For years, since our 20s, we’ve been bombarded with skincare products to keep our face looking youthful and wrinkle-free. We’ve seen thousands of products that promise to make those fine lines disappear and keep our face glowing and young. 

But what about the skin on the rest of our body?

Skincare companies have failed to recognise that our face isn’t the only part of our skin we want to keep looking young.

While there are plenty of body lotions available in the market, they’re not as targeted as face care products and often have only one simple goal: Moisturisation.

Moisturisation is important, but is it enough?

Sure, moisturisation helps to protect our skin from dehydration, cracking and peeling. But dryness is not the only change our body goes through over the years.

Have you noticed your skin getting... saggy, droopy or crepey?

No simple ‘moisturising lotion’ will tackle these very real problems skincare companies fail to talk about.

We all know that our skin ages with us: it loses collagen and elasticity and after 40 or 50 or 60 years, we can’t expect our skin to look as firm, tight and taut as it did in our 20s.

Or can we?

The 5000 year old Ancient Science of Life, Ayurveda has a large focus on self-care and rejuvenation.

Many routines and practices in Ayurveda are made specifically to keep our skin looking and feeling young – and what makes Ayurveda so special is that it actually focuses more on the body than it does on the face.

You probably do know that the earliest mentions of Ayurveda in ancient books and texts date back to over 5000 years ago. That means that the Ayurvedic self-care routines and skincare formulations we know today, have been around for literally thousands of years. If the test of time doesn’t prove how effective they are... well, what does?!

SO ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA, HERE ARE 5 PROVEN WAYS TO FIRM THE LOOK OF SAGGY, AGING SKIN ON THE ARMS AND THE LEGS:

1. Understand What Causes Aging Skin To Get Droopy, Saggy or Crepey

First, we have to understand that saggy skin can be the result of 2 different causes – Rapid Weight Loss and Aging.

If you have ever experienced extreme, rapid weight loss, or know anyone who lost a lot of weight in a short time (whether intentional or due to an illness), you might have noticed that the skin around their upper arms, stomach, hips and thighs is saggy.

That’s because the body lost volume faster than the skin could ‘shrink’ to stay tight around the body. Many resort to plastic surgery, and sometimes consistent exercise and a healthy, nutritious diet is enough to help the skin get back into shape over time.

Such cases are unrelated to age and can occur even in adolescents. But, because elastin production is still optimally active in younger people, the skin can bounce back to its original state (though it may take several months – just like after pregnancy).

But if you’ve blown out your fair share of birthday candles over the years and suddenly noticed the skin on your upper arms to ‘jiggle’ more than usual... your body’s elastin production has likely taken a backseat. Elastin is responsible for the elasticity of skin, and collagen for its firmness and suppleness. As we age, both usually slow down hand-in-hand.

Ayurveda has a kinder explanation for it. In our life, we go through three stages of life: Kapha, Pitta, and Vata – which are also the three doshas or bio-elements in Ayurveda.

Kapha consists of the elements of earth and water and is associated with oiliness, juiciness, heaviness. Kapha is the first stage of life – just think of a baby’s juicy and plump skin and the expression “baby soft skin”.

Pitta consists of the elements of fire and water and is associated with heat, sharpness, and determination. Pitta is the second or middle stage of life – just think of a teenager’s acne and hot temper, or a young adult’s drive and ambition.

Vata consists of the elements of air and space and is associated with dryness, lightness, alertness and creativity. In the Vata stage of life, we experience dry, rough and sagging skin, we may feel cold more often, but also reach maturity, wisdom, grace and mastery. During this time, it’s important to focus on practices that are warming, stabilizing, grounding and nourishing.

Now that you know that aging, sagging, or drooping skin is a result of the dry Vata stage of life, let’s find which Ayurvedic practices can help rejuvenate saggy Vata skin!

 

2. Go BEYOND Simply Rubbing Lotions On Your Skin 

Lotions and body milks... we’ve been using them for years. Phrases like “Ultra rich”, “cocoa”, “shea smooth”, “aloe hydration”, “express hydration”... have made it to every skincare’s dictionary. But once you look at the list of ingredients, they all look almost the same! And while some may advertise that they contain natural ingredients like Almond Oil or Aloe Vera, that’s usually only a small percentage in a long list of chemicals. 

Have a look at the ingredient list of one of the entire world’s best-selling body lotions: 

We definitely see some ingredients in that list we don’t want on our skin, entering our bodies on a daily basis. 

