SKIN CARE:

Facial Skin Care:

When it comes to beauty, we firstly concentrate on the face and rightly so. Attaining a healthy and glowing skin is not much of a dream, if you take the care needed and follow a proper diet. Here, I have listed 4 basic steps that cannot be skipped to attain a naturally glowing skin. The order in which these steps are to carried out are important too.

1. 
   

   Cleansing: Cleansing is the first and very important step to a glowing skin. It is very important to avoid skin problems like acne (especially for oily skin). Wash your facial skin with a mild face wash as frequently as possible. It is very important to get rid of the dirt and make up before you go to sleep so that your skin can breathe during the night. Use a mild cleanser twice a day but make sure it rinses off easily and does not wash off the natural oils of your skin or cause any irritation.

2. Toning: Toning not only helps remove any dirt left after cleansing but also nourishes and hydrates your skin. It tightens the skin and closes the pores that might have opened during cleansing. Make sure the toner you use is alcohol-free because alcohol makes the skin dry.
3. Exfoliating: Exfoliating not only removes the dead skin from the surface but also rejuvenates the skin and removes the fine lines and wrinkles. This process makes the skin look younger and gives the skin a natural glow.
4. Moisturizing: Moisturizing helps the skin regain the moisture that it loses due to daily wear n tear. Make sure you use a good moisturizer with a SPF15 sun-screen to protect your skin from sun. Even oily skin needs a moisturizer but make sure it’s a water based moisturizer.

   

Some easy and economic tips for facial skin care:

1. For a quick facial, splash your face with lots of warm water and then massage olive oil to moisturize your skin. Now take half a spoon of sugar and scrub it until the sugar melts. Now rinse your face with warm water and wipe off with a soft towel. You can use this technique on your hands and legs as well and find them looking younger.
2. Splash your face with warm water and massage half-table spoon honey and rinse off with warm water. Since honey is an anti-bacterial agent, it makes your skin look beautiful naturally by avoiding any skin problems. Do this twice a week.
3. Use plain yogurt instead of honey, this works as an exfoliant and the lactic acid removes the dead skin.
4. Use half a cup of olive oil, ¼ cup vinegar, ¼ cup water instead of your night cream. Olive oil moisturizes the skin and vinegar takes care of bacteria, dead skin cells and skin discoloration.
5. Wash you face several times a day and wipe off with a clean cloth to avoid acne on the oily skin.
6. If your eyes are swollen, wash your face and place potato or cucumber slices on your eyes for a few minutes.
7. Olive oil mixed with beeswax is a great lip balm.
8. Use olive oil to remove your make-up. It not only removes the make-up but also moisturizes the skin.
9. Clean your nails with white vinegar before applying nail polish. This gives a nest finish and the polish lasts long.
10. Make a toner by using equal quantities of water and vinegar and dissolve 2 aspirins. Vinegar removes the dead skin and aspirin works wonders for acne. Use this twice a day. But like any other toner even this toner makes the skin thinner therefore make sure you use a SPF 15 sun-screen.

    

Lip Care: Lips and eyes are the focal points of your face. Therefore special care is to be taken when it comes to these two vital features.

            Lips are very sensitive and are easily affected by the changes in your surroundings. Excessive cold or heat affects them and ends in painful cracks. To protect your lips,

1. Make sure your lips don’t go dry by applying lip balm when ever necessary.
2. Do not wet your lips by licking them because this will cause them to dry even more quickly.
3. Drink lots of water, this helps retain the necessary moisture and hydrates them too.
4. Use olive oil to make your lips soft and smooth. Apply it in the night and let it work overnight.
5. Crush rose petals and apply the juice on your lips to make them soft and also to regain the lost color of your lips.
6. Apply lip balm before applying any lip color to avoid flakiness.
7. Make sure you use a quality lip balm with a SPF 15. This not only avoids cracking of lips but also avoids discoloring by protecting them from the sun.
8. Mix 2 drops of olive oil in a few drops of rose water apply it and leave overnight for healthy, soft and smooth lips.
9. To get rid of the cracked lips, use your tooth brush to get rid of the dead skin and apply a generous amount of lip balm for faster healing.
10. To prevent your lips from chapping, use hot water fermentation on your lips and then apply a mixture of Vaseline and honey. Apply this mixture about three times a week.
11. To prevent your lips from drying you can use a ground mixture or rose petals and milk butter

    

Choosing the right lip colors and applying them correctly is as important as taking care of your lips. Here are a few tips.

