Author Archives: Lancy

About Lancy

Hi, I am Lanceek Cv. You can call me Lancy. 😊I found MABH as a teenager in 2011 to write about about beauty, haircare, and anything else I found curious about as a little girl. Now in 2026, the blog has grown with me. I'd love to share everything I find beauty in - my DIY projects, home decor, product reviews, food I cook, my random thoughts and hobbies. (hosting & antiquing lately).Write an email or drop a comment. I'd love for you to not be a stranger anymore. 💗

My Step by Step Facial Skincare Routine Before Diwali

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Hello Everyone!
Finally, the Diwali is on the way! We are going to be loaded with mouth watering sweets, relatives, friends, neighbors and of course the crackers! Every girl would wish to look her best on festival days in front of her relatives and friends. Isn’t that true? I am no different at all. I have already jumped into my sincere skin and hair care routine to enjoy Diwali looking my best! 🙂 Today, I am going to share with you all my facial skincare routine which I am following at present, for the Diwali celebration. Go ahead!

Facial Skincare Routine Few Days Before Diwali Festival!
On normal days, I usually skip many of those essential skin care practises due to laziness. I have came through weeks without getting my skin exfoliated, 😛 I have forgot to put on my moisturizer at night but now, I am perfecting all those flaws to make my Diwali skin radiant. I am beginning with my face skin care routine for this Diwali but more posts on this Diwali beauty section is coming up soon!. I have a normal-oily skin but as Diwali is coming on winter, we need to give importance to the moisturization part more, as a must to maintain a glowing radiant skin in front of bright crackers 🙂 Let me begin to explain how I am pampering my skin these days following my Pre-Diwali skincare routine.

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Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing: (The CTM Process)
The first things I do after waking up in the morning are brushing my teeth and washing my face. I cleanse my face soon after getting up with a gentle cleansing milk. If you are a person who have an habit of taking bath soon after getting up, that is double good. Our skin must be cleansed after a long sleep to get rid of oiliness, bacterias and left over dust/makeup etc. If you are suffering from dry and tight skin this winter, you can also combine milk cream and olive oil together to use as your facial cleanser. I am washing my face 3 times with a gentle cleanser per day; morning, evening and night (Before going to bed) followed by a toner and an oil-free moisturizer. If you have an oily skin, it is recommended to use a good oil balancing toner wheres normal-dry skinned people can just have a calming rose water spray. Moisturizing face with a rich night cream before going to sleep is essential to make your skin baby soft before the festive. This cleansing, toning and moisturizing routine few days before Diwali helps my skin to stay clear without any unwanted pimple breakouts those bring us headache during festive seasons! Reduce your sweet and fried food intake too; this might also bring you unexpected pimple errors on your face on Diwali 🙁

Exfoliate Twice A Week
This works like a charm to make your skin glow with softness before festive seasons! I usually get my facial skin scrubbed twice in a week to get rid of the dead cells on the surface and as Diwali is on the way, I am doing it with more care. Get a good exfoliator for your skin type and use it twice a week in a proper way to remove that dull outer facial skin layer which makes your face look dull. A mixture of rice powder, milk and rose water also works as an excellent face and body DIY exfoliate. Make sure to moisturize your skin after scrubbing no matter what your skin type is because this winter along with the exfoliation might strip off the natural beauty oils from your skin.

DIY Face Pack to Improve Brightness
Combine half a teaspoon of sandalwood powder with half a teaspoon of tulsi powder. Now add required amount of rose water and 2-3 drops of olive oil to this powder mixture. If you have oily skin, you can avoid the olive oil but for dry skin types, it is a must. Mix everything together well and your instant, skin brightening tan removing face pack is ready to use! This is a recipe which I swear by before festive reasons and I have already started using it on alternate days. Use this twice to thrice a week for optimum results. Using this face pack after scrubbing would help better with the penetration and the results – extra glowing skin!

Last but not the Least – Sunscreen!
If you are stepping out anywhere, never ever forget this 9 letter mantra sunscreen! This is going to save your skin like anything. If you are not going to apply sunscreen on your facial skin before stepping out, forget the results which you get by the other routines you have followed/following before your festival. This might sound bad but that’s the truth. Even if the weather is cloudy, sunscreen is a must because UV rays are definitely going to make your skin dull if you are stepping out without a sunscreen or a sunblock. I am currently using the Lotus Herbals sunscreen for my normal-oily skin and it works best on my skin. Not just for Diwali, this skincare routine can be followed throughout the year for beautiful looking radiant skin.

You can also get your parlour facials done to bring that glow to your face before Diwali 🙂 but remember, don’t try anything new on your face until your festival celebrations come to an end. Keep your new products such as some skincare cosmetics, including the home made ones at wait before your festival celebrations come to an end as they might be allergic to your skin resulting in last minute breakouts before Diwali which might be frustrating! Got it? Now its time to follow your Pre-Diwali skincare routine to make your face glowing this Diwali. Sit back and wait for my hair care routine and other Diwali beauty, fitness ideas! 🙂 If you have any suggestions or requests for the next beauty post on Diwali, do drop in the comment section below.

