A Complete Guide to Natural Body Care | Natural Skin Care Remedies & Hair Care Tips

Have you ever wondered where that cream, body lotion, or moisturizer goes when you apply it to your skin? Do you know the sources of all the ingredients mentioned on the cosmetics lying in your dressing room or bathroom? Does anything capture your mind when we talk about the correlation between the cosmetics being marketed these days & our lovely Mother Nature? Pause! 

Just reflect for a minute…

All the perfumes, deodorants, lipsticks, body lotions, gels, foaming face wash, scrubs, face masks, hair masks, creams, serums, shampoos, conditioners, & moisturizers; you are using everything so expensive but are you satisfied with your skin? Most of you aren’t. Are you? 

Don’t just believe, but experiment! Anything you apply to your skin, your skin absorbs it all. Yes! Though shocking, it is true.Research on ‘Stomach Cancer & Parabens’ in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International reveals the detection of parabens in the human stomach. 

Where do they come from? All the chemical-laden cosmetics we apply to our skin get transferred inside our bodies. So, what we put in our mouth and what we put on our skin are ‘food’ for the body.

We often overlook the benefits of natural skincare and regret it later. To learn how to care for your body, skin & hair naturally, continue reading……

Know your Protectors

Our skin is the largest secondary eliminatory organ. When the main detox channels are blocked, the skin is used to eliminate waste accumulated inside the body through sweat. The skin mirrors the health condition of the body. When the body accumulates waste, it’s carried to these channels for elimination.

So, what about our scalp?  It is also part of the skin. The quality of hair also depends on the inside condition of the body. Blood nourishes the hair bulb and makes hair healthy. If the blood carries toxins, the hair & skin are not nourished.

Why Care For Your Skin & Hair?

• Protectors: Our skin and hair help protect us from very cold and hot weather and extreme sun. The hair on our heads protects us from the sun.
• Thermal regulation: These also help regulate the body temperature with the outside environment by sweating. 
• Sense of touch: Our skin and hair give us a sense of touch. Even though the hair does not have nerve endings, they function differently to receive the sensations. Having known this significance of hair, many Yogis grow their hair very long.
• Organ of elimination: Healthy skin and hair reflect a healthy body. Skin issues like acne, allergy, vitiligo, etc., and hair problems like hair fall, early graying, dryness, etc., are caused by the accumulation of toxins in the body that have not been eliminated through other channels.

The Root Cause of Hair and Skin Issues

Skin is an integral part of the body. The quality of food we eat, thoughts we think, and everything we apply to our bodies is often reflected in the health of our skin and hair. Artificial chemicals and preservatives loaded in cosmetics and processed & packaged food damage our hair and skin. Stress also lowers metabolism resulting in poor digestion, leading to further build-up of undigested food in our body. Undigested food and chemicals accumulate as waste in the body, ultimately resulting in several diseases.

“All attempts to deal with skin as an independent entity without due regard to its reliance upon the general system must of necessity result in failure” – Dr. Herbet Shelton.

When the body is loaded with toxins, it tries to push them out through various elimination channels, and hence we may get a cold, cough, fever, acne, allergy, or diarrhea. All these channels are blocked when we take medicines that suppress these symptoms but do not address the root cause, which is toxin build-up. The body, as a last attempt, turns to the skin. Skin and hair are then visibly affected due to the toxin overload in the body.

Choosing The Right Body Care

From the clothes we wear to most of the products we use in our daily lives come in contact with our skin. How do we know if something is suitable for our skin? The first and the foremost prerequisite for anything that we put on our skin is to check if its ingredients are edible, ethically sourced & safe for the environment. It’s a simple rule – if it’s something that cannot be taken by mouth, it should not be applied to the skin.

Our skin is our second mouth! If the body is clean, our skin and hair will be healthy. Like the roots of a tree, the skin and hair draw nutrition from our food. And the most essential ”food” for our skin is our connection with the five elements of Mother Nature – Space, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. So it’s crucial to adopt a lifestyle aligned with the principles of Mother Nature for a healthier mind and body. We must remember to connect with these five elements every day and follow a satvic lifestyle by:

• Fasting for 16 hours every day and once a week
• Applying a Cotton Wet Pack or Thandi Patti for three months regularly and then twice a week
• Doing enema for 21 days regularly and then as per need
• Eating satvic food, which is juicy and hydrating in nature to keep the gut healthy
• Sunbathing
• Exercising or doing Yoga & Pranayama regularly
• Meditating to keep the mind calm and stable
• Wearing cotton clothes for better air absorption into skin cells
• Bathing using simple water, avoiding chemical soaps
• Benefitting from the Grounding effect when we walk on the grass
• Touching the soil & plant leaves
• Hugging the trees; sitting under their shade
• Oil massaging
• Sound Sleep
• Gratitude

But following a satvic lifestyle and connecting with Mother Nature helps us keep our body clean inside out. And very soon, our blood begins to flow free of toxins, reaching every organ and nourishing it, and our body starts to function optimally. Remember, all these cosmic powers that the universe has blessed us with are nectareous, whereas all the cosmetic powers made potent using chemicals are vicious.

