Swathy and Sky

Reduce air and sound pollution this Diwali

· · 3 Comments

Diwali is one of the favorite festivals for almost everyone due to various reasons but the most due to the crackers. But, have you ever realized the amount of pollution which can be caused just in one day? Of course, I know that the tendency to burst crackers has reduced to a large extent and year by year, Diwali is getting greener but still efforts must be kept up by every body and those who have not yet realized should become aware of the harm they are causing to the environment.

“On a personal level, my experience on a Diwali day is like why is it so loud and deafening? Oh, I can not breathe. It is so suffocating.”

“How much smoke comes from igniting just a single anar!!”
Imagine this on a scale of every house in the country. My God!!! Its just preposterous. So, this is my humble request to all those who love crackers and wait for Diwali just to burst crackers that please reduce or do not at all burst crackers. I will definitely understand if you can not completely give up because even I have not given up completely. I still love phuljhadi, pencils, anar, charkhi even though I have given up on rockets. Yes, not much contribution but definitely, I have reduced the amount of crackers I bring home. Not buying crackers can be devastating for kids. So, as a solution, you can at least opt for crackers which do not make noise on a huge scale.
For those who think that Diwali is just about crackers, it is not so. Diwali is a festival of lights not sound. Decorating your homes, making sweets, taking part in buying gifts and then exchanging them, all contribute to the festival. Frankly, it is the excitement of a festival which I enjoy more than the particular day. On a further note, I would also add that crackers have really bad effects on animals. So, please be humane and think about their plight too. And, as far as my resolution goes, I’ll buy even less crackers this time and will enjoy the festival in more greener ways.

Detox your home this Diwali

· · 3 Comments

Diwali is just a week away. And, I am damn excited about it 🙂 It is my favorite festival in whole of the year. And, it is a age old custom to clean our homes inside out before Diwali. I have seen that this custom has lost its importance over time due to our busy lifestyle and hectic schedules. But, there is more to this custom than just being a tradition. You can call this ‘Detox your home’ to make a more specific effect on people. In a sense it is what we do, removing all the junk piled up in the house over the course of year, taking the house inside out, buying new things for the house to welcome the new year. So, what all can be done while doing the detox of the house:

  • Start with the entrance of the house. Do you wash your door mats regularly? They becomes so dirty due to constant usage and dirt being accumulated. They are potential source of infections in the house so it is advisable to either wash it regularly with an antiseptic solution using a vacuum cleaner or you can even replace it with a new one every year.
  • Do you place door mats in front of your bathrooms? I know most of the people do but do not know how regular they are in washing it. So, same goes for washing these bathroom mats.
  • Now, lets go for bathrooms first. We do wash bathrooms really regularly. But, do you remember to wash the walls of the bathrooms, the shower head, the taps, soap holders and other cabinets in the bathroom. Do not forget it this time. Oh, by the way, do wash the shower curtains too if you have one. Of course, toilet rims are most prominent places to wash but do you wash inside the commodes? Then, again the buckets and mugs and other things we use.
  • Lets move to the bathing accessories. The flannels, loofahs, scrubbers, dry brushes, combs, hair brushes, makeup brushes and any other accessory which you use should be washed regularly and kept in sunlight for some time every week. Even 15 minutes is enough. That kills the bacteria in them. And, dry them every day before storing.
  • Do not forget to dry the tooth brush with hair drier or in sunlight before storing it to prevent molds and bacteria growing in it.
  • By the way, do you open the windows in your bathroom if you have any? Do open them at least once a week for a complete day to allow fresh air circulation. It also allows sunlight to come into your bathrooms.
  • Now, let us go to laundry. You wash clothes then put them in the drier. Today’s automatic washing machines give you fully dried clothes which you can simply put on and go. But, drying them in shade once a while or even in sunlight for 15-290 minutes helps them smell fresh and last longer.
  • Same goes for bed sheets. Change the bedding every week. And, if you suffer from acne and other breakouts, change bedding in 3 days at max making sure to use clean pillows almost everyday.
  • Do you launder your carpet? Do not forget to expose it to sunlight for a day this Diwali for a clean floor. Removing the carpet also helps the cleanign of the floor properly and removing the dirt in the carpet.
  • Same goes with the mattress. You can not launder your mattresses so keep them in sunlight for a day or two at least twice a year or once in three months.
  • Lets move to curtains. Curtains are ones which go completely beyond attention unless one day you are trying to remove it and find a plethora of dust settled on it. Change the curtains once in three months. That brings freshness to your rooms also in matters of look. You can use dark colored curtains or double curtains for bedrooms and light curtains for drawing room.
  • Now, cupboards are one places which are dark and become smelly quite easily. So, take out all the material from the cupboard, clean it nicely once in three months or every season change. Use a disinfectant with water while cleaning. After cleaning, leave the cupboards open to let lot of air inside. Then, after half a day, you can replace all the things inside the cupboard again. This way you can get the unnecessary junk out of the house regularly too. And, do not forget to donate the things which you do not need.
  • Place moth balls inside your cupboard every month. Always try to keep the cupboards in an orderly way but I know it is very difficult because I face the same problem. The more I try to be methodical, the more messy the place becomes.
  • When you remove the things from your cupboards whether it is clothes, suitcases, blankets, simple accessories, keep them in sunlight too for a day. This is again a nice way to freshen up things.
  • Before winters, always keep your winter clothes in sunlight for a week to freshen them up. This also includes the blankets and your jackets and other stuff too.
  • Open all the doors and windows in the morning to allow maximum natural light inside. Do this daily to reduce the usage of artificial light and hence, electricity.
  • Avoid using air fresheners as they have chemicals which are not good for you. Instead, keep your houses clean by using dried neem (margosa) leaves or homemade potpourri from rose petals and jasmine flowers. Also, keep lots of plants outside the house. Plants purify the air. If you can keep some inside, you should do that too.
  • There is a tradition of using mango tree leaves int he houses before any festival. The reason for this is because mango tree leaves are considered auspicious and control the evil elements for one and the second is because they are anti-bacterial and prevent the insects from entering the houses.
  • Use soap nuts or baking soda to clean your homes instead of any chemical detergents. You would be surprised by the results!!
Thus, detoxing your home is as good an idea as detoxing your body. Obviously, it is the basic hygiene which should be observed. A weekend is a perfect time to do this. So, happy detoxing and do share with me your own tips for cleaning out your houses.

