THE BEAUTY CLOSET QUESTIONNAIRE
Easy Ayurvedic Tips for Your Skin, Hair, and Life
goop beauty editors Jean Godfrey-June and Megan O’Neill love to ask—and answer—questions. On their podcast, The Beauty Closet, they’re doing both. To familiarize you with each week’s guest, we came up with a goop beauty (and life) questionnaire.
THIS WEEK WE’RE TALKING TO:
Shrankhla Holecek, founder and CEO of UMA skin care
From the skin-replenishing magic of her beautiful organic oils to easy ways to shift your energy with food or movement, UMA founder Shrankhla Holecek manages to make practices based in Ayurveda—the ancient Indian system of medicine—both simple and approachable. Her offhanded mix of glamour and down-to-earth-iness couldn’t be more charming, even when she’s giving us tips on how to use navel oil (!) on the latest episode of The Beauty Closet.
“Simply put, Ayurveda is guidance on how best to live your life,” says Holecek. “It’s taking care of your body, mental well-being, and relationships; it’s making sure to release emotions from your body so that they don’t build up as toxicity; and [it’s] eating seasonally to best serve your body.” Holecek, who’s based in LA but grew up in Mumbai, comes from a family that served as pharmacists to royalty in India starting in the 1200s. “We’ve also run an organic farm that grows Ayurvedic herbs and essential oils since then,” she says. Today the farm supplies best-in-class oils for fragrance houses like Tom Ford and Chanel, along with those for Holecek’s exquisitely formulated and packaged Ayurvedic beauty and wellness company. We can’t get enough of it; she even convinced both of us to try oil pulling. On the podcast, her advice for boosting radiance, soothing breakouts, balancing mood, and giving hair more shine is incredible, and we also love her point that wrinkles aren’t necessarily something to be erased. Here, in the goop beauty questionnaire, she keeps the amazing-beauty-tip party going.
First job?
Analyst, Linux Technology Center at IBM. As if you needed proof of my staunchly Indian roots!
Go-to weeknight recipe?
Vegetarian chickpea curry with coconut milk and white rice. For my Ayurvedic dosha—pitta—white rice is more suitable than brown; luckily, I also like it better.
Currently in your goop shopping cart?
Why Am I So Effing Tired? Incredibly effective, and at the time of writing this (three days after Election Day), incredibly needed.
Skin routine?
In the morning I use one of our UMA face masks as a cleanser—organic honey also works as cleanser—then our Brightening Rose Toner and three or four drops of Beauty Boosting Face Oil followed by SPF cream, which I’ll wear even if I don’t plan to step outside.
In the evenings, I double-cleanse and exfoliate every other night. Right now, I’m doing more face masks, even if it’s just for five minutes, followed by toner and face oil.
goop pick
I consider both face and body massage an important part of my skin-care routine, so I spend about three to five minutes doing that in the evening. I also love tools, and you’ll find me with a kansa wand or a gua sha stone or a jade roller massaging away in the evenings.
goopiest moment?
Waxing eloquent about the power of adaptogens. I’m a huge fan of them, use them a lot personally, and am happy to report that many, many friends and associates are so much happier and healthier for adding them to their lives!
goop picks
Favorite clean beauty products you don’t make?
Sunscreen. I really like Suntegrity and EIR SPF products.
Favorite hotel?
Hotel du Cap in Antibes, France.
Wouldn’t leave home without?
Right now, a face mask. Usually, a water bottle.
goop picks
Blow-dry or air-dry?
These are surreal times, and air-dry is my new normal, but over the course of the last fifteen years, it’d have to be blow-dry.
goop pick
Best great-hair trick?
Rubbing a fresh lemon or lime over my scalp just prior to washing my hair. It’s a great trick for banishing buildup and dandruff, and it also helps extend the time between washes and makes blowouts last longer, plus it gives my otherwise thin hair some volume so that it’s also far less limp on days two and three after washing.
Bath or shower?
Shower, admittedly with a tinge of regret.
goop pick
Best breakout fix?
An overnight spot treatment of turmeric, neem, and clay, or a blend of tea tree, lavender, and the tiniest dash of clove oil for daytime. And straight-up rubbing an ice cube over the spot whenever possible.
Quarantine date-night makeup look?
Dewy skin, concealer under the eyes, mascara, and a bright lip.
goop picks
Preferred form of exercise?
Currently, tennis; ordinarily, spinning. I’ve done yoga pretty regularly since I was about eight, but I don’t think of it as exercise.
Favorite scent?
Jasmine in bloom, especially on a balmy night.
goop pick
goopiest thing you want to try?
The Wim Hof Method! There’s such a multifaceted appeal to it beyond just the health benefits and longevity, like honing personal grit and discipline.
What would you put on your neon sign?
Not all who wander are lost.
