Salvation for Baby Boomer Skin

Baby boomers check in with their mirrors more often these days. They cautiously scan for the dreaded signals of aging: wrinkled foreheads, crinkle lines around the eyes, sagging skin, laugh lines permanently etched into facial topography. Sipping (or gulping) morning coffee, they contemplate avoid and delay tactics. An astounding and potentially expensive number of schemes involve propping up skin conditions, since skin, as you know, can be the first betrayer of what we kindly call maturity.

The boomers turn their trusting (increasingly creased) faces to you, sharing their fears and woes. What works? What doesn’t? You sometimes feel like they are asking you to rescue not just their skin but their entire self image. Trying your best to respond to the growing crisis, you do your homework. As you do your research, you most likely find more and more evidence that skin conditions cannot be separated from the rest of who we are. Youthful skin is the reflection of total health in mind and body.

Ayurveda, the world's oldest system of health care, has always known this. Ayurveda, or "science of life,"has been in use for at least 5000 years. We can safely say that its health and skin care recommendations have stood the test of time and then some.

The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians explains that in Ayurveda mind and body are one, totally integrated unit. Consequently, many middle-age skin problems are directly related to stress. Emotional stress produces pitta-related problems (see box), including less tolerance to the sun, rashes, acne and allergen sensitivity. Mental stress results in vata-related conditions (see box) such as dry, thin, dull skin and early wrinkles. Whether your clients suffer from one or both types of symptoms will depend on a variety of factors, including:

Ayurvedic medicine has solutions for all these areas of life, including techniques to reduce stress, as well as individualized diets, herbal prescriptions and recommendations for daily routine and exercise. Trying a few of its skin treatments will renew the glow and smiles on your clients’ faces.

Wrinkles: Ayurvedic Expert and Ayurveda to the Rescue
Babyboomers are certainly not the first people in history to feel discouraged by wrinkles, so it is not surprising that the ancient Ayurvedic health care system offers effective tactics to ambush lines and wrinkles. Try this treatment from Ayurvedic Expert with your clients. (It is also something that they can do at home before sleep.)

For five minutes, gently massage areas with lines and wrinkles with an all-natural, herbalized oil whose main ingredients should be gotu kola and sensitive plant. You can also massage skin with milk foam, as an alternative to herbalized oil.

Now make a thin paste using equal parts of ground, skinless almonds and amlaberry powder mixed with warm water. Leave the paste on the skin for five minutes and then rinse.

Finally, apply an all-natural Ayurvedic skin cream with gotu kola and sensitive plant as the main ingredients. (Do not try to make this yourself. Unless properly processed, gotu kola may produce contact dermatitis.

Easing Eye Lines
It is easy to see why this deeply soothing treatment described by Ayurvedic Expert has been used for several thousand years. Use the fingers of both hands simultaneously to gently massage all around the eyes in a clockwise, rhythmic motion for about five minutes. Finger movement should be slow and synchronous. If your client’s skin is dry you can use a touch of almond oil. Otherwise, the massage should be dry.

Now dip some large cotton pads in cool milk and place them on the same areas that you have just treated. Leave the pads on for about five minutes while your client relaxes. If the pads warm up, dip them in cool milk again. This procedure will relax, detoxify and lubricate the skin.

For the final step, the coup de grace for lines, use an empty tea bag or a small cotton bag. Fill it with organic, tender green tea leaves (80%) and organic rose petals (20%) that have soaked in warm water. Both these ingredients have anti-oxidant properties. Gently pat and scrub the whole area for about five minutes with the bag. The cumulative affect of all three treatments will not only erase eye lines but also restore a healthy glow to the skin.

Makeup and Cleansing
Whether it’s what you eat or what you put on your skin, Ayurveda always recommends chemical-free, organic ingredients. Vata and kapha skin types can use foundation makeup, but Ayurvedic Expert advises little to none for pitta skin. Pitta people already have a lot internal heat that gives their skin radiance and color. If pitta remains healthy, then brabha (the facial aura) will have a natural luster that foundation makeup will only block. Pittas have the most sensitive skin and if their thermostat goes awry, many kinds of makeup will be reactive for them.

