Product/Service review

Review – Bryan and Candy Cocoa Shea Bath tub spa kit

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I am a bath and beauty products junkie and love trying out new stuff. Especially stuff that smells as good as food! Bryan and Candy, New York is one such brand that creates great smelling bath and beauty products. Recently I was contacted by them to try out their Bath tub spa kit. There are several variants in the same, namely, Cocoa & Shea, Strawberry, Mango Frutti, Orange & Mandarin and Green tea. I chose the Cocoa Shea bath tub spa kit (which comes in its own tub) .

The Cocoa Shea Bath tub spa kits has the following 5 items:

  • Cocoa Shea bath & shower gel 300mL
  • Cocoa Shea hand & body lotion 125mL
  • Cocoa Shea body polish 100g
  • Cocoa Shea sugar body scrub 100g
  • 1 luxury loofah

All these items come in a cute looking tub which can be conveniently arranged on the side of the actual bath tub.

Review of Bryan and Candy Cocoa Shea Bath tub spa kit:

The attractive & bright packaging is quite eye catching and all the products are delicious smelling. They have a pretty good shelf life (36 months) compared to other brands.

Cocoa Shea home spa kit

Cocoa Shea bath & shower gel:

The shower gel is Aloe Vera infused and has a refreshing chocolate fragrance to kickstart the day. As we all know, Aloe Vera has a soothing and cooling effect to give you supple and soft skin. Apart from concentrated aloe vera extracts, it also has natural oils. It can be used daily with a loofah and it doesn’t make the skin dry. It has a press button cap so that a small amount of gel comes out at a time and there’s no need to cap or uncap the lid repeatedly. It is paraben free.

Cocoa Shea bath & shower gel with luxury loofah

 

Cocoa Shea hand & body lotion:

It’s a nourishing lotion with essential oils and it is hyaluronic acid enriched. Hyaluronic acid, also known as hyaluronan, is a clear, gooey substance that is naturally produced by your body. The largest amounts of it are found in your skin, connective tissue and eyes. Its main function is to retain water to keep your tissues well lubricated and moist. The lotion can be used daily after the shower. As expected the fragrance is delicious. I like applying it on my hands just before going to sleep so that I can keep sniffing it while I doze off :). The lotion is meant for all skin types. The moisturization lasts quite long and it is free of Sulfates, Paraben, and other harmful ingredients. One can gently massage it till it’s absorbed all the way.

Cocoa Shea hand and body lotion

Cocoa Shea body polish:

This is a gentle exfoliant more like a gel and can be used daily. Its natural microbeads help to clear clogged pores thus helping the skin to breathe and eventually improving skin tone. It’s good to see that it has no plastic microbeads and instead consists of microcrystalline cellulose which is natural. As expected it is deliciously chocolatey and even looks chocolatey. It has avocado extracts and D-panthenol that soothe the skin and help fight ageing. Apply small amounts of the scrub on to damp skin and massage lightly. Rinse with water.

 

Sugar body scrub along with Body Polish

 

Cocoa Shea sugar body scrub:

This scrub can be used once a week to exfoliate dead skin cells and it cleanses skin impurities. The scrub consists of sugar and is not made with salts. While sugar helps to hydrate the skin, scrubbing helps to improve the blood circulation of skin. It is enriched with Argan oil and oatmeal extracts. The soft chocolatey sugar scrub is made of natural sugar, cocoa powder and 100% natural cocoa and shea natural butters. Natural plant extracts soften the skin while Argan oil and oatmeal extracts give intense moisturisation. The delicious smelling scrub actually looks just like chocolate so better not eat it! Apply small amounts of the scrub on to damp skin and massage lightly. Rinse with water.

The Bryan & Candy home spa kit

 

Luxury Loofah:

The loofah is made of spongy material which is a little rubbery. It’s quite smooth and especially soft on the skin unlike the nylon loofahs which may be harsher on the skin. Consequently the lathering is a little less comparatively.

I quite liked the trendy design element here. And there is extra packaging so that the tub kits don’t spoil while transferring the contents.

Bryan and Candy, New York

Receap :

  • Good shelf life (36 months).
  • Colourful bottles, easy to open lids.
  • Have already harped about the smell but can’t help repeating – it smells delicious!
  • Smoothen & moisturise the skin.
  • All products are Paraben free.
  • All products are animal testing free.
 Rating : 4/5

In my experience The spa kit was a great way to Indulge the senses with these delicious smells and textures, and can be a blissful way to start the day. It’s also a great gifting option especially since this is the festivity and gifting season. The products are available at Bryan & Candy website, Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart and Snapdeal.

 
Disclaimer: I have not been paid for this review, but I did receive the samples of the product. This is an unbiased review of the same.
 
 
 
 
 


My business class experience with Spicejet’s #spicebiz

This entry was posted in photography Product/Service review travel on by (updated 2008 days ago)

Recently Spicejet – one of India’s leading airlines rolled out its all-new business class offering – SpiceBiz – and invited me to try it out. Needless to say It took me absolutely no time to get on board. Literally 😉

The airline is offering a dedicated business class cabin with 43-inch seat pitch and 7-inch recline, complimentary lounge access, higher baggage allowance, gourmet meals/beverages, priority services and much more. There’s also a dedicated cabin crew for business class passengers. This was going to be my first experience of business class, even if on a domestic airline. So I was very eager to try it out. I had a choice of a few sectors that this seating is currently available on from Delhi, so I chose a Delhi to Calcutta and back trip (Boeing 737). Last I had been to Cal was in the 90’s. And I had been aching to visit ever since.

Depending on the aircraft configuration, SpiceJet offers 8, 12 and 28 business-class seats on its B737-700/800/900 aircrafts respectively. The front row and the over-wing exit rows of the economy cabin are offered as the premium economy seats – SpiceMax.

Now I’ll share my experience of various Spicebiz offerings.

dedicated Checkin experience with spicebiz:

On 27th May, I reached the T1 terminal, Delhi to board my Spicejet flight to Kolkata. I already had a window seat – in fact the first passenger seat. So all I had to do was drop my baggage & collect boarding passes. Spicejet has dedicated check-in counters for all SpiceBiz customers at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Srinagar, Jammu, Goa, Port Blair, Guwahati, Varanasi, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Kochi and Patna. At all other stations, passengers have access to a shared check-in counter with SpiceMax passengers. So I had a dedicated counter for me which was empty. The staff was smartly dressed, friendly and swift in their job. There’s a dedicated loader also for Spicebiz customers who helps load the luggage. Normally one has to load the luggage oneself on to the conveyor belt. I was handed over my boarding pass as well as lounge coupon by the Lady in Red. And I was assigned a special attendant from Spicejet, to escort me through to the boarding point. Please note, the attendant is NOT part of the Spicebiz offering but it was an additional VIP service I was provided with, to ensure my comfort. Basically I was a VIP customer And I highly appreciated it.  🙂 I proceeded from here to the lounge partner of Spicejet airlines – which was Plaza Premium lounge at the Delhi T1 airport.

Exclusive counter for Spicebiz customers

Well dressed staff with exclusive loader for spicebiz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lounge access with spicebiz:

SpiceBiz passengers currently have access to airport lounges at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Kochi airports. This service will soon be available at other airports.

Since their partner at T1 terminal, Delhi was Plaza premium lounge, I was escorted by the attendant to this lounge. I had around an hour during which I had a light breakfast. The meals are complimentary for all the guests who have access to the lounge. The buffet was pretty standard. The usual quick bite option of fruits, bread/butter/jam was  there. The meals are basically 5 dishes which are a mix of Indian and Continental cuisines. Beverages were tea & coffee (no juices/lassi etc).

