Simply spending time every day caring for your skin may ultimately do more to encourage your inner beauty to show than any other measure. If your morning beauty routine is a slap-and-dash affair, then make a commitment to slowing down enough to pamper your skin.
Shafalika Saxena, cofounder of Better Botanicals in Washington, D.C., advocates an Ayurvedic approach to skin care. "In Ayurveda, beauty is all about balance," she says. "When your body is out of whack, you'll notice it first in your hair and skin. Ayurvedic skin care never tries to mask skin problems; it works with rhythm and balance from the inside out. It's care—not camouflage."
Much like the practice of Sun Salutation, Ayurvedic skin care involves a series of movements performed mindfully and ritually to prepare you for the day. Saxena suggests a four-part approach: cleansing, steaming, bath therapy, and full-body massage therapy.
Practice the next step, steam therapy, once or twice a week to open the pores and detoxify the skin. Prepare a basin of hot water to which you add herbs suited to your skin type. Make a tent over your head with a towel and hold your face over the steam. If your skin has broken capillaries or rosacea, however, don't use steam; it may aggravate the condition, Saxena says. Instead, substitute facial massage for the steaming.
The third step, bath therapy, "helps us reconnect with the key element within us," says Saxena, who prescribes it daily. Don't use bubble bath since the detergent that causes foam can dry your skin. "Throw in milk, essential oils, Dead Sea salts, or even fistfuls of herbs you collect from the garden," Saxena says. Then light a candle and take the time to allow your muscles and joints to relax.
In all you do to care for your skin, remember that loving kindness and a sense of your own beauty are most important. If you cultivate inner beauty and true health, your face—your whole being, in fact—will express that sense of joy. That's the secret to true beauty.
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