How I Met The Sun

Hello Everyone!!!

How is the Sunday going??? Mine was okey-dokey . Went shopping in the evening and that is all I did today.But last Sunday was super fun. I attended my second Indimeet - The #Neutrogena Indiblogger Meet.
The meet was organised at JW Marriott Hotel, Juhu in the afternoon to introduce Neutogena's Ultrasheer Sunblock.

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The registrations started at around 1:30 pm and this meet unlike the last one had a huge participation with around 150 Bloggers.

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We were all given Neutrogena's Deep Whitening Mask to cover our face and relax before the event started . Also they gave us a tiny yellow umbrella witha small strip of paper to write our names and submit it back. Why?? I'll tell that a little later :)

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After everyone registered the meet started. It started in the usual Indi-intro style. What is that?? Well the Indimeets are not like the usual bloggers meet - no formal introductions. Instead they come up with crazy ideas, shuffle bloggers and make them run here and there and in the end you get to know the fellow bloggers but in a fun filled way :D.

After the introduction and some more fun activities Mr. Ganesh ( please correct me if I goofed up with the name)  from Neutrogena welcomed us and also introduced us to new Ultrasheer very quickly.

After that came in the tiny yellow umbrellas I told you about in the beginning of the post. We were all asked to pick up one umbrella each and find the blogger whose name was written on it. The task was to find the blogger and get to know about them. Later they called out names randomly and the person who had the umbrella with the names had to tell what they knew about the person. If you know them well. You get prizes. Isn't that cool??

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What next??? Indi team won't let you sit just like that :P. So came in the next activity. Everyone was asked to form groups according to the no. of holes in the tiny umbrella we had. Mine had 2 holes and so I went to the table no. 2. We were a group of 25 bloggers - the largest and the best :D. 

Now there were two group activities. The first one was to name our group and also prepare anthem  based on the theme - Fun in the Sun. Every group name was supposed to have "SUN" in it. Since we had a Sardar boy - Ratnadeep, in our group we name our group Sun Of Sardar (Full on filmy :P )  Mrs. Suranga Date wrote down a very catchy Bollywood inspired anthem and Vaisakhi sang it so well that we were declared the winners. Yayyy!!! 

Son of Sardar 

The second group activity was an attack - defend game. One team was given UV balls ( There is nothing like UV balls. We were given the smiley balls which they named UV balls :P) while the other team was given umbrellas, some were regular one while the others had holes in them. One team attacked with the ball ( Harmful UV rays) while the other team tried to defend ( the umbrellas with the holes represented regular sunscreen while the full protection was for Neutrogena's Ultrasheer - complete protection) Loved the way they incorporated the concept in a fun filled activity and even more loved throwing balls at the opponent team :P. At the end of the activity the best defending team was declared the winner.

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So after so many activities came in tea break. The food was in one word AWESOME. Lip-smacking kebabs, sandwiches, desserts and coffee :)

After the tea break the meet continued. There was a celebrity guest whom we got meet and talk to - the pretty Tara Sharma. She looked gorgeous in the yellow dress. She spoke about her TV show, how she had started blogging ( yes she blogs too), etc etc. 

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After all this fun was the gyan time. We had a practicing Dermatologist  Dr. Parekh.

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He demonstrated using UV sensitive film how Ultrasheer provides complete protection compared to  the other fairness creams and sunscreens in the market. One can clearly see how well Neutogena's  Ultrasheer works.  The Ultrasheer provides complete sun protection against UVA/UVB . It also contains patented Helioplex (it is a broad spectrum formulation for UVA and UVB protection using Avobenzone and Oxybenzone.) that works like an invisible shield to give superior protection. A detailed and complete review would be up soon.

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Here are a few important points to be noted when applying sunscreen by Dr. Parekh

• Only a high SPF is not necessary. The sunscreen should give you complete protection from UVA/UVB.
• Always apply sunscreen liberally on exposed area 15-30 minutes before heading out in sun
• Reapply after every 2 hours.
• Neutrogena's Ultrasheer is safe to use on kids above 3 years of age.

Be sure to to include these when applying sunscreen :)

And with this the event almost came to an end. Yes almost. What is left??? A crazy indiblogger harlem shake video. I won't do much of talking and let the video speak. The official video is not yet but here is a small trailer shot by fellow blogger Pankaja Date.

