Lokhandwala got some love from Lush recently, when the British brand sent over a fragrant store full of yummy bath and body products – during our visit we found fresh bars of soap laid on ice, tubs of jelly, and prettily packaged bottles that made all kinds of slick promises, offering Sweet Lips, Sex Bomb and even A Ring of Roses. Enough to turn any girl’s hair!

Dewy-eyed (and skinned), we couldn’t help but go all the way, returning with goodies that curled everything from our hair to our toes. Quite the Lush, we know!

Our lust list:

For your hair: Ultimate Shine Bar, for the smoothest, shiniest Lance-locks. Rs. 590 for a bar.

For your face: The Vanishing Cream will bring a rosy glow to your skin. Rs 2490 for 45 grams.

For your lips: Sweet Lips Sugar Scrub. Need we say more? Rs. 600 for 25 grams.

For your body: Sweetie Pie jelly, for when you want to woo it in the shower. Rs. 350 for 100 grams.

For your feet: The Stepping Stone bar offers no mean feet. Rs. 340.

Getting there: P #6, Primrose Building, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri (W), call 40144462.

If Mad Men’s Don Draper worked the ad scene in Mumbai, this is where he’d get his hair cut. The Barber Shop, a new men’s only salon (by the guys behind Juice), comes with chequered floor, old style chairs, jazz music and the promise of “classic cuts and close shaves”. And ensuring you don’t lose your innate caveman-ness while getting a mani-pedi, this crop shop serves swigs of testosterone-laced energy dinks. Although Don would much prefer his Scotch and a couple of Luck Strikes. Barbers, take note.

Man-scaping Artists

The prices here are surprisingly true to their retro vibe, with a trim costing Rs 150 and the most expensive cut priced at Rs 175 (including hair wash). Yetis, while you get a shave and wax, look up at the vintage airplanes hanging from the ceiling or save a penny for the juke box. The salon also houses a mini one-room spa for basic massages, and a specials board that features treatments like facials, hair relaxing and colour, mani-pedis and even an old-style champi. The only thing they’re missing is a shoe shine.

Finally in Mumbai, there's a beauty den for men, a groom room that even girls will be thankful for. That’s another victory for Man, you!

Getting there: 7, Kings Acres, opposite Podar School, Santacruz (W), call 65938464, Rs 175 for haircut.

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Ravana walks into a make-up store. That’s got to be a pretty expensive shopping trip, you know, with the ten heads and all. Yes, we know he’s a dude, but back then they wore make-up too.

What we’re really trying to say, in a rather convoluted manner, is that there’s a new make-up shop in Bandra called Faces, which houses a shade of metallic tint for (almost) every mug, and a rainbow of nail lacquer for every mood. How about a fiery orange for those heads then?

Placed somewhere in a price range between Maybelline and MAC, this war paint comes from Canada, serving up yum lip glazes and illuminators, but not without some suspect lip plumpers, jars of synthetic-y looking eye shadows and under-eye creams we’re not sure we want to try. bpb did a round of the store and found 5 things worth picking up. Half of Ravana will just have to go plain Jane.

For your Eyes: The Forest Green pencil liner, rich and slightly glittery. For Rs 249.

For Your Nails: Mini bottles of super trendy Aurelio yellow nail paint. It’s no Chanel Le Vernis Mimosa, but at Rs 99, it’ll do.

For Your Lips: Ultra glam Ruby red lip glaze. For Rs 249.

For Your Cheeks: Tiny jars of metallic illuminators to mix in with lotion or use separately.  For Rs 499.

For Your Body: Cooling gel-filled eye mask and pumice stone. For Rs 85 each.

Getting there: Faces, next to Shoppers’ Stop, Linking Road, Bandra (W), call 65881215.

What: Cinnamon Crocodile bath and beauty products, Sai Pooja building, 16th Road, Bandra (W), visit the website at http://cinnamoncrocodile.com, Rs 1,400 for beach massage oil.

Why: Have you ever seen a croc wearing a frock? Us neither, but the Cinnamon Crocodile mascot certainly seems to be prepping for a party, lounging in a bathtub overflowing with bubbles. If you’d like to meet her, she’s moving into a little Bandra storefront next week, bringing along fun products like cinnamon body scrubs and grapefruit-lime bath washes sourced from Bali and the Dead Sea, among other places. Later, alligator!

When: Store slated to open next week.

Feist's new single, The Fiery Furnaces and a Shammi Kapoor classic. RIP.

Download the podcast or hear online here. Enjoy!

How Come You Never Go There - Feist
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You - Sting
Urban Photograph - Urban Cone
Here Comes the Summer - The Fiery Furnaces
Honey Tree - The Mostar Diving Club
Dil Deke Dekho - Mohammad Rafi & Shammi Kapoor, OST Dil Deke Dekho
Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
Coffee House - Television Room
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

Have a favourite song? Send us your recommendations to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and if we love them, we'll add them to next month's track record!

