Household Hints for a Beautiful You (2)

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• To help lighten dark circles under the eyes, use raw potato slices. The potassium in the potatoes helps to take away the discoloration, leaving you looking fresh-faced and rested.

• If you're out of cold cream or need a quick makeup remover, use vegetable shortening fresh from the can. It is an excellent emollient and smooths and moisturizes the skin while lifting away the makeup. After removing the make-up, wash your face as normal to remove the residual shortening.

•  If you are plagued by blemishes (pimples), you can reduce the redness of the pimples by applying a dab of eye drops (the kind to remove redness and soothe itchy eyes) to the pimples. The ingredients that soothe and clear away the redness of the eyes help to dilate the capillaries in the skin and lessen the redness of the pimples on your skin.

Nail Care:

•  For a quick and easy manicure, lemons are just the thing. Simply combine one cup of warm water with the juice of half a lemon. Soak your fingertips in the solution for five minutes, then rinse them and pat dry with a soft cloth. The acid in the lemon juice will soften the cuticles and remove the dead skin cells.

After soaking, you can easily push back your cuticles while patting them dry. Rub the nails with the peel of the lemons to distribute the fruit oil from the lemon skin and buff the nails to a shine with a soft cloth. Not only does the lemon juice help soften the cuticles and dead skin, it also helps to fade stains and leave the nails brighter and the free edge whiter.

•  If you ever find yourself with a jagged edge on a fingernail and no emery board, try using the striking plate from a matchbook or matchbox. They are basically ultra-fine grained grit panels that will usually do the trick.

Redheads matchbox - Box with matches — Photo: John Finkelstein/Pexels

• If you find that your nail polishes tend to go "bad" before they are used up, try storing the polish in the refrigerator. It will last longer and will always be smooth and easy to apply. In addition, if you have polish that has gone hard orbecome gummy, place the bottle in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes. In most cases, this will revitalize the polish and it will be "like new".

These are just some of the various "household" hints that have been in use for decades by women who wanted to economize or make do in a pinch. Many women find that the tips are worth using full-time, especially when they want to take a more natural approach to beauty and personal grooming.

Whatever your reasons for trying them, these tips will help make your beauty routine more flexible, less expensive, and convenient. And we all want that, don't we?

©Hairfinder.com

See also:

Natural Hair Care

Beauty tips from around the world