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Showing posts from January, 2015

Look perfect before getting hitched! : Tips for bridal makeup

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  With the wedding season coming up and people gearing up to take their vows in front of the father, around the fire pit or in front of the Quran, it is time to concentrate on catching everybody’s attention with your looks. Yes, looks doesn’t matter. But we marry only once (at least, we’re supposed to) so why not make it a special celebration? And there is nothing wrong in asking for looking the best on that day. Brides are supposed to catch the eyes of all the people who are to attend the wedding. We have heard of people complaining about the bride’s makeup. They thinkit’s way too simple at times or overdone most of the times.  How much is too much? Here, we present to you a few tips on bridal makeup for Indian brides. • Keep your skin healthy. Only when it is healthy from inside, will it glow from outside. Drink a lot of coconut water and opt for fruit facials or other natural products rather than chemical products. • Cleanse your skin first. Then start with the makeup. Use

Historically High – North Karnataka

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As you make your journey through the land, the vast expanse of open fields, the black soil underneath punctuated with sunflower and maize fields across, and the rustic and earthy feel in the air, is an experience that’s reminiscent of our roots.     This is North Karnataka – a land which gave us women fighters like ‘Onake’ Obavva and Kittur Rani Chennamma from the pre-Independence days, and where social revolutionaries like Basavanna& Santa ShishunalaShareef tried to cleanse many of the social stigmas with their ways and preaching. Indeed, it is a land with rich culture and heritage. Today, it is fast emerging as a tourist destination as well with many historical destinations spread across this region. Let’s take a quick tour of some of the places that you could visit in North Karnataka. Badami, Bagalkot:- Formerly known as Vatapi, Badamiwas the capital city of the Chalukyas who ruled from 540 to 757 AD. It houses the cave temple and other structures in the ravine at

An Easy Guide to Men’s Fragrance

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Fragrance plays a vital role in determining your allure, especially in men. Its human tendency to notice something that smells good and we tend to get attracted to beautiful aroma irrespective of its source. When it comes to the men,smell or fragrance matters. Every man must know the usage of aromas and colognes and stand out among others. In this society where class and high status matters, our looks make an impact; and more importantly fragrance adds an aura of class to our looks. Recent studies have proven that among the male population between the ages 18-64 years, 23% of them use perfumes all the time while 11% use it sometimes. On the other hand, 37% never use perfumes at all. This sufficiently proves that most people do use perfumes to groom themselves. How to select your perfumes or colognes? The difference between colognes and perfumes is that, perfumes possess a strong smell but colognes smell mild and are less diluted. Selection of perfumes is not easy

So Tasty, So Chocolaty!

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Chocolates – women love them endlessly and men would love to shower their ladies with chocolates. The sheer mention of the word ‘chocolate’ is sufficient to bring a smile on our face. Well, then why are chocolates so much a favorite among us. It is interesting to know that: • Chocolates have slightly lower melting point than human body. Due to which their feature of ‘melting in the mouth’ gives a pleasant feeling. • It is also found that chocolates contain chemicals called opioids, found in opium which soothes the brain and makes it feel good. • Since they contain sugars, caffeine and phenylthalymine they make the hearth pound a little harder and renders a pleasant ‘high’ feeling. • Also, chocolates are synonymous with love. No wonder your lady-love just goes gaga over chocolates. Enjoy and have a chocolaty day!

An Excursion to the City of Great Sacrifice -Mahabalipuram

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The floating Eastern waters, Submerged the 6 glorious pagodas, Their nature and beauty, Features every creature to cruise around!         Mahabalipuram located 60km to the south of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu is an architecturally marvel city and is a place of the Seven Pagodas.  This city was built by the Pallava king Narasimha Verman I in the 7th century A.D., and is also called the Maha-mallapuram (Great Wrestler) which was the title given to him.  Legend goes that, the seven pagodas were so beautiful and luxurious that the Gods got greedy. They ordered the element water to submerge the pagodas. Presently out of seven, only one remains un-submerged by the powerful element. He built the temples or the pagodas and other monuments in the city. The local fishermen say that when the Tsunami occured in 2004, the waters receded nearly half a kilometre and they saw the remnants of the six more pagodas for a couple of amazing minutes. Those moments are said to be magical

Home Décor - 6 Creative DIY ideas to Glam up your Home

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               Well buying décor for homes is costing way toomuch these days. Explore some amazing ways to decorate your dream home in the best and the most affordable way you can ever imagine. All the required materials to make the following home décor can be found at any local crafts store in your city at best prices.  Some eye-catchy home décor : • Chandelier- A hall would be considered incomplete without an eye-catchy chandelier. To make them in the simplest way, you need just an old lamp shade, an extension for bulb and some decorative items to make it look really creative. Lots of idea can be found over the net or combine ideas to make new ones. • Sequenced Pillows-The trending fashion to decorate homes have gone really crazy, one of them is sequenced pillows. Cut out some sequenced pieces of dress from old clothes or you could get them from the market. Make a pillow cover to match it with your couch and see the difference.  • Broken mirror wall décor- You don’t have

