Umbrella Chic

World's Most Expensive Beauty Buys

2008-05-23T23:44:00.001+05:30

Wondering how to treat yourself this birthday? What about gifting yourself the world's most expensive makeup?? H Couture Beauty's mascara and lipstick is studded with white, blue and pink diamonds in place of their 'usual' Swarovski crystal and gold-plating. The price? A cool US$14 million (about Rs 65,00,00,000). Little wonder that it comes with its own concierge service, 24/7 customer service and complimentary lip and lash refills for a year. If you ask us, we think it should also have a 6-room penthouse, indoor swimming pool, a couple of Rolls Royce and a few small Hawaiian islands thrown in for the price!!

If this sounds like too much, maybe you should just be satisfied with the world's most expensive perfum. Parfum VI - created by famous British perfumer Arthur Burnham - is inspired by the Rolls Royce Phantom VI and comes at a cool $90,000.00 USD (approx Rs. 40, 50,000!!). In return for all that dough you get a box crafted from gold and exotic wood by Rolls-Royce coach builders, with a pure gold key studded with diamonds and rubies. Inside, the fragrance combines "the richness of jasmine, rose from Grasse and secret natural ingredients from ancient recipes to create this most enchanting and irresistible symphony". If you have your heart set on it, hurry - only 173 bottles were ever made!!

Fragrant Reads'

2008-05-23T23:42:00.003+05:30

What is it about perfume that inspires so many books?? The tantalizing mysticism, the heritage, the grandeur, the feminity, the seductiveness, the power to transform personalities and to create or destroy emotions? The fact that fortunes have been won and lost, that men (and women) have loved and hated, hunted and abandoned for perfume? That this is the one ingredient that's scattered even through religion (as an offering to the Gods) and the healing arts (as medicine) for thousands of years? That its the one element which has the power to evoke a memory, create an impression, fulfill a fantasy and transport you from a dreary office desk in Mumbai to an exotic island in Polynesia? Several story-tellers have charted this territory...here are some of our favourites:

The Scent Trail by Celia Lyttelton
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr
Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
Musc by Percy Kemp

And two non-fiction:
Perfume by Susan Irvine
Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances by Michael Edwards

The Soap Dilemmas

2008-05-23T23:42:00.001+05:30

Since I am staying at my parent's place for a few days, away from my stash of bathroom goodies, today morning I ran into the problem of finding a decent bathing soap. Now soap is something that I am seriously compulsive about - after all, thats the one thing that you use every single day and it lays the foundation for everything. And I mean everything - if I have a bath with a good, smooth, fab-smelling soap, I start the day with a spring in my step...and since my morning routine leaves little time for any other indulgences, this is about the only bit of pampering that I can afford!!

However, back to the present, today morning left no options except mom's cupboard. And since she has a mini-coronary when forced to buy any cosmetic thats not purely functional, I approached the task with severe pessimism ...till I chanced upon the Pears Oil Control Soap with Lemon Flower Extracts.

Now this may be an absolute department store soap, but its simply fabulous!! Not only does it smell and feel good on the skin, it also literally cuts through the grease and grime to leave skin seeming fresh and really, really clean. And all for under 20-bucks!!

Btw, did you know that Pears is the world's oldest registered brand? The transparent version was first produced commercially in 1789 by Andrew Pears at a factory in London. The concave shape of the soap is formed by natural shrinkage while the soap is drying, and not due to moulding. In 1851 the company was awarded the prize medal for soap at The Great Exhibition. Today the brand is owned by Levers and the soaps are produced in India. Enjoy!

Hunting for the $500K+ Hubbie??

2008-05-23T23:40:00.000+05:30

Another lesson in how you need both beauty and brains...

A woman recently posted on Craigslist, lamenting why she could not attract a multi-millionaire husband: "What am I doing wrong?...I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am."

She got this response from a high-ranking banker, and his number-crunching analysis of beauty is fast becoming the stuff of internet legends :)

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament.

