Having a daily beauty routine is one elusive thing with us mentally painting a picture of tediousness. So is there an easier way to maintain a routine which would not only keep you happy, but also leave you with enough time on your hands?

1. Cleanse
   Healthy skin or hair is strongly characterized by its cleanliness, which lends a wholesome glow. So the first step is simple. Keep your skin and hair clean.
   
   
   • Skin
     While a vitalizing cleanser will wake your skin up in the morning, a gentle scrub will work wonders for you in the night, delicately cleaning your skin at the end of the day. My personal favorite is Aveeno’s skin brightening daily scrub, with its soy extracts and microbeads working a charm!
   • Hair
     A wash everyday with a mild shampoo like Dove’s daily moisture therapy shampoo will keep your hair happy and shining. Shampooing your hair at least once in 3 days will help your hair keep the dust and grime of pollution at bay.
2. Moisturize
   Be it your skin or your hair, enhance your countenance and get brighter with the right amount of moisture.
   
   
   • Skin
     A moisturiser that is just right for your skin is essential for the moistuirising ritual - neither too oily or dry to the extent of being flaky. Again Aveeno scores here with its Clear complexion daily moisturizer. I am a huge fan of the moisturizer silk-to-touch texture both on your hands and your skin.

     Usage of a night moisturizer is highly beneficial to your skin by restoring and rejuvenating your skin during its time of rest, helping you wake up to great skin everyday. Palmers cocoa butter is the best I have used till date.

   • Hair
     Moisturizing your hair can have 2 parts to it - either before a wash, by means of a deepapplication of oil on the scalp and hair (OR) after a wash, by application of a leave-in conditioner or a serum.
     The best oil to apply on before a wash would be slightly warmed coconut oil, which not only relaxes you, but also imparts a hearty shine to your hair after the wash.Dove’s daily moisture therapy replenishing mist, would be a perfect after wash moisturizer, helping you keep your hair in place and silky smooth.

A simple and effective morning routine and an evening routine encompassing the above would probably be the greatest gift you could give yourself!

This post is the second in a four part series dealing with essential oils associated with the signs of the zodiac. Its the sign of the earth this time - Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.

Taurus

1. Ambergris
   Ambergris is a gray waxy substance produced naturally by sperm whales and is present in this list due to sweet and earthy odor. It acts a tonic and stimulant, strengthening the brain and the heart.
2. Patchouli
   There are a couple of essential oils that are associated with more than one sign, and patchouli is one of those many . If you remember from my earlier post on water signs, patchouli is used as a tonic and a body-mind balancing oil, in addition to it being used widely as a skin restorative and rejuvenating agent.
3. Musk
   Musk - The very word triggers off a heady, earthy and a sweep-you-off-your-feet fragrance. It essentially awakens your instinct and spurs on your body’s capacity for self healing.
4. Jasmine
   As I mentioned with Patchouli, Jasmine makes it entry again with the earth sign of Taurus. Stimulating and emotionally healing effects makes Jasmine very essential indeed

Virgo

1. Rose
   Extremely becoming of a very feminine Virgo, the rose is rightly popular for its use in matters of the heart. Calming and powerful at the same time, without being a sedative, rose either as an oil application or a body gel would set the mood for your day as well as your night right!
2. Lavender
   Lavender’s therapeutic properties of soothing and calming the body and mind make its reappearance in this list justifiable.
3. Patchouli
4. Honeysuckle
   Honeysuckle evokes in my mind memories of the sweet and earthy fragrance of the yellow and white tiny blossoms. This oil works more on your emotions than your body making it a very nostalgic perfume.
5. Wintergreen
   The name itself, in my opinion lets us on in its refreshing properties. Used to relieve muscle pain and for general wellness, wintergreen’s energising and rejuvenating properties are put to good use in general medicine.
6. Bay
   A staple in your kitchen, bay is known for its stimulating and tonic properties, enhanced by its intoxicating fragrance.

