The season is set to get hot, hot, hot! In keeping with that, how about setting the temperature scorching with your own glowing body! Get ready for the bikini and shorts as you look svelte and radiant. Instead of the expensive, exotic regimens, how about using a few natural and basic ingredients that can be got right in your kitchen. Try salt, neem, coffee, honey, orange, lemon, chocolate, and oats — that make for effective beauty boosters. Here’s how to use these…
SALT IT UP!:-
A basic salt scrub is the most popular body treatment that can easily be done at home. Salt exfoliates the skin, sloughing off dirt and dead skin cells, leading to a fresh look. Use sea salt or pink salt, which is packed with minerals. Blend it with some ylang ylang oil or sweet almond oil.
COFFEE:-
You may love your mug of morning java, but it’s a powerful beauty booster. Owing to their texture, coffee grounds effectively exfoliate the skin. To try this, take a handful of grains and apply them in a circular motion on the skin to remove the dead layers. Coffee has antioxidants and is said to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Another great scrub is ground coffee with brown sugar, and olive oil. Coffee grounds mixed with honey also act as an effective lip balm.
HONEY-OATMEAL:-
Got sensitive skin? Opt for a simple honey-oatmeal mask. Just grind a cup of oatmeal with a blender. Add honey to it and mix till it gets a smooth consistency. Smooth it over the face, rubbing gently. Leave it over the face and neck for 10 minutes and rinse it off with warm water. Use it thrice a week for clear skin. Another idea is to have an oatmeal bath, where you add milk and oatmeal to your bath water. Soak in it to have smooth, luxuriously soft skin.
NEEM:-
Neem is an Ayurvedic wonder. It’s most known for its anti-inflammatory effect and protects the skin. It also has vitamins that improve the elasticity of the skin. Neem clears blemishes — just add some sandalwood powder to it as well as rose water, to make a paste and apply this to the skin.
DRIED ORANGE WITH MULTANI MITTI:-
A superb pick-me-up for tired skin is multani mitti (fuller’s earth) and dried orange. To use it, take a tablespoon of both fuller’s earth and orange zest (peel) powder. Add some rose water to make a paste. Apply this mask on the face and rinse off only when it’s semi-dry. The face pack draws out impurities as well as blackheads, to give smoother, cleaner skin. Orange is packed with Vitamin C and busts the harmful effects of free radicals on the skin. It tones the skin and reduces acne. Try orange peel + turmeric + honey or orange peel powder + lime juice to get rid of a tan.
MOONG DAL:-
Moong dal or mung bean is a wonder gram and useful in beauty treatments. It can be used as an exfoliator. Grind the dal with sandalwood powder, orange peel powder, lime juice, rose-water and a few curry leaves to make a paste. You can also soak the dal overnight and then mix with a paste of almonds and honey. Leave this on the face for 10 minutes and wash off to get radiant skin. To remove a tan, take some soaked moong dal and add curd to it. Apply it on the face and rinse with cold water.
ROSE WATER-GRAM FLOUR:-
Another simple face pack that can be prepared quickly is the Besan-Rose Water one. Just mix the besan (gram flour) with rose water to make a paste. Apply it on the face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse off. It hydrates the skin, bringing about a lovely, radiant, glow.
CITRUS QUICK-FIX (SEA SALT + LEMON JUICE + PEEL):-
Got a party to go to and need to get glowing? Here’s something easy and cost-effective. Take half a cup of ground sea salt , one tablespoon of coconut oil, zest of one lemon and mix this. Scoop out a little and scrub it on the face using gentle motions. You can also use it in the shower as a body scrub. While sea salt sloughs away dead skin cells, coconut acts as a hydrator and nourisher. You can also add olive oil and lavender (which induces relaxation) to it.
