Home remedies for a glowing complexion

Looking good costs money, right... Or does it?

If you are feeling too broke to splurge on a facial at the salon, let Mother Nature come to the rescue.

All you need is to do is invest some time and effort once a week, and use the ingredients available in your kitchen to concoct your own facial at home.

You can decide which facial to opt for, depending on your skin type and on the availability of the ingredients.
These facials can be done once a week, or before going for a party or for an occasion.
Note of caution: If your skin is sensitive to any natural product, it is advisable to consult a dermatologist before using any of the given remedies.

Also, please wash your face before using any of these face packs.
What is your skin type?

Normal skin
 Extract the juice of half an orange or tomato, mix with two teaspoons of curd. Lightly massage onto your face in an upward direction. Let it dry. Then, wash your face with cold water and wipe dry. This will give your skin a nice glow.

~ Rub the inner part of the skin of a papaya on your face. Let it dry. Then, wash your face with cold water and wipe dry. This will give your skin a nice glow.
Whenever you cut a papaya to eat, save a small portion of the peel for this purpose. You can store the peel in an airtight container for about two days in the fridge; however, it is preferable to use it fresh.

~ Grind 50 grams (around half a cup) of cabbage and extract the juice. Apply this on your face. After it dries, wash with cool water and wipe dry. This helps tighten your skin and prevents wrinkles.

~ Grind one small carrot and squeeze the pulp to remove the juice. Apply the juice on your face and let it dry. Then, wash with cold water and wipe your face dry. This helps to rejuvenate your skin.

~ Whenever eating an apple, do not discard the skin. Use it as a skin cleanser.

Just rub the inner side of the peel in an upward direction and let your face dry. Then, wash with cool water and pat dry. This helps tighten your skin.

~ Take an ice cube and rub on your face. Then, pat dry. This helps to improve blood circulation and keeps your skin healthy.

Variation: Boil some lemon grass in a small container of water and cool. Pour it in the ice tray and freeze. Later, rub the ice cube on your face.

~ Beat the white of one egg and apply on your face in an upward direction. Once it dries, wash with cold water. It helps tighten your skin and delays wrinkles.

6 steps to beautiful skin

Oily skin

~ Make a paste of 2 tbsp of wheat flour using as much water as needed. Apply on your face in an upward motion. Leave to dry. Then, wash with cool water and pat dry. This helps remove excess oil from your skin.

~ Mix two teaspoons of raw milk, around the same quantity of cucumber juice and few drops of lemon. With a cotton ball, apply the solution on your face and leave to dry. Then, wash with water and pat dry.

~Soak two to three teaspoons of methi (fenugreek) seeds overnight. Grind into a paste, then rub on your face. Once it dries, wash with cool water.

The granular effect helps remove blackheads. Methi also helps remove excess oil from your skin.

The excess paste can be stored in the refrigerator but should be used within a week.

~ Soak two to three teaspoons of whole masoor dal (red gram) overnight. Grind into a paste and apply on your face. Once it dries, wash your face with cold water and pat dry. It gives the same effect as methi.

The excess paste can be stored in the refrigerator but should be used within two days.

~ Grind half a cucumber and squeeze to remove the juice. Apply the juice on your face and leave to dry. Then wash with water and pat dry.

It helps refresh and tighten your skin.

Say goodbye to dry skin

For dry skin

~ Mash half a ripe banana, add a teaspoon of honey and make a paste. Apply on your face. Once it dries, wash with cold water and pat dry.

This acts as a moisturiser and helps in tighten your skin.

~ Soak khus khus (poppy seeds) overnight. Grind it with just enough milk to make a paste. Apply on your face. Once it dries, wash with cold water.

The natural oil present in khus khus helps to moisturise your skin.

~ Just before boiling milk, remove two tablespoons. Massage it lightly on your face in an upward motion. Leave to dry, then wash with water and pat dry.

This helps to keep your skin supple.

