Stay simple, keep skin looking young longer…

Stay simple, keep skin looking young longer…

How your skin looks reflects on your attitude! There is no end to over-the-counter moisturizers and their overwhelming advertisements, be it on television, social media or billboards. All big celebrities and social media personalities are coming up with their brands, and just plastering their name and picture on the product seems to work in their favor! Anyway, here I want to pen down few skincare tips that work for me. I love to stay basic and simple. So, for me, the biggest secret of good skin is staying natural, proper hydration, and good sleep.

I like to drink water, but then again, who doesn’t! ‘Liking to drink water’ versus ‘drinking enough water’ are two different things. Drinking enough water helps us stay hydrated. Generally, everyone should drink at the least 64 ounces (8 glasses of 8 ounces) of water. If one wants to be precise, amount of water to drink in a day is half the weight of one in ounces, so example, if one is 120 pounds, one should be drinking 60 ounces of water in a day. A good water intake keeps toxins at bay, and skin feels and breathes better. Washing face with lukewarm water in the morning and at night also helps provide hydration to skin externally. When it comes to washing my face, I prefer using clay. I have used clay since childhood but using the clay powder dirties my sink and becomes inconvenient. There are some clay-based cleansers now, but if you really read the label, you will see that the clay is just a marketing gimmick and it is actually full of chemicals. I use a Fuller’s Earth-based cleanser which has rose and orange extracts with an olive oil base. This is extremely convenient; you open the jar, scoop out a bit, thin in your palms, and rub it on the face to clean away impurities. Easy, quick, and clean. It is like having an “ubtan” in a jar and using it every day! Here is the link for my face wash in case you want to try it. https://www.flowersandoils.com/product-page/face-wash.

Exfoliating once or twice a week is a good idea. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells and helps bring newer skin cells up. You can use simple sugar from your kitchen with some oil or lemon juice, but again the fact that you must take your time to go make that and apply it makes it harder to do in today’s hectic lifestyle. Here is a scrub that I have made, fast, efficient and all natural. https://www.flowersandoils.com/product-page/face-scrub. It has pomegranate seeds which are full of antioxidants. The seeds are natural beads which scrub away dirt. Rose petals soothe skin. The orange peels are rich in fiber, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B6, calcium, and other essential nutrients. The peel has anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties which make it great for treating acne and oily skin. It also works as a skin lightening agent and can-do wonders for dark marks on the face and pigmentation.

It is important to select brands that are simple with natural and organic ingredients for moisturizers, serums, and makeup. And do not go with just the tag of all natural and organic. Read the label and understand if they are all-natural or just adding one or two natural things but the rest is all petrochemicals! I have oily skin and I prefer using almond oil-based face oil. I created my own blend that is noncomedogenic, light, and fragrant. Almond oil nourishes, revitalizes, softens, and improves the skin's elasticity to effectively prevent signs of ageing. Historically, almond oil had been used in Ancient Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Greco–Persian schools of Medicine to treat dry skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Also, Almond oil has emollient and sclerosant properties and, therefore, has been used to improve complexion and skin tone. Blending with flower extracts and essential oils provide boost to almond oil properties. Adding turmeric adds antiseptic properties and per Ayurveda, turmeric clears skin tone. Saffron has been proved to be an effective sunscreen, so choosing a face oil with saffron gets you that natural sunscreen effect. Check out my face oil blend, which captures all the goodness of various natural ingredients. https://www.flowersandoils.com/product-page/faceoil

Always remember to apply sunscreen before leaving the house. Sun damage is real and causes ugly sunspots or even cancer. Once you have them, it takes time to get rid of them.

It is important to massage facial muscles regularly. Therefore, going for regular facials is a good idea. If you can do that, make sure you follow some basic facial exercises. There are tons of resources on YouTube for facial exercises to follow. It is also very important to get a good night’s sleep. This helps recover our system including our skin.