By Nancy Lonsdorf
Have you ever had a friend recommend an “amazing new anti wrinkle cream or makeup line only to find that it gave you acne or dried out your skin? It happens all the time, because skin types vary as much as people do. Although you” familiar with dry, sensitive, and oily skin types, the ancient healing system of India, ayurveda, looks at skin types in a different way: connecting your body’s outer layer to inner and overall mind-body health. Knowing your ayurvedic skin type can help you unfold your skin’s natural beauty and radiance, slow aging, and heal problem areas from the inside out.
What’s your skin type?
The key to ayurvedic skincare is as simple as vata, pitta, kapha€that is, knowing the three guiding principles, or doshas, that rule your mind, emotions, and body, including your skin. The doshas comprise varying amounts of five underlying elements: space, air, water, fire, and earth€and thus have very different qualities.
Depending on your genetics and lifestyle, one (or two) doshas will predominate, and their qualities will reflect in your skin. For instance, if your airy vata dosha dominates, your skin may be dry, delicate, and cool to the touch, while someone with more of the fiery pitta dosha will have reddish, warm, and slightly oily skin. A predominance of earthy, oily, and cool kapha dosha creates€you guessed it€skin that is firm, oily, and cool when you touch it. (Take the “What’s Your Skin Type quiz to discover your own skin type.)
Feed you skin
According to ayurvedic wisdom, you can keep skin healthy by using products with properties opposite, or balancing, to those of your dosha. So just as you naturally reach for a hot drink as an antidote to cold winter weather, dry vata skin is balanced by more oils inside and out; inflamed pitta skin is calmed by cooling foods and herbs; and oily kapha thrives on drying and stimulating substances.
Ayurvedic skincare products are based on the principle “nature knows best€truly natural ingredients, made without preservatives or chemicals of any kind. Some of the best ingredients are already in your kitchen: rolled oats to gently cleanse and moisturize and milk to nourish. The rest are known in ayurveda for their anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, and other healing benefits. For homemade products, see “Nature Knows Skin Care and follow these dosha-specific tips.
Vata skin. Soft, thin, and fine-pored, your skin is delicate like porcelain, with a lovely transparency that stems from vata’s airy nature. But just as fine china easily cracks, your skin needs special care and attention to prevent premature wrinkles. To balance its inherent dry tendency, moisturize frequently and avoid any harsh or drying products. Seek out products with gotu kola for collagen support, ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) to reduce stress, and sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) to promote healing.
Cleanse your skin only once daily, at bedtime. In the morning, a simple splash of lukewarm water followed by your moisturizer will do, with a few drops of organic almond oil afterward during the dry, winter months. A whole-body self-massage each morning with almond oil before your shower is an ideal way to both moisturize and calm your easily frazzled vata nerves for the entire day.
Excess vata can weaken assimilation of nutrients, resulting in a lackluster, haggard look. Avoid this beauty trap by skipping hard-to-digest drying foods€raw, dry, and crunchy foods, such as salads, crackers, and chips€and favoring warm foods and drinks like soups, sautéed vegetables, fruit compotes, steamed milk, caffeine-free teas, and plenty of sweet, juicy fruits during the day. To relieve dryness, add one to two tablespoons of olive or almond oil or ghee to your daily diet for enhanced lubrication from within.
Pitta skin. When balanced, your skin is clear and subtly radiant, the classic “peaches and cream complexion. High in fire, your skin has a natural rosy glow, but is quick to become irritated in hot, sunny weather and can easily react to stress, hormones, poor diet, and chemicals in skincare products. By midlife (age 25 to 50), a time dominated by pitta, your sensitive skin is prone to adult acne and rosacea€the “wrinkles and pimples combination that seems so unfair. But not to worry. With proper care, you can maintain€or regain€your beautiful, youthful glow irrespective of your age.
To keep your fiery skin beautiful, you must keep your liver “cool as a cucumber, so pass on the alcohol, soda, junk food, and unhealthy fats. Your skin will flourish with pure, organic skin care products, organic fruits and vegetables€cucumber and zucchini are especially cooling€and detoxifying spices like coriander and turmeric in your daily diet. Avoid fermented and acidic foods such as tomatoes and vinegar. Topically, use cooling coconut oil for whole-body lubrication. When applying moisturizer, spritz your face with rosewater first, and apply lightly on the T-zone (your forehead, nose, mouth, and chin). Use products with skin-soothing sandalwood, neem, Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia), and rose.
