Roots to Radiance
Page 16
Begin your day with a glass of warm water with honey and lemon—it keeps you energetic, is a great detoxifying agent and also helps you trim your waistline.
Replacing sugar with honey is a very good idea at least in dishes where it is possible, like in your breakfast cereal, juices and smoothies. Slowly work your way into using it in desserts and mithais too!
It is a natural humectant, which means that it adds moisture or humidity naturally, which makes it a great ingredient for dry skin.
A face mask made of honey, some powdered oats, and cream or milk will give you soft, nourished, cleansed and moisturized skin within days of use.
After diving into the super foods that give our body the nourishment it needs and boosts your immune system, let’s get into action by jotting down recipes by the chef. As you’d expect, this includes darn yummy low-calorie meals—recipes to make your skin glow and also enhance your vision. That’s right, it’s time to lose your glasses and use them as a fashion statement only when you wish to.
I. RECIPES FOR GLOWING SKIN
1. AMLA JUICE
It’s amazing what this humble super food can do for your glow. Packed with Vitamin C, this fruit helps in cell renewal and replenishes the skin.
8 Indian gooseberries (amla)
2 inches ginger
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
Combine Indian gooseberries, ginger and cumin seeds in a blender jar. Add 5 cups water and blend well.
Strain and serve chilled.
2. CILANTRO AND SOYA STIR-FRIED BEAN SPROUTS
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons soy sauce
250 g bean sprouts
2 teaspoons unrefined oil
2 spring onion bulbs, diagonally sliced
1 medium carrot, cut into diagonal slices
¾ inch piece ginger, sliced
1 medium green capsicum, diced
Sea salt to taste
100 g bean curd, cut into cubes
2 spring onion green stalks, sliced
5–6 black peppercorns, crushed
Heat oil in a pan. Add the spring onions, carrots and ginger and sauté for a minute.
Add capsicum, bean sprouts, soy sauce, sea salt and stir for 2 minutes.
Add bean curd, spring onion greens, coriander and crushed peppercorns and toss.
Serve hot.
3. SPROUTS APPLE AND KIWI SALAD
1½ cups bean sprouts, blanched
2 apples
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into small pieces
6–8 iceberg lettuce leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped
For dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup apple juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon black pepper powder
½ teaspoon mustard paste
Salt to taste
Wash and soak the lettuce leaves in ice-cold water for about 15 minutes.
To make the dressing, put the olive oil, lemon juice, apple juice, black pepper powder, mustard paste and salt in a small bowl and whisk well.
Chop the apples into small pieces. Place them with the sprouts, onion and tomato in a large bowl.
Drain the lettuce leaves, tear them into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the sprout mixture and toss.
Add kiwi and mix with light hand.
Pour the dressing on the salad and toss lightly. Serve immediately.
II. LOW-CALORIE RECIPES
1. BEET BERRY SMOOTHIE
1 small beetroot, peeled and cut in cubes
12–16 blackberries
5–6 strawberries + for garnishing
10–12 gooseberries
12–16 fresh blueberries
8–10 walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tender coconut cream
16–20 fresh mint leaves
2 cups yogurt
Blend together the blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries, beetroot, blueberries, walnuts, coconut cream, mint leaves and yogurt till smooth.
Garnish individual tall glasses with strawberries, pour the smoothie in them and serve immediately.
2. SOYA GALOUTI
2 cups soya granules, soaked and squeezed
2 teaspoons ghee
1½ tablespoons ginger–garlic paste
3 tablespoons gram flour (besan)
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
½ teaspoon mace (javitri) powder
¼ teaspoon green cardamom (elaichi) powder
1 tablespoon browned onion paste
1 teaspoon screwpine (kewra) essence
Salt to taste
Few saffron strands (kesar), soaked in water
For garnishing
Chopped fresh coriander leaves
Curd onion rings
Lemon wedges
Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a non-stick pan. Add the ginger–garlic paste and sauté for 2–3 minutes.
Add gram flour, mix and sauté till fragrant.
Add the soya granules, mix and sauté for a minute.
Add the chilli powder, garam masala powder, mace powder and cardamom powder, mix, and sauté for 4–5 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool down to room temperature.
Grind the soya mixture with browned onion paste and screwpine essence to a smooth paste.
Transfer into a bowl, add salt and saffron along with the 1 tablespoon water, and mix well.
Heat the remaining ghee in a non-stick pan.
Dampen your palms, divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them into thin tikkis.
Place the tikkis in the pan and shallow fry, flipping them occasionally till golden brown on both sides.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with curd onion rings and lemon wedges.