Capricorn

1. Carnation
   Carnation too makes a renetry here, due to its uplifting and stimulating effects on the body.
2. Pine
   The clean fragrance of pine again is something I have already talked about.Not only does it promote a clarity in the thought process, its refreshing and revitalizing effects on the brain reflect instantaneously on the body too.

If your sign still hasn’t come up, do wait. Fire signs and their essential oils in the next post!

” Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love “- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand’s quote on the perfect cup of coffee is something I relate to with every sip of coffee I take. Be it a tumbler of Madras filter coffee or a quick shot of espresso, his words hold.

As much as I love filter coffee, a cup of espresso goes down just as well with me. But it is extremely difficult (and quite trying on your purse strings too) to pop in to Cafe’ Coffee day every time you wish to have a cup of black coffee. I have a simpler way and that is to have that cup of black coffee at home. So how can you make it and what do you need?

Ingredients

1. 2 teaspoons of coarsely / not very finely ground coffee (ideally freshly ground)
2. One and a quarter cup of water. If you want it stronger, you can reduce it to one cup.
3. Sugar to taste. Do try to add as minimal as possible, to retain the flavour of coffee.

Make your cuppa, right now

1. In a saucepan (that’s what I use, earthenware is better) boil the water.
2. The water should be boiled to a point where it has just started bubbling out. Once this stage is reached, pour the water into another container and keep it aside.
3. Now put the powder in the saucepan from which the water has been removed.
4. Pour the boiled water into the saucepan and onto the powder.
5. Let the mixture stand for a few minutes.
6. Strain it out and have your cup of black coffee!

A few pointers to make your coffee taste good, every time you make it:

1. Try to use freshly ground powder alone. If you are a regular black coffee drinker, make sure to stock up just a week’s worth of powder.
2. Do not reheat your coffee and have it as the flavour would be lost and it would taste very different.
3. Do not ever add milk/ creamer to this. This is a definite no-no and borders on insult of the sanctity of the coffee.
4. Do not go for a second degree coffee. Once the powder is used, toss it out.

Black coffee is probably one of the purest form of coffee and in my opinion the most. So, go ahead and sip away!

Blacker and hotter!

• BBC’s comprehensive guide on making black coffee (complete with different equipments and methods of preparation)
• Douglas Taylor’s good cup of black coffee

A day well begun is a day of satisfaction, irrespective of the course of the day.

In my opinion, the tune of the day ahead of you is set by how you start your day. Waking up early forms an integral part of this, but it is important that you effectively utilize the time to kick start a great day.I am a huge fan of routines, and a morning routine is my way of starting a day.

A good morning routine can become super, if you start it early in the day. The peace and quiet you get in the morning beats any other time of the day. Your mind is up, alert and clear, and there are almost no distractions (unless you create some yourself).

The following, with a tweak here and there as per your preferences will help you with forming a morning routine:

1. Wake your body up
   The best way to wake your body is to get the blood pumping.Be it a couple of simple stretches or a fully fledged workout, exercise gets your body up and running.
   
2. Wake your body up - part 2
   Give your body another shot at waking up completely by having a bath. A warm bath after a good workout is positively refreshing.
   
3. Feed your brain
   Get your brain roaring on its wheels.A book, some news, a challenging puzzle - anything will do. Give yourself some food for thought.
   
4. Chalk out your plan for the day
   A well planned day makes the day more productive and less stressful. Something that you did not anticipate may always come up, but being prepared for what you expect makes the difference. A to-do list is quintessential.
   
5. Fuel up
   Have breakfast and a hearty one at that. Don’t ever skip breakfast and do make it the biggest meal of your day. A good breakfast gives your body and mind the energy they need to take on the day, by its horns.

You now have a way to start a kickass day with your morning routine. But how can start your day right all the time? The simplest answer to that question is to make it a habit! So how can you keep up a habit?

