Chiconomical

May has made us feel the very real fury of mother nature. Honestly, I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't struggle with getting their best face forward in this fiery weather and that's why this month's MSM box has the perfect theme!


This month, the box comes packed full of goodies that sensible and extremely useful. Honestly, I've already started using atleast 3 things I received this month and that just goes to show how relevant it is unlike last month when I was just a little disappointed. Anyway, onto the goodies!

1. Sara Herbals Photoderm SPF 30: Rs. 275
This is pretty much a summer must have. A sunscreen is lifesaver and while I use only Neutrogena since I don't think any others suit my skin (horrible breakouts on using most till date) I do think I'll give this a try. Judgement reserved for now, but I can definitely appreciate the full sized product that goes to show the thought behind the packing this month.


2. Saante Rose Lip Balm: Rs. 250
Lips! Often ignored during summers till you have that not so pretty parched look. This little lip balm is the perfect size to slip into your bag everyday and looks lovely on the lips too. Also, just look at the color, isn't it the prettiest of pink?

3. Yves Rocher Sebo Vegetal Trio: (Purity Mask, Mattifying Gel and Zero Blemish Gel Cream): Rs. (13.33 + 17 + 160 ) ie Rs. 190.33
Okay, so this is definitely a luxury product in my book. I have never in my life tried any products from Yves Rocher and I'm almost too afraid to try these samples out since I feel I wouldn't even know how to use them correctly, let alone see their effects. However, I still will bite the bullet and do it and I know this is a pure indulgence item, atleast for me.


4. SoulTree Soap Free Face Wash, 30ml : Rs. 73.75
I've already started using this and do think I'll invest in a full sized product once I've finished all my face washes (I do seem to be adding to my stock these days!). This bottle came with me on my weekend trip with my officemates and gives you an instantly clean, fresh feeling. A definite winner for me.

5. Natural Bath & Body, Skin & Scent Duo: (Couldn't find the price, sorry folks)
I'm not exactly happy with this product but that could of course, just be me. MSM box gave me a face mist last month and if I think about using this with it, I'd smell like a garden, in a not very good way. So yes, this was a miss for me.




6. TIENS Intensto Kajal in Electric Blue: Rs. 395
So this month, I renewed my subscription and received a bonus product which is this electric blue eyeliner. Honestly, I tried it out and its a little too shiny for me, but hey, I've never had a blue liner so this is such a nice addition to my growing makup stock! Stay tuned to see me try it out soon in a look post.


All in all, I'm very impressed with this month's MSM box. They've taken care of everything that could be needed to set forth you're best face this summer! I'd say you should definitely give this month's MSM box a try!

The May Fab Bag is themed summer escapde and while this is something I've been dreaming about since the start of summer, the bag doesn't exactly live up to its theme. This month, the Fab Bag comes in a neon green,clear plastic bag which simply reminnds me of the little pouches they sell on the local trains in Mumbai. It doesn't impress me that much but I do think it can be used to store your bath essentials, so it does have some reuse value.


Onto the products in this month's Fab Bag, lets take a look at what I got!

1. Nyassa Tea Tree Face Wash: Rs. 82.75 for 30ml

Tea tree face washes are a crowd favorite these days. While I've heard everyone I know rave about the Body Shop Tea Tree face wash, I really haven't yet tried it simply because I find the Body Shop products to be very expensive. Instead, I'd much rather find a street substitute for it and I think this face wash will be an interesting contender. This deluxe sized sample should be enough to give me a good idea about its results. So a good product in this month's Fab Bag.


2. Inveda Sunscreen Cream Gel: Rs. 250 for 75 ml
I've already raved about how much I liked the Inveda  BB cream when I received the sample sized product in last month's MSM box so of course I'm glad to get this in this month's fab bag. Its 100% veg, paraben free and isn't tested on animals! This is a product I think everyone would be happy with, no matter what type of makeup products they opt for.



3. Cuccio Naturale Butter Blend Duo: Rs. 302 for two tubes of 9.24 g each:
So body butter is something that everyone seems to have jumped on recently. This month in the May Fab Bag, I received two tubes of body butter, one in milk and honey and another in papaya and guava. I particularly like the delightful smell and travel friendly sized. The packaging is a little too strange for my taste and I am not very sure if giving a rich body butter is the right thing for a summer beauty bag.



