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Beauty is skin deep! The Ayurvedic approach to healthy and happy skincare has led the beauty industry to the gates of ancient Ayurvedic remedies for the skin.
Ayurveda includes inner, outer, and lasting beauty as the definition of holistic beauty: “Roopam, gunam, vayastyag, its shubhanga karanam.”
Ayurveda treats the internal imbalance to provide lasting, therapeutic relief. Ayurveda treats common causes of skin problems such as stress, underlying diseases, hormonal imbalance, environmental toxins, poor diet, digestion, and lifestyle. Ayurveda offers skincare products that are proven, natural and safe.
Our skin reflects our inner self and our overall health. When we are centered and feeling good, our inner beauty comes out.
Dry skin, wrinkles, and pigmentation spots are natural in our golden years, but taking care of our well-being and skin is an important part of aging gracefully.
Here are the 13 Ayurvedic skin care tips for beautiful skin
1. Understand your skin type:
Ayurveda encourages you to know yourself, especially which doshas (energy principles) are predominant in your Ayurvedic constitution.
The skin type plays an important role in any ayurvedic skincare treatment. According to Ayurveda, a person’s skin type is based on the three doshas. They are:
- Vata – Vata skin type is dry and rough and tends to wrinkle if not moisturized regularly.
- Pitta – People with high pitta tend to have oily skin that is prone to acne and rosacea.
- Kapha – Kapha skin tends to be cold and oily and can be prone to pimples, blackheads, and water retention.
2. Adjust your regimen:
Vata skin benefits from a regular, nourishing, moisturizing routine, oil pulling, and full-body massages with warm oil. Use a gentle cleanser and moisturize daily. Keep it adequately hydrated and focus on balancing Vata.
Pitta skin needs a soothing, cooling, and nourishing regimen of gentle cleansing and moisturizing. Avoid tanning, harsh cosmetics and sun exposure, or excessive heat. Focus on ways to balance pitta.
Kapha skin is oily and accumulates toxins. Cleanse it with a gentle scrub or try a light massage with warm oil. Try a dry scrub and detoxify the body and skin alike. Find ways to balance kapha. For Vata-Kapha skin, follow Vata guidelines with additional cleansing of oily areas.
3. Consistent skincare does wonders for your skin. Your (Dinacharya) must include these steps:
- Cleanse your face
- Apply toner
- moisturize
- Protect
4 Massage
Massage or Snehana is the Sanskrit word for love and the application of oil. A good self-massage or abhyanga of the whole body calms the doshas, boosts luminosity, moisturizes, nourishes, detoxifies, and rejuvenates the skin. If you have an oilier skin type, try Udvartana or an herbal powder massage.
5 skincare routine
Changing your skincare routine according to the season is crucial for your skin, i.e., follow a ritucharya. While Vata (dry skin type) tends to be imbalanced in the fall and early winter, focus on cleansing in the spring, while Kapha (oily skin type) and follow a Pitta (sensitive skin type) soothing protocol in the summer.
For Vata-pitta skin, watch for dryness in winter and pitta sensitivity in summer; follow a similar protocol for other combination skin types.
6. DIY Recipes:
Chickpea or mung flour with milk makes up for good cleansers, lemon, sugar scrub is great for scrubs, rose water works great as a toner, neem oil for inflammation, honey for wounds.
7. Recipe for a face pack:
to 4 tablespoons of mung bread, chickpea flour, or pale earth as a base, add ½ teaspoon of Triphala, ¼ teaspoon of turmeric, ½ teaspoon of dried neem, 2 teaspoons of rose water; mix everything into a paste.
For dry skin add milk or ripe avocado, for sensitive skin add cucumber or aloe vera and for oily skin add ripe papaya or honey to make your face pack!
8. Work up a sweat:
Exercise improves blood circulation and tightens the skin (be careful if you have a skin condition that flares up when you sweat). Do not forget to exercise your facial muscles too, because your smile makes the world a more beautiful place!
9. Do yoga regularly:
Yoga gives you serenity, has numerous health benefits, helps detoxify your body and skin, and gives you an inner – and outer – glow.
10. Watch your diet and drink plenty:
Ayurveda believes that skin health depends on the food fluid, blood, muscles, and – proper digestion.
Adhere to Ayurvedic dietary principles. Eat at regular meals and prefer fresh, easily digestible foods. Avoid junk food and overeating as it can lead to the accumulation of toxins. Ensure adequate fluid intake to keep the skin hydrated and supple.
11. Do not neglect your beauty sleep:
This is one of the pillars of health in Ayurveda and it’s no wonder that lack of sleep can lead to inflammation, lowered immunity, puffy eyes, fine lines, effects on skin aging, and (according to studies) lower perceived attractiveness!
12. Discover Ayurvedic cosmetics and treatments:
Herbs like turmeric, neem, amalaki, sandalwood, manjistha, gotu kola, and aloe vera are good for the skin, as are Ayurvedic therapies like abhyanga, nasya, udvartana, garshana (dry brushing of the skin), marma, shirodhara, swedana (herbal steam) and cleansing therapies like panchakarma. Consult an Ayurvedic practitioner for a customized protocol.
13 Meditation promotes inner, outer, and lasting beauty:
Ayurveda emphasizes that the mind channel (Manovaha Srotas), stress, and the skin are closely linked and this is confirmed by the modern concept of psych dermatology.
Meditation helps a lot in reducing stress and improving overall health and immunity. I have observed that many people who have been practicing SKY breathing meditation for a long time have a beautiful, happy glow and radiant skin!
