App Review : Zooty, Beauty and Salon Deals

You’ve probably heard of Ziffi. Well, recently they went to the dressing room and got themselves a snazzy makeover. They come with a fun name now- Zooty – but you can still get some great salon deals on the app. Since this was right up my alley, they got in touch with me and I was pretty gung ho about doing the review. So, here’s what I thought. They have an okayish rating but that could be because they changed and all.

The interface is quite cool and colourful and that is my thing so I was instantly drawn to it. Even the heart icon they use is quite fun. Also, while loading, the slide screens are doing their thing.

 

Then, you must sign in, which is kind of a bummer because I would really like to see what they’ve on offer before I make that kind of commitment.

And they ask your gender as well.

 

Once you’ve given them all this info, it instantly takes into account where you are located and suggests places around the area. Since I didn’t want to take up a service in this area, I looked for other options. If you want only salons, or only spas, you can choose just that.

So I browsed through a bunch of places around my area, then in Bandra and then in random areas because I am easily distracted. However, I did notice that they haven’t got luxury salons with them. Most of them are chains or local salons and ones that I do not personally prefer. Also, I was thrown off because some of the searches it threw up weren’t even in the same area. I know Andheri East is close but to show up in the search is little weird na?

After browsing around for a while, I finally gave up and settled for a home service by Myglamm, coz they be tried and tested. I chose the services I wanted and the day and time I wanted them at. It was all very easy actually.

 

 

It then asked me for my address and other details which I keyed in. Because I have a lot of patience. You’ve plenty of payment options from Paytm to cash and all of that. I didn’t see cards so I don’t know if they have that yet,

Once confirmed, I also got an email from them with all the details. And I really liked the bit where they gave me a reminder. Rather cute.

Verdict: It’s a nice app where you can good deals on your local salons. Every woman knows she goes to her local salon for the threading and waxing services, you could really use the deals here. However, the more fancy salons are still to be included, so I will wait. 

If you want to read my review of Myglamm, you will find it here.

 

 

 

 

 

Launch: Beyu Cosmetics Comes to India

I think Germany is a really, really interesting country. Because, first of all, they’ve the BMW which is only the best car ever. But they also have a lot of beer which is really why you should like any country. But if you are going to be really particular, Germany in my head stands for quality. The products that usually come out of there are top notch. So, after spending several minutes trying to pronounce the name of the brand, I decided I would avoid using it altogether, the name, that is. If you are wondering, it’s pronounced Be You, like be yourself. Cute only.

That’s me. At the launch.

So this Thursday, I learned with a bunch of other bloggers that Beyu Cosmetics, a German brand is coming to India. And it will be in stores in April. Obviously, this thrills makeup lovers because it means we have another brand to choose from. By the way, it’s going to be in the drugstore category so we don’t have to be broke while we buy makeup, which I buy too much of.

So the brand will be available in stores soon enough, the starting price point is Rs.975 and from all the products I experienced, I enjoyed their eye pencils a lot. They are epic. Here are some pictures from the launch. Of course, I will keep using their products and keep you in the loop. So watch this space.

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The Vagina Highlighter is here and We are so Grateful

I have been walking around with a dull, mundane vagina and I was okay with it because, really, I had no great vision for it. But I guess I was just being complacent because there’s so much you can do to your vagina, as this Danish company is telling us.

 

Say hello or wave your panties at The Perfect V, a company that has made a highlighter for, you guessed it, your vajayjay. Which really we should all be grateful for because we all know that sometimes, your lips down there really don’t catch the light at the right angles. And it’s not just me who’s all excited about this product. Preity Boringhole* was having a tough time finding a husband in the arranged marriage set up. ‘I think they were getting really turned off by my average looking vagina and wanted something more luminous,’ she says.

