Lifestyle Mirror

Going to an Ayurvedic spa is kind of like visiting your therapist, personal trainer, and esthetician all at once. “You need to stop with the Diet Coke,” one Ayurvedic expert told me while examining my pores, “and when was the last time you exercised?” Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be talking to various experts to find out exactly what it is your skin is trying to tell you, focusing on different zones of the face.

Ayurvedic medicine is an Indian philosophy that focuses on holistic care, working on the mind, body, and the spirit to address imbalance. “There is an energy blueprint of the body,” explained Aveda’s Helga Hefner. “When there are problems, there are energy blockages. Your hair, skin, and your nails are the last places to receive energy and nutrients… so they’re the first places to show signs of imbalance.”

Balance, it’s believed, can be achieved through the openness of sacred points in the body. “The seven chakras are responsible for certain psychological and physiological functions,” said Hefner. “So what an esthetician is seeing is simply a symptom of imbalance that’s going on.”

Imbalances are obviously different for each person, but Ayurvedic estheticians treat skin based on the nature of a person. It’s believed that we either belong (more or less) to one elemental nature. “It’s what we’re born with—certain strengths or weaknesses. The traditional body type of Infinity/Air is usually tall, thin, and speaking very fast. Fire natures are more in shape, balanced, and have good stamina. Water/Earth natures are a bit slower, and it’s easy for them to gain weight.”

When it comes to breakouts on the nose—possibly the most common of them all—a couple of things are at play. “The tip of the nose is connected to the heart,” Hefner explained. “So if you look at someone who has drinking problems, you’ll see an enlarged bulb of the nose. Sometimes, there’s also a little line underneath the nose in between the two nostrils, which is a sign of a heart murmur.”

And as for that pesky oily T-zone? “When you have specifically enlarged pores from a nutritional standpoint, it’s generally attributed to too much chicken, cheese, eggs, and other greasy things. They block the pores from releasing moisture to the surface of the skin.” Saturated fats—and the salts that often accompany them—can clog your pores just as much as your arteries.

If those things don’t work, though, perhaps you should dig a little deeper. “Your heart is where you soul speaks to you. The central part of your face is connected to your circulatory system. When you have poor circulation, it’s representative of how you’re circulating through your life.”

Figure out which products are best for your nose problems by clicking through the slideshow above.  —Phillip Picardi (@pfpicardi)