Shikha Says:

      Hello my lovely people!! Feels so good writing in after such a long break. I spent around 15 days in Mumbai and had a wonderful and much deserved break. I got a chance to attend my first ever bloggers meet organized by Purplle.com and Soulflower and it was an awesome experience. I always bemoaned the fact that nothing goes down in Kolkata and I’m unable to participate in such events. But as luck would have it I got this opportunity and it feel right into my already set travel plans to Mumbai. Yea for that 😀

My outfit for the event – Top and Inner lace cami – Mango, Black pants – Marks & Spencer,  Nude Heels & Hairband – Aldo, Jewellery – My friend’s
     A beautiful first day in Mumbai, I had already decided what I was gonna wear for the event before I was informed about the pink and purple theme for it. Again it fit the bill for me. The venue was Spaghetti Kitchen in Inorbit Mall, Malad. There was a registration desk where I met Riddhi Sharma, Manager – Content (Purplle.com) who helped me with the process and handed me a small bag from their side. We had to wait for the few minutes outside the venue as it was being prepared for our meet. In the meanwhile all the bloggers gathered outside and we had an informal intro and a small photo session. There were a few people I recognized but a whole lot more who were new to me.
Soulflower Goodies Galore!
     As we got ushered inside finally, there was a table waiting for us all laid out with Soulflower goodies to try out. They had their soaps, oil blends, cold pressed oils, bath salts and aromatherapy roll-ons all laid out for everyone to dig in and explore. The roll-ons where a new addition and the rest of the product line was familiar to me as I have bought a couple of things from them in the past. The entire area smelled heavenly. We then seated and were introduced to the duo behind the Soulflower brand, Natasha Tuli (the creative genius) And Amit Sarda (this man is a wealth of information). 

Soulflower Duo – Amit & Natasha

     Amit spoke to us informing us mainly about the different oils and essentials oils and how to use them best. He also gave us tips about which essential oil is suited best for which condition. For example, he said that if you have a thinning hair problem then you should use Ylang-Ylang as it will help to thicken your hair. This was news to me as I knew that Rosemary was supposed to be used for such purposes. But he advised to use Rosemary for falling hair and conditioning scalp. This is one tip that I will definitely try out.

     Lunch was served simultaneously which honestly I was not so aware about. I know I just had a slice of pizza and a little pasta. I was so engrossed in talking up a storm that these little details missed me completely. We were given an awesome smelling rose shaped soap along with a stem and everything and handed out some Soulflower bookmarks and badges. All this while conversation and discussions were flowing continuously.

Pic courtesy Purplle. Pankaj talking to the bloggers about the Salon Finder feature

     Pankaj Balani from Purplle then came on and spoke about the new feature which they were about to launch then, the Salon Finder. As bloggers we were asked for tips as to what features we would like to see and to provide inputs to help make it better. This is something I’m really looking forward to as one can now know about a salon right from its rate card, to its reviews about its services and hopefully even about its specialty and ratings of the stylists in near future right from the comfort of your home. It will remove the stress from deciding which salon to avail services from as the uncertainty of it all would be no more. Right now it has already begun for Mumbai and hopefully soon will be available for all across India.

Ingredients used for making the soap Pink for Skin.
The finished product in the mold. This soap would now need to rest and will be ready in the next 2-3 months for use.

     There was a blogger intro section followed by the wrapping up of the lunch. We were then taken to the Soulflower store to see a live demo of soapmaking by Natasha. She is just so passionate about it all that her enthusiasm just pulls you in. I stood in the back so didn’t get a visual play-by-play of all the steps but I was ok with it as soapmaking is something that I studied a couple of years back and was familiar with the process. The other bloggers were super excited to see the whole process and some of them like Shouri and Shanaya took some really nice and detailed pics of the process. If you are interested in seeing those then check them out here (just click on the names) – Shouri’s Post & Shanaya’s Post.

Soulflower Goody Bag – A velvet bag, a cork coaster, some info pamphlets with CD, couple of bookmarks, a badge (not shown in pic), the rose soap (smells divine – make it a point to check it out), Hazelnut Oil, Jojoba Oil, 2 Roll ons (Energy Boost & Feel Sexy) and 2 Soap samples (Lemongrass & Lavender)
Purplle Goody Bag – A notepad (not shown), pencil, eraser, chocolate (yea as if that was gonna survive for so long :P), a pretty candle, name tag, info card on Salon Finder & a Thank you card

     We got to take home a lovely Soulflower goody bag which was designed by Natasha and a whole lot of lovely memories. I got to meet some really nice people and the teams of Purplle and Soulflower were an absolutely pleasure to converse with. Natasha is such a warm and sweet person and was so open to suggestions and feedback on how to improve the soaps and for new ideas for future soaps. I used to think that Soulflower soaps were made in a factory somewhere but it was a delight to learn that they were all handmade and that too in India and the amount of love and care that went into each one. All in all it was a really awesome meet and one that will be very special to me especially since it was my first one and it set of a great tone for my Mumbai visit. Thank you so much to Purplle & Soulflower once again for organizing this meet. And to all the bloggers that I met it was a pleasure to meet you and I will definitely stay in touch with you all. Cheers to making new friends 🙂