Guilty pleasures for your skin
MANY food items have skin and health benefits.
Priya Bhandari, the general manager of Skeyndor India, and Avleen Bansal, make-up artist and technical manager at Makeup Studio, explain the beauty benefits of beer, sake, dark chocolate, coffee, sugar, champagne and other such food items that in excess are otherwise bad for your health.
Beer is toxic for your body, but it can be the ultimate boon for your hair. With a natural humectant (moisture-preserving) activity and lustre-boosting action, a beer shampoo can give your hair the shine you have always wanted. Wash once a week with beer and see the results.
Want skin as smooth as a Japanese geisha? In the past, Japanese farmers noticed that when working in the rice fields, where their hands were soaked in rice water all day, their hands became youthful and soft. Geishas used rice water to wash their faces too. For an ultra-glow, you can add sake or rice water to your bath. The vitamin E and antioxidant boost are unparalleled.
Coffee can really help your cellulite. When caffeine extract from coffee is added to your beauty routine, you will find that your skin tightens over time and the blood flow in the body will improve. Coffee can also be used as a body exfoliator. Use the grounds and rub them in circular motions on the body and then wash off. This will give your skin a smooth sheen while also tightening it.
Eat dark chocolate for dessert. If you're going to have dessert, why not have something delicious that is also doing you a lot of favours? It supports circulation which is good for skin and hair (and your heart, of course). It's also full of antioxidant flavones that fight sun damage and wrinkles, and research shows that women who eat a little chocolate five times a week have lower body mass indexes. | IANS