Sita's Beauty Secrets Ayurvedic Workshop at the Peranakan Museum + Dinner at Sunset Way Grill-Out Pte Ltd

Signed up for the Ayurvedic beauty workshop held at The Ixora Room of The Peranakan Museum. Ayurveda is literally translated as the "Science of Life" where "Ayu" is life and "Veda" is knowledge of science. Ayurveda is the earliest documented traditional medical practice during the Vedic period of India. It is somewhat like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is becoming an influential system of medicine widely used and researched on.

The workshop today is a beauty workshop thus I will be learning on ways to rejuvenate, exfoliate and repair my skin naturally using just vegetables, fruits and spices at home.

We were first being introduced to the five basic elements of Ayurveda which compose the Universe including our human body. The five elements are namely

1) Space (Akash) - Cavities

2) Air (Vaayu) - Movements

3) Fire (Tejas) - Transformation

4) Water (Aap) - Blood/Mucus

5) Earth (Prthvi) - Structure

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we have five elements too (金 Metal, 木 Wood, 水 Water, 火 Fire, 土 Earth).

In order for our body to function to its fullest, we would need to have a balance of three bio-energetic force which are

1) Vata (air & space) - Wind

2) Pitta (fire & water) - Bile

3) Kapha (water & earth) - Phlegm

When there's imbalanced of the elements in our body, our body will react in a negative ways and makes us falls sick and also affected our moods.

In Ayurveda, there are 6 tastes and all creates different effects in our body.

1) Sweet

2) Sour

3) Salty

4) Pungent

5) Bitter

6) Astringent

During the workshop, some herbs were highlighted and they are Turmeric which has anti-bacterial properties and also good for the liver. It should be collected during night time as it's the time that they have the most potency. Another is Fenugreek which is used for the treatment of diabetes and also to increase breast milk.

Below are a list of the other more common food and their uses

1) Milk (sweet) - Potency (cold) - For skin outbreak (that's why there's documents on how the Queens of England prefer milk baths)

2) Yogurt (sour) - Potency (cold) - For constipation and diarrhea (contradicting but true)

3) Rose (Astringent) - Potency (cold) - For inflammation, has PH balancing properties (one uses for those roses that our boyfriends gave us)

4) Chickpea - Potency (cold) - Use for mask for dull and dehydrated skin (High in proteins)

5) Winter cherry - Potency (hot) - To improves skin glow (It's Indian ginseng)

6) Neem (bitter) - Potency (cold) - Said to treat alot of illnesses and the amazing thing is the whole part of this plant have different uses.

7) Holy Basil - Potency (Hot) - For all types of skin, use for colds, influenza, cough and vomit

8) Indian Gooseberry - Helps lighten skin (has 20 times more Vitamin C than oranges.

Next up of the event is a short demonstration of a facial using some of those ingredients that can be bought from the supermarket.

There's also additional beauty tips like massaging our eyes, alternate nostril breathing (for those suffering from insomnia) and foot massage.

Got a chance to see how some of the ingredients looks like.

At the end of the whole workshop, the organizer informed us that there's a small gift for us under the seat. If we are lucky, we will find this piece of paper to exchange for the gift.