Have you ever wondered what is turmeric? And what are turmeric benefits to your skin and body?
Turmeric is a spice that is widely used in India and China for curing many diseases. It is a yellow spice, which is part of the ginger family, and it is one of the spices used to make Curry. For a long time, I used to think that turmeric is a spice that is only for Indian-based meals, until I hosted a guest blog post on Tips for Natural Beauty by the Indian blogger Chetana, who introduced turmeric as a beauty ingredient.
Though it is essential to supply your body with nutrients from within, your skin also needs some extra ingredients to give it that fresh healthy beauty you are looking for.
What is turmeric?
A perennial shrub originally grew in the south and southeastern Asia and western India. This spice is processed from an underground stem called a rhizome, which resembles a plant’s root and in its raw form looks similar to ginger root.
It has a very important rule in the culture of India since it is used in traditional Indian celebrations such as Hindu rituals, Hindu spring festival, and bridal beautification ceremonies in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, where the bride-to-be apply a mixture of haldi and gram flour on her body to give it a golden glow.
Usually, Haldi is used along with gram flour (also known as besan flour, chickpea flour, and garbanzo flour) and milk in many traditional facial turmeric recipes. Gram flour is a good exfoliator, but it is also used to prevent haldi from staining your skin. Milk is used to firm your skin, i.e. reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
Turmeric (or haldi as known in the eastern communities) is famous for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, thus it is suitable for curing many skin problems.
Turmeric (haldi ) Beauty benefits
There is a wide range of turmeric benefits that include your skin, hair and whole body, some of these benefits are:
1. Wound healing and scar-diminishing properties.
Haldi is a great way to cure scars especially acne scars, all you need for this turmeric recipe is to mix haldi powder with few drops of water till it forms a paste, and leave this turmeric face mask on the marks for 15 minutes.
2. Anti-aging Benefits
Haldi weakens stress in skin cells, and when combined with raw milk and tomato it becomes more effective.
Anti-aging turmeric recipe:
Mix equal amounts of turmeric and rice powder, add milk and tomato juice until it forms a paste, apply to your face and neck, and leave on for 30 minutes then rinse with luck water.
3. potential anti-cancer capabilities
Because of the antioxidants especially breast cancer, and possibly slow the spread of cancer.
4. Fight acne
Turmeric takes care of inflammation, which makes one of the best natural ways to fight acne.
Acne-free turmeric recipe:
You can prepare a DIY turmeric face mask which consists of few drops of water and lemon juice in addition to haldi powder. Apply the paste on the acne affected area and leave it on for about 15 minutes. Then gently scrub it off your face with plain water.
5. As an excellent exfoliator.
Turmeric is a great natural exfoliator for your skin, and when combined with yogurt, this turmeric recipe is wonderful for exfoliating your skin and removing all dead skin.
Turmeric exfoliating recipe:
You can prepare a paste from turmeric and raw milk ( or yogurt) in equal portions, mix well and apply to your clean face and body if you wish to. (You can also use this mixture to reduce the appearance of stretch marks). Leave it on till it dries then wash off with lukewarm water while scrubbing your face gently in circular motion. Lactic acid present in milk and yogurt will help peel off the dead skin cells and thus giving your skin a youthful look.
6. Cracked heels
Turmeric benefits also include fighting dry skin on not only your face but also your whole body.
Turmeric recipe for cracked heels:
You can also use haldi to cure cracked heels by applying a mixture of coconut oil/castor oil and haldi powder on cracked heels preferably 15 minutes before you head to take a bath.
7.Facial hair reducer
If used regularly, haldi can be used to reduce hair growth where needed.
Turmeric Facial hair reducer recipe
Mix 1/4 tablespoon of haldi and with 1 tablespoon of gram flour, add water to form a paste, leave it on your face for 15 minutes, then rinse, if used regularly, you will start to see the difference in a month.
8. Moisturizing your skin
Haldi and honey form a lovely mixture of curing dry skin.
