I have lived in Denver since 2014 and dealing with the dry mountain air has taken some getting used to. Whether it is caring for my wooden instruments, house plants, or my skin, the lack of humidity means I need some special care. Fortunately I am blessed with oily skin, which felt like a curse when I lived in Texas, but with altitude and age, I now need to put some special care into my skin routines. As some of my friends and clients know, I have a background in Ayurveda, the traditional natural medical practices and way of life originating in India. From herbal medicine, to massage techniques, and dietary practices, one thing that Ayurveda has handed down to us is many ways of keeping your skin young and healthy. I will mention 5 of these practices below. They are:
Stop Using Soap
Use Oil not Cream
Cleanse With Flour
Use a Toner
Moisturize
Stop Using Soap
This may be difficult to accept but easy to put into practice. Ayurveda recommends avoiding soaping yourself from head to toe on a daily basis because it strips our skin of the natural oils that keep it healthy. Also, we have bacteria on our skin, and in dirt for that matter, that metabolize ammonia and other things the make us smell bad. This is why animals like horses take dirt baths, i.e. roll around in dirt. By the way, if you are ever feeling down, look up a video of a chinchilla taking a dirt bath. I promise it will make you smile.
Seeing clients as a Rolfer, I must wash my hands clear up to my elbows many times a day, but that is the idea. Soap should be used for spot cleaning and washing off grime. Use soap on problem areas, you will know and learn what those areas are if you stop using soap from head to toe every day. Give it a try, just take a shower with water and ask a friend that you trust if you smell any different. You may be surprised that you don't.
We absorb vitamin D from the sun, this is done through the oil on our skin. This vitamin is absorbed over time gradually throughout the day. If I use soap, I strip off my ability to absorb vitamin D well and the time released mechanism that allows it to absorb slowly throughout the day. The first insult is bathing at all, the second insult is using hot water, and the third insult is using soap. So if you have a day that you feel ok with skipping a shower, go ahead and do so. Get outside and soak up a little sunlight as well. Even 10-20 min is good.
Oil not Cream
If you are a lady, you probably have an assortment of expensive creams. Women tend to take better care of their skin than men in the U.S. Many women at least understand that using soap on their face will dry their skin out and will use facial cleansers that are advertised as soap free. Most of these cleansers are primarily made of glycerin, which is essentially soap. After stripping all the skin's natural oil, then creams must be used to keep the skin from drying out, but instead of doing this, why not try oil?
Creams don't have a very long lasting effect on the skin and are often formulated from questionable ingredients. Oils are messy but tend to stay on the skin better. Try oiling yourself BEFORE you get in the shower. A variety of oils can be used depending on skin type. For very dry skin, sesame oil, for hot inflammatory oily skin coconut oil, and for cold moist- even clammy- skin mustard see oil is traditional. Rub it in vigorously from head to toe, sparing no oil. If you don't look like a salad or a French fry, you have not used enough oil. Then get into the shower and let the heat open up your pores and rub the oil in some more. If you must used soap this will be a good pre-conditioner for your skin. Traditionally, you would use the flour of various food substances to take it off.
Cleanse With Four
Yes, you read that right. Flour. Not wheat flour though, I don't know if that would go over well. Traditionally chick pea, rice four, barley, or mung bean flour is used. After an Ayurvedic oil treatment, it would be used from head to toe. I don't recommend doing this in your shower though, as a lot of flour will quickly clog the drain, so I just use enough to clean my face.
I use coconut oil on my face, and take off the excess with a clean cloth. I then mix rice flour with either lime juice or neem powder (also a good cleanser) and add enough water to make a paste. I apply it to my face in the shower, let it sit for a couple of minutes and wash it off. For problem skin, yogurt or milk can be used, and for acne you can add turmeric. I am oily skinned enough not to really need full body oiling, at least for moisture. Also depending on your skin type, you may only want to do it once to three times a week. If you are crazy dry, then try it every day, at least for a while.
Tone
So hopefully this has not dried out your face too badly. Traditionally in the east and the west we would want to use a toner to restore the ph to the skin. I use rose water. Other things that can be used are lotus water, and even which hazel, at least on the face. I use it to gently clean my face before bed, again rather than soap.
Moisturize
With all this, your skin should be feeling good, but some moisturizer is still a good idea, I simply use aloe vera for that. I would recommend finding something natural for this, even just a light coating of oil may will do. You will need to experiment, as with all of the above suggestions to see what works best for your skin type. Ayurveda focuses on beauty though health, and is less concerned with covering up things for appearance. The idea is that healthy skin will be beautiful and radiant, so nourishing the skin is the best practice, but different skin types have different requirements, so don't be afraid to experiment.
If you would like to increase your knowledge of Ayurveda, I would recommend starting with Robert Svoboda's Prakriti- Your Ayurvedic Constitution. This is a great introduction to Ayurveda, and surprisingly comprehensive for being so concise. When I was studying Ayurveda in India and anyone was having trouble understanding some of the theory, I would grab them a copy from a local book store. Books are surprisingly inexpensive in India. One fellow undergoing treatments attested that every time he had a question about something he would just pick up that book and the answer would be there, and and thanked me repeatedly. Check out the link below.
If you want more info on Ayurvedic skin care then you might check out this book too: