Healthy skin is an essential part of health and natural beauty. Good skin is a reflection of inner health.Causes of Unhealthy skin
Faulty diet. Refined foods like white flour, sugar and products made with them, tea, coffee, and soft drinks deplete energy, bring about wrinkles, unattractive skin and premature aging.
Lack of healthy blood. Healthy blood adds a glow to the skin and keeps it well-nourished, moist, and free from dryness and roughness.
Inadequate cleansing. Very often, our skin looks superficially clean; but they really are not. Dirt and dust particles can hide in the pores of the skin and clog sweat and sebaceous glands. Proper cleansing not only removes all the dust, dirt and make-up, which accumulate during the day, but also stops the oil-secreting sebaceous glands from getting clogged. Diet
Diet
plays an important role in maintaining the health of the skin. Diet should supply all the nutrients needed to build health, namely, protein, carbohydrates, fats, essential fatty acids and all the essential vitamins and minerals. Such a diet will consist of liberal quantities of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits, supplemented by special protective foods like milk, vegetable oils, yogurt, honey and yeast.Nutrients play an important role in maintaining a healthy skin.
Examples:
Your skin is unusually dry and rough. You have blackheads and whiteheads. You are probably lacking sufficient vitamin A. You could also be suffering from the deficiencies in iron, iodine and the B Vitamins. Adequate amounts of protein and vitamin C are also important.
The vitamins of the B group are important in producing beautiful skin.
Vitamin B1 aids skin health by helping to keep the circulation normal.
Vitamin B2 or riboflavin deficiency can lead to brown pigmentation, or liver spots on the skin. These ugly spots usually disappear if generous amounts of vitamin B2 are given over a period of six months. Severe riboflavin deficiency can lead to oily skin and hair and small deposits of fat under the skin of the cheeks and forehead and behind the ears. More severe deficiency of riboflavin causes the skin under the nose and at the comers of the eyes and mouth to crack and become sore.
Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine deficiency can result in dermatitis or eczema.
Niacin deficiency can also cause an eczema type of skin eruption with brown pigmentation, largely on the face, forearms and legs.
Deficiency of pantothenic acid, para-aminobenzoic acid, and biotin: This also leads to types of eczema. The symptoms will go away completely when these vitamins are generously added to the diet.
It is clear that Vitamin B plays a pivotal role in maintaining a healthy skin. So, diet that is rich in Vitamin B can go a long way in skin health. One of the important food in this connection is brewer's yeast. Even the person whose skin seems smooth and healthy usually notices improvement in texture and glow, a week after adding two or more tablespoons of brewer's yeast to the daily diet. Persons with eczema should, for an entire month, take a tablespoon of yeast stirred into citrus juice or water after each meal, between meals, and before retiring. If the diet is adequate in all other respects, the eczema is usually cured in a month 's time. Anemia and Pale Skin: Anemia results from lack of protein, iodine, calcium, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, cobalt, copper, and iron. Take diet rich in Vitamin B. Folic acid and vitamin B12 are especially important.
See Also: Diet For Natural Beauty Natural Aids for Beautiful Skin
Several natural aids have been found useful in promoting healthy and beautiful skin.
Lime Juice
Lime juice is an important natural aid for healthy skin.
1. Lime Juice Formula
Squeeze lime into a bowl. Add a glass of boiled whole milk and a teaspoon of glycerin to it. Stir well and let it stay for half an hour. Apply this mixture on the face, hands and feet before going to bed at night. This treatment every night will help you to look young and beautiful. It will also help cure pimples.
2. For very oily skin
Squeeze lemon juice in a bowl of iced water. Splash this over the face, massage for five minutes and then wash off with water.
3. To improve a dull and greasy complexion
Mix half teaspoon of lime juice with one teaspoon of cucumber juice and a few drops of rose water. Apply on the face and neck and leave on for 15 minutes. Remove with water.
4. To improve a dry and rough skin
Take an egg yolk and mix in a few drops of lime and olive oil. Spread on the face and leave it till the skin feels dry. Wash off with ordinary water and splash on cold water.
5. To relieve tired eyes
Take four tablespoons each of lime juice and iced water. Saturate cotton pads in this water and place over your closed eyelids for 10 minutes.
6. To remove freckles
Blanch and grind two almonds. Mix it with white of an egg to which half teaspoon of lime juice has been added. Spread on the face and leave it on till the skin feels dry. Then, wash off first with warm water and then with cold water.
Peach Treatment
The skin of the peach is useful in improving the complexion.
Gently massage the inside of peach peelings on the face every night for a few minutes. Don't rub off the moisture afterwards. This will cleanse the skin thoroughly and free the pores. It also has an astringent action and tightens the muscle of the face slightly, thus preventing sagging tissues.
Anti-wrinkle cream
Mix a teaspoon of olive oil with an egg. Smoothen the face and neck with it. Let it remain till the skin gets dry.
To Remove The Cream: Add a teaspoon of soda bicarbonate to hot water. Stir. Dip a piece of cotton-wool to this mixture and use it to remove the cream.