Turmeric moisturizing recipe:
Mix 1 tablespoon of honey with teaspoon of turmeric and apply to your face, leave it on for 10-15 minutes then rinse with lukewarm water.
Turmeric benefits have exceeded my expectations, and the more I research, the more I discover amazing healing properties of this magical spice! No wonder it is used in a special ceremony where a paste made of haldi is applied to the bride and the groom’s body as part of their marriage preparations.
I wonder which turmeric recipe have you tried before? Are you planning to add it to your beauty routine?
Image credit: andrelix / 123RF Stock Photo
Dima, what is haldi? And where can you buy rice powder? Tumeric is wonderful. I am trying to add it to more recipes more often 🙂
Allison recently posted…Tarte CC Matte Be Mattenificent Shadow Palette
Hi Allison,
Haldi is the expression used for turmeric in the far East, and rice powder (also known as rice flour) is used to replace wheat flour that you are more familiar with.
Rice powder is rare here, but you can make your own, I found you a useful link, here it is:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Rice-Flour
By the way, I read once that Chinese women are known for their flawless skin, and that’s because they apply rice water to their faces, then rinse after 10-15 minutes. So next time you strain the rice before you cook it, make use of that water 😉
Dima Al Mahsiri recently posted…Discover 11 Health benefits of Avocado to your Skin and Hair
i don’t usually wash the rice before cooking it, but maybe I will and save the water!! I haven’t looked at the rice powder link yet but I could probably just put rice in the food processor and that would make it. Thank you 🙂
Allison recently posted…St. Patrick’s Day Face of the Day
I knew there were many health benefits for turmeric, but some of these I had never heard of – thanks for the share!
I was surprised, too, Antionette by the huge range of turmeric benefits! Not only in beauty, but also for your whole body!
Thanks for coming by !
Is mc cormick turmeric okay?
I haven’t use Mccormick products, but I guess it is okay, as long as you use good quality products.
I was wondering about the facial hair removal tip. I had read recently to mix mashed papaya & turmeric for facial hair reduction. Which recipe do you think would work better? I made the papaya one, however it does not keep well as the papaya goes bad rather quickly.
Does your recipe last? Can you make a batch of it nd not worry about it?
Are all these recipes fairly long keeping or do you advise making smaller batches so as not to have to dispose of product?
Your answers are greatly appreciated!
Thank You,
Deb
Thanks for asking , Deb!
I have not tried the papaya recipe yet, but I can be sure that neither of these recipes should be made in large quantities.
I always make small batches, just quite enough for one-time use. As you may know , anti-oxidants are too sensitive to light and air, and the recipe will lose its power if made and stored for more than a few days.
To be on the safe side, always make small batches, and enjoy eating the rest of the ingredients 😉
Hi I was looking at no 7 where you say it’s great for the removal of facial when you say use regularly is that every day or a couple od times a week
Thank you in advance
use it every day for good measures
Amazing benefits of turmeric! It’s not only used in cooking for spices but its great also for our skin. An anti aging, exfoliating and moisturizing properties all in one, benefits which is the priority of most women. Going organic is really the best when it comes to skin care.
turmeric if used in root form is the best. The root with help of little bit of water rub on a stone grinder to make a smooth paste. Say make a few drops and mix with few drops of coconut oil. Apply this small cream overnight (wash it off in morning of course) for a few days and see your face glow. I usually do this before a big party etc. But doing at least over the weekend would also benefit.
turmeric and coconut oil is also good for teeth whitening. Do this only once a day and you will see a major difference . Mix turmeric and coconut oil in a paste and brush away for a good minute, rinse then brush your teeth as normal with your tooth paste and WAHLA! Im surprised this is not mentioned with the benefits as well.
Hi, Sabrina.
This is really a great benefit of turmeric and coconut oil, thanks for the addition!
Like how many days do this require to be achieved
Hi Kas,
It depends on what goals you would like to achieve, and the condition of your skin.
Great tips it is a real beauty of Turmeric.
Great Post! I just want to know, I have some black patches on my face is turmeric will be helpful to make them lighter or not?