You can spend a lot of money on face creams, cleansers and the like. Natural remedies require a bit of work, but are a lot cheaper and are possibly better for you than a pot load of chemicals. Unless otherwise specified, rinse all of these off with lukewarm water.

DRY AND/OR SENSITIVE SKIN

Dry and/or sensitive skin will benefit from:

Bananas. Mash a whole banana and apply. Leave on for no more than 5 or 10 minutes, then rinse off completely.

Honey is great for dry skin. A tablespoon of honey, a lightly beaten egg white and a teaspoon of glycerin, mixed together with finely ground oatmeal to make a paste, is a great moisturizer. Apply, rinse off thoroughly after about 20 minutes. Glycerin can be bought from chemists’ shops quite easily. It’s also good for mouth ulcers – apply a couple of drops on a fingertip to the ulcer. It helps slough off the skin, which sounds horrible but speeds up the healing process.

Half a cup of canned coconut milk, warmed in the microwave until runny – about 30 seconds on high – mixed with two tablespoons of honey, smells like summer on the beach. Massage into the skin, rinse off after about 10 minutes.

Honey is also believed to be a natural antiseptic. Useful if you have any pimples or cuts on your face.

OILY SKIN

A good skin toner can be made out of one teaspoon of cider vinegar and two tablespoons of water. The cider vinegar does smell rather strong, though.

Tomatoes are beneficial for oily skin because they contain natural exfoliatens and acids. Skin a ripe tomato and puree briefly, then apply, washing off after 15 minutes. (It’s a bit difficult to get it to stay on the face, though – it tends to slide off).

A bit of raw oatmeal, mixed with half a cup of lemon juice and a lightly beaten egg white to make a paste, does wonders for oily skin. Rinse off once the paste has fully dried out.

Oily skins can be balanced out with strawberries. Crush a handful of strawberries and apply for five minutes. Like tomatoes, a little difficult to keep on the face.

Honey is not just good for dry skins. A mixture of a pureed ripe peach and a teaspoon of honey is great for oily skins, too. Rinse off after five minutes.

FACE MASKS

Apply a soothing facemask once a week and watch your skin benefit.

Pawpaws contain a tenderizing enzyme. Mash half a medium-sized ripe pawpaw, mix with one well-beaten egg white. Rinse when the mask is almost dry to the touch.

Two tablespoons of aloe vera (or honey), mixed into a paste with two tablespoons of almost meal, makes a nice face mask that should be left on to dry for about fifteen minutes.

Mix two tablespoons of honey with two tablespoons of plain yogurt. Leave to dry for about 20 minutes.

Wrinkles may be kept at bay with a Vitamin E mask. Mix one egg yolk with the contents of a Vitamin E capsule (you want the oil inside the capsule, not the capsule itself – snip off one end with scissors and pour the oil carefully into the egg yolk). Rinse off after fifteen minutes.

Sensitive skin, which is often aggravated by facemasks, will enjoy a soothing treat with this one. Enough pureed green grapes to cover the face, left on for 20 to 30 minutes while you relax – good enough to eat.

Stew an apple gently in milk for 20 to 30 minutes. Puree it and apply, warm but not hot, and rinse off when cool.

Two tablespoons of sour cream, mixed with a grated raw potato (medium-sized), can be left on for 20 minutes before being rinsed off.

Try these suggestions, you will be captivated by the fresh smell.

]]> http://www.skin-care.us/409/ayurvedic-skin-care-for-different-skin-types.html/feed 0 http://www.skin-care.us/406/ayurvedic-skincare-better-skin-in-natural-way-2.html http://www.skin-care.us/406/ayurvedic-skincare-better-skin-in-natural-way-2.html#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:09:28 +0000 admin http://www.skin-care.us/?p=406 Natural creams and lotions are great for your skin, but if you want your skin to look good day after day and year after year, you have to work on it from the inside out. Ayurveda — the 5,000-year-old system of holistic healing from India — contends that a balanced diet, proper digestion and regular elimination are vital for clear glowing skin. “Ama” — the residue of improper digestion that can accumulate in the body — is the Number 1 enemy of healthy skin, leading to lifelessness and breakouts, according to ayurvedic dermatologist Rama Kant Mishra.

So what should you feed your skin to keep it looking good?
To follow ayurvedic principles for diet, you first need to figure out which of the following three categories your skin falls into:

If your skin is dry, thin and sensitive, susceptible to dullness and wrinkles, you have Vata type skin.

Pitta skin tends to be reddish, warm and extremely sensitive, prone to breakouts and easily affected by the foods you eat, heat and sun.

Kapha skin tends to be lustrous, oily, and thick in texture. It is prone to clogged pores, breakouts and toxic buildup.

Once you’ve determined the predominant ayurvedic category your skin falls into, you can try some of these suggestions for feeding your skin right.

“(The) statistics (on heart disease) may sound shocking and indeed have been used to frighten women into taking HRT for prevention,” says Nancy Lonsdorf, author of A woman’s Best Medicine for Menopause. “A better use for them is to motivate you to start exercising and eat a healthier diet, because the good news about heart disease is that nearly all of it is preventable, and much of it may be reversible.”

The Ayurvedic View of the Heart
According to the ayurvedic perspective, the heart has two equally important aspects that need to be taken into account when discussing heart health-the physical aspect of the organ that pumps blood and the emotional heart that experiences every human emotion from joy to sorrow. “The heart is the seat of prana, or life-force,” says ayurvedic expert Rama Kant Mishra. “It is also the repository of the eight essential drops of ojas in the body.” Ayurveda defines ojas as the substance that sustains life and promotes vitality, longevity and bliss. “Ojas is like a lamp in a doorway, lighting both inside and outside,” says Dr. Lonsdorf. “In one stroke, ojas both infuses your mind with bliss and enlivens the healing intelligence of the physical body.” The ayurvedic approach to heart health focuses as much on building up ojas as it does on strengthening and nourishing the physical muscle.

