FESTIVE EDITION

SAREE DRAPING STYLES

Shailee would like to share few most popular ways of draping a sari in this festive season.

Gujarati way of wearing saree: This way of draping the saree is not only adopted in Gujarat but many northern states like UP, MP Rajasthan and Bihar also adopt this style. In this way of wearing the saree, the pleats face right instead of left. The pallu also comes from the back to the front from the right side. The edge of the pallu is tucked at the back securing it properly. This style of draping works very well when you want to display an elaborate border. Sometimes a plane silk or tussar saree with full sleeve blouse and rustic accessories can give a modern look to this traditional style of draping.

The Mumtaz style: Old is gold, if you believe in this saying then who can forget Mumtaz Style of drapping.Popularized by the charming film star Mumtaz, this way of wearing your saree involves draping it tightly around your lower body several times, to give it a narrow look and dramatically fling the remaining fabric over your shoulder. This style bares your midriff and makes for a very slow walk.

Anamika Khanna’s Sari with Pants: If restraint is not your strong suit, this unique sari is for you, which, to quote the cliché, looks as vintage as it does modern. It’s been teamed with strong shoulder pads, chic embroidered blouses, long jackets and waistcoats.This new look is the flavor of the season.

Bengali/Devdas style: Originally from Bengal, but popularized by the film “Devadas” this drape is done with two large pleats in front and the pallu wrapped twice around the top. Traditionally the pallu end was weighed down with a house key – usually of the heavy skeleton variety. Nowadays, however, there are many variations to this style. What’s more, it has less folds and tucks that matter and it all crushes down as you go about your day so you don’t really look as balloon-like as you may think you do. This style of saree is highly recommended in this coming festive season.

Deepika Padukone’s Sari draping in Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani: This simple way of draping sari can give you an extra oomph by just altering here and there. Double Fold the pallu , where the border should be seen from the outside and secure it with a pin near the waist and taper it towards the front. It gives you an illusion of a slim waist line.

Festive Edition - Blouses

Give a new look to your blouses

Hello everyone, Shailee is back with a new festive edition just for you. In this edition we will try to cover all the latest trends and styles that you can carry this festive season.

September marks the starting month for all the beautiful festivals of India. Be it Navratri, Durga Puja or Diwali, every occasion holds a special place in our hearts. Along with all the celebrations, we also ensure that we look our best on these occasions. Shailee will try it’s best to bring you the latest trends in makeup, sarees, blouses and hair styles in this festive edition. In today’s article we will cover the latest trends in blouses.

Saree is one of the oldest and traditional dresses all over the world. The concept of Saree was foremost derived from the Indian culture. A woman looks exceptionally elegant and graceful in this costume. Gone are the days when ladies restricted themselves to traditional Sarees with blouses. This Indian wear has taken a leap into the modern world and Sarees have become a fashion statement even in the western world. Designers from across the world have made this traditional Indian wear stylish and trendy. But however, it is a fact that a Saree is imperfect without a perfect blouse. For selecting a blouse the initial thing is to consider the texture and pattern of the Saree so that it matches well with the Saree.

This festive season, bid farewell to all the old blouse patterns and look stylish by giving a twist to your saree blouses. Off late some Bollywood celebrities and the fashionistas were spotted sporting some stylish blouse styles and designs which indeed caught our eyes and they are as follows:

1. Boat Neck Blouses: Boat neck blouses have become the latest trend. They give a different look to the entire get up. This type of blouses goes well with mod graphics sarees as well as traditional silk sarees. This neck line looks the best with full sleeves and sleeves till above the elbow.
   
2. Long Sleeve Blouses: This type of blouses is best suited for the weather conditions in US during the festive monthsJ. Ace fashion designer, Sabyashachi made this blouse pattern a fashion statement in Cannes film festival. Since then most of the celebrities are seen carrying this blouse gracefully at many occasion. It is very important that the blouse is fitted well as a little loose fitting can make this style look clumsy.
   
