Me strolling through the supermarket with a basket in hand- “ooooh what’s this? and this? and this? another basket, please! Forget it, I’ll take a cart.” #truestory
That’s exactly what happens when I’m in Nilgiris supermarket. And a new entrant on the shelves of this supermarket is Chandani Skin Naturals. The brand not only have skincare and haircare products but also liquid green tea and slimming honey. Wait, what??
You’ll find Chandani Skin Naturals in Nilgiris stores across Chennai and Hyderabad. The brand will be available in all South Indian states first followed by pan India. Some of the products have the ‘Venitaa’ label, some have ‘Chandani Skin Naturals’ and the green tea and slimming honey is marketed under the name of ‘Dioli’. I am assuming each name refers to a particular range.
Dioli Slim Honey
Price: 348 INR for 250gms
Dioli Slim Honey’s base is Kashmiri Rose Wood Honey and contains extracts of Ginger, Green coffee bean, Garcinia Cambogia (Kudampuli/Malabar Tamarind), Cinnamon, Black Cumin Seed, Black Pepper and Holy Basil (Tulsi). All the extracts mentioned here are something I take almost every day except Garcinia Cambogia. I’ve heard this ingredient has its own list of side effects but it is also backed up by research that it is effective for weight loss.
I’ve been using this product every day for about two months now. I have one spoon of it in the morning right after having my bitter gourd juice or turmeric water. It tastes exactly like Deepavali legiyam (which we usually have on the day of Deepavali/Diwali to protect our tummies from all the sweets and savouries we gorge on)/kashayam.
Now, I do not recommend using weight loss products on its own, and I certainly do not recommend any sort of artificial/chemical weight loss products. That being said, this honey has natural ingredients and I do eat mindfully and exercise. For the purpose of this review, I had only the honey for a month without any workouts included in my routine but I ate mindfully. I also included the Dioli Green Tea in my diet.
Although I believe in portion control (with or without help), this honey curbed my appetite and reduced my cravings further. So that was a good beginning. The second month, I added simple workout routines and you can see the difference for yourself on my Instagram account.
Dioli Green Tea
Price: for 48ml (4ml * 12 sachets)
Chandani Skin Naturals claim Dioli Green Tea to be the world’s first liquid green tea. What they mean by that is, you get a liquid concentrate of the green tea instead of green tea powder or leaves. Since it is summer, I prefer the iced version of this tea.
It tastes like any other green tea, not going to lie about that. But the convenience of green tea in a liquid form in a sachet sounds less time consuming than tea bags. I can just carry this to work and pour it into my glass of cold water without worrying about the tea steeping or disposing of a wet tea bag.
Now, the ingredients list mentions Potassium Sorbate, which acts as a preservative. I contacted the owner of Chandani Herbals to find out the amount of potassium sorbate in each sachet. He mentioned it is 0.1%, which is within the permissible levels.
Venitaa Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
Price: 168 INR for 100ml
Now, the Venitaa Anti- Dandruff shampoo was something that caught my attention immediately. The shampoo is free of paraben, sulfate, amide and silicone and contains tea tree and apple cider vinegar. Both these ingredients are known to eliminate dandruff. I did have mild dandruff, which disappeared after using this shampoo for a month. It did make my hair slightly dry but there isn’t anything a good conditioner can’t fix. I’ve noticed that anti-dandruff shampoos do make your hair dry so you need to compensate by using hair masks and conditioner and nourishing hair serum to keep your hair soft. Whenever I used this shampoo I followed it up with a conditioner.
This shampoo does not lather much, which makes you question if the product works. But trust me, it works. It is quite easy to wash off as well.
There is an aloe vera acne gel specially formulated for those with oily skin. It contains salicylic acid, clove bud oil and tea tree oil apart from other ingredients. Since I have extremely dry skin, I asked my cousin to try it out and let me know her thoughts on the product. Here’s her review (in third person).
Chandani Skin Naturals Aloe Vera Acne gel
Price: 100 INR for 50gms
The aloe vera gel helped reduce the redness on her face. She applied it on the pimples and let it dry. This helped reduce the inflammation. The size of the pimple did not reduce but acne scars lightened slightly. Also, it was cooling on the skin and she used it twice a day. Once in the mornig after washing her face and at night. She left it on for an hour and wiped it off gently.
Final Verdict: I do have concerns about the use of a preservative in the green tea and Malabar Tamarind in the honey with respect to the long run but overall the brand as a whole looks promising. The products definitely work and are of excellent quality, affordable and no complaints about the packaging whatsoever. Do try the brand out!