Ayurvedic healers recognized many millennia ago what modern medicine says today-that eating fatty foods in excess (which do not get completely digested and create toxins (ama) in the system) and too much stress are the prime factors that lead to heart damage. So a healthy diet, exercise and stress management techniques are the cornerstones of the ayurvedic program for heart health.

Eating for a Healthy Heart
Eat a stewed apple or pear for breakfast. “This is the ideal way to begin the day,” says Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra. “This breakfast helps balance your emotions, enhances natural immunity, supports digestion and elimination, elevates energy levels and helps you build ojas.” “Include fresh pineapple in your diet,” recommends Dr. Lonsdorf. “Squeeze a wedge of fresh lemon or lime on your food before serving.”

Drink lots of warm water through the day to help cleanse the physiology.

Eat fresh sweet fruit such as pears to balance Sadhaka Pitta, the moderator of emotional health.

Cook with heart-friendly spices such as small amounts of freshly cracked black pepper and fresh ground cardamom.

Soak ten almonds in warm water overnight. Peel and eat them in the morning. Ayurveda considers almonds a very saatvic food-one that nourishes the body, mind and spirit. Modern research shows that nuts such as almonds are a valuable source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Do not skip meals, eat your largest meal at noon, and eat at the same times each day to support your digestion and minimize the build-up of ama in the body.

Cultivate an Ojas-Enhancing Lifestyle

Practice the Meditation for 20 minutes twice a day. The Meditation program has been shown in research studies to lower blood pressure, reverse arterial blockage and enhance resistance to heart disease and strokes.

Manage your mental workload. “Overuse or misuse of the mind creates day-to-day mental stress,” says Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra.

Go to bed by 10 p.m. and awake before 6 a.m. Your body needs adequate rest, and working late into the night depletes ojas and increases ama.

Exercise everyday, in moderation. Walking is a wonderful way to exercise for all body-types. Walk into the rising sun to nourish your mind and spirit. The sun salutation and other yoga exercises are also recommended.

Practice deep breathing. Deep breathing opens up the shrotas in the body.

Yet spring brings its own skin-care problems. Just when the air gets warmer and softer, you might notice that your skin is less radiant, heavier, more oily. You may also find that you break out more often, are more prone to sunburn, and have dry patches on your skin.

Maharishi Ayurveda has an explanation for these spring skin conditions that may seem puzzling to you. In spring, toxins are liquefying and your whole body is working to cleanse itself of impurities. In this season, the cool, wet, oily, moist, heavier qualities of Kapha dosha predominate, which is why skin might be more oily and more prone to breakouts than before.

Rx for Spring Skin
Eating cleansing foods, such as sweet juicy fruits, can help, although they should be eaten before sunset, as they have a Kapha-increasing effect after the sun goes down. You can add spices to your food-such as coriander, cumin, turmeric, and fennel-to help stimulate the digestion and detoxify the skin.

Do oil massage regularly, but be sure to leave the oil on for twenty minutes and then follow with a warm bath to allow the impurities to liquefy and flow out of the body tissues. To keep the skin youthful and fresh, try a rejuvenating massage oil.

Your skin is a mirror of what is happening inside your body. To look radiant and glowing on the outside, you have to start by cleansing the inside of your body. Use a gentle, but effective herbal detoxification product that cleanses the liver. A healthy liver is essential for healthy skin, because when toxins build up and the liver is overwhelmed, then the impurities show up in break-outs and other skin problems.

For healthy skin, it’s also important to keep the elimination system running smoothly, for that’s the main way for impurities to leave the body. Also, be sure to drink lots of water throughout the day to help flush out the impurities. In spring you can sip hot water to help melt the ama (digestive impurities) that have accumulated.

Maintain Youthful Skin During All Seasons
There are natural skin care products that gently cleanse toxins from the skin yet are nourishing. If you don’t cleanse the skin properly in the spring season, then the hypersensitivity to sun, breakouts, and dry patches will become even greater in the summer season.

To wash away that heavy or oily feeling in spring, use a herbalized clay to eliminate the toxins that will leave the skin feeling fresh and youthful.
Because spring is the season in which the skin and the whole body is detoxifying, it’s important not to put anything on the skin that would clog the pores. Use an all- natural skin moisturizer that nourishes the skin without being greasy or clogging. This moisturizer should also neutralizes oxidants, and replenish moisture, balance, and elasticity.

So give your skin a break this spring. Help it to shed stored up impurities while restoring youthful radiance at the same time.

Natural creams and lotions are great for your skin, but if you want your skin to look good day after day and year after year, you have to work on it from the inside out. Ayurveda — the 5,000-year-old system of holistic healing from India — contends that a balanced diet, proper digestion and regular elimination are vital for clear glowing skin. “Ama” — the residue of improper digestion that can accumulate in the body — is the Number 1 enemy of healthy skin, leading to lifelessness and breakouts, according to ayurvedic dermatologist Rama Kant Mishra.

So what should you feed your skin to keep it looking good?
To follow ayurvedic principles for diet, you first need to figure out which of the following three categories your skin falls into:

If your skin is dry, thin and sensitive, susceptible to dullness and wrinkles, you have Vata type skin.

Pitta skin tends to be reddish, warm and extremely sensitive, prone to breakouts and easily affected by the foods you eat, heat and sun.

Kapha skin tends to be lustrous, oily, and thick in texture. It is prone to clogged pores, breakouts and toxic buildup.

Once you’ve determined the predominant ayurvedic category your skin falls into, you can try some of these suggestions for feeding your skin right.