Also, skin being our second month, it’s necessary to not apply anything on the skin that cannot be taken by mouth. The majority of our daily-use hair & skincare items contain harsh chemicals that are very harmful to us and our environment! There are chemical-free alternatives available, but they usually contain ingredients sourced or tested on animals. We must use only those items that have been made using Ethically-sourced, Pure, Vegan, Cruelty-Free & Chemical-Free ingredients.

Making a Wise Purchase Decision

The majority of us are pretty oblivious to the fact that we are contributing to animal & environmental exploitation each day. But how? The answer lies in the ingredients of our favorite personal care items that we use daily. From our toothpaste & face wash to our shampoo & bathing soaps, all are laden with harsh chemicals harmful to us and our environment.

Did you know that the microbeads present in several beauty products, such as body scrubs, exfoliants & even toothpaste, are made of plastic? After being washed off our drains, they pile up in our water bodies as they are too small to be filtered & marine animals consume these tiny plastic particles. These microbeads do not biodegrade quickly and are neither good for our health nor the health of our environment & other organisms.

To overcome these issues, there are all-natural, chemical-free alternatives available today in the form of natural skin care products. But the main problem is that even when it comes to the usage of natural organic skin care products made up of natural ingredients, there is so much to take care of! Such items usually contain ingredients sourced from animals, which is a matter of concern. Nowadays, several animal-based ingredients are commonly used in beauty products, such as:

• Keratin (crushed bones, hooves & feathers)
• Squalene (shark liver oil)
• Lanolin (sheep oil glands)
• Honey
• Beeswax
• Gelatin (bones, tendons, ligaments of cows & pigs)
• Carmine (crushed insects)
• Placenta (sheep organs)

We need to think, do we need to use these animal ingredients in body care products when there is no evidence to prove their benefits, and we have several vegan alternatives readily available?

To add to the confusion, even a product that claims to be vegan does not necessarily mean it is cruelty-free. Any beauty product termed as ”vegan” means it does not contain any ingredients sourced from animals, while the term ”cruelty-free” implies that the product has not been tested on animals. 

Thus, it’s quite possible for an item to be vegan but involve animal testing. Similarly, a product can be cruelty-free but still contain animal-based ingredients. Moreover, it’s much easier to call a finished product cruelty-free because usually, the ingredients of most of the products are tested on animals and not the final product. 

Also, any item that is both vegan, as well as cruelty-free, does not necessarily mean it is healthy too! Something can be vegan & cruelty-free but still be full of harmful chemicals.

The issues don’t get over here! All the plastic bottles, tubes and containers in which they are sold get piled up in different water bodies and pollute our environment. A single plastic bottle takes nearly 500 years to biodegrade. Just imagine! How much time those millions of bottles will take to free our Mother Earth? Not only are they degrading our environment, but ending the lives of aquatic animals as well. All of these are taken in by innocent marine creatures, which worsens the situation.

Where to Look for the Solution?

The benefits of organic skincare products can be reaped only if they have been made using ethically-sourced, pure & natural ingredients, involving no environmental or animal exploitation. This is exactly what we provide! 

Satopradhan Natural Body Care range includes Natural Soaps, Face Packs, Lip Balm & Shampoo Bar that are 100% Natural, Vegan, and Cruelty-Free. They are Hand-Made with love using Completely Pure & Organic ingredients for your Skin, Hair & Oral Care and offered in Eco-friendly packaging for Nature Care; without exploiting the environment or animals. They are good for you, for the environment, as well as for the other beings. We want people to be fully aware of what they are using. 

When all of us start to carefully examine & question what we are buying, making sure our buying decisions are aligned with our moral values, we can bring about a significant change.