1. See it in black and white
   Seeing a morning to-do list with your morning routine as the 1st item and the satisfaction of ticking it off everyday will help you sustain your habit.
2. Shout it out
   Make yourself accountable. Your partner, friends or family will help you keep up your habit.

Now you have all that you need to make everyday a fantastic day, so what are you waiting for?

More ways to great mornings!

• Leo’s morning routine
• Morning Routine on ehow (They talk about an earlier night routine too!)
• Accountability at 43folders

All of us can relate to having a bad hair day. Your hair just plain refuses to listen to you and settle itself down the way it is supposed to (or at least go back to how it was yesterday, instead of misbehaving).

I have mostly noticed my bad hair days occuring around 2 days after a wash. On the day of the wash, your hair is all happy happy joy joy! the next day, well single happy and a single grudging joy. The day after - No Happy No joy! This is when you need to do some quick work, or you are bang smack in the middle of a bad hair day. I have 2 ways of handling this depending on the time I have:

1. By an unforeseen twist of fate, I wake up early and have enough time to bring my hair back to the ‘Happy Happy Joy Joy’ state i.e I wash my hair.
2. Well, the usual happens, I wake up late, rush through. Depending on the condition of your hair - frizzy, fine, whatever, you usually have some sort of spritz out there that will exactly help you solve that condition. For example, my hair is fine, so on a bad hair day, it looks plastered down. I use L’Oreal’s tecni.art - volume lift , which I apply on to my hair (usually with my hands) and use the dryer on my hair for a few minutes and am ready to go.

So, how do you handle your bad hair day?

Astrology and Aromatherapy? Yes, you heard me right.

Almost all of the essential oils we know have a strong elemental and zodiac association. Each elemental and astrological sign has a very specific influence on your mind and body. Each essential oil is aligned with one or more of these influences.This helps in identifying the distinctive effects each oil has on us and to blend oils for a desired effect.

This post will be dealing with the essential oils associated with the three water signs - Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio.

Pisces

1. Lavender
   Lavender is essentially calms, relaxes, and balances you - physically and emotionally.
2. Carnation
   Carnation is used widely as a stimulant and tonic for general health promoting the innate healing properties of the body.
3. Lilac
   Lilac, like lavender is a comforting and anxiety lessening essential oil.
4. Patchouli
   Patchouli is used as both a tonic and a soother, but best of all, its skin rejuvenation properties, puts it bang smack into your tub.

Cancer

1. Lily of the Valley
   A rich summer floral scent, this truly brings back memories and soothes the body and mind.
2. Gardenia
   Gardenia is fresh and clean like your mother’s garden and promotes a sense of well being and comfort.
3. Jasmine
   One of the most well known and well loved fragrances in India, Jasmine incorporates in itself a killer combination of an uplifting stimulant and aphrodisiac.
4. Camphor
   Not only does camphor soothe and relieve anxiety, it is known to kick start digestive and respiratory systems.
5. Clove
   A common resident of your kitchen spice rack, clove is used an antiseptic wildy and is a mild stimulant, used with other blends( essential oil blends ) to boost their effect.

Scorpio

1. Myrrh
   A musty, smoky sort of aroma and its ready availablity in the cradles of religion, have made it a spiritual perfume. Its an empowering and strengthening oil, awakening the spiritual zeal within.
2. Hyacinth
   The flower that rose from the blood of Hyacinthus (a Greek youth loved by but accidentally killed by Apollo) is known for its curing of insomnia and inducing a peaceful sleep, relaxing your body.
3. Pine
   Think of Pine, the word that pops up into your head is ‘clean’. I am very sure that at that least one of your household cleaner/disinfectant would be of a pine fragrance (mine is). If you haven’t tried it out, try it for that truly clean fragrance. and that is exactly what it translates to in aromatherapy - clean your mind and promote clarity of thought.
4. Lemon
   The fresh fragrance of lemon is no stranger to us. Be it a drop on your salad or a flavour in your tea, lemon has a universal appeal in its energising properties.
5. Cinnamon
   Did you ever think that another ingredient on your kitchen spice rack, would not only energise and work as a tonic, but also prove to be one powerful aprodisiac?

