Dear Readers

For long I sought beauty.
Always shadowed by a beautiful elder sister, I felt the ugly duckling. So I remember crying to buy a tube of mascara when I was 15 till the women in my traditional family relented and as they bought that suspicious looking tube of "gunk" for me, assigned me in their minds to an endless purgatory where all 'fashionable women " went to, after death, no doubt about that one! Then there was also the secret half broken lipstick in my School blazer pocket, always a S.O.S in case a potential boyfriend appeared on the horizons.

For long beauty sold in the fancy "beauty shops".
Jars and bottles of colored lotions and creams, exotic hair pins, perfumes and mind boggling array of nail polishes, designer Bindi's, trinkets and color coordinated accessories. It was frustrating that I could not buy a sharper nose, a smaller mouth, a slimmer waist. It is interesting that all of these too are available now . . . at a different shop.

The quest for beauty continues.
So the quest for Beauty is historical, from Cleopatra's milk baths to Harappa and Mohenjodaro's elaborate hair fixtures and decorations. Beauty pageants celebrate it, media and television sell it and cosmetic industry just loves all this hula baloo over beauty in minutes, fake eyelashes, wonder bra's and pierced belly buttons.

Ayurveda views beauty as a process.
It is a process in which outer beauty is deeply connected with the inner beauty. And what is this inner beauty ? Is this a gem so rare and precious that none but the fairest in land possesses it? It is a gem each one of us has deep within us. To uncover and see it is the discovery of beauty. This gem is a crystal reflecting the infinite. The beauty of the universe lies with in us . . . our beautiful destiny.

Ayurveda was always clear on it's concept of beauty. It not only includes inner and outer beauty but also a secret aspect that brings it all together - with magic and poise. Therein real and ever lasting beauty is born.

Maya Tiwari has put it beautifully: " The three aspects of beauty are like a scale, one side holds the alankaras or external ingredients, while the other holds the gunas, or internal ingredients. And the act of balancing itself is the third aspect, or rasa . . . This is magic. This is maturity. And this is beauty in it's fullness."

So in this spirit I now continue to guide my readers on guiding and nurturing their mind and bodies to achieve not only bodily beauty, but also grace in posture and movement, and the subtle qualities of freshness, magnetism, and brightness of inner being.

We begin with a refresher on Ayurvedic Skin Types.
If you are a vata type with domination of air and space energy you have thin skin, fine pored, darker complexion with a whitish or greyish hue. Your skin is cool to touch, especially in the winters (hands and feet) and dry or rough or patchy and flaky in patches. You can offern suffer from lack of tone or luster, chapping and cracking, dry rashes, corns and calloses, dry eczema.

If you are a Pitta type with a domination of fire and water energy you may have a peachy, coppery, redder complexion. Skin is often soft, lustutrous and warm and usually very sensitive. You can be prone to rashes, and inflammation. Yellow postular acne, blackheads, white heads and an increased general oiliness. You may also experience pigmentation and loss of pigmentation.

If you are a Kapha type with domination of earth and water energy you have thick, moist and pale skin. It is often cool to touch, smooth generally tones welll and ages well. This skin on the other hand can be dull, sluggish, and congested. You can have enlarged pores, blackheads or large white pustules, or cystic formations. You may often experience thick, oily secretions.

Ayurvedic Home Facial
An ayurvedic facial treatment includes seven steps:

1. Cleansing
2. Oleation massage incorporating marma points
3. Herbal steam or compress
4. Gentle scrub
5. Cleansing or nutrifying mask or facial pack
6. Moisturizing
7. Hydrating

Cleansing the Skin
Sebum, sweat, and accompanying waste waste products constantly spill out on to the surface of skin attracting dirt and offering a home to bacteria. Initial cleansing removes this sticky layer as well as any makeup. For Vata skin (Dry) you can use sesame or almond oil as base and add to it essential oils of use, or sandalwood, or jasmine. For pitta (oily) skin you can use jojoba oil with lemonor Cypress. You can also add sandalwood. For blemished skin use Sunflower oil as base and add lavender and tea Tree oil or bergamot and lemon. For kapha skin (thick, oily, dull) use almond or sesame as base and add neroli, lavender or frankincense.

