Indian born doctor Pratima Raichur has been living in New York since 1977. She is the founder of Pratima Ayurvedic Skincare and author of Absolute Beauty, a book written nearly thirty five years ago and still considered as the “Bible of beauty” by the finest editors and creators in the world.

Encountering Pratima’s radiance feels like a stepping stone for anyone walking the path of the understanding of true beauty.

Here are a few highlights of our conversation unveiling all the different layers of beauty, food, ageing, the five energies and the three main virtues of life.  

Beauty as reflection

Everything on the skin is a reflection of what happens inside. Every thought, every food, every breath we take, everything is reflected on the skin. When you look at the skin, you know what's going on inside that human being. Beauty is a language.

What do you need to be beautiful? Food essentially, in the form of what we eat, how we breathe, what we think! Sunlight, hydration, good sleep, and exercise are all very important. Then comes meditation and the power of thoughts. When all those things are balanced, you step into a higher level of vibrations, which makes you healthier, happier, content, and beautiful. Healing starts at that vibration.

Beauty is not just softening the wrinkles. Looking and feeling are two different things. Real beauty, the one that comes from wisdom, grows as you age. In fact, through spiritual beauty and the understanding that “I am not this body, I am the soul”, you stop aging. You glow from a “better knowing” that comes from experience and contentment. That beauty is what I consider to be real beauty. And that comes with a little bit of age.

The body as energy

Just as we are made of the five energies (earth, water, fire, space, air), our Pratima Ayurvedic Skincare products are based on those same principles. They are 100 % natural and use very simple formulations. Yet they bring lasting results. They are made to nourish and balance the external skin. The internal skin is different however. It is based on your thoughts and emotions and how they affect your hormones and therefore your skin. That layer of the skin requires a different nourishment. So all goes together. It's not just the food. It's not just the thoughts.
 

Balance as practice

Balancing or correcting the skin means balancing all those states, from the internal to the external. That’s when you can achieve lasting beauty.

I remember the first time I looked at the mirror. It was my first awareness of being a woman. I was probably around 14 years old. I put some lipstick on and said “Wow, do I look pretty!” My mother was watching from behind. I had no idea. She came and she gave me a picture of a goddess named Chamunda, a combination of three goddesses: Kali, Saraswati and Lakshmi.

“This is real beauty,” she said.

“Lipstick is okay, but If you want to be beautiful, then you have to become these three women’s virtues”

The three virtues

Kali expresses courage, strength, the power to go through life and meet any situations offered to you. She never loses faith. Saraswati represents real wisdom, which comes from all the different experiences you encounter, the knowing of who you are, and what your ultimate purpose in life is. Then comes Lakshmi who refers to true wealth and abundance, in all aspects and beyond the material. If you have these three virtues: wisdom, courage to face anything, abundance, then you are a real independent and strong woman, one that always looks beautiful. That's what my mother taught me and I have always made sure that all those aspects were present in my life. Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I courageous enough to go through this? Am I creating prosperity for the benefits of the earth and others? Every day, I meditate on the power of those virtues.

If I had to describe the woman of today, I would say she is very bold, very independent, which is a good thing and in some ways very connected to the virtues of Chamunda.

- By Emilie Cresp