Masoor Dal Body Scrub {DIY}

[Source: http://www.sailusfood.com]

Pulses in our kitchen prove to be good scrubs as well. Earlier, I had talked about 'Mung Dal'. Today, I would be talking about 'Masoor Dal' (Red Lentil). Ground red lentil is a very good scrub for the body.

How to make the scrub?

Grind the masoor dal into a fine powder and pass through a utensil with small holes (percolated utensils) to seperate the fine powder and the impurities. Store the fine powder in an air-tight container and use a little occasionally. If you find that the texture of the powder is too harsh for your skin, you can mix it with cornflour or chickpea flour (besan). 

Using the Scrub

• Mix it with honey or milk and use as body scrub while in shower.
• Use as a face scrub twice in a week for oily and combination skin and once for normal to dry skin.
• Alternatives: If you do not want to store it as a scrub, you can soak a cup of red lentils in milk or water overnight and make a paste in the morning and use it as a scrub or a face pack. You may even add the skin of almonds soaked overnight. It would make your skin glow like never before.
• You can even mix the powder with pure ghee (made at home) and use it as a scrub. Pure ghee acts as lubricant reducing the harshness of the scrub on your skin and simultaneously nourishing it with the necessary fats to make skin look beautiful.
• You can mix other ingredients like dried tulsi leaves, rose petals or orange peels also and make the scrub a invigorating scrub. They will provide a scrub a distinct smell if use separately.

Rice Water for Skin, Hair and Health

The craze of using rice water is catching up very fast. If you have not yet heard of it, rice water is highly beneficial for certain health issues and also in taking care of the skin and hair. Let us first see the health benefits:

• instantly energizes the body due to the high concentration of carbohydrates
• provides instant relief from diarrhea
• has been used successfully to treat gastroenteritis
• prevents cancer
• controls high blood pressure
• helps in preventing Alzheimer's disease
• reduces the body temperature or internal heat of the body
• prevents constipation

In short, I would say it provides all the health benefits that eating rice would provide. But, more than that, rice water has been used as a face wash and a hair wash.

• Washing your face with rice water makes your skin very soft and it also helps in improving the complexion
• Is a great substitute for toner and firms up your skin
• Helps in reducing the size of the pores on your skin
• Washing your hair with rice water brings shine in the hair and helps to keep it healthy. Follow up with cold water rinse.
• Use rice water as part of your face, body and hair masks and scrubs
• Use rice water for having bath or pour rice water in the tub or bucket
• Powdered rice grains are also used as body scrub and they make your skin extra soft

How to make rice water?

I have read at many places that the water used to wash rice prior to cooking is rice water. But, that is not the actual rice water. You may collect it but it will not give you the full benefits. Instead, you should boil the rice in more water than usual quantity you use so that the rice does not absorb all the water and strain the extra water. This water is the actual rice water which is full of nutritional benefits. You may drink it or let it cool to use as a face wash or a hair wash. You may even garnish it with various spices and herbs. Read this article for step by step instruction on how to cook rice water.

Watch the video to learn how you can use rice water in various ways. But, make sure you cook the rice water the proper way.