Variation: Add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the raw milk and follow the same process. However, avoid doing this if you have pimples on your face.

~ Make a paste of 2-5 tablespoons of raw peanuts with milk. Add ¼ teaspoon of honey to it. Apply on your face. Leave to dry. Then wash with cold water and pat dry.

The natural oils present in the peanuts help moisturise your skin.

~ Make a paste of one teaspoon of malai, a pinch of turmeric and four to five drops of olive oil. Apply on your face, leave to dry. Wash with cold water and pat dry.

Malai acts as a natural moisturiser and turmeric and olive oil helps rejuvenate your skin.

Which perfume suits your personality?

Combination skin

~ Mix 3-4 tablespoons of Multani mitti (Fuller's Earth) with 8-10 ground pudina (mint) leaves. Freeze the pack overnight.

Keep outside for 10-15 minutes and then apply on your face. After 10-15 minutes, wash off and pat dry. It helps in cooling and cleansing your skin.

~ Boil a handful of lemon grass leaves in one litre of water, until you get the aroma. Then, place in an ice tray and freeze.

After returning home from work or an outing, rub a lemon grass ice cube all over your face. It cleanses the dirt and grime accumulated in your skin's pores and shuts them.

Whisk away black spots and pimples

~ Make a paste of either half a piece of nutmeg/ six to eight jamun seeds with water/ rose water. Apply on your face. Leave to dry. Then, wash with cold water and pat dry.

~ Squeeze half a fresh lemon into one glass of freshly boiled milk. Leave for half and hour, then apply on your face before retiring to bed.

~ Take 125 ml (¾ cup) of tomato juice and squeeze in half a lemon. Add five to seven mashed mint leaves and black salt to taste.

Drink this every morning and evening for at least one week. It will help detoxify the body.

It also helps to relieve constipation and worm infestation.

For blemishes

~ Rub a slice of lemon or the remains a squeezed lemon on your face. Allow it to remain overnight, then wash with cold water. It will restore your skin's softness and lend your complexion a glow.

~ Squeeze the juice of one lemon into one ripe tomato (in which a hole has been made). Rub the tomato on your face. Leave to dry. Then, wash with water and pat dry.

Skin solutions for men

Diet tips

Diet can play a major role in imparting glow and freshness to your skin, some of the tips that can help are:

~ Drink 12 to14 glasses of water everyday.

~ Avoid eating to much of fried foods like vadas, samosa, chips, bhajias, etc. Stick to fresh vegetable salads or fruit salads.

Depending on the seasonal availability, eat all types of fresh, green vegetables and all types of fresh, juicy fruits (except for strawberries and mangoes; they are heaty and overconsumption can lead to acne).

~ Avoid consuming too much of heaty food like chillies, garlic, non-vegetarian items or dried fruits like dates.

~ Detoxify once a month by consuming fresh vegetables, fruits and liquids all day.

MEDITATION

MIND


Mind can be defined as an ability of a person to be aware or conscious of things and to think and reason; a person’s attention, remembrance, intention, or opinion and sanity.

In modern times Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, advanced our knowledge tremendously with his research into mind processes and with his psychoanalytic concepts. He believed that the mind as a whole consists of three main divisions-the Ego, the Superego and the Id. Our awareness, the part with which we think and reason, he called Ego. The ego is the more conscious of the world and of itself (that is, it is mostly self-conscious) and is the part of the psyche which tests reality. The ego develops when the child becomes aware of the difference between “self” and things, which are not self”. Another part, best thought of as partly conscious, he termed the Superego. The superego is the “conscience” made up of the internalized taboos, prohibitions and moral restraints imposed by parents and society. These parental and societal inhibitions are instilled in childhood and remain largely unconscious. Below consciousness is a part, which he called the Id, this being the seat of our memory and basic instincts. The id is the sum total of our primitive drives and urges of one’s nature. The id is completely unconscious its energy is called “libido” and is governed by the “pleasure principle”. These three concepts, ego, superego and id, form the structure of the psyche according to Freud. To simplify and summarize: the id says. “Do it now!” the Ego says, “Not now. This is not the appropriate time and place to do it”, and the Superego says, “Don’t do it at all – ever! It’s evil and wrong to do it under any circumstances”.

