I have battled acne since I was a teenager and I still have bouts of adult acne. My dermatologist says this is how it is going to be till I hit menopause. Of late, I have realised no topical medicines help you for your skin. What actually helps you are your lifestyle and the foods you eat. And, so now I concentrate more on eating homemade and clean food, exercise well and use natural ingredients for my skin. And, this is where natural homemade ubtan recipe comes into the picture. I have observed that my skin gets fewer eruptions of acne these days and looks brighter.

Natural homemade bath powder recipe for family
Earlier I had mentioned that how I have been using lentil flours for making homemade ubtan (natural bathing powders). This post will talk about other ingredients that I add to lentil flours to make easy natural homemade ubtan recipe for family.
I use four lentil flours – masoor dal, besan, green gram and black gram. However, I pick any one of them on a given day.

Homemade Bath Powder Benefits
Here are a few ubtan benefits:
- Cleanses the skin
- Tones the skin
- Exfoliates
- Reduces facial hair growth
- Stimulates blood circulation
- Improves skin complexion
- Controls acne, black heads, other skin infections like eczema, etc.
This is an ayurvedic ubtan recipe. To masoor dal or besan flour, I add:
- Turmeric – Turmeric has anti-ageing and skin lightening properties. It cures acne and lightens scars.
- Rose petal powder – It controls oil production, tones the skin and moisturises it. It is used as a face cleanser.
- Orange peel powder – It lightens the skins, fights acne and delays wrinkles.
- Neem leaf powder – It’s anti-septic, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-fungal properties makes it very popular in ubtans. It fights acne, heals scars, treats pigmentation, moisturises the skin, exfoliates, treats skin infections.
- Sandalwood powder – It fights acne, removes suntan, soothes sunburn and controls drying of skin and wrinkles.