4. Seasoul Dual Eyeshadow Palette (SS11): Rs. 900
The Seasoul eye palette is something I absolutely love in this month's Fab Bag. The colors are dark and light purple which I would never go out and buy on my own, That's why, its such a delight to receive this product and while I haven't tried it out yet, I'm just waiting for that nice dinner invite where I can take it out for a glam test run!


And that's it folks! That's all I got in the May "Summer Escapade" Fab Bag. While its got some good items individually, like I said, I wasn't completely sold on the bag as a whole. Somehow, the theme didn't come through for me in the products and I honestly wish they'd made a little more effort to customise the bag to summer's needs. All in all, if you have a chance, you could give this month's bag a miss.

This month, I received all three of India's Top Subscription boxes and when I saw them all together, I thought it would be a good idea to have a faceoff between the three and see which one is actually better.
I feel that most subscription boxes at the moment follow a system where the products fall in three broad categories: Beauty, Makeup and Others. There's also a bunch of other things such as appearance, delivery, overall customer care and I've listed those too. All the individual ratings are on a scale of Meh, Yeh, Brillinat where Meh is the lowest, Yeh is Average and Brilliant is well, brilliant! So lets see how each of the boxes scored on my various scales.



1. Looks: While all three were in shades of pink this month, here's what I thought about each.

Fab Bag: The most useful box of the three, because its not really a box but a bag that can be easily reused, I think this month's bag is quite lovely with its bright pink color as well as the almost woven texture. This was a Yay for me!

MSM Box: Its a pretty box, I'll give you that, but then they use the same box every month and there aren't a lot of interesting things to see or get excited about how its gonna look when you open it packaging each month its decidedly boring. A definite snooze and a Meh for me.

My Envy Box: While this is still a box, I absolutely love the pink packaging. As this month's box was curated by Bipasha Basu, maybe she had something to do with the distinctly girlie yet pretty box design. (I think the Label Life logo helped make it prettier too). Honestly, it's brilliant its month!

2. Makeup: For beauty boxes, the April boxes did have a good number of makeup products, lets take a look.

Fab Bag: This month, the fab bag gave not one, but two full sized makeup products! There was a lovely catrice eyeliner in copper and a Makeup Revolution concealer. Thankfully, this time everything was in shades that suit my skintype and can be used immediately. A big Yay for me!

MSM Box: The MSM box had one hard core beauty product (okay, so maybe you could consider the cleansing moisturiser as a beauty product but I think of it more as a skincare product tbh). It had the Inveda BB Cream that I've been using since the day I received my box and honestly, while its only one, its multiple ticks such as Parabens Free, Cruelty Free and all natural ingredients make it a yay product for me. However, since its a beauty subscription box, I expect more makeup products So it sadly comes out as a Meh for me.

My Envy Box: Okay, so this box had the Fran Wilson Moodmatcher lipstick in Orange. I've never used the Moodmatcher lipstick before, so while I'm excited about it, I still think they could have added another makeup product sample if they'd tried. A Meh for me.

3. Skincare: Skincare is something that seems to be big with all subscription boxes and this month's no different. For beauty boxes that usually show images of makeup products, they always seem to have more skincare products. Let's take a look.

Fab Bag: Fab Bag gives you Soul Tree Cleansing Milk and a O3+ whitnening mask as its skincare this month. I like the Soul Tree Cleanser but I've already received the O3+ whitnening mask before. So its just a Meh for me.

MSM Box: From the sinfully fragrant Rose and Almond Body Bar, the Jasmine scented face mist to the luxurious Fuschia Cleansing moisturiser, I love the skincare in the April MSM Box. It is sure to make you smell like the queen of Egypt with its floral scents and luxe feel. A big Yay for me!!

My Envy Box: A Milk scrub is something I haven't tired before so it definitely intrigues and excites. The Rene Furterer Parish is also another brand I haven't tired before, so in terms of wow quotient, it definitely was a Yay for me.