Traditionally Ayurveda uses Ubtans (a mix of herbal powders) to scrub the skin.
All these fine powders improve circulation, soothe, heal, and bring a glow to your complexion. A general powder can contain corriander, cumin, lemon peel, fenugreek, sandal wood, orange and lemon peel, nutmeg, tulasi, saffron, fine lentil or chick pea flour or clay. You can also add Ayurvedic herbs such as Liccorice, Manjishtha, Lodhra and Neem.

You can mix this powder with water or milk or cream for dry skin, with diluted lemon juice or yogurt for oily or blemished skin. You can also add a little wheat germ oil or vitamin E oil for mature skin.

Oleation or facial massage
Your skin will thank you after an Ayurvedic massage. Use only cold pressed nuts and seed oils to which you can add essential oils. You can create your own oil with this formula.

10 parts base oil
1 part wheat germ oil
20 drops of essential oil per 2 fl.oz of base oil.

Herbal steam
Ayurvedic herbal steams to which you may add fennel or rose petals, or pearls or a variety of herbs can do marvels with your skin. For congested and acned skin they can be a boon, immensely clarifying and opening up the complexion. A steam deep cleanses and the moisture softens the dry outer edges of the skin, making them easier to remove, leaving behind a radiant complexion. According to Ayurveda applying oil followed by steaming greatly reduces Vata. If you have dry or mature skin steam only once every 2 weeks. Once a week is good for normal or oily skin.

Ayurvedic steam incorporates 4 ingredients:

1. To increase circulation
2. To detoxify
3. To soothe and heal
4. For therapeutic purpose

In general, Bay Leaf draws circulation towards surface and Licorice (Yashti- Madhu) pulls out impurities. You can also add rose petals, lemon peel, and Tea tree oil.

Compresses
Compresses are an excellent alternative to a steam. Hot or cold, they swell the outer layers and stimulate skin activity like a steam. The skin becomes soft and more receptive to the treatments. Rose ater, lavender water or even plain warm water is excellent for this purpose.

Masks
Masks extract dirt from deep in the skin, preventing or eliminating blackheads and acne; they nourish by providing necessary nutrients and refine pores, heal scarring, even out color tones, soothing and moisturizing the skin. Masks can also stimulate the deepest layer of the skin to make healthy new growth.

* For normal to dry skin you can create a mask with 6 parts clay, 2 parts aloe Vera juice, egg white, and 1 part honey.
* For oily skin, make a mask with 5 parts clay, 1 part honey, 1 part aloe vera juice, 1 part fennel tea or lemon juice.
* For blemished skin use 6 parts clay, 1 part yogurt, and 2 parts jojoba oil.

Face packs
These are softer and more porous types of face masks. They allow the skin to breathe and are more gentle and can be left on longer. You can use this for your entire body.

* For normal skins you can use avocado, banana, peach, nectarine.
* For Dry skins use avocado, banana, carrot, pear and melon.
* For oily skins use cabbage, cucumber, lemon, pear, and tomato.
* For mature skin use apple, avocado, and grape.
* For blemished skin try apple, cabbage, grape or tomato.

Toners
A good toner removes all residue from previous procedures.
For normal skin use rose water or witch hazel with equal amount of herbal tea.
For dry skin use only pure rose water.
For oily skin use Tulsi water (Holy Basil) or fennel tea.
For blemished skis use equal amounts of witch hazel and Tulsi water.

Moisturizing
All skins need moisture - including the oily ones. Moisture not only plumps outer layer of skin making it smooth, silky and soft; but also, makes a protective barrier that prevents any moisture from being pulled out from the skin. A basic moisturizer can be aloe gel plus Coco butter and rose water plus base oil. Base oil ca be sesame or almond for Vata and kapha, Sunflower for Pitta skins.

Be sure to follow our next issue in which I will highlight Marma points to massage the face. I will also provide some more home recipes for skin conditions such as wrinkles, dark circles, etc.
I wish my readers - Happy indulging.

Pratichi Mathur

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