The Power of Skincare That Appeals to All 5 Senses

Tasmadva etasmadatmana akash sambhutah |
Akasadvayuh | Vayoragnih | Agnerapah |
Adbhyah prithvi | Prithivya osadhayah |
Osadhibhyosnam |Annat purusah ||
“Yajurveda, Taittiriyopanisad”

As per ancient Vedic texts, everything in this universe is generated from the five basic elements: Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth, and every human being is a creation of these elements that are each invoked through the 5 senses. This theory, known as the Panchamahabhutas, inspires the making of the Forest Essentials products, designed to appeal to all five of your senses

What are Panchamahabhutas?

In Sanskrit Pancha translates to five, while Mahabhuta stands for the smallest divisible part of any matter. 

Let’s delve deeper into what these five elements mean:

• Akash Mahabhuta (Space) is the space without which matter cannot exist. Its main sense characteristic is Sound or Shabda.  
• Vayu Mahabhuta (Air) is evolved from Akasha Mahabhuta. Its prime sense attribute is Touch or sparsha and as it is evolved from Akasha it also inherits the attribute of sound (Shabda). 
• Agni Mahabhuta (Fire) evolves from Vayu Mahabhuta. The main sense characteristic of Agni is Vision (Roop) and the chief property is heat.
• Jal Mahabhuta (Water) evolves from Agni Mahabhuta. Taste (Rasa) is its main sense characteristic and its chief property is liquidity (Dravatawa). 
• The last to evolve is Prithvi Mahabhuta (Earth). Its chief property is Roughness or Kharatwa and its main sense characteristic is Smell (Gandha).

These represent the five senses and their respective organs in a human being. This can be depicted in the form of the Five Pentads of Senses, which is the inspiration and stimulus behind Forest Essentials products, as they are derived from these five elements of mother nature. 

Forest Essentials & Panchamahabhutas

For Forest Essentials, beauty is more than skin deep; products are made to speak to your soul, for you to enjoy your moment of mindful relaxation – whether that means transporting you to a cherished place or moment in time, realigning your thoughts for a moment of “me time” or simply to uplift your mood, and ultimately to bring about inner serenity that reflects as outer radiance. 

Therefore, each of our Ayurvedic products are made to bring about a multi-sensorial experience as per the Panchmahabhutas,– from the Touch of their silken textures, their beautiful packaging that is a pleasurable Sight for the eyes, the Sound of positive Vedic mantras chanted whilst products are churned for them to absorb their vibrational energy, the Scent of the purest herbs, flowers and roots, and finally the Taste of fresh Gulab Jal & fermented fruit pulp blended within the beautiful bottles and jars.

One of our best Ayurvedic facial creams,the Forest Essentials Date and Litchi Advanced Eternal Youth Formula,  embodies the essence of the Panchamahabhutas philosophy. Special mantras are chanted during its creation, infusing it with positive energy, which represents the space element responsible for the sense of sound, while its silken, honey pink texture represents the Air and the Fire elements, responsible for touch and vision simultaneously. The cream is potent with the sweet Rasa (fermented pulp) of the Date and Litchi fruit, which signify the Water Element, responsible for taste and potency and finally, the sweet fragrance of the cream, that transports one to the Litchi orchards of the Himalayan terrain, is derived from the Earth Element.

Based on this principle of the Panchmahabhutas, the Date & Litchi Advanced Eternal Youth Formula is more than just a cream, it is truly a multi-sensory experience; a ritual in a bottle. 

In Ayurveda, it is believed that an imbalance of these five elements within our body can cause acne, brittle hair and skin that ages sooner than it should. Hence, Forest Essentials products are power packed with ingredients that not only address external beauty concerns visible on the skin, but also create a multi-sensory experience that enhances inner serenity, calm and contentment, to keep balance in these elements of life.