kajal - beauty routine or eye care routine?
why is anjanam so important in our daily routine?
“sarvendriyanaam nayanam pradhanam” i.e. eyes are the most important among all the sense organs.
there are so much of poems that describe the beauty of eyes that is lined with kajal. in normal life too if we don’t apply kajal for a day, people ask if we are okay. many of us feel feel, only with kajal our face looks so complete. right?
but there’s also a lot of discussion that we aren’t supposed to apply kajal for babies eyes & even for adults there are lot suggestions not to apply on the water / tear lines that it will block the ducts
if that’s so harmful, we need to question, learn & understand why traditionally applying kajal was part of our daily routine & considered auspicious. in gowri festival, in tamboola & also in what we dedicate to gowri devi, kajal is very important. for babies, there’s strong belief even today that applying black kajal bottu will remove drishti.
there must be some sensible reasons to these routines, right? and there must be some sense why today, we are asked to avoid kajal now a days.
many have moved to use liquid or sketchy eyeliners and pencils for beauty, ease & definition. what does these have usually? film formers, thickening agents & pigments. if these are lab created & synthetics with silicones & polymers, then it is definitely not safer for our eyes in long term when used every day. the skin around our eyes is the gentlest thin skin in our body. so, we need to be sure of what we apply.
traditionally in india, kajal was never bought. it was always made at home. making 5-10 gms will suffice for all women in the home for 1 year. if you have done gowri vratha in the traditional method, you would know making kajal was part of the pooja. and this was done only once a year. and usually, every woman knows how to do kajal. yes, for whatever reasons, we have drifted from these practices.
the ingredients in kajal makes all the difference and the making. with synthetic pigments & agents, it becomes harmful. but, if they are made right, it becomes preventive lifestyle & a routine that also helps our eyes to be healthy & also the side effect is to look defined & beautiful
now, how was it applied? either with the finger-tip or with a anjana shalaka i.e applicator a tiny flower petal shaped rod made of metals. like always, copper, silver & gold are considered the best metals as applicator.
applying kajal was more a treatment & preventive routine to protect & nourish our science. will soon write about it in detail. i was amazed when i realized the ingredients used to make kajal, the kajal consistency – liquid, powder or balmy, time to apply - all has been written down as detailed instructions for us.
what we thought as just a cosmetic is not a simple cosmetic product. it’s all about protecting & nourishing our eyes. and now with increased screen times, we can’t have anything on our eyes adding to our woes. this was the reason why i too such long time to launch kajal. the simple recipes are there always.. but that’s not the point. i wanted to bring you something that’s beautiful, safe & nourishing.
and here we have it now. https://kalyashastra.com/products/kajal?_pos=1&_sid=56232f88c&_ss=r
happy to have the amazing kajal in our product list. i thoroughly enjoyed the process of bringing kajal to you & i strongly believe you will also experience & relish the goodness of this kajal that brings to you health & happiness in abundance
- krithika prasad
