Wellness Wisdom: Why your ubtan is a miracle skin cure

Another underlying principle of Ayurveda is respect for the senses—the Panchmahabhutas. Taste, touch, smell, sight and sound. Whatever we apply should be in harmony with these senses.

We all talk of ubtans. What were these? The purest, freshest traditional cleansers for the skin. They were made of sun-dried and then hand-pounded herbs. The process needed time and physical effort. Depending on skin concerns, a tradition evolved of changing herbs and mediums. Cleaned meticulously — with some ingredients sun-dried and some dried in the shade — using fresh herbs, flowers and roots and finally pounded to a certain consistency, an ubtan was the traditionally perfect cleanser for every woman, man or child. A little liquid was needed to blend it, generally either fresh milk or yoghurt. Readily available for most people in their kitchens, the ubtan, therefore, could be personalised for each skin type. Certain mixers were traditionally recommended for various concerns, including tomato juice for pigmented skin, neem-infused water kept overnight for acne and so on.

Even dates and litchis, either fresh or sun-dried, were blended in exact proportions according to the recipe. This mix was then buried in terracotta pots to ferment under the ground to enrich it with natural enzymes. This mixture was taken out when it was ready, hand-mixed in heavy metal pots and simmered over a slow fire. Chants were sung by the workers while the mixing was done to allow positive vibrations to be absorbed into the final paste. It took several months. But who wouldn’t wait for a silken skin?

Ayurveda and beauty are an endless ocean of possibility. Boundaries have to be constantly pushed.

(The author has written a book of such secrets titled “Essentially Meera”)