Mix 4 tablespoons sea salt, 3 teaspoons glycerine and 2 teaspoons sugar together with a few drops of almond oil and lemon juice.
Apply this mixture to the upper and inner parts of your hands, basically your full hands.
Don’t forget to spread a paper sheet or piece of cloth underneath your hands/feet to avoid a mess.
Rub your hands together and massage feet gently for 8–10 minutes.
Wash off and apply hand cream.
SCRUB 2: Rose Water + Baking Soda + Vitamin E Capsule
Baking soda is a very capable cleaner and Vitamin E brings glow and moisturization. Rose water combines these two beautifully. This mask can help remove tan, dirt and dead skin in no time, leaving your hands/feet feeling softer than ever. Mix 3 tablespoons baking soda with 2 tablespoons rosewater and cut open 2 Vitamin E capsules and add the extracts to the mixture. Mix well and scrub away for glowy, smooth hands and feet.
SCRUB 3: Epsom Salt + Olive Oil + Peppermint Oil
Bathing with Epsom salt water can even help you lose weight2. Peppermint oil will freshen your senses. And olive oil will help with dry feet and hands.
Mix 3 tablespoons Epsom salt with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 10–12 drops of peppermint oil.
Mix well and apply to hands and feet for a multitasking scrub session.
2. Cracked Heels
If only wearing socks regularly saved us from cracked heels, skincare routine could have cut down one thing, just one thing, from the list. But no, sock fabric had to suck moisture out of our skin, leaving it dry and cracked.
While you take out weekends to do your own mani-pedi by these methods, here’s something to help you heal your heels!
a. The P3 Mask
2–3 slices of papaya
2–3 slices of pineapple
2–3 slices of pumpkin
2 tablespoons honey
I’m calling this a P3 mask because it combines the goodness of pineapple, papaya and pumpkin . . . all excellent skin-healing components combined with the smoothing maestro—honey!
Scrub your feet and apply this smoothie.
b. Mint–Chickpea Healing Mask
½ cup boiled rice water
2½ tablespoons chickpea or gram flour
1 tablespoon peppermint oil
When making rice, do save some of the starch water instead of throwing it away. It has supreme reviving powers for your skin (and fabrics). This mask has bonding and reviving capabilities.
Mix that starch water with gram/chickpea flour and add peppermint oil.
Scrub your foot and apply it.
Follow up by applying shea butter or any foot creams/oils mentioned below.
3. Hand + Nail Salves
Nails and hands should never be neglected in your beauty regime as they age first. But if you think I’m being strict with you, let me just tell you that just like most chapters, this one will also teach you how to customize your own kind of hand and foot lotions, so that your salves/lotions can change with your mood for the day.
a. Cedar Wood–Neroli Hand Salve
¼ cup original shea butter
1½ tablespoon beeswax
4 tablespoons jojoba oil (can be replaced with almond, olive or any good carrier oil of your choice)
1 tablespoon cedar wood oil
1 teaspoon neroli oil
Melt beeswax, shea butter and coconut oil and let it cool down for 20 mins.
Then add jojoba, cedar wood and neroli oil and stir well.
Store it in a jar and use as a hand soother.
Trust me, it’ll smell unbelievably delicious and earthy, like you’ve entered one of those luxurious Ayurveda spas.
You can switch cedar wood oil with rose oil and neroli oil with sandalwood oil and make a rose–sandalwood hand salve—that’s not a bad idea either. In fact, just try it! That makes this count as two recipes!
b. Green Tea–Jasmine Hand Cream
¼ cup original shea butter
1½ tablespoons beeswax
½ cup coconut oil
2 green tea bags (fresh/unused)
2 tablespoons jasmine essential oil
Simmer the green tea leaves in coconut oil in a pan and stir well.
Then separate the green tea leaves from the coconut oil and keep it aside.
Take another pan and melt beeswax and mix shea butter with it and let it cool for 20 mins.
Then add the green tea-infused coconut oil and jasmine oil to it.
Mix everything well—and your hand cream is ready!
4. Cuticle Oils
Cuticles, the delicate skin located at the edge of your fingers and toes, are something even most particular beauty enthusiasts don’t care much for. But you should! This skin protects your new growth from infections and bacteria, and if we’re talking beautiful hands and feet, this is a procedure you shouldn’t skip, especially if you colour your nails or wear extensions. Nail paints and extensions dehydrate your nails and keep them from generating new nail cells.
If you are experiencing frequent peeling, redness, itchiness and discoloration, maybe it’s time to moisturize your cuticles super well before you apply nail paint again.
Here are a few DIY cuticle oil recipes that you can use for different purposes:
a. Nourishing Cuticle Oil
3 teaspoons argan oil
3 teaspoons castor oil
2 teaspoons avocado oil
2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
Argan oil will make up for lost moisture around your nails. Avocado oil can moisturize your skin and leave it smoother than ever. Castor oil has antifungal, antibacterial properties, and grapeseed oil is a comparatively lighter oil that has vitamins C, D and E.
