Housing.com Look Up Stories

Image Credit: +Housing.com 

There are a lot of times when I feel depressed or simply frustrated when things don’t exactly pan out the way I want them to and I, like any normal person, start freaking out. And after I calm down a bit, I open this e-mail that my mother forwarded to me when I was in 9^th  class.  This email entails the story of two travellers, a monk and their attitude towards the same situation and that is all that makes a big difference. I'm sharing the story (typed out in my own words) below so that everyone can enjoy it –

There was once a traveller who was walking from a village in the mountains to a village in the valley.

As he walked along, he saw a monk working in a field, so he stopped and said to the monk, “I'm on my way to the village in the valley, can you tell me what it’s like?”

The monk looked up from his labour and asked the man where he had come from.

The man responded, “I have come from the village in the mountains.”

“What was that like?” the monk asked.

“Terrible!”  the man exclaimed, “no-one spoke my language, I had to sleep on a dirt floor in one of their houses, they fed me some sort of stew that had yak or dog or both in it and the weather was atrocious.”

“Then I think that you will find that the village in the valley is much the same,” the monk noted.

A few hours later another traveller passed by and he said to the monk, “I am on my way to the village in the valley, can you tell what it’s like?”

“Where have you come from?” enquired the monk.

“I have come from the village in the mountains.” 

“And what was that like?”

“It was awesome!” the man replied, “No-one spoke my language so we had to communicate using our hands and facial expressions.  I had to sleep on the dirt floor which was really cool as I've never done that before.  They fed me some sort of weird stew and I have no idea what was in it but just to experience how the locals lived was great and the weather was freezing cold, which meant that I really got a taste of the local conditions.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.”

“Then I think that you’ll find that the village in the valley is much the same,” responded the monk.

The story above highlights a simple truth about Life, life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond.  Don’t allow the challenges of life to take away your joy. What makes succeeding so amazing is the struggle! It is important to find the silver-lining of every cloud to lead a happy life.

There are lots of reasons to complain and be miserable if that’s how you look at life. I'm sure there are a million reasons that we can conjure up to explain why thing are ‘bad.’

There are lots of reasons to be enthusiastic and joyful if that’s how you look at life. I'm sure we can think of a lot of reasons to be grateful for in life.

I am really grateful that my mother sent me this story as it helped me not only to move past difficult situations but also because it taught me that our attitude determines our altitude in life.

How do you look at life?

Note: I was motivated by Housing.com #LookUp to write this post. Housing.com is one of those fun, upbeat start-ups that have a whole new outlook towards life. It is refreshing and I wish them the very best!

Minion POWER!! (Nail art Tutorial)

Lil Miss Koko is back with another nail art tutorial as promised and this time it is the MINIONS!

Now these yellow little cuties have a HUGEEEE fan following and while I sat down to think what nail art I should do next, the first thing that popped up in my head was “THE MINIONS!”

I have a friend who thinks that this mani is very tough even though I keep telling her that it is very simple, so Tara this is for you :*

P.S. – This is my first “pictorial” I’m sorry that the pictures aren't all that good. 

THINGS YOU'LL NEED - 

1. Different colors of nail polish

• Yellow nail polish
• Dark blue nail polish
• White nail polish
• Black nail polish

2. Old ball point pen or a think nail art brush (you could simply use a paint brush)

3. Nail polish remover and cotton (for clean up)

4.  Top Coat (so your pretty mani stays on for long)

STEPS -

The pictures above are all separate, I've compiled them and made one big picture so you can save it onto your phone or laptop and view it when you do your nail art.

Here is the full pictorial - 

Well that's it, I hope you found this tutorial easy. If you have any questions then feel free to ask them. 

