7 Ayurvedic Food Hacks to Eternal Beauty

We live in a world where beauty reigns. We will stop at nothing to defy the aging process. We will eat healthy, drink healthy or we will eat and drink anything that claims to lock down our youth even if it means we fall prey to the marketing shticks of companies. We run towards the multiple beauty products that will make us one of three things (sometimes maybe all three) – fairer, wrinkle free and blemish free. And don’t forget the skin types that go for each product. Oily skin and want to become fairer then ‘use me’. Ageless, flawless and timeless beauty from one product ‘BUY ME’. Simply said perfect skin is the skin you have in your youth. So much for beauty and then when things don’t work we fall back on the adage – “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. But our grandmothers and their grandmothers didn’t have these beauty products and yet they managed to age a lot more gracefully than we are.

Ayurveda claims that eating pure foods is the answer to good health and beautiful skin. Here are a few tips and tricks of the age old home remedy guide.

1. Aloe Vera

The fresh juice of this plant can cure many skin ailments including blemishes and acne. It is bitter and slimy but it is these very properties that makes it a natural coolant for our body. Local application of the pulp works on external skin ailments as well as drinking it as a juice. Fair bit of warning, the juice of aloe vera will have you throwing up if you are not used to the taste but try not to add any flavours whether sweet or salty because that will just throw off its usefulness by half.

2. Amla (Indian Gooseberry)

Amla juice is another natural coolant which why you will find people drinking a lot of amla juice in summers. Full of vitamin C this little berry will kick out any signs of stress from your system. Whether you eat it whole or as a juice your skin will not only look fresh but you will feel fresh too. Add to this a whole bucket load of benefits other than looking younger and we will have half the population making a face at the first bite or sip! Anti-aging and overall wellness, why not have some right now?

3. Neem

Do you remember your school textbooks talking about how people chew on twigs of the neem tree instead of brushing? White teeth, healthy gums equals amazing smile. Not enough? Neem provides overall wellness of the body and boosts immunity too; meaning great skin.? Shiny, thick and long hair, bright eyes and glowing skin. It doesn’t end there, Neem heals minor wounds too. Now where in the world will you find one pill or one beauty product that takes care of you inside out? Once you get over the initial bitter taste the multitude of health benefits are all in your hand. You can grind the leaves to make a paste to mix with chutneys or simply drink it as a juice or chew on the twigs like in the old days!

4. Turmeric

Every girl in India has added a little bit of turmeric to her homemade face packs. Every child in India has sported a yellow patch of turmeric after a wound. The herb acts as a disinfectant and as a beauty supplement. Use it with a little bit of gram flour (besan) or sandalwood powder and rose water as a face pack and say goodbye to those stress induced skin patches and dark circles.

5. Sandalwood

Light fragrant powder when mixed with plain or rose water to make a paste cools down the skin. Often used in summers as a sunscreen or heat protection, sandalwood paste is used to bring down the heat of the sun on the skin. Use a little sandalwood powder with coconut oil to make a paste and scrub or massage on orange peel skin or crow’s feet around the eye to reduce the wrinkling.  

6. Lime

Lime is abundantly available and the little fruit is extremely popular for making everyone’s favourite drink during summer. Lime is an excellent bleaching agent and also helps with oily skin. A few drops of lime juice in your sandalwood or gram flour (besan) face mask and you’ll be left feeling fresh and also a brighter skin tone.

7. Rose

Light and rich in vitamin C rose water can applied by itself for a fairer complexion or drink two teaspoons of rose syrup in a glass of water twice a day to keep your body temperature cool in the hot sun and also for healthy glowing skin. Rose petals are even made into jam and used as a garnish on ‘paan’.