How to choose and apply lipcolor:

1. Lipstick staining your teeth makes you look extremely shabby. To avoid this, pucker your lips in an extreme 'O' and then apply the lipstick.
2. Even if your lipstick smudges to the insides of your lips, wrap your finger with a tissue and put it into your mouth, and twist it slowly to eliminate any extra color.
3. You can also highlight your lips by using a light film of eye shadow color coordinated with your lip color in the center of the upper and lower lips.
4. If one of your lips is larger than the other, balance the look by using the lighter shade of the lipstick on the smaller-sized lip.
5. Apply foundation on and around lips and then define the look of your lips using the lip liner.
6. If you lips are naturally full and large, don't use the lip liner though you can soften the edge using a Q-tip and avoid glossy and shiny lip color.
7. If you have thin lips, use light shades to make them appear fuller. Define the lip using the neutral lip pencil from slightly beyond your natural lip line and then apply lipstick covering up lip defining line. Another trick is to apply white shadow on center of both lips over lipstick very lightly and spread it gently.
8. If your upper lip is too thin or does not have a good shape, outline it with the lip liner similar to your lipstick and in the center portion, draw a second line giving it the precise shape using a brown pencil. Apply color including the brown line. This will make your lips look fuller.
9. To hide lip lines, apply lipstick vertically.
10. The beautiful raspberry stain can be obtained by applying the berry color on the lips, blotting it with the tissue and then use brush to apply a second coat of the lipstick.
11. The nude bare lip looks can be obtained by using neutral pink lip color that matches your skin tone. Pale colored women can go for light orange color with a pinkish tint while olive skin can use brownish bronze shade. Avoid lip liners as you don't need the harsh lines. Add clear gloss to the center of your lip and you are ready.
12. There are lipsticks that add warmth and volume to your lips and are also have a flavor and perfume of their own. So buy the favorite fruity, candy or other flavors of your spouse for your honeymoon!
13. Older women should use creamier lipsticks.
14. Orange and brown shades make your teeth appear yellow so until you have that picture-perfect smile, keep them off your lips.
15. In summers, you may have those dreaded dry cracked lips. Simply use your toothbrush to get rid of the dead skin gently and apply lip balm generously on them to heal them soon.
16. Brown toned lips take on brown shades such as apricots, beiges, peaches and cappuccinos better than pink or blue toned lipsticks.

    

Eye Care: Eyes are considered to be windows to one’s soul. And therefore we try our best to give our eyes utmost care.

• To remove puffiness from the eyelids, massage a drop of very fresh castor oil on to them.
• To cool your eyes, make eye pads using thick slices of cucumber. Another option is to use cotton pads soaked in cold milk. Lie down and place them on your closed eyes and relax for a while.
• Putting a drop of rose water into each eye just before you sleep can also refresh you eyes. 
• Spray a little hair spray on your brows and brush them using your toothbrush to keep them in place.
• If you don't have time for tweezing, you can get the desired contour quickly by brushing them upwards and then snipping the longest hairs beyond the natural arch using a pair of tiny scissors.
• Eyebrows slanting upwards make you look angry, so be careful not to take off too much at the outer corners.
• Before tweezing your brows, you must prepare your skin by wiping the brow area with a cotton ball soaked in astringent. The cooling effect numbs the skin for sometime and thus, you do not feel much pain.
• Hold the tweezers at 45 degrees and pluck the stray hairs below the brow line in the direction of the hair growth.
• If your brows are sparse, use a freshly sharpened brow pencil to fill in the areas with light, quick strokes.
• To get a natural and more defined look, you can brush your brows with a brow brush dipped in brow powder in upward and outward strokes.
• To add volume to your brows, use a stiff, slanted brush to apply eye shadow in short gentle strokes.
• In case, you have over tweezed certain brow area, try to fill the patch using brow shadow, applying in the direction of the hair growth.
• Eye shadow gives more natural look to your brows than an eyebrow pencil!