DIY Magical Face packs

I was like all other teenage girls with very low self-esteem regarding my hair and my skin in my growing up period. I hated moisturisers and oils with a vengeance. So no wonder throughout my troubled teens I went through the trauma of pigmentation, acne, rough skin, unruly frizzy hair and all the other wonderful gifts that hormones carry.

There was a permanent rough sandpapery patch of darkened skin on my chin which refused to go away!

It was a huge annoyance and no amount of scrubbing or picking at it would make it go away. Along with that came regular visit by angry pimples who never forgot to leave their mark!

All of this was topped off with a healthy dose of teasing and ridicule by my elder sister who like all siblings took great pleasure in my plight!

Then I discovered the wonders of natural and easily available kitchen ingredients for the skin. My pet favourites are besan (chickpea flour), ripe papaya, honey, milk, yoghurt, rice flour, coffee grounds, brown sugar, orange peel powder, tomato pulp, cucumber juice and the list is endless.

I started using many DIY face packs with astonishingly awesome results! Now the most important thing to remember with natural ingredients is that everything may not be suitable for all skin types. You have to do small trial/patch tests and then apply on the face. This is very important in case of the sensitive skinned beauties.

I myself have very sensitive skin and any product with alcohol causes pure havoc on my face. So with this background that I have oily to combination, sensitive, acne prone skin I will share some of the DIY face packs or natural care processes that I follow in my eternal journey towards the spotless skin!!

•             I mix ½ tsp of honey with 2 tsp of mashed ripe papaya and apply it on my cleansed face for 5 to 10 minutes. Then I rub my face gently for some time and when I wash with cold water the results are magical. My skin is instantly brightened and starts to glow like the sun(kidding!). The brightening part is true though. Also my skin feels smoother and softer and a complement from the hubby is guaranteed. This awesome result is due to the great magical properties of both honey and papaya, two of my favourite things that nature has given us. In my later posts I will write a detailed account of the science behind the awesomeness of these ingredients.

I take a pinch of besan or chickpea flour and mix some water to make a smooth paste. Then I use it as a face wash to remove the excess oiliness. This paste is such a great cleanser that no face wash is required at all. Also you can leave on the paste for a few minutes if you want longer oil control depending on the degree of oiliness of your skin.

If I am feeling particularly lazy I just pick up a piece of cucumber or tomato from my salad, rub it on my cleansed face and wash it off after sometime.

Yoghurt is great for removing tan after a beach vacation. Just apply a thin layer of yoghurt on your face and wash off when dried. I usually follow up with the chickpea flour cleanser to remove the creaminess due to milk fats in the yoghurt.

There are a thousand and one DIY face packs , cleansers, moisturisers that can be drummed up within a matter of few seconds and the process itself is a lot of fun. It is like my kitchen is my own skin care laboratory. I will be back with more of my natural skin care hacks in later posts. Do let me know if you are benefitted in any way by my hacks!!