3. VEGETABLE QUINOA PULAO
2 teaspoons ghee
1½ teaspoons caraway seeds (shahi jeera)
1 bay leaf
2–3 cloves
1-inch cinnamon
4–6 black peppercorns
1 star anise
1 medium onion, sliced
1½ cups quinoa, soaked for 1 hour
3 cups vegetable stock + as required
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
8–10 cauliflower florets
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into diamonds
5–6 French beans, diagonally sliced
3 tablespoons green peas
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves
Fresh coriander sprig for garnishing
Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a deep non-stick pan. Add 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns and star anise, mix, and sauté till fragrant.
Add the onion and sauté till translucent.
Add drained quinoa and mix.
Add vegetable stock and salt, stir. Cover and cook till the quinoa is fully done.
Heat remaining ghee in a non-stick pan. Add the remaining caraway seeds and garlic, mix, and sauté till the garlic turns golden brown.
Add the chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix.
Add the cauliflower, carrots and a little vegetable stock, mix, and cook for 2–3 minutes.
Add French beans, green peas and add some more vegetable stock, mix and cook for a minute.
Add salt and toss well.
Add the cooked vegetables to the quinoa and mix well.
Switch off heat, add coriander leaves and mix well.
Serve hot, garnished with a coriander sprig.
4. PAPAYA SMOOTHIE BOWL
4 oranges
8 medium carrots, peeled
A few mint leaves
8 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
8 tablespoons honey
2 cups yogurt
A few ice cubes
2 small papayas
, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish
Peel the oranges, separate segments, remove the seeds and put them into a blender jar.
Cut carrots into medium-sized pieces and add to the jar.
Add mint leaves, pumpkin seeds, honey and yogurt, and blend into a smooth mixture.
Add a few ice cubes and blend again.
For serving, take the chilled papaya cubes in a bowl, and pour the smoothie over them.
Garnish with mint sprigs and serve chilled.
Dr Barbara Sturm’s Skincare Advice
How hectic is it going to a dermatologist?
First of all, a good one isn’t easy on the pocket, but skin being the largest organ of your body, you just can’t not prioritize it.
After consultation comes the tricky bit—many times it just doesn’t work either, and it’s hard to trust too many chemicals (especially steroids, the master ingredient in most medicines).
Puberty, pregnancy, early–mid–late twenties and menopause—basically your whole life is a hormonal roller coaster. These hormonal milestones define your skin health and you need different kinds of care for every stage.
How overwhelming, right? Is this ever going to stop? Will your skin ever be settled for a long time? No, there are going to be changes only to remind you that you are a beautiful woman going through life. But yes, if you have done the smart deed of picking up this book, you are in luck, as a top Hollywood dermatologist and scientist has decided to drop some knowledge here.
Excited? How excited will you be if I tell you this top Hollywood dermat treats Kim Kardashian, Bella Hadid, Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, Cher . . . the list goes on—but you get the point.
It was a proud moment for me to interview Dr Barbara Sturm, a gorgeous German dermat and scientist who makes the biggest celebrities on earth radiate. Not just that, her carefully formulated skincare line balances skin so well that it’s a ‘must-have’ in almost every celebrity’s travel bag.
1. At what age should millennials plan to use anti-ageing products?
Starting from a young age, you should follow an anti-inflammatory skincare regime. Your skincare products shouldn’t contain harmful ingredients such as mineral oils. As you get older, puberty and hormones kick in, so you shouldn’t be using products that are too harsh on your skin, or products that dry out your skin. If you aren’t taking care of your skin or are using the wrong products, sebum production will become unbalanced and your skin barrier function won’t perform as well. When your skin is dry, it starts to have little injuries, and bacteria could start settling in, causing more breakouts. It is therefore really important to keep your skin hydrated and healthy with a very simple anti-inflammatory skincare routine. If you choose to use anti-ageing products, you should use regenerative ingredients which are directed towards healing and anti-inflammation, such as purslane. Anti-oxidants and peptides won’t hurt either, but you should also watch your lifestyle choices, as this can have a big impact on your ageing.
2. What is the most common skincare myth?
The most common skincare myth is to drink water instead of using a skincare regime and that drinking water will also stop your skin from ageing. Another common myth is that ‘more is more’. I always believe that ‘less is more’. It is really important not to overpower your skin with lots of different products, especially at a young age. I recommend using a gentle cleanser, a facial scrub and a quality cream to rejuvenate your skin. If you tend to have dry skin, use a hydrating face mask and hyaluronic serum to keep you looking refreshed and radiant.
3. The most common beauty advice people wrongly give.
I believe the worst common beauty advice is to use aggressive treatments like acid peels or laser resurfacing, as these treatments can harm your skin.
4. How often and how should one cleanse the skin? (I read in one of your interviews that we should be washing our face less, hence very curious.)
A good cleansing routine is very important and shouldn’t dry out your skin. Our bestselling cleanser, for example, uses aloe vera and urea among its active ingredients. It’s a foaming cleanser that hydrates.