Later Freud theorized as to a fourth part lying between the id and the ego, just below the level of consciousness, calling it the Preconscious. Experiences, which once were conscious but now are imperfectly consciousness and unconsciousness known as the preconscious. A memory is preconscious when we say, “I know it but I can’t recall it to my memory”.

The superego is not just partly conscious and conscience but is the most spiritual part of the mind. He termed it the super conscious mind.

Women Mind Today

You have only one mind, but your mind possesses tow distinctive characters. The line of demarcation between the two is well known to almost all men and women today. The two functions of your mind are essentially unlike. Each is endowed with separate and generally used to distinguish the tow functions of your mind is as follows. The objective nad subjective mind, the consious and the subconscious mind, the surface and the deep self, the outer and the inner self, the outer and the inner mind, the voluntary and the involuntary mind, the male and the female, and many other terms. You will find the terms “conscious” and “subconscious” used to represent the dual nature of your mind throughout this book.


The subconscious has also been called the “subliminal”, the “soul”, the “psyche”, the “inner voice”, “spirit” and by varius other terms.

The Origin

It was Pierre Janet who originated the term “subconscious”, a claim Freud did not dispute. Pierre Janet worked at the Salpetriere in Paris where the used the term “subconscious” in elaborating his theories of psychopathology based on his extensive work with hypnosis. However, the German influence of the Freudian terminology largely prevailed in the medical and academaic worlds. It is due to this influence of the Freudian model of the mind that many psychiatrists and psychologists consider the use of the term “subconscious” to “unconscious”. As the most popular and common terminolgy used is “subconscious”, it is, therfore, helpful to define what is meant by it.

There is a difference between the unconscious and the sunconscious nad subconscious means that which is not conscious and sunconsious means that which is below or under conscious. When we speak of the “subconscious”, we are legitimately using a term, which followed Pierre Janet’s great discoveries in hypnotism at the Salpetriere asylum along with modern computer analogies.

BREAST SHAPE IMPROVEMENT

From ancient times, women have been concerned about the shape and size of their breasts. Breast development is a vital part of reproduction in the human female. Unlike other mammals, however, human females are the only ones who develop full breasts long before they are needed to nurse their offspring.

Breast development in distinct stages throughout a women’s life, first before birth, and again at puberty and during the childbearing years. Changes also occur in the breasts during menstruation and when a woman reaches menopause. The development and kinds of breast changes that take place are directly related to age. There are three phases of development: lobule development, which takes place between the ages of 10 and 25; glandular development, which is under the influence of menstrual hormones and occurs between the ages of about 13 and 45, and involution, or shrinkage of the milk ducts, which begins from of about the age of 35 onwards.

The rate at which breasts grow varies greatly and is different for each young woman. Foundational breast tissue growth occurs most efficiently with the balanced presence of estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, prostaglandins, and GF compounds (human growth factor hormones). Factors such as heredity, hormonal imbalance, stress, poor nutrition and medications (in particular, the contraceptive pills) and the long-standing effects of puberty prevent the bust from developing to its full potential size. Proper care during the adolescent age will prevent this problem. However, at some point after adolescence, the body on its natural course ceases to produce certain hormones, resulting in the completion of breast tissue growth.

Breasts contain mammary glands which are nothing but modified sweat glands that lie over the pectoralis major (chest) muscles and are attached to them by a layer of connective tissue. These glands are divided into compartments and are separated by fat tissue. The amount of fat tissue determines the size of breasts. Since the female breasts are composed of fat tissue, the only reliable way to increase their size is to gain weight-not something most women want to hear. However there are certain exercises and oil massages, which may correct bust line and supple breasts by improving the underneath muscle tissue of the breast and elasticity of the superficial skin. Please not that these measures are not intended to increase the actual size of the breasts, but to improve their shape.

