Mukhalepa: Vagbhata's 6 Ayurvedic Face Packs for Every Season (Ashtanga Hridaya)

Quick takeaway: Mukhalepa is Vagbhata's classical face-pack protocol from Ashtanga Hridaya (Sutrasthana, Chapter 22, c.500 CE) — not one recipe but six, one per Indian season (shadrtu). Each paste counters the dosha rising that climate: nourishing herbs like Lodhra for winter vata, cooling ingredients for summer pitta. Vagbhata promises smoother, lotus-like skin.

📖 9 min read  ·  Updated 10 May 2026

What Is Mukhalepa?

Most ayurvedic face pack guides give you one paste and tell you to apply it twice a week. The classical texts don't work that way. In Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutrasthana, Chapter 22 — the same chapter that describes oil pulling, head oils and ear drops — Acharya Vagbhata defines Mukhalepa (literally "face anointment") as a therapeutic paste applied to the face, and then he gives six different recipes for six different seasons.

The promise is striking. In verse 8 he writes that proper application of mukhalepa "relieves premature wrinkling of the skin, graying of hair and baldness, cataract, pigmentation." Verse 22 closes the section with the line: "Regular use of mukhalepa will be useful to get good vision and complexion. Face will become smooth and resembles a lotus flower." This is one of the earliest written ayurvedic face pack protocols, and it has shaped Indian skincare for over 1,500 years.

Why Ayurveda Prescribes Six Face Packs, Not One

Indian classical seasons (the shadrtu) are different from the Western four. Ayurveda divides the year into six two-month windows — Hemanta (early winter), Sisira (late winter), Vasanta (spring), Grisma (summer), Varsa (monsoon) and Sarad (autumn) — and each one shifts the body's dosha balance in a predictable way.

• Cold months (Hemanta, Sisira) push vata up and dry the skin out.
• Spring (Vasanta) liquefies the kapha that accumulated over winter and releases it as breakouts and oiliness.
• Summer (Grisma) raises pitta, causing tan, redness and burning.
• Monsoon (Varsa) destabilises everything but especially aggravates vata-pitta in the bloodstream.
• Autumn (Sarad) is when the heat of summer surfaces — pitta peaks again, this time more inflammatory.

Vagbhata's six face packs are not arbitrary. Each one's ingredient list is tuned to the dominant dosha of that season. Read in order, the six recipes describe a complete year of Indian skincare. We've explained the broader seasonal rhythm in our Ritucharya guide.

Hemanta Rtu (Early Winter) — Kolamajjadi Mukhalepa

Early winter is the start of vata's rise. The skin tightens, dries, flakes around the nostrils and shows the first lines of the year. Vagbhata's recipe is built around four warming, oil-rich, nourishing herbs:

• Kola majja — the fatty marrow of the Indian jujube fruit (Zizyphus jujuba). Rich and emollient; offsets winter dryness.
• Vrsa mula — root of Adathoda vasica (Vasaka). Mild astringent that tightens skin without drying.
• Sabara / Lodhra — bark of Symplocos racemosa. The classical Ayurvedic skin-tightening agent; reduces surface redness.
• Goura sarsapa — yellow mustard seed (Brassica campestris). Warms the skin and increases local circulation.

Hemanta's pack is greasier and richer than the others by design. It is the one season where Vagbhata wants you to feed the face, not just clean it. Modern equivalent: a thick mask base of Multani Mitti mixed with sesame oil or ghee, applied warm.

Sisira Rtu (Late Winter) — Simhimuladi Mukhalepa

Sisira (mid-January to mid-March) is the coldest part of the Indian year. Vata is at its peak; kapha is starting to accumulate beneath the surface, ready to surface in spring. Vagbhata's recipe deliberately balances both:

• Simhi mula — root of Solanum indicum. Anti-inflammatory and mildly drying.
• Krsna tila — black sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum). Heating, deeply nourishing, vata-pacifying.
• Darvi — Berberis aristata root. The yellow alkaloid berberine; antimicrobial and brightening.
• Twak — true cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum zeylanicum). Warming, antibacterial.
• Nistusa yava — husked barley (Hordeum vulgare). Adds the gentle exfoliating texture.

This is a more "scrubby" pack than Hemanta. Black sesame and cinnamon warm; barley and berberis tighten and brighten. The result: skin that doesn't feel stretched in the cold but also doesn't trap kapha as it builds up.

Vasanta Rtu (Spring) — Darbhamuladi Mukhalepa

Spring is when the body's stored kapha melts. The skin gets oilier, breakouts return, and old congestion comes to the surface. Vagbhata's spring recipe is the most "decongesting" of the six:

• Darbha mula — root of Desmostachya bipinnata. Cooling and mildly diuretic to the skin.
• Hima / sweta candana — white sandalwood (Santalum album). The classical pitta-pacifier and brightening agent.
• Usira — vetiver root (Veteveria zizanioides). Cooling, antibacterial, controls oil.
• Sirisa — Albizzia lebbeck bark. Anti-allergic — perfect for the spring pollen flare-up.
• Misi / satapuspa — dill seeds (Peucedanum graveolens). Gentle astringent.
• Tandula — rice flour. Polishing exfoliant.

Sandalwood and vetiver are still the foundation of every serious "Ayurvedic acne" pack sold today. Vagbhata had the formula 1,500 years ago.

