Celebrate The Pumpkin

Celebrate The Pumpkin

Ciao bella,

One of the only saving graces to the end of summer and the start of autumn are the magnificent colors of the season. The grand pumpkin! Bright eye candy! It's an uplifting sight to see them lined up at farm stands and piled up in front of the grocers. Such a sturdy fruit, so yummy and then again another of Mother Nature's beauty treatments and medicinal cures!

This orange squash is native to North America. Approximately 90 percent of pumpkins from United States are grown in Illinois. Pumpkin color can vary but most popular are orange and yellow.

Inside the core, which contains the seeds, is high in nutrients with the seeds having a high Zinc content, known to be terrific for the skin. The Zinc helps to heal acne blemishes and sooth irritated skin. The alpha-hydroxy acids help to exfoliate and revitalize. The pulp is also used to reduce the appearance of scarring. The bright colored fruit are chalk full of multivitamins which nourish the skin.

The vitamin C maintains skin health by preventing the collagen from breaking down. Vitamin A softens and cleanses and softens the skin.

In days gone by it was staple food of the Native Americans. They used it to make medicine and wove dried strips of it into mats. Was also used as a cure for freckles and as a remedy for snakebites! You can find the benefits of pumpkin in your beauty aisle. There are peels and facial masks and anti-aging creams along with lotions, shampoos and body washes.

Here is a do-it-yourself facial with this extraordinary fruit! Mix 2 teaspoons pureed pumpkin, 1/2-teaspoon honey, and 1/4-teaspoon heavy cream. Smooth on face leaving on for 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water for glowing, smoother skin!

Buona giornata and God bless the United States of America!

Here's wishing all my associates at The Post-Gazette and my readers a fun and spooky Hallowe'en!

Mary N. DiZazzo-Trumbull

Read prior weeks' "All That Zazz" columns at www.allthatzazz.com. Mary is a third-generation cosmetologist and a Massachusetts distributor of Kosmea brand rose hip oil products. She may be contacted at (978) 470-8183 or mary@mary4nails.com.