Mega Sale Domains @ Rs.99

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Bathroom Essentials & Body Bath

Bathroom Essentials & Body Bath

Bath Smart Good grooming and basic beauty care begin in the bathroom. Bathing can be fun, not a chore and can make you feel fresh and glowing. Personal freshness is essential for everyone. The bacteria on the skin attacking the sweat when it reaches the surface of the skin cause body odder. Perspiration odour doesn't start until about the age of 10, when the special apocrine glands develop. These are found mainly under the arms and between the legs
Once a week, take time to have a lazy bath night, and turn it into a beauty treatment. Make the bath water soft and sweet smelling by adding some bubble bath, bath salts or bath oils. Alternatively, you can soften the water with a large spoonful or borax or powdered water softener.

Your bath wont do you any good if you stay in it so long, as soaking will dry your skin, or if is too hot, as this too is very drying. Twenty minutes is the longest you should linger, and 38o C(100 oF) is the highest temperature you should have the water. If you are not washing your hair, protect it with a shower cap, as the steam will make curly hair more frizzy or straight hair lank.

Other things you might need for your beautiful bath are:

  • A loofah, friction strap or mitt
  • A sponge
  • A back brush
  • A nail brush
  • A pumice stone
  • Soap or body shampoo
  • Talcum powder
  • Body lotion
While you are in a bath, rub yourself briskly with a loofah, friction strap or back brush. This makes your skin tingle, improving your circulation and encouraging blemishes to disappear, but be careful if you have delicate skin.

Scrub your feet thoroughly, and follow the foot care routine. The hot steam of the bath will open the skin pores on your face. If you suffer from blackheads, you should be able to press them out gently with your fingertips and remove with a clean tissue. Or try the new blackhead removal strips that are available in the market.

While you are relaxing in the bath, this is a good time to apply a face mask- something you can do occasionally than every week.

If you are not giving yourself a face mask and have oily skin, wash your face with soap and water. If you have dry skin, spread moisturizer on your face and let your steam help it to sink into the pores. After your bath, rub yourself dry briskly with a fairly rough towel. Now is the time to deal with unwanted body hair. It is a matter of personal choice whether you get rid of on your legs and under your arms.

There are many ways of dealing with unwanted hair: shaving, using a depilatory cream or lotion or waxing. If using a depilatory cream, follow the manufacturers instructions carefully. They may advise you not to use it immediately after a bath.

Even if you are careful about the time you spend in the bath and the temperature of the water, your skin will still need help, after your bath, to re-establish its correct moisture balance. Use body lotion, and then dust yourself with talc.

After a bath, your nails are softened, and this is a good time to give yourself a manicure and pedicure.

Milk, Oil and Honey Bath

(To soften and moisturize your skin).

Ingredients: warm water, one cup of powdered skimmed milk, one teaspoon oil (baby or vegetable), two teaspoons clear honey dissolved in one cup hot water.

Duration: 20 minutes

Directions: add all ingredients to water, then lie back and relax for 20 minutes. Maintain the temperature by adding hot water as necessary. Donut dry too vigorously afterwards.

Sea salt Bath

(To cleansing bath for oily skin)

Ingredients: Warm water, two cups of sea salt, additional salt.

Duration: Ten minutes in all (five in the water).

Directions: Pour the two cups of salt into bath water to dissolve. Meanwhile, massage the additional salt over your body with the loofah or friction mitt. Get into the bath, rinse away the salt and soak for five minutes. Use plenty of body lotion afterwards.

Mint Bath

(To refresh and revive you)

Ingredients: Tepid water, two tablespoons dried mint leaves steeped in boiling water for one hour then strained so that only water goes into the bath.

Duration: Ten minutes

Directions: Add the mint infusion after running the bath. Donut have the water too deep as this will dilute the benefits. Lie back for the first few minutes. Wash briskly with the loofah or friction strap or mitt for the remaining five minutes.



Body Beautiful The fact that we enjoyed perfect velvety skin in our teenage years is not reason enough to enjoy it throughout. Sun damage is cumulative and can be seen on our skin a decade or two later. The skin on our body needs the same kind of love and care as our face. Dull, coarse and lifeless skin is a result of a generally toxic lifestyle, and healthy eating, proper exercise and body brushing can make a dramatic difference.

