Of late, you’ve probably noticed a lot of skin care products mentioning argan oil as a key ingredient. If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered what this thing is and why it’s getting so much publicity. So, for inquiring minds, here’s the lowdown.

Argan oil is extracted from the kernel of the fruit of argan trees in Morocco. Sounds exotic, no? The oil is also referred to as ‘liquid gold’, adding to its exotic persona. The list of nutrients in this oil read like a who’s who of the world of skin and hair care, what with beneficial fatty acids and Vitamin E occupying the top spots. Considering all this, is it any wonder that the stuff can work miracles on your skin and hair? Let’s take a look at what it can do.

Conditions Hair

Argan oil is brilliant for hair. It doesn’t just condition your hair, it makes it smooth, silky and strong – the three essential Ss. As if that weren’t enough, it also helps you deal with frizzy hair and even split ends. The best part is that you only need a few drops to work miracles. You can either buy haircare products that contain argan oil in them or you can apply the oil directly.

Moisturizes Skin

The oil is the easiest thing to use on your skin. It acts as an excellent moisturizer thanks to the content of fatty acids and Vitamin E. The best part is that the oil is non-greasy and a few drops can suffice. You just need to rub it into your skin the way you would any other lotion or moisturizer.

Styles Your Hair

Since argan oil works wonders for frizzy hair, you can use it as a healthy means of styling your hair. No more worries about what the hairspray or the styling gel is doing to your hair. Simply add it to your routine (hint: after blow drying) and be amazed at the stylish, shining and healthy hair you have.

Treats Skin Conditions

The Vitamin E and fatty acids in argan oil really benefit dry and damaged skin. This holds true even if you suffer from skin conditions like eczema. People with flaky, itchy and raw skin will find that argan oil provides relief and prevents further drying of skin.

Slows Down Aging in Skin

Argan oil is a great moisturizer, no doubt, but its cosmetic benefits don’t stop there. It also reduces wrinkles and helps your skin glow. Since it has anti-oxidant properties, it makes for a very effective anti-aging agent. Just take a few drops and gently rub into your face and neck every night before going to sleep.

These don’t even begin to skim the surface of what argan oil can do for you. Incorporate this ‘miracle oil’ into your skin care and hair care routine and you won’t regret it.

Aloe Vera is a plant that can be found in many households – and no wonder, considering how much we know about its benefits. Whether you’re suffering from acne or sunburn, aloe vera is the perfect remedy. But its benefits aren’t restricted to just these two situations. There is a lot more that this plant has to offer.

Aloe Vera has been known by many names throughout history. The Egyptians called it the ‘plant of immortality’. In India, it has many names in all the different languages – in Telugu, it is known as ‘Kalabanda’, in Hindi, ‘Ghritkumari’, in Malayalam, ‘Kumari’, in Tamil, ‘Katralai’, in Bengali, ‘Ghrtakumari’, in Marathi, ‘Koraphada’ and in Kannada, ‘Lolisara’. The leaves of the plant yield two useful substances – the sap or the aloe latex and the gel, composed of water and many nutrients. It doesn’t do wonders for your skin alone; it also helps your hair tremendously. Read on and find out how this favourite can help you.

Benefits For Skin

The soap and gel made from aloe vera consist of nutrients such as sodium palmate, glycerine, sodium palm kemelate, sodium carbonate and sorbitol among others. Let’s take a look at how these nutrients help your skin.

Aging

While it is natural for fine lines and wrinkles to make their appearance as you grow older, sometimes factors such as pollution can make these signs show up early, causing premature aging of skin. Application of aloe vera helps to prevent these signs from showing up before they’re supposed to.

Moisturization

If you have skin that is prone to oiliness or acne or both, you’ll find that applying aloe vera can work miracles. Even if you don’t have these problems, it is one of the best natural moisturisers out there.

Acne and Blemishes

Not only does aloe vera gel help you deal with acne, it also helps to lighten the scars and blemishes left after and can even clear them up completely.

Helps With Sunburns

The soothing properties of aloe vera make it the go-to topical application if you’ve been out in the sun too long. Not only does it soothe the burns but also reduces inflammation.

