Have you ever tried a skin care product and found it just doesn't feel right for you? Ever wonder why?
Based on our dosha makeup, we all have different skin types — which can vary from soft, smooth and unwrinkled to sensitive, “rashy” dry, or even a combination of a few different types. Nobody knows the qualities of your skin better than you! When we tune in to our own skin-awareness and the ancient system of ayurveda, we can pick the skin care products that feel the best, work well, and ultimately create balance from the inside out, for each of us.
The three basic skin types — Vata, Pitta and Kapha — are based on the three doshas.
Vata Skin Type
Vata dosha is light, dry, and cool. If your skin is thin, dry, delicate and cool to the touch, you probably have Vata skin. When out of balance, it may become excessively dry, rough or flaky, or be subject to redness, or wrinkle more with age. Do you look tired and stressed? Vata skin types are particularly sensitive to mental stress.
Pitta Skin Type
Pitta skin is fair or rosy in color, soft, and warm to the touch, which corresponds to the fiery Pitta dosha. When out of balance, Pitta skin types can suffer from skin rashes, breakouts, acne, liver spots or redness. Pitta skin is usually more sensitive, and emotional stress can cause you to experience breakouts or rashes. Picture the blush of embarrassment or skin flushed with anger!
Kapha Skin Type
Kapha skin is cool to the touch and similar to the qualities of the Kapha dosha: it is soft, oily, and smooth. People with Kapha skin don't tend to form wrinkles until very late in life. When out of balance, Kapha skin can suffer from excessive oiliness, enlarged pores, blackheads, pimples and even water retention.
You may notice that you have a pure skin type as described above or, like many of us, a combination that may change with the seasons.
Guide from Within
The skin is the largest organ in the body. So, it is important to nourish, moisturize and cleanse with only the best herbal ingredients, because our skin is connected to all the aspects of health — mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and sensory. Our skin is also a bellwether of our digestive health and the general state of our balance or imbalance.
Regardless of whether you know your exact skin type or you are a combination of the three, ayurveda offers an intuitive approach to selecting the herbal soap that is just right for you.
- Stock your herbal soap supply with Vata, Pitta, and Kapha-balancing bars.
- At bath or shower time, spend a few moments smelling each bar.
- Select the soap bar that smells the best to you at that very moment.
The idea here is that you will guide yourself, from within, and select the skin care product that is intuitively balancing for you at the present moment. Soaptherapy, enlivened through our sense of smell!… and through the ayurvedic herbs found within each soap. Not only will your skin thank you, but the aroma, designed to balance a given dosha, will bring you back into balance. Soaptherapy = Skintherapy + Aromatherapy all in one.
Shop our entire collection of soaptherapy and stock your beauty bar with dosha-balancing herbal soaps:
Kapha Soaptherapy:
Citronella Herbal Soap: Kapha balancing
This light and fresh bar cleanses deeply while balancing soft and smooth Kapha skin. The special blend of ayurvedic herbs — flame-of-the-forest, mesua, turmeric and lemony citronella — will refresh your skin. For normal to oily skin.
Vata Soaptherapy:
Lemongrass Herbal Soap: Vata balancing
Choose gentle lemongrass for dry skin, to cleanse deeply without stripping natural moisture from your skin. Made with a mild natural base, lemongrass oil, and ayurvedic herbal ingredients — indian elecampane, flame-of-the-forest, and turmeric — this herbal bar will help moisturize dry skin and balance Vata dosha. For normal to dry skin.
Pitta Soaptherapy:
(Why so many? Because most skin issues are the result of a Pitta imbalance, regardless of dosha makeup. We want you to have choices!)
Jasmine Herbal Soap: Pitta balancing
Soothe warm, sensitive skin with jasmine, selected for its nurturing quality. The jasmine oil base in this balancing bar will cool and nourish the mind and emotions, while gotu kola, holy basil and peppermint help purify and protect your skin from stress and environmental toxins. For all skin types.
Rose Herbal Soap: Pitta balancing
Rose herbal soap comes from a traditional ayurvedic formula for moisturizing and soothing even the most sensitive skin. This balancing bar contains rose oil, gotu kola, holy basil and peppermint, all selected for their cooling effects. Choose Rose to uplift the spirit and cool down mind and body. For normal skin.
Vetiver Herbal Soap: Pitta balancing
Heal and renew dry, damaged skin with ultra-moisturizing Vetiver herbal soap! The subtle natural aromas of flame-of-the-forest, sandalwood, waterlily and vetiver work to rejuvenate your skin as you cleanse. Anti-aging botanical and herbal extracts with a gentle base help make your complexion smooth and softly radiant. For normal to sensitive skin.
Cedar Sandalwood Herbal Soap: Pitta balancing
Cool off and balance Pitta dosha with gentle Cedar Sandalwood herbal soap. With ayurvedic herbs — cedar oil, sandalwood oil, waterlily, and flame-of-the-forest — this all-natural cleanser nourishes and soothes even the most sensitive skin. Perfect when you are feeling hot and bothered, or when temperatures are soaring outside. For normal to sensitive skin.
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