Make your skin glow

We all agree that Indian kitchens are unique. Not only because of the wide variety of ingredients but if you go back to the permutation combination classes the sheer number of dishes that you can whip out because of these ingredients are astounding. But the beauty of the Indian kitchen is not limited to just satisfying your taste buds. They are also great for your daily skin care requirements.

Coming to think of it our grandmothers never had the luxury of a parlour, yet their skin glowed (part of it has to be attributed to the physical exercise they got doing home chores alone). But as a kid I have sneaked on my Granny applying whatever she was cooking with on her face (much to the amazement of my grandfather of course). 

Today we are bombarded with hundreds of products that promise miracles. So here I am rephrasing the questions Olay has been asking lately, “Do we need to smear chemicals on our face for a healthy and glowing skin?”

The latest in the cosmetic industry

Not really. Explore the corners of your kitchen and you will see that:
  1. A paste made with besan, milk and ground almonds is the best face scrub you could find
  2. Chandan with a little bit of camphor will fix pimples more naturally
  3. Rubbing tomato skin on your face makes it glow
  4. Applying a paste of neem leaves cleans and disinfects your face
  5. Massaging your skin with olive oil will keep it supple
  6. Massaging your knuckles with coconut oil will keep them from drying and hardening to a brown patch

In addition to all of the above, maintain a good diet and a do a little exercise everyday, even simple walking helps!

Are you going organic for the right reasons?

It is great to see that a large number of people are now opting for organic. But what we also see is a trend in the way organic consumers are perceived by the non-organic consumers (we will now refer to them as non-believers, just for the kicks). Non-believers are probably running out of excuses and so they turn to the age old “grapes are sour” syndrome. And here is what they tell themselves whenever they see a happy believer.

They classify you in to the:

The Do-Gooder

For them the Do-Gooder, buying organic food is like being a tiny, lame super hero with a wallet. They jeer at the idea that your buying organic lends support to the humane treatment of animals, conservation of healthy soil, and sustaining a healthy environment. They are also in denial of the fact that buying "conventional food" means participating in the problems associated with it, like pesticides running into rivers and lakes, or the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains from animals consuming daily antibiotic-infused feed. They do not want to accept that you are right and dismiss you as someone with a “holier than thou” attitude.

The Blessed Rich

They not only associate the consumption of organic with only the rich and famous but are irrevocably convinced that organic is expensive because some companies want to con us out of our monies, just because they have nothing else to do. They honestly believe that occasionally spending a few grand or more on expensive restaurants, expensive clothes & accessories and/or expensive holidays is so much cheaper that going organic. And you are just showing off your wealth. Oh and did I also mention that they believe all organic consumers own a Ferrari or two.

The Health Junkie

According to the non-believers if you do yoga, have treadmills at home, run the marathon (they are generally irritated with marathons because it obstructed them on their way to KFC), then naturally you eat organic! They can’t understand why you like reading health tips or trivia on how even trace elements of chemicals can harm you. They will give you typical excuses like, “I am very happy the way I am”, “It’s hereditary, not my fault” or ‘I’ll look really out of place in the family photo”. They smoke because they think they will give cigarettes cancer. Actually to sum it up, your inner peace makes them feel fat.

The Afraid. The Very Afraid.

Chemicals are generally scary. But the non-believers imagine you picturing a barrel of fertilizer with a "do not ingest" warning, and laugh at your lack of guts to challenge the might of chemicals. But most non-believers don’t want to admit that they are aware of its long term effects. Of course they know that we as a species were never designed to ingest chemicals that do not occur naturally. Their voice booms through the room when they tell their children about their herculean capacity of digestion and smirk at the thought of your chest hair committing suicide at the sight of their gastronomic strength.

So now you know what they are thinking. I am rather convinced that no one really chooses to go organic because they belong to a certain stereotype. They choose it because they want to. It tastes better, it makes you more active and it allows you to indulge when your heart calls for it. So don’t bother what the world thinks and just enjoy what nature has to offer.

Leading The Way

As an increasing number of celebrities around the world switch to an organic lifetyles, we bring you a few names that might ring a bell and speak louder in favour of an organic lifestyle.

1. Gwyneth Paltrow

This ‘Shakespeare In Love’ actress has a focus to “nourish the inner aspect” according to her food philosophy of eating locally, seasonally and always organically.

2. Julia Roberts

The Pretty Woman is feeding her family organic food…AND from her own organic garden!

3. Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman also grows her own organic veggies.

4. Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields uses BabySoy, clothing made from soybean fibers and renewable materials, in addition to other organic products.

5. ‘Monica’ or Courteney Cox And husband, Scream Star David Arquette

Better known as Monica from the popular TV series friends, she launched her own organic clothing line Propr along with her husband David Arquette.

6. Jennifer Lopez

7. Elizabeth Hurley

8. ‘Spiderman’ or Tobey Maguire and his wife Jennifer Meyer

It was Jen Meyer who recommended Organic Matters, a company that offers recycled alternatives to many commercially manufactured goods, to Courteney Cox. Jen Meyer even inspired Courteney Cox to switch to more eco-friendly beauty products.

Have you heard of any celebs supporting an organic lifestyle lately? Let us know in the comments…