Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Real Kajal

At one point or another we have all used a kohl pencil for your eyes. Either for contouring or for completing a smokey eye look, the handy dandy black pencil is something most women put in the must-have category. Well, it was only last week that I realized the true shape and form that the Kajal comes in.Kajal is simply the hindi name for what we call Kohl.
The friend I went with to London took out a lipstick looking thing out of her purse and aimed it towards the eye. You can imagine the look on my face at that point. Not to mention the fact that a black, round-topped pyramid seemed to appear out of the package. 


real indian kajal kohl pencil stick


She then explained that she had gotten it from a friend who had it from pure Indian sources and that this is the actual shape they make it in there.
Now, beside the fact that it was a creamy piece of heaven, it was also deep deep dark and did not seem to want to smudge.

real indian kajal kohl pencil stick swatch



Here's how Wikipedia says it is prepared:

Preparation of homemade kajal begins with dipping a clean, white, thin muslin cloth, about four by four inches square, in sandalwoodpaste or the juice of Alstonia scholaris (Manjal karisilanganni), which is then dried in the shade. This dip and dry process is done all day long. After sunset, a wick is made out of the cloth, which is used to light a mud lamp filled with castor oil. A brass vessel is kept over the lamp, leaving a little gap, just enough for the oxygen to aid the burning of the lamp. This is left burning overnight. In the morning, one or two drops of pure ghee (clarified cow's butter) or castor oil is added to the soot which now lines the brass vessel. It is then stored in a clean dry box. 

Don't know about you but that sounds pretty magnificent and so much better than the things we usually put on our eyes. Not to mention how impressed I was with its lasting power.What I can say is that if you have the chance, grab one of these original Kajal sticks and enjoy feeling like an oriental goddess.

                          


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2 comments:

  1. You are right kajal means Kohl in Hindi and now a days we have these lipstick like packaging in kajals as well, made out with natural ingredients.:)

    ReplyDelete

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