and amnesia, kidnapping etc. The plotlines (?) were very badly written, with the ghostwriters not seeming to have read the other books in the series, but then, I admit, I read the books for the romance. I hadn’t discovered Harlequin then
What is disturbing is that the new SVH, released in 2008, seems to be even worse than the crap we read in school. Here’s an excerpt. The entire series was re-written to make it more up-to-date (mobile phones, Internet etc.).
Jessica, the twin who is interested in boys, clothes, cheerleading etc. seems to have become even more bitchy and manipulative. And now the twins have perfect size 4 figures, instead of the size 6 figures they had in the older versions. The number of times they use the word ‘perfect’ in the excerpt itself is scary.
I’ve been hearing a lot about Gossip Girl, which is supposed to be much edgier than SVH or SV University, but I haven’t read any of the books. For anyone between ages 13-15, I would recommend Judy Blume novels instead of trash like Sweet Valley. The Dairi Burger is one of my favorite blogs where the extremely talented author is doing a hilarious recap of SVH books and other Young Adult novels.
Update
Posted by: Sunayana on: June 22, 2009
So, just over a month for my internship to get over. After that, I plan get back to Gujarat to finish a couple of half-done projects, which should keep me busy for at least three months. Then, it will be time to apply for grad school. Scary!
I’m happy here because I’m being productive, at work and during my free time. I’ve been reading a lot of stuff I’ve wanted to read for a long time. I’m surrounded by bright people who like their work, which is always fun.
I’m also doing a few things that I don’t usually do, like charcoal drawings
For all the stationery lovers out there (Riddhi!), if you ever come to Hyderabad, go to Himalaya Book World at Panjagutta. Highly, highly recommend. Panjagutta is a nice place, if you like what I like (clothes, jewelery, books, stationery, wandering around).