As a beauty blogger and owner of a vagina, I know that just highlighter won’t cut it, it has to be a complete skincare routine. The people at The Perfect V have thought this through. There’s a beauty mist, serum and even a exfoliator for the lips next to the hips (thought of that all by myself).  I don’t have updates on the pubic hair and if they’ve a leave in conditioner for that, butI am keeping a close watch. In case you are wondering, it launches worldwide on 27th July.

*Names changed to protect privacy and because they are not real people

 

 

Powerhouse Gym, Juhu : Walkthrough and Tour

The gym and I are not very good friends. We mostly avoid each other and when we meet, rather occasionally, we chat quickly and then get moving. So when I was recently invited by the Powerhouse Gym in Juhu for a tour and trial, I was reluctant because it would mean getting off my bum. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not the gym. It’s exercising in the gym that puts me off. Like the treadmill. You are moving but you are not getting anywhere. Plus, staring at a wall? Not fun. Anyway, I headed over to Powerhouse Gym in Juhu and was hoping they would surprise me. And they did. Thank god.

So allow me to give you a quick walkthrough around the gym. I must tell you this, they have lots of treadmills. Like plenty of them. Which is great because you don’t have to creepily walk up to the people running and sweating profusely and ask them when they’ll get off. The best bit? These treadmills face a window. So there’s a view. *high fives everyone*

Like with all gyms, they have a cardio area and a weight training area. The weight training area had people pumping some real iron so I quickly ran away lest they offer me a dumbbell or something and expect me to lift it. What? But it looked pretty well equipped. They also have lots of trainers around so if you need a little help or a lot of it, they are quite sweet and will be willing.

But let’s go downstairs. The area here is of interest to me because this is where they have their Crossfit classes. As we walked in, the area has this real rugged vibe to it. And various things, like a huge tyres and what not are strewn around. A class was in session and I saw these women doing pull ups. And in style. I can’t even do one. They design a complete program according to your skill and ability so you work your way up which is super cool. The people in class were really sweating it out and they were only 10 minutes in. This, I think, would be fun to do.

If you are in the market for a gym membership. Powerhouse might be a good option to consider. Good location and not too expensive as well. A membership for Crossfit for a whole year goes for 35000/- which ain’t too bad at all. You can go and try a class if you aren’t up for a long term commitment just yet.

I came out wanting to really feel the burn. So I went ahead and got some acidity. 🙂

 

 

Don’t Wake Up With a Hangover. Liv It Up is here.

There are times in your life when you need help. Like when you are lifting something heavy and pull a muscle, you need a relaxant. Or when you’ve had a heart break. You need ice cream. Then there are times when you’ve had too much to drink. This is when you start making people uncomfortable by revealing truths, dancing badly to cheap Bollywood songs and think yourself as quite the charmer. This is also the time that you hit the bed and end up spending the night with one sock on. This, as you can tell, is a great way to wake up with a hangover. The head hurts, your mouth feels dry and metallic alternatively and in general you are in a messed up state of mind.

Turns out, you don’t have to feel that way anymore. I was recently sent Liv It Up – an Ayurvedic Hangover Shield that claims to take care of your hangover and keep your liver healthy. I tried this just once and I was only a few drinks down but I will update this post with a review when I really, you know, put it to the test. If you want to sponsor this binge drinking session, for the sake of research, do send in requests.

In the meanwhile, this is a Ayurvedic product, so it’s all natural, it protects your liver , which is a good thing and 5 capsules go for Rs.80 only. It can save you a hangover, not the video evidence of your drunken escapades.

BigStylist.com, a Home Salon Service Review. Is it worth it?

Among the home salon services, I think I have now officially covered all of them. I know that sounds very comprehensive but these people advertise to me on Facebook and Instagram all the time, so really, not so difficult. But, and I have said this before, the thing with home salon services is that you actually have to get off your bum and help the person out which, well, not so fun. Anyway, I got the people at BigStylist over. Here’s what happened.