Grisma Rtu (Summer) — Kumudadi Mukhalepa

Summer is pitta's home. The skin tans, reddens, prickles and burns. Vagbhata's summer recipe reads almost like a recipe for rasam — every single ingredient is cooling:

• Kumuda — white water lily (Nymphaea alba). Profoundly cooling.
• Utpala — blue water lily (Nymphaea stellata). Calms inflamed skin.
• Kalhara — another lotus variety. Soothing, edge-softening.
• Durva — Cynodon dactylon grass. Anti-inflammatory.
• Madhuka — licorice / mulethi (Glycyrrhiza glabra). The single most effective melanin-modulating Ayurvedic herb; reduces tan and pigmentation.
• Candana — sandalwood. The cooling base.

This is the pack to copy if you spend afternoons in Indian summer sunlight. The combination of three water lilies, licorice and sandalwood is essentially a classical post-sun recovery formula. Our practical guide on Ayurvedic sunburn remedies follows the same logic.

Varsa Rtu (Monsoon) — Kallyakadi Mukhalepa

Monsoon humidity destabilises every dosha. The blood gets impure, skin breaks out unpredictably, and fungal patches appear. Vagbhata's recipe focuses on raktashodhana — blood purification:

• Kallyaka — Coscinium fenestratum. A yellow alkaloid-rich wood; one of the strongest Ayurvedic blood purifiers.
• Tila — sesame. Adds the lipid base monsoon skin needs.
• Usira — vetiver, again, for cooling.
• Mamsi / jatamamsi — Nardostachys jatamansi. Calming aromatic; controls stress-related breakouts.
• Tagara — Indian valerian (Valeriana wallichii). Sedative, anti-inflammatory.
• Padmaka — Prunus cerasoides. Cooling, anti-microbial.

The monsoon pack has a noticeably aromatic profile (jatamansi, tagara, padmaka are all fragrance-active). Vagbhata wasn't being decorative — these herbs also reduce fungal activity, which is exactly what humid skin needs.

Sarad Rtu (Autumn) — Talisadi Mukhalepa

Autumn is when summer's heat surfaces. Skin looks tanned, dehydrated, sometimes inflamed underneath despite cool morning air. Pitta peaks. Vagbhata's autumn recipe is rich, resinous and deeply pitta-pacifying:

• Talisapatri — Taxus baccata. Aromatic, anti-inflammatory.
• Gundra — Typha elephantina rhizome. Cooling and astringent.
• Pundrahwa / prapoundarika — a cooling lotus-family herb.
• Yasti — licorice / mulethi. Reduces stubborn pigmentation from summer.
• Kasa — Saccharum spontaneum. Astringent and softening.
• Nata / tagara — Indian valerian, again.
• Aguru — agarwood (Aquilaria agallocha). Resinous; warms cold autumn skin without aggravating residual heat.

Sarad is the recovery pack — it undoes the damage of Grisma. Licorice and lotus carry forward; agaru and talisapatri add a warming-but-grounding element that makes the formula work as the air starts to cool.

How to Apply Mukhalepa Properly (Vagbhata's Method)

Vagbhata gives surprisingly modern application instructions:

1. Cleanse first. The face must be clean before the lepa goes on, ideally after a warm wash.
2. Make a fresh paste. Powder + a seasonal liquid (rose water in summer, milk in winter, plain water in monsoon).
3. Apply against the direction of facial hair. This is the classical instruction — it helps the herbs sit in pores.
4. Layer thickness should be that of "a wet petal" — thick enough to stay moist for the duration but thin enough to dry evenly.
5. Leave on until just before fully dry. Do not let it crack — Vagbhata explicitly warns against this. A fully cracked, dried mask pulls moisture out of the skin (this is the whole reason "what to do after applying Multani Mitti" is a popular question — see our aftercare guide).
6. Rinse with the same temperature water as the season demands — cold for Grisma and Sarad, lukewarm otherwise.
7. Always finish with an oil. Sesame oil in winter, Kumkumadi Tailam in spring/autumn, gulab jal + a single drop of Kumkumadi in summer.

When NOT to Apply Mukhalepa

Vagbhata is unusually direct about contraindications. Verse 7: "Mukhalepa is contraindicated for the persons suffering from coryza, indigestion, immediately after nasya karma, lock-jaw, anorexia and insomnia." Translated:

Modern dermatology echoes this — applying a clay-based mask when the body is dehydrated, sleep-deprived or congested actually worsens skin texture instead of improving it. Vagbhata had observed the same thing without an electron microscope.

Modern Mukhalepa: Multani Mitti, Kumkumadi & Ubtan

You don't need to source kallyaka wood or Himalayan vetiver to follow Vagbhata's logic. Indian D2C ayurvedic skincare today rests on three modern equivalents of his classical mukhalepas:

• Multani Mitti (Fuller's earth) — the universal cooling, oil-absorbing, mildly tightening pack base. Read our complete Multani Mitti guide for season-by-season ratios.
• Ubtan — the powdered chickpea + sandalwood + turmeric blend that mimics Vagbhata's herbal pastes.
• Kumkumadi Tailam — the classical Bhavaprakasha facial oil (25+ botanicals) that finishes every pack and provides nourishment Vagbhata otherwise gets from sesame oil + ghee.

If you want a one-line modern-to-classical translation: Multani Mitti Ubtan = the pack base, Gulab Jal = the spring/summer mixing liquid, Kumkumadi Tailam = the finishing oil, ghee = the winter additive.

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