In fact – have a look at the ingredient list of your current face care product. “Which one? My serum, day cream, night cream, treatment cream?” you may ask. 

Exactly.

There are SO many different face care products in the market today, each tackling a different skin concern. And yet for body care, it’s just one or another different kind of moisturisation.

Ayurveda specialises in self-care and body care! It explains the practice of ‘Dinacharya’ or daily self-care rituals for your skin, body, soul and mind as an expression of self-love. This helps build a foundation to achieve good health and longevity.

One of the pillars of Ayurvedic medicine and self-care is daily self massage or ‘Abhyanga’. Simply taking out a few minutes every day to massage your own body, to stay grounded and connected.

The benefits of abhyanga or self-massage are manifold:

• Lubricates the joints, gives better flexibility 
• Increases blood circulation, assisting cell regeneration 
• Helps you sleep better and deeper at night 
• Reduces stress and increases longevity
• Helps eliminate toxins or impurities from the body 
• Helps tone the muscles and strengthen the tissues 
• Softens and smoothens skin and helps smoothen wrinkles and fine lines 

While a good self-massage should take about 15-20 minutes, taking out even 5 minutes per day for yourself is enough to see effects. 

5 minutes a day to love yourself, to love your body and to feel better and look better - a 5-minute investment that is worth your skin’s while. Only 5 minutes of self-massage to give your bodily skin the same kind of love that you might give your face. 

Ayurveda recommends doing this self-care routine with not a lotion, but an oil.

3. Use Oils Specific to Your Body-Skin Type

We have been moisturising our skin – both face and body, for decades, but do we really know what is it that our skin needs and calls out for the most? What is it that actually moisturises our skin deeply and what doesn’t? And with a myriad of options available to moisturise skin, how would you ever know what is it that would suit your skin the most?!

And on that note, one question that has perplexed almost everyone we know is - do oils moisturise and hydrate the skin much more effectively than body lotions?

The answer is YES!

Reason? 

Let's list them out! 

• Oils help re-introduce lost moisture in the skin – be that right after stepping out of the shower or exposure to air conditioning or cold, dry winds. They are great at mimicking the skin’s lipid barrier and supporting it.

“But there are body lotions that are oil based, do they not support the skin’s lipid barrier?”, you might wonder. 

These body lotions contain only a small portion of oil in them, which is nowhere near to what our skin requires.

• Oils are lipophilic in nature which means that they are attracted to fats! This property allows the oil to pass through our skin and fat layers much more easily than creams. Molecules of oils are smaller than those of creams, which also aid in deeper penetration into the skin. 

Some more reasons why oils are a better friend than body lotions:

• Oils are not a foreign substance for our skin. The formation of oils is a natural and innate process within the layers of our skin, which means that the application of an oil externally is a welcome addition to our skin’s natural oils. 
• Did you know? Wax-based lotions work by forming a protective layer on the skin, that later end up clogging the pores! Something you should be considering, if you are thinking about buying a lotion instead.
• Pure and natural oils are innately rich with an array of benefits that help in giving your skin a toned and even complexion along with an enhanced texture. Not only that, but oils also offer therapeutic properties that help relax the mind, the body and the soul. 

 

Remember the three doshas or bio-elements we talked about earlier: Kapha, Pitta and Vata? Each of these roughly translate to the skin types we know today as: oily, sensitive/irritable, and dry, respectively. Ayurveda identifies that all natural ingredients (oils, foods, herbs, spices) have specific properties, and which ones are ideal for which dosha. Oils are no different:

Dry Vata skin benefits best from Sesame Oil because of sesame seed’s nourishing and warming properties, and castor oil because of its thick, intensely moisturising properties.

Hot, irritable Pitta skin needs a cooling and calming oil like Coconut Oil.

Oily Kapha skin can benefit from Almond Oil or Sesame Oil, but those oils should also contain Kapha-balancing herbs like rosemary or orange.

 

4. Use Polyherbal Formulations with Targeted Ingredients

While oils alone are a great start, a better way to get even more targeted benefits for your body and make it more specific to your unique Dosha is by cooking it with herbs and spices. 

Some of the best Ayurvedic ingredients specifically for dry, aging, sagging skin are: 

BLACK DAL OR MASHA (VIGNA MUNGO) 

You must have enjoyed the benefits of Dal Makhni as food to nourish the body. It is an extremely nutritious and enriching dal. But there’s more to Black Dal than titillating our taste buds!