First things first, they tell you that you can get 4 services done for Rs.999. This is not true. Once you do go to the website and click on the services you want, all the while feeling rather smug for getting such a good deal, you get a rude shock when you get a message saying you’ve booked services for Rs.1149. While that certainly isn’t expensive, if I am going to pay taxes or whatever, just let me know upfront.

The Service

Once I made the booking and made peace with the fact that I was going to be paying extra, I got a call from their team confirming that I had indeed made the booking. This does not confirm that you have the appointment. So don’t get confused. He said I would get a call the next day for that.

A lady called me the next day and asked me some basic questions about my skin while sounding very judgemental. I said I was having some skin issues and she immediately suggested I upgrade to another facial, I said I would stick with the fruit facial which she seemed very disappointed about. She did say something on the lines of ‘ So you don’t want something better for your skin?’ which made me want to fling a piece of furniture at her. But my furniture is big and expensive, so I didn’t do that.

The Experience

The lady who had called me had said that the person would be at my place by 11:30. I said okay. At 11, the lady was already home which was awkward because I had just stepped out of the shower.  Anyway, I got dressed. The first thing Seema pulled out of her bag was a giant tub for the pedicure. Which was slightly dirty which I didn’t appreciate. Then, the thing I don’t like about home services, she asked where I she could go fetch water, so I sent her to the village well. No, I didn’t . Anyway, she also asked for for a towel for the pedicure which ideally, she should have got herself. All this was packed in a BigStylist bag so that was a plus.

She did the facial first using VLCC products. You don’t get to choose the brand, they give it to you. Anyhoo, the facial was decent and she even manage to extract some stubborn blackheads which is a good thing. We moved on to the pedicure and manicure where she used a brand called Berry’s. This service was very poor. While the cleaning was decent, my heels were still rough and there was barely any effort to work on that. And, the worst bit? She hadn’t even carried nail polishes! I didn’t want polish that day but what if someone else did? She also would take calls in the middle of the service which was annoying. But she wasn’t intrusive or talkative which is a good thing.

That’s a wrap

Salon: BigStylist

Service availed: 4 Services – Spa manicure, spa pedicure, fruit facial and dry neck and shoulder massage. 

The wallet is lighter by : Rs.1149 inclusive of all taxes

Get in touch: http://www.bigstylist.com

Brands used: No idea but none that I knew

Hygiene of salon and professional: Decent. Seema was wearing a clean tshirt that said bigstylist as well.

Destress Quotient: 1.5 AAHs

Verdict: I was not impressed and in a field that super competitive, Bigstylist needs to up their game. Come with everything thats required. Seema didn’t have cotton needed to remove nail polish. Why? Anyway, besides the facial, the other services were average at best. Seema herself was quite disorganised, some of her tools were dirty (like the brush) and when there was extra product in the sachets, she threw them on my desk saying I should use them later. Huh?

Therapists name: Seema Tiwari

Should You Go Pro on Gaana? Find out with this App Review

Before we get into this review, you have to promise you’ll not judge my music choices because you are going to see plenty to screenshots and that’s kind of really putting me out there for judgement. Which is very brave of me, you must admit. That’s enough about me. We are going to review this app which I have been using for a while now so I really know how this works.

I have had the app for a while but to really be thorough, I hopped over to the Play store to see how they are performing there. So far, pretty good. They reply to the good and bad and are generally listening, from the looks of it. And 4.3 in rating. Great.

 

The Interface

When you first open the app, you should ideally be at home. But I am usually in my ‘Songs’ section which is where I have my downloaded music and favourites. The home page though, is pretty comprehensive listing trending songs, new releases and the like. Further down, there’s also a list of songs you’ve been listening to. The entire app is done up in orange and black. The space is clean and sharp with no unnecessary elements.

The App

So, here’s what I think of the functioning of the app. I will be putting it down in bullet points below so if you are too lazy, you can just check that out. The Gaana app is pretty on point with it’s songs. They are up on the app a couple of days after they are released which gives you access to a lot of new songs. However, some songs you will be unable to download for a few days. That happened to me with  ‘Humma Humma’. I am in the paid version of the app but this particular song was not available for download. It’s not crazy on notifications but when it does send them , they play a tune which could be really awkward if you are in a meeting.

