Beauty secrets from Italy

Gorgeous skin, heavenly hair and an understanding of their own inherent beauty: things like that are passed down the generations. We’ll let you into a few Italian beauty secrets: 

ITALIAN SPOT TREATMENTS

According to Italian folk tradition, spots should be treated immediately without naively hoping that they’ll go on their own. You need to dab a clove of garlic on them or garlic juice every 30-40 minutes. In 3-4 hours they should be gone. 

ITALIAN TINTS

To give their hair lighter strands, Italian women put lemon juice on some strands and go in the sun. The hair should be carefully rinsed with water after sunbathing. 

ITALIAN YOGHURT FACE MASK

Mix together bananas, honey, yogurt- preferably Greek- and avocado in equal parts until smooth and apply to your hair. Wait for the mask to dry and then rinse off carefully.

OLIVE OIL FOR FACE, BODY AND HAIR

Italians remove their make-up with olive oil, apply oil to their hair and, with sea salt, add it to their bath and rub it into their damp face and body after bathing. And they consume litres of olive oil! 

STRAWBERRIES

While we only apply strawberries to our face, the Italians rub them into their whole body. It gives their skin its famous radiance which Italian women have on screen and in real life.

To make a genuine Italian strawberry scrub, take huge, overripe strawberries with big seeds and add a bit of honey. After the scrub you should apply olive oil to your damp skin. 

SOPHIA LOREN FACE MASK

The recipe for this mask is attributed to Sophia Loren. It might or might not be true. In any case, it’s worth trying out this recipe as the mask is really good. And Sophia Loren looks great for her age- a real beauty.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp gelatine
• 100g cream
• 1 tsp glycerin 
• 1 tsp honey

Cream is great for dry skin. If you have normal skin, use milk or yogurt instead. If you have greasy skin use sour milk, kefir or low fat yogurt. Glycerin can be replaced by olive oil or other plant oils. Olive oil is beneficial for the above-mentioned reasons. 

PREPARATION & APPLICATION 

Dissolve gelatine in the cream, put it in the fridge for 6-8 hours. Then warm the mixture in a waterbath while stirring, until the gelatine is dissolved and add the glycerin and honey.
Let the mask cool until it’s a pleasant temperature for your skin and then apply it to your clean face, neck and neckline.
Wait 20-25 minutes then remove with a cloth soaked in cold milk. Remove any remaining mask with lukewarm water.
You can keep the prepared mask in the fridge for 5-7 days and use it daily. In the morning apply it cold to refresh your face and in the evening warm it briefly in the microwave or waterbath to intensify the nourishing effect.