Simple! Make Your Own face wash, body wash & shampoo at Home

Sounds interesting, right? Now, you know that you need to choose only those ingredients which you can eat, which have not been derived from animals or tested on them and are completely safe for our environment. All such ingredients can be easily found on your kitchen shelf. Don’t believe? But it is true. Also, be informed that the remedies shared here will work only and only when you follow the first seven steps of the satvic lifestyle listed under Choosing the Right Body care you read above.

Natural Skin Care Remedies – Homemade organic skincare products

1. Moong Powder – Take 1 cup organic Moong Dal Sabut, also known as Green Gram Whole with Skin and grind it in your home grinder. Simply mix it with 1-2 spoons of water or organic, unrefined & cold pressed oil before use to make paste. Your face wash is ready. 

2. Besan – Simply mix it with 1-2 spoons of water or organic, unrefined & cold pressed oil before use to make paste. Your body wash is ready.  You can surely use it on your face as well. But it is the best for body.

3. Oats Rose Scrub – Take 1 cup oats & ½ cup dried rose petals and grind them together. Simply mix with water or oil and use as face or body scrub. This fragrant scrub will make your day.

(Source: Satvic Movement’s video on natural skin care remedies)

Natural Hair Care Home Remedies

1. Vegetable Sprouts – Vegetable Sprouts are one of the most nutritious whole foods on the planet, i.e., 10 to 30 times more nutritious than the best, full-grown vegetables. Including them in your daily diet provides all the nutrients essential for your hair. You can easily grow them at home. Please scroll down to watch our youtube video & read our blog on Sprouts – The Living Superfood to learn all about sprouting. You can use fenugreek seeds lying in your kitchen drawer to start, or you can order any vegetable seeds of your choice from our online store by clicking here.

2. Curry Leaf Paste – Take two fistfuls of fresh curry leaves & blend them with water to make a paste. Apply this paste to your scalp & keep for 45 mins. Rinse with water. Keep applying it for 45 days continuously.

Lack of Time for Home Remedies?

As discussed, it is ideal to use the above-stated natural skincare methods. But some of you might find them time-consuming & laborious. So, to assist you in making the right choice and prevent you from resorting to the chemical-laden harmful products, here is a list of the next best alternates that you can easily use daily without worrying about the ingredients.

Natural Handmade Soaps

1. Nourishing Shea Soap – Purely Natural, Organic, and Plant-based soap for deep cleansing of skin! Handmade with moisturizing ingredients such as Raw Shea Butter, Shea Extract, Coconut Oil & Glycerine

Benefits

• Nourishes & Exfoliates dry skin
• Keeps skin Healthy & Glowing
• Moisturizes Pores without clogging them.
• Helps in getting rid of Scars
• Improves Skin Tone
• Naturally protects against UV Radiation

2. Anti-Ageing Haldi Chandan Soap – Purely Natural, Organic, and Vegan soap for reducing wrinkles & blemishes! Handmade using anti-aging ingredients such as Organic Wild Turmeric (Haldi) Powder, Turmeric Oil, Organic Red Sandalwood (Chandan) Clay, Multani Soil

Benefits

• Sandalwood treats acne and reduces signs of aging.
• Turmeric improves skin tone and clears off blemishes.
• Provides relief from skin rashes and makes skin glow.
• Prevents allergic & fungal infections.

3. Clarifying Neem-Tulsi Soap – 100% Pure and Cruelty-free soap for clean & clear skin! Handmade with cleansing ingredients such as Neem Tulsi Extract, Neem Tulsi Powder, Coconut Oil, and Glycerine.

   Benefits

• Cleanses, tones & hydrates the skin
• Relieves inflammation
• Prevents dryness & acne
• Fights bacterial infections
• Makes the skin fresh & clean

Satopradhan face packs are made using 100% natural & vegan ingredients with no added chemicals or artificial fragrances. The two most commonly demanded natural face packs are available on our website.

1. Clarifying Face Pack Multani Orange – 100% Natural, Vegan, Chemical-Free & Cruelty-Free Face Pack Powder for evenly-toned and glowing skin! It makes a Soft and Creamy pack that can be applied evenly and washed off easily. 

Ingredients
Multani Soil, Orange Peel Powder, and Walnut Shell Powder

Benefits 

• Deep Cleanses Skin by removing Dead Cells
• Removes Sun Tan, Blackheads, and Whiteheads
• Absorbs excess Oil
• Helps in getting rid of Acne

2. Exfoliating Face Pack Charcoal – 100% Natural, Vegan, Chemical-Free & Cruelty-Free Face Pack Powder for radiant & healthier-looking skin! It makes a Soft and Creamy pack that can be applied evenly and washed off easily.