Natural Beauty Mask
Ingredients 1 tablespoon of gram flour 1/4 teaspoon orange peel powder 1 tablespoon beaten yogurt 1 teaspoon olive oil
Mix the ingredients well and apply the paste to your face and neck. Let it remain till the skin starts feeling a little dry and then rub your face with your hands till it glows.
Wash your face first with warm water and then with cold water. This will remove all the embarrassing blemishes from the skin and make the skin soft and smooth.
To improve a dark and dull complexion
Ingredients 1 teaspoon of gram flour pinch of turmeric powder few drops of lime juice 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon milk
Mix the ingredients together. Apply the mixture to your skin. Leave it on for half an hour. Wash off with water.
Cleansing Lotion
To one-fourth teaspoon of lime juice stir in one teaspoon each of milk and cucumber juice. Apply on the face and neck and wash off after 14 minutes. This lotion cleanses and purifies the pores of the skin.
Cabbage Mask
Grind a couple of cabbage leaves and extract juice. Dissolve one-fourth teaspoon of yeast in it and stir in one teaspoon of honey. Mix well and apply thickly over face and neck. Keep it for 15 minutes. Remove with cotton-wool soaked in water. This mask will counteract any tendency towards wrinkles and dryness and give your skin a flower-like bloom.
Tangerine Juice Treatment
The use of orange or tangerine juice has also been found valuable for a glowing complexion.
Dip your fingers in fresh tangerine or orange juice. Apply it liberally over your face, chin, neck, and forehead. Make a paste from the powdered sun dried pips of unripe oranges. Use this paste on the pimples and acne at bed time.
Orange Tonic
Blanch and grind a couple of almonds to a paste and mix in two tablespoons of milk and one tablespoon each of carrot and orange juice. Apply thickly on face and neck and leave on for half an hour. Removes scars and blemishes from the face and makes it soft and smooth.
Watermelon Juice
The juice of water-melon is useful in the removal of blemishes on the skin.
Prepare a lotion by grating and squeezing the juice of a small slice of water-melon. Apply this lotion over the face and neck for fifteen minutes. Wash with hot water. Follow this by a splash of cold water.
Tomato
Tomato, used externally, is good for getting a good complexion.
Apply the pulp of a tomato liberally on the face. Leave this for an hour. Then wash off with warm water. Repeat this daily. You will have a good complexion. It will also remove ugly-looking pimples in a short time.
Tomato Lotion
To one tablespoon of tomato juice add a couple of drops of lime juice. Apply on face and remove after 15 minutes. It is very effective for shrinking enlarged pores.
Tomato Tonic
To two teaspoons of tomato juice add four tablespoons of buttermilk. Apply. Remove after half an hour. It is excellent for removing sunburns.
Cucumber
Grate or blend a cucumber. Apply this over the face, eyes and neck for 15 to 20 minutes. It is a great tonic for the facial skin. Regular use of cucumber prevents pimples, blackheads, wrinkles, and dryness of the face.
Whitening Lotion
To one tablespoon of cucumber juice stir in a few drops of lime juice and a dash of turmeric powder. Apply on face and neck and wash off after half an hour. Makes an excellent whitener for all types of skins.
Cucumber Lotion
Mix one tablespoon each of cucumber juice and milk and a few drops of rose water. Apply on the face and neck. Remove after 15 minutes. Makes excellent whitener for delicate skins.
Apple Tonic
Mix one tablespoon of apple juice with one-fourth teaspoon of lime juice. Leave on for 20 minutes. Makes excellent tonic for combating oily skin.
Amaranth Juice Treatment
The juice of amaranth, applied over the face with a pinch of turmeric powder, bleaches the skin, prevents it from drying and wrinkling, cures pimples and makes one look fresh.
Add to this mixture milk and lime juice. Massage the mixture delicately over the face and neck for half an hour. Wash it off with lukewarm water. Do this every night before going to bed. This is an effective skin tonic that increases and retains its beauty.
Mint Juice
Application of fresh mint juice over the face every night, cures pimples and prevents dryness of the skin. The juice can also be applied over eczema and contact dermatitis with beneficial results.
Almonds
Make a paste of almonds with mild cream and fresh rosebud paste. Apply it daily over the face. This softens and bleaches the skin and nourishes it with the choicest skin-food. Regular application of this mixture prevents the early appearance of wrinkles, blackheads, dryness of the skin, pimples. It also keeps the face refreshed.
To improve rough and dry complexion: Take a teaspoon of almond oil and mix it with half a teaspoon each of milk cream and lime juice. Apply every night before going to bed both on the face and on the neck.
Yogurt
Yogurt is a very important natural beauty aid.
Apply yogurt on the face every morning. Wash it off after a few minutes with cold water. This will keep the complexion smooth, healthy and fresh. A mixture of yogurt and lemon juice is ideal for softening hands.
A paste of lentil and yogurt, applied as a mask, cleanses the skin and gives it a glow. Let it dry. When dried, remove it with fingertips and wash off with water. Honey, olive oil and a mixture of turmeric and sandalwood paste are all very effective in rejuvenating dry , parched skin.
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