“Every woman should have a facial at least once a month from when she hits 18 years of age,” says Chang from Chang’s Parlor (Chennai, India), “If she wants her facial skin to remain at 18 forever!”

I followed this rule steadily till I got married. Then, my parlor schedule slowly started getting down my to-do list. Then, once I had my son, I couldn’t step foot into the parlor for more than a year.

While I did have someone come in once in every two months to give me a waxing job, there never used to be time to ask her to give me a facial too. This is pretty normal situation for any at-home mother whose day is filled with nursing, burping, cooking and cleaning.

It was then my mother, a fabulous style guru, suggested me to give myself home facials.

“They will not just make you grow but also give you a welcome respite,” She said and after that, I started perfecting the art of home facials.

A facial involves the following Steps:

i) Scrubbing and cleansing
ii) Steaming and removal of black heads
iii) Massage
iv) Face pack

All the above procedures can be performed

i) On the face only
ii) Face and neck
iii) Face, neck and back (though it is more relaxing to have someone to do it for you in this case to avoid yogic postures!)
iv) The entire body (a luxurious indulger … of time, I mean)

Whatever you choose depends on you and on the time you have at hand. Now, let us analyze each of the steps one at a time. All ingredients & methodologies are mentioned relating to the face only.

Scrubbing and Cleansing

The objective of this process is to get rid of all dirt and impurities from your face and to loosen up any black heads or white heads that you might have.

You need:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar

Method

Mix both of the above ingredients-olive oil and sugar in a bowl using the tip of your forefinger. Next, dip in your fingertips into this mixture and dab it over your entire face (and/ or neck, etc.)

Now, slowly move the finger tips all over your face without lifting them off. Avoid your eyes and lips. Pay particular attention to your nose, forehead and the area around the mouth, i.e. the T-zone. For comfort and effectiveness, use only the tips of the forefingers and middle fingers of both the hands.
Do this for 3 minutes and then wipe your face with a wet sponge.

Steaming

Even before you start scrubbing and cleansing, keep a vessel filled half with water over the stove top.

Remember to
• keep it closed as the water would heat faster
• use a big vessel to give you more steam.
• switch off the gas once the water starts boiling.

Place the vessel (covered) at the place where you want to take the steam. Take a bed sheet over your head and the vessel such that the steam from the vessel has no opening to escape out. Now carefully remove the lid of the vessel (use a tongs)

Do not continuously keep yourself covered. When you feel hot and uncomfortable, remove the sheet. Then, after a brief gap, cover yourself again. This way, you can give yourself a good steam.

The benefits of a good steam are innumerable. Let me list a few:

i) It clears your pores, making black heads & white heads easy to remove.

ii) It clears your nasal cavity and throat

iii) It helps you get rid of headaches. (Instead of an aspirin, try a steam the next time you get a headache!)