4. Other Benefits: These days, most subscription boxes come packed with other than beauty products too. This month, we had some amazing products (looking at you there BBlunt) so lets quickly list them down.

Fab Bag: We got some goodies from Style Fiesta this month and also a pair of use and throw lenses! Definitely something unique. I got a pair of golden earrings which I'm a little on the fence about but the lenses are gorgeous and I'll hopefully wear them in a post very soon! This is somewhere between brilliant and yay for me!

MSM Box: The MSM box gave a lovely makeup brush this month and while I may be quite clueless about the perfect way to use it I'm sure makeup enthusiasts will love it. For me, its a little Meh.

My Envy Box: My favorite of the lot, I love love love both the other things in this box. The lovely BBlunt Hairspray and the smells better than sin Roberto Cavalli perfume sample are absolutely Brilliant!

5. Overall Satisfaction: So lets sum up what I felt about each this month and of course, the winner!

Fab Bag: A good mix of things, this month's fab bad didn't disappoint me and was a overall Yay for me.

MSM Box: While it had some sinfully fragrant products, I wish it was better somehow. An overall Meh Experience for me.

My Envy Box: From the gorgeous pink box, the good variety of products and the overall happiness it got me, I think this month's My Envy Box was pretty brilliant! If you must get one of the three, I'd say go for the My Envy Box this month!

Happiness is a state of mind, and everyone can do with choosing to be happier in life. That's exactly the theme of this month's MSM Box and it does make me a little happy. First off, the delivery of the box was spot on, right on the day when I had a rather hard day at work. One of the best things to rid Monday blues!

So lets take a look at what all I received in my MSM box this month!

1. Inveda BB Cream: Rs. 175

Since my experience with last month's Fab Bag, I decided to try out the various beauty boxes that are available in India. My second subscription (yes, I have around three for this month) was the My Envy Box. Basically, this is just another beauty box where you get 4-5 trial sized beauty products from luxury brands delivered each month. Read on to know what all I got.



As its the time for all those pretty red and white things, this month's box is aptly red and has some lovely party pieces. The December box was called the Be Your Own Santa, and I think they've sent some pretty decent pieces. Here's what I got....

Ananda Light Moisturiser for Normal to Dry Skin: Rs. 270 for 10g


I don't think anyone can have enough of moisturisers in December. This one for normal to dry skin is a decent sized sample and while I'm yet to try it, I think this is a handy little thing that I'll be carrying in my purse over the next few weeks.

O3+ Reinvent your skin whitening mask: Rs. 400 for 10 ml

This is a brank I've never heard about. While I'm not into whitening masks, I think this will come in handy on those days when you've spent the day running around in polluted cities. I couldn't find it on the My Envy Box website though, so that was a little disappointing.

Bioderma Matifiying Fluid for Combination/Oily Skin: Rs. 350 for 10 ml


I got this in two little tubes. Its paraben free and has SPF 30 which are two things that always make me happy. I have used it once but didn't see any visible effect. I shall post a review once I've exhuasted both my sample tubes.

Catrice Crushed Crystals Nail Laquer in Stardust: Rs. 445 for 10 ml


This is one of my favorite things in the box. A gorgeous shade that is perfect for parties yet muted so as not to be too loud and overpower your outfit. This is a full sized sample and I couldn't have been happier. Its gonna find a lot of use come New Years Eve.

Catrice UltraFine Ink Eyeliner (Black On Track): Rs. 660 for 6 ml


Yet another full sized product, I have to say I quite like this liner. I wore it to work on a particularly stressful work day (read incessant eye rubbing) and it managed to last quite nicely. Yet again, couldn't find it on the My Envy Box site, so was disappointed. Stay tuned for a proper review.


All in all, I was very happy with this month's My Envy Box. It does keep with the theme for the month and I love the makeup products. The box itself has already been put to good use as a december gift helper and I think everything in this month's box is going to be liberally used through the month.

December is here in all its glory with chillier evenings and crazy parties! It also got me a new city and a new fab bag to match. This month, the December Fab Bag theme is Party All Night. I got a chance to select my bag from the bags sent in the previous months and I decided to go with the golden red carpet bag to keep with the theme.


