How to use shikakai for skin

January 17, 2022 Written by GP Team

It sounds weird, isn’t it?

I know many of us liked to use shikakai for hair but never heard its usage for the skin. If you are also one of them let me tell you that shikakai is a great herb for skin also., especially in treating skin related diseases. It can treat skin related diseases like scabies, dry skin and regular use of shikakai on the skin can prevent further skin infections.

Usage of Shikakai for skin

1. Shikakai Body Wash:

To make the body wash, first collect rice kanji. Rice kanji is made by boiling rice with a little bit of excess water than needed. Once the rice is cooked, strain some the excess water, we call it rice kanji. Let the kanji cool and mix it with good quality shikakai powder and use it as a body wash for your skin. if you want it to smell good, you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to it. You will notice a nice difference in your skin.

2. Shikakai for Treating Scabies:

We make an antiseptic wash for scabies using shikakai. To make the wash, first, soak turmeric in hot water and rub it into a paste. Take a long piece of shikakai and burn it directly in the fire, till it turns dark. Wait for it cool and grind it into a fine powder. Mix both ground turmeric paste and ground shikakai powder with boiled water. Strain and use as an antiseptic wash on the affected area. Both shikakai and turmeric have anti fungal, anti microbial and anti bacterial properties, that makes this an effective wash for scabies.

3. For Cuts & Wounds in the Scalp.

For small wounds on the scalp, first, burn a small piece of shikakai in direct fire. Make sure to burn a long piece, else you will hurt your hand when it burns. Better still burn it using a tong, cool and powder it finely in a mortar and pestle. Grind a small piece of turmeric, fresh neem leaves and the ground shikakai powder to a smooth paste. Grind it using boiled water and apply on the scalp, wait for 10 minutes before washing it off. This remedy is only for minor cuts and wounds on the scalp

4. Here, I have listed down a DIY face pack recipe with shikakai as an active ingredient:

Shikakai face pack to treat acne and pimples

Ingredients required:

Basil leaf paste: 2 teaspoons
Dried neem leaf powder: 1 teaspoon
Shikakai powder: 1 tablespoon
Organic rose petal powder: 2 teaspoons
Fenugreek seed powder: 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened curd: 3 tablespoons
Sweet almond oil: 1 tablespoon

Procedure:

Add all the ingredients in a container and keep stirring until it forms a face pack with a thick consistency.
Wipe your face with micellar water.
Take a generous amount of this face pack and apply it evenly all over your face and neck.
Keep it on for at least 30 minutes.
Rinse off with running tap water.
Apply a toner and then follow up with a moisturizer.

Frequency:

Apply this face pack twice a week to get satisfactory results.

Shikakai Spot Treatment Body Scrub

Ingredients needed:

Shikakai powder: 1/2 tsp
Cream: 1 tbsp
Almond powder: 1 tbsp
Turmeric: 1 tbsp
Honey: 2 tbsp

Procedure:

First of all, take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine them all together thoroughly by stirring them vigorously and well. You should obtain a smooth and paste-like consistency in the mixture.
After that, apply the resultant mixture over your skin using gentle circular massaging motions for a few minutes.
Lastly, leave the mixture on your skin for about 5 to 10 minutes and then rinse it off using normal water and you are done!

Frequency:

Use this scrub every 2-3 days to treat your skin very well. This remedy is great for exfoliation of the skin and then its ample nourishment. Moreover, other than thoroughly cleansing and stimulating the skin it contains many essential and beneficial nutrients for the health of the skin. This is an all-around remedy which will improve the health and quality of your skin a lot and impart a radiant glow to it.

Shikakai, Basil, and Neem Skin Enhancing Face Mask

Ingredients needed:

Shikakai powder: 2 tbsp
Neem powder: 1/2 tbsp
Basil powder: 1/2 tbsp
Rose petal powder: 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek powder: 1/2 tbsp
Curd: 1 cup
Honey: 1 tbsp

Procedure:

First of all, take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine them all together thoroughly by stirring them vigorously and well. You should obtain a smooth and paste-like consistency in the mixture.
After that, apply the resultant mixture over your skin using gentle circular massaging motions for a few minutes.
Lastly, leave the mixture on your skin for about 30 minutes and then rinse it off using normal water and you are done!

Frequency:

You should use this mask once a week or in two weeks to treat your skin well and nourish it thoroughly. It will provide a lot of protection and nutrients to the skin while improving its condition on pretty much all fronts. It will help you prevent and treat a variety of skin issues.

Various Other Benefits of Shikakai

Now, we have looked at a bunch of remedies which make use of shikakai to treat the skin and improve and treat its various issues. However, shikakai is known to be terrific for the hair as it provides tons of benefits for that. It helps improve hair quality and can help treat various issues including dandruff. However, in this section, we are going to look at all the miscellaneous and little known benefits of shikakai.

Shikakai is a highly medicinal natural remedy. Along with treating diseases like scabies and dandruff, it can also help in curing leprosy.
It is also very healthy and beneficial for oral health as well and it can improve the quality and state of the gums and prevent and treat various gum diseases.
Consumption of shikakai also provides a bunch of benefits to the body like helping to ease the bowel movement, if there has been any difficulty there.
Topical application of a paste of shikakai can help prevent premature signs of aging like age spots.
Consumption of shikakai also helps maintain the blood sugar in a normal and healthy level.
Some other things shikakai can be used to cure are bad breath, jaundice, excessive sweating or oily skin, black fever (caused due to malaria), plaque, constipation, and it can even help reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in the body.