Beauty is all in oils

My relationship with oil has never been cordial (until recently!). My father would always stress how important oil is to the body and I would curse under my breath (oil makes one sticky.. yech !). Plus, I thought I already had enough to cope with Chennai's stickiness and could really do without more oil on my skin, hair etc. Sticky, smelly oils were for the older generation when they had no stylish, perfumed scents, gels and creams. They were not for me then.

But life has its own way of teaching lessons. When your skin becomes dry and hair starts falling; when all those colorful, attractive 'skin/hair care' products are eating away not only your money but also your skin/hair (irony!), you start to realize there must be some truth in what your father said. That was what happened with me. The more I read and understood Ayurveda, the more I was convinced that the first thing I should do to save myself from baldness was to dump my shampoos and conditioners in the dustbin. The same holds for moisturizers. Doing the latter was easy because no moisturizer ever worked well for me, anyway. 

Conditioners gave me a temporary feeling of 'softness' but always made hair worse in the long run. Many of my friends are also experiencing similar symptoms. In India, there is currently a craze for 'straight hair'. So, as long as I was there, I must admit I longed for the same but never had the guts to go for permanent straightening treatments like some friends did. I always went around feeling ashamed of my frizzy, wavy hair. Things changed drastically when I moved to the US because here, they have the opposite craze (for curly and wavy hair). Some colleagues walk up to me and ask what I do to get such 'beautiful curls', if I could please tell them how they can get their 'tiresome, straight' hair to look alive and bounce, if I use a 'special curling iron', how I manage to get all the curls to point in the same direction (!), etc. Now, suddenly I started loving my hair because everybody around me was appreciating it so much. See? We all do this. We base our opinion on ourselves on what others tell us. 

Anyway, if we want to change our hair texture based on current trends in different places, we would end up bald. There is nothing like 'this type of hair is the best, this skin is the best, this color is the best, this nose is the best'. Everything is very subjective.Warm, natural oils are still the best food for hair. Ayurveda suggests different oils based on one's constitution - but unsurprisingly, coconut oil is one that can be used by anyone (I know my father will love this sentence). Further, there is nothing like an 'Abhyangana Snanam' (oil bath) to rejuvenate oneself. Yes, bathrooms get a little messy but you can burn some calories scrubbing them later. I have learnt this lesson the hard way by trying other fancy things and failing miserably.  

Long story cut short, it has been 3 months since I stopped using any conditioner. I still get tempted to use shampoo in the morning rush hour but am trying to get rid of that too, soon. I read some useful skin/hair tips and some really worked for me. When you try them, remember that any natural healing process takes some time and that is the right and sustainable way to heal. If you use something and see results overnight, you can be more than assured that it is bogus. So, try these remedies for a while and see for yourselves.

For acne/pimply/dry/oily/combination skin (any skin) 

• Grate cucumber, massage that cool grated cucumber gently on your face. If you have a lot of acne and pimples hurt, do this carefully and slowly. Do this everyday. Cucumber clean the clogged pores in the skin and prevents more from clogging up. Sometimes, you can also mix a little milk. 
• Never rub your face vigorously with a scrub. Instead grind some oats, mix with milk and gently apply on your skin and wash off. Once your acne clears substantially, you can scrub all you want. I used to go to parlors in Hyderabad for a facial and they used to just scrub my face like anything. I have not been to a parlor since I realized what was happening. Its just a huge waste of resources.
• Do NOT bathe in hot water. Hot water drives out the natural moisture of the skin, resulting in cracking. Instead, bathe in luke warm water. Last mug of of your bath, splash cold water on your face and any acne infected part of the body. That will help in closing up pores.
• Drink lots of water. It is a natural toxin remover. 

For dandruff (this really really works !)

Dandruff is again caused by flaky skin on the scalp. So one should scrape it out like you clean a sticky vessel. For this, warm up about a small cup of coconut oil. (I also add some curry leaves while warming the oil because it gives a good scent and prevents graying.) Now just pour this warm oil on the scalp in copious amounts. Your entire scalp should be wet with oil. Remember, if you use very little oil on dandruff, it will further stick to the scalp. What you want to do is literally pour it. Once done, massage the scalp well. Initially you will lose quite some hair in this process but after a few weeks, hair becomes stronger. Now, stay with this oil on for about an hour and wash off with shikakai/soap nut. Even if you use shampoo, you will still notice a much cleaner scalp. S and I do this every Sunday and it has really worked for us, after many failed products. You can even add some almond/bhringraj or other oil but coconut oil does the magic all the time.

I am also in the process of learning and practicing them but I felt I should share this even before I perfect my routine. Will share more as I try them.