The best skincare routine to follow at home during a lockdown.
LESS IS MORE. Do you believe this? If you say yes, this article is for you. If you say no, this is definitely for you.
There was a time, many many years back when our grandmothers used to tell us that Less, my children, is always more. Remember that time? This was at the time when influencers did not exist, the internet was a distant dream and life was simpler. A time when Summer skincare would usually be just dahi and haldi. Our skin used to be their arena where they would practice the recipes given by their mothers when they were children. Beauty was more than a routine. It was a ritual. The only ‘reviews’ we would get back then was from the neighbouring aunts who would come visit us. And they were strict. You couldn’t have been just fair to pass their questionable stare (even morally wrong), your skin had to be genuinely healthy. We all remember those days of innocence. Don’t we?
In the wake of these unprecedented times, let’s go back to those days.
To the ones who are reading this, how is life in quarantine? Hours of reading, writing, cooking and giving yourself the much-needed rest has recharged you to your very core. Now, we have all the time we need to clean our heads and our wardrobes. Is there a better time to dig up that perfect skincare routine? We guess not!
While isolation can be or rather is, a little difficult to cope up with (has to be fanned by the positive things happening around the world), it is, very obviously, excellent for our skin health. Elaborating the sentence, it is more than a good skin day. It’s a good skin month now. The smarter ones, or those who have seen this period as an excellent opportunity to make their skin come back to life, have already googled the basics; “hair care during lockdown”, “skincare during lockdown”, or the best of all “self-isolation skincare”. But one thing that even the best in the business forget is, WHO WILL HAVE EXTRA BOTTLES OF FANCY SKINCARE AT HOME? Unless you are a genius astrologer at day-time who predicted the pandemic well in advance or a passionate hoarder of beauty products, you got no chance in hell to have extra bottles of all the regular fancy skincare that you use. In the first case, you were right, we would like to know when this ends. In the second, please share your details?
When all our stock ceases to exist and our shelves are as empty as our streets, we turn to our basics; the kitchens and the gardens. Also, in some cases, to our mothers and grandmothers. When the world did not know the difference between Walnut and Apricot scrubs, when the world was still figuring out the intricacies of the word ‘face-oils’, there were individuals glowing with flawless skin with minimum ingredients right in our homes. The former generation laughs at gen Z’s questionable state of panic. We aren’t ask now, what did you use? But someone has to. It’s not like ancient people knew this was coming. It’s just that they always believed in feeding simpler things to the skin which we can normally eat as well.
It’s a relief that time-tested formulas exist. But what can one do if they exist almost everywhere? One checks the details. The ratio, the importance of ingredients used, the wisdom of the person saying and obviously, the simplicity included. Every traditional beauty ritual has an anecdote attached. You don’t trust the ritual, you trust the story.
These are some recipes that we still use even with all the fancy products available. During a lockdown, when your products are far away locked in godowns, this is your best bet.
Recipes:
1.Face/Body Wash
Haldi, Dahi and olive oil
-Half bowl curd
-1" fresh Haldi paste
-1 tablespoon olive oil
Mix well and use as a face wash and body wash.
2. Skin Brightening and Lightening
Cucumber
-Grate 1 cucumber and squeeze the juice.
-Freeze this juice in an ice tray.
Use these frozen juice cubes regularly on your face, neck and all the other exposed parts of your body. This will also help in reducing the open pores on your skin and will aid in brightening your complexion.
3. Skin Polish
Urad dal paste
-Soak about 100g urad dal overnight then grind it into a fine paste.
-Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to this and use it as an exfoliant for your face and neck.
This acts as an excellent face and neck nourishing scrub. You can keep it refrigerated for about 4 days in an airtight container. Gives you a silkier and softer skin!
4. Removing Skin Tan
Raw Tomato
-Cut the tomato in slices and rub it on your face, neck and any body part that has tanned.
-Leave for about 15 mins then wash.
-Apply aloe vera gel after this.
Try these simple ones to get that perfect skin. Now is the time. Everyone is under tremendous pressure to contain COVID-19 and flatten the curve. We will surely succeed. We don’t need the extra ounce of pimples, acne, rashes to top it off when we don’t have our products at home. The skin is exhausted from years of travel in excess pollution, from years of adding important make-up, from work pressure, from the monotony of life. Give it a break. Try natural.
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By
Rupal Shabnam Tyagi
R.A.Arom(London)
Aromatherapy practitioner and Perfumer
Founder & Director — Wikka