Ingredients
Organic Coconut Charcoal Powder, Lemon Peel Powder, and Dry Aloe Vera Powder

Benefits

• Deeply Cleanses and Exfoliates the skin by removing dead cells
• Moisturizes skin and makes it very Soft & Supple
• Helps in Lightening skin tone
• Unclogs pores & removes impurities from deep within the skin.

Lip Balm – Purely organic, natural & vegan handmade Lip Balm with a pleasant aroma & smooth texture in Eco-friendly packaging.

Ingredients

Raw shea butter, shea extract, unrefined cacao butter, almond oil, coconut oil, castor oil, vanilla oil & candelilla wax – all organic & vegan

Benefits

• Hydrates lips & makes them very Soft
• Repairs & Soothes chapped lips
• Lasts for a long time

Shampoo Bar – A cruelty-free, organic & vegan alternative to commonly used shampoos loaded with harmful chemicals & artificial ingredients! It’s sulfate-free, paraben-free, alcohol-free & phthalate-free. Click here to order

Ingredients
Amla, Reetha, Shikakai, Neem, Tulsi, Flax seeds & Coconut oil

Benefits 

Simply make these Smart Switches!

Use Carrier Oils for Topical Applications instead of Cooking

Also, we discussed ‘Oil Massaging’ as one of the right choices of natural body care. Massaging is an ancient technique that has been used to relax the muscles, rejuvenate the skin cells & heal the body by detoxification.  A 100% Natural, Purely Organic, Cold-Pressed & Unrefined Carrier Oil without any Additives can work wonders if applied on the body instead of taken inside the body.

Carrier oils are plant-based extractions derived from nuts, seeds, or fruits. Having nearly neutral scent, they are often used to dilute the essential oils before use. You can use them alone too because they have their own benefits. They moisturize skin & hair and soothe irritation. You can also use them for oil-pulling apart from massaging. At Satopradhan, we offer carrier oils that are Pure, Organic, Cold-Pressed, Unrefined & without any Additives. Hence, these are much more beneficial than hot-pressed & refined oils available in the market. You can use any carrier oil such as coconut oil, sesame oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil or flaxseed oil, or a combination of a carrier & essential oil.

Switch to Essential Oils from Perfumes & Deodorants

We know that most of you love perfumes & deodorants and use them on your body & clothes every day. But truly, all these chemical-laden body deodorants are very harmful & deteriorate your skin health. However, what if we tell you that you can smell awesome even without these artificial fragrances? 

Essential oils are the solution. These are unique aromatic liquids extracted from various beneficial plants by steam distillation and used widely for their soothing scent & various health benefits. They are not new and have been traditionally used by ancient civilizations due to their immense health benefits. They are popular across the world due to their anti-inflammatory properties, nourishing qualities & soothing scent. 

The majority of the essential oils available in the market contain chemical diluents or other fillers & additives, which can greatly reduce their effectiveness. Some of them may even include synthetically reproduced chemicals in an attempt to recreate the properties found in nature but such oils are not healthy for the body and are often unfit for therapeutic usage.

So, before making a purchase, make sure that they are 100% Pure & Potent, Completely Organic, and Free from any Artificial Ingredients such as Paraben, Stabilisers, Fillers, or Synthetic Fragrance. Satopradhan Essential Oils fulfill all these pre-requisites because they have been procured after long-term testing & research. Since they are extracted from their own natural habitat, they have an accurate composition of active natural compounds, making them suitable for therapeutic use. As pure essential oils are highly concentrated, it is always recommended to use them in diluted form. You can check the essential oils from our online store.

Embrace the Natural Wood, Cease the Plastic

The topic is so relevant but untouched till now. Even using a plastic toothbrush, nylon body scrubber, chemical-laden toothpaste packed in a plastic tube, or a plastic comb on your body & hair has a certain impact. Why not switch to their nature-friendly & healthy alternatives?

The Magical Touch of the neem & bamboo woods is believed to have healing effects on our skin & hair. To help you make a quick switch, Satopradhan offers a complete range of Bamboo & Neem wood resources that you can use daily to benefit from their therapeutic properties. Simply switch to 100% biodegradable Bamboo Toothbrushes from your daily plastic teeth-cleaners; start combing your hair with the Neem Wood Comb instead of the plastic one, and exfoliate the dead skin cells using Natural Loofah Sponge instead of the nylon scrubber.

But mind it! Just reading won’t help you much. Of Course, it will act as a catalyst but acting upon the things best suit you and your interests will make your reading worthy