But, did you know, that even your normal bath has the capability of becoming a blissful, refreshing spa-like experience? And that too with the inclusion of just a few simple steps and a few easily-available bath products?

Here’s how spending a little more time and effort in your bath can truly rejuvenate, de-stress and invigorate you, ready to face the inevitable daily stress and tension.

Let’s set the mood…

The process of getting more from your bath begins with creating the right environment. Place some potpourri in your bathroom–the scent is a great precursor to relaxation. Lighting a few aromatherapy candles not only heightens the relaxed atmosphere, but also provides soft diffused lighting. This helps to relax your tired eyes after continued exposure to the sun [if you have been outdoors all day] or to the harsh lighting in office.

Effect of Aromatherapy scents

Playing soft, soothing music is another addition to the experience which is guaranteed to take the weight of the tiring, hectic day from your mind.

As you bathe…

With a tranquil ambience now set up in your bathroom, the next step is to use some therapeutic bath products while you bathe–starting with hand-made soaps and scrubs to shower gels, bubble baths and bath oils and bath salts. Choosing the right type may be a tad difficult, but a few pointers come in handy. Most of these products contain natural ingredients extracted from plants and make extensive use of aromatherapy essential oils like lavender, chamomile, lemon, rose and the like. The basic benefits of each essential oil differ and usually these products contain a combination of one or more essential oils. There is a plethora of oils ranging from the regular to the really exotic and the most common ones are listed. It’s important to read the product packaging to determine what is right for your skin type. Where more than one essential oil tends to provide the same benefits, it is best to purchase the fragrance that you like.

Soaps, bath gels and scrubs, loofahs

Your bath-enhancement experience begins even as you take a quick shower. Here, you can take a break from the ordinary and go for various scented, hand-made soaps. These not only cleanse the skin, but also leave you with a lingering scent which keeps you fresh for a long time. Take your pick from the several handmade soaps available in an array of fragrances ranging from jasmine and rose to peppermint, ginger and ylang ylang. An alternative to soap bars is bath gels – available in various types which cleanse and moisturise the skin.

Another product which augments the cleansing effect of soaps and gels is the loofah. Available easily at chemist shops, scrubbing the body with loofahs provides a good exfoliation effect, leaving your skin squeaky clean. Scrubs are dual in their functioning–they cleanse and exfoliate the skin, thus removing not only the dust, grime and sweat, but also taking off the dead skin cells revealing a fresh and sparkling new skin. For a personalised experience, you can even try making scrubs at home.

Bath oils and salts

If there’s time for more than just a speedy shower and you have the luxury of being able to soak in a bath tub, then bath oils and salts are just the thing. Addition of a few drops of an essential oil or a few teaspoonfuls of bath salts increases the relaxation effect of soaking in the hot bath water. Bath salts can easily be made at home [See Box 3] and as far as bath oils go, two or three essential oils can effortlessly be combined together to get a completely new fragrance. In fact, even adding a cup of milk and a tablespoon of honey or a cup of oatmeal or 3-4 tablespoonfuls of rose water or lavender water to your bath makes for an interesting change. Soaking in a bath tub with a few drops of essential oil or a few teaspoonfuls of bath salts or with the home ingredients mentioned above for around 15 minutes is all you need to completely relax those tense nerves and ease away your aches and pains.

Do remember to follow up the shower or hot water soak by patting dry the body with a fluffy bath towel and then applying your preferred moisturiser to get soft, smooth and silky skin.

All said and done, you too deserve some pampering and indulgence. And, if your routine bath can provide it to you, isn’t the time and effort spent well worth your while?

The post Make bathing blissful appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Choosing where to go

The choice of destination can make or mar your vacation. So, before zeroing in on where to go, answer these basic questions to make the best selection:

What is the purpose of your trip? There is a plethora of holiday types available—from rest and relaxation to shopping and sightseeing, from nature trails and adventure, to road trips and cruises. What you expect from a holiday is the primary factor in deciding the destination. For example, history buffs must go to a heritage city, the adventurous should opt for trekking and those who want to laze around must head to a resort. What sort of budget are you looking at?

