What in the world is this "BB Cream"???

         
Hey there!!! I know a lot of you have heard about BB cream. People are going crazy about this! Many of you might know about this BB cream already, since the craze has started in Kathmandu as well! So, I thought of writing about it. I, myself was very curious at first when I came to know about this.  With a little help of my cousins reciting in abroad  who are the first hand users of Korean BB cream, little bit of Google, and also little research in Kathmandu’s market; I finally have managed to write about it.

Introduction:

        So, what really is a BB cream?? BB cream stands for Blemish Balm (in Asian countries) or Beauty Balm (in western countries). It promises to give moisturizer, primer, sunscreen, skin treatment, concealer, and foundation (all in one bottle! woooo!), this sounds similar to tinted moisturizer right? I thought so too! Well, the difference isn’t that huge but BB cream has more advantage to its side. Good thing about BB cream compared to tinted moisturizer is that it gives better coverage, acts as a sunscreen, works as a good primer, gives a natural finish and yes, keeps the skin hydrated, or simply let’s just say foundation + skincare = BB cream!!! I really like to use this for daily use because it saves my time and gives that “natural” glowing finish that no foundation can give. 

History:

    BB cream was originally formulated by German dermatologist back in 1960s to help recover their patients who had Lasik surgery. Later, it was introduced to Korean and Japanese celebrities in 1985 which was an expensive beauty secret for their glowing skin, (no wonder why they have that glow all the time!). In the western market first ever BB cream was introduced in the spring of 2011 by well known cosmetic company, “Garnier”. Its multitasking qualities have made people go crazy about it, almost every drugstore and upper market cosmetic companies have BB cream in their product list.

Pro and Cons of BB cream:

I went through various reviews of both Korean and western BB cream from various sites. Compiling all those I have the Pros and Cons of both creams below:

Pros:

• Contains sunscreen
• Moisturizer
• Acts as primer
• Skincare
• conceals the minor zits and blemishes
• Gives a natural glow

Cons:

• Tends to give an oily finish
• Not many choices when it comes to shades
• Light to medium coverage only

After going through all these reviews I decided to explore the Kathmandu's market, which was kind of disappointing. I could only find four- five brands and one of them was clearly a fake one! Anyways, I decided to take "Garnier" and "L'oreal", and I have to say I am happy with the results I am getting. Problems were,"L'oreal" turned out to be a shade lighter than my skin tone, whereas Garnier made it look natural but had an oily finish. So, I usually finish it off with a translucent powder or powder foundation to give an extra coverage with a matte effect.

Here are the lists of some famous BB creams: 

• No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream
• Clarins BB Skin Perfecting Cream
• Decleor Hydra Floral Multi-Protection BB Cream
• Clinique Age Defense BB Cream,
• Witch anti-blemish BB cream
• Estee Lauder Daywear Anti-Oxidant BB Crème
• MAC Prep + Prime Beauty Balm
• Clinique Age Defense BB Cream
• Une Intuitive Touch BB Cream Foundation
• Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector
• Smashbox Camera Ready BB cream
• Skin 79 BB cream
• Missha M Perfect

I had a fun time researching about it. I hope it was informative for ya'll. Let me know if you have any more queries about it. Please feel free to share your experience below. Send in your message on facebook for any beauty tips i'd be more than happy to help!

Much Love Bipashi

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How do I clean my Brushes???

Hey there again!! I know you all are obsessed with make-ups, but do you really clean your brushes once in a while? Umm…I know many of you might be saying NO! We clean ourselves regularly, have our skin care routine regularly but if we don’t clean our brushes regularly we might be inviting a lot of germs which results infections!!! Yuck!!

So, today I am going share how I normally clean my brushes using my regular shampoo (baby shampoo-milder also can be used) and conditioner. Remember, it's just like our hair without the roots, so it needs an extra care with conditioner; it makes the bristles soft and durable. 

Top part of the brush is known as "Bristles" , metallic portion is known as "Ferrule" and the bottom part is known as "Handle". During the entire process of cleaning, we should try and keep the ferrule part dry. This prevents the glue to come in contact with the water, which will make it durable.

We start it with Shampoo and water.

Now, rinse it in water.

Reshaping, when it's wet is another important process. This helps to maintain a good shape of the brush.

Repeat the same process for conditioner as well. 

Here are the few things that you should keep in mind while cleaning your brushes.

•  Never squash your brush while cleaning, it will ruin the shape and durability.
• Always lay flat or handle upright position after washing. This will prevent water to come in contact with the glue.
• Lay the wet brushes on paper towel or Newspaper, it will easily absorb water and will save some time.

I usually follow these steps to clean my brushes. I hope you guys like it. Please feel free to share your experience below. Send in your message on facebook for any beauty tips i'd be more than happy to help!

Much Love Bipashi

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My favorite Sugar Scrubs!!!

Hey peeps! First of all I would want to thank you all so much, for showing me so much of love and support in my very first blog! It really means a lot to me! :) I will do my best to keep you guys updated. In my previous blog, I shared few of my makeup tips that I usually follow during summer. Make-ups do conceal most of the flaws that we have but we should never neglect the skin care routine. Men or women, “Perfect & flawless skin” is everybody’s dream. There are different spas and salons which provides various skin care routines. Well, I am not going to talk about any spas here, but instead I will be presenting to you, a few tips on skin care. 

When it comes to skin care, I would like to say “GO GREEN”, I love to use all natural and organic homemade remedies. If you are lazy enough to make it at home, you can find lots of Organic and Ayurvedic products in the market but it just lightens your wallet which is never good! So today, I want to share with you, few homemade scrubs made from sugar which are easily available and also very easy to use.