Benefits for Hair

Hair Growth

While the benefits of aloe vera for skin are rather widely known, what is not known quite so well is that applying aloe vera on your hair and scalp can help with more hair growth.

Dandruff

Did you know that many shampoos and conditioners in the market have aloe vera as a key ingredient? If you suffer from dandruff or an itchy scalp, then you should definitely give one of these products a try. You may find that it works wonders for a persistent, irritating and embarrassing problem.

pH Balance

In addition to all its other properties, aloe vera is also great for ensuring that the pH balance of your hair isn’t disrupted – something that can otherwise cause a lot of problems such as hairfall.

Conditions Hair

Do you have dry hair? Have you been advised to condition it? Look no further than aloe vera whose moisturizing properties ensure that not only does it strengthen your hair shaft but also makes your hair shine with health.

We’re all familiar with almonds. Many of us were probably made to eat soaked almonds every morning by our mothers or other female relatives when we were children. Some of us (like me) may even have protested loudly at having to do so (children, I tell you!). But, as is usually the case, there was and is a good reason behind this practice. For example, did you know that continuing this practice into helps lower cholesterol, prevent cancer, prevent birth defects, give energy boosts and much much more? No wonder, then, that this humble little food is actually considered a superfood that can benefit your health, skin and hair.

Almond is one of the best natural substances that you can use on your skin, thanks to its Vitamin E and fatty acid content, among other things. Read on to see how much it can do for your skin.

Your Skin is Protected from the Sun

The abundance of Vitamin E in almonds ensures that your skin isn’t damaged but is protected when you step out into the sun. In fact, it is also a great remedy for sun burns if you’ve stayed out too long.

It Works Well as Aromatherapy Oil for Massage

One of the best parts about almond is that the oil is suitable for all types of skin. This means that all you need to do is relax and let it nourish your skin while you feel calm and wonderful, thanks to its aroma.

It Moisturizes Your Skin Naturally

If your skin is sensitive to the chemicals used in commercial serums or if you simply don’t want to use products with too many chemicals in them, this is what you should go for. You just need to use a few drops on your face every day and watch the transformation. The best part is that the oil is non-greasy and is absorbed quickly and easily into your skin.

It Can Treat Whiteheads, Blackheads and Acne

Oil and dirt trapped in the skin’s pores clog them up and cause conditions like acne or give you blackheads and whiteheads. Almond has certain essential fatty acids that help to regulate the amount of oil that the sebaceous glands secrete, thus helping to prevent breakouts. You can even use it to treat skin rashes.

It Can Deal with Puffy Eyes and Dark Circles

If you want to get rid of dark circles under your eyes effectively, simply soak almonds in some water and then make a paste out of them. Before going to sleep, apply the paste in the under eye region and leave it overnight. Voila! The puffiness is gone and dark circles are reduced.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as skin care is concerned. The benefits of almonds are too many to list. But the benefits do exist and it is a good idea for you to take advantage of everything this superfood has to offer.

Maintaining healthy hair is already challenging when juggling a hectic lifestyle and polluted environment. Paired with unhealthy food habits and heat-styling hair, it ends up in a fiasco: increased hair damage and eventual hair loss!

This is when nature comes to the rescue. Among various natural ingredients beneficial for hair care, Amla is A-one.

Amla, also known as Indian Gooseberry, is a blend of antioxidants and ancient medicine has antioxidant properties that  promotes the usage of this fruitnourish the scalp and improve hair growth. Amla can be consumed in different forms: raw or juiced, churna, candy, pickles, or as a supplement.

Amla in Ayurveda

Derived from the Sanskrit word, ‘Amalaki’ or ‘The Mother’, Amla goes back thousands of years. This fruit is one of the oldest and most widely used plants in the traditional system of Ayurvedic medicine. It is labeled in Ayurveda as “Rasayana” due to its therapeutic properties. Amla as a fruit is essentially useful and also helps balance Vata, Kapha, and Pitta- all three doshas of the body.

