Ayurveda for Skin Care

Ayurveda for Skin care

Hello Retail Addicts!  Yes it's been a long time.  I have been in an absolute nightmare switching ISP's.  Nightmare!  However, like my grandmother used to say, "one monkey doesn't stop the show"!  

Since I have been without Internet for so long, it has given me an opportunity to read books I have been meaning to pick up for awhile now.  Lately, I have been into Ayurveda, so I picked up a few wonderful books about the subject. I was even thinking about taking courses at California College of Ayurveda (check them out here)  I was first introduced to Ayurveda by my fabulously stylish and progressive mother.  She had the book, "Ayurvedic Beauty Care, Ageless Techniques to Invoke Natural Beauty" by Melanie Sachs, years ago. 

A quote from the book,  "Traditional Ayurveda fits quite well into modern models of holistic healing, concerned with a broad view of the total health of the individual: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  What Ayurveda offers to these models beyond its own techniques is a deeper awareness of how the body and our experiences are a microcosm of the greater universe and the relationships in the interaction between our inner and outer worlds."  I feel beautiful and grounded already!

Ayurveda is so appealing, especially when talking about skin care,  because as most of know, for beautiful skin it must be healthy and balanced from the inside and out.  In the book, Melanie Sachs speaks of the benefits of face packs.

If you are unfamiliar with face packs, "they are softer and more porous type of face masks.  Very similar in action, they improve circulation as well as cleanse and tauten the entire face.  Because they are soft, they allow the skin to breathe more and are gentler than masks, they can be left on longer, even during a full body massage"

I have porous, oily skin, which has just calmed down since I have reached my 30's.  However, due to abuse (and at times neglect-I admit it) I have dark marks (hyper pigmentation) and the occasional acne due to hormonal changes.  For years, I have struggled to make my skin beautiful.  Recently, I have been using Ayur face packs every day.  (I wouldn't recommend this for those with dry skin.  Even though face packs are gentler than face masks, they can still be drying.)

I have noticed a huge improvement over the last two months.  My pores are less visible, I have no acne and my dark marks are starting to fade.  My favorite Ayur face pack is, Sandal. Made with sandalwood, multani mitti (Fuller’s earth), calamine, and kaolin. It claims to be for normal to dry skin, however, I still would suggest people with dry skin use sparingly or mix with yogurt or buttermilk.

The mask smells like sandalwood and does have a cooling effect.  I keep mine on for about 15 minutes and as soon as I wash it off my skin is noticeably smoother and my pores are invisible.  Furthermore, I absolutely love the smell of sandalwood, so to get a slight whiff every so often after the application is wonderful.

My second favorite Ayur face pack, hands down, is the Shahi Ubtan face pack (or the Anti Sun face pack).  Out of the box it's just a beige powder, but as soon as you add your liquid (water, milk, rose water, etc) purple-ish beads start to appear.  What makes this face pack a little different is instead of washing it off, you initially rub it off.  Remember those purple beads, I spoke of?  Well as soon as it hardens you scrub it off.  So it acts as an exfoliate after the fact.  (Indian women claim that the ingredients in this product as a mask, can reduce facial hair as well.  Hence the rubbing off pulls at superfluous hair) After the vigorous rubbing, you can then wash off any remaining residue.

I love this mask because after repeated use my dark marks have lightened considerably.  At times I mix it with lemon juice to accelerate the "lightening" aspect.  After repeated use, my skin is smoother and my dark marks are fading.  This face pack is also not as drying as some of the others, making it gentle for everyday use.

My third favorite is the Neem face pack.  I use it once a week just for the extra glow and to get rid of the pimples.  It’s best when we use it along with a good quality rose water as it helps get that extra bit of glow. Rose water has some anti-septic properties as well which helps in healing blemishes faster.  Neem is a natural antiseptic that helps sooth skin and heals pimples and blackheads. It restores skin’s natural oil balance and also stops scaling.

 Ayur Neem Face Pack contains Neem extracts mixed with natural ingredients like Multani Mitti, Calamine Powder and Kaolin Powder.  Regular use of this face pack tones and revitalizes the skin to make it soft and healthy.  Again, I recommend this face pack to people with oily skin as it is drying.

