Amongst all the moving parts of planning an Indian wedding, one thing we encourage brides to pay even more attention to in the months before their wedding is their skincare regimen. And when we say months before, the earlier you start, the better. And continue even after you get married. These are ageless beauty tips.
Make sure you’re drinking at least 8 glasses (64 oz.) of water everyday. Bonus points if you add lemon juice in it.
In addition, ShaadiShop collaborates with hair and makeup artist Rani, the Founder at Beauty by Rani to bring you practical beauty tips to follow before your wedding.
When I say “practical”, I mean, our thing is to provide you tips that you can implement easily, with minimal having to go out and buy stuff and minimal cost. All of our tips are DIY, with a focus on natural ingredients, that you might even already have at your home.
This week we’re talking about yogurt face masks.
{The Yogurt Face Mask for Every Indian Bride}
Being South Asian you’ve probably grown up accustomed to seeing yogurt in your home. Perhaps freshly made and for sure, almost every container in your refrigerator – only when you opened it, usually there was anything but yogurt in there!
Clearly yogurt has some health benefits, otherwise our families wouldn’t consume so much of it. But yogurt is also a great skincare tool too!
{Save Your Time and Money: Try Natural First}
Samta: I am in a few South Asian women’s Facebook groups and almost weekly participants post questions about skincare recommendations. And we rarely see anyone reply with advice or share about natural, DIY masks or simple things like drinking lemon water. I kinda think our elders and ancestors were on to something with all the recommendations to use turmeric (haldi), gooseberries (amla) in our hair and yogurt and chickpea flour, (besan).
The whole reason we have a haldi ceremony, aka pithi aka holud as a major tradition in Indian weddings is because haldi is a cleaning agent that makes your skin beautiful, fresh, and glow.
So we recommend starting with natural products? Try them out first and see if they work. And if they don’t work the multi-billion dollar skincare industry has a plethora of products for women to buy.
{What Makes Yogurt So Beneficial?}
What’s so great about yogurt? So many things! Yogurt contains lactic acid, a type of alpha hydroxyl acid, that dissolves dead skin cells. It is used as a gentle exfoliant which helps create a natural glow and prevents breakouts. When used on the skin it helps to moisturize, fight acne, prevent premature aging, relieve sunburn, and reduce discoloration. It’s an all-around beauty multi-tasker!
Yogurt is also a staple in Indian curries, and is almost always mixed with henna, turmeric, and honey for super-beauty boosting masks.
Here are the ingredients for a super beneficial DIY facial mask recipe:
- 2 tablespoons rosewater
- 6-7 fresh rose petals
- 1 tablespoon PLAIN yogurt
- 1 teaspoon honey
Crush rose petals in a bowl and add rosewater, plain yogurt, and honey and mix well. Apply to the skin and leave it on for 10-20 minutes, then rinse. Just be sure to use a plain yogurt – not any of the fruity ones as those have a lot of added sugars. And use organic whenever you can.
repeat: 1-3x per week
You can buy plain yogurt at any grocery store. For organic yogurt
{Another Yogurt Mask}
- 1 tablespoon PLAIN yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon haldi powder (turmeric)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (in liquid form)
- 1/2 teaspoon besan (chickpea flour)
- juice from half of a lemon
Mix all of the ingredients together and apply to your face; let sit for 15-20 minutes (until it’s dry), then rinse with lukewarm water. Your skin will look healthier and positively glowing. Again, please make sure you use plain yogurt, not the ones with fruit added.
DISCLAIMER: As with any skin care regimen, always do a test patch first to see if your skin is allergic to any of the ingredients. Please discontinue use if your skin does not react well to the regimen. Never use products that you are allergic to. Always check with your doctors before using products.
ProTip provided by Beauty by Rani, offering full bridal makeup services in Southern California for over 8 years.
{Take Aways}
Take care of yourself! I know you’re so busy with work and planning your wedding but if you can, especially in the months before your wedding, you’ll see a big positive difference in your skin if you drink a lot of water (at least 64oz. aka 8 glasses) per day and if you do regular masks, in addition to your normal everyday skincare regimen.
This yogurt mask should save you time as you probably already have all of the ingredients at home.
In case you missed it, here’s a link to our post about DIY coffee masks, a natural way to decrease dark under eye circles as well as a turmeric facemask. All of these are beneficial for exfoliated, glowing skin. We share a variety so you can find one that works for you.
I hope this article has been helpful to you. If it has, let me know in the comments and you might like to follow ShaadiShop on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest – as we frequently publish articles to help make Indian wedding planning a little bit easier.
From all of us at ShaadiShop and Beauty by Rani, congratulations and cheers to your upcoming wedding!
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