Touted as one of the most nutrient-dense foods by scientists, kale is sought after for its ability to deliver a multitude of benefits to your body. Brimming with vitamins and minerals, the vegetable isn’t limited to gracing platters of food. Incorporate this skin and hair-loving superfood into your beauty routine and watch your skin transform for good.
- 1. Whip up a scrub
- 2. an eye cream
- 3. Condition your cuticles
- 4. Throw in a hair mask
- 5. Destress the face
1. Whip up a scrub
Exfoliation is a must, but scrubbing your skin with a non-abrasive (harsh) ingredient is important. Kale is milder than a lot of the DIY exfoliators like salt, sugar, and oatmeal that you slather onto your face. And it’s a sustainable alternative to the plastic-based beads/scrubs employed in commercial exfoliators. Just combine equal parts kale (minced or powdered) with two parts coconut oil, and massage the concoction into the drier parts of your skin before rinsing it off with lukewarm water.
2. an eye cream
Most of us sigh at the sight of puffiness under our eyes. If we told you that this dark, cruciferous, loose-leafed vegetable is our long-awaited saviour, would you try swapping your under-eyes with a topical application of the long-stemmed green? Because it works. Since kale is loaded with anti-inflammatory properties, it diminishes inflammation and puffiness when applied to the problematic area. Mix two tablespoons of kale with a quarter-cup of coconut oil as well as two tablespoons of avocado oil — ensure the consistency is milky — and apply the formula under the eyes. Rinse it off in ten minutes. You can chill the cream for a bit before application.
3. Condition your cuticles
Kale is packed with vitamins A, B, and K, which are widely acknowledged as nail-strengthening ingredients. Vitamin A, particularly, supports keratin synthesis - and our nails are made up of keratin. All you have to do is blend three tablespoons of kale with a teaspoon of olive oil, and apply the DIY conditioner to your nails for about five minutes.
4. Throw in a hair mask
Kale is known to strengthen your hair, reinstate your tresses’ lustre, and soften them. Juice a little bit of kale, enough for half a cup - and combine it with a mashed banana. Coat your hair - from the roots to the ends - with the mask, and cover your hair with a shower cap for thirty minutes before rinsing it off.
5. Destress the face
Image Courtesy: @skinbydomonique
Kale wards off free radicals, wrinkles, and fine lines along with brightening our complexion, and ridding our skin of unwarranted dark spots. To prepare a kale-based mask for the face, you will need a quarter-cup of chopped kale, a teaspoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of honey, and half a tablespoon of coconut milk - the latter two are excellent for hydration and soothing. Juice the kale in a blender, and add the rest of the ingredients to the now-liquid vegetable before applying the mask to your face for ten minutes. Rinse it off after
Written by Urvi Shah on Dec 07, 2021
A professional writer by day, and a poet by night, I'm a journalism graduate with experience in the news, travel, and food sectors. A frantic compiler of excerpts from books I've read, you can count on me to incorporate quotes and phrases into everyday conversations without a warning. On days I'm not working, I station myself in front of my laptop, and try to work my way through month-old drafts of my writings.