Jai Ho!!

You pose for a spontaneous pic with your favorite people and capture the moment in your camera and then eagerly look into the preview of it and obviously peep at how you look and thats when you found time to see the impact of the spots of your face on your happy moment. You knew you did not have the flawless honey skin, but you really didn't think that they were this obvious right? You wish you didnt have them. I am sure this has happened to most of you women, like it has to me.

Well, lets face it. I am sure we women have to face zit attacks at the worst places in the face (the worst of all is on the tip of the nose I feel). But what comes after, is what we want to work on now.

I have personally never been very sure of buying those expensive creams off the shelf, unless they are really good. I have always been a fan of some good home remedies which do the trick. Here is one for pimples and pimple marks.

Nutmeg, as we know in English and Jaiphal in Hindi and Jaadikaai in Tamil is often used in deserts to flavor them. Here is how I use them.

1. Take one Nutmeg and rub it on a rough stone (often used in kitchen for grinding spices) by adding a few drops of water and it will leave a pinkish fluid.

2. Apply this fluid onto the pimple and pimpled area and let it dry. Best time to try it would be during bed time.

Nutmeg is not a nut. Try this and leave your feedback here. It will be available in most grocery stores which stock good spices.

All in Alum

This works best for sensitive skin. Phitkari (Alum) is an excellent antiseptic and at the same time its used for brightening complexion. Boil one liter of water with 2 to 3 medium size of phitkari. Let the water cool and if you water even chill it in fridge. Wash your face with this. This is supposed to lighten your skin tone.

Phitkari - Hindi Translation
Alum - English Translation
Paditkaram - Tamil Translation

This is also great for throat infection. Gargle with warm alum water and its supposed to cure tonsils, and throat infection.

You will get this in medical stores or even some grocery stores. If you cant find it, ask any road side Barber, where he found his. All of them keep one.

Flavour of the week : Green gram flour face scrub

I just discovered the refreshing goodness of green gram flour. Though my mom used to bath my baby when she was a new born, i had discontinued it after some time. But recently I read in a magazine about the benefits of green gram flour and decided to make a face/Body scrub myself. Green Gram is the green moong daal the whole one not the broken one.

1. Powder a handful of green gram daal in ur small mixer and powder as finely as u can.

2. Add a pinch of Kastoori Manjal powder. This is a variety of turmeric powder available in most south indian grocery store.

3. Add rosewater/curd to it and make it into a paste.

Use it either during ur shower as a body scrub or just a face scrub. The Kastoor manjal is supposed to give ur face a nice golden glow and it also is an antiseptic so its good for the acne, if any.