How to up your beauty game – Anuja Pandey

The onset of winter marks the transition in our beauty routine, including how we take care of our hair and skin and what we eat. Hence, nailing down a routine that reverses hair damage due to harsh weather, water, heat treatments and chemicals is what we require to get lust-worthy skin and hair on fleek.

Vitamin Happiness
Incorporating a healthy regimen of hair and skin care is just a Netflix, ouch, a click away. A weekly mask ritual when you nourish your hair and skin is what each one of us needs. It could be as brief as finishing an interesting series on Netflix and sipping some hot herbal tea with notes of vanilla or a kahwa tea with saffron in it. It’s all about detoxifying yourself inside out. Pick up destressing ways like reading, listening to music, practising meditation or yoga and sleep well. The idea is to replenish yourself with ‘Vitamin Happiness’.

Nutrition
Drinking water, soaking in some Vitamin D and having nutrient-rich food is the secret to being healthy and hence, having shiny, bouncy hair and supple skin. Korean hair care is a fad these days. You could surely give it a try. Your kitchen is the solution to all the distress in life. Protein-rich soybeans, kale, moringa, spinach, nuts, eggs, etc, are superfoods for hair. Kimchi consists of fermented veggies and seasonings that are a powerhouse of nutrients. A study showed that kimchi and cheonggukjang (soya paste) help in increasing the thickness of hair. Food is always medicine. Let’s see how to work wonders with our self care regime and have a magical beginning to the new year.

Sparkle and glow
1. Cleansing, toning, moisturising is the holy grail to skin care. You can add a vitamins-infused serum to it too. Oil-based cleansers prevent drying of skin.
2. Raw milk with honey is amazing for sensitive skin and cleanses while maintaining the pH balance of the skin in winters.
3. The age-old rice flour mixed with some yoghurt kills the bacteria as it contains lactic acid and is a great exfoliant. There are some cream-based exfoliants available in the market for sensitive skin. A spray of rose water mixed with some glycerin is a refreshing toner to close the pores after you exfoliate.
4. Hyaluronic acid-based moisturisers take care of not just sensitive skin but help to prevent ageing as well since it’s a humectant. It grabs onto moisture so your skin is firmer.
5. A weekly mask to hydrate skin is a must. Avocados make great masks. Fresh turmeric ground with almonds and mixed with raw milk and drops of olive oil is a mask lending sheen to your skin.
6. Coffee beans ground and mixed with coconut oil and hemp seeds make a wonderful body scrub while coffee uplifts your mood as well. A scented candle aromatherapy bath with a few drops of essential oils is detoxifying.

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