Balance Your Skin this Summer
Date Posted:6 January 2014
Summer is fun, but it’s a season that has its own set of demands. Your skin, overall beauty and digestion can take a hit. This time of increased heat can cause an imbalance of Pitta dosha, the mind-body operator that governs hormones, digestion and other metabolic processes in the body. You’ll feel better by managing this body-mind heat, and this will also keep you hydrated and help prevent summer breakouts and rashes.
Here are a few tips for keeping your skin looking great, and you feeling great in summer.
1. Drink cooling spice water
You’ve probably heard that drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day is important for flushing out toxins, and in summer it’s even more important to keep replacing fluids that may be lost to perspiration. You can get extra cooling and purifying impact from your water by adding a few herbs and spices. Here’s an easy summer recipe:
Cooling Summer Water
Boil two litres of water for two minutes. Take it off the heat and add:
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
- 2 rose buds
- 1 whole clove
Store it hot inside a thermos. Before drinking, pour it into a cup and let it cool to room temperature. The herbs in this formula not only cool Pitta dosha, but used over time they help stimulate digestion and cleanse the microchannels of the body, allowing the water to hydrate the deeper layers of the skin and support beautiful skin.
2. Avoid drinks that dry out your skin.
Caffeinated drinks may look thirst-quenching, but the caffeine actually dehydrates the body. Alcoholic drinks are even more dehydrating.
Worse, both caffeine and alcohol are toxic to the liver. When the liver becomes overloaded, it can no longer do its job of screening out toxins from the nutritive fluid. That’s the point when ama (digestive toxins) and more harmful impurities start to circulate to the tissues and organs of the body. One of the first signs of toxins in the liver is dull, dry, lifeless skin.
Even non-caffeinated carbonated drinks disrupt the digestion and are a major cause of toxins. Ice-cold drinks are also to be avoided, as icy foods and drinks completely douse the digestive fire, again leading to toxins that detract from healthy skin. Try treating yourself to healthy herbal tea. Organic Pitta Tea, cooled to room temperature, is delicious. Or invest in a juicer and try some fresh apple juice or pear juice made with sweet ripe fruits as a snack. Other cooling drinks include milk and lassi. To make lassi, use one part freshly-made yogurt and blend with three parts water. Blend in a teaspoon or two of rose water for flavoring. Rose is one of the most effective ways to cool Pitta dosha, quench thirst and purify the skin.
3. Eat foods that hydrate the skin.
Eat a diet that helps cool Pitta dosha and helps purify and hydrate the skin. Start by eating at least one sweet, juicy fruit a day. Ripe summer fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums and pears are exactly what your skin craves in the hot season. Not only do they provide an excellent source of moisture, but they cool Pitta dosha and help purify the skin at the same time. Tree-ripened, juicy summer fruits convert almost immediately into ojas (the finest product of digestion), which shows up in your skin as a radiant complexion.
4. Massage with cooling herbal oils.
People think of massage as heating, but if you use soothing Pitta Massage Oil — or cooling essential oils of Grapefruit, Sweet Orange and Lavender in a coconut-oil base — the self-massage will not only cool your skin but purify it as well. Specially made for sensitive skin, soothing Pitta Massage Oil is ideal for the hot summer months.
5. Follow your massage with a warm (but not hot) bath.
Add lavender and rose buds for a luxurious, cooling effect. Lubricate your skin after the bath with Pitta Body Lotion for normal to sensitive skin and Pitta Skin Care for the face, or Revitalising Cream - an excellent choice for maturing skin.
6. Use products that hydrate naturally.
When you’re choosing products to cleanse and hydrate your skin in summer, be sure they don’t have harsh chemicals or preservatives that will only dry out your skin. The Vata and Pitta Body Lotion, Vata and Pitta Skin Care Creams are not only completely natural and free of chemical ingredients; they are made with such an extraordinarily high content of essential oils that they are self-preserving. These gentle yet highly effective skin-care products smooth out wrinkles and hydrate the skin as they purify and cleanse. The herbs heal frayed nerves and give you a cool, calm feeling to face the day.
By Paul Schaeffer.
Reprinted with permission from MAPI, USA.