Homemade Cucumber Beauty Recipes for Hot Summer Months

Cucumber Beauty Recipe #1

Ingredients:
1/2 kg. peeled cucumbers.
1/2 kg. white lard.
1/2 pint milk.
1/2 kg. melon pulp.

Preparation:
Chop the cucumbers into tiny squares, Put all the ingredients into a non-metallic bowl and then into a bowl of water heated over a low flame.

Heat for a period of ten to twelve hours without letting the mixture boil.

Strain through a cheese cloth. As the mixture cools, let it congeal.

Keep in a glass jar. Use for a cooling and refreshing feeling.


Cucumber Beauty Recipe #2

Ingredients:
1/2 peeled and grated cucumber.
3 drops witch hazel.
1 teaspoon honey.
2 tablespoons milk.
1 drop peppermint oil.
1 teaspoon cold water.

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients well and apply to the face. Other than softening and nourishing your skin, this cucumber mask cools and refreshes you.

Apply to face and keep on for 5-10 minutes. Wash off with plenty of cool Water. Moisturize.

Homemade Multi-Purpose Moisturizing Cream Recipes

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons apricot kernel oil.
8 tablespoons lecithin.
2 tablespoons water (distilled or purified).
2-4 drops of your favorite perfume,

Preparation:
Blend the ingredients well in a glass bowl until it becomes a smooth paste.

Use on face, neck, arms, hands, legs and feet.

This moisturizing lotion is also an excellent make-up base.

Homemade Skin Nourishing Creams

Homemade Skin Nourishing Cream Recipe #1

Ingredients:
20 ml litres of distilled water.
20 ml litres of rose water.
1/2 teaspoon of borax powder.
18 gms. bees wax.
12 gms. lanolin.
70 ml. Htres of almond oil.
4 capsules of Vitamin A.
4 Capsules of Vitamin E.
A few drops of benzoin tincture.

Preparation:
Heat the distilled water and add the borax powder and rose water to it.

In another container, heat the lanolin, white wax and bees wax together. For this, you will first have to heat the three ingredients in a glass bowl kept in a pan of hot water.

Now add both mixtures together and blend well while they cool. Add the benzoin tincture and burst the Vitamin capsules, with a pin, into the cream.

Blend well.

Store in a glass jar.

Homemade Skin Nourishing Cream Recipe #2

Ingredients:
2 ounces glycerin'e.
2 ounces lanolin.
2 ounces rose water.
2 ounces cocoa butter.

Preparation:
Melt the ingredients in a glass bowl placed in a pan of hot wat~, Beat wel~ until cool. Store in a glass jar.

Remember, skin is an allover affair. Do not stop with nourishing just your face. Spread the good work to hands, throat and shoulders.

Homemade Night Cream Recipes

Homemade Night Cream Recipe #1

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons lanolin.
2 tablespoons cocoa.
3 tablespoons almond oil
2 tablespoons rose water.

Preparation:
Put the first three ingredients in a glass bowl. Place the bowl in a pan of hot water and heat over a low flame, until the contents of the bowl melt into a smooth paste. For stirring use a wooden spoon. Do not use a metallic spoon as the ingredients will act on the metal and a chemical reaction will take place.

Remove the bowl from the' hot water and add rose water to it. Mix well

Allow the mixture to cool Store it in a non-metallic container.

Use daily just before going to bed.

Homemade Night Cream Recipe #2

This cream is also good for getting rid of lines on the face and throat.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon wheat germ oil
1 tablespoon apricot kernel oil
3 tablespoons boiled water.
8 tablespoons lecithin (the water-dispersible kind).
2 tablespoons avocado oil.
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
2 tablespoons walnut oil.
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder.
A few drops of your favorite perfume.

Preparation:
Blend all the ingredients well in a glass bowl. Make sure that you do riot use granular lecithin or your night cream will not be effective.

Store in a glass jar.

Massage gently on the face and neck. Leave on overnight.

How to Getting Back Your Figure After the Baby is Born?

Usually, a woman puts on about twenty-four pounds of weight during pregnancy.

After the baby is born, about thirteen pounds are lost imme­diately. A few more pounds are lost during the following week. But it can take up to six months more for a mother to regain her normal figure and weight.

Most pregnant women tend to develop poor posture during their pregnancy. This is because they lean back to counteract the weight in front.

Exercises for New Mothers to Getting Back their Figure

Here are some simple exercises to be done after your baby is born, which will help you regain your posture, normal weight, and figure.

Warning:
Before starting exercises, a woman must seek the doctor's confirmation. If he gives you the green signal,-do these exercises gradually.

Exercise to be Done on the First Day:
Lie in bed on your back. Breathe in deeply, expanding tummy muscles. Then breathe out, drawing tummy muscles in lightly. Repeat with knees drawn up and feet flat on the bed. Stimulates blood circulation in the legs by moving feet, ankles and legs occasionally.

On the Second Day, Add this Exercise:
Lie in bed on your back. Cross your ankles and point your toes down-wards. Press thighs and backside together. Tighten tummy muscles and -other muscles in the lower torso area.

Repeat.

Then cross the ankles the other way and do the exercise twice.

This helps to tone up the. muscles stretched during child­birth.

On the Third Day Add this Exercise:
Lie in bed with legs stretched out. Don't bend your knees. Tighten up the right thigh and hip-joint to make your right leg shorter than the left.

Repeat with the other leg.

On the Fifth Day, Add these Exercises:

1. Kneel on your bed or on the floor on all fours. Keep your arms straight (don't bend your elbows) and slightly in front of your shoulders.

