Raise you hand if your mom gives you haldi doodh when you’re not feeling well. Raise your hand if you put coconut oil in your hair for thicker and longer hair. Raise your hand if you mist your face with rosewater for brighter skin. What do all of these things have in common? They’re all concoctions our parents and grandparents made based on Ayurveda. One of the world’s oldest approaches to holistic healing, Ayurveda focuses on be balancing the mind, body, and spirit using only our bodies and ingredients from the ground.
I genuinely did not know a thing about this until recently when so many different products started making me breakout or just didn’t work on my skin. I was like “Mom, I need my milk and besan right now for a face mask.” Nowadays, Ayurveda is just another iteration for the commercialized term “clean beauty” and every single beauty brand is trying to hop on the clean beauty trail.
But let’s pay homage to our roots, to the incredible South Asians that paved the way in the beauty industry in more ways than ever in 2021. We’re talking nude lipsticks that are actually nude on my brown lips, eye masks and serums that actually brighten my dark ass circles, and hair products that actually made my hair thicker and longer. And for that, I’d like to give a huge shoutout to a few South Asian brands that I absolutely adore:
1. Soma Ayurvedic Vitamin C Serum
I’ve been a huge fan of Soma Ayurvedic’s citrus and rose vitamin C serum for about a year now. Their serum boosts natural collagen product, fills in fine lines and wrinkles, and tightens skin incredibly. Of course, it’s all natural, clean, and plant-based formulas which leaves my skin absolutely glowing. I pair this with their under eye gel which I received a while ago from them and apply it daily to my skin during my nighttime skincare routine.
2. Live Tinted Rays Copper Eye Mask
We all know about Live Tinted’s life-changing hue sticks, but you are sleeping on their newest product – the Rays Copper Eye Masks. I put these bad boys on before I have a big event and the reduce under eye puffiness and appearance of fine lines, while cooling hydrogel brightens and nourishes your under-eye. Think about it was your pre-skincare skincare. Unlike all the Americanized brightening products out there, this one actually works on brown skin, I’m such a fan.
3. Tula Hydrating Day & Night Cream
One of my all-time favorite do-it-all day and night moisturizers is Tula’s Hydrating Cream. This lightweight, non-greasy yet completely hydrating cream is perfect for my face before I put on makeup and before I go to bed. It’s the perfect amount of richness and not at all heavy, and of course, all clean beauty. Highly recommend the travel size because I always carry one with me when I travel.
4. CTZN Cosmetics Nudiversial Lip Duo
Because one nude lip shade does not fit all. I interviewed Pakistani sisters, Aleena, Aleezeh, and Naseeha on The Woke Desi podcast and their mission to build an inclusive makeup brand like CTZN Cosmetics to serve an inclusive shade range blew my mind.
They sent me over their Nudiversal Lip Duo in Chaar and London and it’s the first nude shade that’s ever perfectly matched with my skin tone. The best part? You can make a quiz on their website and get matched to your exact skin tone. The lip liner, lipstick, and gloss trio is my go-to combo for everyday wear. Not to mention, they’ve been featured in Allure, Bazaar, Refinery29, and more alongside multiple celebrity red carpet appearances.
5. Fable & Mane Oil & Hair Mask
South Asian hair secrets are rooted in oils (haha, see what I did there). Indian power duo comes together to give you the ultimate hair duo – HoliRoots Pre-Wash Hair Treatment Oil and Holiroots Repairing Hair Mask. I used both products for three months and the results were incredible. I was able to see less breakage, thicker hair, and overall healthier hair after I religiously did the double treatment every week.
6. Aavrani Glow Exfoliator
I swear to you, this is stuff our grandmothers gave to us. With completely organic ingredients like turmeric, neem, honey, and more, the Aavrani Glow Exfoliator helps clear blemishes, brightens, resurfaces, and cleans skin. With it’s clay-like texture, I love to make a face mask out of it and let it really soak into my skin because gently wiping it off with a warm washcloth. LOVE this mask.
7. Ranavat Brightening Saffron Serum
Saffron in Ayurveda is known to be the ‘miracle elixir’ and the Ranavat Brightening Serum contains the best blend of saffron, turmeric, and manjistha to give you an all-in-one supercharged serum for day and night. The scent is incredible and it’ll have your skin glowing in no time, say goodbye to all your dry spots!
