Natural Beauty At Home

Letha Hadady

Look Great, Save Money

Posted July 31, 2009

By Letha Hadady

Caring touch brings people closer especially when done with a smile, a soft word and warm hands. Massage helps normalize circulation, firm muscles, replenish nerves, and improve skin tone by bringing oxygen and blood where needed.

If you can afford it, a monthly exfoliating facial or dermabrasion treatment will keep your complexion polished. But nothing replaces the gentle daily care you give your skin. You will be happy to know that some of your favorite foods are also facial ingredients that nourish and protect the complexion. Papaya enzyme powder removes dead skin cells when mixed with water or cleansing cream and is applied for up to ten minutes as a facial pack. Coconut oil chemically resembles human mother's milk. It gives the complexion a healthy sheen as is nourishes and moistens. Tea's antioxidants heal burns, abrasions, and begins the healing process for irritated, troubled skin. Keep natural facial ingredients in a cool dry place. Oils should be refrigerated and discarded if they develop an odor.

Home facial treatments lift tired spirits and smooth wrinkles. When applying cleansers, masks or creams always stroke gently from the hairline and temples toward the nose and mouth. To drain the lymphatic system stroke toward the heart upwards on the arms, downwards on the neck, and inward towards the nipples and heart.

Cleanse, Refresh, Replenish
Avoid using soap and scented products on the face except for those containing essential oils. Soap robs the skin of protective oils, increasing dryness. Alcohol, drying and aging for the complexion, is added to commercial complexion or perfume products to preserve their fragrance. If you have rosacea (broken facial capillaries) or delicate, thin skin, avoid all complexion products with alcohol. The following mixtures and masks can be used daily. A mask does not have to be a big deal. You can leave it on for five minutes during your morning shower.

Facial Steams
To open pores and refresh facial circulation steam your face for five minutes with a pot of herbal tea. Use 1 teaspoon dried herbs per 2 cups of boiling water. Pour it into a non-metal bowl and make a tent over your head with a towel. Inhale the relaxing aroma.

Chamomile tea works well for most skin types, especially for tired, mature, and fragile skin. Other useful steams and rinses for mature skin are bay leaf, cinnamon, eucalyptus, fennel seeds, or rosemary. Bay is calming; cinnamon invigorating and warming; fennel (cooling) improves circulation in the face, neck and breast; and rosemary is stimulating for sallow complexions. If you prefer to use essential oils, mix 10 drops of the oil with 1 teaspoon of milk then add it to very hot water.

Facial Washes and Masks
A facial wash is a runny paste you might mix in your hands or a small glass using a spoon. A mask may contain the same ingredients that you leave on longer. Apply it over face and neck immediately and leave it on briefly or let it dry before washing it off. You might rinse with strained, cold chamomile or other herbal tea.

Irritated or itchy skin
2 tablespoons aloe vera juice 1 teaspoon powdered milk

Dry, crusty skin with bumps or blackheads
2 tablespoons African Redbush (rooibos) or green tea ½ teaspoon papain powder (papaya enzyme powder)

Mature wrinkled or dry, undernourished skin
At least twice a week, apply this super rich mask:
The contents of 1 capsule of flax seed oil (550 mgs) 2 teaspoons of warm milk

Apply it evenly over face and neck. Let it penetrate as you lie back, prop your feet up and relax. Flax seed oil is an excellent source of omega oils and certainly tastes and smells better than fish! After fifteen minutes of calming music, rinse the mask off with warm water or mint tea.

Wrinkles are increased by muscle tension caused by squinting. Get your glasses checked to make sure you are not scowling. Mint also help smooth muscles. That's why it is recommended for indigestion. Applied to the face, cool mint tea feels relaxing and refreshing. To soothe, nourish, and protect mature skin steam your face a few minutes with warm mint tea, apply a dab of organic coconut oil (contains antimicrobial lauric acid) and smooth it over your face and neck. It smells good enough to eat and easily penetrates to soften rough or troubled skin. If necessary, rinse with warm mint tea.

Sallow-looking, dull skin (not for blemishes)
½ teaspoon each of jojoba and mild sesame oil 5-10 drops of (stimulating) essential oil of lavender

Ruddy complexion or rosacea
1 teaspoon of sunflower oil 10 drops of essential oil of lemon.

Facial Mists
Mist work nicely any time of day especially in very dry climates for dry sensitive skin. Use them to stabilize makeup, reactivate your moisturizer or to refresh positive emotions. The best beauty treatments are made with a combination of herbal teas and homeopathic remedies. Here are a few. In a clean glass spray bottle shake until mixed 4 ounces of organic white tea or African red bush tea along with 10 pills of the appropriate homeopathic remedy at 30 C strength. Those teas are especially good sources of antioxidants.

Normal to dry skin: homeopathic gold (Aurum metalicum) 30C strength.
Combination skin: homeopathic gold and silver (Argentum) both 30C strength.
Blemished or ruddy skin: homeopathic copper (Cuprum) 30C strength.
Mature skin: homeopathic gold or a combination of 12 essential minerals (tissue salts) called Bioplasma or Schuessler tissue salts.

Letha Hadady is the author of many personal transformation books, including Feed Your Tiger: The Asian Diet Secret for Permanent Weight Loss and Vibrant Health. She is widely acknowledged as a top expert on natural health and beauty. Her website is AsianHealthSecrets.com.