Raise back upwards and then lower it.

Repeat.

This exercise is good for strengthening muscles in the abdomen and the back.

2. Lie in bed and raise your head up while simultaneously drawing up one leg" bent at the knees.

Repeat first with the other leg, and then with both legs drawn up at the same time.

This exercise helps to flatten the stomach and helps it to regain its normal shape. It also helps to tone up the muscles at the front of the abdomen.

Beauty Care Tips for Pregnant Women

Make sure you get enough sleep (you need a little more sleep now than usual). Never allow yourself to feel exhausted.

Avoid any strenuous exercising, especially in the first three months. Do, however, get your daily quota of fresh air by going for a short walk.

Feet: Avoid wearing high heels - they'll only. give you back trouble. Wear comfortable, well-fitting shoes with a medium heel.

Legs: Get into the habit of propping your legs up on a stool or cushion when you sit. Sit rather than stand whenever you can. Stand when you must with your feet slightly apart, balancing your weight evenly on both your legs.

Skin: If during the first three months you suddenly develop spots on your face and chest, don't worry too much - this is just a temporary phase and it has to do with the usual hormonal changes that take place when you become pregnant.

Just don't ignore your skin. Follow your regular skincare program.
If, however, you find that your skin becomes drier than usual, make sure that you use a cleanser instead of soap for cleansing your skin.

Nourish your skin well, especially at bedtime.

Teeth: It is of the greatest importance to consult a dentist in the earlier -stages of pregnancy. For at this time the growing baby draws on your reserves of calcium to some extent, and this may cause some dental problems.

Hair: Usually hair grows thick, abundant and glossy during the nine months. If, however, you find that yours becomes lank and difficult, treat it to a good conditioner.

After your baby is born, you may be alarmed at the amount of hair you lose. But this is actually quite normal. What you're losing is, in fact, the hair you would have lost during the nine months in the usual course of events even if you hadn't been pregnant.

Morning Sickness: Morning sickness can sometimes be avoided by eating a small piece of dry toast or a digestive biscuit just as you wake up in the morning.

Remember always to eat a good breakfast.

After the first four months, nausea stops being a serious problem, Hair and skin conditions also improve.

Make-up: Keep your make-up to a minimum; you probably won't need much of it anyway.

Pregnancy and Beauty Care

There me some lucky women who just sail through the nine months of pregnancy feeling marvelous and literally glowing with all the traditional radiance associated with it. Their skin clears up, eyes glow, hair shines and becomes thicker and glossier than usual.

The not-so-fortunate ones have a hard time, especially in the first three months when hormonal changes in the body are at their greatest. They feel sick most of the time, their skin erupts into spots and their hair gets lank and difficult.

A lot depends on a woman's attitude towards pregnancy in general.

Develop a positive attitude, relax, look after yourself well, and you will automatically start feeling much better.

In normal cases, a woman should consult her doctor in about the eighth week of pregnancy. A straightforward and easy birth is more likely if the mother has regular medical check-ups throughout pregnancy, for a doctor can avert any complication if warning signs are detected in time.

During pregnancy, a woman's nutritional needs are at their highest. However, she should guard against overeating and putting on too much weight. It is better for a mother-to-be to eat protein foods such as meat and fish, instead of starchy carbohydrates.

Forget the old saying about "eating for two" - if you overeat, it is you, and not the baby, who will get fat. And you just do not need extra fat when you're carrying your baby.

To keep a check on who's putting on weight - your baby or you, keep a measurement of your upper thigh. Throughout your pregnancy, this measurement should remain more or less constant. At the same time, remember that this is certainly not the time to go on crash diets or diet fads. If you find that you're putting on too much weight consult your doctor - he will be able to give you the necessary advice.

It is essential to take extra iron and calcium during pregnancy. Step up your intake of foods such as eggs, fruits, green vegetables cheese, milk and curd.

Your Beauty Care and Importance of Water

Water constitutes about seventy per cent of the body's weight, and is essential for the well-being of each individual.

Each cell of the body contains and is surrounded by water. It is also an important part of the blood.

In normal circumstances, our water intake is regulated by the natural mechanism of thirst. You feel thirsty the moment your body has lost two per cent of the water that makes up your body weight.

To keep the body working well, drink at least eight glasses of fluid each day. Make sure that a great deal of it is plain water;

Pure unadulterated water is the best thing for you and, what is more, it quenches thirst one hundred per cent!

People who suffer from kidney complaints should immediately step up their intake of water. Other than being an important part of the body cells and blood, water supplies nutrition to the body cells.

Water carries nutrients dissolved in it to all the cells in the body, and carries waste products away from the cells to the excretory organs.

Unless the body is cleared of all the waste products, it is prone to sickness. Your skin will be the first to reveal an ineffective clearing system. It turns dull, lifeless and blotchy. Pimples and acne can also result.

The kidneys are the clearing house for the body's waste products.

Other than removing waste substances from the body, the kidneys help to regulate the mineral salts in the body and control the water balance.

To keep the kidneys working well, help them out by drinking enough water.

In a country like India, a great number of diseases - cholera, typhoid, jaundice etc., are often transmitted through water. For this reason, it is essential to boil water for drinking.

This precaution is a must during the monsoons when due to heavy rains, the water supply gets polluted.

In hotels and restaurants avoid drinking water. One can never be quite sure of its hygienic condition.

At such places drink soda water or any other soft-drink. Soda water is also a tremendous thirst-quencher.

