Improve skin complexion with almonds

Almonds are extremely good for skin inside as well as outside. So, I have a simple recipe which can be used daily to enhance your skin complexion and make your skin look soft and supple.

Soak 5 (or as many as you want) almonds in the milk overnight. In the morning, make a paste of the almonds with milk. Do not remove the peel of the almonds as they make for a great scrub. Apply this paste on your face including the eye area. You can extend this to the neck and chest too. It helps in removing the tanning also. Keep for 15-20 minutes till it dries and then wash off. You can use this scrub after washing your face thoroughly with the cleanser for a moisturizing effect too.

Variations: For dry skin, you can also put some coconut oil. Or, using homemade coconut milk instead of simple milk is again a great idea. For oily skin and combination skin, using milk can cause breakouts so you can substitute milk with water and make the paste in aloevera or orange juice.

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Home made Scrub to get rid of facial hair {DIY}

Today, I will be sharing with you an age old scrub used by Indians. It is pretty popular during the wedding season and suits every skin type. It actually balances the oil production in the skin.

Ingredients: (actually everything good for skin)

1. Chick Pea Flour (besan)

2. Green Gram Flour

3. Turmeric

4. Sandalwood Powder

5. Ground Orange Peels (dried)

6. Ground Lemon Peels (dried)

7. Ground Rose Petals (dried)

You can add other flowers too according to your choice like Jasmine, Marigold,, Lavender, Rosemary. Mix all the ingredients and store in an air-tight jar.
Scoop out a generous amount as you would be using it for whole of the body. Mix it with Yogurt, Honey, Glycerin, Rose water, Milk, floral water or any other ingredient of your choice. Apply it all over your body and leave for 5 minutes. Scrub it and wash off. Your skin would be soft, supple and clean. It also fades away any blemishes or dark spots on your skin. It can be used daily instead of a soap as it is completely natural.

You can also use it as a face scrub. If you are mixing the scrub with yogurt, wait till it dries off on your face. This could take a pretty long time. But, its worth the wait. And, scrub it in upward direction towards your forehead to help remove the facial hairs. If used consistently over a period, the scrub is useful to get rid of all the facial hair.

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Using Turmeric for skin care {Ingredient}

Kasturi Turmeric is the kind used for body application. It is a special kind which is not used in cooking. It is longer, about a finger length, and considerably thinner than the normal turmeric sticks which are short and stout. It does not leave any color on the face or clothes so safe to use.

Home Remedies:

• A pinch of Kasturi Turmeric mixed with milk can be used as a cleanser. Milk has lactic acid which does the cleansing job and turmeric acts as an antiseptic. It also gives an instant glow to the complexion.
• To get rid of facial hair, you can apply powdered Kasturi Turmeric every day on your face for about 10-15 minutes. The results would be visible in a month. Preferably, mix the turmeric with chickpea flour or any other scrub which you find is good for your skin. This way you can be sure it would not leave any color on your face.
  
• Kasturi Turmeric can also be used as an ingredient in various face packs and face masks preperation. A pinch would do the job.
• Kasturi Turmeric can be included in body scrubs. If used regularly, it removes body hair over a period of time. Gives great results when you use it on babies.

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Lemon juice: drink a glass daily {Ingredient}

Today, I would be talking about the benefits of lemon juice for our body. We are all advised to drink a glass of water with lemon juice and honey mixed in it in the morning to lose weight. Right? Does it really work? Well, it did never work for me. But, I have found other benefits of doing the same. Or, probably a little different. Because, I am pretty lazy so I squeeze a half lemon into a glass of warm water and drink it. I do not bother to mix honey in it as I do not like to take much of sugar and am too lazy. And, guess what. It has done wonders for my skin and body.

Drinking lemon water in the morning has cleansed my body inside out. Lemon helps in the detoxification process of the body. And, it has helped to bring a glow in my complexion internally. Lemon has Vitamin C which is also responsible for building up collagen in our skin. Collagen is necessary to keep the skin firm and young. So, lemon is necessary to stay young. Forget Botox and surgeries. Stick to lemon and you will never really need any of them. Moreover, it is necessary to keep our digestive system in the right order and our metabolism high.

There are many other benefits of lemon juice apart from the above-stated.

• Applying lemon juice to the skin helps in lightening the blemishes and any scars or dark spots. But, do not apply lemon juice alone. Mix it with honey or any face mask and then apply.
• Lemon is good for bleaching the facial hair. Mix honey and lemon juice and apply it over the face and you would find in a month, the facial hair is no more. It actually does not go away but simply gets bleached and is not any more visible to the naked eye unless looked from very close.
• Lemon juice when applied to hair helps in curing dandruff.
• Lemon juice can be used as a last rinse to bring shine in the hair.
• If you want to lighten your hair color, apply lemon juice on your hair and go and sit in sun. The heat will help lemon bleach your hair. If you do it pretty frequently, you might even end up with blond hair color.
• Mix it in face masks. It helps bring a glow on your face by cleaning your skin right down to the pores.
• Lemon peels can be infused in hair oil to get its benefit stated above in point no. 3 and 4.
• You can grind the dried lemon peels and use it as a body scrub. They leave a refreshing scent on your body.
• Pour lemon juice into the bath water to experience a refreshing bath.

Caution: Use lemon juice externally on the body only at night. It makes your skin photosensitive (sensitive to light). Exposure to sun would be extremely harmful so use sunscreen diligently after using lemon on your skin. 

And, if you know any more uses of lemon juice, please feel free to share them. I shall be glad to know more about it.

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Use milk to keep your skin moisturized all day long {DIY}

I will be posting today a tip to keep your skin moisturized all day long. How? MILK. I have already talked about how milk can be used to maintain a shiny hair. Now, lets see how it takes care of our skin.

Take some raw unboiled milk along with its cream. Dip a wash cloth in it and saturate well. Apply the milk on your face using the wash cloth. Let it stay for 5-15 minutes till it dries. Then, again dip the wash cloth in milk and saturate it. Start scrubbing your face gently with the wash cloth. Scrub for 3-5 minutes. Then, wash off. Your skin will be smooth and supple. It will look fresh and glowing. This routine will improve your skin's elasticity, its complexion, its water retaining capacity and will keep it looking fresh all day long.

You can use this routine for your complete body once in a while. It is a great treat for your body. Instead of putting milk in your bath water or tub, use a wash cloth and saturate it well before applying it on your body. Use a full cream milk or if you can, goat's milk. That's the best for skin care. Do not worry even if you have oily skin. It balances the oil secretion in your skin and your skin would not suffer breakouts. Instead, your skin might turn to a normal type. And, if you are consistent with this routine, you can notice results in as less as 3 days. Your skin would be considerably lighter and glowing. 

Caution: Do not follow this if you are allergic to any dairy products or are lactose-intolerant or even if suffering from acne.

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