Beauty is what beautiful does and with My Envy Beauty Subscription Box, it gets better every passing month. This month was no exception. Read more to know more.
My Envy Box August 2016
The theme for MEB {my Envy Box} for the month of August was "Monsoon Edition". Now designing a beauty box for the month of monsoon can get little tricky but am glad that MEB has managed it and, managed it so well.
I got my box by 15th of this month as a "Friendship Day's" surprise gift from MEB. I was unsure of the content but when I unboxed it for an exclusive Snapchat preview, it was a pleasant surprise. I was so overwhelmed by all your responses on the Snapchat preview and those lovely messages made me leave my iOS inhibition and do a quick Vlog.
So, if you missed my Snapchat unboxing, here's a #Youtube review for you. Check it out and if possible, do subscribe to my +YouTube India Channel- ektakhetan
Hope you liked the review. Let me know what do you think of the products inside.
Since I was battling the Ransomware, data loss, malware crisis with my laptop and meanwhile, shifting to a new OS- MacBook, it took me some time to upload the review. Right now I am rushing for movie else "Happy Bhaag Jayegi".
Price of the box: Rs 850
Value of the products inside: Rs 1700+
Should you buy? Yes, GO FOR IT.
Special Discount Code: Use "subs20" as a special weekend offer to get 20% discount off this month's MEB. Website
I was sitting by my french balcony, enjoying the fresh splash of rain with a cup of cardamom-ginger tea and Gulzar's poetry "Baarish Hoti hai jab" [when it rains]
It was a sight of perfect harmony with mystic rain, hot Indian beverage and soulful poetry that I was floating in a trance, like those mellifluous breaths on a flute. My perfect romance was broken by quick droplet sound coming from my teacup. It was a thin layer of wall plaster that betrayed the ceiling, only to find solace in my tea and spoil my perfect romance with rains.
I threw a glance above to examine the source and was shocked to find one big patch at the ceiling above in moist and damp state awaiting their moment to come off. The monsoon condensation [moisture and humidity] left my balcony wall with dampness.
Dampness is the unwanted moisture in the structure of a building that results from either an intrusion from outside or condensation [larger cause] from within the structure. Other causes are-
Rain Penetration
climatic condition
Some Quick Facts on Dampness
•Four to Six pints of water can raise humidity level inside 1000 sq feet from a mere 15% to 60%
•One person breaking produces about 1/4 cup of water within an hour's time.
Dampness and water seepage is a common problem in India caused mainly due to heavy rainfall and use of single layer brick. The problem gets further compounded by Mumbai’s high humidity and rainfalls.
Problem caused by Dampness
Dampness is not like a wet cloth that will get sorted in next sunshine. The problem is far more serious and cannot be ignored.
If left unattended, dampness can cause a serious crack to your walls, roof and badly damage your house and weaken the structure’s health. Unattended dampness also leads to serious health issues like the respiratory problem, nausea and more. While there are many precautionary steps that may help you prevent dampness, there are some quite tried and tested solutions that help you combat dampness at your home.
How to Cure dampness Using Dr. Fixit
When it comes to building infrastructure and issues as such, I trust no one but the professional only. I prefer to opt for “tried, tested and delivered” formula and brands. One such brand is Dr. Fixit which provides a wide range of waterproofing system and technology that will help to tackle the dampness issue.
The balcony patch really worried me a lot and it was my neighbor who recommended me Dr. Fixit given their superlative experience with the brand last season. I googled my way for the solution online and stumbled upon this brilliant video featuring legendary Amitabh Bachchan.
Notwithstanding the heavy rains, I decided to get rid of the dampness before it spreads further, seeping its way inside my house, and off course, the life. Since this issue is more of seepage from exterior walls, there was little I could do without professional help. I hurried myself to Pidilite website and navigated my way through Dr. Fixit Raincoat, an elastomeric exterior waterproofing coating that can be applied to all kinds exterior masonry surfaces, cement and renderings as well as on asbestos sheets. It is a long term solution and promises to protect the external walls.
I hummed way to store and got the solution enabled with help from their team while singing Mr Bachchan’s “idhar bhi-udhar bhi” lines in my head.
So what started with a poetic curse, ended with poetic relief.
If you too are looking for “freedom from dampness”, do try it out.
Haute Kutir
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How RansomWare attacked my system and encrypted my system life
Holla Dearies,
You would be knowing that my laptop crashed earlier this month, leaving me high and dry. It was a long-standing Dell Inspiron that became my knight in its shining black coat armour. It was an old buy but helped me with my requirements just right. Darn, the malware criminals who planted a "ransomware" in my laptop, that encrypted all my documents, pictures and every single file in my laptop to .cerber files.
