The magnificent Amber Fort, located just outside of Jaipur in northwestern India's Rajasthan (or "land of kings") state, embodies the mystery and opulence associated with the country's once-mighty royalty: secret candlelit passageways used by an early seventeenth-century maharaja for assignations with his many wives; a mirror mosaic–encrusted hall with a wow factor to rival that of Versailles.

There are few objects, however, in the palace's vast, empty, now-crumbling spaces to suggest the abundance of life they once contained—the pulse of soldiers, servants, and bejeweled, sari-swathed princesses—save for one: a tulsi, or holy basil, plant, encased in a stone-latticed shrine. Sacred to Hindus, tulsi was worshiped by the royal family (the queens, helpful signage explains, sang hymns to praise the plant every sunset) and was cherished for its medicinal uses as an antiseptic, digestive, and pain reliever. As I lean in to peer more closely at its little green leaves, a British woman next to me whispers to her daughter, "I take that stuff in pills."

From left Marigolds, an Ayurvedic skin brightener, in bloom, workers at Uma's organic farm in Raipur, Holecek helping with the vetiver harvest. SIBSA Digital Pvt. Ltd + Alamy + Shrankhla Holecek

Ayurveda, the ancient Indian holistic healing tradition, is more than 5,000 years old, but it's taken until 2017 for the West to take notice. While some of the discipline's less palatable remedies—leech therapy, for example, or aggressive colonics—haven't yet been fully embraced by Westerners, Ayurveda's emphasis on mind-body balance resonates with our zeitgeisty obsession with wellness, and most of us have already incorporated Ayurveda-derived practices into our lives whether we know it or not—doing yoga, meditating, drinking warm lemon water, using the Breathe app on our Apple watches, or knocking back powdered ashwagandha root in Goop-approved smoothies.

Translated from Sanskrit as "the science of life," Ayurveda's central thesis, as you may have learned in the early '90s when Deepak Chopra arrived on the scene and gave Ayurveda another major Western moment, is that every human being is predominantly ruled by one of three doshas—vata, pitta, or kapha—constitutional energies that affect everything from energy levels to sleep patterns to bone density. If a dosha is out of whack, say from a poor diet or extreme stress, this can manifest itself in various ailments, including red, dry, or breakout-prone skin. Recognizing that the notion of doshas can sound daunting—or borderline woo-woo—to some, a new crop of beauty entrepreneurs is stripping away the less approachable elements of Ayurveda when it comes to skin care and focusing on bringing the regimen's time-tested wisdom—and traditional, high-performance ingredients—to a global audience.

Shrankhla Holecek, who launched the luxurious oil-based Ayurvedic line Uma in 2016, certainly has bona fides: For 800 years, her family served as Ayurvedic physicians for Indian royalty. When the monarchy began to fall apart in the mid-1800s, her ancestors turned their attention to farming and producing ultrapure organic botanical oils for the perfume industry. Now Holecek sources her ingredients—such as vetiver, clary sage, rose, and chamomile—from those same plots of land. And while Uma's skin-care formulations are derived from recipes created and cataloged by Holecek's learned forebears, they've been selected due to their suitability for all skin types.

Holecek testingfresh cypriolextract for purity. Bhoomika Upadhyay

"When I went through the old books, I found at least 10 formulas for every skin problem, so my father and I spent a lot of time determining which would be most useful for the widest population," Holecek says. "I wanted to start with common issues such as acne, oily skin, and wrinkles. Uma was created to be very true in its medicine, but without bringing dosha, which I think is unnecessarily confusing to the average audience, into the conversation."

Uma products are steeped in family lore (the Perfectly Pure Soothing Baby Oil was devised centuries ago for colicky infant Princess Padmini; the luminosity-boosting sandalwood-based face masks are facsimiles of pastes that Holecek's mother still mixes at home), but their true power lies in the use of legitimately effective, all-natural ingredients. Frankincense essential oil, the star active ingredient in the brand's Absolute Anti-Aging Face Oil, was shown in a 2010 randomized, double-blind study published in Dermatologic Therapy to significantly reduce signs of photoaging, including roughness and fine lines. Rose oil, which gives the new Ultimate Brightening Rose Toner its heavenly scent and silky texture, is proven to protect cells against oxidative damage (a 2011 Japanese study found that even just smelling rose essential oil bolsters the skin's barrier function and inhibits water loss). And pomegranate oil, which is used as a base throughout the line, "is very rich in naturally occurring ellagic acid," Holecek says, which research has shown to support healthy collagen and protect against UV damage.

For Lisa Mattam, a former pharmaceutical exec and founder of Canadian Ayurvedic line Sahajan, this clinical validation of time-tested Ayurvedic topicals was crucial. "I wanted to take the natural, beautiful, less-known ingredients that I grew up using [her parents are from Kerala, in southern India] and bring them into the modern-day skin-care regime," she says. "But I also wanted to make sure we could prove them with science." The Sahajan range, which features three face products, plus hair and body oils, was created in collaboration with two Ayurvedic practitioners in Kerala, and like Holecek, Mattam purposely didn't incorporate the doshas. "I pictured myself as the consumer and thought, Would I go down the path of having to figure out if I was vata or pitta?" The ingredients, she says, "serve their purpose without you knowing your dosha." The Sahajan Nourish Face Cream, for example, contains amla, or Indian gooseberry, "which is highly antioxidant and really helps to brighten and protect skin," Mattam says, as well as gotu kola, or Indian parsley, which contains compounds shown in studies to promote fibroblast proliferation and increase the production of collagen.

"The more you listen to your body, the more you are following Ayurveda."

Should you wish to dive into your dosha, British brand Samaya offers a brief online quiz to determine your type, then provides a straightforward regimen consisting of a cleanser, oil, and moisturizing cream for each constitution, focusing on ingredients such as rose (for vata), jasmine (pitta), and ashwagandha (kapha), which are said to resonate best with specific doshas, but which can be used to bring balance to all. Skin conditions generally correspond to doshas: Vatas tend to be dry, pittas sensitive, and kaphas prone to breakouts, so you can also select products simply by need alone.

"Ayurveda can be as big or small a part of your life as you like," says Samaya founder Abida Halstenberg, who adds that simple practices such as eating seasonally and using natural products adhere to Ayurveda. "It's about making small choices every day to improve your balance and well-being."

We live in privileged times: We can pick and choose from precious botanical oils once reserved for royalty, grab our holy basil supplements at CVS, and Instagram our turmeric lattes. But regardless of whether we're seeking inner peace or better skin—or both—the real beauty of tapping into the heritage of Ayurveda is that it teaches mindfulness, above all else.

"Ayurveda is logic," Holecek says. "The more you start listening to your body, the more, even without calling it Ayurveda, you are following Ayurvedic guidelines. That's where it starts."

1. Pratima Healing Neem Oil was developed by NYC-based Ayurvedic doctor Pratima Raichur to soothe blemishes and irritated skin.

2. Inspired by the Ayurvedic tradition of Abhyanga, Aveda Tulasāra Radiant Oleation Oil is massaged into skin after dry brushing, drawing out impurities and bestowing glow.

3. Samaya Vata Anti-Ageing Treatment Oil is a concentrated blend of rose, turmeric, ashwagandha, and tulsi.

4. Sahajan Nourish Face Cream tackles fine lines with vitamin C-packed triphala and gotu kola.

5. Holecek tested 25 family formulas before finding one that she felt could "deal with modern-day grime." The resulting uma Ultimate Brightening Rose Powder Cleanser hydrates and cleanses with marigold, rose petals, and calendula when mixed with water.

This article originally appears in the June 2017 issue of ELLE.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io