Leaving you with some more pics :)

Youngest and the cutest member of Indi -team. She is cho chweet :)

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All the bloggers together :)

I came home back with these. Indiblogger t-shirt, the volleyball I won, Ultrasheer products and a 4 GB pendrive :)

And this is How I Met The Sun. It was a fun filled afternoon.A big thank you Neutrogena and Indiblogger. You can checkout more pictures of the event on Neutrogena and Indiblogger Facebook Page.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Would love to read your comments. See you soon :)

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Mumbai For Women

Hello Everyone!!!

On 30 March, Saturday, Indiblogger in association with The Times Of India had organised a Bloggers Meet at the Times Of India building ( Yes the heritage building that will complete 175 yrs this year :D ). The meet was organised to discuss the issues affecting the women in the city. Born and brought up in Mumbai I was excited to attend this meet as it was something about me.
This was my first Indimeet  and I was surprised and glad at the same time to see active participation from Men in a meet that concerned women.

The meet started with bloggers introducing themselves, some fun activities and was followed by a a serious and very meaningful discussion on various issues concerning women - from safety concerns, security, independence, domestic violence, the rise in the no. of rape, molestation and eve teasing cases to the lack of sanitation facilities and health problems.
One by one all these issues were discussed. The bloggers as well as the reporters from Times Of India cited real life experiences and then the possible solutions were discussed too.
The meeting concluded with a heart touching video by Times Of India which in less than 2 minutes conveys what every women in the city feels.

               

I left the venue in the evening with the memories of a great afternoon, some new friends and a BIG QUESTION in my head.

"What women want from this city?"

"What I want from the city that has been home all my life?"

Of all the things discussed at the meet the most important change that I want to see is - I want my city to be SAFE and not safer than the capital or any other city. No comparison, no compromise when it comes to safety.So that my parents don't start worrying if I don't reach home before 10. So that like my brother I too can go out at anytime of the day or night. So that I don't have to be extra cautious when walking through a crowded lane.

Am I really asking for too much?? Smiles instead of lecherous stares? To make my home feel like home?

If we (both men and women) work together this can easily be achieved. 

All the ladies reading this - You have to stand for yourself if you expect someone else to stand by you. I know this is easy to say but yes keeping a mum, letting someone get away after doing something wrong to you will not help. Be strong, know your rights and break the silence. For e.g Times of India shared a pan railway helpline no that actually works. Whether you have lost something or there is some miscreant in your compartment call them on 9833331111 and they will be there to help you. And yes this no. is not just for you to read. Save it right now and share it with the people you know.You never know you may need this no. too.

Men have to break the silence too. If you want someone to save your sister, your wife, your mother, your daughters someday, come forward to help others today.

I know this is a distant dream but surely an achievable one if we work together.

Apart from safety the next thing that is very important is health problems. Women tend to ignore their health as they are busy taking care of their family. Please do not overlook this. Skip that party, cancel your parlor appointments or something else and get a complete health check up done. To take care of others you have to be fit yourself.

Would love to read your comments / suggestions.


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All's Well That Ends Well

Hey Gals!!!
Summers are here and Mumbai is HOT right now :P.  Hows the weather on your side?

Before I start with today's post here is a WARNING for you : This is going to be a looooooong post :P  but not a boring one. So read on :D

Can you guess from the post's title what it is about??

• Love story?
• Movie?
• Novel?

No... none of the above. It is about....HAIRS..Yes you heard it right - Hairs.

We all love happy beautiful endings, don't we?? Isn't healthy shiny hair from root to tip every girl's dream?? Yes it is and one villain that spoils this is  SPLIT ENDs.

I hate split ends (who doesn't :P). Till now the only solution I knew to get rid of split ends was to trim my tresses :/

Recently Dove came up with new Dove Split End Rescue System. Here is what the product claims -

Introducing the new Dove Split End Rescue System, its 1/4 moisturizing milk nourishes your hair and its breakthrough split-end technology corrects hair damage to give you up to 4x less split-ends*. So, with Dove have just beautiful hair from end to end.

