Ananda Spa Grounding Body Oil & Grounding Body Scrub/Bath Salt Review, Price

Ananda in the Himalayas is a very well known spa retreat. Known for its amazing spa therapies (and expensive price packages) Ananda Spa spells luxury. I really hope I can spend a week there (ok, maybe a weekend!) but until then here is a review of their products that now bring that magic of the Himalayas to your door step. 

I am sharing a review of their Grounding Body Oil as well as the Grounding Body Scrub (bath salt).

Ananda Spa Grounding Body Oil & Grounding Body Scrub/Bath Salt Review, Price

Boxed in simple earthy packaging with a red motif both the oil and body scrub have similar looking packaging. The body oil comes in a long plastic bottle with a screw cap while the body scrub (bath salt) comes in a tub with a screw cap.

Aura Vedic Pure Calming Face Mist - Valley Of Flowers - Review

Recently I reviewed a face polish from Aura Vedic which I am loving. Another great product from Aura Vedic that I tried recently is their face mist. This is like rose water in a spray bottle but with added benefits of sunscreens and essential oils.

Aura Vedic Pure Calming Face Mist - Valley Of Flowers

 What the company claims: "This gentle antioxidant Facial mist delivers nourishing moisture to balance and hydrate all skin types. Blended with pure fragrant organic oils, Aloe vera and Green tea to tone and repair skin. This mist is just the thing to keep your skin feeling soft, hydrated and moisturized without looking and feeling oily.
Aloe vera soothes and refreshes skin. Neroli and rose infuse skin with antioxidant nutrients that protect skin against environmental stresses that damage skin.
Free of Parabens, SLS, Harmful Chemicals & Colours."

Aura Vedic Radiance by Nature Face Polish - Review

Clean and clear skin, radiant complexion, and all natural ingredients to the credit? Sounds a little difficult doesn't it. But when you try this little magical 'polish' you will love it and believe that natural goodness is always wonderful!

I am talking about a face polish by Aura Vedic. Its called Radiance By Nature and boasts of rose, almonds, saffron and rosehip seeds.

Aura Vedic Radiance by Nature Face Polish

What the company claims: "An excellent deep cleansing exfoliant for treating all skin types. This all natural facial polish will help tremendously in removing impurities, dirt, contaminants, and excess oil. Your skin will feel softer, cleaner, and refreshed!
Contains : Saffron extracts , organic ground Pomegranate seeds ,Rosehip seeds, Honey, Almond and a blend of Neroli, Geranium and Vetiver oils.

Free of Parabens, SLS, Harmful Chemicals & Colours."

Tatha Body Scrub - Yummy - Review

The blog post title is Tatha Body Scrub Yummy but this does not mean that I ate this product. The scrub is called Yummy and aptly too!

This body scrub from Tatha is a chocolate body scrub - yes ladies - it does smell yummy and is very tempting.

From the packaging to the actual contents everything about this scrub is yummy!!!

What the company claims:

"The outermost layer of skin, the epidermis, accumulates dead skin cells that need to be removed. Normal bathing does not provide the exfoliation that is needed for the healthiest skin. Regular exfoliation with a body scrub will remove the dead outer layer of the skin and reveal a younger, smoother, soft, healthier layer of skin. The antioxidants in cocoa help to prevent the signs of aging skin. It also acts as a natural aphrodisiac. The sugar exfoliates the skin as the cocoa nourishes it and makes one feel good . This is a perfectly pampering body scrub that you can try over the weekend! INGREDIENTS-Vanilla planifolia,Olea europaea,brown sugar,cocoa powder."

Tatha Body Scrub - Yummy

The scrub comes in a glass bottle with a large cork lid. It has a nice tape sticker sticking the cork lid to the bottle. I couldn't capture the sticker tape - you will only see it faintly in the pics. There is also a little card with the ingredients mentioned on it tied around the neck of the jar with a rubber cord.

Tatha Body Scrub - Yummy

I am reminded of the achaar jars that we used to have in old days - this one though is much smaller. The bottle is along with the cork is about 5 inches in height.

Once you open the cork you will be immersed with a divine chocolate smell and the scrub itself looks like molten dark chocolate.

Tatha Body Scrub Yummy

Tatha Body Scrub - Yummy

 The texture of the scrub is granular and oily. When you take out the scrub and rub it on your body the scrub is gentle yet cleans out all the grime. It does have a lot of oil content so you will be left with a slight oily feeling on the body which goes away when you dry yourself.

Tatha Body Scrub - Yummy - swatch

Skin feels smooth and radiant. Due to the oil content you can skip moisturiser after using this. For oily skinned beauties please steer clear of this scrub if you are acne prone - it is my personal opinion that areas prone to acne will not like the oil content of this scrub. My back is prone to acne so I avoided this on my back after the first use. I continue to use this on the rest of my body and I love the chocolate indulgence. What better way to start off your day!!!!

Contents of this scrub

Ingredient	Common Name
Vanilla planifolia	vanilla extract
Olea europaea	olive oil
brown sugar
cocoa powder

Details at a glance

Packaging: glass bottle with cork lid

Fragrance: chocolatey

Texture: granular

Price: Rs 1680 (300gm)

What I like

• Moisturising
• Wonderful chocolatey fragrance

What I don't like

• Slightly too oily for acne prone skin like mine
• Cannot be taken when you travel
• Expensive (the quantity is huge but you will end up using a lot because of the wonderful fragrance!)

