Beauty Tips from Your Kitchen

Natural beauty is appreciated the world over. There are different aspects linked with being beautiful. One such link is people who are blessed with beautiful skin. Most people firmly believe that beauty is skin deep. Yes, literally too!

How healthy, radiant, hydrated and glowing your skin looks, says a lot about your natural beauty. Many people feel that real beauty doesn’t need any makeup or touch-ups to look good. If your skin is healthy, you’re good to go anywhere without any trace of makeup. 

However, the ever-changing weather conditions, high pollution and stressful lives call for the need of an intense skin care regimen. The more you care for your skin, the healthier and radiant it will be. 

Forget spending money on fancy facials and pricey products. Some of the best natural beauty secrets for glowing skin and shiny hair are hiding right in your kitchen.

1. Cloves

A traditional Indian spice that is used nearly in every Indian household, the power of cloves is extremely high and its usage widespread. It is a stimulating spice used vastly in face packs and tonics. Also, people who suffer from severe acne should use cloves in the following manner:

Take 10 ground cloves, 2 tsp fresh mint paste and 1 tsp gram flour. Mix with cold water and apply on the face. Once it is dry, wash off with iced cold water.

Because cloves have a stimulating effect on the skin, they make a wonderful skin tonic and astringent for the T-zone area of combination skins as well as oily skin types. You can make a skin tonic at home with the following ingredients:

Take 2 litres of water, 7 cloves, 1 pinch of camphor and a handful of fresh mint leaves. Simmer the solution until it reduces to half and let it cool. Refrigerate. This skin tonic can be used to wipe the skin several times a day and it helps reduce oiliness and refreshes the skin.

2. Almonds

Almonds have an extremely high content of vitamin E and their usage both externally and internally show effective results. 

Almond powder can be mixed with oatmeal and milk and used as a face mask and exfoliator to nourish dry dead looking skin.

 A fine paste of almonds mixed with grated raw potato and applied, as an eye mask will help cure dark circles. You can also use almond oil to massage the eyes to reduce dark circles and a tsp of almond oil added to warm milk helps nourish the body internally. 

I have seen the most beautiful faces who don’t take care of their hands. Make a thick paste of almond powder, fresh cream and sugar granules, lemon juice and massage into the skin until all the sugar granules have melted. Wash hands and pat dry to see fair, soft hands in just 5 minutes!

3. Tomatoes 

Tomatoes are acidic in nature and help to reduce excess oiliness on the skin. 

Take two firm tomato halves and rub on the skin.

 If you suffer from open pores, the regular use of tomato halves rubbed on the skin will help reduce open pores and clean the greasiest of skins. 

Because of the high content of Vitamin C and potassium, they also help reduce blackheads and nourish the skin externally.

4. Mayonnaise

A common salad dressing, it is made from simple everyday ingredients like egg, oil and lemon juice to form a powerful nourishing pack for dry dull skin. 

Smear mayonnaise over your face for 10 minutes and wash off to see smooth soft skin. Mayonnaise makes a fabulous hair nourisher for dry and frizzy hair. 

Massage a sufficient amount all over your scalp and hair and leave on like a hair nourishing pack for 20 minutes. If your hair is frizzy and dry, try this to reveal hair as soft as silk and with a gleam like sunbeams.

5. Milk:

Milk is the best source of calcium and is good for your bones and teeth. But, can milk be useful for Indian skin care? Yes, indeed!

• Cleanses Skin: Milk is a natural cleansing agent. Just mix about 2 teaspoons milk with 1 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp lemon juice. Apply this on your face, leave for 15 minutes and wash off for clean and clear skin.

• Pack For Glowing Skin: Milk can be used along with ground almonds and olive oil, and applied as a face pack for instantly glowing skin. Prepare a paste by adding milk to about 1 tbsp ground almonds and 1 tsp crushed orange peel. Add about 2 to 3 drops of olive oil to this mixture. Apply this mixture and allow it to dry for about 20 minutes. Wash off and follow with an ice cube rub for awesomely glowing skin.

• Pack For Dry Skin: Milk is a blessing for those with dry skin. A mask prepared by adding milk to 1 mashed banana and honey can be applied to dry skin. Allow the mask to dry completely before washing off. Massage the washed off skin with a little milk to complete the moisturizing process.

• Exfoliates Skin: Milk can also be used as an exfoliating agent to get rid of dead skin cells. Lactic acid present in milk has natural exfoliating properties. Dissolve a pinch of salt in boiling water. Add 3 cups of milk to it, keeping aside the cream. Add about ½ a cup of lukewarm water and allow the mixture to stand for 20 minutes. Apply on your body and scrub off the dead skills with the help of a loofah. You can use this milk scrub twice a week for good results.

Now that you are familiar with some of the best natural ingredients, potter around to create your own beauty regime and see your skin and hair rejuvenate in no time at all!