Really ??? A shampoo that ends your split end woes ??? I have received a sample from IndiBlogger. Dove suggests to take  the 2- Step Dove Braid Test to check if the ends of your hair are damaged. I did and sadly I have damaged ends :( :( :( </3 .
I am currently using the Dove Split End Rescue System and after three washes, I must say it doesn't disappoint. Yes they don't feel rough now *happy dance* More on that later. Keep watching this space for a detailed review :)

But then there was a phase I had healthy hairs end to end.  No split ends, no dandruff, no hair fall. Just beautiful shiny hairs (miss those days). When??? Remember school days??  No styling, No chemical. Every morning Mom would braid your hairs ( Yes that was the only hairstyle allowed in schools. You get to leave hair open only if you enroll in KJO's school :P :P )

I have so many good - bad braid memories to share :D. I ll start with the bad ones first and get to the good ones later. I want to end this post on a good note ( Read the title again ;) )

• The Grumpy Teacher 

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In my school it was compulsory for all the girls with shoulder length or longer hair to tie two plaits using red ribbons ( yes red while other schools had black :/ ) . And everyday Mrs. XYZ, ( whats in a name :P ) our P.T. teacher would come on rounds to check if all the girls were following the rules or not. I never saw her punishing anyone but we had heard scary stories from others about the severe punishments. One of the scariest punishment I had heard of was that she had once cut a girl's hair with scissors.I don't know if it was true but I was too scared to take a chance. So all my school life I  followed  had to follow only one hairstyle - two plaits with red ribbons :/

• No Papa!!!!! 

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I guess this happened when I was in class four. The first and the last time I let Daddy touch my hair. For some reason  Mummy was not home and he had to get me ready for school.He somehow managed to do other things but he just couldn't braid my hair. One up the other down, too loose once and too tight the other time. He just couldn't do it even after several attempts. He even tried convincing me that my hair looked fine. But then I was a stubborn little girl. I can eat burnt bread but I won't go to school with funny looking hair. Luckily an Aunty staying next-door came to my rescue :D. Daddy you are my hero and I Love You :) but no you are not allowed to touch my hair :P.

• Faux pas

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If you are 90's kid you will know this. Girls would sport this many braid hairstyle??? 2, 3, 4, and so on tied with colorful bands / clips at the end??? I did that too. It was so much "In-Fashion" then. It started with 3 and then one fine day I had made mummy tie 8 braids. I thought it was cool then. But looking back at the picture I realize how closely I resembled OCTOPUS :P. But then it was cute then... Okay it wasn't :P. It was my first faux pas :P And no I am not sharing my Octopus wala pic on blog :D. 

• Mommy Knows Best

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Today I have learnt so many hairstyles. I can do the messy bun, the donut bun, fishtail braid , french braid , etc, etc. But when in school I couldn't even do the regular 3 - strands braid properly. Don't look at me like that !!! There was no YouTube back then :P . My mother would do it for me every morning from class 1 to class 10. And everyday it turned out perfect. Neither too tight nor too loose. Perfect 10 / 10 braids. I don't know how mothers manage to do everything so perfectly. Love you mommy :)

There are so many more braid stories to share - 

How Naani (grandmother) would oil and braid everyone's (me and my cousins) hair in vacation :* 

How my brother always teased me that my braids made it easier for him to pull my hair when we had fights :P

But looking at the post's length I did better stop :P

Leaving you with one of the very few school day picture of mine. 

I am the on the extreme left.

See I told you we had to tie two plaits with red ribbons even for shoulder length hairs :/

Did I bore you??? Liked reading?? Do comment :)

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This post is a part of the Dove Split End Rescue System's Beautiful Ends to Your Beautiful Braids contest in association with Indiblogger.

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Happy Women's Day

Hey Gals!!!

Its been ages I did not post any article. Was not well,  then had to complete all the work that had piled up and finally was away for a week to my native place.  I missed the blog-o-sphere a lot.. Be ready to be bombarded with my posts now.

But before I start posting let me wish all you lovely Ladies a very HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY. You are all so so special. Lots of hugs and kisses :*

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Also follow me Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for regular updates.

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Valentine's Day Giveaway Winners

Hey Gals!!!

I have been MIA for a long time now. Not that I did not want to write but because I was so very tired. Mommy was out of town and I had to take care of all the household chores -  cooking, cleaning, washing, everything. And as I had never done this before it was very very tiring. Hats off to all the ladies (including my Mommy) who do this everyday and that too with a smile. And now that she is back I can start writing again :)

Okay, enough of talking now. Let me announce the winners of  the Valentine's Day Giveaway now. But before I do that there are few things I need to tell you people

•  Honestly speaking I did not expect I ll have these many entries. So a big Thank You  to everyone for your participation.
• I can choose only 3 winners but others don't be disappointed. We will have many giveaways coming up real soon.

