Naina's Dream Beauty, Care Cosmetics, Beauty Tips

Ovulation, menstruation, pregnancy, polycystic ovary syndrome and certain birth control pills may cause hormones to fluctuate, leading to breakouts. Bacteria, dandruff, pore-clogging cosmetics and a high level of cortisol (a stress hormone) are also known causes of acne.

Fill Your Plate: Both protein and fat are essential for skin regeneration. You need about two to three tablespoons of fat every day. Just make sure that you eat the right fats, like those present in fish, nuts and fruits like avocado. Focus on green leafy veggies and foods rich in vitamin B complex. A fibre-rich diet will keep your stomach healthy, in turn preventing breakouts.

Go Easy: Cut down on saturated fats from junk food, caffeine, red meat and processed food. Start by going off them completely for at least one month, and then have them as occasional treats. Abridge sugar intake and avoid bingeing on carbs like white breads and pasta.

Hot Beauty Tips

• A glass of carrot juice during the day will pump up your vitamin A levels.

• Water boiled with a stick of cinnamon and reduced to half, first thing in the morning, will also help reduce acne.

• Get a variety of oils into your diet, such as olive oil and flaxseed oil.

Your Meal Plan For The Day

Morning: A glass of vegetable juice.

Breakfast: Skimmed milk and almonds or wheat flakes with a fruit and two or three egg whites or one whole egg or multigrain toast with olive oil or butter spread and fruit.

Mid Morning: Make a fruit salad with apples, pears and kiwi. Grind 1 tsp of flaxseed and 1/2 tsp each of sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, all not roasted, to make the seed mix. Sprinkle seed mix on salad.

Lunch: Two cups or 200g of vegetables like cauliflower, spinach, legumes like and dal or fish for protein, two multigrain rotis or brown rice for fibre and a bowl of yoghurt. Avoid starch-rich vegetables like potatoes, peas and corn.

Tea: Guacamole

Dinner: A green vegetable like broccoli, salad with walnut shavings, skimmed-milk paneer or steamed fish and roti.

Ditch That Blobbing foundation on one spot and then spreading it over your face

Do This Rub a few drops of foundation between your fingertips and smooth it on like a moisturiser to get the most natural coverage. When you put a big blob in one place, it builds up in that spot and is harder to blend evenly.

Ditch That Putting powder bronzer right on top of foundation

Do This Dust a fine layer of translucent powder over foundation, and then apply the bronzer. The powder sets the foundation so your bronzer won’t melt into it or go streaky.

Ditch That Concealing oil or grease by piling on the pressed powder

Do This Press blotting paper onto skin to soak up excess oil. Adding more powder would make skin look cakey and open pores more obvious.

Ditch That Raising your eyebrows when applying your eyeshadow

Do This Keep eyes relaxed and brush shadow into the creases of your lids using a windshield wiper-like motion. If your brows are raised, which lifts up your lids, you can’t tell exactly where the colour will sit once you drop them.

Ditch That Lathering make-up remove onto skin like soap

Do This Soak a cotton ball with make-up remover and hold it on your face for several seconds before sweeping it off. Giving it a moment to seep in breaks down make-up build-up, so whatever you’ve applied earlier will slide right off. Aggressively scrubbing doesn’t dissolve anything faster and it might irritate your skin.

Ditch That Applying your concealer on top of foundation

Do This Apply concealer and then foundation. This helps the concealer blend in and not look so obvious on a zit or dark circles. And you’ll find that you won’t need as much foundation.

Ditch That Fixing a mascara smudge by rubbing it off with a tissue or make-up remover

Do This Dab tiny drop or two of foundation over the smudge with your finger to erase the mark from sight. Wiping it, on the other hand, will smear it more (making an even bigger mess) and take off the rest of your make-up too, which means you’d have to start from scratch.