What do they want? Well, they wanted 1.2 bitcoins or $500 to decrypt my files, which amounts to Rs 33,000. Did I pay them? No! Why?
a) The amount was exorbitant
b) There is no guarantee that they will return your files back.
Solution? Well, I googled and asked friends but unfortunately, there wasn't any solution that could work on my system. I went to a couple of IT experts but in vain. I bought the most popular antivirus- Kaspersky and scanned for almost 24 hours, combining Kasper with Trend without any success.
Why I did not format my system, plug and play?
I could have simply got my system formatted but that would not have helped me in recovering my data. Alas! I had no backup either.
I have been using laptop and computers from last 20 years but it was first of its kind experience. Ransomware is a malware, unlike other viruses that encrypt your files and hence it is imperative to have a data backup. Unfortunately, my lack of backup cost me dear and that is the reason I was missing from the blogging scene from quite some time.
After multiple attempts and efforts that went futile, I decided to get myself a new machine. My budget was a petty Rs 30,000, that busted before you could spell the dot-com bubble. It was strange to find the ugliest looking laptop selling at 30,000 +
I went to buy Dell or HP but seeing their prevailing configuration and markets prices [starting from 51k] I did not realise how many meters I rolled backward, in shock and exasperation. Man! I am not even earning. I threw a distant glance at Apple counter and sighed as deep I could. I have promised myself that if I get a job, I will fulfil my long pending desire of buying a MacBook Pro. It wasn't a wishful thinking, I gave two "shandaar" interviews wherein the HR and spokesperson were 200% positive with my candidature. At one presentation, I was told that I delivered more than what was expected, yet I did not get the job. Sigh! My 3 days of hardcore research and hard work trying to create a meaningful presentation went down the drain. I wondered was it the "fishes" that I did not "understand" or was it my obsolete looking temporary laptop that served me till that presentation did the spoil. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop admiring the temporary help that my temporary laptop provided me. It worked well till the presentation, only to go kaput next day.
Job or no job, it was about time that I get myself a new machine and with a little research and nudge from friends and family, I found an excellent offer that helped me buying my new Macbook Air.
Best Offer via WishGini.com
When it comes to buying electronics, I seldom like shopping from online. However, it is a good idea to check prices online and do some ground research before you hit the retail expedition. I checked the prices on Amazon and Flipkart before moving to retail outlets. Apparently, some offers were doing rounds at Vijay sales [least lucrative], Chroma [good staff at Juhu including Mahendra Singh and Pratibha], Reliance and others.
It was quite tedious to travel to different stores and check the price. Notwithstanding the traffic, travel and additional cost of traveling, I tried this consumer to business portal called- Wishgini.com
The portal has a unique mechanism wherein I can "make a wish" i.e. tell my requirement via a web form including the product type, specifications, and budget scope. The wish is then circulated to all the relevant vendors as registered on the portal on a discrete basis. The one with the best offer will connect with you via the portal, respond to your query and you can strike/seal a deal thereon. Off course, you need to be genuine with the "wish" you are making. It is not necessary that you may get the same price that you quoted but there might be a +/- the price, without any pressure on you to accept the offer. With a little negotiation, the two of you can strike deal online. I will tell you more about it in some other post.
The products are however genuine as they are retailed by authorized retailers only.
If you are in Mumbai, do check out this website www.wishgini.com
MacBook Air V/s Macbook Pro
My first stop was Vijay sales where I discovered an ongoing offer on Macbook. When compared, the price of MacBook was quite competitive to other available brands. Like the true Surf Ramaji, I felt- Jab itne mein MacBook mile toh koi aur kuch kyu le". [When you get MacBook at a price which is at par with other laptops than why not buy MacBook].
Next question was MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Well, you will find the answer and more, in my video below.
So, do check out my "Unboxing" Video below, and do subscribe to my youtube Channel
Women across the world play different roles in their daily lives. We are Daughter, sister, beloved, wife, manager and mother. Irrespective of the roles that we play in our daily lives, the struggles that we undergo, the fears that we defeat, there is one thing that worries we women a lot. That is the fear of menstrual strain and that sticky discomfort especially through the night, interrupting our beauty sleep.
Yes, those 3 days when women face heavy menstrual flow that not just leaves them physically drained but also makes them mentally conscious, very conscious that they couldn't sleep well or sleep the way they usually do.
