The wedding day is something a girl grows up thinking of- a day when the world revolves around her for once so everyone wants to look and feel their best at this day. It isn't surprising if girls start taking care of themselves a little more than usual before the big day. The tradition has been around for centuries. Every culture features a different form of this pampering for the bride-to-be from bathing with milk to scrubing with ubtan. Our South Asian culture is rich in this regard, with the grand ma totkas and spa treatment going together.
Back in old times, the bride used to confine herself to a specific room in the house and just focus on pampering herself, traditionally she wore an outfit for this occasion not change her it for a week or so or maybe even longer. Ubtan was said to be her best friend during this all time prepared by elder women in the family. It contained a hundred different things- be it special herbs, almond powder, almond extract (khal), multani mud, sandal powder, gaisu flowers, orange and cucumber peels, turmeric and chickpea powder (besan) all ground to a thick paste and then applied to her whole body including the face.
Many families still carry on with the tradition but as the times change, and the brides become more and more involved in the process of planning their own weddings, mayoon times are shrunken to a couple of days and the bride often goes out for her pre-bridal services in the midst. Ubtan still remains an important part of the tradition. One can find a number of pre-made ubtan in the local market but still, their purity is a concern. Home-made stuff rules!
Hearing so much about ubtan, I decided give it a try but then thinking of all the "khwari" of gathering all the ingredients, I opted for a ready to use ubtan from a reliable company- Saeed Ghani. Their herbal products are really popular and since I had a good experience with their whitening face-wash, I ordered a pack of their Khas Sandal Ubtan and Whitening Ubtan from just4girls.pk. Those in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi can visit their outlets and others may order online from Saeed Ghani.
Other things I got from Saeed Ghani were a jar of Almond Scrub, Whitening face wash and Aloe Vera face wash. All the stuff is great. Will review them in detail someday. *lazy*
My makeup artist advised 3 facials in the month before the big day. I was skeptical about their effects since I was not much used to facials but it turned out they work really good, wondrous at times. If you are getting facials, you don't to work that hard. You just need to keep them working. Initially, I was using ubtan for this but then the makeup lady told me to avoid anything on the face and not risk it, according to her facials are enough for the face. For rest of the body, go ahead with all ubtan you want. :/
So if you aren't getting facials yet, a flawless skin is still achievable. Good old "Cleanse, tone, moisturize" is still valid for that. Begin with removing all traces of makeup with a makeup remover (Clean & Clear, L'Oreal) or any simple Cleansing milk or baby lotion. Then exfoliate- ubtan or scrub work in the same ways. But make sure you don't use a harsh scrub on your face. You might even just go to the kitchen and make your own scrub with fine-grained sugar, lemon and olive oil (oily skin) or sugar, honey and green tea (dry skin)
Use toner in the next step if you would like to reduce your pore size. Can't recommend something as I opt to skip this part).
Lastly, moisturize! and moisturize a lot! But with something that doesn't break you out. My favorite is L'Oreal Purezone and Johnson's baby lotion. And of course lots and lots of water would keep it hydrated.
Keep yourself pampered! :)
Back in old times, the bride used to confine herself to a specific room in the house and just focus on pampering herself, traditionally she wore an outfit for this occasion not change her it for a week or so or maybe even longer. Ubtan was said to be her best friend during this all time prepared by elder women in the family. It contained a hundred different things- be it special herbs, almond powder, almond extract (khal), multani mud, sandal powder, gaisu flowers, orange and cucumber peels, turmeric and chickpea powder (besan) all ground to a thick paste and then applied to her whole body including the face.
Many families still carry on with the tradition but as the times change, and the brides become more and more involved in the process of planning their own weddings, mayoon times are shrunken to a couple of days and the bride often goes out for her pre-bridal services in the midst. Ubtan still remains an important part of the tradition. One can find a number of pre-made ubtan in the local market but still, their purity is a concern. Home-made stuff rules!
Hearing so much about ubtan, I decided give it a try but then thinking of all the "khwari" of gathering all the ingredients, I opted for a ready to use ubtan from a reliable company- Saeed Ghani. Their herbal products are really popular and since I had a good experience with their whitening face-wash, I ordered a pack of their Khas Sandal Ubtan and Whitening Ubtan from just4girls.pk. Those in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi can visit their outlets and others may order online from Saeed Ghani.
Other things I got from Saeed Ghani were a jar of Almond Scrub, Whitening face wash and Aloe Vera face wash. All the stuff is great. Will review them in detail someday. *lazy*
My makeup artist advised 3 facials in the month before the big day. I was skeptical about their effects since I was not much used to facials but it turned out they work really good, wondrous at times. If you are getting facials, you don't to work that hard. You just need to keep them working. Initially, I was using ubtan for this but then the makeup lady told me to avoid anything on the face and not risk it, according to her facials are enough for the face. For rest of the body, go ahead with all ubtan you want. :/
So if you aren't getting facials yet, a flawless skin is still achievable. Good old "Cleanse, tone, moisturize" is still valid for that. Begin with removing all traces of makeup with a makeup remover (Clean & Clear, L'Oreal) or any simple Cleansing milk or baby lotion. Then exfoliate- ubtan or scrub work in the same ways. But make sure you don't use a harsh scrub on your face. You might even just go to the kitchen and make your own scrub with fine-grained sugar, lemon and olive oil (oily skin) or sugar, honey and green tea (dry skin)
Use toner in the next step if you would like to reduce your pore size. Can't recommend something as I opt to skip this part).
Lastly, moisturize! and moisturize a lot! But with something that doesn't break you out. My favorite is L'Oreal Purezone and Johnson's baby lotion. And of course lots and lots of water would keep it hydrated.
Keep yourself pampered! :)
amazing very nice article
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