From my early years spent in Cheshire, England, I have always felt that Nature is not only a great healer but it also has a tremendous emotional impact on one’s self. And over the years the idea has reiterated itself in various ways.

A NATURAL SHIFT

I started my journey of moving back to Nature in the early ’90s, researching herbs, flowers, fruits, roots and clays from different regions and their impact on the skin and hair. This was the time when ‘herbal products’ were beginning to boom and as the years passed, fashionable beauty jargon like ‘natural’, ‘organic’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘ethnic’ made their way to the forefront. So how does one explain this shift in demand for products? Is it our growing consciousness about what we use or is it our decaying lifestyles where we are being led to think that a natural alternative is the only answer in the coming times?

2017 begins, as every year does, with resolutions, self-made promises and determination, but somewhere along the way this often fizzles out.

ORGANIC VS NATURAL

I do not entirely believe in the word ‘organic’ and my logic, like everything else about me, is quite simple. It takes three years of cultivation for a plot of land to become organic and be devoid of chemical fertilisers. Thereafter when we grow plants and flowers and fruits in this soil, they are supposed to be organic. But there are two things that we tend to forget: the water they drink and the air they breathe... are they organic? Or are they filled with chemicals and, if so, how are these products organic? 

Natural products are more acceptable and 2017 will see a huge movement back to ‘natural’ in the areas of food and medicines. While homoeopathic and Ayurvedic medicines will serve as alternatives to allopathic medicines, food will see a shift back to being healthy, fresh and natural, and so will the beauty industry.

CITY STRAIN

The main problems faced by most of us in urban cities are air and water pollution, lack of sleep and tiredness, stress, unbalanced diet, air conditioning, and aches and pains. These could lead to some physical symptoms like allergies, respiratory problems and various other diseases, skin irritations and premature ageing. 

BREATHE HEALTHY AND HAPPY

If you feel that any of these is a part of you, it’s time for you to seriously think before it’s too late. You can change it by making a conscious effort to take out time for yourselves. The natural beauty industry offers solutions like purity, immunity boost, wellness, relaxation and rejuvenation as well as protection and fitness with a holistic approach, inside out.

We, in India, already have all the solutions that our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers have handed down to us. But in our race to ape the West, we have forgotten our own traditional therapies, medicines and solutions to so many problems. Be it a hand-pounded ubtan to exfoliate or cleanse the body or using a simple loofah as opposed to a synthetic bathing sponge, which does not provide a natural acupressure or exfoliating effect as the loofah does.

Think carefully and consciously whether you want to breathe healthy and happy or look for those five-minute, instant chemical solutions, which are so popular among us that we do not realise the damage they cause in the long run!

A FRESH START

Promise yourself to move back to Nature with me… consume natural drinks, and eat fresh and healthy, as opposed to pre-packed and synthetic, foods. Apply and use fresh and natural skin and hair products —natural dyes as opposed to chemical colours; fruit extracts in face masks in place of chemical-containing masks; and scrubs and natural moisturising oils with essential oils for nourishing the skin instead of chemical creams... the list is endless... you just need to start thinking in this direction.

Wake up to a new start. A disciplined and natural beginning to a healthy lifestyle — leading to healthy skin and hair using simple and fresh ingredients —  goes a long way. To discipline yourself, you do not have to be harsh on yourself... be kind to yourself and your skin. Realise that every time you apply something to your skin it penetrates into your epidermis and into your bloodstream, transforming kindness to chaos... the choice is yours.

Welcome to well-being 2017… the natural way!

Suparna Trikha is a nature care expert and a columnist. 
Find her on Facebook @Suparna Trikha. 
If you have questions for her, write to t2onsunday@abp.in