I have over my nearly 25years of experience in the beauty business seen that women and men are somewhat still confused about their skin types and therefore are not sure which products and ingredients suit them. The umm and ahh I get in questioning tones when asked ‘What is your skin type?’ says it all about skin ignorance!
Cleaning is the most essential part of skin care and that can only be done properly if you know your skin type.
Oily skin
You can very easily clean oily skin with a paste of Fuller’s Earth, a natural clay that has been used since times immemorial to cleanse and clarify the skin.Take 2 tsp of this clay and add a pinch of powdered camphor to it and mix with water and massage onto wet skin and wash off.
Combination skin
Mashed papaya mixed with oatmeal and a little milk and scrubbed all over the face and neck not only cleanses as papaya has powerful cleansing enzymes but also helps reduce tan,dark patches and adds natural alpha hydroxy acids to the skin.
The use of yoghurt to cleanse the skin is also excellent when you have oily to combination skin and just 2tsp can be massaged daily at the end of the day and washed off. This will cleanse as well as prevent your natural P from being destroyed.
One of my all-time favourites for oily to combination skin is mashed strawberries and although it is true that I have a soft corner for this fruit not only because it’s delicious and you can always lick some off your face but because my childhood years were spent in Nagaland where it was to be found in abundance!
Just rub 3-4 mashed strawberries into the skin and leave on for 5 minutes before washing off. Not only will it help soften the skin but also make it look brighter and give an external dose of Vitamin C.
Dry skin
If you have dry skin and require cleaning make-up,dirt and grime from your pores make the following-
· 10 tsp almond oil,10tsp olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon and store this in a bottle.
· Take a tsp at a time and add to powdered orange peel and rub gently into the skin including around the eyes. Not only will this dislodge dirt and grime but gently exfoliate the skin too.
· Tomatoes are also one of my favourites and there’s nothing quite as simple and cleansing as rubbing cold tomato halves onto the skin. Not only does this cleanse but also helps shrink pores making the skin look supple and tightened.
· Last but not the least gram flour has been a popular cleanser for most skin all over India and if you mix this with yogurt and massage into the skin it is excellent for oily and combination skins and if you mix it with milk and massage it, it helps cleanse and improve dry skins.
Whatever your choice of natural ingredients, use them wisely with the right combinations to create the magic to make your skin smile and be cleansed naturally!