Also known as an ‘uber nourisher’ in ancient Ayurvedic texts, Black Dal is an extremely potent moisturising and unctuous ingredient for an Ayurvedic oil that not only moisturises but also nourishes all 7 tissues of the body.

With high levels of Protein (25 g/100 g), Potassium (983 mg/100 g), Calcium (138 mg/100 g), Iron (7.57 mg/100 g), Niacin (1.447 mg/100 g), Thiamine (0.273 mg/100 g), and Riboflavin (0.254 mg/100 g)- Black Dal is a strength provider for frail thin bodies, a natural anti-aging agent for aging skin and an unctuous moisturiser for the skin.

In Ayurvedic text, 'Bhaishajya Ratnavali Vataroga Adhikara'- The oil derived from this nutritious kitchen-ingredient has specially been mentioned for Vata roga (or conditions occurring due to disturbed balance in Vata dosha) as it has all the properties to nourish the body inside out- right from nurturing the body tissues (Dhatus) to moisturising, beautifying and youthifying the skin. 

That's precisely why Mash Oil or Black Dal Oil is known to promote youthfulness, firm and tighten skin, and manage the look of sagginess and crepiness. Its intense moisturising and nourishing powers, along with its smooth, non-sticky and non-greasy texture when added to an oil are what make it a suitable ingredient for any skincare – be that for the face or for the body! 

SAINDHAV

You must have had it with fruits, during fasts or as part of a healthier diet regime, but did you know this ingredient also has unique moisturising and hydrating properties?

Just moisturisation is not the only thing that your saggy skin needs. To keep it looking plump, firm and ample, your skin also needs intense hydration that can prevent it from looking dull and dry. And Saindhav is that 1 ingredient that not only provides moisturisation but also maintains skin’s natural barrier by supporting hydration.

Saindhav or Himalayan Rock Salt is also known to contain trace amounts of magnesium which can significantly improve water levels in the skin along with reducing the look of roughness and redness.

KAUNCH

With an exterior similar to that of Black Dal, slightly bigger, however, Kaunch or Velvet Bean, as its name suggests, is known for giving the skin a soft, velvety texture. Being a rich source of proteins, lipids, minerals and 60 major phytochemicals, this ingredient provides nourishing, rejuvenating and soothing comfort to any skincare it’s added to.

Kaunch is known for moisturisation and has also earned a name in being a skin-soothing agent that can also purify and keep it looking clear from the inside out.

Ancient Ayurvedic texts talk vividly of this ingredient's ability to induce healthy-looking, firm skin through external application by means of an oil.

NAGARMOTHA

No discussion on herbs that manage saggy skin can be complete without mentioning this ingredient.

A strong youthfulness promoter that helps soften the look of UV-induced aging, Nutgrass or Nagarmotha has been in use in ancient Ayurvedic skincare for centuries because of its richness in fatty acids, vitamins and flavonoids.

It is known that the powdered extracts of the root of this grass are highly potent when it comes to reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and crepiness.

The cooling nature of this grass makes it a fine skincare ingredient for extremely dry skin that may get irritated easily. It is also known for supporting the skin’s barrier and promoting skin’s radiance and brightness.

 

5. Use an Ancient, Proven, Time-Tested Formulation

There are multiple procedures and treatments available that claim to get rid of your saggy appearing skin, like chemical peels, ultrasound skin tightening procedures, Radio frequency treatments, Neuromodulators (often referred to as Botox) and more.

One option is to even go under the knife, with surgical treatments like Rhytidectomy also known as Arm lift and Face Lift.

As painful-yet-short they may sound, these procedures and treatments come along with some seriously damaging risks too. You can face post operative complications like infections, reaction to anesthesia and bleeding. You can even experience hair loss, skin loss and skin discoloration.

On top of all these risks, it also costs you an arm and a leg!

Ask yourself, is it, really, worth it?

What if we tell you that there is a non-invasive, 100% natural, chemical-free Ayurvedic body oil, that can answer all your dry and aging skin woes of your arms and legs?

Mashaya Body Oil by The Ayurveda Experience is a unique Ayurvedic oil for your skin all over your body.

Enriched with the multi-benefits of Moisturisation, Hydration, Firming, Intense Nourishment of established and proven Ayurvedic herbs such as Black Dal, Saindhav, Nagarmotha, Kaunch, Sesame Oil and more, this intense moisture boosting and skin firming oil reduces the appearance of dry, aging, saggy skin on the arms and legs with regular use.