Special assistance given to VIP customers i.e. Moi 🙂

Buffet at plaza premium lounge at T1

Seating area at plaza premium lounge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back for my Kolkata to Delhi flight, at the Netaji Subhash Chandra airport, I relaxed at the Travel Club lounge. I found their catering much better than the Delhi one. And they had specific terminals where one could use one’s laptop. For travellers it is a very helpful addition. Once again, I had been escorted by a person from Spicejet providing assistance, something that’s available only for VIP’s and that Spicejet was kind enough to extend to me :). He even escorted me right up till my seat in the aircraft.

Travel club lounge at Kolkata

Special terminals in the lounge where one can use their devices comfortably

VIP assistance right up till my seat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced baggage allowance with spicebiz:

Passengers travelling in business class are entitled to additional baggage allowance. All domestic passengers have a check-in allowance of 30 kg (up from the regular 15 kg). Hand baggage allowance for passengers travelling on domestic routes has also been extended to 10 kg (excluding laptops), from the current 7 kg. I was travelling light so I wasn’t carrying a lot with me. But it was nice to know that I could shop a LOT from Calcutta and still be within my luggage limit ;). In fact I bought a hand bag from there and also carried back some of my extra shopping as hand baggage on my return flight.

Priority services with spicebiz:

All SpiceBiz customers get the priority services offered by the airline, such as priority check-in, priority boarding and priority baggage. This basically means that YOUR luggage gets checked in first. Spicebiz customers get to board the plane or the coach leading to the plane – first. And once you arrive at the destination, the priority baggage ensures that the entire crowd from the plane would be standing next to the conveyor belt at arrivals, and the first and only piece of luggage that comes up is yours 🙂 . It was fascinating.

The In flight experience

The flight was extremely comfortable. The business class leg room was a lot! It didn’t feel claustrophobic and my knees didn’t knock on any front seat. I didn’t get edema in my ankles (that I typically get during airline travel). The seat was pretty comfortable without having to recline it. And once reclined, it was almost like lying down! I had 3 whole windows with me that was a big bonus since I love taking aerial pictures. It was a nice feeling not having to hunch into a convex shape while getting into my seat because there was so much space. Here are a few images that describe the experience. I took them once the Aircraft got empty.

Upright and reclined seat, as well as the leg space

A cushion is provided to all passengers. Blanket – on request.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twilight from the ample window space.

Window space with reclined seat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gourmet meals aboard spicebiz: 

Once on board, business class customers were offered a refreshing cool towel. It was much needed given the heat! Then we were presented with beverages like Coconut water, watermelon juice, tea & coffee. I had a chilled coconut water (and Lemonade on my flight back) and what better on a hot summer morning! I was impressed with SpiceJet’s three-course culinary journey, aimed at balancing health and indulgence. The selections were very contemporary and suiting modern palates. People can also order their meal beforehand and in case of prior booking, I Was told by the flight attendant, the variety in the menu is a lot more. Soon enough, one of the smartly dressed flight attendants spread linen on my tray table and then based on my choice, proceeded to serve me my meal on fine bone china, with sleek cutlery that had the Spicejet insignia on it.

The Spicebiz menu. Love the star anise

Spicebiz breakfast menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muesli with yogurt, fresh fruits & croissant

Rawa masala dosa & Quinoa Upma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were breakfast meals and no I didn’t have two of them 🙂 . The lunch/dinner meals are more elaborate and also include an extra course of various kinds of breads! Lunch/dinner meals also include a sumptuous dessert .

Selection of breads before lunch

Veg Manchurian with Veg noodles with braised Pakchoi, Dahi bhalla chaat & Chocolate dome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exquisite cutlery with Spicejet Insignia

Dinner menu of Spicebiz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the meal,  we were handed hot towels to wipe our hands with. We were offered beverages throughout the duration of the flight as well. I must say Taj SATS did a fine catering job here.

