Refresh your skin

Skin freshener plays a crucial role in a skin care routine, especially in the hot and humid season. They restore the normal balances, keep the pores unclogged, stimulate blood circulation to the skin surface and keep the skin glowing.

Rose water, cucumber, khus and many other ingredients make good skin fresheners. You can also use green tea, apple cider vinegar, potato, tomato, lemon and even white wine to refresh and tone the skin.

The skin tonic or freshener which you buy or make should have a gentle action, so that you can use it several times a day to wipe and refresh the skin, especially during summer. Herbal products are good in this respect.

Keeping them in the fridge really helps to tone and refresh. Rose water is one of the best known skin toners. To make a skin toner and freshener, Rose water can be mixed with witch-hazel (Hamamelis Virginia).

Witch- hazel is a shrub, from which the flowers and the fruits have been widely used for cosmetic purposes. It helps to tighten and soothe the skin and also reduces inflammation.

You can make your own skin freshener with rosewater and witch-hazel. This combination not only tones the skin, but has an antiseptic effect. It is also said to tighten the skin and reduce puffiness. Witch-hazel will be available at a pharmacy.

For normal skin, mix together ¾ cup rosewater with ¼ cup witch-hazel. For oily skin, mix the rosewater and witch-hazel in equal quantities. For dry skin, mix together ¾ cup rosewater, ¼ cup witch-hazel and half-teaspoon pure glycerin.

Rose water can also be mixed with cucumber juice and applied on the skin. Rose water can also be combined with lemon juice. It reduces oiliness and also tones the skin. Rose is a natural coolant.

Cucumber slices can be rubbed on the skin to cool and refresh. One teaspoon apple cider vinegar can be added to one and a half cup water. Soak cotton wool pads and tone the skin with them. Tomato juice applied on the skin reduces oiliness.

After cleansing, soak cotton wool pads in white wine and tone the skin with it, wiping the skin and then patting it briskly.
Mint (pudina) leaves also cool and freshen the skin. Crush mint leaves and add them to water. Let it stand for an hour.

Strain and apply on the face with cotton wool. It is cool and refreshing. For oily skin, mix lemon juice with egg white and a few drops of honey. Apply on the face and wash it off after 15 minutes. It cleanses and refreshes the skin, reducing oiliness and closing the pores.

Essential Oils: You can add a few drops of essential oil to water to make a skin freshener. Essential oils should never be used by themselves. They should be diluted with water or pressed oil. Add 2 drops of the essential oil to 10 ml of water.

If you like you can put it in an atomizer, so that you get a fine spray of the lotion on the skin, but be careful to protect the eyes. You can also use it to wipe the skin. Two essential oils can be mixed.

For example, you can add five drops of essential oil of rose to 50 ml of mineral water. Store it in a cool place. For oily skin, use essential oil of lavender or rose. For normal and dry skin, use essential oil of rose, lavender or geranium.

To freshen the skin, tone daily with chilled rose water, or freshener. Toning stimulates blood circulation to the skin surface and adds a glow. Keep rose water in a bowl in the fridge and soak cotton wool pads in it. Use them to wipe the skin.

Then, stroke the skin with them. On the cheeks, use outward and upward movements, ending each stroke at the temples and applying gentle pressure.

On the forehead, start from the centre and go outwards on each side, again ending at the temples. For the chin, use circular movements. Then, pat the skin briskly with the rosewater-soaked cotton wool pads.

By:Shahnaz Hussain