Laila Sharma demonstrates a herbal facial

It is an age of stress they say. And stress apparently comes in all varieties - physical, mental, emotional, even a stressed-out soul in some cases. Everyone from the homemaker to the call center professional next door seems to be stressed.

Where stress exists, nature cannot be far behind. All and sundry from the dietician to the health-care professional and the beauty expert, constantly remind us of the curative power of natural ingredients, especially herbs, that do wonders on a stressed out body and of-course the soul.

Echoing similar sentiments of 'Getting back to Nature' was another expert Dr Rangesh Paramesh, Senior Medical Advisor, Research and Development Wing, Himalaya Drug Company, who addressed media persons at an event organized by the company at the Golden Palms Hotel and Spa, last week.

Walking down memory lane, Dr Paramesh spoke of how the company's founder-father M Manal chanced upon a herb that mahouts used to calm elephants and began to experiment with its benefits for humans. That was nearly seventy years ago.

Having made a mark for itself in the pharma, healthcare segments eversince, Himalaya, in the late nineties unleashed an entire range of new-age personal care products that included the night repair cream, anti-wrinkle cream, fairness cream, the Ayurslim capsules and Party Smart (to fight hangovers) along with an entire gamut of hair oils and shampoos.

Keeping in mind the age group of the targeted customers (18-35 years), all of these sported a new look in terms of packaging and market positioning. "The new look meant that our products were packaged differently." "Contentwise they still had the same natural herbs as key ingredients," said Dr Paramesh while being emphatic about the immense popularity of his company's anti-dandruff shampoo among IT professionals.

"The need for change in look was felt because we realised that while customers loved to use our products, not many wanted to display them on their dressing table. We needed to bring our products 'Ayurvedic Concepts,' under the Himalay brand umbrella." "That's how we become Himalaya Herbals," Soumitro Banerjee, Business Head, Personal care division, Himlaya, told media persons.

While bringing along the goodness of Nature, Himalaya Herbalcare products come with a value addition of good smell. At least, beautician Laila Sharma, who demonstrated the use of the products, seemed to swear by those tantalizing smells!