Are you looking for the best dry skin body wash? Many with dry skin believe that the only way out of dry skin is to moisturise continuously. But synthetic moisturising lotions come laden with chemicals and fragrances that are not heathy for the body. These products also do not really heal the skin although they claim to contain hydrating ingredients . They merely act as a temporary fix  - the dryness and flakiness always comes back. Is there an alternative to this dry skin cycle? Is there a way to use clean, synthetic free products and still maintain the health of your skin? There is , if you understand both how common personal care products can dry out your skin and also understand the Ayurvedic approach to skin care. So read on...

What is the problem with my moisturizing body wash and soap?

Soap has an ancient history in the world, with a mention even in the Ebers Papyrus dated to 1550 BC. However for the most part, until the 19th century or so, soap was rarely used regularly in the Western world. In cold climates, soaps were extremely harsh and drying on skin given that its natural pH as alkaline and the human skin has a moderately acidic pH. Modern manufacturing techniques have softened this over harsh nature of ancient soap. However it still remains an alkaline product. For sensitive skin, companies came up with a non soap, syndet bar, which is what many modern dry skin bars and body washes are based on. Syndet formulations modify this essential alkaline nature of a traditional soap and bring it closer to the moderately acidic range of human skin. Syndet formulations are behind the " moisturizing body wash " products that are made for drier skin type. While the products claim to soothe or hydrate dry skin and give your moisturized skin , technically they do not do so. Because they are based on sulfates they can be formulated with pH adjusters to come close to human skin's mildly acidic pH. This makes them less irritating on skin compared to traditional alkaline soaps with a pH of 8. Secondly these so called hydrating body wash products or mild soap bars are formulated with synthetic oily substances. These substances cling to skin during wash, leaving behind a mild oily layer on skin after rinsing out the product. This creates a temporary feeling of having natural oils on the skin . However in no way are these actually moisturizing ingredients nor do they really nourish, heal or hydrate the skin . They simply cleanse the skin like any detergent would and leave behind a temporary coating . Syndet bars and daily moisturising body wash formulations are based on alkyl sulphates. This class of detergents are used in detergents, dishwash and other household cleaning products and are not exclusive to any skin cleansing. They come with other issues including skin irritation, long term dryness of skin, and the worrying tendency to bioaccumulate in the body. For normal to dry skin, or for those with flaky skin, Ayurveda offers MUCH better alternatives to these synthetics to keep your skin healthy and well nourished.  

How does Ayurveda recommend I nourish & care for normal to dry skin?

Normal to dry skin is called vata predominant skin in Ayurveda. Skin can be this way due to genetics, and inherent skin type. Also , normal skin can get much dryer than usual if you live in a dry, cold or windy climate. Vata aggravated skin needs vata calming herbs and oils to soothe it and relieve dryness. Simply applying a synthetic moisturiser does not calm or balance aggravated vata dosha. However when we use vata balancing oils and vata balancing ubtans or ayurvedic body wash choornams in our skincare routine, we positively impact the skin in 2 ways:

• treat the skin much more gently compared to using synthetic soaps and body wash products.
• Treat the root cause of dryness which is vata imbalance by using vata calming herbs and oils

As a result, when we use an ayurvedic body cleanser or an ayurvedic body oil in our skin care routine, we heal and improve the skin texture , and cleanse skin without leaving behind any toxic chemicals or stripping skin of its natural oils.

How does Ayurveda recommend we choose a dry skin body wash?

Snana or a bath is a sacred Dinacharya in Ayurveda. It is meant to refresh and rejuvenate us and also deeply cleanse our physical and mental self by using the right combination of herbs. A good Ayurvedic bath is deeply uplifting, removes negativity and is energizing. For this,w e must use the right Ayurvedic herbs that deep cleanse and energize us when having a  bath. Chemicals do not have any living prana or energy - unlike herbs, grains, clays and other ayurvedic ingredients. So a bath with a soap or a synthetic body wash does not give us this spiritual lift. In addition, when we have normal to dry vata aggravated skin, the Snana (bath needs to help balance aggravated vata dosha in skin. For this we must use skin specific herbs that are vata calming to balance aggravated vata dosha. Water itself can have a drying effect on skin. So the product we use to cleanse skin should not further dry out skin - so an ayurvedic body wash must not use surfactants that can further dry out the skin. Lastly, vata aggravated skin is usually highly fragile. The skin barrier can get further damaged when the products we use contain irritating fragrances, thickeners, emulsifiers, occlusive agents and alkyl sulphates. So to sum up, the best natural dry skin body wash we choose should:

• Have prana positive Snana appropriate herbs that energize and refresh
• Be based on vata balancing herbs for normal to dry skin
• Should not have any other drying agents or excessive surfactants that may further dry skin
• Contain no synthetics and toxics that could further damage the fragile skin barrier

 

Krya Moisture Plus Body wash - The best Dry skin body wash to soothe dry skin

The Krya Moisture Plus Body Wash is an ayurvedic choornam (dry blended ayurvedic powder with ayurvedic herbs, organic grains, clays and plant butters and oils). This body wash powder has been extensively researched, and made painstakingly with carefully chosen ingredients. We make the Krya Moisture Plus Body wash for dry skin with 28 ayurvedic ingredients including Shatavari, Daruharidra, Devdaru, Mushta, Indian Liquorice , Vacha, etc. Each herb is chosen for its gentle skin cleansing, vata dosha balancing and skin healing properties. The final product is processed to form a very smooth and fine paste that does not irritate skin. By keeping the format completely dry, we avoid the use of added fragrances, thickeners colours, emulsifiers, anti bacterial agents, preservatives and other toxics that add to your chemical load.

Benefits of the Moisture Plus Body wash powder for sensitive skin & dry skin type

The Krya Moisture Plus Body wash powder is extremely gentle on dry, flaky, vata aggravated skin. Our customers report the following benefits:

• Skin feels comfortable ad soothed immediately after use
• The body feels fresh and clean and smells good for a long time
• Over time Skin does not feel as tight and flaky as it did with soap
• When we add regular abhyanga-snana and also pre-oil skin lightly before bath on very cold days, there is no need to use any moisturizing lotion after bath

Why should you choose a Krya body cleanser ? What makes our process unique?

Each ingredient is carefully chosen from a small list of vetted organic farms, tribal cooperatives or high quality aggregator . The ingredients are carefully inspected, cleaned, and then processed separately. Because we process each ingredient separately each batch of the Krya Moisture Plus Body wash for dry skin can take upto 4 days to complete. Classical Ayurvedic texts tells us to process each herb separately in order to extract them correctly. Unfortunately many companies that sell ubtans or ayurvedic skin cleansing choornams online simply grind all herbs together and then sift them. As each herb has a different hardness and different fibre content, the final product will contain a greater proportion of soft herbs and smaller proportion of hard herbs if we process them all at once. This will not work as well for your skin needs. Once we have processed each herb, the formula is blended together carefully and then packed. We add no other chemicals to our product. The list of ingredients which you see in our product page are the ONLY ingredients that go into this product.

Ideal Ayurvedic Body Skin care routine to soothe & hydrate dry skin

• Lightly pre-oil dry skin areas before your bath. We suggest Krya vata balancing baby oil. This is not essential but is really great for dry skin.
• Have a bath with the Krya Moisture Plus Body wash for dry skin.
• Every 2-3 days, add a spoon of milk to your Moisture Plus body wash powder
• Twice a week, do a full Abhyanga Snana with Krya Intense Abhyanga Oil followed by the Krya Intense Ubtan for Women or the Krya Intense Ubtan for Men. This helps strongly bring down aggravated vata dosha helping heal and nourish skin faster.