While a major chunk of budget will be taken by travel, the other will be covered by stay and food, minor expenses including travelling within the city, shopping, among others. Keep these in mind when you select your destination, since some destinations are inherently more expensive than others.

What is the length of your stay? If the vacation is going to be short, then you need to select a destination that’s not too far away, else you will end up spending more time travelling, than actually enjoying the holiday. Destinations that have a lot of sightseeing options are best for longer vacations. Avoid long trips for children and elders, as they may not feel comfortable being away from home for too long.

Who are you taking there? Mohit Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, MakeMyTrip.com advocates, “Choose destinations keeping elders and kids in mind because some hotel or location may not be suitable for them.” Travelling with kids or elders is a different ball game. Too much travelling, sightseeing or shopping will tire them out and make them cranky and irritable. Destinations that are too cold or too warm do not go down well with elders and kids. It is thus important to select a destination that provides interesting activities for all the people travelling with you—whether it is elders, children or those in your own age group.

Getting the best

Once the big decision has been made, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritties of deciding the travel dates, checking for flight/train/hotel availability and booking the travel and stay. Karan Anand, Head, Relationships and Supplier Management, Cox and Kings [India] advises, “Book travel and accommodation at least a month in advance.” Booking early ensures that the travel and stay can be as per your preference and also opens avenues for massive discounts through negotiation. Organise travel schedules so that you reach your destination during the day.

Any unforeseen circumstances are best handled during the day—being stranded anywhere during the night with family is unadvisable. It’s best to stay at a hotel that is close to the marketplace or the station or airport or at least the major sightseeing destinations, to reduce some of your intra-city travelling.

“Be sure to check up on travel insurance before you make any bookings”, recommends Kashmira Commissariat, COO, Outbound Division, Kuoni India. Find out in advance the options for local travel—whether you would have to hire a cab or travel by bus and train. If possible, make these bookings in advance. The last thing that you would want is to spend the holiday cooped up in a hotel, simply because local travel is not good enough.

“Check the facilities that the hotel tariff includes. Most good hotels offer sightseeing tours and transportation in their package, which can be a good money saver. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for an upgrade—most hotels will provide a little extra facility at ‘no extra cost’, simply because it gives them a happy, satisfied customer,” says Vishal Gupta, VP, Hotels and Operations, Cleartrip.com

The internet is also a great resource to improve your travel experience as it offers handy travel hints based on the destination.

“Being online,” says Kashmira “allows travellers to have information required to plan a holiday at their finger tips.” For travellers wary of online bookings, Himanshu Singh, MD, Travelocity.co.in has some advice, “Online bookings are safe. All you need to do is check that the website you use has highly secured online protection methods and a robust risk and fraud management system. The privacy and security policies should be clearly mentioned.”

Packing it up

“Travel light should be the mantra”, says Karan. While travelling light is obviously the best, there are few essentials that you must never forget. Make detailed lists of the things that you would need. One list per person is a good way.

“Take weight restrictions into consideration when travelling by air, and also never overstuff your bag. Keep some space for last minute additions,” says Himanshu. “Always take the weather at the destination into consideration”, opines Mohit.

Seasoned travellers suggest a few things that can escape even the most detailed list. This list includes a spare pair of spectacles, camera rolls and memory stick [to back-up and store digital photographs], a torch, foldable bags [to put in any purchases made during the trip], mosquito repellent cream, hand sanitisers, one photo copy each of your passport, visa and emergency contact information including address and telephone number in each bag that you carry and badges with your contact information to pin up on your children’s clothing when travelling.

Get your family doctor or paediatrician to prescribe all possible medicines that might be needed during the trip.

If you are travelling by air, remember to carry essential painkillers, anti-emetics [drugs used to relieve nausea, vomiting, and headache] and other prescribed medicines for diabetes, high blood pressure or other health problems you may have.

Always remember to carry extra clothing for children and elders. Carry your child’s favourite book or toy to soothe them when they get cranky or uncomfortable in strange places.

So, however tedious it may sound, there is no escaping the fact that the right planning and execution go a long way to creating a super family trip that’s laced with pleasant memories. So plan, execute and enjoy.

