Ayurvedic Beauty Parlour

[Guest guest]

Friday article: Natural Beauty Tips

 

Most beautiful and complex creation of God is human body and

wonderful mind housed in it. A healthy body and mind always looks

beautiful. Nature has given us many items which help preserving

this "creation" (or temple of God) beautiful.

 

Many fruits, vegetables, milk, curd, cream can be used both as a diet

and ingredients of cosmetic packs. These natural products are quite

effective, safe and successful. For instance take Multani soil

commercially available at most places in India. It penetrates deep

layers of skin and removes many toxins. Author uses it, after mixing

it with other pitta pacifier powders, as "lepana" for skin diseases.

One has to think a lot before using commercially available artificial

cosmetics. One does not know their effectiveness and side effects.

Hence many home remedies have become popular. Ayurveda is a

collection of experience and philosophy, propagated by mouth-to-mouth

communication and texts. Everyone prefers his own experience, and no

clinical trials or statistics is needed. India being "land of faith

and trust", even a single experience is adequate to propagate a

certain "recipe" or "procedure". From the collective experience of

several colleagues, clients, friends and relatives, author compiled

certain home recipes and is posting here for benefit of group

members. Contributions from one of his students are gratefully

acknoledged. Those who follow these methods, please post your

results "before" and "after" the recipe adoption. More enthusiastic

members may upload photographs "before" and "after" on group website.

 

In recent years, Aloe Vera is proving itself as a skin beautifier. It

can be used by anyone having even extra sensitive skin. It is used

for external application and also as a liver tonic by taking its gel

internally{see earlier posts how to take it internally). Regular oil

massage and steam bath are also used for cleaning skin pores. This

procedure falls in Panch Karma also.

 

As a beauty treatment, oil massage can be done once a week. Sesame

oil is best for this purpose and steam bath can be taken thereafter.

After massage and steam one can apply Multani soil over the whole

body or use a mixture of

 

gram floor,

sandal powder,

neem leaves powder,

orange peel powder.

 

Alternately wet pack consisting of

¼ tsp ordinary turmeric powder,

Mysore gram floor 2 tsp,

Lime peel powder ½ tsp,

a tsp of Amba Haldi Powder ( another variety of turmeric powder

specifically used in cosmetics),

honey 1 tsp,

half lime fruit juice,

milk cream ½ tsp and

a little milk

 

can be applied After this wet pack is applied, one can sleep till it

dries up completely. Take warm or hot water bath and scrub skin well

to remove this pack. This de-odorizes the skin and to remove the odor

of sweat, one can rub crushed ginger in armpits area. This ginger

scrub should be restricted to just five minutes else inflammation of

the sensitive skin in this area irritates later. A soap made from

Multani soil, Tulsi powder, Neem powder, Camphor, Cow dung and Cow

urine in little quantity is also available under Panch Gavya system

of medicines. This is true "ayurvedic soap", having no chemical

additives for lather or essense smell. However, certain Goushalas in

Maharashtra have recently started adding minute quantity of additives

to boost the sales.

 

Another point to be remembered in care of the skin is to wash the

face with cold or Luke-warm water when you reach home, after spending

a major part of day in polluted city environment. Frequent (2/3 times

a week) application of cucumber, tomato or steamed potato

pulp/puree/slices on face skin and washing the face after drying of

the pulp freshens up the skin. The area around the eyes need to be

lightly massaged in circles with center as eye. The face should not

be wiped dry by towel but just let it remain slightly moist, so that

skin absorbs the moisture essential for lively appearance. Drink

plenty of water. This itself is a vast subject, already covered by

mapi.com articles in our group.

 

Pimples, Acne etc appear due to different reasons. They should be

treated after ascertaining the root cause. Aloe Vera pulp can be

applied for various skin problems of the face, blemishes, pimples,

wrinkles etc. Those who wish to take Botox injections to keep

wrinkles away, beware of side effects. Many parlours/clinics in

Mumbai are administering such injections at exhorbitant costs..

Bollywood is mad after "artificial beauty". The Aloe Vera pulp/gel

can be applied to face and neck and can be left overnight. But for

best results, first apply the pulp/gel lightly. Take steam on face

for five minutes. Again massage with gel for another five minutes.

This ensures that gel reaches deep layers. The repetition of this

procedure for four to five times (only once a day) will cause a glow

to appear.

 

Lets us see the treatment of hair to keep them clean and lustrous.

 

The hair pack can be made by mixing together powders of Aritha, Neem

Leaves, Shikakai, Methi, Amalaki. The tradition also mentions the

powder of elephant teeth; but in practice, author drops it since this

promotes cruelty on animals. Already a number of elephants are

meeting tragic death in forests of Tamilnadu (India) and elsewhere

for their teeth. Application of hair pack requires care and time.

 

Add 2 tsp water to 4 tsp of pack and mix thoroughly. First apply warm

coconut oil to roots of each strand of hair. Press several

acupressure points located in skull. There are at least one thousand

points. Important points are in crown area and can be known with the

help of an expert. Light massage to the head can be carried out by

various movements of palm and fingers. Now apply soaked pack to each

root of hair strand. Wash hair after an hour.

 

For dry hair, initially less oil can be applied and a decoction of

Hibiscus flowers can be applied to make them smooth. A ready oil

under the name `Java Kusum Tel' is also available in most Indian

ayurvedic medicine shops for this purpose. To prepare the decoction

at home, take approximately 500 ml water in a vessel. Add 20-25 fresh

hibiscus flowers in the water. Slow boil till flowers loose all the

color. Let cool. Squeeze the flowers by hand and remove them from the

decoction. Grind the flowers in mixer-blender return the pulp to

decoction. Apply (fine pulp mixed) decoction at roots of each hair

strand and through the length. Some massaging of hair will be

beneficial. Tie all hair in a knot and cover with a cotton cloth. Let

dry for a half an hour. This is our natural conditioning. The

procedure can be repeated on alternate days. Gradually, over a month

or two, the hair will start becoming smooth and setting into lustrous

dark thick bunch. Take care that hair are not pulled or tied with

large force else they will break. The curls should be preserved.

After this natural hair care for a month or two, you can be model in

advertisements promoting some artificial hair care product!

 

Regards

Dr Bhate