Essential Oils And Their Use During Pregnancy

We all know that essential oils are therapeutic - from giving a general feeling of well being to relieving mental fatigue these oils are very good. When used in cosmetic products they show good results like glowing skin etc and also have a calming soothing effect on the mind (depending on what essential oil is used). Certain essential oils are not recommended for use during pregnancy.

I was not aware of this until recently when I used a face scrub from Tatha that said it was unsafe for use during pregnancy. I was really surprised and wanted to know further more about essential oils and their safety. I found a comprehensive list from the website http://stretchmarksnomore.com/essential_oils.html and thought about sharing that with you.

Below is a list of essential and base oils that should not be used during pregnancy:

Almond bitter - toxic

Aniseed – rich in anethole

Angelica – promoting menstrual flow

Basil – possible irritant

Birch – possible irritant

Black pepper – causing skin sensitization

Boldo leaf - toxic

Buchu – liver hazardous

Calamus - toxic

Camphor - toxic

Cassia – causing skin sensitization

Cedarwood – promoting menstrual flow

Chamomile – promoting menstrual flow

Cinnamon – promoting menstrual flow and causing skin sensitization

Clary sage – promoting menstrual flow

Clove – causing skin sensitization

Elecampane – skin sensitization

Fennel – rich in anethole

Fir – possible irritant

Ginger – promoting menstrual flow

Horseraddish - toxic

Hyssop – could cause toxicity

Jaborandi leaf – toxic

Jasmine – promoting menstrual flow

Juniper – promoting menstrual flow

Lemon – possible irritant

Lemongrass – possible irritant

Majoram – promoting menstrual flow

Melissa – possible irritant

Mugwort - toxic

Mustard - toxic

Myrrh – promoting menstrual flow

Nightshade - toxic

Nutmeg – skin sensitization

Oregano – skin sensitization

Parsley seed – rich in apiol

Pennyroyal - toxic

Peppermint – promoting menstrual flow

Pine – skin sensitization

Rose – promoting menstrual flow

Rosemary – promoting menstrual flow

Rue - toxic

Sage – rich in thujone

Sassafras - toxic

Savin - toxic

Savory – could cause toxicity

Southernwood - toxic

Stinging nettle - toxic

Tansy - toxic

Thuja -toxic

Thyme – possible irritant

Wintergreen - toxic

Wormseed - toxic

Wormwood – toxic

Such oils as petitgrain and ylang-ylang should not be used earlier than the third trimester.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing - review

We all yearn for a good facial scrub which doesn’t scratch the skin or over dry it but gives a natural glow. In the good old days our granny’s would make face scrubs at home with all natural ingredients. But today in this hectic pace of life we need something ready made to suit our needs.

Tatha has a range of products for the face and body which cater to our needs in terms of being natural. The Tatha anti-ageing face scrub is one such product that I came across recently.

The first thing that catches the attention is its packaging – a deep blue small pot with a shiny silver lid.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

All the ingredients are clearly mentioned on a label at the bottom of the jar. It also says its not safe for use during pregnancy – more details on this at the end of the post.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

When you open the lid (screw lid) you will find a small no-spill white plastic lid that covers the actual product.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

As soon as you lift off the white lid you are engulfed in a fragrance that simply lifts your spirits – it seems like you are surrounded by a garden of roses.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

The pack comes in a granular form – it is composed of oats and almonds with rose essences added to it. A small amount is good to cover the entire face. To apply it you need to take a small quantity in a bowl and add some water to it (I used rose water for added benefits)

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

Mixing with rose water forms a paste – not a fine paste but a coarse one but it is good to go on the face.

Tatha Face Scrub Anti-Ageing

Now you need to take this paste and apply it all over the face, leave it on for a minute and then scrub it off. Once you start scrubbing you will feel how gentle the granules are and yet they are able to take away all grime off the face. Washing your face will reveal a glowing radiance. The face felt so smooth after use.
This face pack is the kind I would use once a week. It is meant for ageing skin and I personally feel this is more suitable for dry skin ladies.

Details at a glance
Packaging: glass pot with screw lid
Fragrance: heavenly rose fragrance
Price:         Rs 650 for 50 gm

What I like

• Gentle yet effective
• fragrance

What I don't like

• Price

Now coming back to why this scrub is not suitable for use during pregnancy. I called up the guys at the company to find out why on earth would a face scrub be unsuitable for pregnancy – and what I found was that the face scrub contains essential oils.


When I heard this I wanted to know exactly what ingredients in the face scrub made it unsuitable. After some research through google this is what I found out – below is a table with the ingredient name and what it is in layman terms.

Ingredient	Meaning	Safety During Pregnancy
Avena sativa	Oats	safe
Prunus amygdalus var. dulcus	Sweet almond oil	safe
Apis mellifera	Honey venom	not to be taken in medicinal form during pregnancy
prunus amygdalus var	Bitter almond oil	toxic for pregnancy
Citrus uranium	petitgrain – oil from the leaves of an orange tree	relieves mental fatigue but not to be used before the third trimester
Rosa damascena	a variety of rose	safe

This lead me to read more on essential oils and you can find out more on which essential oils are not safe during pregnancy in my post Essential oils and their use during pregnancy