The post The vacation planner appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

What is wrong? Winter is the season of thrilling chills and not so thrilling dryness. And this dryness can wreak havoc on your skin, making your make-up look, well, not quite like it should. There is no need to worry. Just follow these tips by top make-up experts…

Care is a must

A little bit of care before and after applying make-up goes a long way. Make-up is meant to enhance your looks, but even the best of make-up won’t work, if the skin is not prepared properly. While the ‘cleanse, tone and moisturise’ mantra still holds good, with winter make-up, the skin demands a little extra care and attention.

Joynie Ruwngtol, make-up artist at The Body Shop India advises, “Using a serum after toning and before moisturising—both before and after application of make-up—provides essential nourishment during winter. Use a face mist before and after applying make-up to help it settle down and prevent dryness and cracking. Also, use an eye cream and concealer before applying eye make-up. Exfoliate lips gently and moisturise well to get an even application of lipstick.”

Cory Walia, celebrity make-up genius stresses the importance of exfoliation, to get rid of the dry skin. “Foundation applied on dry, patchy skin looks ugly. So use a good exfoliator to get rid of dead skin. While moisturising is important, don’t overdo it—oily, sticky skin is the worst base to apply make-up on.”

Agrees Celine Cortinchi, spa manager, Jean-Claude Biguine, India, “Moisturise and exfoliate, else dead cells can accumulate in the dry skin, making it blotchy and cracked. Always remove make-up with a good quality make-up cleanser before going to bed. Skin is more vulnerable during winter and leaving make-up on increases the dryness.”

“Lips need special attention, so moisturise them well before applying lipstick. After removing make-up use a heavy nourishing cream to replenish the skin’s moisture”, says Renu Kant, director of the Exquise group of salons.

Shahnaz Hussain, renowned beauty specialist offers a great handy hint here. She says, “It’s important to wait for a minute or two in between applying moisturiser and foundation to allow the skin to get moisturised properly. Use a re-hydrating cleanser with aloe vera to clean make-up.”

Sushma Khan, national trainer, skin and make-up, Lakme Salon suggests the use of a deep-pore cleansing milk for cleansing the skin before applying make-up to remove the atmospheric dust that clogs the skin during winter. Soap is a no-no and face wash as per the skin type is mandatory.

Choice is key

Careful selection equals zero make-up problems. Winter make-up has to be selected judiciously to bring the best results and minimise damage to the skin. Experts are unanimous on the use of make-up products that provide moisture and do not dry and dehydrate the skin.

So, your make-up cupboard should have light and sheer foundations and tinted moisturisers.

Creamy foundations, eye shadows, blushers, lip moisturisers and moisture-rich lipsticks are a must. Always look out for a minimum SPF 15 in the products—the winter sun may appear mild, but is still damaging to the skin.

Colours are in

Winter is inherently a dull season. This makes the winter colour palette to use vibrant. Colours vary for the day and night, but the shine and gloss lends a special touch to winter make-up. “Daytime lip colours are lilac, mauve, pinks and rose shades, while the night belongs to red in all its shades from cherry, rose, traffic signal red and plum. Nails are dark with burgundy and chocolate brown is really in, while eye shadows are brown, gold or bronze.” recommends Shahnaz. Skin bronzers can be used for a stunning effect, especially for parties.

Apply a colourless lip gloss after-lipstick application for a really appealing wet, shiny look. Avoid white highlighters and opt for pale pink or ivory shades. “Winter typically calls for cream blushers and eye shadows, which are difficult to blend. So take extra care to blend in properly with the skin, else demarcating lines and patches will show up,” says Shahnaz.

Calling this a season of richness, Cory says, “The velvety, creamy matte, moisture-rich, dewy look is the current trend. Make-up with just a hint of mossy green adds plenty of drama and glamour. Coloured kajal in shades of green, blue, jewelled tones like copper, bronze, gold and silver looks hot, especially with subtle, shimmery highlights on the cheek. Highlight one feature—either the eyes or the lips—never both and don’t overdo the gloss.”

Renu calls for “a bit of experimentation with colours like pink, red, gold, copper and bronze mixed with a touch of green, blue and grey. Day make-up is subtle—pink gloss for the lips and a light blusher. Evenings are shimmery, frosty and shiny, just how much would depend on the occasion.”

