Skin, makeup and hair - India

I am apologizing for this post in advance because I am going to be super whiny.

I broke out like crazy after my long international travel. Two and a half months, 4 cities and 4 airplane rides later - my face looks like I have a pretty bad case of acne again.

So... all those wonderful oil methods and cleansing... and keeping myself clean... and working on my scars... DOWN THE DRAIN. All of it was such a waste. I left Toronto with such amazing skin (I have pictures to back this up) and I came back as quite a surprise to many.

I gained 12 lbs in 75 days - which is insane. Here are some of the possible reasons why I think I got such a horrid case of acne:-

1. I ate way too much sugar. Sugar always causes me to break out when not taken in moderation. And I am talking about.. 'gulab jamun, faluda, ras malai, jalebi, kheer, gajar ka halwa' and like 20 chocolates over two and a half months. Of course it was gonna happen!

2. I was unable to clean my makeup brushes. Most of the time, I was in such a hurry to get ready... I used the same foundation brush for about 3 weeks without completely cleaning it. I believe I washed it just once and spot-cleaned it twice. It had way too much product built-up. But I am a genius, I still continued to use it.

3. The weather/climate was the game changer for my skin, in a bad way. Weather changes really affected my skin and I broke out so bad 3 days prior to my wedding. I had a zit the size of a football on my left cheek and it wasn't ready to leave my face any time soon. Poor Kanchi had to tolerate my tantrums a day before the wedding. I was REALLY upset. Fast forward to the salon where I was getting ready for my wedding day... the photographers came to do a 'getting-ready' shoot and I sent them home. I said, 'Forget it... there is no way I can smile right now.'

Mini Makeup Rant: My biggest regret is getting my makeup done from India. I will NEVER EVER get my makeup done in India again. What kind of a makeup artist forgets to put mascara on the bride on her big day? The liner was crooked. The shadows were not pigmented enough to show up well in photographs. The lipstick was MAC but they had no techniques or products to make the lipstick last a long time. And the best part: the eye liner was NOT water-proof. I cannot show my Bidaayi pictures to anyone because I looked like Beyonce in this picture. They didn't do any contouring and the blush was practically invisible. I had told them I want light makeup because my lehenga was really heavy. But I didn't say, no makeup at all.  I could have done a thousand times better myself. And you must be wondering... if I noticed all the makeup mistakes, why didn't I fix them? Let me tell you why... because the makeup artist had 3 other brides she was working on simultaneously as she was doing my makeup. All in all, she wasted 3 hours of my time. And I stepped into the venue just in time for my Jai-Mala. So, I didn't get a single minute to even look at myself. Thank God, I did my reception makeup myself!

4.  I got poor sleep in India. It's hard to adjust to the time zone in India when you travel from abroad. You sleep and wake up at weird times. Once you get familiar with sleep times in India, it's time to come back home. And then you face the same problem here for a couple of days. It's a vicious cycle.

5. For a person who is allergic to dust, it's probably not a good idea to travel in a Rickshaw. After getting some really nasty zits, I avoided the rickshaw. But imagine, sitting on an open cycle-type vehicle and taking all of the city's dust right into your face and hair. Bad decisions!

I am so frustrated because it took me nearly a year and a half to follow a strict skincare regime. My skin was really good before I left! Now, it's back to where it used to be. Someone tried to pop one of my zits in India. It's in all my wedding pictures and they will probably have to photoshop it out of my wedding portraits. It has left a wart-like thing on my face - looks like half a pimple. It's hard to explain... but it's super nasty. I need to get an appointment with my doctor to get it removed because it's been there for nearly 2 months. If it was a pimple, it would have gone away. I believe it's a facial wart.

How can I forget to mention facial products in India? Some of them are amazing while some are absolutely horrible. I paid around Rs. 11,000 for my pre-bridal stuff which included mani, pedi, fully body bleach and waxing, a facial and full body polishing. They also offered some hair services like hair spa, cut and style. I bleached my face for the first time in my entire life. I've never been a fan of bleaching and I honestly thought my skin would have crazy reactions from it all. So, we did a test patch 2 weeks before the wedding. I didn't have a reaction so I went and got it done 2 days prior to the wedding day. The facial that I got 2 weeks prior was perfect. It made my skin look fresh and clean. I got the same facial 2 days before the wedding and my face felt like it was burning. I don't know whether they mixed the concentrate in different quantities this time. I don't even know if such a thing can cause issues. But it was NOT GOOD. I was not a happy bride at the time. My face was super red for some time. It inflamed my wart-like pimple which I previously described. And that is the story of how I ended up with a zit the size of a football on my wedding day.

I will say one thing though... all the negative feelings went away once I stepped foot into the wedding hall and saw the groom as well as the crowd. That moment, I forgot about everything.

Hair was still manageable in India because they had decent salons for blow-drying and straightening. I didn't even wash my hair once by myself while I was in India. I took my shampoos and conditioners for no reason. Every 5 or 6 days, I went to get a blow dry and styled my hair either straight or curly. That worked out the best because it was around $6 per session and my hair was good for a week.  I am a minimalist. I don't like to wash my hair too often. I only wash it when it's greasy.

What can be done now? I have to take extra special care of my skin again. And try to follow the same skincare routine I had before. In the next couple of days, my diet will also change. So, I am really hoping I can get rid of some of the acne. And for my friends who are probably looking at my pictures on Facebook and thinking... 'what the hell is she talking about?' I am talking about the stuff beneath my foundation, concealer and Instagram filters. Yep. It's  underneath all of that.