Glowing Naturally

How much does healthy skin cost you? Are you one among them, guilty of investing time and a money on expensive skincare products and trips to salons? What if we tell you that grocery shopping is all you need to do to have the skin you’ve always wanted? cosmetologist Bharti Taneja lets P.Shraddha in on secret household ingredients that are guaranteed to make your skin glow.

Glowing skin is a good skin-care routine away. All you need is a proper diet, sufficient amount of REM sleep, controlled use of electronic gadgets and easily available, natural foods.

Banana Booster
Why: This one’s a boon for all those who like to carry a moisturiser in their purses wherever they go, thanks to their dry skin. Banana contains potassium, which moisturises your skin by hydrating its cells, and prevents it from drying out and peeling.
What you need: Banana, milk, calamine powder
Your beauty DIY:
• Add milk to a mashed banana until it becomes a thick paste.
• Now, add a few drops of lemon and half teaspoon of calamine powder to the paste.
• Apply the mixture to your face and wash it off for a smooth-textured skin.
Use it regularly for soft, young-looking skin.

Orange outlook
Why: If you’ve been partying in the sun or you’ve skipped splashing sun-screen on you before stepping out of your house, this is the perfect solution for the
tan you’ve been staring at. Oranges! Well, there’s a reason all beauty masks have orange peel as one of their major components.

What you need: Orange, fresh milk-cream, powdered fuller earth
Your beauty DIY:
• In a container, add a tablespoon of fresh milk cream.
• Add 2 tablespoon of orange juice in the same container.
• Add to the above 1 tablespoon powdered full earth. Mix the three ingredients well.
• Apply the mixture on your face, as you would a face-pack, and wash off once it dries, to reveal brighter, softer skin.
While the orange acts a natural tan-removal agent, the milk-cream will help moisturise your dry skin.

Apple Aglow
Why: Let’s face it, our daily stress and the pollution, dust, and harmful rays of the sun only seem to prove detrimental for our skin. But turns out, apples can help revive at least some of that lost glory.
What you need: Apple, raw milk, milk powder, fuller earth
Your beauty DIY:
• In a bowl, make a face-pack by mixing ground fresh apple, raw milk, milk powder and powdered fuller earth.
• Now whip this until it mixes up into a uniform paste.
• Apply it all over your face evenly and keep it on for 15 minutes. Rinse with water.
Apples are a source of copper, a mineral that contributes to healthy skin and provides natural sun protection by generating melanin, the brown–black pigment that protects us from sun’s harmful rays. The treatment softens, rejuvenates and restores the natural pH balance of the skin.

Strawberry Shortcuts
Why: The skin tends to grow dull and develop wrinkles as one grows older. Natural as the process is, one can delay the signs of ageing naturally. And strawberries work wonders.
What you need: Strawberry pulp, fresh cream, kaolin powder
Your beauty DIY:
• Make a paste by mixing mashed strawberry pulp and fresh cream.
• Whip it well and add kaolin powder.
• Let it sit for few minutes and apply a thin layer of this pack on your face.
• Wait until it dries off before you rinse it off with water, to reveal an even-textured skin.
Strawberries get rid of the wrinkles on your face because they contain the
anti-oxidant ellagic acid, which prevents collagen destruction—one of the major causes of wrinkle formation. So while strawberry brightens and tightens the texture of your skin, the fresh cream helps nourishes it from within.

Turmeric Tales
Why: Our grandmothers were right about their go-to skin remedies. In addition to their other beneficial properties when taken with your food, turmeric has properties that are excellent for your skin.
What you need: Turmeric, gram flour, milk, water
Your beauty DIY:
• Make a paste by mixing equal amounts of turmeric powder and gram flour into a little water or milk.
• Apply it evenly on your skin and leave it on until it dries.
• Wash it off with lukewarm water, while scrubbing your skin gently in a circular motion.
Turmeric is an exceptional antiseptic and skin-brightening agent, which helps minimize scars and other marks. Additionally, it can lessen allergic, inflammatory and infectious skin disorders that make your skin look dull and lifeless. Follow this remedy once a week to brighten your skin and lightens scars.
Lemon Love
Why: This little yellow fruit lying in your refrigerator is filled with magical properties that are perfect solutions to the common complaints we all have—tired, lifeless skin and dark spots. Lemon can be clubbed with water and rose water for added effects. That also helps reduce its acidity.
What you need: Lemon, honey, and cucumber
Your beauty DIY:
• Take 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of honey, and mix until the honey dissolves properly.
• Dampen your face and apply the paste. Leave it on for 15–20 minutes.
• Wash your face thoroughly with cold water.
• After this, rub cucumber slices on your skin to soften and moisturize it.
Try this ritual once a week. The combination of honey and lemon works as a natural bleacher, which makes your skin glow instantly.
(Bharti Taneja is an aesthetician and cosmetologist, and founder-director of Alps Beauty Clinics)

Dos and Don’ts

• Make sure you do a patch test of the fruit-pack on a small area behind you ear to check your skin’s sensitivity to it. Apply it for 2–3 minutes and wash off, wait for 24 hours, to check for reactions, before applying it all over your face.
• For maximum impact of your fruit pack, grind it well. Granulated packs are more likely to drip-off and take more time in drying.
• To your pack, mix calamine, kaolin powder or powdered fuller earth to give it the required density, so that it’s easy to apply.
• If you pick any citrus fruit for your pack, mix it with water and rose water to lessen its acidic nature.
• Avoid applying the pack on sensitive areas around your eyes.