While Joynie roots for the metallic, with colours like shimmery lilac and violet, frosty silver and black for the night and caramel, pink, plum and chocolate for the day, Sushma hails purple as the colour of the season.

“Purple really suits the Indian skin tone. The lighter shades look great for the day and the darker ones for the night. Eye colours look fabulous in aqua and turquoise,” she says. Celine advises emphasising the eyes, “Smoky eyes work wonders for night events and parties. Use dark shades of eye liners like navy, plum and green. Chocolate eye shadow with a hint of wine colour also looks great. Avoid pastels if your skin tone is pale; they give a washed-out effect. Winter is meant for clear and bright colours.”

So now that all your winter make-up worries are taken care of, it’s time to enjoy the season.

The post Winter blush: Make-up tips for the season appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Mind-boggling range

The right kind of jewellery can add oodles of glamour and style to the dreariest outfit. When selecting jewellery, the variety certainly is mind-boggling – in terms of brands and jewellery stores, materials, and precious and semi-precious gemstones, and types of accessories ranging literally from head to toe. How do we match jewellery with our personal style, outfit, occasion and the season’s trend? Here are a few suggestions.

Choose earrings to suit your face

First, let’s talk about selecting the right kind of jewellery to suit your face shape and height. Earrings require careful choosing. The size should be commensurate with height – petite women should opt for small-sized earrings, medium height women should go for medium-sized earrings, and taller women can choose bigger earrings. The face shape plays a crucial role in determining the earring shape [See box “Earrings by face shape”]. If you are a simple dresser, avoid large, chunky jewellery – you will feel and look uncomfortable, no matter how beautiful the pieces you wear.

Match with your outfit

Next, match the accessories with your outfit. Usually workplace wear is simple, with small and thin being the mantra. Earrings, chains, bangles, pendants in pearl or discreet diamonds, set in gold or silver, or platinum look stylish without being ostentatious. For casual wear like skirts and capris, funky accessories look great. Chunky necklaces, big pendants and earrings, charm bracelets, even anklets and flashy rings are all cool and chic, but wear only one big piece at a time, to accentuate it properly. When you are likely to wear heavy traditional Indian clothing with intricate embroidery and embellishments, the rule of thumb is: less is more. Accessorise judiciously.

Suitable for traditional Indian attire

Let’s discuss jewellery selection in detail.

Saris: Wear long chandelier earrings or big studs to give a stunning effect. If the sari border is heavily embellished, skip the necklace and wear a dressy watch and/or a thick kada/bracelet. For simpler saris, thick beaded necklaces with a big centrepiece and smaller earrings look great, especially when teamed with plenty of thin bangles. Try a maangteeka for a unique look, especially if you have long hair. Pair this only with a matching kada or bangles – earrings or necklace are redundant.

Lehengas: These usually come with the works – heavy embellished dupattas, embroidery all over, and beaded blouses. If it’s the traditional style of lehenga, you can go in for kundan jewellery matched well with the colour of the outfit. For the mermaid style skirt with corset blouse, the ideal accessories are a thick necklace or choker, a single kada and small earrings. Or, a thin gold chain with a big pendant, and matched large earrings and kadas. You can even try a maangteeka with bajubandhs and a big ring.

Skirts: Long layered necklaces, big pendants on long thick chains and a single beaded anklet look chic with skirts – ideal for Navratri dancing. It also sets you apart from the common oxidised or typical Rajasthani style of jewellery.

Follow the trend

Jewellery is timeless, but wearing the latest designs adds that extra pizzazz to your outfit. Experts from the industry give us the lowdown on trends for the festive and wedding season. Roli Malhotra, Marketing Manager, Retail and Customer Care, Sia Lifestyles, says “Geometric shapes in metallic shades are trendy. Floral patterns and the traditional look are always stylish. Victorian style jewellery with matt finishing is something new and exciting to wear with traditional Indian attire. It’s a rainbow out there – rani pink, aqua blue, peach or carrot and firoza blue jewellery with antique finish are going to be the colours of the seasons of celebration.” Another suggestion comes from Aanchal, Designer, Anmol Jewellers: “Intricately designed choker sets in gold and diamond are going to be in vogue. Pearl jewellery would look great. Bold and earthy coloured stones like emeralds, rubies and tourmalines go very well with the festive spirit all around. Traditional designs mixed with contemporary patterns are appealing, so this year a blend of geometric and floral patterns defines the look of the season.” Adds Aparna Gujral, Senior Manager- Design & Merchandising, Ganjam Jewellers, “Coloured stones in earthy colours look really grand with diamonds as well as gold. Contemporary jewellery which draws inspiration from the past has become a rage and is especially suited for the festive and wedding season.”