As with all music apps, you can only listen to your downloads offline if you have paid for the app. Just to be clear, downloading the app is free and you can download the songs you want for free over wi-fi. But if you want to listen to those songs offline, that you won’t be able to do.

Going for the paid version is not expensive. It’s literally Rs.99 a month. And it works out slightly cheaper if you sign up for a longer time. But..and here’s where I tell you all the things that are wrong with this app. The first thing is, Gaana hangs a lot. A lot. There are times when I would open the app and I would see a blank screen. I go back and then force close the app and then restart it. It’s really not intuitive. It knows what songs what I listen to everyday and doesn’t know my choice. It randomly recommends songs. In fact, one of my regular earworms disappeared from my favourites recently. No idea why.  The funniest bit, out of all the songs I have downloaded, it has almost 90% in my favourites. ALL of them are not my favourites. No seriously. One more thing, which is f****** annoying is that when you make a payment to renew your account, it doesn’t show up for the longest time and I have been keep closing the app before it gets updated.

So, in a jiffy

The Good

Downloading the app is free and there are plenty of free trials

You can listen to the songs you download, for free if you have internet

The interface is clean and minimal. You do have two options to change the theme.

The bad

The app hangs. A lot.

After you’ve paid up, the app needs to be really shaken up to recognise that you’ve made the payment.

It’s really not intuitive. It doesn’t take into account if you’ve been downloading or listening songs to a particular singer or genre. It recommends something completely random.

Your favourites and downloads won’t really be different.

Verdict: I don’t love this app and wouldn’t recommend going to the paid version very soon. Explore the others. I am not switching because I have all my songs here now and I am too lazy to download all these again. 

 

 

 

Salon Review (Women): Happy In The Head, Bandra

Last weekend, I had a soiree to attend and I hadn’t had a great haircut in months. I thought it was time my locks got some snogging with a pair of scissors and I have been wanting to try this place called Happy in the Head for a while now. So I made an appointment and here’s how the entire experience went. I must pepper you with a little information first. Avani, who owns this place is ex Mad O Wat and has that same quirky vein run through her. Or that’s what I assume.

The Space

It’s a tiny little cubbyhole tucked into a lane in Bandra. The lane in question though is home to 3 of the major colleges in Bandra so it’s not quiet. Also, I found it really peculiar that there’s more place outside the salon than in it. And when I reached, I was greeted my various women (clients) pottering around outside with foils in their hair. I imagine like baking in makeup? Baking your hair must be a thing as well. The place has your usual cool place suspects. Vintage mirrors, distressed doors and table top, you know, the works.

The Experience

When I called the salon, the number is of a landline but it seemed like I had called a mobile coz first there was a lot of confusion and then some static and then someone’s voice came through. It was like an international call in the 90s. Anyway, they said they didn’t have a stylist for Rs.1000 at 11am when I wanted the appointment. The other price points were  1200, 1450 and 1650, I believe. Anyway, there was so much commotion I thought I had called some other place but turned out, I hadn’t.

The Service

If you’ve been reading up reviews on my blog, you know I have been to a lot of “quirky” places. And so I know some of them can be intimidating. I was walked in and said my name at the counter, the girl said she was waiting for me. Her name was either Presley or Preeti. I say this because she told me her name while washing my hair and I couldn’t hear a word. Anyway, I was taken to a chair and she asked me what I wanted. I told her and also said I wanted a hair tattoo. She said that a senior stylist would have to do. There was no mention of the extra cost. We moved to the hair wash area. They don’t have branded products here. I saw a few Wella bottles but the conditioner was out of a unbranded jar which was quite uncool. We got down to the haircut after consulting with the senior person because the cut would depend on what I wanted. I was also asked to look for designs.