I had a great experience traveling in luxury with plush seats, gourmet meals and lounge access. Go ahead and try it! SpiceJet will soon be offering SpiceBiz on select international routes too. Wonder if they will invite me for that too 😉


My most memorable selfie

This entry was posted in Product/Service review tech on by

Much as I don’t like this word “selfie” and prefer the original and very elegant word used by photographers – “self portrait”, no one can deny that it has become second nature to millennials and many others alike. At the same time, sometimes when one is alone and there’s no one to capture a particular moment, the “self portrait” tool on phones, or the “selfie” comes most handy!

Since this post is about my most memorable selfie, there’s one that captures one of the most thrilling moments of my life. As we all know, India and Pakistan share a border at many locations. Wagah border at Amritsar is one such location and there is much fanfare at the beating retreat everyday over there. There is a high level of security as well, understandably. I’m a partition grandchild. Both sets of my grandparents migrated from Punjab’s portion in Pakistan, much like almost all Delhites’. In May 1947 my paternal grandfather had got a brand new Haveli constructed that they had to leave in a tearing hurry in August 1947. My maternal grandparents had a similar fate. As a result, even though we share a bitter sweet relationship with our neighbouring country, I have always wanted to visit Pakistan and retrace the steps of my grandparents. I don’t know if THAT is possible at all, but I always wanted to be as close to it as possible and took the second best thing – visiting the borders of our country.

 

So a few months back I visited Wagah border at Amritsar. Of course once there, one realises borders are merely a man made construct for our own consumption. Humans are more tied down with this social construct and relatively animals and birds cross them freely! I could see stray dogs and birds cross from India to Pakistan and vice versa, throughout the time I was there. But of course us humans have no such luck!

Then came a point, when through special permission I could get to a specific portion of the wagah border where there’s absolutely nothing except for a short fence. Both Indian and Pakistani rangers stand side by side protecting it and patrolling this area. Beyond this all one can see is greenery and wheat farms. It’s the complete opposite of the heavy gates just a few metres away. 

Much to my excitement a Pakistani ranger was standing right there within touching distance! Of course I didn’t try to touch him, but I could just not believe that if I stretched my arm, it would be in Pakistani air space!

 

 

It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life! And Without much ado I quickly captured a selfie with the Pakistani ranger in the frame! However I had used my trusted old ipad3 for this selfie and Sadly as you can see I would have liked to capture my full face as well as more of the border, the beautiful wheat farms, the green lawns & lovely lillies on the Pakistan side. And well, some birds flying across both countries would have been “sone par suhaga”. I think if I had had a good selfie camera phone like Mobiistar with its dual selfie camera that captures a 120° wide-angle shot, I may have had some shot at my desired image! However I was and will always be very excited that at least I got to capture one of the most thrilling moments of my life. Of course, if possible I would love to revisit this location with a better selfie experience phone and capture many more shots at this location with a lot more in view.

 

Which is your most memorable selfie? Do share in comments.

 

This post was written as part of an activity on Indiblogger.in

 

 


The 55″ HOM Ultra HD Smart TV 1

This entry was posted in Product/Service review tech on by

Around 2.5 years back, I FINALLY upgraded from a yesteryear CRT TV to a high tech state of the art Ultra HD 4K Smart TV with android. That was quite a jump right? Needless to say my content viewing *completely* changed after that and well that was the idea as well. But such TV’s don’t come for anything less than 35K-40K. So what does one do if one wants to upgrade, get a better viewing experience, be able to speak to one’s TV, queue the latest music/movies/series on demand and not spend a bombshell doing that?

Enter :

The 55″ HOM Smart TV

HOM, introduces the 55” Smart LED 4K TV which promises to change your TV watching experience! This is the 1st TV in India to enter the market at the lowest price, making this a must have for every home. HOM provides an immersive experience for their viewers with a wide range of content available at the click of a button – Movies, music, sports, games, online content — whatever you’re watching, whatever the source.