Water, H2O-Health to Overwhelming Benefits

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        Be it one large size margarita pizza, roti subzi or even the south Indian meals. In the end of all these dishes nothing can replace the pleasure of drinking water, not even the most expensive beverage. Water is a very important part of life. Do you know? Humans can survive over three weeks with water but cannot survive anything more than a week without water. In case you live in a snowy, cold area it gets even worse. Almost 55-70% of our body contains water depending upon the size of it.  Drinking water has varied benefits both in terms of health and good health too.  • It acts as a natural cleanser and flushes out all kinds of toxins in the body keeping the body pure and healthy.  • Its acts as a lubricant for joints, regulates sweating & respiration and regulates body temperature.  • It helps one lose weight. It revs up metabolism and makes you feel full.  • It does not contain fat, calories or anything that will make you put on weight.  • It removes toxin

Warm up your Winter with Sweaters

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  Winter is back! Pull out your warm garments and get set to warm up during this season. Sweaters – one of the most common garments, are also one of the most fashionable of them if stylized well. Although men’s sweater range offers several options, it is the women’s sweater that adds an element of glamour to the lady wearing it. Do you know the types of sweaters available for women to choose from? Take a look at few of them 1.        Cardigan: The regular sweaters with buttons/ zip in the front. With several options available you could experiment with colour, length, patterns etc. 2.        V-Neck: A V-Neck sweater makes one look thinner. Also, you could wear it during warmer temperatures as it is open neck. 3.        Pullover: The most popular of the sweater styles is pullover. As the name suggests, one needs to pulls it over to remove it. With a round neckline and a relaxed fit, it could be teamed up with shirts. 4.        Turtle Neck: As the name suggests a

Swim Your Way to Fitness

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Today, fitness has become a trend. Everybody wants to stay fit and lead a healthy life. But many people do not know the best way to stay fit and to be in top form.  It is a pre-conceived notion that gym, yoga or aerobics is the only way to keep oneself physically fit and to maintain your physique. Apart from gym etc. there is one ideal form of exercise that will keep you fit too.  It is none other than swimming. Yes, Swimming is the best workout for all the ages.  We generally get into the pool to relax ourselves or to take a dip on a hot summer day. Apart from these, if it is taken up as a daily work out, it can be more then beneficial.  Swimming and its Benefits: The treadmill might look fascinating but swimming has the upper hand. Here are some points which make swimming a great work out and also the reason why you should start swimming right away - Swimming is a great cardio and it doesn’t pressure your bones. - It stretches the length of your body

Vibrant Colours of One Festival – MakaraSankranti in South India

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MakaraSankranti is the festival that every Hindu, regardless of the caste, creed or gender celebrates with joy. It is a harvest festival. As the granaries are full, it signifies prosperity. Sugarcanes are one of the most important and symbolic food crop of this festival. The festival of welcoming harvest and soliciting winter is usually celebrated in the month of January. The celebration in South India varies from state to state. Karnataka - MakaraSankranti People decorate their houses and light lamps. The pray and sing invoking the gods and goddesses to shower their blessings upon them. Two sugarcanes are placed on either sides of the gate or each at the entrance. The famous ‘Rangoli’ a design laid in the entrance using flour is a welcome gesture that has been in use for ages in the Indian culture. The famous ‘ellu-bella’ which is basically sesame seeds and jaggery is shared among family, friends and acquaintance.  It is a gesture to signify prosperity and better life

Makar Sankranti – Northern States Festivities in Full Swing

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Makar Sankranti – usually celebrated during 14 th January every year is the festival which heralds the arrival of spring and the new harvest season for farmers in India. It holds an astrological significance too and as it is one of the few Indian festivals that is celebrated on a particular date as per the Gregorian calendar. India , synonymous for its festivals and their celebrations, celebrates Makar Sankranti in various parts of the country with few regional variations in terms of rituals and traditions followed. From Punjab to Chhattisgarh, to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, WestBengal, and the North-eastern states, this festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm. Take a look at some of the states in Northern Indian and get to know their rituals and traditions specific to this festival. Assam : In Assam the festival is celebrated as MaghBihu or BhogaliBihu. Since it is the harvest festival, granaries are full and during nights they prepare food and enjoy lot

MakarSankranti – Sweet Stories from across the Country

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MakarSankranti is one of the popular festivals celebrated across various parts of the country. Indian festivals are synonymous with elaborate festive dishes and sweet treats too. With MakarSankranti fast approaching, let’s take a peek into the special sweet dishes prepared in various parts of the country as part of their festive celebrations. Till Laddus : Till or sesameLaddus are a traditional delicacy prepared during the festival of MakarSankranti in Maharashtra. Paatishaapta : West Bengal - homeland to many famous sweet dishes, Paatishaapta is yet another sweet dish prepared by Bengalis during MakarSankranti. It’s a pancake stuffed with a mix of khoya, coconut and date palm jiggery. SakkaraiPongal : prepared with rice, jiggery, moong dal and cashews, it is a ‘must-prepare’ sweet delicacy in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Till Chikki : predominantly prepared in Gujarat, till chikkis are prepared with sesame seeds, peanuts and jag gery. MakarChaula : This sweet dis

Fashion to Beat the Blues..