Affordable jewellery

By and large, jewellery is quite expensive, so matching jewellery with your outfit comes at a big price. Luckily, we have what Roli calls, “affordable, but trendy and fashionable jewellery which can be used very well without spending too much”. Most brands have lightweight, daily wear jewellery. One-gram gold jewellery, gold and silver plated jewellery, and of course multi-hued art jewellery, together ensure that you can indulge in the glitter and sparkle without breaking the bank.

This festive season, get some sparkling trinkets and let your confidence and style dazzle everybody around you!

The post Jewellery for festive season appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

These extended waking hours take their toll first on the skin. How many times does your mirror show you dark under-eye circles and puffy, bloodshot eyes? Dull, pallid and gaunt skin? The crow’s feet and laugh lines? How many times do friends and colleagues mistake you to be much older than your actual age?

What the mirror shows does not necessitate a rush to the nearest cosmetics store to splurge on those jars and bottles of skin repair and age-miracle lotions and creams and, anti-oxidants and night-creams. Please consider first, this cheap and easily available remedy for your beauty problems. It’s a five-letter word called sleep – it is essential, not just for your overall health but also for your looks.

Sleep improves health

We need sleep and a proper amount of it each night; for the simple reason that the body repairs itself in the time that we are in dreamland. Extensive research over many years has proved that insufficient sleep is a major contributor to reduced life spans and the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases like obesity, hypertension, stress, high cholesterol, diabetes, depressed immunity, hormonal imbalances, and depression. Even a couple of days of inadequate sleep are enough to decrease concentration, reduce mental and physical alertness and make the person irritable. Prolonged periods of not getting enough sleep are associated with greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, and breast and colon cancer.

Sleep improves looks

In fact, sleep is also critical to looking good – it is during our slumber time that the body repairs the daily damage caused to the skin by stress, ultraviolet rays and other detrimental exposures to dust and pollution. Sleep is when the body produces more proteins, which are the cell’s building blocks. Enhanced protein production ensures proper rejuvenation and revamping of the tissues and cells, which in turn provides vital regeneration and repair to the skin. So, not sleeping well is bound to show up on the face: dark under-eye circles, swollen, red eyes, sagging, dull and sallow skin, and early onset of wrinkles, crow’s feet and laugh lines. And fat, the bugbear of every woman is a natural consequence of insufficient sleep. Studies closely connect sleep with obesity: sleep less and the release of important appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin gets disrupted, causing weight gain.

So, everything which granny dearest said about sleeping properly was right after all. And that also explains the origins of the term beauty sleep. The ill-effects of inadequate sleep show up almost immediately on our looks – sleep well and look healthy, don’t sleep well and the face resembles an animal farm with raccoon eyes and crow’s feet. Models, actors and those whose face is their fortune unanimously agree on the power of beauty sleep. Model Claudia Schiffer claims that she just cannot do without her 12 hours of beauty sleep. While 12 hours may be an unaffordable luxury for the modern, multitasking woman, 7-8 hours is the recommended average snooze time.

Getting enough good sleep

Of course, getting enough sleep is easier said than done. It is a tough trade-off between juggling all those urgent and important activities and getting proper sleep – one of the two needs to be sacrificed and the guillotine is most likely to fall on sleep. Power naps come handy here. A power nap is a short period of sleep, and is guaranteed to leave you feeling refreshed. Set an alarm for between 15-25 minutes. Sleep for around 20 minutes and you are sure to feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Sleeping for longer may interfere with your night-time sleep.

The quality of the sleep is very important too. Even eight hours of sleep is not enough for refreshment and relaxation if the sleep is disturbed. Disturbed sleep is an expected byproduct of the daily stress of living. Here’s how to ensure good, deep sleep.

