Rejuvenating Treatments for Skin and Hair

The Natural Way: Rejuvenating Treatments for Skin and Hair
By Emily E. Ray

Here is a challenge that will help you reduce stress and save money while bringing the rejuvenation needed during the holidays. It will require some resolve on your part; adding five items to your grocery cart, and taking an hour a week to spend on yourself. The following recipes are designed to combat the ill effects of harsh winter weather on your face, hair, lips and body, without costing a fortune, or requiring hours of hunting down ingredients and making concoctions. (Each recipe has only three steps!)
Your challenge is to spend a little time each week treating your body to one (or all) of these treatments. You will look and feel better on the outside, which will make you glow from the inside.

On your next trip to the food market, you will need to buy the following items:

• 1 Avocado - contains Vitamins A, C, and E, iron, potassium, niacin, pantothenic acids; unsaturated fatty acids stimulate the skin’s of production of natural oil
• 2 Small bananas - contain tryptophan, an amino acid, potassium, and Vitamins A, B, C and E which restore the elasticity of the hair
• 1 small bottle Olive oil - Hippocrates called olive oil “the great therapeutic”; provides sunscreen protection, absorbing 20% of the sun’s rays
• Orange essential oil soothes and restores the spirit; is a skin conditioner and soothing agent
• 1 brick of beeswax - melting point is 145°F; natural animal wax from the comb of the honey bee; works as a binder and protective barrier from wind and sun

Face

Tropical Citrus Mask
If you want to avoid lots of clean up, before applying this mask cover your face with cheesecloth (with holes cut out for eyes and mouth).

• Mix together: 1 ripe banana, 1 tsp. Olive oil, 1 drop Orange essential oil.
• Smooth over face and leave on for 15 - 20 minutes.
• Rinse off with tepid water. Smooth on a rich moisturizer.

Hair

Mayan Hair Mask
Ancient Mayan Inca and Aztec women believed that avocados fed the skin from the inside and outside. Make sure you save the avocado pit, setting it in a place where it can dry out.

• Mix together: ½ ripe avocado, 1 tbsp. olive oil, ½ small banana and 1 egg yolk.
• Gently massage onto hair and scalp and cover with a shower cap.
• Leave on 1 hour and rinse thoroughly with warm water. Shampoo as usual.

Lips

Honey Orange Lip Balm
If you like your lip balm to have a thinner, glossier consistency, use more olive oil. If you like a thicker, creamier feel, use less.

• Heat 2 tbsp. Chopped beeswax in a double boiler until melted. Remove from heat. Slowly pour ⅓ cup olive oil into beeswax and stir to mix.
• Add 1 ½ tbsp. honey and 5 drops Orange essential oil. Stir continuously to mix until cool.
• Pour into a clean container with a lid. Tightly seal.

Body

Avocado & Banana Scrub
The pit of the avocado needs to be dried for 3 - 5 days before it can be ground for this recipe.

• Grind dried avocado pit until pieces are very fine (placing it in a sealed plastic bag and hammering it will work). Mix with ½ banana and olive oil to make a thick paste.
• Rub gently over skin - do not use too much pressure, as the pit will naturally exfoliate!
• Rinse off in a warm shower.

A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT


All of us want to look young and beautiful. But how many really stay that way? As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and if you want to look attractive and fresh, you should follow not just an efficient beauty regime, but also a regular one.

For busy homemakers and corporate executives alike, it is not always possible to maintain a regular beauty regime, unless it is a habitual visit to the nearest beauty salon. Instead of spending money on artificial and expensive treatments, here is a simple schedule to groom yourself naturally. Just before you go to bed, allot a period of ten minutes. Yes, all it takes is just that little time to keep you looking young and glowing.

Foot Care

Feeling terrible after a tiring day? As soon as you return home, soak your feet in a basin of warm water mixed with a handful of fragrant bath salts. After 10 minutes, wash your feet (a simple soap and water wash is sufficient).

If you aren't feeling sleepy by this time, take a foot filer and scrub your heels. Using a toothpick (orange stick) clean the edges and grooves around your toe nails, to remove the dirt that gets accumulated. Apply cold cream or moisturizer before winding up. This will make the skin soft and prevent people from running away at the sight of your feet.

Face Wash/Scrub

Cleansing your face before going to bed is essential to take away the dirt you might have picked up in your day. Walnut scrub is ideal for oliy skin. Make sure you scrub your face in circling motions and wash with cold water. For those with dry or sensitive skin can use baby oil or wet cleansing pads, followed by a night cream.

Night Cream/Moisturizing

The right time to apply any treatment, especially moisturizer - be it for whitening the skin, under-eye cream or simple moisturizing. It will revitalize your facial skin and work wonders on skin, which had been exposed to all the dirt and grime in the daytime. It would be a good idea to use it on your arms and neck, too.

Your Hair

While oil is not the elixir of life to hair, it IS essential in keeping it well conditioned and supple. Leave oil overnight and wash in the morning with shampoo to get better results.

Heat a little amount of oil (olive oil, almond oil, or plain old coconut oil) by placing it in a small container and swirling it in hot water. After the oil gets considerably hot, massage the scalp with your fingertips, in rotating motion, for at least 8 - 10 minutes. You can do this while soaking your feet in warm water.

Castor Oil

Applying pure castor oil to your eyebrows and lashes, particularly those who have scanty growth, will make them grow thick and long. For tired or puffed eyes, place a cotton pad soaked in chilled rose water. Keeping thin slices of cucumber ready in the refrigerator beforehand is ideal.

Grated cucumber, by itself or mixed with carrot juice, can be spread under the eye, to reduce black circles and sagging skin.

Lip Guard And finally, a smear of Vaseline on your lips, and you can sleep like a child and get up like a fairy!

