Do not rub your Eyes

I have already done two posts on bad habits which lead to aging of our skin early. I felt I was kinda doing something silly but since I have started getting comments from you all, I feel these posts are not silly instead they do encourage everyone including me to change bad habits and give information to those who are not aware of the facts yet. So, thank you guys and keep the comments coming. And, now moving on today's bad habit which is prevalent among children generally and then gets carried on to adulthood.

Habit: Rubbing the eyes vigorously to subside irritation.

Results: Wrinkled skin and fine lines around the eyes. The reason for this is that the skin around the eyes is almost 10 times thinner than that of the face. So, consequently, it is much more sensitive to various products and various kinds of movements. Another consequence can also be drooping and wrinkling of the eyelids.

If you have read about the surgery of Botox, a neurotoxic protein by the name of botulinum toxin is injected in the forehead. This toxin paralyzes the muscles temporarily so that there is no movement in the muscles near the eyes or where ever it is injected by blocking the nerve impulses. When there is no movement in the muscles, there is no chance of formation of wrinkles and slowly the existing wrinkles also smooth out because of the lack of repeated movements. The effect of the toxin lasts up to 8 months and one has to take the injections regularly to keep up the effect.

So, even the surgery is doing the same thing. Blocking the movement of the muscles so that there is no repeated movement. This is exactly what I meant when I was writing my earlier post on facial expressions and even this post. But, I am not advocating Botox here because let me also tell you the down side of this procedure. Your face freezes and does not show any emotion which is not what you basically want. Just for the record, women who under go Botox surgeries have higher divorce rates as compared to women who do not. So, you can easily imagine how much trying to stay young costs a person. And, frankly, there is nothing wrong if some of your lines are visible. That makes you look real at least.

Remedy: Apply eye gels or under eye creams to smooth the wrinkles and fine lines. (This is not what I do personally) Apply almond oil or vitamin E oil at night on the skin around the eyes. In the morning, you would find that the eye area is smooth and soft. In some days, you will see lessening of the wrinkles and fine lines too but for that you need to be persistent in your efforts. A home remedy which I would like to suggest is a honey mask for your eyes. Apply a little amount of honey on your eye area (under eye, around the eye and eye lids) every day for 15 minutes and then remove with a cotton pad gently. Honey prevents wrinkles.

How to get rid of the habit?

Of course, stop rubbing the eyes. Stop your children from developing that habit too. It irritates the eye foremost even if you forget the wrinkles. Next step is if you feel irritation and have a strong desire to rub the eyes, close your eyes and gently massage them or splash cold water in them. Either would help reducing the irritation.

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Facial Expressions can make you look old

Yup, this might be a habit of yours as is mine :) I always give a million dollar smile and consequently, I have laugh lines and fine lines under the eyes. I do not frown too often but yes it happens that we screw our faces without realizing which can again cause a lot of lines on the face.

Habit: Constant facial expressions should be avoided.

Result: Laugh lines, fine lines under the eyes, forehead lines. A lot of lines on the face can develop if this is a regular habit of a person. Many people have forehead lines which develop when you screw your forehead and then there are vertical lines between the eyebrows too. Fine lines under the eyes are really common in people because of excess exposure to sun and also because the skin around eyes is a very thin layer. Crows feet and other wrinkles around eyes develop if you close the eyes too hard. Laugh lines are formed right from edges of your nose to the corners of your mouth and can travel down to the edge of the jaw. Many people have lines on their chin too. These are all due to the regular movements in the face muscles and if it becomes a regular habit, these lines develop very quickly just like lines in our palms. 

At this point, I also want to share something which we are told when we are children. Now, everyone knows that children make a lot of weird faces meant to tease you. So, they will smirk and scorn and turn their mouths to one side or another or stick their tongues out or pull the lips to one side of the cheeks. I have done those things and even you might have. (I really hope I am making sense. Please do tell me so if I am not) So, we are often told or even children say that your face will become like what you make it. In a sense this is exactly true. Our usual facial expressions make a mark on our faces. So, one should be very cautious about the facial expressions. They represent your character. 

Remedy: Well, wrinkles once formed are very hard to get rid of. Even then we can give them a try and things might work out temporarily. First thing is to apply sunscreen regularly so that sun exposure is not damaging the face. Second is to stop squinting and frowning too hard or laughing too hard every time. Screwing the face is not an option so keep your face pleasant looking under all circumstances. I know this is very hard but once you control it, it becomes very easy. Working people might be able to better share their experiences in this regard (you have to appear neutral in the office and not show what you are thinking). Then, obvious is wrinkle lifting creams which basically never work (you are fore-warned). And, you should try these home remedies to get rid of wrinkles. Apply a thick coat of almond oil or castor oil at night on your face and sleep. 