1. Avoid rigorous physical activity or exercise around 3-4 hours before the scheduled sleeping time.
2. Regulate sleep and wake up times so that the body gets conditioned to sleeping at a particular time.
3. Try having warm milk before sleeping to relax the body. A warm shower and listening to soothing music also help.
4. Ideally, there should be a gap of at least 2-3 hours between dinner and bedtime for proper digestion. Also, avoid drinking too much water before sleeping, to minimise frequent visits to the toilet, and disturbed sleep.
5. Ensuring the room is sufficiently dark and noise-free is important.
6. The bedroom must not be used for any other activity such as watching TV or eating.
7. Proper bed and pillows are absolutely essential. The bed and pillows should be firm and neither too fluffy nor too hard. The pillow should provide proper cushioning for the neck and should be at a comfortable height.

Get your youthful, clear skin back

While you sleep and let Mother Nature repair your skin by the best beauty treatment there is, additional help is always welcome.

1. A face massage works wonders by toning the skin and boosting blood circulation.
2. Wet cotton pads, cucumber slices, potato slices, wet tea bags are great to ward off the evil eye, err… I mean the dark circles under the eyes.
3. Egg white is a good skin tightener and helps get rid of the puffy eyes. Apply all over the face and the under eye area, wash when dry.
4. Drink lots of water to hydrate the skin.
5. For bloodshot eyes, good lubricating eye drops should help. Consult your doctor for an appropriate brand. Rose water helps, so does splashing the face with cold water for 3-4 minutes.

Make beauty sleep an integral part of your vanity case. Given your hectic schedule, it probably is not that easy, but the effort is well-worth it. After all, what have you got to lose except those redundant years from your face?

The post Good sleep is essential for good looks appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

House: a building that serves as living quarters for one or a few families, a shelter or refuge [as a nest or den] of a wild animal, a natural covering [as a test or shell] that encloses and protects an animal or a colony of zooids.

Home: one’s place of residence, the social unit formed by a family living together, a familiar or usual setting, congenial environment; also: the focus of one’s domestic attention “Home is where the heart is.”

Evidently, with a thin line separating the meanings of the two words, home is largely perceived to be different from house. A house is commonly construed to be the tangible aspect of the living space – the walls, the roof and the other paraphernalia that goes between the walls and below the roof. The home however, is slightly difficult to define. As late HL Mencken, American journalist and essayist wrote, “A home is not a mere transient shelter: its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it.”

At a very basic level, thus, the home is an inextricable part of the person – his home and hearth and happiness are inseparable from each other. Invariably, every person’s vision for the future encompasses a dream home which is a reflection of their personality. There is a passage in Louisa May Alcott’s famous book, Little Women, where the March sisters, together with friend Laurie, discuss their dreams for the future or quite literally their castles in the air, offering a peek into their personalities.

Jo wants a house with “A stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled high with books. Beth would be satisfied with being at home with her parents and playing her little piano. Meg wants a lovely house with nice food, pretty clothes, handsome furniture, pleasant people, heaps of money and lots of servants.”

The many stumbling blocks

As with all building activities, building a dream home too comes with its quota of difficulties —financial and emotional. At the material level, building a home is quite literally like a bird building a nest, twig by twig. Taking a leaf out of the older generation’s book, most parents and parents-in-law, including my own, have some inspiring tales to tell of how they have build their homes in a physical sense, starting with using an icebox when there were no finances to buy a fridge, using a kerosene stove, because there were no gas cylinders, and so on.

My mother-in-law recounts how she would save money just to be able to buy a mixer-grinder, a luxury in those times, or how they got their first TV set after much difficulty.

Apart from the physical, the emotional aspect would naturally then play a very important role in building a home. Here the difficulty is not financial; it is that of according a warm, peaceful, cheerful and welcoming atmosphere to the home. Even if all the creature comforts are present, the maintenance of the home, both in the physical as well as the spiritual plane is where the challenge lies.

Here, my mother’s philosophy is apt – she strongly believes “Come what may, the atmosphere in my home should remain unsullied”. Of course, conflicts and tiffs are a part and parcel of life with the family, but by and large, the environment must remain positive and peaceful. Through all sorts of problems – sickness, death, potentially lifestyle-altering financial crises, she has always ensured that her positive attitude and cheerfulness have seen the difficulties through. Her dream home is probably best described by a line from J R R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, “His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.”