Firstly, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it. Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why.

What you suggest is a simple trade: You bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful! So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset.

Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain. You're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35, stick a fork in you! So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold... hence the rub... marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking), so I'd rather lease.

In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following: If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades, I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage. I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know."

For the love of chocolate

2008-05-23T23:39:00.000+05:30

Why is it that it takes one hour to burn off 400 calories on the treadmill, but just about 2 minutes to put it all back again via a sumptuous, lip-smackingly delicious bar of chocolate?????? My parents just came back from New York, dragging along the world's largest Hershey's Bar (its just 2.5 kgs - yes, I know, they hate me!!). And of course, I am going to eat it all, even though the 2.5 kg on the chocolate will translate into about a zillion kgs on my already-not-too-slender body...its ok, I will just focus on what it does for my skin :)

Yup, didn't you that chocolate not only prevents free radical damage to keep keep skin young and healthy, it’s also an excellent hydrator, skin softener and detoxifier :) And there is scientific evidence to back this up - a substance’s antioxidant capabilities are measured in ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) Assay units. Green tea has an ORAC value of 1,686 units per 100 grams, while oranges are just 750. Dark chocolate, on the other hand, scores a whopping 13,120, while milk chocolate has about 6,700.

Plus its also excellent at getting rid of stretch marks and cellulite when massaged into the skin locally...and the final irony, cocoa is terrific for detoxifying, waste elimination and metabolism boosting properties, which has it increasingly cropping up in skincare creams like Biotherm DrainChoc, which tackles water retention, and AbdoChoc, which helps firm and tone the stomach. Whoopie :)

The joys of face cleansing oils

2008-05-23T23:38:00.000+05:30

Despite being a committed beauty adventurer, there is one experience I had resisted till now - slathering my face in runny, greasy oil instead of soap, to get it clean.

Then last weekend I ran out of the very last drop of facial cleanser and had no option but to reach for a long-forgotten bottle of Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil and a few seconds later I could literally feel my skin exhale with the joy of having every single pore getting squeaky clean!! I am now a convert.

Actually, it makes sense - after all, what's better than oil to break down and melt away just about any kind of makeup or grime sitting on your face with as little scrubbing or friction as possible? Its especially great for waterproof makeup, which is extremely resistant to water-based cleansers.

Plus, contrary to belief, washing off a facial oil is the easiest thing in the world as it immediately emulsifies (lathers) on contact with water, and rinses away in micro-seconds without a trace of grease anywhere on your face.

The key to using cleansing oil is to make sure your face and hands are absolutely dry before you get anywhere near the bottle. Then smear some onto your face, and gently massage in a circular motion, finally rinsing off with tepid water. And ta da....magically soft and squeakily clean skin!! Rushing out to buy some? Try:

Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil

Chanel Blanc Essential Lightening Cleansing Oil

Lush Ultrabland

MAC Cleanse Off Oil

Audrey Hepburn's Beauty Tips

2008-05-23T23:37:00.001+05:30

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

(Even though this lovely poem has been immortalised as the ultimate beauty manual by Audrey Hepburn (and who would know better about being truly, exceptionally beautiful??) it was actually written by Sam Levenson. Levenson wrote "Time Tested Beauty Tips" for his grandchild, and it just so happened to be one of Audrey's favorite poems. She read it to her children on the very last Christmas Eve she spent here on Earth.)

My favourite beauty quotes....

2008-05-23T23:29:00.000+05:30

Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest. Christian Dior

Even I dont wake up looking like Cindy Crawford! Cindy Crawford

Pretty is something you are born with. But beautiful? That's an equal opportunity adjective. Anonymous

I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin deep. That's deep enough! What do you want, an adorable pancreas? Jean Kerr

The most common error made in matters of appearance is the belief that one should disdain the superficial and let the true beauty of one's soul shine through. If there are places on your body where this is a possibility, you are not attractive...you are leaking! Fran Lebowitz

Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty. Coco Chanel