Guide to Electrolysis Hair Removal

Electrolysis, one of the most popular methods of hair removal, is a procedure performed by licensed professionals called electrologists. Hair is removed permanently, as opposed to temporary methods of hair removal like shaving, waxing, and epilation. An electric current (with or without high heat) destroys each hair down to its roots. Most com­monly, a blend of heat and electric current is used.

Although results are excellent, electrolysis is a painful and time-consuming process. The electrologist first needs to find the root of each hair follicle with a magnifying glass before burning it. Often, only twenty-five to seventy-five hairs can be treated in one visit. Multiple visits to the elec­trologist's office are therefore necessary in order to com­plete hair removal in one area. Preferred areas of treatment are bikini lines, underarms, eyebrows, and chin and upper lip areas. In order to relieve some, but not all, of the pain from electrolysis, electrologists often have dermatologists prescribe topical anesthetic creams for their clients to apply just prior to treatment.

Sometimes dermatologists and electrologists work directly together. The dermatologist injects an anesthetic into the area treated. Then the electrologist painlessly removes hair from the numbed area. After a number of treatments, the vast majority of hairs removed with elec­trolysis are permanently eliminated. However, there is a small percentage of hairs that can regrow. Laser hair removal is now the chief competition for electrolysis because it can cover large areas more quickly.

How to Deal with Breast & Stomach Hair

Waxing: Not advisable.

Shaving: Not advisable.

Creaming: Not advisable.

Bleaching: Certainly worth a try.

Tweezing: Risky, but worth a try for a few stray hair.

Electrolysis: Quite safe. Always choose a time after hair has grown for six to seven weeks. Try electrolysis in winter, so that you can give the tiny scabs time to heal before you have to put on your swim-suit.

Self-Examination of the Breasts and the Testes for the Cancer Detection

Everyone can examine herself/himself for the early detection of two important common cancers, viz., cancer of the breast in females, and cancer of the testes in males. The steps in this regard are as follows:

Self-examination of the breasts

(i) See if there is any change in the shape of either of your breasts. You should stand in front of a long wall mirror for comparing the shape.

(ii) Feel your breast one by one with the help of your fingers for any thickening/lump in any of them.

(iii) Also squeeze the nipple of each of your breasts, and see if there is any bleeding or discharge

Self-Examination of the testes:

(i) Palpate each of your testes lightly with the help of your fingers and the thumb. The examination should not be done in a cold atmosphere as the skin of the testes constricts in the cold, and a proper examination may not be possible.

(ii) Look for any change in the size of the testes or a nodule/lump in any of them.

How to Deal with Hair on Arms

Shaving: Not advisable. Though shaving may not encour­age a heavier hair re-growth, the hair grows back stubby, which is most unpleasant.

Creaming: Not advisable, though it is a safer bet than shaving.

Bleaching: Worth a try.

Waxing: By far the best way after electrolysis.

Tweezing: Not advisable because it is highly impractical.

How to Deal with Thigh Hair

Waxing: Effective but more painful than on legs. It can also cause temporary redness.

Shaving: Not advisable because the soft skin can become blotchy.

Creaming: Always use depilatories of facial quality. Ordi­nary creams can cause soreness.

Bleaching: A good camouflage for fine thigh hair.

Tweezing: Not advisable.

Electrolysis: The only 100% cure.

Your Beauty Care and Importance of Sleep

Sleep is imperative for mental and physical health. It is oneof nature's greatest restoratives. Deprived of sleep, we can become mentally disordered till its restorative virtues are once more enjoyed.

What is sleep? It is a recurrent healthy state where our body and mind are in a state of inertia and unresponsiveness.

Sleep helps us to restore our energy, refresh our brain and make the most of our physical resources.

There is no exact formula for just how many hours of sleep you personally need in a day.
At an average, people sleep for about eight hours -a day, but some people can awake refreshed even after four to six hours. Others' need as much as ten hours. Most infants and babies sleep at an average of twelve to fourteen hours each day.

To ensure a relaxing and refreshing sleep, make sure that your bed is comfortable. A mattress that is either too soft or too hard is bad for your spine. Make sure that yours is of just medium softness.

Propping your head, on a pile of pillows will only give you a double chin and a snore.

Remember to use only one single flattish pillow.
. ­
If you have trouble getting sleep, avoid the temptation of swallowing a sleeping pill. These pills do not induce a relaxed and natural sleep. After an unnatural and forced sleep, you get up feeling most unfresh and headachy. More than just that, it does terrible things to your looks.

However, if you do not get the adequate amount of sleep, your skin will show it. It becomes dry, blotchy and lifeless.

To induce sleep, have a warm bath before retiring to bed. Follow it up with a warm drink of milk. Calcium is a natural tranquillizer. If you suffer from sleeplessness, swallow three to four tablets of calcium lactate with milk.

However, keep in mind that sometimes the desire to sleep is absent simply because your body does not require sleep at that moment. Use this time, when your family is fast asleep, for yourself. Read, listen to soft music or simply meditate.

Gradually, as you relax, you will start feeling sleepy.

The importance of a medium soft mattress can never be stressed enough. Other than giving you a backache and other back trouble, a mattress that is too soft can be very uncomfortable as one tends to sleep on it in a slumped position.

If possible, raise the lower part of the mattress (the foot end) so that you sleep with your feet elevated to about six inches or a foot above head level.

This position is ideal because the blood flows back towards the heart and away from the feet.

How to Deal with Leg Hair

It is a good idea to keep legs smooth the year round (not only in summer) for the sake of your own self-confidence.

Waxing: This is the most effective method for removing leg hair.