3. Collar Blouses: Gone are the days where collars were restricted to just shirts, these days collars are making a style statement for the traditional Indian blouses and I must say if carried off well these blouses make a big fashion statement. Aishwarya Rai was seen sporting a collared blouse at the Cannes film festival. Sonam looked gorgeous with a collared blouse with a Masaba Saree,This style adds a mod and different look to the traditional saree.
   
4. Lace Blouses: Lace sarees and blouses are the latest trend these days. Try experimenting a lace blouse with a lace, silk, georgette  or a cotton saree. It adds a vintage touch to your look and looks fab with a simple saree.
   
5. Jackets: A latest trend is to wear an additional jacket matching with your blouse. This is again perfect for the cold weather conditions in these months in the western part of the World. This trend was started by Sonam Kapoor in Cannes film festival and we thought she looked like an absolute diva in a blouse cum jacket attire.
   

Style is all about experimenting with new looks and styles which suits you, so go ahead and experiment with these new blouse trends and share if you find some more interesting trends.

Timeless Elegance

Phulkari Work

Phulkari is an ancient embroidery technique, practiced on a large scale in the state 

of Punjab. Phulkari or flower work, was also the synonym for embroidery in the ancient period. Traditional weavers excelled this art and made beautiful flower carvings on the piece of fabric.

Manish Malhotra’s latest collection for Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week, titled ‘Threads of Emotions’, featured this beautiful artwork called, Phulkari. Like his previous collection, where he displayed chikankari and kashmiri work, this time too he did a fantastic job in embezzling the stylish apparels with this beautiful embroidery work. What we liked the most was that he used the phulkari work in geometric prints which made it stand out.

Among the models who worked on the ramp, we thought Esha Gupta stood out in a gorgeous black and red Phulkari saree. We also liked the stylish jacket which was adorned by Jacqueline Fernandez . The jackets with an Indian flavor are a hot favorite this season. We feel it gives a classy feel to the Indian wear. We also loved the “ anarkali over the cigarette pants” look .

The men’s collection was also captivating. We felt Siddharth Malhotra looked the best amongst all the male models. The dhoti and the bandh gala look is a hot favorite amongst men these days.

Sonam Kapoor also looked charming in  Payal Pratap designed phulkari outfits which she wore for promoting her latest block buster, “Bhaag Milkha Singh”. However we totally loved Kareena’s black phulkari outfit designed by Payal Pratap. We felt she looked sleek and classy with a minimal accessory look. We really like the  creativity  that Payal Pratap adds to the  Indian outfits.

This multicolored motif is surely here to stick around for some time. Which outfit you think looked the best?

Style Check : Skin Care

HOW TO REMOVE TANS

Summer is all about vacation, sleepovers, beaches, water fights, tank tops, flip flops, lemonade, sunglasses, taking pictures, bikinis, Ice-cream, summer breeze, camps. shorts, summer breeze, belly tops, Sand castles. short hair, mud fights,  pool parties, sun kissed hair, palm trees, Barbeques, clear blue skies, concerts.. Make it count!

And while we are out enjoying all these there is one thing which really bothers us and that is how to get rid of the summer tan. It amazes us to see how some of our American friends spend hours lying on the beach getting themselves tanned while how much ever we (Indians) try to keep the sun tan away from us by using several sun block sprays, lotions etc it still leaves its mark on us. Over the years we have tried several sun blocks and sunscreen lotions but we haven’t come across any lotions which actually manage to keep our skin color intact. Hence we thought anyways now that we have the tan let’s find out some solutions on how we can get rid of it.

So we researched and also tried some of the following tricks and it did work on us, so go ahead and try these magical tricks in case you too want to get rid of that ugly tan.

Here are few tips to treat sun tanned skin :

Grate potato and mix it well with cold milk and apply to the sun tanned area and leave it for 20 minutes to dry and then wash it well with cold water.

Mix cucumber juice and turmeric powder and leave it on the skin for 20 minutes or till it dries and then wash it with ice water or cold water.

