Beauty and personal care brand Organic Harvest recently unveiled a TVC which featured Nimrat Kaur as the face of the campaign. The occasion also coincided with the launch of new products. t2 caught up with the Dasvi actress on her association with the brand, her skincare regimen and her mantra in life.

What made you say ‘yes’ to the association with the brand?

Quite honestly, everything about the brand, from the name itself, resonates with me a hundred per cent. I feel they are in a space which integrates my personality and prerogatives, whether I am a consumer or someone who looks at products and wonders what’s legitimate and what’s not. It met all the standards I look for in a product when I want to buy something or use something professionally. My work also relies on the products I use and requires me to look after my skin, not just as a regular person would. It is my livelihood. So, I am careful about what I use.

Do you already have favourites?

Personally, I loved the Brightening Cream, the one with kakadu plums in it. It’s extremely hydrating.

Do you get the time to pamper yourself with homemade skincare rituals, given how busy you are?

I have got some easy hacks which allow me to sustain them anywhere and everywhere, whether it is a vanity van or whether I am in India or abroad or on a flight. I keep some rose water handy in a spray. I find it nice to hydrate my skin wherever I am because I have a normal to dry skin type. I also keep vitamin E capsules handy. I extract the contents and dab them all over my face and neck. I keep with me pure almond and coconut oils. I use them before and after a bath.

Did you discover anything during the lockdown that stayed with you?

The best part was during the lockdown, I did not put on any make-up for months. I let my skin breathe and hydrate it and nourish it. We were not going out anywhere and were not exposed to dust or pollution. I would try to get as much sun as possible in the morning. That was my way of using my time to the fullest.

You are so lovely and charming. Were you always blessed with good skin or, like so many, have had issues too?

I used to have pigmentation issues growing up. There were certain parts of my face that had discolouration and a different skin tone from the rest of it. It was patchy and I used to be a bit worried. I never had acne or pimples because I had a dry skin type, but I did suffer from a slightly uncomfortable skin problem, an autoimmune problem that came up in my early to mid-20s. That’s actually a European skin problem. Maybe, I got a strain from somewhere. I really looked after my health in every way possible, internally. I realised skin and hair have all to do with how you are feeling and sleeping. You can never underestimate the importance of the internal workings of our body because your skin is your largest organ. So, in order for your largest organ to have the best health, you have to have everything internally functioning really well.

By and large, we look as young or old as our bodies, functioning internally. We can hide behind make-up, lighting and filters, but when it’s just us in front of a mirror, we know exactly where we stand. I think it is important to not lie to yourself when you are there, in bare skin, just looking at yourself. I think that reality check should be done by everyone. I think it is important to keep your beauty philosophies aligned with your health philosophy.

You belong to an industry where there is so much emphasis on looks, but you haven’t fallen prey, and given the impossible beauty standards women have to face, what has been your mantra?

I don’t try to look like anything that I perceive beauty to be like. I feel all of us are constantly changing and it is important to embrace change. It is important for our mental and emotional health to recognise that what we looked like when we were 15 is not going to be when we are 55....

When will we understand this?

When we’ll realise that how we look is not all that there is to life. We can do what we can but there is genetics at play, weather, nationality... all these things play a big part in how you look. As women, it is our first responsibility that we enrich ourselves enough to recognise that there is a lot more to life.

When you are truly at peace with yourself and when you are doing your best to look after yourself, then the best you will emerge.

What kind of women did you see around you when you were growing up, which has gone into the making of this supremely confident woman we see today?

I think I have been surrounded by simple, uncomplicated and extremely loving women. I have had all kinds of women around me. My grandmother is feisty and fiercely independent, considering she is 93. She didn’t go to school and got married at 14, but she is truly one of the most progressive people I know who believes in living life on her terms, a succour for discipline. All of my ideas of discipline and well-being come from her. She is my hero. Her zest for life and she has been this incredible influence on me.

Then my mother who has the softness and the vulnerability and just the kindness. I am lucky to have been surrounded by a beautiful balance of women. My sister is so feisty and fun-loving. What I am really drawn to in women around me is simplicity and being able to extract joy out of life and keep things uncomplicated.

Who were icons of substance before you came into films?

They remain the same. It was my father, until he was alive and he continues to be the ultimate hero in my life, my grandmother, my mother. These are people I have seen go through real-life problems and carry on with life with the kind of grace they had.

Who are the women who have mesmerised you with how they have lived their lives?

I have had different kinds of people influence me and not by association but living and being the people they have been. I find Gayatri Devi’s life and journey extremely interesting. She was somebody who carved her own niche.... Then Amrita Pritam. Her life really inspired me. Her personal journey, the kind of non-conformist, the original perspective she had.... In the entertainment industry, I find Waheedaji (Rehman) absolutely stunning. I have had the honour to interact with her as well. Internationally, Meryl Streep heavily influences me.

What kind of changes have you brought about in your personal life in the last two years towards a more sustainable living?

I have made certain decisions about what kind of people I want to retain in my life and what kind of people I am happy to let go of. I had to make some hard calls. Just by virtue of habit or not being able to edit certain people out of our life, we don’t realise the kind of dead energy we keep carrying. I have done that. I have made room for some wonderful new energies in my life and have let go of all kinds of energies that used to deplete me and were not serving a higher purpose.

On a personal note, I have given up sugar, a big challenge. I recognised it was a borderline addiction and it happened as part of a professional requirement. For Dasvi, I put on 15kg. I am cleansing my life and bringing in anything and everything that brings in beauty and peace, whether it is fitness or staying committed to my workouts or enjoying my life with the people I love and doing things I love.

Work will keep on happening and more work will come your way, but have you figured out what is the real purpose of your life?

That’s a profound and wonderful question. I am actually searching for exactly what it is that makes me want to wake up every day and currently, it is to stay committed to the promises I make to myself every day. Whether it is 'I have to look after myself in such and such way' or 'let the positive voice in me be louder than the negative voice'.... If you are talking about a life purpose, I am still looking for it, I haven’t found it, but that is a question that comes up a lot... what is that one thing I want to align myself to and look back at and be satisfied with it.