Mix these oils together and apply on the nail beds of your fingers and toes using an earbud to eliminate itchy and dry cuticles.
b. Coconut, Lavender and Honey Cuticle Salve
¼ cup coconut oil
1½ tablespoons beeswax
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lavender oil
Melt beeswax and coconut oil in a saucepan and add honey and lavender oil.
Mix well and let it cool down.
Then pour it in a jar and let it solidify.
This salve will be like a lip balm, but for your nails. It’s hugely hydrating and efficient on your mission to get clean, soft hands and feet.
5. Nail-Strengthening
The primary reason people go for nail extensions is because their nails keep breaking. But what happens after you take off your nail extensions is even more alarming! Your nails become so weak after you take your acrylics off. Hence, people resort to it again and again till they eventually give up and have weak nails for a while, repair them and then get back to having shiny, original nails over time.
Nail Growth Boosting Tea
This is just nettle tea with a much-needed kick of Vitamin C! Nettle leaves (bichhoo ghaans) boost nail growth, and Vitamin C guards your nails by strengthening your blood vessels, skin, tissues and cuticles.
Boil 1 tablespoon nettle leaves in one cup water and then filter out the leaves once the tea is ready.
Add the juice of ½ lemon in it and sip once a day to promote nail growth.
But the benefits are not just limited to your nails. This tea is a great hangover remedy and acts as a blood purifier too!
6. Nail Whitening and Cleansing
You would have ditched wearing nail paints in everyday life long ago if your original nails were shiny, shapely and even. Wearing chemicals on your nails leave them yellow and pigmented. They not only challenge the growth, colour and texture of your nails but they are also a threat to your hygiene.
Here are a few ways to cleanse and whiten your nails:
a. Whitening Paste
Any teeth whitening paste
A few drops of lemon juice
½ teaspoon baking soda
Mix these three ingredients together and you can whiten teeth and yellow nails with it!
Bid farewell to stai
ns left by your nail paints and extensions by using this easy method.
And start applying a protecting/nail strengthening base coat before applying pigments directly on to your nails.
b. Nail Depigmenting Gel
1⁄8 cup aloe vera extract/gel
3 teaspoons tea tree oil
3 teaspoons garlic oil
Aloe vera will form a soothing layer on your nails to prevent irritation while tea tree and ginger oil fights the fungus in your hand and toe nails.
Mix the three ingredients together and apply a thin layer on your nails whenever possible.
8
Oral Hygiene
When I’ve written a full book on becoming a #CleanBeauty convert, and put a healthy smile on your face, I’ll have to make sure your pearly whites look great too! Bad breath, stained teeth or anything remotely close to bad hygiene is such a turn off. On the other hand, if someone is hygiene-conscious and cares about wearing the right perfume, having fresh breath and tidy nails, they’re instantly attractive.
If you have to schedule a consultation with a dentist, a dermatologist and a gynaecologist, which one are you likely to place at the last? The answer usually is the dentist!
Most dental treatments are painful and end up with you heading home with a swollen mouth and the prospect of pain while eating for the next few days. And your favourite foods and desserts are already not a part of the question for the next few weeks. Just these few weeks of compromise and sacrifice can demotivate you to see a dentist for ages, and the next thing you know, you’re 40 and having serious dental issues.
Many of us do take dental health casually, even though we should not.
In other chapters I’ve explained how to get rid of nearly every possible beauty issue. Teeth and dental hygiene spills over to wellness more than beauty, but these easy everyday hacks had to be talked about. Routine dental check-ups are a must and taking care of your mouth by yourself is a non-negotiable.
Teeth Whitening Paste 1
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons baking soda
Although I have a quick hack to brighten teeth in my Under Three Minutes Hacks section, here’s another one.
Mix baking soda, turmeric and coconut oil together and brush normally. No, your teeth will not be pigmented by the colour of turmeric—don’t worry about that.
Rinse mouth with water normally after you’re done.
Teeth Whitening Paste 2
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons activated charcoal
3 drops of eucalyptus oil or spearmint oil
Mix baking soda, activated charcoal, coconut oil and spearmint/eucalyptus oil together and brush normally.
Rinse mouth normally with water after you’re done.
Plaque Eliminating Solution 3
Plaque is a very common dental problem. Swollen gums, bad breath, stained teeth are a few of its symptoms. Here’s how you can keep all these problems away.
1 cup water
4 drops of tea tree oil
Just dilute tea tree oil and water together and use it like a mouthwash. This antibacterial is a strong weapon when it comes to keeping your teeth and gums safe.
Use twice every day.
Swollen Gums Treatment 4
1 teaspoon powdered clove
1 cup water
Cotton earbuds or cotton balls
Swollen gums happen when oral care doesn’t exactly top your priority list.
Don’t worry, here’s how you can treat soothe your gums at home without freaking out.
Boil water, add the clove powder and mix well.
When the solution cools down, apply it to your gums to build a protective shield around them.
