Haldi, a pre wedding ceremony at Indian weddings where a paste made out of haldi, oil and water is applied to groom and bride on the morning of the wedding. For ages, using ubtans made at home has been a ritual when there is a wedding in the house. Bride's and Groom's natural glow would depend on her diet and the homemade ubtans made using the inexpensive kitchen ingredients the elders in the house would give her.

I got married last month and undoubtedly, I had to make a homemade 'Bridal Ubtan’ for my haldi. I strongly recommend that you add this ancient Bridal Ubtan to your routine. Do it twice a week for 1 month straight and you’ll see results yourself. Even if you are not a bride to be, you can still use this ubtan for healthy glowing skin.

Being a certified formulator, I added only a certain percentage of haldi instead of making the ubtan “yellow” in color. Turmeric is a spice, if not used in right quantity it can actually cause burning sensation on skin and also leave behind yellow tint (which I surely wanted to avoid on the wedding day). My haldi day Ubtan wasn’t yellow in color (as per the norms) but it was the perfect herbal blend that my skin needed and it smelled heavenly.

Ubtan Recipe for Bride & Groom

In a bowl, mix all of these ingredients together.

- 2 tablespoons Colloidal Oatmeal

- 4 tablespoons finely ground Almonds Powder

- 2 tablespoons Licorice Powder

- 1 tablespoon Vetiver (khus) Powder

- 1 tablespoon Haldi

- ¼ teaspoon Fennel Powder (fine powder)

- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom Powder (fine powder)

Store this in an airtight jar. Can be used within 2 months if you use completely dry tools and utensils to make it & store it properly.

How to use this Ubtan?

Take the desired amount in a glass/ceramic bowl, add some Gurbandi Almond Oil and make it into a thick paste with water. Let it activate for 10 minutes and then apply it all over your face & body, once semi dry start removing it while gently scrubbing off the ubtan with some water.

Benefits of using this Ubtan

Colloidal Oatmeal naturally sloughs away dirt, oil, and dead skin cells while soothing itchiness, rashes or any sort of inflammation on skin. Finely ground almonds powder adds slight exfoliation to the ubtan. In fact it also adds a slight creaminess to the product. Licorice Powder if used regularly can help lighten hyperpigmentation and acne marks. It soothes sensitive and irritated skin. Vetiver Powder adds a grounding aroma to the ubtan while also working on soothing and cooling skin. We all know the benefits for Haldi. I added fennel and cardamom powder for the aroma but in addition to that they both act as skin pores purifier by removing bacteria and dirt.

Variations

If you have extremely oily skin, add gram flour (besan) instead of colloidal oatmeal. You can add few drops of vegetable glycerine while activating the ubtan to make it nourishing for dry skin. For acne, 1 teaspoon of neem powder can be added as well. Click here to get the ingredients used in making Ubtans.