For skin, hair & teeth

Everyone has experienced some type of skin affliction that could be treated using essential oils. Simple scrapes and cuts are common for those who work with their hands.
Insect bites, burns caused by the sun or working in the kitchen, allergies, rashes and swelling, may all be treated with the proper therapy. Here’s how you can put in an extra bit of work to maintain the quality of your hair, eyes, face and neck.

Hair: The hair is one’s crowning glory and reflects the body’s health condition. A natural shampoo which promises to add gloss and feed the roots contains bay rum, chamomile, caraway and marjoram. Make yourself a tonic with bay rum, chamomile and rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme, southernwood and wormwood.

Eyes: Many plant extracts soothe the eyes and relieve soreness caused by long hours of work, strong sunlight or cold winds. Try applying the extracts of clary, fennel, marigold, cornflower and meilot. To brighten the eyes and give them a sparkle, vervain and eyebright are recommended.

Face: For a facepack or mask that will leave the skin clean and soft, apply a paste of barley, oats, tomato and red elm. Among the best natural ingredients to include in face creams is  avocado (present in most expensive creams) and cucumber, which is as good as a mix of marigold, marshmallows, almond, olive and coconut oil, quince seed, mucilage, Balanos oil and carnauba wax.

Mouth: For clean, white sparkling teeth, brush them with the juice of strawberry or soles, the fruit of the blackthorn.

Neck: It is the neck that gives away your age first. To best cover signs of ageing, apply a paste of elderflower water (with glycerin and borax) or witch hazel (with almond oil and lanolin) and massage the area just before bedtime. Or, peel a large tomato and cut it into slices and place over the neck for an hour every day.

Arnica (with witch hazel) or rosemary make excellent deodorants and soaps. Put together a paste of bay laurel, myrrh, caraway, lavender, pine or wintergreen and rosemary. This will leave you smelling fresh and minty all day long.

Hands and nails: To keep the hands clean and free of stains, place your hands in a tub of warm water mixed with the lemon juice. Follow this by scrubbing them with a pumice stone and soap. To prevent the nails from turning brittle and hands chapping, massage them with olive oil or almond oil.

Legs and feet: Once a week at bedtime, soak your and ankles for 15 minutes in a bucket of warm water into which rosemary, mint or wild thyme has been added. Then massage olive oil into the feet and legs and wear long stockings overnight for best results.
To prevent callouses from forming, rub the sole of your feet with lemon juice or witch hazel syrup.

Dos and Don’ts

- If you notice  uneven skin tone in patches on your skin, supplement your diet with iron and calcium after you consult a dermatologist.
- If you have a pale complexion, supplement vitamin A in your diet to improve colour. Drink a glass of carrot juice every day.
- Do not use cosmetics that come with colouring agents. If you cannot avoid this, use minimal make-up.

- Avoid using oral birth control and sleeping pills.
- For asthma and diabetes, use only the prescribed dose and use a sun block when out in the sun.

Leucoderma is a skin condition that involves the loss of  pigment in certain sharply-defined areas of the skin. The affected area looks white in contrast to the surrounding skin. The cause for this problem is yet to be explained.

Treat the affected area as normal skin and follow a normal skin care routine. Apply two drops of bergamot oil mixed with a teaspoon of mustard oil on the affected areas every day. Almond oil with two drops of basil (tulsi) oil used as a regular face and body oil also helps.