You would have heard about different sleeping positions that people have and things it tells about their personality. However, during the menstrual cycle, when a woman needs maximum rest and good sleep, she ends up sleeping like an attentive soldier, sans the salute. Reason? We told you, fear of stain, crampy napkin, poor absorbing sheet leading to careworn attitude of changing napkins during the night
Sleep at Ease with Sofy Overnight
It is time to change! Instead of changing sanitary napkin every 2 hours, change the napkin brand that you have been using. Try Sofy bodyfit overnight.
Sofy bodyfit overnight is a product from Japan's no 1 brand Unicharm.
What does Sofy Overnight provide?
Sofy Overnight is acknowledged as India's longest napkin with its 420mm [XXXL] variant. It also has a 350 MM variant that has a wider hip guard and 3 Way leakage control system prevents Leakage until morning.
It is a slim fit napkin with comfy dry cover and wings, and best suited for night usage.
How it works-
1) Wider Hip Guard: This covers your under pant /undergarment from the back for extra coverage to prevent stains, allowing more padded area for absorption
2) Flexi Absorb System/ Shape Maintenance System: It makes the napkin move with your body and yet be in shape in the position that you may sleep in, to prevent leakage.
3) Double Absorbent Core: It fits the body and continues to absorb from night until morning
So no matter which position you sleep, you can sleep peacefully, ugly yet beautifully.
It costs Rs 155 for 10 350 MM pads that mean just Rs 15.5 approx for one pad. They also have the pack of 5 pads and 20 pads available.
Here's how the product looks like-
So Women, Time to Sleep Ugly for your beauty Sleep, with Sofy
I am known to do a lot of mystery shopping. For me, it has always been a good source of understanding the consumer behavior at ground level. Last week, when I was at this digital store checking out some devices, I heard two girls sighing over a probable smartphone and its feature. After the store guy explained them all [exhaustive] features of the 2 smartphones they probably were interested in, they sighed over the too much of specifications and asked- What is megapixel you told of the selfie camera?
The guy confused and asked which brand they were asking for and was embarrassed to know it is the front camera megapixels instead. He smiled and said- "5 Megapixel but the rear camera is 13 megapixels, madam. See, have a try."
The girls almost fainted when they heard the price that was way above Rs 30,000 but the seller almost convinced them that it is the best in their favor to buy that expensive phone with 5 MP with xyz features that can make their face look smaller and eyes bigger with easy settings. The girls were confused
Take 2: Rhea, my younger cousin is very popular among her friends for her pictures, swag and more. She loved taking selfies and apparently someone told her that the X brand that cost more than half a lakh is the best phone to have in the world. It is not just the "brand value" that will make her equal with some of her high-end peers and celebs, but also a lifestyle investment. She was so convinced that she let go of all her savings that she has saved for buying the new spring collection outfit to buy that expensive phone. A decision she regretted later.
Well, it is not just about Rhea and the other girls. It is about the "Consumer demand" and "matching supplies".
The smartphone that was once known for its sheer mobility advantage, has now found many "use cases" to entice its owners/buyers. Our smartphone is not just a device to make/receive calls/message. It has replaced our diary, calendar, fitness bands, pedometer, notebooks and above all camera.
Talking about Camera, do you know which is the most popular social app these days?
It is Instagram, and if you know a bit about this popular app, you will know of the most leading category is #Selfie.
Selfie is such a craze that Oxford Dictionary declared it as "Word of the Year" in 2013 and added it to their dictionary. The generation today is #Selfie crazy and very demanding. We want best of technology with ease of operations and higher cosmetic value.
And #Selfie is one popular feature that is riding the smartphone market, and will continue to ride till next best technology does not make an entry.
That is why, smart brands like OPPO are slowly moving from just a "rear quality camera" to also, "Selfie cam" focussed demand. One such example was OPPO F1 that we discussed earlier here and here. Another example is the newly launched OPPO F1s smartphone. What does it have in store? read more-
The New OPPO F1s and why it is No1 Selfie Phone
I found OPPO as a brand that likes to reach out to their audience and tell them what they have up their R&D sleeves. One such interaction was this massive launch in Mumbai last week, wherein OPPO invited different community including bloggers to come experience and learn about their new phone OPPO F1s. You can find more details on my Twitter and Snapchat.
If you think that I just went to a launch, saw the feel presentations, checked the demo devices and came back to form an opinion, then you are not right. I am a tough cookie to crack and to maintain that notoriety I thoroughly checked my review device especially its most talked about feature- The "Selfie" Cam. Do you know that OPPO F1s has 16 Megapixel front camera, with 5.5 inch display?