Mix lemon juice and rosewater (5tbsp each) and apply it to the sun damaged area and leave it overnight and wash it next day morning with cold water.

Mix saffron or turmeric powder with 2tbsp of lemon juice and make a paste of it and the apply it to the tanned area and leave it for 20 minutes and then wash it with ice water or cold water.

Mix gram flour(besan), lemon juice and 1 drop of olive oil/coconut oil make a paste of it and apply it to the sun tanned area and keep it for 15 minutes and then wash it the cold  water.

Tomato juice and lemon juice both in equal quantity mix it together and leave it on the sun tanned area for 20 minutes or till it dries and then wash it with cold water.

Mix yogurt and orange juice well and keep it on the affected area for 20 minutes and then wash it with cold water.

Mix multani mitti, cahndan powder and rosewater, make a paste of it and then apply to the sun kissed area for 20 minutes and then wash it with cold water.

Refrigerate cabbage or lettuce leaves soaked in water and then put those cold water soaked leaves on the sun tanned area as long as you can keep.

Coconut water is a good remedy for sun tanned skin.

Aloe Vera Gel removes sun tan without any irritation from the skin.

Butter milk also helps in removal of tan from the skin.

Ice and cold water also remove sun tan.

Repeat the above mentioned remedies for alternate days for two weeks and soon you will notice that your skin color has regained its original tone.

Do share if you know more of such remedies.

Style Statement

Make a style statement with “Brooches” 

Brooch is a beautiful piece of decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to hold them close. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and can be worn in multiple ways. A gorgeous brooch can change the look of the entire get up drastically and can be a style statement by itself.

You can accessorize a simple sari with a brooch to give a touch of elegance to the entire look. A brooch can change the look of a simple sari. Shailee recommends you to not add a brooch if your sari has a lot of embroidery work on it.

When worn with a jacket or a top it adds an extra zing to the entire look.

It can also be attached to shoes to make it look more stylish.

Brooch can also be used as a hair accessory. It gives a vintage look to a simple looking hair band. You can also add a brooch pin to your hair bun to make it look pretty. 

You can also pin your feather bonnet with a brooch to get that royal look.

You can also wear an elegant brooch on a one colored dress or a top for an evening dinner or a cocktail party.

Wearing a noticeable brooch with a little heavy makeup and without any other jewelry does make a perfect style statement.

Brooches are never out of fashion. Since time immemorial men and women wear brooches.Every period has its own style and grandeur to it…Victorian era brooches had carvings of King and Queen, the latest buzz are Kundan brooches with pearl drops.

Brooches have become a quintessential for every men and women’s wardrobe.  Even men have been seen sporting brooches on Indian outfits, e.g. on sherwanis and on turbans.You can also add a brooch to your jacket for an evening party.  It surely adds a Royal elegance to the look.

Brooches can adorn every occasion and add that extra glam to your look, but be careful in choosing the right brooch for your style.

 Let us know your feedback on this style statement.

Style Check: Skin Care

Home Made Remedies to Combat Acne:

Life can never be as sad as spotting a sudden ugly bump on our face the first thing in the morning, even worse, if we have a special appointment that day. All of us have gone through this or may be some of us are going through this. Yes friends, we are talking about the “acne syndrome”.  These ugly spots never bothered us till we entered our teens, just when we needed to look good ;). Oh yes.. for those of you who thought acne and pimples were just a teen thing, hold on to your guns because they we’ll come back to haunt you again in your twenties, thirties and sometimes even in your forties. I guess they never learned to say good bye. So what do you do when these pimples suddenly show up from nowhere? Trust me the first thing that comes in my mind is to hide under the blanket and ask myself why God is so unfair to me :p, some of us get busy trying to find a reason to cancel their plans of going out that day while some of us try to hide it under consealers and heavy makeup foundation just to see it getting worse the next day. So yeah we all have our own acne stories.

