I found this interesting book while surfing around on iVillage: Passport to Beauty by Shalini Vadhera. Shalini, who also writes for iVillage, shares in an article on the site specifically about the beauty secrets of European women.

I’m Asian myself, and as such, I have my own arsenal of beauty tips and tricks (many of them, I admit, a bit dubious, except that I grew up with them, so they’re pretty much as good as gospel to me).

But there is something about European women which I find fascinating. They seem to do beauty so effortlessly, almost as an afterthought, and yet it comes off as really hip because “they didn’t mean to.” You know what I mean?

Anyway, for some reason, reading this article reminded me of the book, Naomi, which I read in a Japanese Lit class in college. (I think this was the same book.) There’s this one part that I’ll never forget. The main character, a Japanese man, is completely obsessed with the West. He signs up for these dancing lessons from a Russian lady who has this terrible B.O., and yet he’s completely intoxicated with her. As they’re dancing, he would lean in and secretly smell her B.O.

Okay, totally gross, I know!! But for some reason, I thought of the book, okay?

So here are some of the tips from the article that I found especially interesting:

Honey for super moisturizing. In Poland, women lather honey on their faces as an intense hydrating mask. I’ve also read in my soapmaking book that honey is thought to be antiseptic and bacteriostatic.

Flour power for gorgeous hair. Apparently putting flour in your hair is THE thing to do in France as flour is supposed to smooth the scales of the hair shaft. This is the first time I’ve heard of flour having any sort of beauty benefits, but I’m really curious to see if this works! You just have to do up the flour into a paste with this recipe here. Let me know if anyone has done this before!

Fight acne with carrots. Hungarian women dab some carrot oil on their skin to fight blemishes. Carrot oil is rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin A. No wonder it works because Vitamin A is the ingredient in Accutane, and also in topical acne medications.

Garlic for shaving mishaps. In Russia, when women cut themselves shaving their legs, they rub raw garlic on the infected area. Garlic contains antibacterial properties that help with the healing process.

Beer for manageable locks. In Belgium, women use beer as a final rinse for a thicker, frizz-free mane. I did a little more research and found that the reason beer works so well is that it adds proteins to make the hair shinier. Plus, the alcohol and yeast combine to tighten the cuticle. And you get the same results even when using stale beer!

I thought these tips and tricks were really neat. (I’m all about home remedies.) Passport to Beauty definitely seems worth a read. It also includes tips from the other corners of the globe, including Asia and Africa. If you have any similar beauty tricks up your sleeve, feel free to share with us here!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 7:45 am and is filed under Skincare, Advice, Haircare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.