10 Reasons for Turning Water into Your BFF (Part 1)

Health and beauty are inextricably intertwined, be it of the body or mind. Feeling full of sunshine makes you feel beautiful and that attitude of self-assurance and confidence mirrors in how you look. The age-old adage “a healthy body houses a healthy mind” truly holds true when it comes to looking good because make-up can do only that much for you. The little something that lures the eyes and brings forth the “wow”, trickles from your feeling good about yourself. Now you may well ask, “That’s all fine, but where does water come in all of this?” Let me just say, that approximately 60% of human body is aqua.

So, it goes to show how much this life sustaining fluid is important for maintaining our body as it is meant to be. However, I have a few handy tips listed here for you to look your gorgeous self using water in some very interesting ways.

 

10 Healthy Beauty Hacks Using Water

1.  Water and Hugs – Work Best When Warm:

   Shedding those extra pounds with warm water is easier, as it will increase your metabolic rate to burn calories faster. The best habit you can develop is having a glass of warm water first thing in the morning. Not only will it wake you up gently yet properly, but will also provide a good jump start for your internal organs. The result, better heart health for your morning jog and exercise routine, healthy tummy with better digestion and “regular motions”. The baseline – an overall smooth functioning machinery to keep you smoothly on the go.

    

   Drinking warm H2O is also one of the best natural cures for stomach cramps and muscle spasms. A glass of warm water every morning keeps common cold at bay and if you actually do catch cold, it will be remarkably less severe. I personally like this trick the best because there is nothing like a bad cold. It make you feel as if the end of world is just round the corner, however silly it may feel later on.

   “The easiest health routine to adopt is having a glass of warm water first thing in the morning.”

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2. Detox to Get that Blushing Glow:

   Routinely detoxifying your body will not only keep serious health issues and pesky skin problems at bay but would also give you an enviously glowing complexion. These 5-minute recipes are quick and super easy and are great detox routines. Take a bottle full of sparkling water that you can carry around with you throughout the day. Add to it any one of the following delectable combinations that fancy your palate.

   • A few slices of apple with an inch of cinnamon stick.
   • A couple of sliced strawberry, an inch of ginger with a few mint sprigs.
   • 5-6 slices of cucumber with rosemary, thyme or mint.
   • A few slices of cilantro would also work as an anti-cholesterol agent along with giving you a healthy dose of vitamin C.
   • Blackberry and a few mint leaves would lower cholesterol and help in digestion.
   • Put a few slices of lemon in with either cucumber, raspberries or orange.
   • Kiwi slices with basil would give you vitamin K, vitamin C, copper and fiber boost. Now simply sip your way to a detoxified healthy body, glowing skin and sparkling eyes.

3.  Detox Body from Outside:

   Let’s take a sheet out of the famous bathhouses of Rome. The basic idea – opening up the pores with hot steam to detox through one of the biggest organs of our body, skin, followed by cold water plunges to close the pores up for silky glowing skin. You don’t need a sauna at home to detox your way to gorgeousness. A simple steaming hot towel wrap for 10-20 minutes followed immediately by cold shower can do the trick with much less hassle and expense. Another way to detox is mixing 1 cup of apple cider vinegar in 1 liter of hot water. Dip your feet in for 20-30 minutes and relax your way to more energy, better health and minty fresh looks. Apple cider vinegar has loads of goodness and I would love to share those with you in my next post (after this water series), so look out!

4. Water for Gorgeous Hair:

   Water makes up for approximately 1/4th weight of a hair strand. So drinking more water and staying hydrated not only helps keep them healthy and glossy but also keeps the scalp dandruff-free for better hair root support. Cold water rinses also help the shine factor by constricting hair cuticles. Ocean water with red algae and sea lettuce strengthens and adds much-valued moisture to your hair. A simple trick is mixing essential oils with distilled water to be used as leave-on hair serum. Additionally, you can even mix one part of your regular conditioner with three parts of water in a spray bottle and use it as leave-on conditioner to control frizz. Dry and brittle hair slow down growth rate, so keep them hydrated along with good hair cuticle care for long luscious locks.

5. Eyes:

   Water is the best way to care for your peepers. Splash cold water or rose water to get the sparkling naughtiness back in them after a tiring day. Eye puffiness after staring long hours at the computer monitor can be vamoosed with cold water splashes followed by cold tea bag compression. For longer-lasting effect, you can also go for water-rich under-eye gels. Also, it is easy to revive your favorite mascara with a few drops of saline water.

6. Gorgeous Skin:

   For a well-rounded action plan to get Cleopatra-worthy skin, adopt an easily followed schedule of

   • A glass of warm water in the morning.
   • Replace caffeine and soda drinks with green teas.
   • One bottle of detox aqua mix sipped throughout the day. Just put slices of cucumber, ginger, lemon and a few mint sprigs to a bottle of water. Let it sit overnight and sip it throughout the next day. Or, you can use berries like strawberry with lemon slices to be sipped through the next day.
   • Enjoy relaxing vinegar-water feet soaks.

   Don’t burn your enthusiasm out trying to do everything in one go. Develop these habits one by one till all of it becomes effortless.

7. Nails:

   Proper hydration translates to strong and healthy nails. Agree, there are other things too, but hydration is one of the major factors. The basic rule is one pint of H2O for every pound of sweat. If discolored nails are giving you nightmares, just dip them for 60 seconds in a concoction of half cup of hot water, one teaspoon baking soda and 1 tablespoon of peroxide. Thickening old nailpolish can be revived by dipping it for a few minutes in boiling hot water. However, make sure that the cap is on lightly and there is room for air inside the bottle to expand. And, my favorite is using water to DRY your nail varnish in a jiffy. Sounds ironic or what? Dip your nails in ice-cold water in between layers and also after you are done to dry them off in a couple of minutes. Magic! :)

8. Lose Weight:

   Add a squirt of lemon and a teablespoon full of honey to your daily morning warm aqua routine and watch the pounds run backwards on your weighing scale. The daily lemon dose would also work wonders for the pH balance of your body giving you a trouble-free tummy and better overall health. This is also good for respiratory health from simple bronchial disorders to asthma.

9. Remove Stress From the Equation:

   Drinking warm water as against cold H2O de-stresses your internal organs. However, to wash away all the stress after a hard day’s work, go for a nice cold shower or a hot bath in winters. Additionally, you can give your feet hot aqua dip with a dash of Epson salt to relax and detox at the same time.

10. Mist Sprays for Face:

    Aqua mist sprays with essential oils would not only help you feel instantly refreshed and relaxed, but would also keep your makeup looking fresh and dewy all through the day. Though you can buy them at any beauty store, making one for yourself is not only cheaper but helps you tweak the ingredients however you like. The one that I dig is rose water and aloe vera combo. It not only is calming, but the aloe vera works wonder for my skin too. Fill 3/4th of a glass spray bottle with distilled H2O. Add 4 tablespoons of aloe vera oil in it and top it up with rose water. Just shake it and spray to feel rejuvenated and ready for the world.

Look out for the concluding part of this 2-part series. It has oodles of info on how to stay hydrated without sweating it out 🙂 . Additionally, we would also touch on the health benefits of water. I have been trying out quite a few of these tips for a while and love them for their simplicity and efficacy. So, how do you feel about these?

 

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