lemon

Got Lemon? 6 Beauty Tips And Tricks Using The Fruit

Beauty treatments can dig deep holes into your pocket and not only that, but some of the treatments might not be that effective. So hundreds of dollars might be spent with no positive outcome. Before heading to the dermatologist or the department store, take a look in your own kitchen for your own beauty remedies. Lemons are a versatile fruit providing a number of aesthetic benefits. Originating in Asia, lemons have an extensive history but mostly of one used in cooking. However, many dermatologists and beauty gurus have recommended the use of lemons in daily skin maintenance.

“The alpha hydroxyl acid in lemons is similar to the ingredients you’d find in a dermatologist’s peel,” the Oz blog reported, speaking to Dr. Elizabeth Hale, professor of dermatology at the New York University School of Medicine. Lemons also provide a number of other skin, nail, and hair benefits. Take a look at six helpful beauty tips below:

1. Remove Blackheads: Take a lemon and slice it in half, rub the juice all over your face and wait five minutes before rinsing it off with cold water. Lemons have antibacterial properties, making it a perfect blackhead remedy. Blackheads are caused by clogged pores, and the acid called alpha hydroxyl from the lemons help to exfoliate the skin.

2. Lighten Old Acne Scars: Instead of heading to the dermatologist to help fade acne scars, just take a look in your refrigerator. Take a cotton ball and soak it with a little freshly squeezed lemon juice, and rub it all over your face. The lemon juice when applied daily will gradually help to lightens up the scars as it works as a chemical peel.

3. Removes Calluses, Corns, And Warts: Using the inside of a lemon (the white part) and placing it against any of these skin imperfections will help to dry out the callus, corn, or wart. Leave it on overnight and in about week they should fall off.

4. Lighten Your Hair: Skip the dye. This is a perfect and gradual remedy for those sunny summer days. Mix the juice from four lemons with ¼ cup of warm water, put it in a spray bottle, and spray it in your hair until it’s damp. Make sure you only expose your hair to the sun for about 30-60 minutes, depending on how light you want to make it. After you’re done, take a shower and use conditioner, as lemon juice can sometimes dry out your hair.

5. Strengthen Nails: Soaking nails into lemon juice for about 10 minutes and rinsing them with warm water once a week will not only help them to grow but will also remove any discoloration.

6. Lighten Discolored Armpits and Elbows: Discoloration and hyperpigmentation happens to people when there is more melanin in their skin. The more melanin a person has in their skin, the darker it will be. Since lemon acts as a bleaching agent, rubbing a cut lemon on armpits or elbows will help to lighten the skin in those areas.

We hope you try some of these home remedies. However, in no way are these tips intended to cure or teat any type of skin, hair, or nail issue. Before trying any of these, please seek out the approval from your health care provider.

Source: medical daily

Home remedies to get rid of tanning

As Indians, we are constantly worried about tanning. Understanding the process of tanning is important to prevent it and treat it in the future. So, instead of opting for the expensive de-tan or fairness facials, you could try using some natural methods to get rid of the tan. Here are three natural ways to do so. But before that, let’s understand a few basics of why does our skin tan.

Why do we tan?

It‘s simple, tanning is your body’s way of protecting your internal organs from damage brought on due to exposure to UV rays of the sun. Known to cause serious conditions such as cancer, UV rays are extremely dangerous to our internal organs as well. To help keep them from entering the body, our skin produces a pigment called melanin. On exposure to the sun, the skin automatically sends this pigment to the surface to help fight off the damage – the greater the sun exposure, the darker the melanin turns. This is because the sunlight breaks down the melanin leading to it getting oxidized and darkening the skin.

Why do some people tan more than others?

The amount and degree of darkness of melanin present in one’s body is determined by one’s genes. For example, people who are genetically fair, will have lesser and lighter melanin than darker people for whom the amount and color of melanin will change. What further worsens the situation is the fact that different people have different types of skin (varying in thickness and sensitivity); this again is a deciding factor for the amount of tanning.

How can home remedies help?

Lemon and glycerin face pack: This is a bleaching, blemish removal and skin softening pack. It can be made and stored for about three weeks. All you have to do is take about five tablespoons of glycerin and add the juice of one lemon to it. Make sure the consistency of the solution is not too thin. Now, apply this on your face – avoiding the areas around your eyes – and neck every night after washing your face with your regular face wash. Leave on for about half-an-hour and wash off with cold water. Make sure you gently pat dry. This pack gives best results when left on overnight. It will not dry and stretch your skin and will make your face glow the next morning.  You can even apply this pack on your hands and legs to get rid of tanning on them. Use this pack on a daily basis to see considerable difference in about one week.

Besan bleaching face pack: This is a scrub and facial glow pack all rolled into one. Take about two tablespoons of besan, add a pinch of haldi (the type that is used for application and not for cooking), a few drops of lemon juice and some milk (if you have very dry skin). You can add crushed orange peel to the mix for an added scrub effect. If you don’t have orange peel, use crushed masoor or moong ki daal to the mix. Now, mix all the ingredients and  make it a paste by adding cool rose water. Apply this paste all over your face and neck, carefully avoiding the areas around your eyes. Allow this to remain on the face till it dries up partially. Once dry, wet your hands and pat the areas that have dried out. This will make the area soft. Now, gently scrub your face and then wash away. This pack will give you glowing and supple skin. Continue doing this on a daily basis for a week to notice considerable difference.

Multani mitti and aloe vera face pack: This pack is great to soothe irritated and tanned skin. The aloe vera present helps to heal acne, remove blemishes, and soothe irritated skin. The multani mitti helps unclog pores and makes the skin glow. To make this pack, mix a few spoons of multani mitti with a tablespoon of aloe vera paste or juice. Add a pinch of haldiand make it a smooth paste. Add chilled rose water to dilute the pack. Apply this on your face and neck leave on for about fifteen minutes or till it dries. Pat with a wet hand to loosen the dried portions and scrub the face in gentle circular motions. Wash your face with cool water and pat dry. Use this face pack twice a week for desired results

Finally, while home remedies may seem a bit messy and time consuming, it is the best way to rid you of the tan without the side-effects of chemicals. Plus, it is much lighter on the pocket.

Source: health India