Guest blog post: Florals for Spring

Every single time I read that floral print is so in for spring, “Florals, for spring? Groundbreaking!” are the exact words that pass through my mind a’ la Miranda Priestly (aka the evil boss from ‘The Devil Wear Prada’). Nevertheless it is a fact that, floral is ‘the’ fashion trend for spring. And why shouldn’t it be; after all, no other print expresses the joy of a welcoming weather-change as floral does!

As times have changed, so have the ways to dress-up in this fun print. For this season, I see a lot of floral print on shoes, scarves as well as florals on blazers, pants/denims/shorts. So, let’s get on with the different ways you can style this vibrant print.

Florals on black makes you look uber chic. A simple white bustier and blue jeans pair great with the floral print jacket. Go for color-blocked heels if you are in a mood for a bold look or go easy with the black peep-toe heels. The mantra here is to keep the accessories to the minimum. This is a perfect outfit for the Easter brunch with the family.

Similar floral jacket here & here

Floral denims are one daring style; but heck one rewarding one. Pair it with a neutral-colored top (black/white) and you are ready to rock-and-roll! For an extra zing, add a pop of pink with your bag (or glasses, for the nerdy ones). Go light on the lips, make-up and accessories in general.

Similar floral jeans here & here

Who said fashion is just for the weekends? With a 9-5 job, I have learnt to style the trendy prints to be more work-appropriate. Pair a monochrome dress with floral heels and you are all set to rock the mundane office life. Additionally, an exquisite pearl set and a statement watch speak volumes for boardroom dressing.

Oh and is it ladies-night out today? No worries! You can take this outfit from desk-to-dinner; just swap the plain office bag for a sleek clutch, hook in a pair dangly-earrings, touch-up with that gloss and mascara and voila! You are ready in minutes for a lovely dinner with your girlfriends.

Similar floral pumps here & here

Ultimately, styling floral print is all about picking the right accessories without looking OTT (Over The Top). For the not-so-daring, my advice would be to try floral in small doses, like a floral hairband, shoes or scarf. Add a little femininity to your work wear with a floral cardigan or a scarf. It’s the perfect spring-print that can you can never go wrong with; so wear florals this season and bring on spring with style!

What are the different ways you would wear florals for spring? Do share your thoughts in the comments below. 

P.S.: I have shared this article as a guest blogger on the blog at Shop InOnIt. Shop InOnIt is an online shopping website based in India with a wide range of products from home decor to jewelry to beauty products. To read the complete article, please click here. 

Trusted beauty regime

Today I wanted to share with you the tried-and-trusted products from my beauty regime or rather the products I regularly use and have found quite so effective. And no, Origins didn't pay me for this review :)

Skin cleanser/Face-wash: Origins Never A Dull Moment (read more about it here)
I started using this face wash since a month. I have a combination skin-type; the T zone gets oily whereas other parts get dry and flaky (super-dry especially during winters). The Origins 'Never A Dull Moment' helps to clear the oily areas and (surprisingly) does not dry out the others. Its clear in appearance and has a fresh fragrance which is what I loved.
I use it twice daily; once in the morning and once in the evening. I need to use a tiny bit every time and the cleanser lathers up great all over the face and neck. I am very happy with the results - the face feels fresh and glowy. The face wash is priced at $20/5 fl. oz. (150ml.) but with the amount I use everyday, it has already lasted me for a couple of months and should last a couple more. All in all, I think this is a definitely a product to invest in, for face-care.
The only downside, I found, is that the cleanser stings the eyes real bad. So, I gotta close my eyes tight-shut when I am cleansing my face :)

Face moisturizer: Origins Make A Difference Plus + (read more about it here)

After cleansing comes the 'moisturizing' part and again Origins 'Make a Difference Plus' fared well here. I started using this product around the same time as the cleanser; this time again looking for a product to balance the contrasting skin texture I have. I like the fact that it has a perfect balance of moisturizing elements - helps me with the dry skin and does not give a oily sheen to the face especially the forehead. 

