
Brush your lips
Yes, you heard right! We did write brush your lips. Every time you pick up your toothbrush to brush your teeth (morning and night) give your lips a little bit of a scrub. Rinse off your toothbrush before doing so, to get rid of the paste. Now, when we say brush, we do not at all mean a vigorous scrubbing like the one you give your teeth. What we do mean is to lightly run your toothbrush for a few seconds very gently over your lips. This gets rid of excess skin, superficial discoloration and over time gives your lips a soft and luminous appearance.
A Weekly body scrub
Once again, no long trek to the spa. This is done in the comfort of your very own bathroom. Simply buy yourself a body scrub (make sure it is not too gentle, we prefer a slightly rough option like sea salt and Brazilian nut), and you are good to go. Do not wet your body with water before you start. The scrub will have little to no effect. Dry scrub your entire body and if it feels a bit too rough, use just a few drops of water to soften the feel.
Additional tip: Don’t forget to scrub the elbows, feet and butt. Rinse immediately after. Dry yourself and step out. You will notice that your chicken skin has lessened, and ingrowths will have disappeared over time and your skin will feel baby smooth.
Brush your body
Trust us when we say, it only takes 5 to 7 second or 10 at the very max but a daily brushing does wonders for your grooming. Just before your final rinse in the shower, simply take a nail brush and quickly brush your toes, knees, fingers, knuckles and elbows and give your butt a last quick scrub as well. These are the areas we often ignore, but get maximum discoloration due to constant chaffing. End this with a foot scraper wherein you remove the dead skin from your heels and balls of your feet.
Oil Yourself
A weekly massage is great. If you cannot manage weekly, try fortnightly. And once again we are not talking about a long trek to the spa wherein you get a gentle pressure point massage. We are talking about a good ole maalish, wherein the maalish wala/wali comes home and rubs you down. Get your head massage done as well and you have just saved yourself some time. All you need is a 45 minute body massage and a 15 minute head massage. Buy yourself lovely massage oils from the market (we recommend natural and chemical free) or go simply with pure almond, olive and coconut oil. No fuss. Just all the benefits.
Detox tea
Whilst it is very important to take care of yourself from the outside, what you put on the inside is equally, if not more important. Now that is a whole new article by itself, but a quick fix is to have a cup or two of detoxing tea. All you need is hot water and tea leave so there should be no excuse. There are tons of choices available in the market, pick your favourite flavour and get started.
It’s ultimately the small things that make a difference. The above grooming tools are extremely easy to inculcate into your daily routine. All you need to do is make them a habit for a healthier, more beautiful version of you.
XOXO
little red tote
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Written by Fleur Xavier and Nethra Raghuraman on 11th Jul 2014