DIY: Chocolate Wrap at Home!!

Today, I'll share with you an quick pick-me-up home facial. I love to this whenever I'm not in the mood for using commercial products.

I do this quick facial wrap as a short cut to glowy skin within half an hour. Whenever I have treated myself to this face wrap, I've always received a lot of compliments!


So what do we need?
1. 


Pure Cocoa Powder, unsweetened

2. Regular curd or yogurt (unsweetened)

OR
If you feel yogurt would be too oily, go for milk instead


3. Honey

Mix the three ingredients till you have a smooth consistency. Make sure its not runny or else it will get quite messy!

On Application

After cleaning and scrubbing your face and neck, apply on your face and neck with either your fingers or an old foundation brush.
Leave for about 15-20 mins, till the wrap dries. 
Then wash off with regular water.

After Cleansing n Scubbing

After Washing off Wrap, bare skin, no make-up!

You can see the difference?
If you look carefully, you will see a pretty large pimple on the top left of my lips, this pimple shrunk in size and began drying up by the same evening that I had applied the wrap. Magic!


































So how does this wrap work? Let us look at the properties of the 3 ingredients we used:
1. Cocoa benefits for skin:

• High antioxidant content The level of antioxidant compounds in cocoa is higher than that of green tea, black tea or red wine, according to a study conducted by the Department of Food Science and Technology, Seoul National University.
  High antioxidant chocolate facial benefits include cell repair and cell damage prevention. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and prevent them from damaging cells.
• Increased blood flow Consumption of high-flavanol cocoa can help improve the appearance of skin by improving the function of blood vessels, increasing blood flow, increasing hydration, decreasing skin roughness, and helping to increase defense against UV damage.
  Topically, this increased hydration calms and soothes skin
• Vitamin Content Dark chocolate contains Vitamins A, B12, B-complex, D and E, great for absorption of calcium, tissue growth, and releasing energy.
• Mineral Content Chocolate contains copper, iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc for the promotion of cell growth, the repair of tissue and the absorption of nutrients. Cocoa is also a rich source of sulfur, also known as the beauty mineral, necessary for healthy skin.
  
  Great to eat too. But you will get maximum benefit only from the dark variety of chocolate.

2. Yogurt:
specific nutrients in yogurt are responsible for rejuvenating and promoting healthy skin. Here are the major nutrients that are contained in yogurt for skin:
Zinc
Zinc not only contains anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce red swellings caused by acne or rashes but also have mild anti-astringent properties that help tighten tissues. Also necessary for cell reproduction and growth of tissues, zinc reduces the size of acne and pimples. Additionally, zinc in yogurt helps regulate oil production in the sebaceous glands thereby preventing oily skin and frequent acne breakouts.
Lactic Acid
Highly used in many skin care products, lactic acid is one of the key ingredients in yogurt. It helps smoothen rough skin, exfoliate skin and moisturize dry skin, among others. Besides that, lactic acid is also very beneficial in helping steer away wrinkles and reducing any already existing wrinkles.

Calcium
Much of the epidermal layer of the skin consists of calcium! It is not only necessary for strong bones and teeth but also skin regeneration. Being a derivative of milk, yogurt is jam packed with calcium, which has great anti-oxidant power. The anti-oxidants provided by calcium help prevent and also heal dry scaly skin. Calcium in yogurt also facilitates skin renewal.
B-vitamins
Yogurt is rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12 and vitamin B5. One serving cup of yogurt contains 30.5% riboflavin which is a beneficial vitamin in yoghurt for skin that is glowing and hydrated. Riboflavin is necessary for cell growth and regeneration and also protects skin cells from oxidative damage by free radicals. Vitamin B5 is responsible for facilitating manufacture of healthy fats in cells.

Ingesting Yogurt on a regular basis will also help your overall health and ultimately improve your skin from within.

