So you’re not one of those to go giddy over a high-tech product — but you do like to look good! Rakhi Agarwal does a double flip on discovering four Mumbai chicas who are not beauty junkies!

WHEN a few lines around the mouth and eyes don't faze you; when the skin of your dreams is sailing the high seas; when feel-good factors are work and quality time with kids and when cutting-edge beauty products don't put solutions at your fingertips - you know you are the beauty couch potato!

Unflappable cool is every couch potato's style when it comes to a beauty regimen. She is happy applying a moisturiser every now and then and getting an occasional facial (if someone else insists, that is); and nothing can budge her to take up her skin's cause. She doesn't find relaxation in a bath soak with aromatic oils or in a languorous spa treatment.

An ad for blemish-free skin doesn't excite her quite like a sale of kids' clothes does. To renew, she relies on a good cup of tea and an evening out with friends. More so, she balks at women who spend precious time at parlours or yak about taking revenge on sags, bags and wrinkles.

Quick Fixes Are Me
Ritu Patel, graphic designer, 35
Ready, set, go... Not really. I do like to look good, but am not willing to go gaga over a beauty routine. I just use the Estee Lauder Daywear Plus, which I carry in my handbag and apply in the car. I am always rushed for time and don't feel the need to waste any on actually looking after my skin! I am toooo lazy to even cleanse my face at night. If at all, I take the easy way out - cleansing towelettes from Roc to wipe my face clean. Once in six months, on a friend's insistence, I get a facial done. While I do realise the importance of exercise in keeping the skin glowing and flushed, the couch potato in me doesn't allow me to follow a regimen. Even the much-written-about eight-glasses-of-water ritual is hard to follow. So far, my skin has not troubled me and seems to be doing rather well for its age, and I am happy with the way things are.

Love Thy Feet
Seema Shah, director, 32
To be beautiful on the inside makes more sense to me. I just can't take up the onerous task of applying creams galore. My friend once gave me a jar of aloe vera gel and it just sits pretty in my bathroom cabinet. Looking good just about translates to an Estee Lauder blusher, which I use when I am in a good mood, and a Chambor lipstick which I apply in the elevator or in the car! However, I have a foot fetish, so I make time to squeeze in a pedicure once a month and even apply Johnson's baby cream on them. Prettying up my feet is where beauty begins and ends for me.

Out With The Sop
Simrat Singh Arora, teacher, 30
I know that my skin will age when it has to, so I just don't feel the need to waste time applying gooey, sweet-smelling stuff on it. I don't even use a moisturiser, and am quite busy with family life, work, friends, coffee sessions and exercising. Yes, I do go to the gym and eat healthy in the hope that at least this will keep me looking good.

Since I am not too sure of what's what, I'd say ignorance is bliss where skin potions and other what have yous are concerned. Besides, I don't want to think about the adverse effects a cream will have on my skin once I stop using it. (Psst, actually, I'm just plain lazy.) However, I do use Boots Cucumber Cleansing Wipes to clean my face at night and wear an eyeliner and lipstick. I'd rather be known for my self-worth than for possessing a flawless complexion, which is quite like asking for the moon anyway!

Just Multi-Task
Nina Puri, interior designer, 32
I spend a lot of time at work, after which I'd rather stay home with family than at a salon. Though my skin does act up, I find reasons not to do anything. I am too hyper to sit in one place for an hour to get a facial done. Recently, I went to a skin specialist and when she suggested a treatment, I shuddered at the thought of wasting half an hour doing just that.

I have one multi-tasking product - Nivea Body Milk - which I apply all over my body and face. When I am out in the sun, I use a Neutrogena sun block. I am basically a lazy person but I have promised myself that I will stop being a couch potato and find time to at least exercise. God save my skin and back till then!


Ready Reckoner For The Lazy Lout
• Pet project: pick a favourite part of your body and spend a little effort and time looking after it. Eg feet or face.
• Hydro schizo : At work, drink a glass of water every time you answer a phone call.
• All-In-one: Choose one multi-tasking product and use it.
• Walk the walk: Make walk your daily prayer!
• Kitchen quickie: Lean your face over a pan of boiling water (when you're making tea or rice) for a bit of face steam!