Guava Leaf Microbial Shield Water 5
20 guava leaves
1 cup water
Mortar and pestle
Guava leaves have antibacterial, microbial properties. They act as an amazing shield to protect your mouth from germs and dental diseases.
Crush guava leaves in the mortar and pestle and strain the juice properly.
Add boiled water and filter the mixture to take all the dregs out.
Gargle with that water every day.
Part II Tips and Hacks
9
Body Mists
Coco Chanel may have said that women who didn’t wear perfume had no future, but that was decades ago. Over the past few years, we have been headed towards a more understated way of living—a more low-key way of life, where experiences, Internet, friends and modern philosophy have taught us to worry, dress, behave and be less and less bothered about pleasing anyone but ourselves. Suddenly the chase for stuff like dousing yourself with copious amounts of perfume to announce your persona when you enter a room and prove a point to seek approval from outside has faded.
Recently, I read somewhere that ‘young people are the new old people’. And it brought a grin to my face, and I was like, us being ‘too set in our ways’ has finally paid off. The world thinks of us millennials as wise individuals who have a lot of clarity simply because we cut down on anything that seems unnecessary and make room for what feeds our soul.
On weekends, don’t you just want to be at home with your special one and look, feel and be amazing? That’s clarity.
Using free time to better ourselves and rewarding self with lighting some candles, drawing ourselves a scented bath and reading favourite books is a terrific idea—if that’s what works for you, of course.
This chapter is written to celebrate the lady in you. We may be a meme-loving, social media-hooked generation, but let’s admit it, we do love some old-fashioned stuff, from time to time.
‘Sometimes I can’t figure out whether you’re a millennial or a Victorian,’ an older friend of mine said to me when he found out about my obsession for teas and fancy kettles.
So while you think about that one hobby or habit of yours that makes you an old soul, gear up for making organic ingredients a thing of luxury in the most ladylike fashion.
In this chapter, I’ll be talking about something I’d like to call ‘body waters’. This may have made you think about body and face mists, right? Body waters are somewhat like that, but they are not packed in a bottle and you don’t have to preserve them for months in your refrigerator. You just have to have those long bath therapy sessions with these scented waters. But then, this is going to be devoid of any harmful ingredients as you’ll be making it yourself. What’s even better? They’re so easy—a child can do it.
Hardly any ingredients are involved in this procedure, these scented waters can change the way you feel and function. Washing toxins away and enhancing skin health may be the commonly known benefits of bathing early morning, but did you know you can improve fertility, banish stress and improve blood circulation if only you say yes to a morning bath during the weekends. And as you have the luxury of spending hours in the bathroom, you must do it in the most organic and healthy way.
1. Rose/Desi Gulab
When you put desi gulab petals in hot water, it makes the solution a rich mixture of Vitamin C, malic acid, pectin and citric acid that can also help you lose weight. But roses are as good for your outside as for your inside.
Collect petals of 4–5 roses in a nylon mesh bag and dip it in water overnight.
Add some drops of rose water in it.
Next morning, take out the bag and bathe with that water.
Trust me it’s the TLC your body needs. Having a therapeutic baths like this can turn your day around. Imagine smelling great without spraying any product on you. Just scented body mixed with your natural smell would put you in a great mood.
2. Lemongrass
If you ask an expert, they’ll associate lemongrass with terms such as anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, disinfectant, sedative and deodorant, etc., . . . which are just some of the amazing health benefits this plant carries. The strong smell of lemongrass i
tself makes you feel like you’re in a spa, and how would you feel about getting one every other day?
All you need to do is dip lemongrass leaves (in a nylon mesh bag) in water and leave overnight.
You can also add lemongrass oil to make your bathroom smell great too.
Next day when you bathe in it, it’ll not only deodorize your body, but also calm your head in the process.
This herb can even heal period cramps, muscle pulls and headaches. After a long day of work, try bathing in lemongrass water to see the difference.
3. Rosemary and Sandalwood
Rosemary is an antioxidant-rich herb that helps fight cancer and brain ageing. Not only that, it also smells delicious and is used to flavour food as well. And sandalwood is more than just a great-smelling log. It has properties to help with spasms, anxiety, check germs and is an anti-inflammatory like most ingredients in this list. Not just that, the oil of this wood also helps keep blood pressure in check. And what happens when you leave these two in a mesh bag overnight in a bucket? Well, nothing short of a magic body water for you to take a bath in. You can use these ingredients separately also. Depends on your mood.
4. Lavender
The ultimate night bath or lazy afternoon bathing solution. Wanna nap like a queen? Try this! Since ages, lavender has been the ultimate solution to stress and anxiety. Keeping lavender leaves in your pillow is said to help you get a good night’s sleep.
So what you need to do here is dip a small branch of lavender in a bucket for 7–8 hours and then bathe in it.
Not only will this make you and your bathroom smell delicious, it’ll also help you fall asleep, relax and unwind.
Roots to Radiance Page 11