First let’s imagine a 55inch TV to begin with. It’s going to cover a decent portion of any wall and is capable of transporting one to a “movie environment”. Now for the salient features:, it has the following:
  • 4K HD Display
  • Android 4.4
  • 1 GB RAM
  • HD Display
  • Built in Wi-Fi
  • RJ45 (Ethernet)
  • 3 HDMI Port
  • 1 VGA Port
  • 2 USB Port
  • 1 Video Input
  • Smart Remote
  • Weather Update
The features are quite exciting. With an Android Smart TV with Miracast Technology, the sky is the limit to watching content. One can easily mirror one’s android phone on to the TV WITHOUT any cables! After this whatever you can watch on the phone becomes watchable on TV as well! Be it your images, videos or well just whatsapp! And if one combines a voice assistant to this setup , then all you need to do is speak what your heart desires and your TV will play it seamlessly! The TV’s have Inbuilt apps which keep tv watchers entertained (games), active, informed (live updates every 30 mins) and fit (fat burn program).

However that’s just the cake. The icing on top is the fact that this TV is now available in India for under INR 30k! The HOM TV’s would very soon be available at mobile phone stores apart from just regular TV stores. May be that’s why their slogan very aptly says “HOM: Har Family ka member, Mobile se sasta TV”. So if you are planning to upgrade your TV, then instead of waiting for diwali sales, you can quickly headover to http://www.homindia.in/ .

Here are some images that highlight the TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TV’s come with a 365 days replacement guarantee (with T&C).

Note : This post was written for an initiative on Indiblogger.

Restaurant Review – After Stories

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I recently visited After stories as part of a large group and tried a bite from a number of dishes. It is very close to the IFFCO chowk Metro Station in Gurgaon and is known for its freshly brewed Beer. Here’s a quick review.

Ambience:

It is naturally well lit and has a nice ambience. The interiors looked good and music played at a comfortable volume (where you can hear yourself talk).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food & drinks:

They have multiple cuisines which includes North Indian, Continental, Chinese, Mexican and fusion of these. The Prices are a bit on the higher side but one must try it out. The Service staff was pleasant and knowledgeable about the food.

In drinks I tasted the Apple cider & Kala Khatta (signature drink). Both were quite nice.

For appetisers, I tried :

Peri peri cottage cheese fingers : Paneer was soft, exterior was crisp but needed more of the Peri peri as I couldnt taste it at all .

Tandoori Mushroom with double cheese : Quite nice.

Crispy aloo sabutdana : To be honest it wasn’t too crispy. Potato wedges are usually crispier.

Falafel with pita and humus : Nice and crispy falafels served with pita bread and 3 types of humus – one of them was made with black chana too.

Veg Spring Rolls : Average

Cottage cheese in Schezwan sauce : Crispy on the outside, nice taste. But personally I feel there are just too many paneer dishes.

Chicken jujeh Kebab : was nice and tangy.

Baked filo puff – The pastry was quite nice and flaky but the filling (in the Veg one) mainly tasted of carrots and cheese. Could add some other flavours.

Mexican Style mutton seekh with salsa and sour cream – different flavours from usual punjabi style but nice.

For main course I stayed away from Indian food though others seemed to enjoy it a lot. I tried the pastas which had the right italian flavours and were not their Indian versions.

I also had Mumbai style chicken manchurian served with fried egg and sichuan rice. The manchurian was a bit tough and dry else the dish looked good and tasted good.

For dessert I tasted the Churros with Mandarin sauce and clotted cream as well as the variant with strawberry and chocolate sauce. I found the latter combination better. The churros were a bit dry because they were quite thick. But tasted nice. The chocolate and walnut brownie with ice cream was quite nice and gooey.

Here are some images to describe what one can’t in words!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food was nice, not too spicy. Main course portions are ok only for one person per dish. They also have interesting events like Cinderella nights on Wednesday, Thirsty nightingale on Thursday (free beer for all & also a karaoke night) , Story teller Sunday and more. It occupies the basement, ground floor and first floor and also has outdoor seating. There is a long flight of stairs that leads up to the 1st floor. There’s no elevator. The parking is free. Overall this place is well worth a visit.

 

After Stories Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato