Every morning, I always found a small cup on my mother’s kitchen counter with a smooth mixture of brownish clay and rose water. After the morning hustle and bustle subsided, she’d apply it to her face, wait for 10 minutes, and rinse it off. It was a ritual she followed religiously, claiming it was the secret to her smooth and glowing skin. I often wondered what the clay was, and it was only much later that I realized that it was Multani mitti.

Also called fuller’s earth or mud of Multan, this ingredient has been used by homemakers like my mother and grand mother as well as skin experts for decades. Skin care beauty products

It’s also a staple ingredient in herbal formulations, Ayurvedic beauty treatments, and ubtans Ayurvedic treatments to cleanse and detox the body often used before traditional Indian weddings.

What is Multani Mitti

Multani mitti is a mineral rich clay like substance that gets its name from its city of origin, Multan in modern day Pakistan. With a texture that’s much finer than clay and with a higher water content, Multani mitti is known for decolorizing oil and other liquids without harsh adverse reactions.

Fuller’s earth was popularly mined in the state of Multan and exported to other regions of the Indian subcontinent. Thus, it came to be known as Multani Mitti, says Jatin Gujrati, founder of Ayurvedic lifestyle brand Vedix. “Princesses and affluent women in Indian history always had a stash of Multani mitti along with sandalwood paste and gram flour, which they used for beauty treatments.”

Benefits of Multani Mitti

Multani mitti or fuller’s earth is used as a natural cleanser, offering a host of benefits for the skin, including: Reducing oil, Fighting acne, Balancing and brightening skin tone, Reducing pigmentation, removing sweat, impurities, and dead skin cells, eliminating blackheads and whiteheads, controlling excessive oil production, shrinking the appearance of pores, cooling the skin, soothing irritation caused by inflammation, increased retention of nutrients and moisture, improved circulation, and a tightening exfoliating effect. Skin care products collection

Multani mitti can be used in multiple ways as a beauty treatment

Face pack

In India, tightening face masks are often referred to as face packs. Multani mitti makes a great face pack and can be combined with other ingredients to suit different skin types. It has both a cooling and tightening effect, helps reduce lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation while cleansing the skin.

Spot treatment

Because of its oil-absorbing properties, Multani mitti makes a great spot treatment. You can use a bit of a face mask or mix Multani mitti powder with water and dab it on pimples to dry them up and reduce redness.

Exfoliant

Multani mitti is very effective in removing dead cells from the surface of the skin.

Face mask

Multani mitti can be mixed with other ingredients to create a moisturizing and brightening face mask like papaya, turmeric, aloe vera, egg whites, tomato pulp, yogurt, lemon and honey.