Electrolysis, of course, is the only permanent method, but waxing is certainly more practical unless you have a lot of time and money to spare. Results last for about six weeks, depending on the rate of your hair growth.

Bleaching: Not really advisable for leg hair unless it is of an extremely fine and soft nature.

Shaving: This is considered by many as the most reason­able and fast way of removing leg hair. However, this has its disadvantage as the hair has to be shaved off every other day.

Creaming: Has longer lasting effects than shaving. But it is more expensive.

How to Deal with Facial Hair

Waxing: Not advisable.

Shaving: Not advisable.

Creaming: Not advisable.

Bleaching: This is a good way of camouflaging facial hair on the upper lip and sides of the face. Remember, however, that bleaching is only effective for fine, downy hair.

Tweezing: If you plan to go in for electrolysis later, remember that plucking hair from your upper lip will make the electrolysist's job more difficult later on.

Plucking is about the best way for removing stray hair around the eyebrows. Remember, however that tweezing must be done every day or every second day to avoid an untidy overgrown look.

Electrolysis: The only permanent way. Go to the best e1ectrolysist your money can afford. Remember that elec­trolysis must only be undertaken by an expert.

How to Deal with Underarm Hair

Underarm hair is a breeding ground for bacteria, especially in the summer. It is important to keep underarms smooth and fresh for the sake of basic hygiene if not for cosmetic reasons.

Shaving: Remember to use a sharp razor. After soaping, shaving and patting dry, sprinkle on some talc. Remember not to deodorize for a couple of hours after shaving, as this will cause severe stinging.

Waxing: Painful, but paying. Avoid waxing underarms at home; you'll probably give up half-way.

Creaming: Gives a slightly smoother finish than shaving and results also last longer.

Bleaching: Not advisable.

Tweezing: Not advisable.

Beaching Recipes for Unwanted Body Hair

A chemical lighting that can only be done in soft, downy hair.

For bleaching, you need a mixture made of one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide and six to eight drops of ammonia. If you find the smell too strong, add some of your pleasant smelling talc to camouflage it.

With a swab of cotton wool, apply the bleaching lotion wherever you want to bleach hair. Leave on for at least fifteen minutes before washing off with cool water.

Creaming, Electrolysis and Tweezing for Unwanted Body Hair

Creaming:
Using depilatory creams chemically dissolves the hair slightly below the skin. As a result of which hair grows back less briskly because its tips are rounded.

Electrolysis:
This is a highly complex, slow and expensive procedure. However, electrolysis is the only permanent cure for unwanted hair. Always remember, electrolysis must only be done by an expert. Electrolysis is a process where the hair root is cauterized with a tiny electric shock.

Tweezing:
This is a slow procedure, as you have to pluck out each individual hair. Advisable only for facial hair.

Shaving for Unwanted Body Hair

Shaving is the easiest and quickest way of dealing with body hair. Despite what may have been said about shaving, it does not encourage a heavier regrowth. Shaving, however, has to be repeated every other day.

For best results, shave immediately after a shower or bath. Use a lot of moisturizer lotion all over legs and then follow by a good soap lather. Wait for a minute and then shave, using long, rather than short strokes.

Rinse the razor after each stroke to make the job easier, neater and smoother.
Repeat twice a week.

Shaving is not suggested for facial hair or for hair on arms, stomach and breasts.

Waxing for Unwanted Body Hair

Waxing is one of the best answers to the problems of underarm, arm and leg hair. Though the procedure is rather painful, it is worthwhile because hair takes about five weeks to grow again. The best thing to do if you decide on this method is to go to a waxing expert or a beautician.

However, if you decide to wax yourself at home by yourself, keep a number of things in mind.

1. Do not apply the wax when it is too hot.

2. Rip it off in one long sudden tug. Ripping off slowly will only cause greater pain.

3 Waxing of facial hair is not advisable.

Bathing and Your Beauty

There was a pries in Bavaria who once said "Water contains healing powers." Whether or not you believe this to be true, you've got to admit that water does have a marvelous capacity for stimulating lazy circulation. Better circulation means a better blood supply, a better blood stream rich in all the nourishment that your body needs.

Water is, moreover, the only thing that can soften your skin. Dried calloused skin will remain so if it is soaked in oil; soaked in water, however, it will soften.

Every woman owes it to herself to spend a little time on her body every day. Make bathing your daily ritual.

Whenever you bathe, make sure that bath water is either tepid or a little warm. Ideally, bath water should be at a temperature just a little above body temperature. A hot bath is weakening; it is also hard on your heart and skin, while a cold water bath constricts blood vessels.

We need soap and water to cleanse our bodies while bathing. Unfortunately, however, while removing dust and dirt from our bodies, we also remove natural body oils with it.

Like the skin on your face, the skin on your body also needs nourishing. Just as you need to nourish and moisturize your facial skin each time you wash it, always remember to give your body a moisturizing massage when you come out of the bath. In winter (and especially if your skin tends to be even a little dry) always add a few drops of bath oil to your bath water.

Weekly Home Pedicure Guide

First get everything you need together

What you need:

Basin for soaking feet.
Pumice stone.
Moisturizing lotion.
Nail clippers.
Emery board.
Cuticle remover.
Orange stick.
Nail polish remover.
Nail polish.
Talcum powder.

Soak your feet in warm soapy water for about five to ten minutes. Relax. Wriggle your toes - that feels good.

Remove feet from the water and dry well with an old soft towel. Use the pumice stone gently on the heels and sides of the foot to remove any thick, dry and dead skin. Remove any dirt that might have accumulated under your toenails through the week.