AYURVEDIC REMEDIES

• To firm and tone the breasts, stimulate circulation with alternative rinses of hot and cold water.

• Wear a well-fitting bra that enhances the shape of your breasts. Avoid using very tight bras that squeeze and pinch all over the breast region.

• Swimming is an ideal exercise for improving the shape of the breast especially breaststroke or backstroke. Playing shuttle or badminton is equally good. Lawn mowing or using a hand mill are also fine exercises to improve bust line.

• Hand rotations and arm stretching are also recommended. Stand erect with your stretch your arms at shoulder level in front of you and cross arms in a scissor-like fashion and move quickly, the right arm on top of the left and then the left over the right arm.

• Massage the breasts gently but firmly with Yuvatyaadi tailam, a classical ayurvedic medicine formulated by the famous sage vaatsyaayana. A regular usage of this oil is claimed to improve firmness and shape of the breasts. While massaging, always work upwards towards your neck using circular movements. Blot our excess oil using a tissue.

• Two other oils are traditionally advised to get a firm youthful quality to your breasts pomegranate toner and shataavari ghee. To prepare pomegranate toner, mix 1 part powdered pomegranate rind, 4 parts mustard oil and 16 parts water in a container and bring to boil. Gently simmer until water is evaporated. Cool in refrigerator until ready to use. Shataavari ghee can be prepared in similar manner for which the ingredients include-1 part shataavari powder, 4 parts ghee and 16 parts water.

Home Remedies For Dark Eye Circles

Dark eye circles can be effectively diminished somewhat with home remedies. These remedies can be even more effective when combined with products for dark circles. By themselves, home remedies will not be as effective as the latest products developed by scientists and dermatologists - but they're way better than leaving the house when you look like you've gone twelve rounds in a boxing ring.

Please be cautious when applying anything to the sensitive skin around the eyes. If you accidentally get a few drops of lemon juice in your eye, not only will you have dark circles, you'll also have an unsightly, staring, bloodshot eye, too. The skin around the eyes is very sensitive so don't rub, scratch or exfoliate enthusiasticaly.

Now, onto the remedies for dark eye circles!

Cucumbers for dark eye circles

This may sound too cliche to be true, but slices of cucumber (or cucumber juice) applied to the skin around the eyes can help reduce the appearance of dark circles. Cucumber slices help to lighten the skin and also have a soothing, refreshingly cool sensation when applied. (Yes, we have tried this at home.) Lay down with the cucumber slices on your eyes for at least 5 minutes, up to 10 minutes. Set an alarm if you're getting ready for work, because you don't want to have to explain to your boss why you were late.

Cucumbers don't just help dark eye circles - they also help soothe your eyes after a long day of staring at the computer screen. But if you get cucumber juice in your eyes, they'll sting like crazy. So be careful.

If you don't have a cucumber in the house, try using slices of potato. They work almost as well.

Vitamin E for dark eye circles

This nifty little remedy for dark eye circles works very well for some people, and not at all for others. Take a Vitamin E capsule and carefully pierce it with a pin or needle. Dab a bit of the oil on your fingertip and pat it into the skin under your eyes. This remedy can help reduce dark eye circles and puffiness as well.


When you're done, swallow the rest of the capsule with a glass of water.

The Indian remedy for dark eye circles

This recipe comes from an acquaintance, a fashion model in India. She uses this particular preparation on her dark circles every morning before covering them up with a thick concealer.

You will need:

1 tsp tomato juice

3-4 drops of lemon juice

a pinch of turmeric powder

enough white flour to make a paste

Mash these ingredients together into a medium-thick paste and dab it under your eyes. After fifteen minutes, wash the paste away. This should lighten the dark circles and address puffiness to some degree.

