GENERAL

1. Rub a rind of lemon over your face if you have an oily skin and this will lessen grease and whiten your complexion.
2. Tomatoes cut in half and rubbed over the face are useful for toning up and whitening the skin and refining pores.
3. Equal parts of lime juice and cucumber juice act as an astringent and help to bleach the skin.
4. Lime juices, added to little milk is a remedy against sun burn, rub it on your face, neck and arms and leave it for some time. Then wash off with soap and water.
5. If your complexion lacks sparkles; try massaging it with a mixture of equal parts of body oil and table salt. The salt removes dead surface skin while the baby oil softens the skin.
6. The paste of methi seeds blended with boiled milk is an effective cosmetic. Applied over the face and arms, it keeps them satin smooth.
7. A teaspoonful of turmeric powder mixed with cream, sandal powder, and bengal gram flour, made into paste and applied once a day about half an hour before bath is an excellent beauty aid to keep the face fresh and soft.
8. An oil bath once a week is a luxury every woman can afford. Massage your body well with coconut oil 10 to 15 minutes before your bath. Then feel your skin soften and glow after a bath in warm water.
9. Make the habit of taking a teaspoon of the juice of tulsi leaves mixed with a little honey twice daily to make your face glowing. It also helps in removing embarrassing skin blemishes.
10. Ice wrapped in cotton wool and rubbed gently on the face closes open pores.
11. Never forget to cleanse your make up off thoroughly before going to bed, so that your skin can breath freely at night.
12. A good homemade beauty mask is a honey facial mask. All you do is put a think film of honey over your face and throat. Leave on for at least 15 minutes; then remove with a damp cloth.

1. PIMPLES

If paste of methi leave is applied daily at night on the face and washed with warm water the following morning it cures pimples, black heads, and dryness of the skin and prevents the early appearance of wrinkles.

Make a paste by mixing Fuller’s earth (Multani Mitti) and rose water and apply on the face for 15 to 20 minutes. Then, rinse off with luke warm water.

Rub a piece of sandalwood on a clean stone, using bit of rose water or cucumber juice to make a paste. This pack will give you a tingling fresh feeling and will discourage pimples and acne.

If you have pimples on your face, apply sandal wood paste on them.

2. UNWANTED HAIR

Application of turmeric paste on the skin daily during bath improves the complexion and helps in arresting the growth of superfluous hair. It is all the more effective if the powder is heated in coconut oil and applied regularly over superfluous hair on forehead, forearms, legs etc., during bath.

Some women have noticeable fuzz of hair on the lips, cheeks or chin an effective remedy in lightening such growth of hair is a regular application of lemon juice.

3. CARE OF HAIR

For dry falling hair, massage your scalp with warm coconut oil twice a week. Leave on over night and shampoo the following morning. This helps in counteracting dryness and prevents dandruff and falling hair by improving the circulation and strengthening the hair roots. Hair washed with methi seed paste prevents falling hair, baldness and dandruff. Coconut oil in which methi seeds have been soaked becomes medicated and can be used as hair oil for cooling the head.

Washing the hair with a weak solution of common salt, cleans the scalp, cures dandruff and prevents falling of hair.

To get rid of dandruff, apply limejuice with the rind well on the scalp. After five minutes, wash off with shampoo and water. Do this twice a week.

Another method for treatment of dandruff is as follows:

Mix one tablespoon pure vinegar in half a bucket of water. Shampoo and wash hair with pure water in the usual way, but in the final rinse, rinse well with vinegar solution. The hair will also become soft, and will have a nice shine.

For unmanageable hair and dandruff, massage three days old curds on the scalp, leave it for half an hour, then shampoo it. Do not keep the curds in the refrigerator.

D. BEAUTIFYING EYES

To help thicken eyebrows and eyelashes apply castor oil to them regularly at bedtime. To have bright sparkling eyes, just splash cold water on them every morning. For bright eyes, increase your intake of fruits, and fresh vegetables, for more vitamin A. Revive tired eyes in the hot weather by soaking two pieces of cotton woo. In chilled water to which a few drops of eau-de-cologne have ben added. Place the pads on your closed eyelids and relax in a darkened room for about ten minutes.

If your eyes are sleepy or dull looking cut thin slices of cucumber and keep them on lids for about then minutes.

Dark rings under the eyes may be caused by fatigue, bad digestion, worry, sleeplessness or indifferent health. Track down the cause and the shadow will vanish.

Dark circles under your eyes are mainly due to lack of vitamin B sleeplessness and strain. Take a course of vitamin B complex. Sleep soundly for eight to ten hours. Eat a lot of green vegetables and fruits. Drink plenty of milk. At night massage a good brand of whitening cream with the third finger. Never stretch or pull the skin under the eyes, as the skin here is very delicate and sensitive. Start from the corner of the eyes and take it out towards the temples. Reduce puffy under eyes by applying pads dipped in a mixture of one pint hot water and one table spoon salt.