Soak feet again in warm water for about a minute. Remove and pat dry. With a generous amount of moisturizer or a body lotion, massage your feet, paying special attention to the heels.

Clips your toenails straight across and file with the emery board. Remove all traces of old nail color.

Using your cuticle remover, massage your toenails well, paying special attention to the sides and corners. Gently push back the cuticle with a cotton-wrapped orange stick.

Now apply your nail color. Hold the toe gently between thumb and forefinger while applying nail color. This ensures that your toes will remain steady during this delicate operation!

Make sure that your toenails are absolutely dry and grease-free before applying nail color.

Use small swabs of cotton wool or sponge between toes to prevent smudging.

Apply nail color carefully with three distinct strokes on nail arch. While applying nail color, your hands should always move in the direction away from you. The first stroke should cover the centre panel of the nail. The second and third strokes should cover the side panels.

Before applying a second or third coat, let the nail color dry completely for at least five to seven minutes.

Use your body lotion once more after the final coat is absolutely dry.

Next morning, re-apply more lotion and then dust with talcum powder.

Simple Home Cures for Foot Freshness

Home Remedies for Foot Freshness:

For foot freshness in the summer, soak them for a few minutes in cold salted water.

Cider vinegar can be added to the water instead of salt. Cider vinegar is said to cure itchiness of feet.

Whenever you bathe, remember to use some of your baby oil or lotion on your feet as well. Freshen your feet by sprinkling them with talcum powder.

Simple Treatments for Tired Aching Feet

To give immediate relief to tired aching feet, soak them in warm water to which one ounce of sodium sulphate, three ounces bicarbonate and four ounces regular salt has been added.

A bonus relaxer for both tired feet and legs is to lie down for about ten minutes with your feet at a level of about one foot above the level of your head.

Foot Care – Simple Treatments for Corns

Discard any shoe that is uncomfortable and may cause corns.

Garlic cloves used as compresses on the corns relieve pain.

Try soaking your feet in a pan of warm water to which some salts have been added. Then massage your feet with castor oil.

A piece of lint soaked in turpentine oil and then bandaged over the corn will cure it.

The One Week Hand & Cuticle Care Program

Here's a quick first-aid treatment that should get your hands back in shape.

Every night before going to bed, soak your hands in warm olive oil into which one capsule of vitamin E has been pricked.

After ten minutes take out your hands, massage well, not forgetting your nails. (Throughout this week your hands should stay free from nail color).

Take three tablets of calcium lactate with a glass of warm water. Other than strengthening your nails; calcium is also a natural tranquilizer. It will help you sleep better.

Every morning massage some cream or oil into your hands and nails. Buff your nails - this makes them shinier and healthier by stepping up circulation in the finger tips

Whenever possible, throughout the day, keep massaging little blobs of Vaseline into your hands and nails. Step-up your water intakes but avoid wetting your hands. Do some hand exercises

Concentrate on health foods for nails: milk which gives you calcium and Vitamin D), raw cabbage (Vitamins C & D) and sardines (one of the very few sources of iodine, which does wonders for circulation).

While doing household chores, wear washable cotton gloves. Avoid soaking nails and hands in water for prolonged periods. If you wear gloves, remember to keep taking them off every hour or so for a short while.

Vegetable juices and lemon juice contain acids which do no good to your nails. After chopping vegetables, rinse your hands in cool running water.

If your nails are soft or prone to splitting, take gelatin dissolved in warm milk for a whole week. To rough and brittle cuticles, massage some Vaseline twice-a-day.

Strong detergents not only harm the skin, they play havoc with nails too.

To make your nail color last and to avoid it chipping, always use a pencil for dialing numbers on the telephone.

For nails to remain healthy, it is essential to keep them nail­ color free occasionally. Ideally each time you remove your old nail-color, nails should be allowed to breathe.

However, if you are very particular to have nail-color on all the time, leave your nails bare overnight.

Buffing of nails assures their good health as it helps step up circulation.

Use lemon juice for removing stains from fingers and nails.

A slice of potato also does the same work as lemon juice. While potato juice is milder, it is not also as drying as lemon juice is. However, lemon juice acts faster.

Simple Foot Exercises to Strengthen & Relax Feet

For strengthening and relaxing your feet try this super simple foot exercise. Stand barefoot on the floor and curl your toes under. Hold this position for a second. Repeat several times. This is an excellent exercise because it forces the arch of the foot upwards and strengthens it.

Another exercise to strengthen arches is to stand barefoot and slowly rise as high as possible on tiptoes.

Repeat several times daily and you will find that your feet do not tire so easily.

Foot Care – Simple Treatments for Bunions

More often than not, the reason for bunions is badly fitted shoes.
Bunions are joints in the foot, that, subject to external pressure become raw, swollen and tender. What really happens is that the bone which joins the big toe to the main foot-arch gets out of alignment.

For relief from bunion soreness, be careful of your choice of footwear. Make sure that your shoes do not cramp you across the ball of your feet.

Also paint with equal parts of iodine and castor oil for instant relief.

Homoeopathic medicine Sulphur 6x is also known to give bunion relief.

Sprinkle flowers of sulphur in the feet of socks or stockings. Bunions can also be removed surgically.

Your Beauty with Feet and Toes

Your feet are most definitely the most ignored and badly treated part of the body.

Admit it - you probably do not think about your feet until they start complaining.

If you've been neglecting your feet lately, decide immediately to rectify the mistake. Make it a point to give your feet all the extra care they deserve to make up for the long months of neglect.