Benefits of Amla

Amla is a natural immunity booster that makes it one of the essential hair care ingredients. In addition, it contains necessary fatty acids that strengthen hair follicles, making your hair soft and shiny.

Strengthens Hair & Boosts Hair Growth

Multiple reasons are responsible for hair fall and hair loss, one of them being environmental factors and an unhealthy diet. Amla, enriched with essential vitamins and minerals, boosts blood circulation in the scalp and stimulates hair growth.

Acts as a Natural Hair Conditioner

Amla contains almost 80% of the moisture that gives it nourishing and conditioning properties. As a result, it makes the hair soft, smooth, and manageable.

Reduces Dandruff

Dandruff is caused by naturally occurring fungus on the scalp. Amla, enriched with Vitamin C has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties that combat the fungus and cleanse the scalp. It restores the scalp’s pH to normal levels, leaving it soothed and hydrated.

Makes Hair Thick and Shiny

Amla has antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that help reduce oxidative stress and hair damage. It strengthens and thickens hair, and combats premature greying, leaving the hair shiny and strong.

How to use Amla for Hair?

Amla can be applied on hair in various forms: It can be used with hair masks to get a natural shine with enhanced hair color. You can instead use Ayuga Bhringkesham Hair Fall Control Range – Oil, Shampoo and Conditioner, for convenient hair care routine. Get stronger, smoother and more manageable hair without any mess or stress.

Winter is upon us and that means all sorts of health issues including bad moods, skin problems and an immune system that can be quite weak. While the moods and the immunity might remain a problem, you can deal with dry skin quite easily. All you need is cocoa butter.

What is it?

Well, cocoa butter is extracted from the cocoa bean which can be found in South and Central America. It is a saturated fat that contains fatty acids such as stearic acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid and arachidic acid. It has plenty of antioxidants too.

What Does that Mean for Your Skin?

All these nutrients mean that cocoa butter can do plenty for your skin – especially in winter. Let’s take a look.

• Cocoa butter is absorbed easily into the skin. This allows the antioxidants inside it to penetrate, protect and repair skin. It works from the inside out to make your skin soft and supple even in the harsh winters

• If you have skin that is prone to eczema, itchiness, flaking or dryness in winter, cocoa butter is the perfect remedy for you. It can be mixed with coconut oil or argan oil to create a homemade lotion that hydrates and repairs all the ravages that winter causes

• Cocoa butter also has antioxidants that fight the free radicals that cause skin aging. In doing so, these antioxidants deal with rashes and wrinkles, helping your skin look younger

• A common complaint with a lot of natural skin care ingredients is that they leave your skin feeling oily, greasy and in desperate need of a wash. Not so with this particular ingredient. It is absorbed into the skin quite easily, ensuring that your skin feels supple and soft instead of greasy and oily

Winter is here!

How do you know? Well, your skin is going to be the first to feel it. The harsh cold and bitter winds are going to be here soon and then there goes the soft and supple skin you’ve been maintaining for the entire year.

Your skin will need two levels of protection – one from the outside and one from the inside. In other words, you need a protective layer on the outside to shield your skin from harsh winter effects and skin care that penetrates into your skin cells to heal it from the inside.

So what’s going to come to your rescue? The answer is Shea Butter.

What’s That?

It’s a fatty substance that comes from the nuts of the karite nut trees in Africa. But where it comes from isn’t as important as what it can do.

What Can It Do?

• Protect Your Skin: At its most basic, this is what shea butter is known for. It has vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants that protect your skin from the harshness of winter

• Act as Sunscreen: Shea butter has moisturising elements that protect your skin from the sun in winters. As if that weren’t enough, these elements also provide care for your skin after it has been exposed to the sun

• Heal Your Skin: Winter means all sorts of skin issues such as dry chapped skin, bleeding lips and cracked heels. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, shea butter is the perfect natural ingredient to heal your skin. You can even apply it for minor cuts, bruises and burns

• Prevent Aging of Skin: Yes folks, shea butter can help you look younger. It has the ability to boost collagen in your skin, getting rid of wrinkles and crows’ feet in the process