Skin Care - Ayurvedic Herbs For It!

Summer often brings in a host of problems the scorching heat can sometimes burn and tan your skin. The humidity can cause you to sweat, making your skin accumulate grime, dirt and increase your chances of getting skin infections. Avoiding the sun by staying indoors or using an umbrella is a good option, but not always a practical possibility. According to Ayurveda, summer is the season when the sun is strong and increases heat in the body, which is one of the main causative factors of skin problems. So you not only need to beat the outside heat, but find a way to keep your body cool from the inside heat too. Some of the common problems in summer include sunburn, redness, irritation, rashes and acne outbreaks. Here are some ways Ayurveda can help:

Start by knowing your skin type in ayurveda:

1. Vata skin: This is characterized by dry, thin, delicate skin that is cool to touch and easily gets dehydrated. It can be flaky and has a tendency to age faster.
2. Pita skin: This is characterized by skin that is fair, sensitive, soft and warm. It is prone to freckles and moles and can break into rashes, acne or sunspots when out of balance.
3. Kapha skin: It tends to have all the qualities of water and earth, it can be oily, thick, pale, soft, cool and more tolerant of the sun. On the flip side, people with kapha skin may have dull complexion, excessive oil, pimples and suffer from water retention.
4. Combination types: Can include Vata-Pitta (both dry and sensitive) Kapha-Pitta (oily and sensitive) and Vata-Kapha (dry with some oily zones).

Remedies: 

Threapies like abhyangham, sheeta kashaya dhara, udwarthanam are very beneficial for vata-pitha & kapha predominant skin type. Abhyangham is medicated oil massage which helps to detoxify, nourish and revitalize the body tissues. Udwarthanam is special therapeutic deep tissue massage using herbal powders. This massage involves upward stroking, where the powder is rubbed forcibly on the body. The massage is done in the opposite direction to hair follicles. This pacifies the aggravated Kapha dosha, reduces the excess fat softens and exfoliates dead skin cells, thereby giving a lustrous glow to skin. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an ayurveda.