Unless you decide to deal with your feet problems now, they can become worse and even turn serious in course of time.

Well-shaped and well-nourished feet are special beauty assets in the summer when they are on display in the barest sandals. For comfort and good health, however, it is essential to keep them in a good condition throughout the year.

One of the greatest and most common crimes against feet is to wear badly fitted shoes and tight socks. Make sure that you always buy the right size of shoes. Shoes should be roomy and should give you arch support.

High heels should ideally have a thick platform sole for best support. Avoid very high-heeled sandals as they upset the right balance of the body. Shoes or sandals that are perfectly flat should also be avoided, as these tend to break down the arches of the feet by not providing proper support.

Late afternoon is the best time for buying shoes. At that time of the day, your feet are slightly larger than they are early morning. This ensures that you get the best possible fit. There will certainly be no cramping.

Your socks or stockings must also fit well. They must not be too tight. This not only cramps your toes, but is terrible for blood circulation.

Home Manicure Tips

What you need;

A bowl of warm soapy water (do not use detergents).
Nail clipper.
Emery board.
Nail polish remover.
Cotton wool.
Nail buffer or a child's toothbrush.
Cuticle cream or Vaseline.
Orange stick with its tip wrapped in cotton woo!.
Nail polish.

Gather all the material you need together.

First clip your nails, if required. Then, using the emery board, file your nails, into a smooth oval shape. Avoid using metal files, they are bad for the nails.

Contrary to the usual practice of removing nail polish before filing, beauty experts have now determined that nails must be filed with old nail color still on them. This protects nails and keeps unsightly ragged ends at a minimum.

While filing, remember not to file into the corners - this promotes nail splitting and breakages.

Next, using a mild oily nail polish remover and a swab of cotton wool, remove every trace of nail color from your nails. Pay special attention to the corners where streaks of nail color can remain unless you are careful. For this, press the soaked cotton wool down firmly on the nail and keep it there for a second. This gives the nail polish remover time to work.

After removing all traces of the old nail color, rinse your hands in water. It is important to remove all traces of the remover. Use a soft nail brush and soapy water.

Then rinse your hands and nails in cold water and pat dry.

With the cuticle cream or Vaseline, massage the nails, paying special attention to the sides and corners.

After about five minutes, soak your hands in warm water again.

By now your cuticles will have softened. Push them back gently with the cotton wrapped orange stick.

Now comes the time to use nail color. Shake up the bottle of your favorite nail color and apply a very thin coat as the base. Don't stop at the tip of the nail, instead carry the brush over the tip so that the nail color paints the backs of the nails. Besides protecting tips, this also looks nicer.

Five minutes later when the first coat is dry, apply another coat. Give it another five minutes to dry.

Now apply the third and final coat. Let it dry.
Nail color should be applied in three strokes. The first stroke up the centre from the cuticle to the nail tip, the second and third on either sides.

General Hand Care Tips

Wear rubber or cloth gloves for jobs around the house.

Once you get used to them, jobs like cutting and peeling vegetables are not as difficult as you might first believe them to be. If, however, the gloves (cotton ones) get wet, do take them off and let them dry before you put them on again.

Also do try to avoid direct contact with chemical cleaners, detergents and metal polishes.

Try to protect your hands from sudden changes or extremes of temperature. These are bad for circulation and give rise to chilblains.

Exercise your hands daily for suppleness. You can exercise your hands by bending fingers up and down fifteen or twenty times daily. To pep up circulation, take the fingers of one hand in the other and then gently pull each individual finger.

Lemon Juice for Your Hand Care

Lemon juice acts as a whitening agent. Use pure lemon juice on your hands and leave on for fifteen to twenty minutes. Wash off with warm water. Pat dry and then use a rich nourishing cream. Lemon juice can be drying.

Homemade Egg White Hand Cream

1 egg white
2 tablespoons glycerin
2 tablespoons honey
ground barley

Mix the first three ingredients with enough ground barley to make a smooth soft paste that will not drip off your hands. Apply to hands and leave on for about half an hour. Wash off with warm water. Pat dry.

Homemade Almond Oil Hand Cream

2 tablespoons almond oil
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon rose-water
1/2 teaspoon benzoin tincture

Blend into a fine paste. Use on hands as often as you like. Keep in a bottle and refrigerate. This cream should keep well for about two days.

Hand Care Tips for Dry and Rough Hands

Like all other parts of the body, the skin on your hands can get rough and dry when it is deprived of natural oils. Remember that with every treatment you pick for your hand care, it must be regularly repeated for good results.

One old-time recipe for keeping hands soft and well nourished is to soak about 1/4th kg of oatmeal in a quart of warm water. Leave overnight. Next morning strain it. To the liquid that you get, add one teaspoon of olive-oil, one teaspoon rose-water, one teaspoon of glycerin, one table­spoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of diluted ammonia and mix well.

Preserve this lotion in a bottle and use on your hands at least three to four times a day.

To repair the damage done by soaps, hard detergents and aids, rub your hands with a mixture made of equal amounts of rose­water and glycerin.

Remedies for rough and dry hands include massaging them with equal parts of lanolin, cocoa, butter and almond oil.

Mix two tablespoons of almond oil with one egg yolk and one teaspoon of honey. Massage well into the hands and then put on cotton gloves. After an hour remove gloves and wash hands with a mixture of equal portions of clear water and vinegar.

Keep the excess lotion in a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator. This lotion should keep well for about two weeks. Use twice daily.

