beautiful bright and sparkling eyes

Healthy bright and sparkling eyes

‘Eyes are the windows of the soul.’

True to the adage, the inner beauty of a person is reflected through his or her eyes. The healthy and sparkling eyes of a woman can charm even the most stubborn man.

It is said that a beautiful woman with alluring eyes can launch a thousand ships. Which man can resist the doe eyed Sophia Loren’s seductive glance or the aquamarine blue eyes of Liz Taylor, who as Cleopatra, with her heavily lined fish tailed eye makeup, seduced not only Mark Anthony but also millions of fans world wide with her mesmerisng gaze.

It is the dream of all women to possess the most attractive pair of eyes.

I would like to share some of the age old secrets of my grandma, and her ilk, for panacea for eye problems.

Making KAJAL (natural eye makeup)

Granny would place a small brass lamp lit with a hand rolled cotton wick dipped generously with cow’s ghee (clarified butter). This lamp is placed in between three small bricks or stones and a small brass or copper plate is placed over the flame to gather soot from the lighted lamp. The soot is collected from there and a little ghee is mixed. A wee bit of camphor is added (optional). A word of caution, one needs to check the purity of camphor nowadays. The black paste (kajal) would be stored in small ornate silver kajal holders. Granny would use the tip of her ring finger to take a little kajal and darken our lower eye lids. Young ladies those days would outline their eyes with kajal smeared on a porcupine quill with an artistic deft. Those days there were no eyeliners of self sharpening eye pencils. Kajal was ‘manna’ for the eyes of both the young and the old as it would beautify, cleanse and lubricate the eyes.

Use of Surma (Antimony):

Muslim men and women line their lower eyelids with a greyish metallic powder which has sheen. This again is good for the eyes. Surma is a form of a particular stone and can beat any branded eye makeup. In the old city of Hyderabad, around the famous Charminar, amidst the rows of colourful shops, selling dazzling stone studded glass bangles in multispectral colours and also shops with artifacts and pearls, one finds small kiosks selling surmas in upright silver, steel or glass containers. Muslim men and women apply it on their eyes, especially on festivals and for their Friday prayers. A simple face can be transferred to an exotic one with surma in the eyes. This has medicated properties. A piece of surma placed inside a cut bark of a neem tree (the tree has innumerable medicinal properties) and left for a few days and then ground to a smooth paste with a decoction of boiled and strained fennel water, when applied to the eyes at night, can cure many eye diseases and bring sparkle to the eyes.

Granny’s secret formulae:

As a child, once in a naughty mood, I trimmed off all my eyelashes and eyebrows. In no time I had dense and long eyelashes thanks to my mother applying pure Castor oil on my lashes and brows at night. She would also put fresh unboiled cow’s milk on my lashes in the morning.

Painful styes:

1. Any child having painful styes would be pinned down by a lactating mother and a spurt of mother’s milk would be put on both his eyes which would spell the death knell for the irritating growth.

2. Putting saliva first thing in the morning, before brushing the teeth or drinking water, is another remedy for a stye.

Grind one clove with little water to a fine paste and apply on the nodules.

3. Grind a date seed with little water and apply on the stye.

Conjunctivitis:

Grind in equal parts resaut (extract of Berebis bark), alum and mango ginger. Make into a fine paste with water and apply on the outer eyelids at bedtime.

Eyesight Weakness:

Mix seeds of cardamom along with one tablespoon honey. Eat everyday.

Tired Eyes:

Lavender oil offers relief for tired and strained eyes. Add a drop of lavender oil to 500 ml of water and shake the solution well. Dip two cotton wool pads in the liquid, squeeze out the excess water and place one pad over each eye.

Eyes having dark circles around them:

Drink tomato juice with a few mint leaves, little lime juice and salt.

Soak cotton in cucumber or potato juice and apply around the eyes.

Eyes Aching:

Powder equal quantities of licorice and cumin. Take one-fourth teaspoon every day along with 1 teaspoon honey for a month.

Bright eyes:

Take a whole piece of turmeric, wash and soak in lemon juice in a glass bowl and cover and keep it for a month. After a month remove the turmeric piece and grind it with one cup of rose water. Strain properly and use it as eye drops.

Last but not the least, we should not forget the diet we learnt in school for healthy eyes for example carrot juice, fish, egg yolk etc.

These are just a few of the remedies for one very important part of the human anatomy. More to follow soon.