Keeping Your Skin Smooth The Natural Way.

Have you considered using the stuff you would usually find in your kitchen as skincare?

Last weekend was absolutely delicious because I got the chance to just laze about the house, which is rare because I am usually running around doing something or other!

My mother is a firm believer in all things natural and this is a practice which she rigorously imparts on my children. Every Saturday, my girls take a bath with mung bean paste (or green bean which it is more commonly known as in this part of the world) which is rubbed onto their skin and washed off with soap and water. This leaves their skin baby soft and smooth and also, they enjoy pretending that the mung bean paste is some alien trying to invade their bodies! It's totally fun for them.

According to mum, this is a practice that is commonly used to slough away dead skin cells and it is good for the body too because it is all natural. Besides, the recipe can be modified to suit your fancy.

I too had a chance to take a bath using mung bean paste as a body scrub and I spent a considerable amount of time taking a slow leisurely bath.

Allow me to share the recipe with you, dear readers so you too can try this when you have some time on your hands.

You will need about 200 grammes of dry mung beans.

Blend the mung beans in a dry blender until you get a fine powder like this.

The longer you blend, the finer the powder. If you want the powder to be a little coarser which results in a coarser scrub, then by all means blend it to your liking.

Once you are done, take the amount of powder needed and mix it with water until you get the consistency of a thick paste. The powder absorbs a lot of water so do keep adding until you are happy with how it is. It should not be too runny, which will then make it difficult to spread and scrub.

You can use milk instead of water for a more luxe scrub as milk has softening properties in it too. My mum suggests using rose water which was traditionally used by her mother! But not many people have a bottle of rose water hanging around their kitchens do they?

Once you get into the bathroom, apply this home made scrub on wet skin and scrub away concentrating on your elbows and knees. I even use this on my face and give it a gentle scrub. Once you are done, rinse the paste off your body and then continue with your normal routine of soap or body wash.

The results? Totally smooth skin for a fraction of the cost!