About OPPO F1: The phone is a reiteration of the previously launched OPPO F1. [I have not reviewed the OPPO F1 plus, so I could barely comment on that].The other features include- 3GB RAM, mediaTek M6750 Octa Core processor [talk about high processing speed and ease of usage], 13 MP rear camera, Android Lollipop 5.1 with color OS 3.0 customization on top [untill you cannot wait for Android 7.0 Nougat launch for Nexus phones], fingerprint sensor, Beautify 4.0 for selfie enhancement at pre-processing stage, 3075 mAh Lithium polymer battery [non removable, so you friend/spouse cannot emotionally blackmail to swap w/o return], 4G VoLTE compatibility, Bluetooth 4.0.
The phone slot has dual sim capacity [Nano Sims Only] and a slot for expandable memory up to 256 GB against the in-built of 32 GB internal storage. The display is 5.5 inch and has corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Look wise the phone has a premium form factor, akin to iPhone and is 7.4mm thick and weighs 160 grams. The phone is priced at rs 17,990/-
I have done a device first preview and form tour on my snapchat. Hope you follow me [@ektakhetan] and have seen :)
To make my understanding even stronger, I took Samsung A710 that the store guy was promoting and did an apple to apple oops phone to phone comparison, focussed on camera especially the "Selfie" part of it.
Samsung A710 v/s OPPO F1s Handset
Both have the sleek design but that silver lining on OPPO F1s adds further to the suave and cool quotient. The phone has a metal body with subtle round corners. The back side of OPPO F1s is quite neat and clean. If you can see those two panels at the top and bottom of the device back, Let me tell you that they are made of plastic so a sto inculcate better reception capability.
The fingerprint button is at the bottom right side of the screen. Oh yes, the fingerprint sensor is not a duh but lives up in terms of accuracy and blazing speed.
See it for yourself-
Let us talk more about the personal experience here with the help of these real pictures -
Disclaimer: All these pictures are shot simultaneously at the Haute Kutir war room with same setting and time. Pictures are original without any iota of editing.
Rear Camera Shots
The Selfie Camera Comparison
OPPO F1s has a "Beautify 4.0" features that can change the light and add rosy effect to your picture on the scale of 1-7. The pictures come smooth, flawless and well illuminated.
Same day and a little liner, lip color and well-manned hair, and Lo behold,m we clicked the selfie with both the phones. So which one did more justice to pictures by choosing their best setting?
Hello, did someone said iPhone has the best camera? Well, let's see which one looked better? There may not be a drastic change in the quality of both the phones but when you get same/better quality at a lesser price, what stops you from going for it?
Low Light Shot: Another striking feature for all you night lovers. Woohoo...Samsung A7/iPhone selfie cam does not work in dark wherein OPPO F1s does.
Other Camera Features
The rear camera of the OPPOF1s phone comes loaded with striking features including the diverse filters [same as OPPO F1] and Patterns to add that extra touch to your pictures shot by the rear camera. Fear not, even the selfie camera comes pre-loaded with filters that you may want to chose.
Isn't that cool? You have more options to click your pictures with and that saves you a lot of editing time and installation of multiple picture editing software to bring that additional touch to your work. Well, I am a blogger who does not like carrying her DSLR all the times yet want my pictures to have that personalized touch without photoshopping. Hence, these features come handy to me.
Good news for photo frenzy who love shooting in the manual mode as the manual controls has more than the basics like - ISO, Shutter speed,exposure compensation, Manual focus and even RAW support
The Night Mode does not work for Front Camera
Accessibility at Fingertips
OPPO F1s has some amazing gesture control that makes you run your literally at your finger tips, off screen. For eg- you can draw "O" to start the camera, draw "V" to turn on flashlight, and if you are a music lover, you can control your music by drawing "||" to pause/play a track or simple "<" ">" to switch between the tracks.
Also, the Internal Memory of 32 GB means that you do not have to worry about the storage and click good, click happy. How much the Internal memory for Samsung A710 is? Hold your heart, it is mere 10 GB on a clean phone [devoid of non-factory apps installed]
What OPPO F1s lacks but Samsung A7 has?
Clearly the Auto-focus feature that is quite strong in samsung Camera.
Haute Kutir Verdict
In the race of OPPO F1s v/s Samsung A7 and iPhone, want to know who is the winner? Well, the winner is-
OPPO F1s
It wins hands down cause of-
Superior Selfie Quality | Robust inbuilt Camera features | Pricing | Form factor | Storage | Customization Opportunity
If you are thinking it as a feminine phone, hold your horses, it is completely unisexual and comes in two colors- Rose Gold and Grey.
Here's me at the event, my Instagram update, just in case you want to #FollowMe
I have shot some more pictures that I will soon update once the sorting and watermark is done. Plagiarism is scary you see ;) Stay Tuned and do follow me on my social media channels