It’s really important that you don’t use facial wipes to remove makeup or to cleanse your face because these can hurt your skin and rub dirt and bacteria into your skin further. I recommend using a very gentle cleanser and only double cleanse if you are wearing heavy makeup, as over-cleansing disturbs the skin barrier function and balance.
You should also exfoliate twice a week. Exfoliation is important because if you don’t get rid of your dead skin cells, active ingredients can’t come through, leaving your skin dehydrated. Another important factor to consider is that skin cells together with the oil from sebum production oxygenate and can cause blackheads and breakouts.
5. The one overly popular/over-hyped ingredient that’s actually not all that great.
I would stay away from using glycolic and retinol acids because these can destroy skin barrier function by removing healthy layers of skin, which can cause inflammation, making your skin worse. Glycolic and retinol acids can also cause hyperpigmentation issues, ageing, premature ageing and possibly cancer.
6. Worst foods and beverages for skin we should be avoiding.
This one you should know! We should be avoiding processed meat, sodas, fried food and alcohol where possible.
7. What would be the most common skin concern you’ve treated in your many years of practice and what’s rule #1 to treat it?
I think the most common skin concern is dryness, because dryness can cause breakouts and ageing. I therefore believe it’s important to keep our skin hydrated, which led me to create Dr Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Serum. This is a must-have in your skincare routine, and the highly concentrated long and short-chain hyaluronic molecules provide intensive hydration. It’s not about being oily or greasy—it’s all about hydration.
8. Acne, pigmentation, blemishes—can you list one fool-proof way each to treat these problems.
My one fool-proof way to treat acne, pigmentation and blemishes is to keep your face hydrated. Live a healthy lifestyle, adopt an anti-inflammatory skincare routine and avoid using acid peels, full stop.
9. Everyone knows fast food is bad for skin, but if you have to come up with a junk food eater’s beauty regime what would that be?
Don’t eat junk food!
10. What have millennials got wrong about beauty? (about the concept of beauty, the lifestyle pattern or experimentation by giving into too many options.)
I think millennials are quite smart in their skincare routine. They want to know exactly what ingredients are in the products they are using and are interested in what works and what doesn’t work for their skin. I feel millennials don’t just go for marketing promises. They actually dig deeper and have a better and clearer understanding about what their skin can tolerate and what their skin needs.
11. Best way for a busy girl to have good skin?
The best way for a busy girl to have good skin is to always remember that less is more. It’s also important to have a good cleanser, hyaluronic serum and a good cream—that’s all you need!
12. What do you have to say about changing beauty trends? Like jade rollers, etc.? How much importance should we be giving to every new trend that we see on the Internet?
Jade facial rollers are cool. Not only do they massage your skin, but they also boost blood circulation and actually trigger your skin to promote your fibroplasia skin cells, enhancing collagen production. I think those treatments are great.
Master Perfumer Roja Dove
On finding your signature scent:
Scents are so personal. Sometimes you may buy it casually, but it’s only over time that you realize that some of those purchases don’t really belong to you. Often what’s the case is that the same perfume you loved so much on someone you met at a party didn’t translate so well on you . . . which makes you buy a few more
just to add that right bout of floral, fruity, woody, classic, or musky twist that you can’t pin down but will recognize immediately when you smell it again.
Fragrances are considered one of the strongest memories. Just a spray can bring back a thousand memories. A city you always wanted to return to, a special someone who hasn’t crossed your mind for a while, or a faint memory from childhood—perfumes can have sentimental value without you even being aware of it.
But what beginners (and many perfume lovers) struggle with is finding a scent that defines them. Have you heard people boasting of sticking with one perfume for decades? That’s not strictly out of liking or loyalty—they wear it because it is their signature scent.
Day or night, weekend or weekday, there’s a scent for everyone that they can wear and give people around them a memory to remember them by.
While you might buy fragrances that smelled like a piece of heaven in the store, if they don’t quite define your personality there’s no ownership and it just doesn’t feel right.
In relationship terms, it can be like being married to an incompatible person. But worry not, you don’t have to go through all that to meet your soulmate . . . sorry, I meant perfume.
Being a big-time connoisseur myself, I’ve helped a lot of friends discover their signature scents, but for the reader of Roots to Radiance I settled for nothing but the best and paved the path for the finest perfumers in the business to help you figure out the dos and don’ts of perfume shopping.
Roja Dove, a British perfumer born in Sussex, is one of the finest noses and fragrance historians that ever lived. Dove started chasing perfumes quite early in the day. He was amazed to find how small perfume bottles could store something so effective. His interest in perfumes sparked when his mother’s fragrance lingered in his room long after she put him to bed and kissed him goodnight, and little did he know that he would one day be the most sought-after perfume expert that ever lived. After serving a big French fragrance label, Roja now makes his own luxury perfumes that sell worldwide.
And in the middle of all the creative formulation, he has taken out the time to help you decide a fragrance that’ll not just become a part of your identity, but for most people you meet it may just become synonymous with your memory. So, take notes: