nivea

Is your skin itchy? {Skin Care}

Swathy · November 3, 2011 · 8 Comments

Winters are almost on the door step and my skin has already started to feel the cold and chill in the air. And, my skin has also turned itchy lately. So, why is it so? Because of the lack of moisturization. Yes, if you are facing the same problem, you might want to explore more options in the moisturizer and body butter departments.For me, I would say that Nivea worked really well. Yes, the original blue tin Nivea.

If budget is not a consideration, The Body Shop body butters are pretty much famous but if you do like to keep a tab, then, Nivea or any thick lotion would do the trick. And, if you still want more, you can go for the combination of body oils followed by body lotions. The key to control itchy skin is not let it get dry and this can also be helped from the inside by feeding on nuts. This is especially useful for people living in hills.

How do you counter your skin dryness?

Also read:
How to protect skin this winter?
Winter Skin Care Lotions

Groundnut oil for skin {Ingredient}

Swathy · October 8, 2011 · 5 Comments

I have a bad habit of removing labels *feeling sheepish*

I had bought it for culinary purposes but unfortunately, it expired without getting completely used up and I don’t think I’ll ever buy it for culinary purposes ever again coz it gives too much of a nutty taste and smells very strongly of peanuts and I don’t fancy the so-called aroma. Anyways, so I thought I would use it up for skin before the oil turns rancid. Well, here you might argue that it has expired but vegetable oils (not hydrogenated) don’t really go bad so easily so if its only external usage, I don’t really mind. Of course, I’ll never eat it. So, how did it fare for my skin.

Groundnut Oil

Ok, first let me describe the texture and benefits. It is thick like other culinary oils and mine is organic (USDA certified) which I had bought from the 24 letter mantra I had talked about long time back. The groundnut oil is generally preferred for cooking because it has high smoke point and is a very stable oil and also has a long shelf life which is why I don’t pay heed to the expiry dates of oils unless they are hydrogenated oils. Groundnut oil is highly rich in proteins and is also very nutritious. And, its essentially very high in fatty acids which are responsible for keeping the skin young.

Its major component fatty acids are oleic acid (46.8% as olein), linoleic acid (33.4% as linolein), and palmitic acid (10.0% as palmitin). The oil also contains some stearic acid, arachidic acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid and other fatty acids. [Wikipedia]

You can read about its nutrient profile here.

How do I use Groundnut oil?

I use the oil mainly for cleansing purposes after I finished up with Nivea Cleansing Milk. I massage for few minutes with the oil and I do take a generous amount for face and neck and exposed chest (if I have applied sunscreen there). And, massage for sometime. Then, I leave the oil for few minutes (around 3-5) and then, wipe it off with the cleansing wipes or baby wipes or even cotton (wipes are easier but lot costlier and have all lot of chemicals in them but then cotton has pesticides too and organic cotton is way too costly which is why I prefer wash cloths but oil on wash cloths would ruin them). Then, I simply wash off my face and moisturize.

Since I have been using the oil, I have noticed that my blackheads are far fewer in number (which had becomes really pronounced in between). That’s why I say “go for oil cleansing”. Ok, not easy while traveling but when you are at home. And, if I am not wrong, I have noticed my face skin has become healthier in the sense of supple and healthy skin since the past one month and, for the record, my habits are as irregular as they can be. I think groundnut oil behaves just like castor oil and has cleansing properties because you can see the dirt and all your sunscreen and foundation coming out of the pores while cleansing the face. And, no breakouts too which I had with almond oil.