Left: Sheetal Rawal, scientist (human genetics) & founder of Apsara Skin Care
By: Aarthi S.
At Apsara Skin Care, uncovering and unlocking the potential of natural extracts and commonplace kitchen ingredients to take care of your personal and skin care needs is a constant obsession. Our unassailable belief that nature offers the safest and best solutions for beauty and health care comes from Ayurveda. It is the oldest continuous natural health care system that forms the bedrock upon which Apsara Skin Care is built. It has handed down an exhaustive list of ancient herbs and natural ingredients that make up our gentle but effective products your skin loves. Read on to understand the history and basic principles of Ayurveda and find out why we live and advocate an Ayurvedic way of life for holistic health, a nourishing planet, joyful living, and, of course, a beautiful you. Something that seems as simple as skin care can actually transform your life in ways you never imagined were possible!
For Mercedes, who has “tried everything except Accutane to control [her] acne,” she saw her life transformed when she tried Apsara Skin Care: “This is the first product line that has ever worked for me.”
5000 years Before Common Era, around the time of human prehistory and millennia before the Indus Valley Civilization, is when Ayurveda is said to have emerged in India. Imagine a pastoral way of life, the beginnings of farming and pottery, and living in complete sync with the rhythms of nature and the laws of the universe. People inhabiting this idyllic and egalitarian prehistoric India are believed to have viewed themselves as mere extensions of the universe, made up of the same energies and materials and governed by the same forces and principles.
This belief, drawn from direct experience and deep interaction with the universe and developed further in the epochs that followed, forms the core of the Atharvaveda (1200 - 1000 BCE). It is considered to be the earliest authentic text encasing the most profound wisdom on the human body, health, disease, the nature of existence, and the ecosystem. This voluminous compendium of hymns and mantras, portions of which have survived into modern times, prescribes natural remedies for a suite of physical and mental ailments, chants and charms for the eradication of diseases, and procedures for everyday life and even surgery!
The truths embodied in Atharvaveda are supposed to have been gleaned from the practical wisdom and 
practiced rigorous yogic discipline. Drawn from the highest intellectual realm and spiritual hierarchy, these sages sought to uncover the secrets of life, health, and healing to alleviate sickness and suffering. Driven by their unassailable belief in the “ oneness of the world” and the “interconnectedness of all things” from the atom to infinity (what quantum physics is catching up with now!), they strove to help humanity survive and evolve. They trained their disciples to use this knowledge to serve the world with selfless compassion as every being was considered a manifestation of the Divine. They engaged in group meditations to amplify their ambit of consciousness and supercharge their highly refined nervous systems to gain revelations into reality. Indeed, it is the same Vedic clairvoyance and omniscience that yielded us knowledge of constellations, lunar mansions, and astronomical calculations that have now been ratified by modern science.
This “knowledge of life”, believed to have been handed down from Brahma – to the sages – to their disciples – to physicians, provided the basis for the materialization of the first Ayurvedic medical treatises, Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita (400 BCE to 100 BCE). Perfected by now, as a time-tested, logical, and methodical “science of life” (Ayus=life; Veda=science) based on observation and reasoning, Ayurveda emerged as a personalized and holistic health care system that did not merely fight disease but offered a way of life for optimal health and joyful vigorous living.
The central tenet of Ayurveda propounds that man’s body, mind, senses, and spirit (consciousness) are regulated and governed by Mother Nature’s universal laws. For instance, gravity, electromagnetism, and the motion of the planets around the sun are emblematic of and influence the motions within our bodies such as digestion, elimination, hormone production, sleep cycles, brain function, and emotions. How does this happen? Well, the five elements that form the universe (macrocosm) namely air, water, fire, earth, and ether make up our bodies (microcosm) too. While the degree to which each of these elements is present in our bodies differs from person to person, the fact that their harmony within our constitution bestows good physical and mental health and a higher state of consciousness is true for all people.