These are some of the best "skin resurfacing" "pore minimizers" and acne treatments money can buy.  AND they are affordable to everyone.  Furthermore, their formula is based on hundreds of years worth of knowledge and testing.  I personally swear by them!  Please let me know how they work for you, or if you need help finding Ayur products locally!

Continue Reading

Rest in Peace Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen hanged himself in London home

By JILL LAWLESS (AP) – 4 hours ago

LONDON — A bereaved Alexander McQueen left a note, then hanged himself in his apartment on the eve of his mother's funeral, a coroner's inquest said Wednesday, giving the cause of the fashion designer's death as asphyxiation and hanging.

The inquest has yet to formally deliver a ruling of suicide, but police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Coroner's official Lynda Martindill told the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court that the body of 40-year-old McQueen was found in an armoire at his London apartment on Thursday. In the dispassionate language of the inquest, she referred to him as "a single man, a fashion designer."

Days before he died, McQueen had left several messages on the social networking site Twitter revealing his grief at his mother's recent death.

Police detective inspector Paul Armstrong told the inquest there were no suspicious circumstances. He gave the note found at the scene to coroner Paul Knapman but did not disclose its contents.

After a five-minute hearing, the coroner adjourned the inquest until April 28. Full details of the autopsy also will be available in a few months.

McQueen's family, who are now free to hold the designer's funeral, issued a statement through their lawyers appealing to the media to respect their privacy following their "grievous double loss."

They have not released details of the funeral.

In Britain, inquests are held whenever someone dies violently or in unexplained circumstances.

McQueen's death has cast a shadow over London Fashion Week, which opens on Friday. A spokeswoman said the event would feature a tribute to the designer, whose attention-grabbing designs helped re-energize British fashion after a fallow period following the punk explosion in the 1970s.

"There will be something simple and tasteful," she said. "The time for memorials will be later in the year."

She spoke on condition of anonymity because organizers are waiting for McQueen's family to approve the tribute.

Known for his dramatic statement pieces and impeccable tailoring, McQueen dressed celebrities from Cameron Diaz to Lady Gaga and influenced a generation of designers.

He was named British Designer of the Year four times and awarded the title of CBE — Commander of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II.

Unlike many fashionistas, he came from a working-class background. The son of a cab driver, McQueen grew up on a public housing estate in London's East End, left school at 16 and entered the fashion world the old-fashioned way, as a teenage apprentice to a Saville Row tailor. He later studied at Central St. Martin's art college in London and was discovered by fashion guru Isabella Blow, who bought his entire graduation collection. She became a friend and mentor; her suicide three years ago shook the designer, who wept openly at her funeral.

McQueen was a private man who avoided the limelight, but his Twitter postings show emotional turmoil after his mother's death on Feb. 2. McQueen had posted messages four days before his death about his "awful week," and said he had to "somehow pull myself together and finish."

His mother's funeral was held the day after McQueen died.

Friends also said he might have felt under pressure to outdo himself at the unveiling of his new collection in Paris next month.

"I don't think success was easy for him," friend Plum Sykes wrote in the Sunday Telegraph this week. "He told me he was driven by his insecurities, and he believed that all successful people were."

McQueen became chief designer at the Givenchy house in 1996, but was best known for his own label, in which Gucci bought a majority stake in 2001. McQueen retained creative control, and became famous for his dramatic and often uncategorizable creations: sculptural cocktail dresses in psychedelic patterns; headwear made of trash; 10-inch (25 centimeter) heels shaped like lobster claws.

His shows were highly theatrical events, incorporating film and historical references and innovative technology — including, at one memorable 2006 show, an appearance by Kate Moss in hologram form.

His outrageous pieces never sold in great numbers, but he became one of fashion's best-known brands. He designed the outfit Janet Jackson was wearing when she had her breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl.

Outrageous chanteuse Lady Gaga — dressed in a lacy white ensemble and towering Marie Antoinette-esque wig — paid tribute to McQueen at the Brit music awards on Tuesday. "Thank you to Lee McQueen," she said after winning one of three prizes, using the designer's given name.

Onstage she performed a somber tribute song beside a mannequin wearing those signature lobster-claw shoes.

McQueen will be missed.

Continue Reading