I love learning ancient beauty secrets from around the world. I have been particularly fascinated about the ancient Japanese beauty secrets, but then I realized that it would be a shame if I don’t dedicate a single post about the beauty secrets from my own country. I am a big believer of using natural products instead of all the chemicals. Even though I indulge in the extensive 10 step Korean skincare regimen every single day, I often skip a few products and use natural ingredients from my kitchen.

Cleansing:

• Besan/Gram Flour- Besan is a multi-tasking ingredient when it comes to skincare. The first and foremost is cleansing. It is always recommended to replace your face wash with Besan once or twice a week. Besan is usually used as a face pack, but if you want to use it on a daily basis you can use it as a cleanser instead of using it as a face pack.
• All purpose flour- All purpose flour is known to go deep into your pores and pull out all the dirt and sebum. All purpose flour doesn’t make a good paste so it is usually mixed with besan. The duo leaves your skin squeaky clean.

De-tanning :

• Tomato Juice- Tomato juice is a very powerful de-tanning ingredient. I have a super sensitive skin which gets tanned like nuts. Once in a while I mix besan, gram flour and tomato juice and apply it as a face pack, it works like a miracle. If you are not cursed with a sensitive skin you can add 2 drops of lemon juice in it. Lemon juice is a natural bleach and gives you a lighter skin tone and removes tanning, however if used more than needed it can burn your skin.

Exfoliate:

• Rice Powder- Rice powder is safe to use exfoliator that works like wonder. Here’s a tip. You can mix rice powder with the de-tanning mixture and you can remove your tan while you are exfoliating your skin.
• Coco Powder- This one is quite popular around the world I guess. I use it just like the rice powder. The tiny granules are safe to use and you do not need to worry about over scrubbing.

Skin Lightening:

• Turmeric- Turmeric has been used by Indian women since ancient ages. Turmeric has anti-bacterial benefits along with skin lightening agents. Turmeric is also used to treat any kind of skin infection and irritation including chicken pox and missals. However, using turmeric powder from the spice brands on your skin is not at all recommended. If you cannot get your hands on raw turmeric, you should make sure that the turmeric powder you are using is pure. Once I applied turmeric powder from a regular brand on my skin and it gave me dull and irritated skin. You can make a paste of a thumb size of turmeric and apply it directly on your face. If you are using turmeric powder you can mix a pinch of it with your besan paste. Even if you don’t mind getting a brighter skin tone, it’s still recommended to apply turmeric paste once in a while to a avoid skin irritations.
• Chandan/Sandlewood- This one’s a gem. Almost every Indian (at least Bengali ) household has a stick of sandalwood. Without sandlewood I cannot even think of ancient Indian skincare. Sandlewood is known for giving a fairer and even skin tone as well as reducing blemishes and tans. The fragrance of a Chandan is mind-blowing as well so you can only imagine how pleasant an experience it is to apply Chandan paste on your face.

• Coconut Water: I remember getting itchy skin and rashes as a child and my mum applying turmeric paste all over my body and bathing me in coconut water. I remember discovering that bathing in coconut water gave me a brighter skin tone.Having a coconut tree in your backyard always has its perks. Coconut water is the best beverage to drink during the summer to cool your body and mind. It has also been saving Indians from the terrific summer heat since ages.

Toner:

• Toner- This one’s a no brainer. Indian women have been using rose water long before toner was even created. I still prefer using a distilled rose water instead of a regular toner.

• Cucumber Juice- Even though many people claim that cucumber juice is a really great toner, I find it too sticky to even try.

Under-Eye Treatment:

• Cucumber Slice-Here’s another no-brainer. Even though I’m not sure if the origin of this practise is India, I am pretty sure Indian women have been using cucumber slice to reduce eye bags since a long time.

Spot Correction:

• Potato Juice- To treat acne marks cut a slice of a potato and rub it on your skin for a few seconds. Leave the juice on your skin for a few minutes and wash it off. Do this a few times a week and you will notice the spots fade away.

Skin Firming:

• Multani Mitti/ Fuller’s Earth- Multani mitti has been used as a face pack to get firm skin and closed pores since decades.

Hair Care:

Indian women are known for their long black and gorgeous hair. However, I cannot say that I am blessed with the same. Even when I was a child there wasn’t single day when I wasn’t asked if I have coloured my hair. That’s because 99.9% of Indians have a natural black hair, and I can certainly thank my ancestors for my dirty brown hair colour.

When it comes to hair care, Indians certainly have been making a lot of effort since ages. They were the ones who invented shampoo, and now the world cannot live without it. Even the practise of using coconut oil on hair has been spreading throughout the world rapidly. When we were kids our mum used to oil our hair and massage our scalps the night before we shampooed our hair. I don’t remember suffering from any hair fall issue as long as I used coconut oil or sometimes almond oil on my hair. Here are some of the ingredients Indian women have been using on their hair since the ancient days.

• Coconut Oil- To keep the scalp healthy.
• Amla- To have dark and thick hair strands.
• Henna (the paste of Henna leaves)- To provide some nutrition to the hair and scalp and to colour the hairs.
• Curd- To have smooth and shiny hair.
• Egg- To have silky and shiny and smooth hair.
• Lemon juice –(2 drops in two spoon of coconut oil)- To treat (Works like a wonder).

So here’s everything I know about Indian Skin and Hair care secrets. If once in a while you take a break from all the chemicals and treat your skin with natural products your skin will actually have an opportunity to breathe and will thank you for taking such special care.

Do let me know in the comment section if you are eager to try some of the above mentioned tips. 🙂

Xoxo

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