The festival of colors and water has most of us excited and gearing up for it. We have bought one of the white t-shirts that is being sold on every street, we have a stock of colors ready, and we are making plans. We are going to enjoy this day with reckless abandon. But what we can’t afford to do is neglect our skin and hair because the damage can be expensive to fix or worse, irreversible. It’s tragic and frightening so here we tell you what you can do to prevent it
Chemicals colors are the worst things about this otherwise fun and enjoyable festival. These chemicals often stay in your skin, and leave it irritated, red, and even inflamed. It causes breakouts, sometimes permanently scarring your skin, even when you have managed to get most of the color off after the festival.
First up oil your body
Slather you skin in oil as the film of oil will keep the chemical in the color and water from settling on your skin. Make sure you give extra care to your face, hands and neck areas. Any place that will be exposed should have a coat of oil. Massage the oil into your skin so that it doesn’t just protect your skin but also hydrates it.
Oil to protect your skin on Holi
It’s also a good idea if you oil your body post the celebration. If you’re using it on the face to remove colors, olive oil is considered to be the best ingredient. Dab it on your face or the area of the skin pigmented with colors and leave it on for a few minutes and then rinse it off.
Clean thoroughly but not excessively
Post-holi is when your skin is going through a lot of reactions. It’s been in contact with all sorts of chemicals and dust. So rather than using soap, it’s a good idea to use a mild facewash to clean the skin above your neck. Make sure you sit under the shower for at least five to ten minutes before you use any sort of cleaning products to get rid of the grime first.
For your body, you should use bodywash or cleaning gel. If the color doesn’t go away, do not resort to harsh rubbing for that may scratch your skin permanently. Instead, use a loofah to gently brush the colored area. If the colors still remain, there is a homemade remedy which consists of mixing lime juice, curd and sandalwood that will do a fantastic job of removing those traces.
After any thorough cleaning, your skin often tends to go dry. So make sure you moisturize thoroughly after you have gotten rid of most of the colors, and especially focus on areas that were stained.
Manage your mane
Let’s be honest, one of the worst things about playing with colors is how they seem to stick on your scalp for a long time. And if you’re one of those who hasn’t been blessed with thick hair, the colorful scalp is going to show.
There are a lot of ways you can keep this from happening to you. One of them is to oil your hair before the day of the festival. With a layer of oil on your scalp, it will absorb less color and thus protect your hair from harmful chemicals.
Taking care of your hair after the festival is equally important. You don’t want the chemicals damaging your hair, especially if your hair has been dyed. Clarifying shampoos are considered to be the best option for removing color from the strands and scalp. Use conditioner for normal hair and color protect conditioner for dyed or treated ones. Also, make sure you use cold water to rinse the shampoo and conditioner. Chemically treated hair might have severe reaction to colors, so be careful in that case. You might need specialized treatment pre- and post-holi.
Avoid chemical colors
Chemicals colors are the worst things about this otherwise fun and enjoyable festival. These chemicals often stay in your skin, and leave it irritated, red, and even inflamed. It causes breakouts, sometimes permanently scarring your skin, even when you have managed to get most of the color off after the festival.
But good news is that chemical colors can be avoided. You can use natural ingredients for colors like a mixture of turmeric and chickpea powder or saffron and chickpea powder to play holi. You can also soak henna leaves overnight and use that water to play holi. These are safe alternatives for your skin. But sometimes, when every person is armed with an arsenal of colors, it’s best to avoid playing holi and that’s especially true if you have sensitive skin. Just make sure your friends know you only play with water.
Wear the right kind of clothes
It’s basically a trend to wear short shorts and white camisoles so that you can get the best pictures for Instagram. And if you’re going to get drenched, you might as well wear tattered clothes and ruin those on this specific day rather than damaging perfectly good clothes. But, admit it or not, clothing plays a key role on how much your skin comes in contact with unadulterated heavy metals and engine oils found in chemical colors. You can still look good and have fun while being fully clothed. Also, the less your skin touches the chemicals, the easier it will be for you to clean yourself up at the end of the day. After all, that’s one reason why clothes exist right? To protect us from the harsh elements in our environment? So make sure you use it to its full extent this holi.