Please leave feedback in the comments section below.

xoxo Koko

Yes, I'm 'FAT'

So there you go, I accept it.
I'm fat and no matter how many  people tell me I'm not, I just won't believe it.
I'll take your compliment (the one I never asked for) and I'll just thank you (even though I see no problem what-so-ever with being 'FAT')

I'm fat and I'm not ashamed of it. And no this is not a way to fish for compliments, I do this simply because I accept my body with it's each and every single flaw. And no, this doesn't mean that I have never been unhappy with it. Ofcourse I have! My thighs are always going to be BIG and my stomach will always look ugly to me. I'll look at myself and I'll point out a million things I'd love to change about myself but I'm not the kind that'll turn to you and bring you down for no rhyme or reason just because of my insecurities. 
No, my parents raised me better than that.
So instead of going on and crying or saying nasty things to you, I'll be the lady my parents raised me to be (don't think I can't fight though, I have three brothers who I have learned to torture since the day I was born) and I'll take the insults and compliments as they come and maybe I'll also crack a joke or two about myself because the words of spineless imbeciles can't harm me and they shouldn't hurt you either.

So now if you want to say that all I can do is stuff my face with chocolate cake then yes, if I was given this great opportunity, I'd take it. If you want to crack other jokes about me then go ahead, I'll laugh with you. I'd wonder wether or not your brain was wired properly but I'd laugh with you because the joke is on you :)

When I was younger (a pre-teen), I was ashamed of myself. 
All those changes in your body and all.. They just mess with your head and make you feel like a misfit.
Every girl had the 'perfect' tiny body and me? I was just BIG and awkward. And now I look back and think about what a big idiot I was! All of that stupidity I did, skipping meals, crying and hating myself. It just wasn't worth it. I'm still the same. I still am BIG and awkward. Girls around me still have 'perfect' bodies but as I've grown up, I've become a slight bit more mature. I've learnt to love myself and my imperfections. I've learnt to accept my body and my shortcomings. What I mean to say is.. It doesn't really matter whether you are 'FAT' or 'SKINNY' since we will never really be perfect to ourselves or to others but we need to come in terms with our body and it's imperfections. We have to stop giving in to people and their venemous words. We simply need to stop trying so hard.

This post goes out to everyone. To anyone who has ever felt inadequate or unattractive.

Stop being at war with yourself. START LIVING LIFE, ACCEPT YOURSELF and be HAPPY :)

Sunsilk Perfect Straight Shampoo & Conditioner (REVIEW)

Can a shampoo really straighten your hair? Read on to find out. 

I'm a sucker for cute packaging and I can't deny that I bought this shampoo mainly because of the cute purple bottle it comes in.

Pretty right?

It was love at first sight -

So, I was out shopping with my mom and my brothers when my eyes landed on the cute bottle. I instantly went ahead and picked it up. 

The villain in our love story - 

Even though I was head over heels in love with Sunsilk Perfect Straight, I was having second thoughts because I had been wanting to try Garnier Goodbye Damage since a while now. After having a long debate with myself in my head and annoying my mom and brothers (who very nicely told me that they couldn't care less and I should just pick one and move on. It's so easy for them to say right?)

I finally picked Sunsilk Perfect Straight because of two reasons-

1. The packaging.
2. I was intrigued by the claims this products made and wanted to see whether it'd work or not.

So I proudly marched up to my mom (as if I had won a medal or something) and I put the bottle in our cart.

The first date - 

The first time I decided to use the shampoo, I oiled my hair (it's a habit). Whenever I oil my hair, I wash it twice with the shampoo to get the oil out of my hair completely, which means I - 

1. Wet my hair 
2. Take a bit of the shampoo
3. Massage it into my scalp and the tips
4. Wash
5. Repeat

I read a post where someone said that this shampoo doesn't wash off oil and that is NOT the case. I was rather surprised with how nicely it washed off oil and that too with a small quantity. This shampoo lathers up pretty well and so a little goes a long way.

Coming to the main point -

Does it really straighten your hair?

I noticed a difference in the very first wash. My hair is wavy and I noticed that my hair was straighter not only when I stepped out of the shower but even after it dried. It would be foolish to expect poker straight hair which we can only get from rebonding, straightening hair with straightening irons or naturally being born with straight hair. 

The shampoo and conditioner made my hair SOFT!

It really tamed my sort of frizzy color-treated hair. 

