Rashbehari Das; Location: Aikya Spa

Summer’s upon us and while your air-conditioning takes care of the heat and humidity that’s synonymous with the season, what are you doing to soothe your skin? Like every other season, summer has its share of torture tactics — tanning, sunburns, dehydration, oiliness. But there are ways to cool your complexion with natural ingredients used fresh or in products that can effectively deal with summertime troubles.

Says Afzal Ishaque, training manager, The Park, who also supervises the hotel’s Aura Spa: “Ingredients like mint, cucumber and sandalwood are perfect for summer skincare. Not only are they cooling, they have nourishing, hydrating or de-tanning properties.”

And you don’t even have to look very far for the magic potions. Just take a peek into your refrigerator. The juicy, chilled watermelon is one of the most refreshing summer fruits — and it’s peel is just as soothing. Once you’re done eating the red pulp, use the peels to massage the skin — especially after spending time outdoors. “This reduces redness and imparts natural vitamins to the skin,” says beauty expert and Graphiti columnist Suparna Trikha Dewan.

She has another summer cooler up her sleeve: “Mix grated cucumber with aloe vera gel — that you can get by slicing open aloe vera leaves — and apply on sun-damaged skin an instant cooling effect,” she says.

Dewan also suggests a pack of sandalwood powder mixed with cold milk and a teaspoon of mint paste. This lightens the skin and soothes the damaging effects of sun. You can even take slices of bitter gourd, dip them in rose water and rub them on the soles of your feet to reduce burning sensations.

But if you’d rather have someone else take over the job of tending to your sun-scorched skin, then the city’s top spas offer a host of cooling treatments.

Aikya Spa in Salt Lake offers Aqua-Marine Reviver, a 70-minute full-body treatment which uses rejuvenating sea salts and refreshers like peppermint and basil. Priced at Rs 3,000, the ministrations begin with a sea salt body polish followed by a peppermint and basil oil massage and ends with a cleansing body masque for deep cleansing and toning.

“Or try other a full-body treatment like Plush Papaya and Coco Boreh (Rs 2,500), where ingredients like papaya, rose water, coconut, yoghurt and honey refresh your body,” says Rishi Anand of Aikya. With Pure Body Retreat (Rs 3,000), experience the aromatic power of jasmine body polish fused with a rejuvenating banana, carrot seed and cucumber body masque for deep cleansing, toning and relaxation.

You could also head to Juice, the spa and salon on Ho Chi Minh Sarani, for a fruity treat. A summer favourite here’s the facial with cucumber, lemon juice and Fuller’s earth. “Cucumber is good for treating pimples and blackheads and works as a natural astringent and brightening agent. Lemon juice works as a natural bleach and helps remove tan and even freckles resulting from exposure to the sun,” says Reshma S. Daing of Juice. Fuller’s earth takes care of oily skin, acne and firms the facial skin. Fresh fruit facials at Juice start upwards of Rs 750.

At Aura, you can pamper yourself with body scrubs and wraps with natural cooling ingredients like semolina, honey, coconut and the good old cucumber again. The Coconut Cocoon with turmeric body scrub, for instance, helps get rid of dead skin. “Coconut works as a skin softener while turmeric evens out the skin tone and colour. Besides, both coconut and turmeric have exfoliating properties,” says Ishaque. The treatment lasts for 35 minutes and costs Rs 1,800 (taxes included). You could also follow this with the 45-minute long Soothing Cucumber wrap. For this, the body is covered with a pack prepared with freshly grated cucumber and aloe vera gel and a thin film of plastic is wrapped around the body. Cucumber has a cooling effect and aloe vera cleanses the skin. The combination aims to stimulate creation of collagen and elastin, which has anti-ageing effects. The treatment costs Rs 2,300 (taxes included).

Game for something unusual? How does cactus sound? Solace Day Spa gives you Bliss — a facial sun-damage control treatment that uses a stone crop (a kind of cactus) face mask from Hungarian organic skincare brand, Eminence. “The stone crop has great heat absorbing properties,” says Carolann Hooper, manager, Solace. The mask also contains lemon extract that’s an antioxidant and rich in vitamin C that’s good for the skin. Then there’s honey that nourishes and moisturises the skin and keeps it supple. The facial lasts for 1 hour 20 minutes and costs Rs 2,600 (taxes inclusive).

Solace also offers an Eminence cucumber and mint body scrub and wrap and you can go for either just the scrub or the wrap. While cucumber revitalises and cools down the body, mint stimulates the epidermis or uppermost layer of the skin. The 75-minute scrub and wrap combination costs Rs 3,600 (taxes included) while just the wrap (or the scrub) taken separately costs half.

So, whether you fancy cool veggies or refreshing fruits, there are options are aplenty. Don’t let the heat get to you — treat your skin to some natural air-conditioning and stun the sun this summer.

Summer Floral Mist

• A 4-oz glass bottle
• 4-oz distilled water
• 30-40 drops essential oils of lavender, rose geranium and chamomile
• Fill the bottle half-way with water. Add the essential oils, cover and shake well. Top off the bottle with water, cover and agitate a second time. Allow the mixture to mature for a month and then strain liquid through a coffee filter. Store in a dark coloured bottle. Use for cleansing and toning skin. (By Neal Dodhiya, Aikya Spa)