Kapha skin. When it comes to wrinkles, you are the lucky one. Blessed with thick, smooth, lubricated skin, your complexion resists dryness and fine wrinkling, the hallmarks of aging skin. On the down side, you may face enlarged pores, oiliness, and cystic acne in your youth, and with maturity, the natural kapha tendency for weight gain, which can leave your skin puffy, loose, or jowly.
Keeping your oilier skin toned and healthy requires more intensive cleansing and exfoliation. On the other hand, resist the temptation to overdry your skin through the excessive use of harsh toners, masks, and cleansers, which can cause your skin to respond by making more oil. Instead use a natural toner, such as aloe vera gel, and moisturize after toning if needed with a light moisturizing lotion or cream diluted with equal parts of rosewater.
When feeding your skin from the inside, steer clear of fried foods, red meat, rich desserts, and other heavy, sweet, or fatty foods. Include kapha-balancing spices in your daily diet: turmeric for detox and fenugreek, which improves both sugar and fat metabolism. Working up a good sweat four or five times a week also helps control weight and will keep your skin and pores deeply cleansed and toned from the inside out.
Beauty’s bottom line
Ultimately, beauty depends on much more than what we put on our skin. What we eat, our thoughts and emotions, and indeed, our entire being radiates out through our face to the world. According to ayurveda, our outer beauty (roopam) depends on inner beauty (gunam) and that depends on a balanced mind and body. Pay attention to your skin type, and put your health and happiness first€you’ll not only look and feel better, you’ll glow.
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QUIZ: What’s Your Skin Type?
Mark one point beside each item that applies to you in columns V, P, and K. Count your totals for each column at the bottom. The column in which you scored highest indicates your dominant dosha skin type. Follow the guidelines for that skin type in the article. If a second dosha scores nearly as high, follow the skin cleanse instructions for your dominant dosha and the diet and behavioral tips for both dosha skin types. |
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Vata
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Pitta
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Kaphas
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Normally, my skin tends to:
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Dryness
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Sensitivity
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Oiliness
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Fine pores
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Larger pores in the T-zone
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Large pores
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Bluish undertone (the tone you match foundation color to)
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Pink undertone
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Yellowish undertone
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When problematic, my skin tends to:
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Dry, flaky, or scaly patches
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Rashes or inflammation
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Excessive oiliness
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Cracked heels or hands
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Burning sensations or sunburn
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Itching or hives
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Premature wrinkles
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Excessive sweating or odor
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Puffiness
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Dark circles
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Moles and freckles
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Fluid retention
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Dandruff
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Ruddiness or broken capillaries
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Deep scarring or creases
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Dry eczema
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Rosacea
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Acne
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Problems in forehead region
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Problems around nose and cheeks
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Problems around mouth, chin, neck
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V total:
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P total:
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K total:
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Skin Type Skincare
To get your skin back on track, follow these simple routines that feature recipes customized for your skin type.
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Your Skin Type
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Vata (dry) |
Pitta (sensitive) |
Kapha (oily) |
Directions
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| Cleansing Mix | 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 3 tablespoons each of: Marshmallow root Indian sarsaparilla Lavender flowers |
1 1/2 cups rolled oats 3 tablespoons each of: Rose petals (food grade) Indian sarsaparilla Sandalwood |
1 1/2 cups rolled oats 3 tablespoons each of: Orange peel Indian sarsaparilla Oat bran |
Mix the Cleansing Mix for your skin type in a large batch and store in a dry place. Marshmallow root, Indian sarsaparilla, and sandalwood should ideally be in tea-cut form (small pieces) or powdered. |
| Milk Temperature | Lukewarm | Room temperature | Warm | To cleanse your face and body, put two tablespoons in a cheesecloth bag and soak the bag in whole, organic milk until saturated. Dip the bag and pat your face and body. Repeat for five minutes, then rinse. |
| Toner/Moisturizer for normal skin | Almond oil | Mix 4 parts coconut oil and 1 part jojoba oil | Mix equal parts rosewater and aloe vera gel | Apply a thin layer of toner. |
| Toner/Moisturizer for aggravated skin | 99 percent rosewater and 1 percent ylang ylang essential oil mixture | 99 percent rosewater and 1 percent jojoba essential oil | Mix 3 parts rosewater and 1 part aloe vera gel | Apply a thin layer of toner. |