Homemade face mask for family
Of these, I add only one:
- Honey – It moisturises, lightens the scars and spots, and heals acne.
- Lemon juice – It reduces acne, removes blemishes and brightens the skin.
- Raw milk – It naturally cleans the face, moisturises, lightens tan, exfoliates, soothes sunburn.
- Curd – Curd improves the complexion, reduces acne, exfoliates and moisturises the skin.
Make a thick paste, add a little water if need be. Apply it on your face and body. Leave it for a while till it dries a little. Wash it with plain water.
How often should ubtan be applied?
I bathe with this ubtan every day. However, as far as black gram and green gram ubtans are concerned, I use once or twice a week as they are used as body scrubs.
A few things to remember while making or using ubtan:
- Don’t apply soap after this ubtan. This natural ubtan recipe cleanses your body.
- Masoor dal and besan have almost similar properties; they are used as skin cleansers and skin-lightening agents, while green gram and black gram are good for exfoliating. Remember this while making ubtans.
- Besan or masoor dal ubtan can be applied on babies. I use this ubtan for my daughter as well. However, I add less orange peel powder and neem leaf powder for her ubtan as orange peel gives a slight burning sensation and neem if accidentally goes into the mouth tastes bitter.
- Add raw milk or curd in the ubtan and it becomes an ideal homemade ubtan for summers.
- Add sesame seed oil/almond oil instead of curd in the winter as oils are warm in nature.
- Anything that is eaten can be added to make natural homemade ubtan for babies or adults. For example, you can add cucumber juice, oatmeal, nut oil, etc.
- Post pregnancy and during my confinement period, I used crushed almonds for exfoliation. I will tell you about it in another post.
- You can mix the powders and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Leftover wet ubtan must be covered, kept in the fridge and used the next day itself.
I also make homemade natural scrubs that are made using only 2-ingredients. They are easy-peasy and great for your skin.
Check out my post on 7 simple homemade face scrubs from your kitchen
This is an easy natural homemade ubtan recipe for family. It not only makes me feel clean and refreshed, but also good as there are no artificial agents or colours involved and so it is easy on the environment as well. Very soon, I will post a natural homemade ubtan for babies. I applied it on my newborn daughter.
Meena
Very informative Anshu. Will try.
mammaspeaks
Thank you Meena! Do try! Hope you are participating in Alexa in september?
Meena
Yeah, I am hoping to. What about you? Just a question though: does it make sense only for people who host their own blogs? I don’t own the domain of my blog. It is with wordpress.
mammaspeaks
Meena, I have two blogs – one for parenting which is self hosted and the other one is a free one, not even domain is registered like you. So for this Alexa thing, I chose to go for the parenting blog, as I need the ranking for it. You are right, without self hosted, Alexa doesn’t make any sense – but at least you will be motivated to write more often and network with the community. Will check out your blog if you have participated or not. Would like to read you more often!! 🙂
Meena
Thanks Anshu. Could not post on 1st sep. Will do today. Trying to write an 8 part story. Lets see.
mammaspeaks
Awesome…look forward to reading it!
Huma Masood
Hey Anshu very informative post.
mammaspeaks
Thank you Huma! Glad you liked it!
alpanadeo
I love orange peel in my ubtan and masoor all is my other favorite. It just gives an instant glow on my face.
#MothersGurukulreads #MyFriendAlexa
mammaspeaks
I am sure, I love the smell of orange peel too in my ubtan! 🙂
Mayuri6
I am a big fan of natural skin care, and Anshu your post is a treasure trove of information!
I am going to try this Ubtan as soon as I can!
Abhijit Ray
This is an interesting blog. Not only this blog teaches dos and donts for families with new born babies. Most interesting is creating bathing recipe using lentil. This is new information for me. Loved to learn this recipe.
mammaspeaks
Hi Abhijit, all newborns are bathed with besan which is chana dal powder. Other dals are used too, but not very popular.
Abhijit Ray
You will pardon my ignorance. I was speaking in a positive way.
mammaspeaks
Hey Abhijit, I was not remarking on your ignorance or anything. Just stressing my point that besan has been used to bathe babies. Please don’t take it as a personal comment.
writenlive
All these ubtans sound exciting. I am sold on their benefits.
Please tell me how to procure the ingredients? Do you use store bought lentil flours? What about other things like neem leaf powder, orange peel powder etc? Can these be made at home by drying and crushing?
mammaspeaks
Hi Sona. I get them from an ayurvedic shop near Andheri station. I get lentils grinded from a flour mill. Neem leaf powder, orange peel powder, rose petal powder – you get everything in the ayurvedic shop. However, if you want to make them at home, you just need to sun dry them and grind them. But I guess I am lazy, also we don’t have our own terrace, so hesitate to do it! 🙂
writenlive
Thanks Anshu!
I’ll get my flours ground from the local shop. Let me look for an Ayurvedic products store in my area.
Would love to try this!
mammaspeaks
Do let me know Sona if you liked the ubtan! Or in case you can’t find the shop!
writenlive
Definitely, Anshu. The ubtan is on my To Do list 🙂
Agnivo Niyogi
This is a very informative post. Will definitely try the ubtan at home.
mammaspeaks
Thank you Agnivo! Do let me know once you try it! I tried commenting on your post, but it showed ‘Comments closed’. I hope it’s not by mistake!
talesofsuchita
The word ‘ubtan’ reminded me of a story my mom loves to tell me of how I would eat because it tasted so yum. Excellent coverage of information. Will keep it handy,
mammaspeaks
Ha ha, that’s funny, I am sure your mom would be making tasty ubtans. Thank you!
Sonam Jain
This is a bundle of information.. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully I’ll try out some
mammaspeaks
Thank you Sonam! Glad you liked it.
akashpatwari
Hey.loved d article..can i get quick natural remedies to remove acne scars from cheek. #MyFriendAlexa #FlavorsofworldRead
mammaspeaks
Hi Akash, thanks a lot. I would suggest include lemon in you diet, lemon juice in warm water after your meals would help. Use ubtans instead of facewash/soap. I would suggest – masoor dal with lemon juice, turmeric, orange peel, rose water, and chandan. You can rub fresh pudina juice on the acne. However, remember that healthy and clean eating is the best remedy for any skin related issues.
Dr.Amrita
I love besab and curd as an easy ubtan.Loved all the tips you shared.Will try with raw milk.
mammaspeaks
Even I love besan and dahi. Rubbing raw milk on your face lightens skin tone, dark circles ..I used it a lot as a teenager. 🙂
momsmethods
I use many of these home made powders too but have not tried using sandalwood powder not the green or black gram powder. Didn’t know about their exfoliation properties. Will surely give it a shot.
mammaspeaks
I try to use different flour powders – gives me variety! 🙂
writershilpa
I have been meaning to read this post since I first read about your ubtans. So, I read it today….and it was so informative! Thanks Anshu for all this info! And, congratulations, once again!
mammaspeaks
Thank you Shilpa. Am so glad you liked it. Would like to do a follow up post for scrubs too! 🙂
writershilpa
Sounds like a good idea, Anshu! What do you have in mind?
mammaspeaks
Thank you Shilpa. Collecting ideas and trying recipes for homemade scrubs. 🙂 How does that sound???
writershilpa
Sounds exciting! 🙂