So here are the winners :)

                               

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Nupur Saxena

Divya Asha

Axela Stanciu

Racheal Ally

Congrats girls. Shoot me a mail  [ foodfashionfunn(at)gmail(dot)com ] or inbox me on Facebook Page within next 24 hours to claim your prize. If I don't receive your mail I will have to choose another winner.

Also I will be hosting a makeup giveaway as soon as I reach 100 GFC followers. Want a sneak peak of the goodies that you can win??? Let me know and I would love to show them to you :).

Take care and keep smiling.

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THBoxes.com Store Review

Hey Gals!!!

I hope you have participated in my Valentine's Day Giveaway sponsored by THBoxes.com. If not participate now and you can be one of the 3 lucky winners to win any jewelry worth $8 of your choice :).

Today I am reviewing THBoxes.com. They have a huge variety clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry, accessories, etc. up for sale at affordable prices. If you love shopping online continue reading and I am sure you will love this site :)

About THBoxes.com : 

THBoxes.com is a China-based global online retailer. They promise the lowest possible price while maintaining the highest of standards as they buy directly from an ever expanding network of Chinese manufacturers.

They promise to :

1. Provide 16/7 customer support on weekdays.
2. Offer the customers the lowest Chinese wholesale price.
3. Streamline the buying and paying process.
4. Deliver goods to our customers all over the world with speed and precision.
5. Ensure the excellent quality of our products. 

Payment :

Payment for orders is in full, in advance, by Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bank
Transfer, or Western Union.

Products :

Here are a few products from their site with a direct link to shop below the pictures.

Shop Now

Shop Now

Shop Now

Shop Now

My Experience:

Check out their website for more such products.

You can also follow them on Facebook for latest updates.

I was given a voucher to review their product. This is what I ordered :

Shop Now

I placed my order on 27 -12-2013 and it was shipped the very next day. I was told that it will take 15 -20 working days for the product to reach. I received it on 15th day from the date it was shipped.

It was sent by airmail. The product was packed in a plastic cover and then in a bubble wrapped envelope.

It reached me intact without any damage.

It costs around $5.45 which would cost around Rs. 290 as of today which is quite cheap. Though the price is quite low the product quality is very impressive. 

See the close up image above. The stones are very well encrusted,and uniform. 

Checkout some more pictures of the necklace here

What I Like :

• Affordable price.
• Good quality products.
• Next day shipping.
• Many products to choose from.

What I didn't Like :

• When shopping with international sites one has to wait long for products. But since the products are so affordable and of good quality one can wait.
• The products go out of stock very quickly. They should be restocked soon. I am waiting for a few products to be back in stock.

Last Words : 

Will I repurchase???  Yes I will surely do. 

Want to win jewelry from THBoxes.com? Enter the Giveaway :)

*PR Product sent for review but this has not affected the review.

Enjoyed reading??

Do follow me on GFC?? 

Also follow me Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for regular updates.

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Valentine's Day Giveaway (CLOSED)

Hey gals!!!

Finally the month of love is here!!! And I have a cute little surprise for you all :).
I had promised you guys that I will have my first giveaway once we reach 100 Facebook likes and 100 GFC followers. But I think we have to wait a bit till then.  And till we do the waiting thing why don't you guys win some jewelry for yourself or your loved ones??

Meet the Sponsor:

Let me first introduce you to the sponsors.This giveaway has been sponsored by THBoxes.com.

THBoxes.com is a China based global online retailer.They have thousands of products at affordable prices. You can choose from a variety of Clothes, Shoes, Jewelry, handbags etc. The products of are great quality too. Checkout the detailed site review:

Some of the jewelry pieces I loved

Rules:

I have kept the rules simple.

Before we start with the rules there are few things you should know :

• Lots of efforts are taken by bloggers in conducting the giveaways. So please DO NOT CHEAT. It is only a giveaway. 
• I have also read about people following and then unfollowing when they don't win. That is RUDE. If you are going to do that KEEP AWAY from my blog. 

If you do any of the above I will BAN you from all my giveaways.

Follow the rafflecopter widget below and fill in your details. 

The giveaway starts from now and will end on 14 February 2013 i.e Valentine's Day.
There will be 3 lucky winners selected randomly by me.'

This is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway.

Each of the winner can choose any one jewelry of their choice worth $8 from  THBoxes.com.

In case of any doubt you can mail me at foodfashionfunn(at)gmail(dot)com or comment below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All The Best!!!

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