Look fabulous this Raksha Bandhan

Like all festive occasions, girls love to dress up and look their best on Raksha Bandhan, but in the hot and humid season the skin loses its shine and needs toning and refreshment.

To counter the harmful effects of the heat and humidity on the skin, one should use watermelon juice or used tea bags on the eyes like eye pads, says an expert. Beauty and hair expert Shahnaz Husain has shared tips to look fabulous on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

• Use watermelon juice: Watermelon juice is a good skin toner and relieves dryness too. It cools, refreshes and softens the skin. Apply on the face and wash off with plain water after 20 minutes of application.
• Fruit mask for all skin types: Fruits like banana, apple, papaya and orange can be mixed together and applied on the face. Keep it on your face for 20-30 minutes. Then wash off with water. It cools the skin, cleanses dead cells and removes tan.
• Cooling mask: Mix cucumber juice with two teaspoons powdered milk and one egg white into a smooth paste. Apply on face and neck and rinse off with water after half an hour.
• Mask for oily skin: Mix one tablespoon Multani Mitti with rose water into a paste and apply on the face. Wash off when dry. After applying face mask, take two of the cotton wool pads soaked in rose water and use them as eye pads. Squeeze out the rose water and then apply on closed lids. Lie down and relax, while you have the mask and eye pads on.
• Used tea bags can also do the trick. Soak them in a little warm water, squeeze out the water and apply on the eyes like eye pads.
• To soften rough, bushy or frizzy hair: Mix some water with creamy hair conditioner and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on the hair. Then comb the hair, so that it spreads through the hair.
• Raksha Bandhan is usually celebrated during the day. Daytime make-up has to be light and carefully done. If you have a clear skin, leave out foundation.
• Eye make-up: For eye make-up stick to eye pencils during the day. Or line your eyelids with brown or gray eye shadow. This gives a softer effect. Then, apply only one or two coats of mascara, which helps to make the eyes look darker and brighter, but prevents the “heavily made-up” look.
• Lipstick: For lipstick, avoid very dark colours, like dark maroon. Go for light pastel colours, pink, mauve, light browns, copper or bronze. The colours should not be too intense. Or, use only lip gloss. First outline the lips with a lip pencil, same shade as your lipstick. Fill in colour with a lipstick brush. Obviously outlined lips are out of fashion.
• Try new hairstyles: like putting up your hair with fancy hair clips or ribbons. Wearing flowers in the hair can be quite alluring. Long hair is very much the trend, with cascading waves or curly and bouncy hair. Go for the softer look, with curls or natural waves, in the lower half of the hair.
• For a long face, wear a low pony tail and have a light long fringe falling straight down. For an oval face, wear it with a side-swept fringe. For a square jawed face, have wisps of long curls falling down on either side of the face, just beyond jaw level. It will suit a round face too. Or you can put the hair up with the help of hair clips.