PROS

• Cute packaging
• Sweet smell
• Makes hair SOFT!
• Tames frizz 
• Does straighten your hair to certain extent.

CONS

• Contains SLS (like most shampoos so it isn't much of a con)

Would I repurchase/recommend?

I would most definitely repurchase/recommend this product. It might not make my hair poker straight but it definitely does wonders for my hair. I'm absolutely loving the results of this shampoo whereas my brother is hating it because it is making his hair completely straight :D Haha!

Let's do the Funky Leopard (Nail art Tutorial)

Hey lovely ladies!
I'm so excited about this blog and I hope that you are too. 
As promised, here is a super easy nail art tutorial.

THE FUNKY LEOPARD

^ Yes, that is what your end result would/should look like ^

The thing about leopard print nail art is -

• It is always in style.
• It looks a bit complicated but it is super easy.
• It looks super chic and fabulous
• You don't have to worry about the spots being the same size or the nail art to look perfect and super clean because mostly, the messier it is, the better it looks.

I love leopard print nails and the combo I usually stick to is a white base + pink spots. But since NEON bright colors are in VOGUE, I decided to mix it up a little and so I took a well-deserved break from the usual. And I thank God I did because these babies look SWEEEET!

Anyway, let's get this tutorial started.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED-

1. Different colors of nail polishes. 

• 1 base color (I used white. According to me it looks best with white as a base since I feel it makes the color POP)
• Colors for spots (You can pick as many as you like. I used five :D)
• 1 dark color (I used black)

2. Old ball-point pen or a thin nail art brush (you could use a paint brush too)

3. Nail polish remover and cotton/cotton ear buds (for clean-up)

4. Top coat (so your pretty mani stays chip-free and perfect for long)

STEPS-

1. Start with a dry base color.
2. Paint unevenly shaped dots (with your choice of colors. I used hot pink, a tiffany blue, orange, yellow and green color nail polishes)
3. Paint "U" and "C" shapes around the dots using a darker color (preferably black) with the help of the old ball-point pen's nib or paint brush. You simply have to dip them in the bottle of nail polish. You could also use the brush of the nail polish (I do this when I can't find my brushes. I've grown comfortable with using it with time.)
4. You will notice that there are still empty spaces here and there. Fill in those empty spaces by making tiny dots with the same color you used to make the "U" and "C" shapes.
5. Wait for your nails to dry patiently. You could dip an earbud and clean up the sides of your nails if you've gotten any polish on them by mistake but be careful :)
6. Once you're dure your nail polish is dry, seal it with a top coat. 

Once you're done you'll have COOL nails that I'm sure will bring in a lot of compliments. 

Hope you liked this post :) If you need help then comment below and I'll try my best to help you :)

If this is confusing for you then I can post a pic-tutorial too :)

xoxo Koko 

Who is Koko?

No, she isn't a dog.
No, she isn't a cat.

-Oh darn, I just did that annoying thing some people do where they talk about themselves in third person. You know what I'm talking about right?-

Anyway moving on..
I'm Koko and I know that it still doesn't really answer your question and you're still staring blankly at the screen infront you and wondering, "Who the hell are you?"
and well even I can't begin to explain who I am properly. 
Koko is clumsy, crazy, LAZY, a 'BIG' foodie, lip balm addict, simplicity loving, chocolate-worshiping and lover of all pretty things kind of girl. She is 17 years young and at the moment, totally excited about this blog.

-See I did that thing again. Oh God!-

So if you'd like to know about me and if you'd like to know about good cosmetic products which are extremely school-kid budget friendly then this blog is for you. In the coming months you'll see everything, from nail art posts (tutorials!) to reviews (mainly about lip balms) to some hilarious anecdotes from my life (and I mean really funny ones) to feel good about yourself posts to other DIY stuff to trends I love and things I like. Basically everything that'll help you in getting to know me better and also things that'll help you (in saving money, in getting good quality products that are dirt cheap, in doing cute and easy nail art since I'm lazy and all sorts of things) 

^ That's me ♥ ^

I sure hope you like it! ♥
xoxo Koko ♥