This month, the fab bag has actually made me a lot more happy than last month. The contents do make sense with the theme and I even have a favorite new makeup item! (Any guesses? You already know this if you follow me on snapchat!) Well, without further ado, here's what I got!

SUGAR Matte As Hell Crayon Lipstick + Sharpener: Rs. 799

My new found love and certainly the best item in this month's fab bag. I have used it once till date and I'm absolutely obsessed! I got the hot pink color which is called Mary Poppins and honestly I'm seriously considering buying the other shades (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to shop...hence the "considering"). It is completely matte, like the name suggets and at the same time, it doesn't dry out my lips. Oh, and the color lasts almost the whole day which is something I'm always looking for in a lipstick! Its absolutely a win win! If you wanna get one makeup thing this Chrismas, get this!

Kronokare The Frizz Kiss Cooling Explosion Lip Balm: Rs. 95

Winters equal chapped lips and that means you can never have enough lip balms. I haven't gotten around to trying this lip balm out just yet so you'll have to wait for a proper review. However, its silicone and paraben free which is always welcome when it comes to skincare. The price isn't heavy on the pocket so I think its a cool pocket friendly balm I'd consider once I'm dont with my current lip balm.

Spa Ceylon Green Mint Cooling Foot Scrub: Rs. 275 for 50 gms

This month we were asked to select one item we'd like to receive in our Fab Bag and since I knew I was going to be in a new city, I decided to get myself this foot scrub. Winters are harsh on my feet and add to that the fact that I'd probably be walking a lot while I explore a new city, this was a thing I thought would inspire me to take care of my feet. It looks and smells divine but yet again, I haven't used it.

Lever Ayush Hair Poshak Oil: Rs. 62.25 for 25 ml

Hair loss is something I've been grappling with for a few months now (thanks life!) and so the chance to try out a hair oil that claims to reduce hairfall in three weeks is welcome. I got a small bottle of 25 ml which is a little sad as I have really long hair and I'd probably finish the whole bottle in one go. Wish they'd given a bigger sample so as to really test the product, but I'm still happy to try this.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micelle Solution: Rs. 34.4 for 10 ml

After all the partying, its always important to get rid of the makeup before hitting the bed. So this little bottle of non-rinse, paraben free makeup removal solution was a godsend. I think the sample is going to come in quite handy once the month ends and the party season begins. I've heard good things about this removal solution, so I'm excited to give it a shot.

Makeup is definitely not something I  consider myself an expert on. So when I do a review of a make-up site, there's gotta be an external driving factor involved. This time? Mom.


Nykaa.com is one of the leading Indian sites for Cosmetics and Beauty Products. Now I came across them while looking for a particular shade of lipstick for Mom. Since I didn't have the time to go find it in the stores, (Thank you Uni) I decided its better to find it online. Boy is there some serious choice on this site. I don't even know half the things they sell (my makeup ignorance is astounding) and the things I do (lipstick and liner) have options that had me scrolling for almost an hour. (Oops, lets hope nobody in the lab saw that!)

The best thing about the Nykaa is that they have something in every price range. The list of brands they associate with is quite exhaustive and they even stock some luxury brands like Estee Lauder (my sister swears by their foundation) and DKNY which are a little hard to find in India.

Well wrapped and totally exciting to see the box!

Bubble wrap to ensure that everything is sealed well.

Excuse the messy shot, I was in quite a bit of hurry to try out the new lippy

I ordered two Lakme Enrich Lipsticks for Mom and an Elle 18 for me. The delivery was quick and everything came well packaged in bubble wrap. It took about two days to deliver and this was quite surprising since I ordered quite close to the weekend and was expecting it to arrive in the next week. Everything was exactly what was shown on the site. I was a little worried about the shade of my lipstick but it was almost identical to the color swatch shown on the site.

This has been used everyday since I got it! Big thumbs up!

All in all, I had a pleasant experience shopping with them and would definitely recommend it to all those looking for a wide range of makeup and quick delivery.

Have you shopped with Nykaa? How was your experience? Tell me in the comments below! You can also talk to me on Facebook and Twitter.

PS: This is not a paid review. I was not