Smooth as Butter Fingers

You know how you're always dropping stuff? And forgetting about important errands you need to run? Enough of this clowning around!

Blue Bulb's juggling workshop not only promises to be a complete ball, but will also help you relocate your body rhythm, increase concentration, and improve coordination. Which means that not only will you remember to pick up the dry cleaning next week, but chances of you dropping another one of your mother's Waterford glasses are greatly diminished. Really, you should make her pay for this class.

What's the Catch?

Conducted by an instructor who works with Teatro per Caso, an Italian theater company and is also a therapist to special education kids, the workshop will be spread over two 2 hour classes on August 20 and 21, and will guide participants through the basics of juggling along with some balance exercises and games. By the end of it, they promise, you'll be juggling three handmade juggling balls simultaneously, all of which you can take home with you. Air and lovely!

Not your rhythm? Blue Bulb also conducts workshops on other unusual activities, including archery, fire twirling, para-motoring and golf, all in or around Mumbai. You can check out their website here.

PS: The juggling workshop has only a few seats left, so contact them ASAP and don't just sit on your hands!

Getting there: Workshop on August 20 and 21 from 11 am to 1 pm at Prabhadevi, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 9870966910 / 982142344 to make a reservation, Rs 1,500 per person.

For Independence Day we bring you an updated list of free stuff to do in Mumbai. Flag this!

Free food and drinks. Gluttons.

Bonobo: Free entry to Bonobo’s monthly Wobble and Saturday Smash Up nights featuring cool music acts from around the world. Bonobo Kenilworth, 2nd Floor, off Linking Road, behind KFC, Bandra (W), free entry.

Cafe Goa: Sing for your supper at Cafe Goa, where you can participate in fun events like Monday Night Slam (a contest for amateur poets) or Krack You Up (stand up comedy) for free. Lazy-assed attendees pay Rs 100.  Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; entry free for performers.

Free Drinks: We heart Firangi Paani’s bi-weekly Ladies Nights, with complimentary drinks from 6 to 10 pm. Freetinies! Monday and Wednesday, Linking Road, above KFC, Bandra (W), call 67105105; Fun Republic, Level 3, opposite Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri West, call 022 26744144; free drinks from 6 pm – 10 pm.

Free wine & cheese: Art exhibits, book launches, new designer collections: something new is always up in Mumbai. And a heartening amount of these are accompanied by complimentary wine, cheese, and in one happy instance, macaroons. Try your beginners luck at Bungalow 8, Bombay Electric, Volte, and Gallery BMB.

Arty Pants

What's the big deal in painting soup cans and bananas, you ask, or screen printing a photo of the lovely Ms Monroe with yellow hair? Think you can do better? Well, here's your chance.

Check out the Art Loft's The Warhol Situation, an "Art Appreciation" workshop run by Himanshu S, J.J. School of Art graduate and founder of Bombay Underground. Consisting of four classes, each 2.5 hours long, the workshop will examine closely the life, works and influences of Andy Warhol and get participants to replicate his themes and techniques.

So, plenty of time for you to find out what the fuss is all about.

Say It Paint So

If you go, you might find yourself in the midst of a discussion about the cultural, anthropological, and sexual significance of a bright yellow, magnificently curved banana, or the use of primary colours. Or you could be wrist deep in blue and red paint, replicating scenes from your favorite comic book. Other planned activities include shooting individual documentaries about the objects and events in your every day life, and screen printing faces ala Marlyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and maybe that third grade teacher who you've had a crush on for ten years?

The only thing is, the Art Loft doesn't have a screen printer, so you'll be xeroxing photos and paint on them instead. But no matter: as Andy said, art is whatever you can get away with. 

Amen to that.

Getting there: Classes held for four Sundays from 5 pm - 7:30 pm starting August 21, at Valentino Rest 1st Floor, Mehboob Studios, Bandra (W). Call 9930483966 or visit the Facebook page to register. Rs 3,000 per person.

Samosapedia (www.samosapedia.com)

Proper Noun.

Madcap dictionary of South Asian words such as “studmuffin”, “haw”, “minkey chief” and “neyyappams”.

See:

The Daily Chutney for regular updates. Lexiconic contributions encouraged.

How to use in a sentence:

We’re out Marie biscuits, but would you like some Samosapedia with your tea?

Try Samosapedia – it’s fresh, hot and filling. Warning: It might make stomach hurt (with laughter).

Further references:

CNNGo.com’s interview with Samosapedia founders.

What: Get Skinked tattoo parlour, behind Kala Ghoda Cafe, 11 Ropewalk Lane, call Kunal Pahuja on +91-9819547616, start at approximately Rs 3,000 for a two inch tattoo.

Why: The space formerly occupied by fashion brand Obaitamu gets a sketchy new tenant this week, one who wants to scar you for life. Offer your hand (or leg or back) in greeting to Kunal Pahuja, recently back from a tattoo training program in Thailand, before which he worked at suburban shop Inks and Needles. Draw(l) worthy!

When: You don’t want to leave without a trace.