Keeping the feel-good factor

Over the years, maintaining the home has been a tough task – requiring constant care and attention, hard work, adjustment with family members, ensuring all needs of every family member are provided for, cleaning so the home is spic and span, regular de-cluttering, avoiding negativity of any sort and so on.

The affectionate atmosphere and jovial ambience is derived not just from the physical or material comforts; it is largely because of the positive vibes that the home exudes. Here, Mother Teresa’s words come to mind – “Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house… let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” They may enter depressed or with a negative attitude, but leave with an optimistic aura.

Explaining the reason for this, she often says that her dream has always been to have a home full of good cheer and happiness. To this end, her attitude of “Work is worship” has paid handsomely. It has helped her give her home loving care and made her provide well for the physical wellbeing and the spiritual health of the home and its inhabitants. It may have been an uphill task, but the results are apparent. The positive energy exuded by the people add to the positive energy in the home – a cycle of love and comfort, where the home imbibes the vigour of its people and the people benefit from the positive vibrations thus absorbed – actual testimony to the fact that the person’s health and wellbeing are irrevocably linked to the home atmosphere.

One may have built a house which may take a defined length of time, but building and maintaining a home is a continuous process, requiring great effort and dedication. Difficult though, building one’s dream home is definitely not impossible – whichever aspect of building a home that one may consider – the material or the spiritual. Both are linked with each other and to the physical, physiological and psychological health of the people staying within.

The post Building a home appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Giving up well-paying, lucrative careers may not be as easy as it sounds, but the corporate world and tinsel town abound with examples of people who gave up money-spinning jobs to pursue a career doing what they loved. Soha Ali Khan quit a great, secure job with Citibank to turn full-time actress. Cricketing legend Kapil Dev comes from a family with a prosperous timber business. Dr Sriram Lagoo, the well-known thespian, is a qualified doctor and so was Jabbar Patel, eminent theatre and film director. Pt Ajay Pohankar, classical singer par excellence is an engineer by conventional education. With an Honours Degree in Economics and Masters Degree in Mass Communication, Shahrukh Khan would have ended up being just another high-flying corporate ad executive. He chucked it all for his love of acting to become one of India’s biggest superstars.

What is important? Job satisfaction or money?

The examples cited above are all people who effectively managed to answer one of life’s eternal conundrums: What is more important — job satisfaction or money?

Think about it this way – we typically work from the age of 22 until retirement at around 58 or 60 years. We spend an average of five days a week, eight hours a day [and that’s a conservative estimate!] working. All in all, it makes up quite a significant part of one’s life. Obviously, when we are talking about 40-odd years of working, the drudgery of being forced to do something when you would rather be doing something else can be killing.

Dr Anjali Chhabria, well-known psychiatrist and psychotherapist, endorses this view. She regularly counsels patients who suffer from depression because they pursued a career at the cost of doing something they were deeply passionate about. Eventually, they feel a sense of dissatisfaction, cynicism and dejection. Living becomes a strain and the fear of doing anything new sets in. They tend to blame others for not being able to follow their dreams, causing emotional distress and strain in relationships.

There may be a way

Fortunately, a solution can still be worked out, by integrating both career and passion and finding a middle path, where the person can pay due attention to both – job and passion.

Dr Chhabria cites Dr Tushar Shah as an example. A well-known physician, he has an innate talent for comedy. He gives his flair an outlet by participating regularly in several stand-up comedy shows on television, the Great Indian Laughter Challenge being the most recent one, where he was a finalist. There is, sometimes, a delicate balance to be struck between job satisfaction and financial security. Jyoti Matange, music teacher, gave up a promising career in playback singing because of financial constraints and the pressure of raising two children. She had to take up work as a teacher and turn homemaker. She admits to feeling a twinge of regret now, when she is often complimented for her beautiful voice. With financial security finally coming through and her children grown up, she is making amends now by dedicating herself to music full-time.

A logical viewpoint, because that little voice in your head that says “I wish I had.” is worse than the tough time and struggle faced while trying to pursue your passion. Waiting till retirement or when financial liabilities are over may be too late.

