Banish your niggling skin and hair problems right from the kitchen!

Grannies suggesting tips and blending mixtures for skin and hair care isn’t anything new to us all. We’ve grown up with it. Granny was perhaps the first person (not ourselves!) to notice the eruption of pimples in the early teens and was all geared up with her pestle and mortar to grind the items most suitable for the problem. We might still remember the colour, texture and feel of the pastes that were smeared on our face, but unlucky we are if the formulas remain secret to us. Now that the granny isn’t around anymore with her magical tips, let’s just try to reveal some of her greatest secrets that worked wonders then. Who knows, our grandchildren might one day remember us for such tips if we are able to pass on these secrets to them on time.

Reject that face cleanser and without more ado grab a handful of natural, rolled oats. Add a few drops of warm water to the oats to make a paste (or dough) of it. Squeeze out the excessive water and scrub your face with the paste. Leave it on for a while and then rinse off with cold water. Pat your face dry. Guaranteed to make the skin look fresh, clean, rehydrated, and less oily; this slightly granulated oats paste also helps exfoliate the dead skin you could hardly notice. Welcome to the world of soft and supple looking skin!

To compliment your new discovered soft skin, your hair must also look soft, shiny and healthy. An easy and quick tip to nourish your hair is to make a hair conditioner in seconds. 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a couple of drops of vitamin E together make a magic trick to make over your dry and dull hair to soft and smooth tresses that catches the eye of everyone.

Egg is also known to help straighten your hair. So unless you got your curls after spending a fortune, applying egg to your hair is the quickest and the cheapest trick to find a way to silky smooth strands, bidding goodbye to wavy, frizzy hair.

Tomatoes are surprisingly miraculous for skin. Used in different ways, they can suit every skin type and the results are quite apparent. Tomatoes can shrink your skin pores and help reducing the occurrence of pimples, black heads and blemishes. Simply apply fresh tomato juice on skin and leave it on for around 15 minutes. Rinse off with cold drinking water.

Tomatoes are also best known natural astringent that can control extra oiliness and acne. Make a pack with tomato pulp and smear on your face. Let it stay for an hour until the acidity of the tomato decreases and clears your acne.  Vitamin A, C and K significantly help to reduce acne and tomatoes are a rich source of these nutrients which are artificially added to the acne medicines.

Tomatoes are also considerably helpful in skin whitening, reducing sun tan, getting rid of wrinkles (because of antioxidant lycopene present in tomatoes) and tomato juice mixed with honey makes a great face mask. What else do you expect from a tiny piece of fruit that comes cheap, is easily available and is also easy to apply on skin.

Juice from freshly grated radish (that we usually discard before making ‘muli paranthas’)can be best used to bleach facial hair. Just mix a few drops of radish juice with a spoon full of yoghurt and apply on the face. Leave it for 5-10 minutes. It hurts and itches a bit but bear with it, it’s less painful than what chemical bleach does! Your face looks clean after a rinse.

Cucumber juice, tomato juice and orange peels mixed together and applied to face promise a glowing healthy skin.

Try this one. Really works. I once heard it from Ruby Bhatia (when she was young and famous). Add a pinch of common salt to 2-3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil. Apply this combination on the entire body and rub gently. The results are loud!

There are many such tips and tricks that I would like to keep sharing every now and then but only if I know they help you. So keep reading and keep responding. I promise to provide you a home remedy for every skin and hair problem one can ever face.

Bonus Tips:

Rinse hair with cold peppermint or spearmint tea to prop up hair growth.

To check hair loss, slurp one beaker of lettuce and spinach juice daily.