In our abhyanga guide, I told you to keep it simple. Plain sesame oil. Plain coconut oil or almond oil. Cold-pressed, warmed in a cup of hot water. Nothing else needed.
I still believe that. It is what I would tell anyone beginning an abhyanga practice.
And for almost two years, I have kept repurchasing PAAVANI Ayurveda's Tridoshic Body Oil every few months anyway, because plain oil gives you the practice and this one gives you the experience.
Plain sesame does the job. I have used it for years, and it works. But I would put it on, and I would drift into thinking about the day ahead most of the time, and the twenty minutes would pass without me really being there for most of it.
It wakes up all my senses.
The smell is the reason I come back to it. Cardamom and lavender come first, with citrus underneath, and it is a brighter, more refreshing oil than most abhyanga blends. It is lovely, and at six in the morning in the dark, the delightful smell turns out to matter more than I expected.
Because here is what actually happens with abhyanga. We do not stop because we stopped believing in it. We stop because it becomes one more thing on the list before we have even had tea. An oil you look forward to is an oil you keep reaching for, and the change I noticed was in how often I practised, not in how my skin looked.
One bottle, whatever the season.
It also works in every weather, which is the whole point of a tridoshic blend. One bottle, all year, no working out what season you and your skin are in. Through autumn and winter I put it on my face at night too, and I wake up with skin that has been properly fed. Patch test first if yours reacts to things, since this is made for the body.
I also care about how its made.
The founders of PAAVANI, Leah Klatt and Trudy Collings, met during a herbalism apprenticeship at the California College of Ayurveda, and opened a space in Grass Valley in 2014 doing traditional Ayurvedic bodywork.
What I like about their story is that the products appear to have grown out of the practice itself. They infuse whole herbs over several days rather than stirring in extracts, and the essential oils go in after.
And on the label, next to the ingredients, you find language you do not see on most skincare: infused with Ayurvedic healing mantra, handcrafted in small batches, tested on family and friends.
I believe in products made with healing mantra, so to me this is not simply skincare. It is a ritual object, and I appreciate that.
Who this is for, and who it is not.
Of course, you do not need a specialty Ayurvedic body oil to practise Ayurveda. If you are new to abhyanga, I would still begin exactly where I began our guide: plain oil. Learn the practice before you get to invest in an oil for the sensory experience.
Use sesame. Use coconut or almond oil when appropriate. Notice how your body responds. Notice what warmth does. Notice what seasonality does. Notice whether you actually enjoy oiling yourself at all.
And if you run extremely cold and dry through a Massachusetts winter, for example, you may find that a richer vata-specific blend serves you better than a lighter tridoshic one.
There is also sesame oil in this formula, so anyone with a sesame allergy should avoid it. PAAVANI recommends discontinuing use if irritation occurs.
But once the practice already belongs to you, and you know you love abhyanga, you may want to make the ritual itself more pleasurable. That is where I think PAAVANI's Tridoshic Body Oil earns its place.
Ayurveda does not need to be made luxurious. But pleasure keeps you coming back, and that counts for something. Sometimes the bottle you reach for is the one that smells beautiful when you open it, and makes an ordinary Tuesday morning feel a little more like a ritual.
And that, for me, has been reason enough to keep it on the shelf year-round. Just to return to the practice.
Love,
Dhivyaa
PAAVANI Ayurveda Tridoshic Body Oil
Available in 4 oz and 8 oz sizes. The current formula includes sunflower, safflower, and sesame oils infused with brahmi, lavender, and cardamom, with a blend of aromatic essential oils.
Souveraine purchased everything reviewed here. This is not an affiliate or paid promotion. Review by Souveraine's in-house team.
New to the practice? Start here: Abhyanga at Home: How to Do Ayurvedic Self-Massage