We use scrubs to exfoliate the dead cells. Exfoliation is the most important part of the skin care routine. It not only removes the dead cells but also removes the excess oils, and clears the entire blockage on the pores. But exfoliating skin every day is a big No! No!

•  For oily skin, exfoliate 2 times a week.
• For normal to combination skin, exfoliate 2-3 times a month.
• For sensitive skin, exfoliate once a month to the max

Always use powdered sugar (icing sugar) or granulated sugar for your face and neck area, rough sugar or non-powdered sugar can irritate your face, coz facial skin is very soft and delicate comparing to the rest of the body. If you have sensitive skin, use the powdered sugar. For the body scrub you can use either of them – rough or granulated sugar.

Rough Sugar          Powdered Sugar

Sugar is a natural gentle exfoliate which is rich in glycolic acid that helps to even out the skin tone, clears the pores, improves the overall skin texture by removing the dead and dull cells giving an instant glow.  

1.     SUGAR with honey and lemon

Honey

Honey is natural source of anti-oxidants which is a perfect age-defying product; it locks water into the skin keeping the complexion hydrated. It also has the anti-bacterial properties which is good for acne-prone skin and sensitive skin.

Lemon

Lemon is a natural bleaching agent which is rich in vitamin C. It is commonly used to lighten the skin tone, very helpful for removing tans and freckles. It is also a natural astringent which tightens the pores which is beneficial especially for acne-prone skin.

You’ll need:

• 2 tea spoons of sugar
• 1 tea spoon of lemon
• 1 tea spoon of honey

Instructions:

Add honey and lemon in a bowl and mix it well. Then, add sugar to it. The mixture should have medium thick consistency; it shouldn’t be too thick or thin. Add few drops of lemon and honey if it’s too thick and some sugar if it’s too thin. Leave it for about 7-10 minutes so that the mixture binds well.

Start applying on your face and neck area in a gentle and circular motion for about 2-3 minutes, skipping the under eye and eye area. Now, leave the mixture for about 7-10 minutes and rinse it off with cool water. Apply a suitable moisturizer after that.

For body scrub, pay extra attention to elbows, knees, feet and hands (nails and cuticles) and rub in circular motions for 3-5 minutes and rinse it off with cool water.

    2. SUGAR with coconut oil

Coconut oil

Coconut is an effective moisturizer on all types of skin especially for dry skin. It prevents dryness and flaking of the skin. It also helps in preventing premature aging due to its anti-oxidant properties.

You’ll need:

• 1 tea spoon of sugar
• 1 tea spoon of coconut oil 

Instructions:

Mix sugar and coconut oil in a bowl and whisk it rapidly till we get medium thick consistency. Leave it for about 7-10 minutes before applying onto your skin.

Now, apply the mixture on your face in a gentle circular motion for about 2-3 minutes (excluding the under eye and eye area) and rinse it off with the cool water. Don’t forget to apply the suitable moisturizer after scrubbing.

Sugar-coconut oil Scrub

Now enjoy your tempting silky and soft skin!!! :)
These are my personal favorite sugar scrubs that I normally use. I hope it helps you all!!! Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below. Send in your message on facebook for any beauty tips I’d be more than happy to help!

Much Love Bipashi

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Make-up Tips for Summer !

Hi everyone! I’ve been getting a lot of queries on when would I be publishing my own blog. So finally I have managed to start it. For starters, I really would like to thank all my friends and family for their utmost support and love, and my fans who have motivated me to start this blog. I hope my blog turns out to be useful in your daily lives. I will be posting about makeup/beauty tips, hair and skin care tips and also styling tips.

Makeup is every girl’s best friend, some like it loud, some like it natural; it’s all about individual’s choice. As for me, I like to experiment and try loud or natural, it totally depends on my mood and the time. And, talking about time, yes! Summer is here! Summer reminds me of tanned skin, bronzy look and bright colors. 

So, here are some makeup tips for this summer

1. It is quite natural to get tanned during summer, so get at least two shades of foundations. Use the darker shade for the summer and the lighter one for the winter. Here are few shades that I use according to my skin tone (coz it tans easily!)

Powder Foundations

Cream Foundations

2.  Bronzer, a must have product for summer. It gives that sexy sun kissed glow on your cheeks. It should look natural with one or two shades darker than your foundation and make sure you don’t apply excess product. Remember that in the makeup world, “Less is always more”. Here is a good example of how excess use of bronzer spoils the entire look. The picture on the left, Catherine Zeta Jones looks perfect with the bronzer whereas the picture on the right, she looks unnaturally dark without her cheek’s bone being highlighted.

RIGHT!

WRONG!

3. Another must have product is the water proof mascara. It prevents that unnecessary smudges, especially on those hot and sweaty days; if you are not a big fan of them, use your favorite mascara and finish it off with the water proof mascara; it does prevent the smudges to some extent. 

4.Avoid using pencil and liquid eye liners if you have oily skin, use powder liners (Surma) or gel liners instead.

Gel Eye Liners

5. Avoid using excessive lip gloss alone, it easily transfers to the upper and lower lip area, which makes you look extra sweaty; use matte lipstick instead, it controls the colors from smudging. Dab some gloss on center of the lips with your ring finger for some glossy effect. 

These are the few things that I do during  summer. I hope it helps to you all!

Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below. Send in your message on facebook for any beauty tips i'd be more than happy to help!

Much Love Bipashi

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