General Hair Tone-Up Tips - To brush or not to brush?

Some experts today Say careless brushing can do more harm that good. However, you cannot go wrong by bending over so your hair flops over your face, and , gently brushing the back of your hair down its entire length. Brushing activates the sebaceous glands which produce natural oil which, in turn, makes your hair shine. The proverbial hundred strokes should do.

Hair Shampooing and Conditioning Tips

Shampooing is the only treatment your hair cannot absolutely do without. Remember - shampoo is one of your most important cosmetics. Make sure you choose it with as much care as you would choose your facial cosmetics. Harsh shampoos strip the natural oil from the hair and spoil its condition.

While shampooing use the smallest amount of shampoo that you can, to do the job. If you shampoo your hair very frequently, make sure you use a mild shampoo.

Before shampooing rinse your hair well. It helps to get rid of surface dirt.

Instead of pouring shampoo directly on your hair, pour it on your wet palms. Rub your palms together to work up a lather before applying to the hair. This ensures better coverage. Shampoo in the shower, to make plenty of rinsing in lots of running water, easy. It is an absolute must to get all the shampoo out of your hair. Any trace of it left on will make your hair lifeless and dull; also hair will not hold a set well.

If you wash your hair very often -every day or so- one lather should do. Hair washed once or twice a week should be lathered again.

A conditioner offers your hair a buffer against external damage; and also makes it more manageable. After rinsing out your final lather, do use it.
Remember, however, that it's your hair that need conditioning, not your scalp.

Make sure to remove excess water from your hair before application of conditioner, or else it will be diluted and rendered less effective Carefully follow the instructions which accompany your conditioner jar.

Finally rinse well.

Sun-Tan Removers - Recipes for Sun-Tan

All sunburn aids - vinegar, milk, potato juice and cucumber juice- are good for removing sun-tan.

Basically, these sun-tan removers have a drying effect on the skin. If you have a dry skin, make sure that you use a moisturizer after these treatments.

Grape juice also has the same bleaching qualities that lemon juice has. It is, however, a milder bleach than lemon juice.

After washing a small bunch of grapes thoroughly, sprinkle it small quantity of table salt and powdered alum on it. Wrap either in aluminium foil or brown paper. Bake in the oven at a low temperature for about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze out the juice and apply to face. Leave onto dry for about 15-20 minutes. Then wash off with cool water.

Sunburn-Soothers

* Cod-liver oil, often used for baby's skin irritation, helps when applied to painful areas. Or try a mixture of half a pint of milk and a mashed cucumber.

* Vinegar patted on sun burnt areas is very soothing.

* Pat sun burnt areas immediately with half a cup of milk to which a pinch of borax has been added.

* Grate one fresh raw potato. Extract juice by squeezing in a cheese-cloth. Apply to painful areas. This treatment also provides immediate relief.

* Calamine lotion (available at most chemists) applied liberally on affected areas and left on to dry is also a great sunburn soother.

* To one raw egg white add one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of hazel. Apply on affected areas, leave on for 5-10 minutes. Wash off with tepid water.

Natural Home Remedies for Large Pores – Tips for Large Pores

* Buttermilk has superb astringent qualities. It he1ps to reduce oversized pores. Pat it on your face with cotton wool and leave on for 7-10 minutes.
Wash off with cool water.

* The juice of lettuce leaves is also a good astringent which can be used in the same way.

* Slices of raw fresh tomatoes left on the skin for 10 to 15 minutes also have an astringent effect on the skin. Also, the amino acid in the tomatoes helps clear the skin.

* The white of an egg applied on the face (not around the eye area), however, and left on for 15 minutes has a tightening effect on large pores. Wash off egg white from the face with cool water.

* Make a soft paste by mixing powdered alum with a raw egg white and rose water. Pat on face avoiding eye areas. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then wash off with cool water.

* Application of equal parts of vinegar and water mixed well on the face acts as an. astringent as well as skin tonic.

* Make a paste of equal amounts of cornmeal and oatmeal in hot water. While the paste is still hot, pat it on the face, avoiding eye area. Leave it on for about 20-30 minutes before washing off with cold water. Then pat on an astringent. This helps to make the skin fine as well as to tighten pores.

Natural Home Remedies for Blackheads – Tips for Blackheads

It is most important to keep face and skin scrupulously clean.

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  Use an oatmeal Or almond meal mask thoroughly to cleanse your face. Mix either oatmeal or almond meal with just enough water to make a soft paste that spreads easily on the skin. Rub it on your skin with your finger-tips, paying special attention to the problem areas. Leave to dry for about 10-.l 5 minutes and then rinse off with cool water.


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  Apply undiluted lemon juice, two to three times a day, on the affected areas.


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  Make a solution with about 36 grams of soda bicarbonate dissolved in about 8 ounces of distilled or boiled water. Rub on affected areas.


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  Make a paste with about four ounces of grated almonds, two ounces of a glycerin soap one ounce Fuller's earth and a little distilled or boiled water. Apply on trouble spots. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off with cool water.


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  Steam your face for about 5-7 minutes. With the help of facial tissue or sterilized cotton wool, squeeze out black­ heads gently. Rinse your face with cool water and then pat on an astringent.
  


• Warm a little honey and apply on trouble spots. Wash off after 10-15 minutes.
  


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  Treatment with the rays of an ultra-violet lamp two to three times a week is also good for a skin troubled with blackheads.

Natural Home Remedies for Acne – Tips for Acne

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  As the first step towards an acne-free skin should be purification of blood, take homoeopathic sulphur (in the 30th potency) for three or four weeks. The dose is five pellets, morning and night.


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  Mix equal parts of mutton tallow, glycerin and castor oil. Melt over slow heat. Let cool, and store the solution in a glass jar. Apply to pimples till they heal.


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  Spirit of camphor patted on pimples, three to four times a day, makes them dry-up and disappear. If pimples have heads, apply a hot cloth on them till they burst. Then pat on camphor.


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  This prevents further infection and makes the blemishes .heal rapidly.


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  Mix 36 grams of soda bicarbonate and 1 ounce of Spermacetti ointment to form a smooth paste.Apply to affected areas. After 15 minutes, wipe off excess, leaving a slight film over the face.


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  Peel and cut 2-3 onions. Cook with lard on slow heat until transparent. When cool, put it in a piece of muslin or cheese cloth and apply to pimples and do this twice a day.
  

Your diet should be one that includes plenty of fresh fruit, salads and raw-vegetable juices.

Fried foods, cakes, pastries, pies, etc., should be avoided. Whole wheat bread and wheat germ bread should replace white bread.

Substitute honey or molasses for sugar, jams and marma­lades. Avoid salted foods and increase the intake of curd. Remember finally, that exercise does wonders for your skin as it starts the healing process moving more quickly.