My mini-giveaway winner!!

So, finally, I stopped being lazy and here is the winner - Monisha Thampi :) Congratulations, Monisha and your name reminds me of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai :D I hope you received my mail and in case you didn't, feel free to contact me.  Do contact me by Friday night otherwise I will have to pick another winner!!

And, here is her beauty tip (or rather "are her beauty tips"):

1. To reduce Pimples: Apply fresh ginger juice on pimples for not more than 10 minutes and wash it off. Do it for 7 days and pimples will vanish. Don't apply near eyebrows. 

2. This one is a little interesting. I have a wider forehead. So I combed my hair sidewise so as to reduce its distance b/n eyebrows and head. And now I have those tiny weeny hair started growing from there and now i have a less wider forehead.

3. Fairness: Grind 3 almonds without skin like a paste and mix it with curd. Apply this mixture every night and wash it off just before going to bed. Use Besan or Gram flour instead of soap while you use this face pack. It gives an instant glow to your face and will lighten the skin if continuously done for a week.

4. Anti-Blemish: Take a thin slice of potato and rub on your face continuously. Do it for 5-10 minutes. Do it twice a day. You will see quick results.

5. Any natural treatments that are acidic in nature (eg: lemon, ginger, vinegar, orange, tomato, papaya) should be mixed with some besan, gram flour or honey to avoid over reaction.

6. Its a mail I got one day and try it out because it is amazing.Take a bunch of parsley leaves and wash it clean. Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and Drink one glass once a week. You will notice the difference which you never felt before. It cleanses your body like anything.

And, this is what she likes and hates about my blog:

"It is really a genuine blog. When I had the first look, I was really surprised as it had a lot of DIYs and natural beauty tips.The blog was very, very simple and had nothing which would suit for a beauty blog. Then I knew that this blog was solely concentrating on the matter it had and not on its looks. But now, the blog is far ahead of what i saw at first. I have been through most of your blog changes. But I think the new look is apt. The font is very simple. Now there are not so many natural tips like before. I would say the posts are now on advanced topics like Reviews, treatments, Perfumes :), Oils etc. I think your blog covers almost everything related to beauty. 
Do give more product reviews, Your take on different myths (which is my favorite), and more on hair growth recipes, Add more polls, Answers to reader's queries. I appreciate one fact of yours that you find time to respond to all your follower's queries. You browse and search a lot and give a complete note on any subject so that I did not have to search on the same topic more. I wanted to write down point by point, but it went on like that. All the wishes for your blog, Swati."

And, boy, doesn't she have patience?? She has answered both the questions so perseveringly, thank you so much for all your kind words :) Oh btw, in case any of you thinks, I have chosen her on the basis of the length of her answers, NO. Her entry popped up in random.org and I forgot to take the screen shot so please don't accuse me of being under-handed. I do think she deserves winning. I mean look at the tips, one could say she keeps a separate diary at her home :D Oh btw, absolutely agree with the wider forehead thing, Monisha. I too have a huge forehead plus less density at the crown really made me look a little weird but I got side bangs and now, it just looks awesome.  Btw, do we get parsley in India??? Will have to search for it. [Btw, guys, don't think I am boasting about my blog by putting up what she has so kindly mentioned above, its just too flattering to not share **giggles**]

PS: Anyways, I am so happy I am leaving for Delhi tomorrow. Btw, it's my mom's birthday so do fire up suggestions for the gift. I am hopeless at selecting gifts. Budget is 10k. 

Image Courtesy:mindingspot.blogspot.in, graminakitchen.blogspot.com, foodcourt.wordpress.com, victorias-alphabet-soup.blogspot.com, nah.wikipedia.org

Improve skin complexion with almonds

Almonds are extremely good for skin inside as well as outside. So, I have a simple recipe which can be used daily to enhance your skin complexion and make your skin look soft and supple.

Soak 5 (or as many as you want) almonds in the milk overnight. In the morning, make a paste of the almonds with milk. Do not remove the peel of the almonds as they make for a great scrub. Apply this paste on your face including the eye area. You can extend this to the neck and chest too. It helps in removing the tanning also. Keep for 15-20 minutes till it dries and then wash off. You can use this scrub after washing your face thoroughly with the cleanser for a moisturizing effect too.

Variations: For dry skin, you can also put some coconut oil. Or, using homemade coconut milk instead of simple milk is again a great idea. For oily skin and combination skin, using milk can cause breakouts so you can substitute milk with water and make the paste in aloevera or orange juice.

Almond Orange Body Polisher

Do you ever get bored using the same old scrubs available in the market or at home. I do. So, time for innovation. And, this time, it was just a little better than the regular almond scrub we use.

So, take a handful of almonds and soak them in milk overnight. In the morning, make a paste of the milk soaked almonds and dried orange peels. The result would be sort of a paste. Now, use this scrub in the shower instead of your regular soap or cleanser. Milk would cleanse your skin, almonds would provide the required vitamin E and orange peels would bring a glow to your skin resulting in a fresh and dewy look. And, the scrub smells nice too. You can also add your favorite essential oils.

Almonds for Brain Power and Skin Care

We all know what good are almonds for our skin and hair and brain and our overall living. There is nothing different I am going to tell you today except for recounting everything again so that you get yet another reason of liking almonds again. 

First, eating almonds soaked in water overnight everyday is very good for our brain. It is especially good for the growing kids as they need more nourishment. The almonds have been found to increase the brain activity considerably. 

Second, almonds is extremely good for skin, hair and overall health. Daily ingestion of adequate almonds nourish our skin and make it look more beautiful from the inside. It also prevents early aging of your skin. Same goes for the hair. You will see an immediate change in a matter of month of starting to take almonds everyday first thing in the morning. 

Third, almonds are not only great for internal care but also for external. So, today, I wanted to share a very small tip with you about eating almonds. Please do not peel the almonds and throw away the skin. Skin of almond is fiber and necessary for our body. Second is almonds are supposed to be taken with milk. So, take the soaked almonds and a little milk and make a paste. Ingest the paste. It is said to be delicious in its own way. You can even use this paste to scrub your skin. 

One should not eat more than 5 almonds a day as it increases the body heat. This caution is for the people who live in tropical climate or hot climate; especially if you are not sitting in air-conditioner all day long . In cold areas, you can eat as many almonds as you feel like. So, this is for people who feel that they can live on dry fruits all day, please do not excessively take them and increase your body heat which will give rise to a varied number of problems like constipation, outbreaks on the skin, excessive sweating and many internal problems.