Our founder, Shrankhla Holecek, discusses the principles of Ayurveda, the story behind Uma’s unique blends, and some of her favorite essential oils with the lovely Sonja Flay of beauty blog life in blush. Read on for some highlights from the interview, and click here for the full-length article!
Sonja: Ayurveda, which believes in the union of the body, mind and soul, is at the heart of your product development. How does this 5,000 year-old science in natural medicine influence your product development and the techniques you use to formulate your oils?
Shrankhla: Bringing the powerful science of Ayurveda from our home in India, to the Western world – in a results-driven, education-oriented and contemporarily sensible way – was a key reason we started Uma.
You’re absolutely right in that Ayurveda philosophies dictate all the practices within our product lifecycle – from our farming methods to the actual formulas in our products.
According to Ayurveda, everything in the universe is made up of five basic elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether (space) and a close relationship exists between human and the universe we exist in – including nature, which has long been revered in Ayurvedic tradition.
Pesticides – a relatively recent development – would interfere with the natural balance of a plant’s composition per Ayurveda, and hence we farm organically. We also respect plant seasonality and adhere closely to practices that enrich the earth’s natural fertility – and try to minimize our dependence on artificial irrigation – all in accordance with the belief systems that natural energy thrives when natural functions are least disturbed. The harvesting and processing of our crops, including timing (e.g., never harvesting before ripeness or in the late evenings), all integrate Ayurvedic wisdom, as do the processing of our raw materials into their ingredients (never overheating substances to try and get higher yields, etc.)
Arguably, our formulation mechanisms require our deepest and most nuanced expertise on Ayurvedic remedies. In an ideal world, we would be consulting with each individual for whom these products are created and formulating a highly individual recipe. Given the practical difficulties with executing that, we spend a long time backing out the root-causes of common ailments (from acne to anxiety) to fundamental imbalances in the constitution, and layering in our interpretations of the environmental stressors that create those imbalances – from environmental pollutants to emotional stresses related to work. We iterate and test (on humans!) heavily calibrating both for big impact, and subtle reliefs – until we reach a balance in our products that we believe is truly the most beneficial, for the most number of people. Sometimes it will take us weeks to change a a few percents of one ingredient versus the other, but we believe the rigor is warranted because the results can become so profoundly magnified.
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Sonja: You seem to favour five essential oils in your face products: lavender, orange, clary sage, sandalwood, and geranium. Why is that? What is it about these particular EO’s that you so highly prize?
Shrankhla: I’m glad you observed that! To me, these oils are foundational for boosting skin health, and creating the clear and luminous skin that we all desire.
I will start with Clary Sage oil because of its very unique and beneficial properties of balancing and regulating the production of sebum (natural oils) within the skin – working on both oily and dry skins alike to take them to moderate, healthy moisture levels. I point this out because so many of us rely on topicals that address just the “symptoms” of oil issues (either through heavy, often-synthetic creams or through drying agents) when such an elegant solution exists that works naturally with your skin cells to promote health from within.
Lavender oil – a much loved oil, and deservedly so – is rich in esters and has a very calming effect on the skin, soothing inflammations and skin damage. Our skin is constantly under attack from pollution and environmental oxidants, and the soothing properties of lavender go a long way in assisting the skin stay calm under these influences.
Orange oil, resplendent in Vitamin C, is a rapid repair agent and goes to work at the cellular level to heal cracks, dryness and the wear-and-tear that our skin undergoes on a daily basis. All Vitamin C is not created equal and it tends to also be a very unstable compound. We have found that it is both highly stable and very effective in Orange essential oil, which we use generously in our facial oils for its massive skin-repair benefits.
Geranium oil is a potently anti-inflammatory essential oil, that also has wonderful moisture retention and skin balancing properties. It has an excellent effect on improving overall skin health and in helping repair scars and dark spots. An all round wonderful oil, It is among the best skin-toning agents in our arsenal and that’s why it makes its way into all our facial (and many of our wellness oils as well).
I end on Sandalwood oil because of my ongoing love affair with it! A sublime oil – native to India – it’s the ultimate wingman, in that it works so hard to boost the properties of every oil that it goes in with. It strongly assists skin health by slowing down cellular degradation – which in turn slows down the aging of the skin. It calms and supports the skin, creating that clean, flawless, luminous complexion that we all hanker after!
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Sonja: You’ve stated that at Uma you harvest each plant no more than two times before replanting, because the first two harvests generate the highest quality essential oils. Can you delve into that? Why does the quality of essential oils degrade after the second harvest?
Shrankhla: This has a lot to do with nutrient component of the plant – as well as the soil it lives in. Plants are most “energetic” in creating nutrient-rich fruits, flowers and stems (parts of the plant that essentials oils are usually created from) the first couple of times they are harvested. Plants age as we do, and their resources (including cellular function) to create nutrients diminish over time.
Furthermore, soil – especially organic soil as ours is – also gets depleted of the nutrients that plants need to thrive on, and must “recuperate” its resources between plantings. We have derived these conclusions both from careful study as well as our own experience – essential oils created from over harvested plants are lower in yield, indicate less potency in lab tests, and are less resplendent in their aromas.
All things considered, we don’t believe that creating these inferior oils – though it may seem economically more lucrative at first blush – make for truly sustainable farming or high-quality oils that we have built our trusted relationships and reputation on.
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Head to life in blush to read on about Shrankhla’s favorite DIY skin care remedies, Ayurvedic herbs, and the stringent quality control processes behind every bottle of Uma. Check out Sonja’s review of our Ultimate Brightening Face Oil, too. Just a hint – she gives it “holy grail status”!