Welcome to my cosmos of travel Diaries, DIY skin care products, food, books and much more

Hawaii was one of my dream destination to visit! We planned for our 10th anniversary and I was super excited to see the greenish blue ocean that awaited every morning during our one week stay.. It was our first day in Hawaii. I'd arrived in Honolulu the day before , after a 5 hour long flight from Phoenix. We planned to do the hike right in the morning. Diamond Head, the saucer shaped crater was formed around 300,000 years ago due to a volcanic activity. The 0.8 mile hike is steep and strenuous with a glimpse into the geological and military history. You will hike to a height of 560 ft to reach the summit. The hike is easy to begin with gradually becoming not only steeper but also the ground rougher with loose stones.  After a narrow climb of incredibly steep stairs, there is a tunnel with no light leading to a spiral staircase then you clamber out through a gap in the bunker to reach the summit with incredible views. The narrow stair case Final step - bunker to r...

Ah toners - as mystifying and as essential!! this skincare is one of the daily skin routine I follow, in fact multiple times in summer. This toner is very easy and simple. Toner balances pH of the skin, helps in removing excess oil, tighten skin pores, extra hydrating. The main ingredients are home made  🌹  water, Witch Hazel, essential oils. Rose Water is anti inflammatory and effective cleanser that can be economically made at home. Witch Hazel is a botanical extract derived from a flowering plant. It contains chemicals called Tannins which helps repairing broken skin, fight bacteria, stops cellular damage. Make sure that you buy alcohol free Witch Hazel otherwise it will be drying on the skin. Procedure: I used equal portions of Rose Water and Witch Hazel as my skin is normal. For dry skin use 3:1 ratio of Rose Water and WH, whereas for oily skin it is vice versa. Tweak the base recipe according to your skin type. Combine both in a glass bottle/jar along with y...

When I first heard about facial oils my feeling was oils on face!  Ew, right?! I was concerned that oils clog pores or cause an acne breakout. Here is the science behind oil cleansing, Clogging/breakout can happen if we use mineral oils. Plant oils are a lot closer to the type the skin produces naturally which is easily absorbed without clogging the pores. They help to bind moisture to the skin and strengthen cell membranes. Based on my skin needs I chose the oils, the ingredients I used are: • 2 oz jojoba oil - light weight and non greasy. Similar to natural sebum ,penetrates quicker • 2 oz apricot oil - great moisturizer and natural sun screen with SPF between 2-6 • 1 oz emu oil - the liquid gold, heals sun burns and abrasion. Natural Sun screen again • 1 oz rosehip seed oil - brightens the complexion, protective against UV • 4 drops of carrot seed oil - natural SPF between 35-40 • 3 drops of holy basil EO • 3 drops of Frankincense EO • 3 drops of Ylang ylang EO ...

Weekend is here and it is time for DIY products that serves for the rest of the week and today's product is natural shampoo. Most of the Indians should be familiar with the shampoo made out of reetha/sheekakai. This reminds me of my childhood experiences of burning eyes and finding a reason to bunk the school with the look of bloodshot eyes. As a kid I never worried about my hair or hair fall. It was mamas problem to nourish and maintain her hair as well as long hair of her two daughters. Being a working woman she used to take time to prepare the natural shampoo powder even we moved away from home for higher studies/job. This continued until I came to US. I switched to so called organic labelled shampoos but was never contented with the cleansing process.When I started losing my hair and near baldness I switched back to the herbal shampoo which I call as 'hair tea'. Ingredients I used: Handful of whole amla Handful of reetha Handful of sheekakai Licorice roo...

Here is my magic hair oil which solves a plethora of hair problems. Lately I had a massive hair loss and my hair was hardly re growing and the volume dropped to very thin. I had to tweak the routine ingredients of hair oil and follow some extra hair care steps. The result is awesome and I see new strands of hair all over my scalp. Well, here is the procedure: Ingredients: 2 oz organic virgin coconut oil 1 oz Jamaican black castor oil 1 oz pomegranate oil(cold pressed) 0.5 oz cranberry seed oil Dried organic hibiscus flowers(home grown) Dried amla Licorice root Fenu Greek seeds Curry leaves Procedure: 1. Warm coconut oil with all the herbs/flowers until curry leaves turn dry. 2. Remove from stove and add all other oils and induce the mixture for a day. 3. Finally strain the oil mixture and pour in a glass bottle. 4. I added few strands of hibiscus, amla and licorice to the concoction. 5. Before applying invert the bottle several times and roll again. How to apply: M...

Sharing my favorite and popular DIY lip balm. As an Arizonian, I take extra care of my skin, hair and myself to survive scorching summers by preparing my own recipes to avoid any chemicals.I planned to prepare some home made organic tinted lip balm.Here is one of my favorite lip balm recipe with chocolatey flavor that is super nourishing. The basic lip balm formula is 3 parts carrier oil (you can mix and match multiple oils) 1 part beeswax 1 part body butter Few drops of essential oil The other optional ingredients are vitamin E oil, any organic powder for tint, honey etc I used 2 tbsps of avocado oil, 1 tbsp of jojoba oil to 1 tbsp of Shea butter and bees wax,1 tsp cocoa powder and 3 drops of peppermint EO. Procedure: 1.Melt the oils and butter at low heat stirring occasionally using double broiler method. Once the butter is melted add beeswax and stir well. (Do not over melt as the Shea butter could end up a little gritty). 2.Remove the mixture from heat and add essenti...

In the depths of sultry summer, when the Mercury is soaring high and air is dry, there is nothing so lovely than the seductive fragrance of jasmine that reaches its peak late at night, even more during waxing moon. Here is the evening view from my patio, blooming Jasmine's, waxing moon, twilight, kids water play, splash of water in swimming pool... ah, what a weekend!!