From among all the festivals of India, Holi is the most colorful festival. In fact, Holi is essentially the festival of colors. In ancient times, the festival of holi was welcomed by making a lots of natural holi colors with the help of flowers and household ingredients. With time, people became busy and also in want of permanent colors, started using chemical laden holi colors sold in markets. This had a negative health effect on people in form of skin rashes and allergies, dry brittle hair, eye injury etc. Whatever be the harms of playing with colors, people in India cannot let go the occasion of merrymaking with colors. So, play holi and use a lots of holi colors but take some precautions before holi and some measures after holi to keep your skin, hair, eye etc. intact from harmful effects of Holi. Here are some hair care and skin care tips for a safe holi this year.Holi colours, both dry and liquid, strip your hair off its natural sheen and lustrous quality, making it dry and frizzy. This causes permanent damage to your scalp resulting in hair loss and dandruff.
The synthetic colours available in the market comprise of toxic components such as lead oxide, engine oil, diesel, chromium iodine and copper sulphate which lead to rashes on the skin, allergies, pigmentation, frizzy hair and eye irritation. In extreme cases, it can cause serious skin diseases and clogging of hair cuticles resulting in severe hair damage.
Precautions
Follow these simple precautions to enjoy Holi:
1. Avoid synthetic colours and powdered dyes. Instead opt for skin-friendly vegetable or natural colours.
2. Apply a thick layer of moisturizer, petroleum jelly or coconut oil on your face and other exposed parts to prevent dyes and colours from coming into direct contact with your skin.
3. Oil your hair and scalp with olive, coconut or castor oil. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent dandruff and infection triggered by the chemical colours.
4. Wrap a bandanna around your head to prevent direct contact with the colours.
5. A mixture of jojoba and rosemary oil can also be applied to make the right base for your hair and prevent the harmful colours from settling down.
Use Herbal Holi Colors
Use only herbal holi colors. Its true that you can't tell people coming to your home to bring herbal colors. However, you can buy a lots of herbal holi colors and offer to play holi with them only with your guests. Remember, this may cost you a little more but your skin and hair will be safe. Moreover, the cost of dermatologist and other medical expenses resulting from use of chemical holi colors will be saved. When buying herbal holi colors, feel them. They should be soft and must feel powdery, like talc or refined flour (maida) and not grainy or gritty. For a cheaper option, you can even make natural colors by doing it yourself. Tips for making such DIY herbal holi colors are given in the last section of this article.
Apply Protective Lotions or Oils Before Playing Holi
Prepare yourself for the holi colors. Although its good to wear comfortable clothes but ensure that your clothes cover the maximum of your body. Apply some oil (best ones are coconut oil and mustard oil) all over the exposed skin of your body. Paint your nails with nail polish. Apply petroleum jelly under nails, behind ears, on lips- wherever, there is the possibility of colors getting stuck. If possible, use shower cap to cover your hair. Apply some hair oil (olive oil or coconut oil) on the scalp and hair length. Oil forms a layer on your skin and hair and prevents the color from going deep into skin or hair roots. Also the holi colors come off easily when washed later. Also apply sunscreen lotion on skin after letting the oil absorb for 15 minutes. This will prevent UV rays from doing harm to skin by mixing with colors.
Remove Holi Colors Gently After Playing Holi
Try to wash off the wet holi colors as soon as possible. For dry holi colors, just rub them off gently. If you can not remove the colors immediately, don't worry about it. Enjoy the Holi with herbal colors and use the following tips to remove the colors from your skin and hair.
• Wash off your hair first with plain water so that most of the color comes off. Then use a mild herbal shampoo or home made shampoo ( made with shikakai, reetha and amla or Indian gooseberry soaked overnight, boiled and strained in the morning). If you have taken hair care and had applied oil before, you will not have any difficulty in washing off the holi colors from your hair.
• For removing the holi colors from skin, first wash with cold water. Rub some lemon wedges over the skin (lemon is a natural bleaching agent that helps remove stains). Wash it off. Apply lots of moisturizer and leave it for at least 15 minutes. You can even use cleanser for the purpose. Put some drops of lemon juice in your lukewarm bathing water (not hot) and have a bath using a mild moisturizing soap. Take care to rub the skin gently.
• If the color doesn't come off, apply some warm olive oil. Rub the skin with a soft cloth gently. Apply curd or a herbal pack made with gram flour and milk afterwards. It will soften the skin. Use face pack made by mixing gram flour & curd till it becomes a smooth paste then apply it on face & massage gently to take out the traces of color left. Avoid bleaching, waxing or facial for a week after holi (even before holi).
Skin Care: The hazardous chemicals can cause skin discolouration, dermatitis, skin allergy or irritation of mucous membrane. To prevent this,
- Use natural/skin friendly and herbal colours or the ones made by reputed companies using natural products.
-Wear clothes that cover the maximum part of your body.
-Apply waterproof sunscreen on all exposed body parts.
- Trim your nail properly .Use a thick coat of nail paint on the nails and put Vaseline under the nail edges.
-After Holi, use warm water and moisturising soap to scrub the colours off. Use a baby oil to gently massage off the left over colour. Follow this up with lots of moisturiser, especially one that is meant for sensitive skin to correct dryness.
Eye Care: Eyes are extremely vulnerable to harmful chemicals in colors. Chemicals in concentrated form can lead to kerato-conjunctivitis and staining of the cornea. Water balloons can also injure eyeball, especially in children.
To avoid this,
-Make sure that colours do not get inside your eyes. If a colour comes in contact with the eye, one should immediately wash it with large amounts of water and in case irritation persists, medical aid should be sought immediately.
-Please ensure that your eyes remain protected at all times. You can use sunglasses to protect your eyes from colour filled balloons or water jets.
Hair care:
-If possible, cover your hair. Make use of hat or caps to protect your hair from being coloured with hard-to-rinse dyes.
-Use hair gel to counter the harmful effects as colours doesn't stick on your hair and can be washed off easily later. Rinse your hair with a mild shampoo as early as possible but don’t keep on washing them again and again.
General Tips:
• Avoid running and jumping on wet floors, you can slip and injure yourself. Your bones are especially vulnerable.
• Avoid too much indulgence in bhang, alcohol or food to avoid a bad day ahead.
• Do not drive if you are high on alcohol or bhang for your and other road user’s safety.
A step-wise ways to make your skin supple and smooth & your hair shiny and healthy is detailed below:
Wash the Holi colour off using besan and malai instead of strong soaps and detergents.
Apply paste of besan and yoghurt pack as it is also highly effective in removing colour and revitalizing skin.
Follow it up by a deep moisturizing agent like almond oil or a moisturizing cream.
Use a mild shampoo to wash off hair colours and condition them using a pH balanced conditioner.
A hydrating and detanning facial is also a good option to pamper the damaged skin, post Holi.
Go in for a manicure and pedicure to cleanse the colours off the nails.
If possible visit a dermatologist post Holi to get a microdermabrasion or a peel treatment done to strip off the damaged layers followed by a hydrating mask to make the skin soft and supple.
Mesothreapy (Mesoglow) is another option to regain the lost charm of skin. In this therapy superficial injections of vitamins and other skin brightening agents are imbibed in the skin with a gunshot.
Keeping all these things in mind, let us make this Holi fun filled and safe for all of us.
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