Beyond glamour, diamonds, festivities, and other ingredients to an unforgettable wedding, comes the oft-overlooked art becoming a bride. Through the ageless lens of Solah Shringar, Suparna Trikha reveals the techniques which can make today’s brides glow with inner beauty.
Well before wedding preparation evolved to include a barrage of appointments and treatments, Indian brides underwent an array of rituals called Solah Shringar, 16 timeless preparations intended to honor not just a bride’s physical appearance but her transition to an entirely new stage of life.
These were not hurried rituals conducted in the last few days before the wedding ceremony. They began months prior, and progressed gradually as the wedding preparation took shape, to ensure the bride feels nurtured and celebrated and glows from the inside out. In royal as well as ancestral families, hair was afforded the value of a crown, and treated no differently. Oils with rare and exotic herbs as ingredients, flowers, and other botanical ingredients were carefully massaged into the scalp and strands, restoring health and making hair shiny. The hair was then washed with floral waters with delicate aromas of rose, jasmine, and kewra, showcasing how the abundant gifts of nature work in tandem to enrich the bridal helm. Just like the face, the neck and décolleté got an equally elaborate care too. Leppams were handmade and carefully formulated with healing clays and flower roots, attars, honey and finely ground botanical powder. In some traditions, formulations included traces of precious metals and gemstones, gold, silver, and the link. The ingredients used were then thoroughly pounded, brewed and refined and applied as a mask, turning the process of self-care into a ritual. As different as the world in which today’s bride lives is from that of her ancestors, her aspirations remain the same. No matter how artistic her appearance may look, nothing beats the glow of well-nourished, rested skin.
Body treatments involved making the skin glow from head to toe through luxurious ubtans made from gram flour, wild turmeric, sandalwood, saffron milk, honey and exotic flowers’ petals. Once applied after a slow and luxurious body massage, these combinations made the skin smooth and glowing with radiance that might as well have come from the inside. One of my favorite pieces of advice to brides-to-be is to follow a slower, calmer beauty routine in the period leading to the wedding. Start with a deeply relaxing body massage with rose-infused oils. In addition to their exquisite smell, the oils make the skin soft, nourished and comfortable as well as promote emotional wellbeing, something every bride needs in the atmosphere of excitement and anticipation. And then there are the hands and feet, the unsung heroes of any wedding day. They carry the mehndi, the rings, the movements and blessings. Traditionally, brides soaked them in vessels filled with floral water, milk and botanical oils. Today, even if luxury manicures and pedicures have become the modern version of this ritual, the idea remains the same, care and refinement. I always recommend brides to start weekly manicures and pedicures a month before the wedding. These treatments should be followed by a nighttime routine of massaging the hands and feet with sweet almond oil, followed by movements of a kansa wand. Over time, the routine will make the skin softer, improve blood circulation and help relax before going to bed. The true essence of Solah Shringar is that a bride should feel as beautiful as she looks. It’s an opportunity to slow down, take care of the skin and yourself, and arrive at the wedding looking gorgeous and glowing with joy and confidence.