To soften hands, soak them in a mixture of honey and orange juice for about ten minutes. Wash with warm water, pat dry and then apply a hand cream.

Vaseline (petroleum jelly) mixed with carbolic acid, or just by itself, should be left on overnight for softening very rough hands.

Also try rubbing them with camphor ice and massaging them with pure cocoa butter.

How to Keep Your Hands Soft and Pretty?

Your hands are on show just as much as your face; you must look after them. If you've been neglecting them, they will show it.

Men always notice your hands and, believe me, there is nothing that can bring down an attractive woman quite as fast as dry uncared-for hands with chipped nails or peeling nail colors.

Hands usually show signs of age faster than any other part of the body. While you can caver up skin blemishes and feature flaws with make-up, remember that it is harder to hide imperfections of your hands because you don't wear make-up on them.

You could cover your face with make-up, your hair with a wig, your feet with shoes or sandals. But, except for short periods when you could wear gloves, you cannot disguise your hands.

As with all other things, perfect hands, too, are rare. But even if you cannot do anything about the shape and size of your hands, you can make them appear infinitely better if they are soft, clean and graceful.

General house work and cooking can play havoc with hands, leaving them rough, dry and calloused. Hands are one of the hardest worked parts of the body and they need special care.

The first golden rule for hand care is to cream them after each wash. This prevents roughness and dryness. If you do your own kitchen work, keep the hand cream or lotion near the kitchen sink to remind you of the importance of well-nourished hands.

Glycerin, almond oil and lanolin - all three help to soften the skin. Try to check that your hand cream contains at least one of these ingredients.

If your hands are dry and chapped, give them a little extra time before going to bed. After cleaning your hands, pat them dry with a towel, apply a generous layer of cream. Massage well and allow to work overnight.

Useful Tips about Lips & Applying Lipstick

Soft moist lips are good news throughout the year.

The texture of your lips must always be satiny smooth. To soften chapped, sore or peeling lips, use a good lip balm or chap-stick overnight.

Lipstick not only makes your mouth soft and moist, it also helps define your lips and make your teeth look whiter than they actually are.

Here are some useful tips on applying lipstick

If your lips are too thin and straight, apply your lipstick from slightly above the line of the upper lip and slightly below the line of the lower lip. Curve the lines slightly.

If your mouth is too small, bring your lip color a little out of the corners of the mouth.

If your lips have a bluish tinge, a yellow-tinted lipstick worn under a normal color will help. Avoid Indian pinks, bluish reds and mauvy shades.

You can ‘draw out' a timid under lip by applying a dark lip color on the upper lip and a paler one on the lower lip.

For a mouth that is too pouty, reverse the coloring. This time apply a pale color on the upper lip and a darker one on the lower one.

Make your lips look fuller by using a darker and richer shade in the centre and a lighter one in the corners.

Simple Tips for a Lovely Beautiful Smile

An attractive and lovely smile can be a very great asset. Nothing can be more upsetting than discolored teeth and a bad breath.

Always use a mouth wash after meals, and especially if you've just had a spicy meal. Listerine is a great refresher of foul breath. Bad breath can also be a sign of dental trouble or stomach disorder.

Brush your teeth regularly at least twice a day. Once before sleeping at night and once again when you get up in the morning. Use a firm toothbrush of medium hardness. The best way of brushing your teeth is by moving your brush up and down, nor side to side. This helps dislodge food particles hiding in the little crevices between the teeth. Message your gums to stimulate circulation.

Visit a doctor regularly - at least once every six months. The doctor will help you to keep a check on plaque and tartar formation as well as tooth cavities. Plaque builds up to provide a hard crusting over the enamel surface of the tooth. Tartar is formed by calcium deposits forming behind and between the teeth. Both tartar and plaque are extremely harmful and can lead to painful and unnecessary gum disorder.

Rose water cleans the mouth and acts as a mouth wash.

For refreshing your mouth, dilute a few drops of peppermint spirit in half a cup of water and gargle with it.

To make teeth sparkle bright, mix one teaspoon of table salt with one teaspoon of soda bicarb, and brush with this mixture.

To keep teeth healthy and strong, take calcium tablets occasionally.

Always end your meal with some raw and crunchy food or vegetable. This ensures that sticky deposits are removed from the back surfaces of the teeth.

Sweets, chocolates, squashes - all these are bad for the teeth.

Wherever possible, replace them with natural sweets or unsweetened fruit juices.

Strong tea or coffee and, cigarette smoking all discolor teeth.

The twig of a neem tree makes a natural freshener of mouth and cleanser of teeth.

If your teeth are crooked or your mouth overcrowded, make sure your toothbrush has, rounded bristles. Rounded bristles prevent wounding and bleeding of gums as well as make your brushing more effective.

Brown Sugar Body Scrub

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground oats

2 tablespoons aloe vera gel

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon almond oil or olive oil

Before you start preparing this scrub, grind the oatmeal using a coffee grunder or food processor. It has to be of sandy consistency, flaky and light otherwise it will scratch the skin.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until it resembles a paste

It should be applied on moist skin, the best time is after you took a shower. It will help the skin cells slough off faster.

Use circular motion and massage gently using your fingertips.

Rinse off with warm water.

A Guide for Spectacle Frames

Instead of being a handicap, spectacles can sometimes become one of your most attractive accessories.

Here are some tips to help you choose your spectacle frames.

Frames must suit the shape of your face. Ideally a short face takes shallow frames best; while a long face adapts best to deep ones. While deciding on the line of the frame, follow the shape of your eyebrows as closely as possible.