Keep this in mind

Of course, giving up money and the security is tough. With increasingly hectic lifestyles and the prevalent mall culture, spending habits are on an upswing and supporting such lifestyles is pricey. Particularly, people with dependants find it tough to provide well for their families without the financial security that a job provides.

Sarath Babu, entrepreneur and owner of Foodking Catering Services Pvt Ltd, has a word of advice here. People trying to make the switch should try and save money to be able to provide for the basic necessities for self and family for a period of at least two years, because it often takes that long to get established in the new profession.

A couple of years may have to be spent frugally, but at the end, it will be worth the effort.

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The benefits and need of applying make-up are obvious but the question that looms large is – how do you apply make-up and get the right look when you have only, say, around five minutes to get ready and get out of the door? Or when you have an important client meeting coming up in around 10 minutes? Or boss decides to have an impromptu celebration for the latest contract signed at the nearby club – in 20 minutes?

The solution

The solution is simple. If you have all the basic arsenal ready — tinted moisturiser, skin illuminator, liquid foundation, concealer, pressed powder, powder eye shadow – two or three shades, eye liner, mascara, blusher, coloured lip gloss, lipstick, lip liner, a soft sponge applicator for the eye shadow, brush for the blusher and ear buds, blotting tissues and cotton balls to correct any make-up mistakes, face wash and cleanser — you can have three different looks in a jiffy.

Option1: Business chic

The all-day look [the natural, no-make-up look]

This look takes around 5-7 minutes to create and is best for a regular day in the office or just running errands.

1. Cleanse your face; apply moisturiser mixed with a skin illuminator or a tinted moisturizer in even strokes
2. Cover up any blemishes or dark circles with concealer
3. Follow up with pressed powder using a puff. Brush off any excess powder
4. Smile and apply blusher on the apple of the cheeks with light brush strokes towards the ear.
5. Smear powder eye shadow along your lash lines with a soft sponge applicator. Apply one coat of mascara
6. One coat of coloured lip gloss or a light shade of lipstick gives a healthy, natural look.

And there you are – ready to face the new day.

Option 2: Class apart

The classic look [the sophisticated or polished look]

This look is ideal for meetings and takes around 10-12 minutes to do.

Steps 1 to 4 remain the same as the all-day look.

1. Emphasise the eyes. Use two eye shadow colours for the eyes, a light pink or nearly white to apply all over the eyelid including below the eyebrow. The darker shade [brown or any other colour of your preference] is to be applied just over the eyeball area. Use an eye liner on the upper lid. Apply mascara.
2. Apply lip liner and lipstick. Press a tissue paper between your lips to absorb excess lipstick and re-apply lipstick. Put on one coat of lip gloss.

Go on then, show the world the corporate czarina that you really are.

Option 3: Starry Gaze

The party look [the diva or celeb look]

Great for an occasion, it takes around 15 minutes to get this look.

Steps 1 to 4 and 6 remain the same as the classic look.

1. Further accentuate the eyes. Use three shades of eye shadow. Apply the lighter shadow over all the eye area, the medium shade over the eyelid and the darker shade over the eye crease and outer half of the eyelid. Curl your eyelashes. Apply eye liner on both the upper and lower lids. For a more dramatic look, extend the liner beyond the corner of the eyes. Apply mascara.

Apply a glamorous shade of nail polish to your nails – express dry nail paints available save precious time.

Hey, enjoy the party!!!

Whole day make-up

Having applied make-up in a jiffy and gotten the look right, the next part is ensuring that it stays on for the whole day. The good news is that most cosmetics are now designed to last long — water proof mascara and eyeliner, long-stay, non-transfer lipsticks, sheer foundations, and eyeliner, eyebrow and lipstick sealants – all these are a boon to the busy lady. Despite this, if make-up does begin to wear off, then use blotting tissues to absorb excess oil from the face. Smooth out the foundation using a brush and touch up lightly where needed. Re-apply the blusher using very light strokes. Lightly remove smudges from around the eyes, touch up your eyeliner and then your lipstick.

So, go ahead, put make-up to good use and let the beautiful lady within you shine, all in a flash.

The post Make-up in a flash appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.