How to protect skin this winter?

· · 16 Comments

Autumn is giving way to winter. By the time Diwali would come, winter would officially declare itself. Its time to change your beauty routines to accommodate the change in climate and lifestyle. Whether you live in tropical, dry, temperate or cold climate, the air in winter is drier as compared to that of the summer in the respective areas. Thus, you need to lavish more pampering on to your skin.

Your skin care starts with taking baths. Remember what I said about bathing too much. A must follow advice or you will see the repercussions soon enough. And, an advise from me would be to couple your baths with oil massages. That would prevent your skin from drying. In case oil massages become too much time taking and demanding, you can pour 2 teaspoon of your favorite oil to your bath. The oil will keep your skin moisturized. Follow with moisturizing your body on the damp skin. Keep the temperature of water low. Do not take long baths in any case how so ever tempting they might be.
Do not stick to the heaters and blowers in winters in case you live in cold climate. Exercise well to make your body tolerant to cold. That would also bring a pink glow on your face. Wear a lot of clothes to protect yourself from cold. Heating equipments burn the oxygen in the room and deprive you from all your moisture.Always avoid extreme temperatures as they simply lead to cracking of your skin and trust me you do not want to see the worst of it. People living in hilly regions would be knowing about that.
The air in the winter is really drying for the skin no matter where you live. The dryness generates a lot of static electricity in the skin and wearing woolens worsens the situation. So, invest in a good humidifier.Or, place a mug full of water in the room.
Drink lots of water. No one feels like drinking water in winters. But, that will surely lead to dehydration. Compensate with drinking fruit and vegetable juices instead of just plain water. Add lots of fatty acids and oils to your diet. That will keep your skin moisturized from inside.
Moisturize the skin a lot. In  the instant you feel dryness, apply moisturizer or oil immediately. At night, you can also compensate with milk cream or white butter. Coconut oil is the best if you go for oils. Buy heavy moisturizers. look for products rich in shea butter and cocoa butter. In case you do get pure unrefined shea butter, nothing is better than that. Pay special attention to your elbows and knees otherwise the skin around them would get rough and darker.
Cleansing and exfoliation are two things which should be done properly in winters. Anything excess would make your skin dry and less would make your skin dull. Go for homemade products in exfoliation. Do not exfoliate more than twice if you go outside regularly and once is enough if you rarely venture out. For cleansing, either stick to your favorite cleanser or go for homemade ones. Oil cleansers are good idea in winters even for oily skin.In winters, you would find sometimes (especially at very low temperatures) that you feel like scratching your skin. I have seen my mom do it many times. That is because of the excessive dehydration of your skin. At that time, apply a moisturizer or oil and massage it slowly into your body. Oil is always better as it gives fatty acids into your body and keeps it nourished from inside instead of outside. And, improve your diet as indicated. Food is the only thing which can keep you well in winters. Eat lots of eggs and fish if you can. Otherwise, depend on lots of seeds of every kind. Do not forget nuts, any kind of them. You can go on a binging spree without any qualms.

Skin tends to get darker in winters. There are various reasons for it. The first on my list is excess exposure to sun. People love to bask in the heat of sun in winters. Do not forget a sunscreen if you are one of them. The second is dry air. It sucks out the moisture from your skin. You can do nothing except keep the water levels inside your body at a high and nutrition very controlled. Avoid junk foods which we do binge more in winters. Do not go for bike riding or long car drives in open. The third is obviously the friction and static electricity which I mentioned above also. This can be avoided by wearing cotton clothes first and then covering with woolens. Wearing multiple layers of clothing also helps prevent cold than a simple jacket. The fourth reason is excess exposure to heat. So, stay away from heaters, save electricity and keep yourself in check by exercising regularly. Use more blankets. The last reason is over application of moisturizers. If you just keep on slathering moisturizer in layers on your skin, the pores will get clogged and your skin starts to look dull.
[These tips are for everyone no matter what climate you live in. I am sure you would be able to relate to something or other here. I would surely love to hear any ideas which you might have for winter skin protection.]