Its priced at 39.50$ for 1.7fl. oz./50 ml. which is a little on the higher side for me, but I think it's well worth for the facial skin-care. 

Quick Tip: After using Origins for both cleansing and moisturizing, I would suggest to go similar way when trying a new brand. It helps in better understanding and evaluating the results of the skin-care products. 

Face mask: Origins Clear Improvement (read more about it here)

'Black-colored face mask? yikess!' was my first reaction when I first saw this product. But I have come to be a believer in this product after using it almost every weekend now. Per the product description, the face mask consists of a mix of activated charcoal and white china clay which helps to clean clogged pores and impurities.

I am very lazy about applying masks and most of the days, I usually forget to apply a face mask. When I bought this one, I placed it near the wash-basin so that every Saturday morning, after brushing teeth, I remember to apply the mask. It dries pretty quickly (by the time my morning tea is ready) and when I wash it with warm water, it comes off easily. Face feels fresh (hehe, alliteration alert, huh!) as well as bright and ready for the weekend revelries!

The face mask is priced at 16$ for 1.7 fl. oz./50 ml. which is quite a good deal according to me. Definitely worth the re-purchase :)

I would be lying if I said that there has been a pronounced change in my facial skin after starting to use these products; but nonetheless the number of breakouts have reduced and the face mask routine, on the weekends, is what I look forward to (per hubs, my face looks clean and glowy after applying the mask!). 

I hope these beauty-product reviews were useful and hope you liked reading it! Do drop in your feedback/suggestions below in the comments.

Indian twist

While I am away celebrating my birthday in the second best city in the world aka New York City (the best city is good ol' Bombay for me!) I will leave you to the pictures from the surprise anniversary weekend trip.

For this year's celebrations, sweet hubs abducted me and drove me to an unknown destination! When we reached the hotel, I was practically dumbfounded; the inn was by a picturesque location – a wharf with the view of the water right from our room. The inn was a tobacco factory that got converted into a heritage inn. The rooms had interesting mix of yester-year details - red brick walls, antique furniture and armoires. It was so much fun doing a photo-shoot in a unique place!

Well, so to say my outfit for the day was unique in itself - a mix of old and contemporary style. To try something new this time, I paired a lace LBD (Little Black Dress) with an Indian kundan necklace. For my non-Indian readers, ‘Kundan’ is a traditional form of Indian gem jewelry which is quite popular in the north-west region of India (states of Rajasthan and Gujarat). Kundan jewelry is usually elaborate necklaces, pendants, droop-earrings, bangles, etc. So it’s not a surprise that this type of jewelry is prominently a part of the bridal wedding trousseau in India.

Anyhow, I bought this kundan necklace from Mumbai during my wedding shopping. The excited to-be-bride that I was, I indulged in this expensive kundan jewelry but never actually got to wear it, neither during the wedding ceremonies nor at the reception. Blame the typical-gold jewelry for that! 

Anyways, better late than never, right? So in a bid to do try a quirky combination for the anniversary-dinner outfit, I decided to give this unique style a try. A chunky watch with assorted bracelets, a ring and black pumps completed the look. To keep the necklace as the centerpiece, I went low on accessories. Well, actually absolutely-zero accessories; not even earrings! For make-up I went with the usual and easy 'smokey eyes and red lips' look. Well, all this ensured that I didn't look like a decked up Christmas tree :)

Tell me, have you ever dressed up in a trendy outfit with a traditional twist? Do share your take on this style-experiment in the comments below! 

Urban Outfitter's Dress | Kundan necklace from Sia Art Jewelry, Mumbai | 

Bandolino black peep-toe pumps | Michael Kor's Women's Chronograph (similar)| Aldo Ring

P.S.: a BIG thanks to hubs for the photography. The unique lighting was a new territory for us. But with a great deal of patience, hubs tried different modes and angles with the DSLR so that the pics came out just perfect. I absolutely loved all the pics and I had to contemplate a great deal on which ones to post. So you can see now, why this post is photo-heavy :)

Blazer-weather weekend

So after a lot of cribbing about winter here, the weather gods have been kind enough to bless us with the 'Blazer-Weather' weekend! A beautiful sunny day where you can wear a blazer and no more layers; and this beautiful day was on the weekend. Double bonanza I say, people!

