Puja offerings to the Goddess Durga invoke strength,celebration and beauty. The fervour and frenzy of Durga Puja celebrations can take its toll on the skin and hair, and leaves you feeling and looking washed out — not how you’d like to be this time of the year.

So, here are a couple of magical time-tested natural remedies to pep you up and have you resplendent again in no time at all.

I believe that prayers invoke beauty within and around us. A beauty ritual done daily will help tremendously and what better way to do it than by using the flowers that are offered in prayer to the Goddess — hibiscus, marigold, and lotus.

For blemished skin:

Take the petals of 10 marigolds. Mix them with 2 tsp mashed papaya. Apply this to clean skin and leave on for 15 minutes before washing the skin with milk and then water.

Take 2 lotus flower petals and grind them with 2 tsp chiraunji, 2 almonds, 2 walnuts and 5 jasmine flowers. Add some rose water to this and apply to the skin, leaving on for a minimum of 10 minutes before scrubbing off.

For dull hair:

lGrind the following together for a fabulous hair mask: 20 hibiscus flowers, 20 hibiscus leaves, 20 neem leaves, juice of one lemon, 2 tsp each of amla and shikakai powder, 2 eggs and 20ml olive oil. Beat all of this together and apply to your hair, leaving it on for 20 minutes before shampooing.

Enjoy your Puja with a glow befitting a goddess. And remember, make your daily skin and hair care routine a ritual — a prayer to yourself.