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  Fashion and women go hand in hand. However, most of the times women in their enthusiasm to look their best end up doing fashion blunders either by over doing with accessories or while mixing and matching accessories with their outfit. Here are a few handy tips to help you to accessorize yourself better. Make a head-start:         Go with a single statement piece if you are having fun with your clothes. Keep it simple with just a bracelet or few rings layered. If you are going on a night out or a cocktail party, pick up some really loud pair of earrings or dangle earrings and make sure to have only that. Loud earnings and statement neck pieces together will definitely make you look ‘awkward’.  If you are going dark, then brighten up with some neon  colored  day bags or nude coloured clutches. On business tours, try to be as simple as possible by just having a pendant. Accessories & You: ·          For V-necks, dainty chains and small

...And to Sleep Peacefully – Tips to Select the Right Bed

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I sn’t sleeping one of the best things God ever introduced to human life? For people who disagree, I’m sure your thinking of chocolates, love or more sleep. So yes, when you know you’re going to do something better, why settle for something mediocre? When sleep is considered such an important element, we must look into all the things that contribute to good sleep. No, I’m not talking about heavy food or sleeping tablets. Ever thought about how important your bed plays in helping you with a good sleep? Here are a few tips to help you choose the right bed for you: ·   Math time: Make sure to measure your bed. It has got to fit in your room and more importantly you must fit into it. Nobody likes sleeping with their feet floating in the air while the heads are comfortably positioned, do they? ·   Quality: Check the quality of the wood that the cot is made of. Check for the carpentry work if it is complete or if there are places where it is left undone and the thorny woode

Dress the Gentleman Way and Add to your Style Quotient

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  Tips, where Man shouldn’t miss, Are here in a wish, To educate himself in a swish! Shoes distinguish men from the boys. A wonderful sentence goes like this, “Men have Class”. Men dominate with their style and gentleman persona.The shirts, trousers, watches, hats, shades and the shoes too are the most desired ones for men. Here are a few handy tips to help you select the right shoes for your attire: Plain Toe Derby : preferably for suits, men should go with the Plain Toe Derby or the Plain/Whole Cut Oxford. It also depends on what color suits you would be wearing. For black, navy, grey, indigo and violet suits, black shoes are worn. Brown goes best with brown itself. They are elegant and gentlemanly. The flat toe/square toe shoes should be avoided at all costs. They are like the plague to a man’s wardrobe. Dressloafers can be worn at formal occasions, while colourful ones that come in more casual fabrics, should be worn at work or casua

A (Car)eful Indulgence – The Vintage & Classic Car Collection, The Palace Udaipur

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The city of Udaipur, the capital of Mewar Kingdom, stands testimony to a flourishing Rajput era of the yesteryears. It is reminiscent of the grandeur and royalty of the Maharanas of Mewar.                        While the quintessential traveller craving for a glimpse into the glorious past won’t miss the palaces in Udaipur, what really is interesting alongside the palaces is The Vintage & Classic Car Collection Museum. Thrown open to the general public from 15 th February 2000, this museum houses a rare collection of Vintage & Classic cars of Rolls-Royce, 1939 Cadillac open convertibles, rare Mercedes models, 1936 Vauxhall and 1937 Opel models owned by the House of Mewar. While some of the vehicles are over seventy years old, these cars signify the sheer exuberance of its owners – The Maharanas of Mewar. Each vehicle has been carefully restored to its functional order. Indeed a great legacy!      Housed at the Mewar State Motor Garage, the museum al

Camping Checklist – A Must on your List

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As far as holidays are concerned, we love going out on an adventure. We tend to go for camping in a nearby forest or a hillock. Camping is an activity concerning with the travelling of people and camping in the Nature’s nest. We always wonder what to carry before getting on our trucks! Here, is a list of items we must keep during our adventurous camping. First aid box with the primary items such as the cotton, aspirin, bandages, scissors and antiseptic for primary medication. Tents, ropes, hammer and knife are necessary to camp in during the night. Sleeping bags, rubber sheets and bed sheets are required. People love to cook at the camping site and they can carry BBQ grills and a lighter. They can also make their own pit and a fire with knife and stones and grill their prey. Buckets, jugs, aluminum foils, tissues, towels, clothes, jackets and some cloth pins if you are camping for 2 or more days. Paper plates, folding tables, a