Ayurvedic Expert recommends makeup-removal formulas that frankly sound delicious. They not only clean the skin, but also help it breather better. Combine all ingredients in the recommended proportions, making about 200 grams of the compound at a time. Place one teaspoon of the appropriate mixture in a small cotton bag, dip it in hot water and apply the bag to the face. It will pull makeup from the deep pores as well as lubricate.

Facials to Restore Balance
The Council has some skin-loving facials to relieve problems associated with imbalances in each dosha. Each dosha can give rise to a set of symptoms associated with its nature when it is not functioning properly. Pitta has a lot of heat and pitta-aggravated skin might have rashes, blemishes and red areas. A kapha imbalance can show up as cold, oily skin that thickens or loses its luster.

After giving these treatments to clients, you can recommend that they do them at home before bed. One caveat: Ayurvedic Expert emphases the importance of proper ayurvedic skin care training in order for the aesthetician to be able to recognize skin conditions and administer the appropriate treatments.

For Pitta-Related Problems: Remove makeup using the formula just given. Then rinse with whole, organic milk, warmed to room temperature. Use more milk on trouble spots—blemishes, rashes, etc. Twice a week, apply an herbalized clay mask. Use any kind of high-quality organic clay, free from chemical additives. To the clay, add pitta-balancing herbs: sandalwood, vetiver root and rose powder. Keep the mask on for three minutes, then rinse. Finish off with an Ayurvedic anti-aging cream. The cream’s main component should be gotu kola, an herb that enhances collagen synthesis. It should also contain sandalwood (cools), flame of forest (enhances resistance to the sun’s damaging rays), and sensitive plant (nourishes the tactile nerves).

Two more pieces of advice for pitta skin: If you use aroma oil while giving a facial or any other treatment, The Council recommends moderate mounts of grapefruit oil diluted with jojoba oil, or other cooling aromas, like sandalwood and vetiver root.

If summer heat produces rashes or blemishes, you can treat them with an emergency mask made out of crushed watermelon. Leave the mask on for five or six minutes, and then rinse.

For Vata-Related Problems: Use the formula from the previous section to remove all makeup. Apply a very thin layer of almond oil mixed with a few drops of lavender oil and gently massage it into the face for about three minutes. The proportion should be three drops of lavender oil to 100 ml. of almond oil. Spray a little rosewater into whole, organic milk and rinse with this mixture.

Twice a week, about five minutes after this facial, use an herbalized clay mask. Once again, the clay should be organic and chemical-free. To the clay, add sensitive plant, winter cherry (ashwaghanda) and licorice. Apply the clay and leave it on for about three minutes. Afer rinsing, use an anti-aging cream with organic ingredients.

For Kapha-Related Problems: People with primarily kaphic constitutions have less fire in their systems. This can make their digestion sluggish and less efficient than that of their well-heated pitta friends. As a result, with kaphic clients, you need to focus on cleansing and detoxification.

After removing makeup using the formula described in the previous section, bathe facial skin with lukewarm, organic, whole milk for six minutes. Use an organic sponge and pay special attention to the T-zone.

Now prepare an herbalized mask. Make a thick paste out of organic, chemical-free clay, mixed with Indian gooseberry (amla), Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia or manjistha) and Indian sarsparilla. Leave the mask on for five minutes and then rinse with milk or water. Finally, apply a very thin layer of a non-greasy, all-natural, anti-aging cream.

Give this treatment to clients with kapha skin problems three times a week for two weeks, followed by twice a week for six weeks. However, monitor the skin and if it gets too dry, stop or cut back on the treatments.

You’re as Young as You Think
Ayurvedic Expert sees the babyboomer leap into middle age as a move toward heightened beauty—a deep, real beauty based on the confidence and wisdom that come from experience. In Ayurveda, thoughts impact health and biological aging. Psychological aging—dark thoughts that focus on limitations, aches and pains—can speed up the aging process, while joy, strength, optimism and inner ease prevent it. How people feel about this time of life and themselves will show up on their skin. Negative, discouraged thoughts produce tired, grey-looking skin, while inner happiness generates a radiant aura.

As you explore and experience Ayurveda’s many gifts, you’ll be able to use it with a confidence that will be communicated to your customers. Both your thoughts and your treatments will give them the health and support they need. Fears will drift away with worry lines as Ayurveda’s ancient wisdom helps you discover how to live long and live well.