I bought the striped-blazer on a 'frustrated-with-winter-so-need-to-vent-out' shopping trip. Don't worry I made sure that the shops had a winter sale going on before I indulged though. Thank God, for my brain's frugal-section that was not frozen, right? Since the purchase, the blazer has been hanging in the closet for a couple of months I was waiting for the right day so that I don't need to bury it down under a wool coat (which quite rightly meant that I would never get to flaunt it until this winter-business is done).

So when the blazer-weekend showed up, my obvious choice was to pick this little baby outta my closet :) When it's blue and white stripes, pink cannot be far behind, right gals? Skinny jeans and comfy boots (yeah, it is still winter, duh!) completed the look. The pink is kinda hot pink/ fuchsia pink so for the accessories I went low profile. Also, whenever I wear pink, I have this urge of pairing it with the pink-print Vera Bradley, 'cause well, it really compliments the color!

Striped blazers/cardigans are worth the investment. Stripes is a versatile print, every body knows that, right? No??! OK then, believe me that it is. I can think of a bazillion ways to style this blazer; pair it with the blue top/outfit, or with a contrast hue (like I did here), or with another print - polkas, floral, or stripes-on-stripes - all these work just super!

If you are feeling stripe-shy, take one small step at a time. Get a stripes top/tee, or even a striped accessory like a handbag/clutch/headband. The best part of stripes is it's classic, trendy and a readily available print and of course I hear that it's the spring trend for 2013! SO, tell me, have I convinced you yet or should I do some more yapping??!

Anyhow, without further ado, here are the pictures from a lovely warm-weather weekend we, the people whining through sub-zero temps, were blessed with!

J.Crew Top (similar/similar) | American Eagle Skinny jeans | Banana Republic Striped-blazer (similar) | 

Born Tan boots | Fossil Watch at Nordstorm (you can buy it here)| 

Vera Bradley Purse | Banana Republic Sunglasses (similar)

Ocean city & Crabs

 What I am wearing: Top - Alfani@Macys (similar); Tribal print shorts - Calvin Klein@Nordstorm Rack (as seen here) (similar); Cuff - Local farmer's market (similar); Cross body bag & summer sandals - DSW;

Earrings - Old Navy; Watch - SWATCH; Oversized sunnies - American Eagle

Yep, you read it right! This post is about our sunny trip to Ocean city, Maryland and not Jamaica. I wish I was in Jamaica though right now..its windy, chilly, cold, winter, and everything that makes you pine for summer. But before I go in a full-blown crib mode (winter makes me cranky!) lets get back to the summer travel post.

We visited Ocean city in September last year! (you might have previously read about Ocean city here). J and I had a total blast needless to say..chilled beers, fresh masala-wale crabs, sand beneath our feet and delish pina-coladas!

It was my very first experience at eating crabs - cracking them up and then scooping out the soft-n-fresh meat ..I tell yeah, it's an experience in itself! The server gave us a small wooden hammer and showed 'how to crack open a crab and get to the soft n fresh yumminess hidden inside'. And after that we were pretty much on our own with a dozen crabs waiting to be delved into. By my 3rd/4th crab, I was kinda tired and lazy but the fun of eating it that manner was way too much fun, so well, I kept going. On the other hand, hubby was at his best, cracking it perfectly, and enjoying every bit of the process. Nevertheless, I am sure we will be back to this beach city full of life, sunny weather, fresh crabs and a perfect relaxing atmosphere.

Our next stop was 'Seacrets'..the best restaurant-cum-pub haven in town! You gotta go here if you are in Ocean city. They have tables in water! Need I say more??

Anyhow, I am just waiting for summer, so that we can pack our bags, drive down to this fab spot, put up my feet and relax!

Crab-fest yumminess :)

Chilling by the sea and 'Seacrets'

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