3. Honey: 

• Acne: Honey is naturally antibacterial, so it's great for acne treatment and prevention.
• Aging: Full of antioxidants, it is great for slowing down aging.
• Complexion boost: It is extremely moisturizing and soothing, so it helps create a glow.
• Pores: Honey is clarifying because it opens up pores making them easy to unclog.

Product Review: Arish Ayurvedic Haldi Neem Face Pack

Hello again!

I'll be doing another product review today. I bought Arish Ayurvedic Haldi Neem Face Pack in June 2013 and I have been using this face pack off and on since then.

Pic from the co.website

Product Claim:

Indication: It helps to skin glow making it fairer and brighter, barnaprasadhak.

Directions for use: Apply evenly all over the face & neck, keep it for 15 minutes and wash with water. Use daily for better result 

This product comes in a 50 g jar and is priced at INR 180/-

It is ready to use in a soft paste form, so you can slap it on straight from the jar!

Lets look at the ingredients:

This is the jar I purchased in June 2013. I think they have changed the packaging since.

Properties of the Ingredients:

1. Haridra/Root Turmeric: anti-aging, moisturizing, antioxidant, astringent and antimicrobial properties.                                                                                               
2. Daruharidra/ tree turmeric: Detoxifying                                                                         
3. Saurashtri Mrittika/Multani Mitti: rich in magnesium chloride which helps to reduce acne,sweat resistant, oil-absorbing, improves blood circulation, anti tan properties.                                                                                
4. Neem: anti- bacterial, anti- parasitic, anti- fungal, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, a boon for those with oily and acne prone skin.                                                                                                                            
5. Shwetchandan/ white sandalwood: used to treat various skin conditions including dryness, eczema, itchiness, and rashes.                                                                                   
6. Polysorbate 20: used as an emulsifier to combine oil and water, said to be soothing to the skin.                                                                                                            
7. Carbomer: the compound is used as a thickener and emulsion stabiliser.                                                                                   
8. Propelyne Glycol: Propylene glycol is a humectant, which means it helps the skin to absorb moisture. It helps to carry the water-based ingredients into the skin                                                                                                         
9. Bentonite:  Bentonite provides an active thickening substance for shampoos, calamine lotions, facial creams, and lipsticks, where it keeps the preparations in homogenous form, maintains the moisture levels, and applies non-greasy stickiness.                                                                                                                     
10. Sodium Banzoate: food preservative                                                                                                       
11. Mixed fruit:  I wonder what fruits??                                                                                                                      

The actual product

My experience:
 I liked the no-fuss packaging, however, the screw top cap seemed too loose (I hope it was only a one off and not all jar caps are loose!!). A great part is that it is ready-to-use paste, so its very convenient to carry around, especially when traveling and you don't always have a bowl to mix your dry packs in!
I love to stick my nose in and sniff my beauty products and I liked the gentle sandalwoody smell. The consistency was good, not runny and not too thick........ very emollienty. However, it tends to dry out a  bit over time. I put some rosewater into the jar to moisten it again. It spread quite beautifully over my face.

Application

After washing off pack. No make-up n nice glow!

I kept it on till it dried,which would be about 20 minutes. After washing off with plain water, this is what I got!! Lovely dewy soft glow. I am wearing no make up, not even a moisturiser. This photo was taken in natural light inside my room, facing the window, no flash.

I just love how my skin feels after using it. The product advice is to use everyday, but I have used it only once a week to 10 days. I always use this when I have to go out for a special function. The make-up sits much better on my skin.

Pros:
1. Ready to use.
2. Great smell
3. Good consistency
4. easy to spread on skin
5. Does not dry out skin too much
6. Gives a lovely glow
7. Great skin pick me up before a party.
8. Affordable. Lasts for about 3 months if used weekly.

Cons: 
1. Packaging can be better.
2. Availability outside West Bengal is an issue.

Overall Rating: 4.8/5, only because of availability issues, or else I would have given it a 5/5!!