Now, here’s the bit that annoyed me to no end. The stylist didn’t talk much which is okay. But the entire staff keeps talking to each other over the clients’ heads. And while a little fun is always to be had when they’re constantly at it, you feel like an outsider witnessing something and it can get awkward. They want to come across as in their zone but it makes you want to tug their hand and give you some attention. Maybe have a conversation. Plus, the hair was lying around for a while after it was cut. There was a food smell because it was lunch time and overall the experience was quite average and chaotic. The haircut though, was excellent. And I got my hair tattoo which they charged me a flat Rs. 500 for.

Some one from the salon was very loud and she practically shouted stuff across the room. Got on my nerves.

It’s a wrap

Salon: Happy In The Head

Service availed: Haircut

The wallet is lighter by : Rs 1700. Apparently, you book a Rs.1000 stylist but pay 1200 and then the 500 was for the hair tattoo. 

Get in touch: Shop No. 1, Mangal Kunj Bldg, B Wing, Junction of 32 and 36 Road, National College Lane, Off Linking Road, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050 Call: 022 6562 2325

Brands used: None

Hygiene of salon and professional: Just about okay. Hair swept but after a while and not super. 

Destress Quotient: 3.0 AAHs

Verdict: They offer great haircuts. If they would only get their attitude in place and look like they do care about their patrons, it would change things around. 

 

Hotel Review: Saj By The Lake, Malshej Ghat

A good deal is worth a million in hand goes a popular proverb. Or maybe that’s just me. That’s how deep I am. I make up my own proverbs. But as usual, we digress. So, a few months ago we had bought a deal on this website called Nearbuy. We made a booking at a hotel but had to cancel it because of a personal crisis. Many months later, we decided to use it. So we made a booking at the Saj By The Lake in Malshej Ghat. I am a really optimistic person and was hoping it would be cooler there which proves that I am plain silly. Anyway, since it was booked through nearbuy, we did call up and confirm the booking and they said, yes we had been pencilled in.

Arrival

We came to the hotel after a long, hot drive and really, I was under the impression that we were somewhere near Delhi at this point. We got kokum sherbet and such small mercies are the reason for my existence. I do like Kokum a lot.

Check in

I don’t remember the name of the guy at the front desk but he didn’t tell us anything important. He asked for the details and told us which rooms we could get (Lake view was expensive at 11,000 and we had made a booking for a mountain view) . Anyway, we were led to one room which we didn’t like so we shifted to another one which had some outdoor space as well, so that was a good thing.

Rooms

The rooms are decent and the place is generally interesting. There is an attempt to go all luxurious but it feels like they abandoned that thought midway and just , well, gave up. The rooms weren’t very clean. In fact, I did spot a couple of distinctly dusty areas but really didn’t want to lug around all our stuff anymore. The bedding was clean, the pillows were terribly uncomfortable and the blanket was too thick. We had to switch on the AC (it was too hot) and the very heavy blanket wasn’t helping.

The bathrooms were clean but bare. By bare I mean they only had shower gel and shampoo and conditioner. And two towels but really even Chintu’s lodge would give you something like that.

Breakfast 

The food in general was tasty. They only have vegetarian food though. However, breakfast was a disappointment with dry bread and not many options

Now, they said their check out time was 10:30am which is ridiculous. We showed them the booking we had made which mentioned 12pm and the manager pretended this was the first time he had seen anything like this. Anyway, he said we ‘could’ stay on till 12. We usually ask for late checkout but this was silly. Turns out, they had a large group coming in and to ensure everything was ready for them, they wanted us to bugger off. What? Yeah. We told them this was the stupidest thing we have heard and how you shouldn’t shoo off guests actually living with you but accommodate the ones coming in but they dismissed it as if we should be grateful to them for giving us ‘extra’ time. They really need to fix their attitude.

Seating areas , quite pretty ones, peppered around the place

 

Do not understand the fake cows

Go for: Not anything really. They do have random cows, so maybe for that?

