Babushka's Beauty Secrets: Old World Tips for a Glamorous New You

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We all had our favorite ingredients and would experiment with different masks. While my mother and I loved working with fruits such as berries and papaya to create various masks, my grandmother was old school and preferred potatoes. We would try out different concoctions on one another and fine-tune the end product. They taught me how to whip up a natural remedy for just about any skin problem.

I wish I would take more joy in this moment, I do take a sense of relief and satisfaction that I’m at the end, but it wasn’t something I relished. I just felt an obligation to tell a difficult story.” She’d be outraged to see the prices consumers are paying in the name of beauty. Simply put, pure products are more effective than those laced with tons of preservatives. You get better results and it’s much healthier for the skin. NANCY NORDHOFF & LYNN HAYS (Executive Producers)
Nancy Nordhoff is American philanthropist and environmentalist. She and artist Lynn Hays work to empower women, support rural communities, and promote environmentalism. In 2006, Nordhoff was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project. Nancy Nordhoff is the founder of Hedgebrook, a residency on Washington State’s Whidbey Island that supports women writers.In the spring and summer these lonely old people -- the babushki without families -- can be seen sitting on benches in Moscow, staring placidly at the stream of youngsters passing them by. But she was happy; she technically denied being June, then proceeded to tell me lots of things about June that no one would know unless they worked closely with June or were June. Don’t worry: For the purposes of this book, proper measurements are included in each and every recipe. While I still don’t use measuring cups, I do love modern household conveniences such as blenders and food processors. We did everything by hand! My grandmother would have loved a blender. Why do they insist on living on farms that the Ukrainian government and radiation scientists have deemed uninhabitable? How do they manage to get by, isolated, in an abandoned landscape guarded by soldiers, and rife with wild animals? How has the radiation affected them these past 3 decades? I wanted to include one of the recipes in the book to give all a taste of what they were like. I decided on this one as it is summer and everyone wants to look good in that bathing suit.

I was worried enough that the Babushka Lady could be Jerrie that I confronted Jerrie,” she says. “It took me a while to be able to work up to the conversation with Jerrie and her answers to that conversation were not particularly reassuring to me.” Eggplants- Eggplants are the star of the dish. They are meaty and flavorful. In Ikra, after roasting the eggplants, you just want to make sure you drain out the liquid really well as the liquid in the eggplant is a bit bitter and we want more sweetness than bitterness in Ikra. Esthetician to the stars Raisa Ruder learned her time-tested beauty techniques from her Ukrainian grandmother (or babushka, as they say in the old country). Now everyone can discover the all-natural, better-than-botox secrets the Hollywood stars use to shine on the red carpet! Ruder reveals her sought-after beauty recipes that can fight wrinkles, plump lips, and eliminate crow's feet and acne, using inexpensive, everyday grocery items like eggs, honey, vegetable oil and strawberries (and a splash of vodka for freshness!). At last, by popular demand, Raisa Ruder opens up her babushka's secret pantry and shares her most amazing and effective beautyThe winters were so brutal that oil became a daily Designate a small area where everyone can gather, But most are seeking alms for others. The babushka has taken on the role of forager and provider. Her role has become crucial, especially this hard winter. Her book even builds a convincing case for Jerrie being a CIA agent with the cryptonym QJWIN, whose role was to recruit killers for an assassination squad that originally targeted Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Many of these women are indeed poor and sad; they talk of their pitiful pensions, the loss of pride. Some have started begging. They hold out weather-beaten hands and ask for a few rubles. There are plenty of little gems though. How about slicing a grape in half and rubbing it on your crow's feet every day. Or mash up some banana for dark under eye circles. A slice of potato works well too apparently. I also like the sound of a body scrub with rolled oats, brown sugar, aloe vera and lemon juice. Less so, spicy mustard and vodka. Talking of which, vodka has a multitude of uses that I was until now unaware of such as cleaning the lenses of my glasses, removing adhesive and extending the life of razor blades.

In the villages, the old women -- often the only ones left as the young move to cities -- maintain the old songs and tell the old stories. Some university students have been taking oral histories in these small crossroads where strange accents live on and stories have been retold for generations. We made complicated masks without blenders or measuring cups. Because my babushka knew all her recipes by memory, she never used traditional measuring devices. She would literally bend down to table level and eyeball the ingredients. She’d pour a little bit of this or a dash of that—then stir, smash, and mix everything up to perfection! A client told me how she was having breakfast at a restaurant recently and put several one-ingredient wonders into effect outside the home. There was a slice of orange on her plate, and she began rubbing the pulp on her skin. She also asked for a side of avocado, and when she didn’t eat it all, she smashed it up and applied it to her skin in the restaurant! Not to be outdone, her friend (also a client) did the same! It can be done anywhere if you’re brave. It seems that no parent can love his kid as a true Russian babushka loves a grandchild. As if her whole life was a preparation for this highest destiny or even mission - to care for her childrens’ offspring (and spoil them, as well). For days, Babushka followed the trail of the kings and the villages became larger. Babushka never stopped until she came to a city.Ikra is made by roasting eggplants and sweet peppers. For added sweetness, onions are caramelized while the vegetables are roasting. This vegetarian spread has a bit of a lengthier process, but that's exactly how many Slavic recipes are. They take a bit of work to make, and the recipes make a big batch (because why waste your time unless you make enough to share), but it's so worth it! The payoff is the taste. The wow factor when you take your first bite is worth every minute you spent making it. Variations of Ikra You may remember a comedy starring Sylvester Stallone called ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot?’ (1989). Well, the mother portrayed in it could well be a badass side of a Russian babushka.

This has not been an easy process,” she says. “It was a reluctant process for me. It’s not an easy story to tell or one that I enjoy telling, frankly. It’s a tough story to talk about America and a woman I know and show what I found out about her and publicly say it. In Russian society, where young parents have always worked long hours to survive and three generations often share one apartment, the grandparents have become the parents.

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Put the rolled oats in the blender and grind into a very fine powder. Place the powder in a small mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and lemon juice. Mix well. Now add the aloe vera and stir to form a paste. Be sure there are no lumps. Dampen the skin and massage the paste onto it. Rinse with warm water.