This is why Ayurveda emphasizes a holistic approach to health care that works towards achieving an internal balance within us by establishing an external balance with the 
universe. In other words, by aligning the rhythms of our “mind-body system” with the movement, energy, and intelligence that flows through the world, we can attain optimum health. How does one achieve this balance? Living in consonance with nature is not just about rising and retiring with the sun, turning your back on GMOs and synthetically produced goods, or about filling one’s platter with foods that reflect the colors of the rainbow. These initial steps, no doubt, are mandatory for turning your life around. However, what is equally, if not more, important is cultivating a mind that mirrors the beauty, purity, discipline, and equilibrium present in nature. >
The mind-body connection that is touted as a discovery in modern medicine forms the foundational premise of Ayurveda. For example, when the mind experiences love, peace, kindness, empathy, or happiness, it triggers a flux of neurotransmitters and hormones in the central nervous system that enhances well-being. Thus, in Ayurveda, the mind takes precedence over matter (body) not only because of its conscious and creative energies but also because of its incredible power to heal and transform the body. Little wonder then that Ayurveda’s most powerful therapeutic tool continues to be ‘meditation’ to balance our mind and body.
Ayurveda also advocates making every effort to nourish this inextricably integrated mind-body system with the right kind of experiences fed through the five senses of touch, 
aroma, sound, sight, and taste. The impressions and emotions that these experiences create in the mind trigger and foster a slew of benefits in the body. Just as playing with slime and playdough promotes joy in kids, listening to music or a podcast, enjoying a massage with essential oils, unwinding in an aromatic bath, or indulging in a herbal facial can induce and promote positivity, longevity, vitality, and well-being. Discover Ayurveda with these products imbued with nature’s goodness to make you feel as ethereal as an Apsara (a mesmerizingly beautiful, youthful, and elegant nymph or dancer according to Hindu mythology)!
Employing every time-tested natural method and resource in its arsenal, Ayurveda prescribes an invincible combination of diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, minerals, herbs, spices, and even exposure to the sun and water to replenish the mind-body system. It predominantly makes use of a staggering number of herbs named after the saints that discovered their powerful healing secrets. For example, apamarga (chaff-flower) was named Kanva’s plant after sage Kanva discovered it. The roots of this reliance on the medicinal properties of plants, of course, lie in the Atharvaveda. In fact, it is said that in Ayurveda “herbs work together as a team” to purify and cure imbalances in the body. (You can dig and delve into the plants and plant products used in Apsara Skin Care products to learn how their little secrets work to uplift and rejuvenate you.)
Monica discovered the secret of Apsara Skin Care and, in her words, "my results have been absolutely amazing... My skin is really smooth and the scarring has kept fading and fading.”
If you’ve read this far, I’m pretty sure you’ve understood by now that the key to achieving balance lies not just in living in tune with nature, but also in the emotions and experiences that nourish your mind. Since thoughts make all the difference, go ahead and fill your lives with people that inspire you and experiences that ennoble you. What lends further support and strength to this mind-body complex is “good karma” which is essentially based on the principle of cause and effect. Bad actions create guilt and turbulence in the mind which in turn creates imbalances in physical, mental, and spiritual health that lay the foundation for disease. Good actions, on the other hand, instill happiness and bliss that foster good health and overall well-being.
At Apsara Skin Care, we believe in living a righteous and purposeful life that creates the positive energy needed to transform our lives and the world. With a mission to redeem the world from using products that do more harm to you than good, we conceptualize and craft products that are infused with our good intentions to better your life and the pristine goodness that only nature can give. We are also zealously committed to treating nature and all forms of life with respect. We are vegan, cruelty-free, free of harsh chemicals, and environmentally friendly. Living by the principles of Ayurveda is essentially living life the scientific way with a complete understanding of the self and its place and function in the world.
Come join the “think good, do good, feel good” brigade to experience goodness and oneness.
View the world as an extension of yourself and you will be able to go natural. It’s good karma :)
1 comment
I love using shampoo and conditioner.