If your nose is short, your frame should be light in color and set high on the top of your nose.

If your nose is long, your frame should fit low on the nose. If your eyes are close-set, keep the bridge of the frame colorless.

If, however, you feel that spectacles are just not right for you, contact lenses are the answer.
Get yourselves the best glasses or contact-lenses that money can buy. Be sure to go to a good modern ophthalmologist who will test your eyes thoroughly.

Remember, well-fitted and attractive glasses help you to look and feel years younger because they remove the strain in and around your eyes.

Homemade Anti-Wrinkle Cream Recipes for Crows-feet

1 pound pure raw lanolin
I small bottle sweet almond oil
Melt the lanolin over a slow fire and gradually add the sweet almond oil. The mixture must not get too thin.

Castor oil, olive oil and petroleum jelly are all good for combatting crows-feet.

The raw potato compress (Home Cure for Dark Eye Circles) is also good for fighting crows-feet.

Home Made Eye-wash Recipes

To boiling water add a pinch of boric acid. Allow to cool. This eye-wash is good for tired inflamed eyes.

People who suffer from weak eyesight or inflamed eyes should use this eye-wash:

Mix one teaspoon of plain boiled water with two table­spoons of rose-water and five drops of tincture of eupho­rias. Blend well.

Simple Eye Care Tips

Never make the mistake of using old bottles of eye drops. Drops that have been stored for too long can become infected with germs or moulds as they change chemically. These can be positively dangerous.

If your eyesight is weak, you must wear glasses. However, wear your glasses only when you need to. Eye muscles cannot relax as long as you are wearing them.

If you cannot do without glasses, take them off for a few minutes, from time to time, during the day. Take this time off to do some eye­ relaxing exercises which are given at the beginning of this chapter.

Also people who wear glasses should have their eyes re-tested every two years.

Natural Eye Care Remedies & Tips

Cucumber slices on the eyes are tremendous revivers for tired, red eyes.

Increase your water intake to at least eight glasses per day. Other than doing tremendous things for your complexion, this helps to keep eyes clear and healthy. In some cases it is also known to remove dark circles.

Use salt to remove puffiness of the under-eye area (preferably sea salt). Dissolve one teaspoon salt in one cup of hot water. Soak two small cotton pads in this solution. Apply to eyelids until the pads cool. Then rinse with cold water.

To get rid of crows-feet or the tiny lines around the eyes, hold a cold water wash-cloth against your dosed eyes for a couple of minutes every morning.

Always massage your eyes in the same direction as the lines. Horizontally, never up and down.
For grit in the eye, introduce one drop of castor oil into the eye, using a dropper.

For cataract, take homoeopathic Calcarea Iodine 6.

For scaly eyelids, take at least one teaspoon of vegetable oil every day on salads or vegetables.

Home Remedies for Dark Eye Circles – The Raw Potato Compress

Dark circles, usually, respond well to a potato compress.

Scrub and grate a small potato and fill it in two gauze squares. Apply these to the under-eye areas. Relax with the potato compress on your under-eye area for about half an hour. Then wash off with cool water and use a moisturizer.

Tips for the Care of Your Eyes

Other than giving your eyes the right kind of feeding, sleep is also very vital for clear healthy eyes. Sleep is also imperative for mental and physical health. You need at an average at least eight hours of sleep in a day; without it, your eyes become dull, puffy and red. Dark circles also appear.

Eye problems can arise from stomach ailments. Lemon juice in warm water, first thing in the morning, keeps your stomach free from disorders.

A great reviver for tired eyes, if you just don't have time for a nap, is to relax for ten to fifteen minutes with cotton pads soaked in weak warm tea placed on the eyelids.

This rests and brightens the eyes. A variation of this warm tea compress is a compress of witch hazel (witch hazel should be available at most good chemists). Just soak cotton pads in witch hazel and use in the same way.

Removal of Eye Make-Up (Tips and Guide)

The under-eye area has a minimum of oil glands. It is probably the most delicate part of your face.

Always remove eye make-up with the greatest possible care, being careful not to stretch or tug the skin around .the eyes.

Use an eye make-up remover. Johnson’s Baby Oil is an excellent eye make-up remover.

Soak a small swab of cotton wool into your remover. Remove make-up with gentle arid light strokes.

The Best Way of Applying Mascara

Although eye shadow defines and dramatizes your eyes, only your eyelashes are in a position actually to reflect color into the eyes themselves.

To really emphasize the color of your eyes, you must frame them with a related shade of mascara.

The best way of applying mas­cara is to look down into a mirror while applying your mascara wand to the base of the top eyelashes. Float the mascara wand through the lashes. Repeat as often as you like.

Next, looking up into the mirror, stroke the mascara wand over the lower lashes in a downward direction. Use the tip of the brush.

Now you have not only lengthened, thickened and colored your eyelashes, but also intensified your eye color and made the whites of your eyes seem whiter.

Use an eyelash curler. Curling eyelashes has a great eye-opening effect; and it only takes a second.

Eye Shading Guide – Tips for Eye Shading

Shading and highlighting used correctly add contour and intensity to the eyes.

Pressed powders are easy to apply, while creams give you a silky long-lasting color and a lustrous look.

The best way to apply an eye shadow is to raise your chin and then look down into a mirror. Apply the eye shadow either with the aid of a brush or a foam-tipped applicator.

If you prefer not to use the eye shadow in summer, 'that's okay. But do give this a try.

With a brush, draw a thin line of brown cake eye shadow just into the crease of the eyelid and blend. 'Don't blend down on to the eyelid, just follow the crease.