|
 |
Pharmacy |
|
|
Over
10,000 products currently online...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Ayurvedic View on Natural Beauty: Redefining Anti-Aging Skin Care
Consumers and industry agree. Cosmeceuticals are the future of anti-
aging skin care. World-class companies in the industry are flooding
the marketplace with cosmetics that claim pharmaceutical benefits
along with temporary visible effects.
Botanicals are the rage. By adding cosmetics grade extracts of herbs
in appropriate strength, and by using proven a delivery mechanism
surely you too will receive the multiple benefits claimed.
Unfortunately, this is not the story for many consumers. Often women
experience less benefit than advertised, or mild to severe side
effects along with the benefits.
Because of the western notion of a single-cause-single effect it
seems that simply by adding multiple ingredients to a base one
receives multiple benefits from a cream or lotion or gel. We see this
science as flawed, and have a very different vision of the future of
anti-aging skin care.
Essentially, no science of combination, no technology of delivery,
has yet been found which will provide a really effective holistic
side-effect free botanical product with multiple cosmeceutical
benefits. Manufacturers of AHA, BHA and retinol based products are
left to juggle the amount of extract to be added versus the benefit
received versus the side effects produced.
Where will the 'new new' in cosmeceuticals come from? What science
exists for effective side-effect free formulation? And when can we
expect to see these transformational products and regimens? Who will
emerge as the leader in providing holistic side-effect free skin care?
The "new new" natural cosmeceuticals.
Real face and body care is going "back to the future." The deepest
knowledge of botanicals belongs to ayurveda, the world's original
system of health care. Maharishi Ayurveda possesses an unrivaled set
of technologies for processing and extraction of raw herbs. And
Vaidya R.K. Mishra http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=profiles/mishra.html, world-renowned ayurvedic dermatologist,
embodies the knowledge of the use (sanskar) and the science of
combination (sanyoga) for developing authentic ayurvedic formulations
and treatment protocols that maximize pharmaceutical-like benefits
for internal and external benefits.
New ingredients, new knowledge of the structure and function of the
skin, and new approaches to treatment are redefining what is possible
in anti-aging skin care. New ingredients like Gotu Kola, Sensitive
Plant and Flame of Forest are creating excitement, and the
possibility that whole plant extracts will usher in a new future for
skin care.
Of course, if you talk to an ayurvedic dermatologist there is nothing
new here. Authentic individualized use of herbs and mineral
formulations have kept the women of India looking younger than their
biological age in the world's harshest environment for at least five
millennia.
Vaidyas, traditional herbal doctors, claim ayurveda has a more
complete understanding of botanicals and their holistic interactions
with the structure and function of all aspects of the skin. For
example, Gotu Kola has been scientifically shown to stimulate
collagen synthesis by up to 30%.
Vaidya R.K. Mishra includes Gotu Kola in formulations that increase
collagen synthesis. However, major cosmetics firms consider it
virtually unusable because it causes contact dermatitis (rashes and
irritation).
In a recent interview, a research chemist from a prominent firm in
the industry asked Dr. Mishra the secret to safely including Gotu
Kola in anti-aging formulas. Dr. Mishra explained that the knowledge
of ayurvedic herbal combination and the psychophysiology of the skin
require more than the specific knowledge of balancing the unwanted
effects of just a single herb.
Unlike other modern cosmeceutical products an authentic ayurvedic
formula will contain multiple ingredients all of which must be
balanced one to another and to the condition of the skin. For
example, the purpose of Sensitive Plant is to re-awaken the full
functioning of the 1,300 nerves contained in one square inch of skin.
But this must not interfere with collagen synthesis, or overheat the
temperature receptors. Ordinary multiple ingredient cosmeceuticals
such as those using AHAs, retinols, and vitamins also create multiple
side effects.
In reality no science of combination exists for botanical
formulations in the West. The worldview that one cause targets one
effect is too simplistic for real world skin care. The skin is a very
complex and delicate living organ that metabolizes virtually anything
applied to it. Thus, a face cream should be alive in all its
ingredients. The botanical intelligence of each extract must be able
to awaken the intelligence with which it is associated. Even the base
must support skin structure and function through perfect metabolism.
Ideally, a perfectly balanced ayurvedic anti-aging formula should
work in the long term as a transformational agent to actually make
the skin younger. It should re-enliven full functioning as if each
skin cell remembered its youth. This, according to R.K. Mishra, is
the intelligence level of the skin, which forms the basis of the
ayurvedic theory of skin care.
Note -- This ayurvedic information is educational, and is not
intended to replace standard medical care or advice.
Copyright -- MAPI, Inc., 2002
For more in-depth information on the ayurvedic approach to beauty and
skin care and for a complete line of dermatologist-formulated
ayurvedic skin care, please visit http://www.mspa.com.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