The worse part about having an acne on the face is that it stays on for few days.There are plenty of products in the market for acne treatment but most of the products make the whole face skin go dry and dead…Trust me we won’t blame you if you ever got induced to buy the Proactive acne treatment products by seeing those believable ads on the T.V., only wished if those claims were true and those products freed us from our worst nightmare.

So what’s the plan B?? Plan B is a mix of some easily accessible, less expensive and more effective overnight acne pimple relief solutions that we have got just for you .. But before we give away these trade secrets , make sure that you consult a dermatologist for a prolonged acne problem and simultaneously try out these easy overnight homemade remedies:

·   Toothpaste: Apply toothpaste on the acne and leave it overnight and then wash it with warm water next day morning. Use a plain white toothpaste and not a gel.

·   Aspirin Powder: Mix aspirin powder with water and make a thick paste and leave it until dry and then wash it with Luke warm water. Apply green tea moisturizer after washing your face.

·     Baking Soda: Mix baking soda and water well, apply on the acne and leave it till dry wash it with warm water.

·       Tomato Pulp: Mix the pulp of a tomato and a cucumber juice well and leave it on the acne or on the oily zone for 30 mins and then wash it with warm water.

·         Cucumber: Mix cucumber juice, oatmeal powder and yogurt well and leave it on the acne till dry and then wash it with water .

·           Strawberry: Grind strawberry and mix it with honey and leave it for 20 mins on the acne, you can even apply it to the whole face and then wash it with warm water.

·        Garlic: Garlic is too strong when applied on the acne or pimple and it may irritate your skin for some time and it might make your skin turn red but it is an awesome remedy for acne. Leave it on skin for 5-7 mins and then rub ice on it.

·        Cumin Seed: Cumin seed paste is also good for acne relief.

·       Basil Leaves: Mix turmeric powder few pinches, saffron, milk(1tbsp),sandalwood powder (1tbsp) and basil leaves paste to make a mask. Apply this mask on your face for 20 mins to help you get rid of acne soon. Use this pack on a daily basis.

·       Cinnamon Powder: Cinnamon Powder and honey mix it well and leave it for 15 mins in the affected area and then wash it with warm water.

·      Aloe Vera Gel: Aloe Vera gel is the most effective way to treat acne. Aloe Gel are easily available in stores.

·        Mint Leaves: Mint leaves paste when applied on the affected area for 30 mins, it gives a very cool and soothing feeling and helps get rid of acne scar as well.

·        Coriander Juice: Make a paste of coriander and turmeric powder and apply it on the affected area. Please note turmeric powder should be used very little. As we know turmeric is also used in wounded areas to help in healing faster.

·      Rice Flour: Mix rice flour with water or milk and apply it all over your face and let it dry and then wash it well with warm water.

·        Clay Mask: Clay mask (Multani mitti powder)mixed with rose water and camphor powder(a pinch of camphor)when applied all over the face and neck it really makes skin looks healthy and bright. It can be done on a regular basis to get maximum result.

So next time you see that ugly bump no need to go under cover, use these overnight treatment to combat acne and enjoy life and yes don’t forget to drink at least 2 liters of water every day. 

Home made remedies

6 Easy Homemade Treatments for Hair:  

·      Egg: Egg white (1 egg ) is a rich source of protein and can be used for hair treatment when mixed well with lemon juice (I tsp.) and olive oil (1tbsp) and left on hair for 45 mins and rinsed well with water.

·      Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise is not only used in salad but when coated on hair for 30mins and rinsed with cold water it leaves your hair smooth and shiny.

·      Yogurt: When yogurt(3-4 tbsp ,depends on the length and volume of your hair)  mixed well with coconut oil (1tbsp) left for 30 mins to soak in and then rinsed with water, it gives your hair that extra bounce .

·      Avocado: Avocado is good for skin and hair both if eaten at least once week , but it can also serve as a good source of protein if mixed with lemon juice (1 tsp) and olive oil (I tbsp.) left on hair for 30mins to dry and then rinse it with cold water.