Tea for two

For some reason, dark eye circles can't abide an old tea bag. Take a used tea bag (black, green or white), after it has cooled, and apply it to the skin under your eyes. Lay down while you do this - otherwise, it's hard to get the tea bag to stick. Leave in place for about 10 minutes. Make sure the tea bag is somewhat dry because if it's too moist, irritating tea can get into your eyes, which can make you look like you've been crying.

Herbal tea bags aren't recommended, except for chamomile. Chamomile tea bags can help reduce dark circles and puffiness around the eyes because of its anti-inflammatory properties.

The cold washcloth

When washing your eyes after using any of these remedies for dark eye circles, use a washcloth soaked in cold water. Cold water helps to constrict the blood vessels under the eyes and can also reduce puffiness.

HIBISCUS STOPS HAIR FALL, DANDRUFF

Hibiscus is a common garden plant with a variety of flowers sure to attract everyone’s attention. A part from providing beauty and elegance to gardens and backyards of houses, hibiscus has several medicinal prosperities. It is a handy medicinal recipe for problems like dandruff, hair fall, premature graying of hair, high blood pressure, upper respiratory tract infections and indigestion.

Hibiscus is generally consumed as hibiscus tea, available in the market. One can also prepare hibiscus tea at home. It is quite simple to prepare a cup of fresh hibiscus tea. Which can be consumes as general health tonic to keep the physiological functions of the body in perfect condition.

Take fresh flowers from a hibiscus plant and dry them under the sun. Crush tem into a powder and keep it in a clean and dry bottle. Whenever you feel like taking hibiscus tea, take a teaspoon full of powder and add it to a cup of water. Boil the mixture, filter it and allow the hibiscus tea to cool you may add honey or lemon or a little bit of sugar to add taste. Ayurveda and Unani doctors recommend the use of hibiscus tea early in the morning for a day long feeling of good health.

HOME REMEDIES

Hibiscus tea is often suggested as the best home and quick remedy for high blood pressure. Regular consumption of hibiscus tea will keep the blood pressure under check, preventing major health complications.

If you are obese and want to reduce your weight, hibiscus tea is the best bet. Research studies have shown arteries and ensure that blood cholesterol levels in out any interruption. Blockade of arteries is a serious problem which may even lead to death if the coronary arteries are involved.

If is a hot and sultry day and you feel exhausted, and then go in for a cup of cool hibiscus tea.

Body inflammation and swelling can be reduced through hibiscus tea, as it is believed to be a good diuretic.

Paste prepared from fresh leaves and flowers of hibiscus can be applied on the scalp for treatment of dandruff. It is good for hair growth too. Hibiscus shampoo prevents hair fall.

AGNITUNDI VATI

Agnitundi Vati is an excellent herbal remedy for weak intestines and gas formation. This is purely an herbal formulation containing many aromatic, carminative, digestive herbs which reduce gas formation, indigestion and fermentation in the intestines and help in natural digestive process. This is purely an herbal remedy to improve digestion. It helps restore proper digestion by stimulating release of digestive juices through liver, pancreases and small intestine. It is antispasmodic, carminative and digestive.

When fuel is added to the fire it burns away immediately. Similarly food is digested immediately by the Kalpa. Agnitundi Vati is useful in Agnimandya, Ageerna and Udarshoola, due to its ingredients like Panchalavan, Kshara which are Deepan, Pachan, Anuloman and Shoolaghna Dravyas.

Agnitundi Vati works as Amapachak in Agnimandya and Ajeerna seen in Varsha Rhutu, eradication the root cause, hence also useful in Amavata in Varsha Rhutu. Many times instead of the actual Amavata Samprapti similar symptoms are seen in the patients due to samavayu. In such cases Agnitundi Vati proves to be useful.

Indications: - Agnimandya, Ageerna, Udarshoola, Yakrut Vikar, Grahani, Parinaamshool, Sandhigata Vata, Amavata

Dosage :- 1-2 tabs twice a day along with honey, Nimbo Swaras or Lukewarm water