Grab the Veggies

Your diet supplies the nutrients needed by the cells to keep skin, hair and nails looking healthy. Therefore, it is important that you feed your body a well balanced diet. Vegetables are actually ‘longevity’ foods; they are clean burning, ‘high octane’ fuels that return the cells causing premature ageing. Veggies like tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and green leafy vegetables like spinach are packed with vitamin A and C, beta carotene and fibre. These nutrients not only make your skin glow, but even help in destroying cancerous cells and preventing heart attacks. They are also loaded with calcium – the mineral your body needs to keep your bones from buckling. Vegetables are rich in healthy carbohydrates and devoid of fat or cholesterol, making them good for the heart.

Poor eating habits can cause temporary hair loss, cracks in the corner of your mouth and brittle nails. Your skin can bruise easily, heal slowly and look dull, drab and ‘ashy’. A good diet, on the other hand will keep your skin looking healthy and toned, and sport a fine texture and colour. Besides, a healthy diet will keep skin diseases at bay. In fact, if you eat right, you wont need to take vitamin supplements. In short there is no substitute for veggies.

Fitness Goals

Exercise is surprisingly enjoyable, good for the self-esteem and carries significant benefits for the quality of our lives and our health. Be it yoga, aerobics or walking, and no matter how little of it, it is important for both physical and mental health. Exercise is a panacea for boredom, tension, anxiety and even PMS. Working up a sweat is natural and healthy, a vital requirement for a balanced, fulfilled life.

Exercise improves blood circulation, which helps in the reproduction of new cells, besides getting rid of all impurities to reveal radiant skin. But when you donut exercise enough, the blood circulation is sluggish and the skin receives less oxygen. As a result, your skin may look dull and sallow, one that lacks lustre. In fact, it might even aggravate acne.

It might take some getting used to, but once you get started, your body and mind will get accustomed to the exertion and actually hunger for it.

Simply Brush it Away

Body brushing is a good way to stimulate blood circulation. Because the skin is an organ of elimination (and the largest one in the body), many toxins can be eliminated if you stimulate the circulation and the lymph system by brushing the skin. Use a loofah or a body sponge and brush in circular motions to remove the dead skin cells. Pay special attention to the elbows, knees, shoulders, the back and thighs. Do this every day before bathing or showering. Also, keep the temperature of your bath water a little higher that of your skin so as to stimulate sluggish circulation.

Smoother skin is a spin-off of this toxin eliminating regimen, which leaves you feeling invigorated and truly bright-eyed.
Back

Indian Oil Baths
Indian oil baths are a centuries old practice used in southern India for any variety of specific reasons, with all of them directed at enabling good health. In past generations of the Indian culture, oil baths were thought to allow "cold" to enter the body through the head, ears and feet, lowering body temperature and assisting an individual to endure the warm climate. In today's modern world, Indian oil baths are still quite popular as important aspects of holidays activities such as Diwali, and are are frequently used on occasions of marriage by the bride before the wedding ceremony.

Indian oil baths incorporate the use of sesame or coconut oil most commonly, and the oil is often infused with medicinal herbs or fresh spices. The method of usage is simple - the oil is massaged into the skin on the head, hands, feet, ears and other appropriate locations, and is followed by a warm to hot bath. In some areas of southern India this is a weekly ritual for the entire local population and is afforded considerable respect as an important component of health and wellness.

In the area of actually improving general good health, the use of Indian oil baths helps to keeps skin and it's pores open and supple, and in reality does help cool the body temperature by allowing perspiration to flow freely. Oil baths have a similar impact on keeping hair manageable and healthy, and prevents dry skin build-up on elbows, knees, feet and hands. In many instances circulatory issues can be aided greatly by the use of Indian bath oils and massage in helping blood flow to extremities. It is also a very common practice in southern India for a woman following childbirth to partake of oil baths to calm strained muscles, and it is even believed to improve the amount of a nursing mother's breast milk.

Perhaps the greatest benefit attributable to those who use Indian bath oils lies in the tremendous benefit associated with the reduction of stress. The deep muscle massage combined with healing herbs and a warm bath provide an excellent source of relaxation, lowering blood pressure and enabling healthy heart rhythms. This aspect of using Indian bath oils also has a positive impact upon the ability to sleep soundly, allowing an individual to gain deep and restorative sleep patterns that may otherwise be beyond reach. This benefit of Indian bath oils is especially useful in those with ill health or suffering from chronic medical conditions.
Back

No comments:

Post a Comment