·      Henna: Henna Powder when soaked in warm tea liquor, lemon juice (1 tsp), yoghurt (1 tbsp.), egg (1), mustard oil (1tsp) and left to mix well overnight and then applied on your hair next day and left for 30 mins on your hair can really make your hair silky smooth and soft. It also adds color to your hair. A word of caution it should not be left on hair more than 30 mins, otherwise it will leave your hair dry and rough.

·     Onions: An onion is an amazing natural remedy to fight hair fall and also can prove effective to increase hair growth. You might be thinking how to use the onion on your hair especially when it smells awful? But think of it this way: your hair fall will reduce by 75% in just three washes. Moreover, if you already see your hair line receding or some bald patches showing up, isn’t it better to opt for using something you would find in your own home instead of spending more money at the salon where they promise you great results with regular hair spas but which usually don’t work out ?

·      These treatments could be done once a month or at the most twice. Frequent protein treatments may make your hair hard and really rough. Try doing these treatments in moderation and we will find an improvement in your hair quality in two months.

Timeless Elegance - Dhakai Sarees

Style it up with Jamdani Dhakai

So friends we are back again, this time to talk on a beautiful piece of cloth, called Dhakai.

A Dhakai is a type of sari (traditional cloth for women of South Asia) made with cotton and is the most intensive form of handloom weaving. The name comes from the Dhaka city, capital of Bangladesh, where this type of sari is usually made.

The unique hand technique of weaving was called Jamdani in the old days, while the weave was called Dhakai. Dhakai sari hit rock bottom during the 19^th century due to decline of Mughal dynasty and export of  low quality yarn from Europe.

Gradually this piece of craft is reviving its past glory and number of Bollywood celebrities were spotted in this traditional Bangladeshi Dhakai Jamdani

This year, Vidya walked the ramp for Vikram Padnis  at the Lakme fashion week  wearing a gorgeous black Jamdani Dhakai with multi colored thread pattern work. As usual she looked elegant and splendid.

Priyanka Chopra wore an orange Dhakai with a contrast green blouse in her forthcoming movie, Gunday and we felt she looked simple yet ravishing.

Rani Mukherjee looked impressive wearing a beautiful pink Dhakai with intricate work on it .

Shobha De was seen wearing a radiant red Dhakai at an event, and she totally stole the show.

 Shailee tips to get that perfect look :

1.    Team a white/black Dhakai (without any golden embroidery work) with a dark red raw silk blouse (preferably sleeveless/three fourth sleeves), a red bindi and a long golden chain. If you are wearing a sleeveless blouse then leave your hair open with some soft curls. You can also add a red flower on one side of the open hair, (very similar to the look that Priyanka chopra is carrying in the pic.)

2.    Team a white/black Dhakai (with golden embroidery work on it) with a golden blouse, with a chunky golden neckpiece or a chunky golden jhumka (try either one of them), hair  could open or  tied in a low knit bun. If you are going for a wedding or  being part of a festival, you can glorify this look by adding a gajra around the bun. Carry a nice golden potli with it to complete the look.

  

3. If your Dhakai has golden embroidery on it, then Shailee suggests that you accessorize it only with gold/golden jewellery. 

4.    If your Dhakai has more of white embroidery on it, then Shaillee recommends that you wear pearl jewellery with it to get that classy look.

5.    If you are thinking which color Dhakai you should pick then let us tell you that black, red and white Dhakais are the must haves and they will never go out of fashion. A red Dhakai is becoming a must have in every bride’s trousseau.  

6.  You can also try contrast colored blouses with the Dhakais. Go for brocade or raw silk material for your blouses. They are the latest fad and don’t forget to put a contrast round bindi matching with your blouse.

7.  Try out the latest, “kuchi print Jamdani”, it is a white Jamdani Dhakai with colored borders, pallu and pleats and it has white thread pattern work all over. It comes in various colors but the popular ones are red and white, yellow and white and black and white.

8.   Also try out the half silk Jamdanis with multi colored thread pattern work and golden embroidery work all over.