Beauty and the Best :: Weddings, Festivals and A Surprise

It's that time of the year again - The Wedding Season (and the festival season, too).
Here are a few tips that will help you keep the good mood up and look flawless this season.

1. Drink lots of water: Keeping your body hydrated is the key to a flawless and fresh look. If you do not drink enough water, it shows on your skin; makes it look dull, tired and aged. Make it a point to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. Also include a glass or two of any type of natural and fresh fruit juices.

2. Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet: Yes, we know the food at parties and weddings is awesome but, keep in mind you have to get your daily nutrition and fiber. Include tomatoes in that diet of yours to flush out toxins.

3. Get enough sleep: Rest yourself for at least 6-8 hours daily. No body likes those horrible dark circles. A well rested face has a natural glow to it (or so moms say :p).

4. Get a facial: Or do it yourself at home. It helps get rid of those dead layers of skin and makes your face younger and fresher.

5. CTM: Always cleanse, tone and moisturize before going to bed. Never sleep with makeup on. It clogs your pores and causes breakouts.

6. Hot oil massage: Massage your hair with hot oil or wrap a hot towel around your hair after applying oil. This imparts shine and luster to your hair. Also, it makes hair manageable.

7. Use heat-protectant: Before exposing your hair to heat always use heat-protectants. It reduces the damage heat causes.

Along with these tips, follow your regular skin care and don't forget the power of makeup ;) ♥

Speaking of makeup, here are a few tricks to jazz up your look this season:

1. The colors for the season are deep read, crimson, bronze, gold and any bold deep earth color.

2. Get the foundation right. A good foundation should blend easily and be the shade of your skin (or closest to it). Always choose your foundation tone in natural sunlight; no exceptions.

3. Conceal your imperfections like dark circles and blemishes.

4. Try doing a sexy bronze smokey eye (it goes with any Indian outfit). Bronze looks brilliant under artificial light.

5. Give the gloss a miss. Try out sheer lip colors and lipsticks. Yes! Lipsticks are back.

6. Use plum shades to get that naturally flushed and glowing look. If the party is during the day, use a single gold color for the eyes and replace the plum blush with a peach colored one.

So, in this festive season and the spirit of celebration Be the Best brings a little surprise gift for our readers. Yay! :D This is a coupon code for Lotus Herbals. You get 10% off on a purchase of Rs. 500/- at Urban Touch.

The Code: LH10BA 

And remember to... Be the Best!
 

DIY :: Oatmeal Facewash

Be the Best brings to you an extract from the diary of one of our members.

Accidental discoveries like Penicillin can happen. She had definitely heard of those but never had she experienced it. The other day, things had somehow led to a food-fight during their monthly get-together. The girls went crazy and started throwing food at each other. She remembered with a smile the fun they all had. However, her memory fixed on the event that surprised her most. Later that day, after all her friends left, she went to the bathroom to wash out the food. Salad on her arms, pasta on her frock, something milky on her neck… And what was it on her face? She knew it was something good because the skin on her face had become extremely soft after she had washed whatever food there was on it.

She went back through the menu in her mind and found a possibility. Could it really be…? Naaah! Oatmeal? Really? ‘Well, we’ll soon find out’, she said to herself. She headed to the kitchen, took oatmeal from the box and performed the all-important patch test. When the result came out, she had but only one word, ‘EUREKA!’

Here is what she did:

• Take a handful of oatmeal and soak it in water.

• Squeeze the excess water out.

• Rub it on your face.

That’s it. Yes, it’s that simple.

After pampering her skin, she felt wonderful. Lying in bed that night, she wrote in her diary- The oatmeal facewash is extremely cool. The skin becomes extra soft and smooth. It also prevents breakouts with regular use. This facewash is helpful if you have any allergic skin condition, or suffer from sunburn or simply just want to pamper yourself.

Making a mental note of putting that on Facebook, she switched off her lights.

We hope that you bring wonders to your skin with this simple and effective DIY.

Remember to… Be the Best!

