As we slowly descend into the hot summer nights of mid-July, we have experienced numerous trends starting from crocheted kurtis and skirts, and minimalistic home decor to even sprinkling a small bow on every piece of clothing.
In this year particularly, the organic skincare industry has been forging ahead of the rest. Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of the ingredients they are applying to their bodies and the environmental impact of these beauty choices.
The 2024 report shows that while challenging market conditions have had an impact on sales growth, some sectors of certified organic beauty and wellbeing are blossoming. With over 65% growth in organic mother and baby care, the organic health and personal care sector had over 6% growth. The overall organic skincare market is worth millions across the world.
The concept of clean beauty or organic skincare is relatively new for people in the West. But for Bangladeshi people, these beauty trends are cultural remedies that have been passed down for generations.
The village or tribal women are particularly adept in these customs. We often end up purchasing body scrubs from St Ives or Dove, both being American brands. However, these women know how to make their own products. They know how to make body scrubs from coconut meat and sugar grains from the sugarcanes in their fields. Then they add the pulps of rose and marigold. The flower extracts add an aromatic scent and help to soften the skin before a momentous occasion.
Sylheti women are fond of neem. They wander around the region to extract neem from the garden trees. The neem leaves are then ground into fine paste or turned into neem oil. It is generously applied on your hair by your mother or sister, as an act of tenderness and love.
Another common practice is plucking henna leaves and then separating them. They would pluck the leaves from the tree on the night before Eid. The leaves would be crushed in a bowl to turn it into a paste and using toothpicks, the henna paste would be applied on palms and sometimes even the feet. The designs would often only consist of humble dots and simple patterns.
A common pre-wedding ritual across households in Bangladesh witnesses the bride and groom having a haldi or turmeric-applying ceremony. Either it is applied all over the body in the form of paste or they take a turmeric shower. Turmeric brightens the texture and has skin-smoothing properties. In some areas, there is also a special bath everyone gets together for. You go to the nearby lake and everyone participates in a water fight while trying to remove the turmeric, honey, and flour from the bride-to-be’s skin.
Women here also make their own perfume. Having grown up in a country that is rich of greenery and flowers, these women know how to make use of it for their own good. Tuberose, known locally as Rajanigandha, is ground into body oils or conventionally pressed against the skin. Or in the absence of tuberose, marigold may be used to make those same fragrances.
These days, several methods have been adopted to make face masks at home. You may find yourself measuring tablespoons of flour to add to a bowl already consisting of teaspoons of milk and honey. Instant coffee is mixed with turmeric paste to apply under the eyes and is now known as the hack for dark circles. All these rituals have been passed down from generations in our ethnic households and were in practice long before the west came to know about it.
The practice of putting oil in your hair was something that we all held reservations against while growing up. But nowadays people are leaning towards this practice again and established skincare brands are putting out coconut, onion seeds, argan, castor and rosemary-infused oils.
Back then, coming home from school on a Thursday night to your mother or grandma sitting there with hot coconut oil, ready to massage it into your scalp to leave overnight was the norm. They would advise you to keep it in your hair for days and braid it into a loose pigtail so that your hair could become longer and thicker with time. The hair massage that accompanied the practice every time would either put you to sleep or have you pouting with annoyance.
Aarong, one of the leading enterprise chains in Bangladesh, has a whole section dedicated to organic skin care that women can indulge in. Starting from handmade soaps and body scrubs, face masks and hair packs to hair and body oils — there is a vast selection to choose from.
For the Muslim women in Bangladesh, looking after one’s own self and taking care of your skin, hair and body through organic treatments is viewed as a form of ibadah (worship).
Using the nature around you that has been gifted to you by Allah is a way to exercise gratitude for everything that has been provided to us.
