Winter Skincare: How to nourish your skin according to Ayurveda

Winter is the time for cosy hot drinks and being warm and comfortable inside our homes. It is also the time when the chill outside and the increased pollution make our skin dry and susceptible to different skin ailments. Since the skin is the protective layer of the body, it is the part that is exposed to all the external factors like dust, pollution, sunlight and cold. Even though oily skin can lead to many issues like pimples, it requires a minimum amount of moisture to maintain its texture and elasticity. Excessively dry skin becomes itchy and chapped. This gets exaggerated when exposed to the lingering polluted smog in the winter.

(Also read: Winter skincare tips you must follow for a glowing skin)

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Lakshmi Varma, Ayurveda Expert, Advisor & Consultant at LYEF Wellness, suggested ways to nourish your skin in the winter season.

Ayurveda is the science of life and has detailed descriptions of things to do in each season to maintain health. Among those are also a few tips to maintain the health of the skin like the application of oil, using medicated powders for baths and application of cosmetic pastes. Abhyanga or oil massage is a daily routine prescribed in the classics. This procedure is even more important during the winter because it helps prevent the dryness of the skin and keeps it intact. It may also act as a protective covering for the skin preventing the pollutants from coming in contact. Washing away the dirt that has accumulated on the skin each day is also very important.

For better cleansing effect and curing of any skin ailments, Ayurveda also has a number of bath powders made from different anti-microbial, anti-poisonous and skin cleansing drugs like Neem, beech tree bark, cassia bark, turmeric, Triphala, etc. One such example is Siddharthaka snana choorna. After the skin has been cleaned, there is also the practice of application of different scented pastes for the protection of the skin, this is called Anulepana. As per the classical texts, the Anulepana that is to be applied during the winter should be of drugs that are not cooling in nature. Some such drugs are Agaru, kumkum etc.

Warm and comfortable clothes are also inevitable during winter, special care is to be taken to facilitate the complete drying of the clothes after wash. Incompletely dried clothes can lead to fungal infection. Daily dhoopana (fumigation)with Ayurvedic anti-fungal and anti-microbial drugs can help in keeping the clothes mould-free and the house warm. Dhoopana drugs include camphor, Guggul, turmeric, Neem etc. The current pandemic and fear of microbes have made the formulation of Aparajita dhoopa choorna a common household name in many places.

Clear skin has always been a sign of good health. Let this winter be a cosy and happy one with your worries about your skin being a thing of the past.

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