Don’t go for: The service or the hospitality

The wallet is lighter by : Rs.4500  for 1 night. Inclusive of taxes. So this was for a mountain view room which apparently goes for Rs.5500 which if I had actually paid I would be pretty annoyed. This is inclusive of breakfast, if you can call it that. 

DESTRESS QUOTIENT: 1.5 AAHs

The lake by which it is. This is quite pretty actually. 

Website Review: LittleApp.in

I am a sucker for good deal.  I am the person who goes to always gets upsold at places. Especially places where they will give you extra fries for that extra 50 rupees or something. The extra weight is complimentary, of course.  So when I found out about this website, I was excited and rubbing my hands together with glee (yes, deals do this to me). So, let’s get started. I tell you what the website is like, what kind of deals and lots more. A complete review. You can find it here: https://littleapp.in/

This is a website where you can get hyperlocal deals so it’ll probably get you a great price from your local subziwala. Okay, I may be pushing it a little bit here but yes, deals at places close to you which is important because I am not going to Andheri West for any deal. Nobody goes to Andheri West unless they are struggling actors, actually.

Also, the irony of it being called LittleApp and me doing a website review is not lost on me but let that go, will you?

 

The Website

The landing page of the website is clean and has a nice interface. There’s a lot of purple and I assume that’s because everyone here likes Barney. Because I live in Mumbai, I clicked on Mumbai. Stating the obvious is so much fun. Anyway, there was also a pop up a second later asking me for my city which threw me off a little bit.

Again, I clicked on Mumbai. There was a popup asking me to subscribe but I wanted to first explore the website before making any long term commitments so I shooed this away.

Once on the Mumbai page, there were several deals to choose from as you can see.

Now, I went through everything because I am the curious cat but I am predictable so I went into the Spa and salon deals. But of course. See here: https://littleapp.in/deals/spas-and-salons-in-mumbai

When you just click on it, it loads all the deals the website has. You can then streamline them by choosing the options you want. Like by locality, or by price. You can even filter it according to whether it’s for a male or female or both or for kids. You can choose according to the kind of service and of course, by price. Oh, you can choose by rating as well. Yes, you are a little spoiled.

Now, this one deal was looking particularly appealing so I went ahead and clicked on it. The listing doesn’t have pictures yet and I do think that could enhance the user experience. Anyway, here’s the interesting deal.

It gives you options of the services you want and tells you what percentage you are getting off on that deal. On the right, it also lists some other deals which could be interesting to you. This I got very distracted by, also tempted by.

After spending some time looking at all the deals and forgetting why I was really on the website at all, I came back and decided to go with the first option.

I liked how detailed this was. It had when it was valid for , for how many people, the services included and the expiry, all clearly mentioned.

II clicked on the buy button and was taken to a details tab. Here, I was asked for my number and was sent an OTP that I had to key in. So glad they didn’t ask me for my email address, the height of my child and other random details.

Now, all I had to do is pay. I had lots of options to choose from but it automatically detected my Paytm and asked if thats how I wanted to pay. You can choose to pay by PayTm, your credit/debit card and Netbanking. I paid by card. And it was done.

The website has some pretty interesting options. Once your deals is bought, you get a confirmation. This means that you’ve bought the deal. But, as with all deal websites, you have to actually call the merchant to make a booking and confirm a time and date. Little App actually recommends calling the place. Please don’t saunter in expecting service, because, well, nobody does that. It’s all paperless, you don’t have to print it out or anything, just show them the email from Little App.

Verdict: Overall, I think the website is a good idea and if you are the kind that likes to indulge regularly, it’s nice to have this handy so you don’t break the bank. It also has some interesting deals in the Things To Do category so do check that out. I am super helpful, so here’s a link: https://littleapp.in/deals/thingstodo-in-mumbai. However, there are some chinks, like pictures and the like which can be worked on. 

Destress Quotient: 3.5 AAHs