How to get rid of this habit?

I have certainly stopped laughing too hard every time and controlled my smile extent (seems stupid but true!!). Now, when I laugh or smile, my eyes do not get all wrinkles up. Then, I used to squint a lot in the sun coz I have specs and cannot wear sunglasses :( A big problem for people with glasses (I find contacts too tiresome!!). So, controlled my squinting too by being conscious of it. I do not frown but when I concentrate I do screw my forehead so have to take care of that too. And, whenever I close my eyes, I gently close them instead of squeezing them hard as is generally asked in facial exercises. So, remember this if you do facial exercises, do not squeeze any muscle in your face, gently do the exercises so that wrinkles smooth out instead of developing more.

I wish to add that most of our habits can be changed by constant observation and control of the habit so it is a good thing to be conscious of what your children are doing and then teach them accordingly what is right so that they do not need to change their habits tomorrow.

Update: I wish to add that neither this post is saying you to stop laughing nor am I encouraging you to become sad and morose. The only thing which I have tried to convey is that keep your face relaxed instead of in a particular expression. And, of course, smile all the time. It makes you look beautiful :)

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Honey as face cleanser

Happy Karwachauth to all of you :)

Well, I did nothing innovative today. I was just feeling like pampering myself and the only thing I had was honey. So, tried to use it as a cleanser. Today I used it after my scrub but a few days before, I used only honey to cleanse my face after a very long day. And, it worked so wonderfully :)

You do not have to do anything except take a little honey in your hands and rub it into your face in upward massage movements. I did the massage for around 15 minutes and then left it for 5 minutes. You should apply honey even on the eye area. Do not miss it out. It is good for wrinkles. After waiting, I washed it off with warm water followed by water at room temperature. My skin was amazing. It was glowing and had perfectly even skin tone. 

Note: Try to use organic honey. 

My blackheads did not disappear though. But, I did not expect them to. They need a little more work than simply working honey into your face. So, happy cleansing with honey and do share your experiences :)

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Oil Cleansing Method {DIY}

Hey All!!!

Good to post again. A few days ago I had talked about OIL CLEANSING. Well, let me introduce to you something which I stumbled across a few days ago. I tried it and trust me, its amazing. I do not know how well it removes make up but it makes your skin squeaky clean without drying it. Rather, it leaves your skin smooth and supple. And, your skin glows the next day. You would love yourself.

Procedure:

• Start by keeping everything close to you. You would need a dry wash cloth (not too harsh for your skin), a bottle containing castor oil and olive oil mixed in a proportion suitable to your skin* and running hot water.
• Apply oil generously to your skin and massage the oil into your skin well using firm hands for around 5-10 minutes. It feels relaxing and is soothing for your face muscles. Exercise your cheek bone, jaw bone, nose, chin, forehead and eyes (use ring finger for eyes). The finger movements should be outwards and upwards towards the ear from the chin, cheeks, nose and upper lip area.
• After massaging to your heart's content, soak the wash cloth in hot running water and apply it on to your face. Keep the warmth of wash cloth to the point you can bear. Keep it on until it cools down and then wipe your face nicely with the same wash cloth. 
• Wash and soak the same wash cloth under hot running water for sometime to clean it and saturate it. Again apply it your face, keep till it cools and then, wipe away your face. Repeat this cycle till you feel your skin is clean. 3-4 times should be enough. 
• You can apply moisturizer according to the need of your skin. In place of moisturizer, you can apply a drop of the same oil used to cleanse your face. If it does not feel dry and tight, do not apply anything on to your face. Your face needs to breathe. Go and have a nice sleep.

Next morning, you need not cleanse your face. A wipe with a wash cloth is enough to clean it. Your skin would be glowing. Oil cleansing not only removes grime, dirt and make up from your face, but also, the blackheads and blemishes. This procedure should not be done too frequently. I think 2-3 times is fine in a week. Care should be taken not to scratch the skin.

Go and check it out for yourself. Have a happy cleansing.

* Remember, castor oil is quite thick and can be drying for the skin if used in large quantities. It has cleansing properties but is too strong on skin if used alone. That is why you need another light oil to dilute it. You can also use jojoba oil. For the mixture of oil, you can use 75-25 castor-olive oil combination for normal skin. You can experiment with different proportions till you find the one suiting your face.  The proportion of mixture should be such that for dry skin people, castor oil should be less in proportion like 50-50 or 60-50 and people with oily skin can have 80-20 as the proportion. But, since every skin is different in its needs, you should find out the right one for yourself. It would take trial and error but remember one rule, do not use too much of castor oil. It will dry your skin irrespective of its type.

READ MORE - Oil Cleansing Method {DIY}