Instant Recipe :: Chocolate Biscuit Cake

It was Prince William and Catherine's wedding. A magnificent cake, a beautiful bride donned in innocent white, a handsome prince waiting with love in his eyes to make the vows for life. It was beautiful. They (our two girls, Su and Asra) had watched it on TV, like the rest of you and it made them want to be in love.
'Ah! The kiss...'
'Ah! The dress...'
'Ah! The cake...'
'Mmm.. I want that cake too.'
'That's huge yar.'
'Mmmm... But I wanna eat a cake now. I feel it.'
'You always 'feel' stuff.' came the reply with a smile. 'How about I make you a cake? A royal cake? Not like the one in from the wedding, but the one from the Prince's bachelor party?'
'Why are you asking me for?' grinned the other. 'Go for it in our style!'
'Oh YEAH! Be the Best style.' they said together in that typical rock style. Although it doesn't help in the recipe, they did it to boost themselves up. Some girls are like that.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

You will need:

• 1 pack digestive biscuits
• 3-4 tablespoons peanut butter
• 4 big Milk chocolate bars
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• An eggwhite or milkmaid for binding
• Creamy chocolate icing

Get Started

• Break the digestive biscuits into almond sized chunks.

• In a separate heat proof bowl, put pieces of chocolate and butter. Melt this on a water bath.

• To this, add peanut butter and powdered sugar. Mix well.

• Remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Add binder (egg white or milkmaid - don't add both)

• Mix well. Each bit of biscuit must get coated with the chocolate.

• Line a dish with cling film and layer the batter on it.

• Refrigerate it for 45 minutes.

• Remove and add a generous amount of chocolate icing or melted chocolate on top.

• Eat it :D

:: Variations ::

How to melt chocolate and butter

This recipe encourages you to be creative; you can substitute peanut butter for the flavour of your choice. A few suggestions are

• Orange juice and rind
• Hazelnut or chestnut syrup
• A few handful of flaked almonds
• Honey

:: Note ::

When melting chocolate always make sure that the pieces are small or the chocolate will burn easily. Always melt chocolate on a water-bath or microwave the chocolate chunks and butter on high for 30 secs or on low  for a minute.

Bring royalty to your kitchen in the best way. Remember to... Be the Best! ;)

Instant Recipe - Butterbeer

'I'll get the drinks, shall I?' said Ron.

Harry and Hermione made their way to the back of the room, where there was a small, vacant table between the window and a handsome Christmas tree which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back five minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot Butterbeer.

'Happy Christmas!' he said happily raising his tankard.

Harry drank deeply. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside.

-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (pg 149)

She knew she had to have the Butterbeer! And off she went to surf the internet for some recipes.

After 5 minutes-
'Damn! So many recipes. What do I choose?' she felt sad at the confusion.
When I met her that day I knew something was wrong.
'What is it?' I asked.
'It's Butterbeer. I wanna have it!' came the child like voice.
'No sweat sweetheart! I know just the Best one for you.. From  Be the Best. Let's get started!'

BUTTERBEER*

It has three main parts to it: Syrup, Base and Foam

For foam :: Vanilla Ice-cream

For Base :: Lemonade

For syrup :: Butter, sugar and cream (whole or half) in 1 : 1 : 1 ratio + Vanilla essence

The Syrup

Procedure

1. Prepare the syrup -

• Heat butter and sugar in a pan till it dissolves.
• Add cream and heat till it melts and dissolves.
• Remove from heat and let it cool.
• Add vanilla essence

2. Assemble Butterbeer

• Add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to a glass/tumbler
• Add 5-8 tsp of syrup
• Add sufficient amount of lemonade to bring the foam up
• Stir gently. Take care to not let the foam down.
• Done. Serve immediately!

Foamy Butterbeer!

► Note :: Alternatively, you can use Ginger Beer instead of Lemonade as the base!

► Tips :
• Use homemade lemonade so that you can control the amount of lemon in it. We recommend limejuice of 1/2 lemon (if big) and 1 lemon (if small) for 1 glass Butterbeer
• Pour a little bit of soda water on top of the Butterbeer. See the magic! ;)
• Use white sugar instead of brown to avoid pigmentation.
• Do not cool the syrup for too long or the butter will solidify

*This is cold Butterbeer. Not the hot foaming one. It tastes the same though. The hot Butterbeer recipe is being worked upon by Be the Best.

Celebrate your Potterhead-ness with a fizzy, cool, foaming Butterbeer! And remember to... Be the Best!

~asra♥Su

Be the Best on Facebook

Hello! :)

We have a happy announcement today.

Be the Best is on Facebook!!! Whooopiee :D

Get all the updates on your facebook walls and Be the Best ;)

All you gotta do is like our page on facebook and well.. that's it. The rest will happen!

Click here - Be the Best Facebook Page 

We hope you had a great weekend. Thank you for stopping by.
Make sure you join us on Facebook.
And remember.. As we always say... Be the Best!

~asra♥Su