Let your radiant face beat the lights from the crackers!

Advance Happy Diwali wishes to you all MABHians! 🙂

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Essence Look at Me Lipstick 40 Review & Swatches

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by Christina

This is a product that I got as a gift from my sister in law who lives in Belgium. I am not familiar with their products but after using the lipstick and reading others reviews I found it to be a good product. It is produced in Germany and is mostly sold in the E.U. and in the U.S. The one reason I decided to review this lipstick was because of their devotion to the ‘cruelty against animals’ cause. For those of your who do not know me I am an animal activist and I have stopped using animal tested products. Essence is strictly against any kind of animal testing whatsoever. It is absolutely awful to torture animals for the sake of beauty products

Their products stand for trendy and high quality cosmetics at a sensational low prices because they do not use costly advertisements using models or celebrities, expensive tv spots or print ads in magazines.

Product Description:

# 40 Look at Me is part of the 2012 spring/summer collection.   I used an Essence product for the first time. I liked how it felt and if given a chance I would like to try out other colours and a different finish, because frosty lipsticks are for a younger lot than me. I would not even feel guilty about over spending because essence products are a fantastic buy for makeup fanatics looking to stock up on a budget.

They have added two more shades to their spring/summer collection and so all of the 16 colors have been bumped up to the fall/winter season 2012.

Price & Quantity:

$ 2.49, $4 AUD for 4 gms

Key Ingredients:

Not mentioned on the tube but it is mentioned in a PDF file on the site. Few key ingredients would be castor seed oil, lanolin, paraffin,carnauba wax and avocado oil. The rest are chemical names.

My Experience with Essence 40 Look at Me Lipstick :

Packaging: These lipsticks come in color-coded packaging. That means the lipstick tube is the exact same color as the lipstick making it easy to reach for your favourite shade. When you open the tube, the top half of the inner tube is plastic and it is not a problem really. You can see how much product is left at all times. My only problem is that these lipsticks do not come with any kind of seal!

Colour, Consistency & Texture: It is a sizzling sheer beige-brown that lights up your lips with a soft gleam. It is a frosty lipstick with some shimmer but it is not over the top at all. If you are looking for a creamy nude color that doesn’t lean too pink or too beige this is definitely it. Almost close to MAC blankety lipstick excluding the frost and the cheap price. I hardly got any smell when I used it. In the pictures I have also lined my lips with a bit of a rose coloured liner and that totally changed how the colour looked on my lips. I was quite happy to use it like that.

How it works: This lipstick is soft and velvety to apply. It does contain shimmer along with being frosty. It does not settle in lip lines but one must exfoliate the lips before using this. Frosty colours do tend to draw an audience and you wouldn’t want dry flaky bits of skin peeking out from beneath it would you?

essence products in inida, lipstick swatches, review

Pros:

Inexpensive – Budget brand
Easy to use
Does not test its products on animals
Does not settle in lip lines
Pretty nude colour
Goes on smoothly
The shimmer is not gaudy
Colour co-ordinated container
Even Application
Long Lasting
Moisturizing
Pleasant Tasting
True colour swatch
As good as a high-end brand

Cons:

Limited selection of colors
Not available in India
Frosty shade that most Indian skin tones cannot carry off
Availability is limited
Not available online yet
Not suitable for work because it’s frosty
Does not come packed or sealed. It can be tested at the store

Makeup and Beauty Home Rating: 3.55

Would I Repurchase? Yes and no. No, not that colour but yes different shades and other products by the brand.

A note of warning: Frosty and shimmery high gloss lipsticks look best on the young because these draw a great deal of attention to lips so becareful when you select lipstick. It is not just about color but also about the finish. As you age you cannot ignore the fact that certain colours become a total no no. Matte lipstick is best on certain age groups and so are glossy, high sheen lipstick styles.
It’s only a while before you will start seeing this brand on our online cosmetics shopping sites, something like ELF that has flooded the market. You can visit the website for more information. It is a very, very pretty and fresh site and I am sure all of you are going to go bonkers looking at it.

Did you like Christina’s review on Essence Look at Me Lipstick?

Himalaya Herbals Purifying Neem Face Pack Review

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Hello everyone!

Today’s review is on the raved Purifying Neem Face Pack from Himalaya Herbals. I have been using this face pack for ages and this is one of my ever favorite face packs. I love using neem in my skincare recipes, especially for acne curing home treatments as it clears out acne very effectively. When I first saw this face pack on the market, I couldn’t resist buying it especially for its ‘neem’ content. Read my complete review on this neem face pack below! (I also suggest you to read my review on their neem scrub!)