If your sign isn’t here, wait! Earth signs and their essential oils in the next post!

There is a section of old gentlemen in Chennai, whose day starts with a steaming cup of filter coffee and a crisp edition of the Hindu. If you are nodding your head and savouring the memories of your grandpa, I am guessing you are from Chennai and you really do not need any lessons on the quintessential filter coffee.

Filter coffee or Madras filter kaapi is known for its rich aroma and strong taste. The most important equipment for preparation of filter coffee is obviously the filter. The filter has two compartments - the upper one having tiny holes on the base, where the coffee powder is placed and the lower compartment into which the coffee percolates to. A plunger is provided to keep the coffee powder in place.

Depending on your tastes and the size of your filter, you can modify the following ingredients:

1. 2.5 teaspoons of coffee powder, my favorite combination is 250 gm Plantation + 250 gm peaberry + 100 gm chicory powder. The chicory gives a distinctive flavor to the coffee.
2. 3/4 of a cup of water
3. Fresh milk (ideally fresh cow milk) at the least the freshest bottle you can lay your hands on
4. Sugar - a minimal amount,as an overdose will kill the essence of the coffee

Lets get to making the coffee now, shall we?

1. Place the coffee powder in the upper compartment of the filter and gently tap it down and place the plunger on top of the powder. Do not push the plunger down in a manner that gives no breathing space for the coffee. Jokes apart, do not pack up the powder tight.
2. Boil the water vigorously, by this I mean the water should bubble up and boil with a lot of vigor, before it is considered good enough for the filter.
3. Now pour the boiling water into the upper compartment and wait.
4. As the decoction is percolating, boil the milk. (on low flame so that it takes just as much time as the decoction takes to percolate)
5. Within 15-20 minutes, percolation should be complete. Add the decoction to the freshly boiled milk along with sugar.
6. In true madras style, pour the coffee back and forth between the davara and tumbler, topping it off with a rich layer of froth.

Your filter coffee is ready, all you need is the Hindu and an easy-chair.

Few interesting Madras filter coffee notations:

Degree coffee - Coffee made with degree milk (pure milk as per the lactometer) and degree decoction (first degree - freshly percolated and the strongest).

Meter coffee - Coffee poured into the davara from (I am not sure of this fact though) the height of one meter, to create the froth without lowering the temperature of the coffee.

Look forward to the next post on the “Black as devil, hot as hell” black coffee!

More Coffee, anyone?

• The art of making Filter Coffee
• How to make make South Indian filter coffee
• Filter coffee
• There’s No Coffee Like Filter Coffee, It’s Like No Coffee I’ve Known……

Most of the routines you follow would fall under one of the categories of a daily, weekly or monthly routine. But have you really thought of a weekend routine?

For people working through the week, the weekend is not just a simple 2 days of bliss. There is laundry, cleaning, shopping, bills and more. If you do not plan the weekend well, trust me , you would feel as if you did not have one, and would really not be up to facing the coming week.

Come Friday night, and I am already dreaming about a peaceful early Saturday and Sunday morning.Yes, you heard me right, I wake up earlier than usual on holidays, and I am still trying to figure out why :).

Now for a sample weekend plan. This would possibly consist of the following items:

1. Laundry Work:
   • Wash clothes
   • Drop clothes off at the Laundrette , if any
   • Plan your dresses for the week, iron them and keep it ready. Saves you a lot of time through the week.
2. Clean and stow away things that have wandered over the week from their places.
3. Plan your meals and accordingly prepare your shopping list.
4. Plan other outings if necessary - doctors, library, wherever …
5. A to-do list for the week
6. Most importantly, set aside my-time to read a book or catch a movie or just plain relax!

The above list, with a few tweaks here and there works well for me.

Do set up a simple routine, and feel yourself enjoying the weekend and ready to take on the coming week with renewed vigor!