Get yourself a Glowing Skin
Take one teaspoon Chiraunji powder, one teaspoon Rose Petal paste and Milk.
Scrub gently into the skin
Wash off with cold water and watch it glow!

Exfoliation

You should exfoliate your skin once a week. But you should not exceed as it may cause irritation and may damage the skin. It makes the skin to produce more collagen. Collagen binds tissue which holds the skin. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant and it is the main factor is anti-ageing and anti-wrinkles. It also protects the skin from sun ultraviolet rays.
Tips you can try at home:

• Apply on your neck and face a mixture of lime juice and sugar. The coarseness of the ingredients will wash the dead cell when you remove the mixture from face.
• Apply on your skin a paste of sugar, salt, and lime juice and leave it there for half an hour. Then rinse it off.
• Pineapple is rich in vitamins which encourages healthy skin, eyes, nails, and hair. Apply its juice on face for around ten minutes and then wash it with cold water. This should not be done if it causes irritation to the skin.
• To the bathing water add about ¾ cups of lime juice.
• To the bath water add one cup raw apple cider vinegar. This helps in exfoliation of the skin.
• Apply a mixture of one teaspoon of salt, two teaspoon of milk, and two teaspoon of semolina on your face, neck, hand and feet. Wash all the parts with warm water and dry each part. This will soften the skin.
• Apply a mixture of half cup of buttermilk and one-fourth corn meal on face and neck and then wash it off.
• Mix one tablespoon buttermilk and three-fourth tablespoon sugar. Keep the mixture for 10 minutes. Apply this mixture for 15 minutes on your face. Then wash it off with lukewarm water. The sugar grains removes the dead cell from the skin.

Originally Posted by vatsi

Get yourself a Glowing Skin
Take one teaspoon Chiraunji powder, one teaspoon Rose Petal paste and Milk.
Scrub gently into the skin
Wash off with cold water and watch it glow!

Could you tell me what is Chiraunji in tamil?

rsankar.

Hey rsankar,
I dont know tamil, so i cant tell u. U can ask chitvish. She may help u.

Have a glowing skin

Steaming

The function of steaming is to open the pores, which also helps the skin have the benefits of masks, face scrubs and creams.

How to do steaming?

Fill a broad pot with hot water. Lower your face over the pot which should cover the head and pot in a way that steam is directed towards your face. You should add peppermints, rose petals, mint petals in the water. Use a soft towel to dry your face. Steaming should be done once in a week. You can also apply a moisturizer and massage the face and neck and then steam your face. With the help of cotton gently wash your face. This will clear the dead cells off and increase the blood circulation. In case of dry skin, frequent steaming should be avoided as it will devoid the skin of its natural moisture. Instead use a oil-based moisturizer before going for a steaming for a dry skin.

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Astringents

An astringent helps to stop bleeding and reduce the body secretions as they cause blood vessels and tissues to contract. Shave lotions, cologne and cleansing creams are made from astringents only.

As they are antiseptic they are helpful in treating acne. After steaming the face, wipe your face and neck with astringents.

Tips you can try at home:

• Soaking wool in lime juice can be used as an astringent.
• Cucumber and lime juice are excellent astringents.
• Wash your face with the mixture of vinegar and water in an equal parts.
• The paste of ½ teaspoon lime juice, small peach and ½ teaspoon tomato juice can be used as an effective astringent.
• Make a juice of two large lemons, one tablespoon tincture and sixteen tablespoons of distilled water. Dip a cotton wool in this juice and gently on your face.
• Rub your face with the juice of two tomatoes, wait for half an hour. Wash it off when it soaks.

Skin toning

You should tone your skin for youthful and rejuvenated feel because due to age and other things like weather, pollution and other harmful things in atmosphere, the face and other body parts starts sagging and start showing wrinkles.

Dry skin and wrinkles appear on face as the epidermal cells gradually lose their capacity to produce new cells while the dermis that produces collagen loses its elasticity. Toners are used to clean the oil from the skin. They may cause skin feel tighter because of skin irritation. The skin is freshened by skin toning lotions. They help to increase the blood supply to the skin

Tips for skin toning

• Rub wit a piece of potato over the face and neck and wash it off after 15 minutes. This is very effective for oily skin and can be used with moisturizer for dry skin.
• Moisten cotton wool with skin toning lotion and put it on cheeks, chin and neck.
• Mineral water diluted with rose water is used for dry skin. Apply it gently with the cotton avoiding the eye and upper cheek area.
• A piece of cotton should be used with astringent lotions.
• If you have normal, combination or dry skin, use very delicate and light preparation to refresh the skin. Never use a harsh astringent lotion for this purpose. Rose water based product is preferred.
• Oily skinned people should tone with an astringent lotion, applying to the oiliest places, that is sides of the nose, chin and forehead.
• Two tablespoons of lemon juice wit one tablespoon glycerine and three tablespoons of rose water should be used for a dry skin. Rub this juice on the skin.
• Toner for sensitive skin is to mash the strawberries and apply it for 5 minutes and wash it off.
• For dry skin vitamin E and wheat oil are also effective.
• Put in a jar a tablespoon of chopped mint and add two tablespoons of cider vinegar. Shake well and put in a cold place like fridge for few days. Get the liquid back and add 300 ml of water. Rub it on the skin with cotton.
• An excellent skin toner is the rose. Make rose water by mixing one tablespoon rose oil with two and half litres of purified water. Put it in a bottle and store in a refrigerator.

Have A Healthy Skin

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Hair Gel

1 cup water
2 Tbls. flax seed
(For Scented Gel)
1-3 drops of your favorite scented oil

Bring water and seeds to a boil then remove from heat. Let sit for 30-45 minutes
then strain through a colander. If you want scented hair gel, ad your drops of
oil after your gel has cooled completely.