Holi Treats: Be Ready for Colours with these Skin Care Tips

In India, Holi is one of the festivals which bring joy but mostly people are sceptical about playing Holi because of the harm that colours may cause to their skin. Who likes having skin damaged? 

Yes, Holi is a beautiful festival of vibrant colours but unfortunately, colours used these days come with synthetic pigments that may be hazardous for the health. A little precaution to save you from a lot of skin problems would be a better option and will not affect your euphoria of playing Holi.

Before getting crazy in the Holi madness, keep in mind to follow these simple instructions to save your skin from rashes and allergies:

In ancient era, Holi was played with gulaal and flowers. These days the colours that are available in the market are either synthetic or chemical-filled colours that contain chemicals like lead oxide, mercury sulphite, copper sulphate and more. These chemicals can penetrate in your skin and causing damage to your eyes, skin and lungs or might be a reason for redness in the eyes. Accidental intake of these colours can directly affect your lungs and can also cause asthma.

It is pretty much clear by now that it is important for you to protect your skin from Holi colours. Let’s start with simple tricks for skincare:

Pre-Holi Skin Care Tips

Here are a few precautions you can take before you jump into the pool of colours:

• Wear cotton clothes that cover most parts of your body. Avoid wearing synthetic clothing material.
• Apply a good amount of body oil on your body. This will hydrate your skin, creating a barrier and will avoid direct contact of colors with skin and thus absorb fewer colours. Body oils like coconut oil, almond oil or even olive oil can also be used on your skin.
• Make sure to clean and tone your skin properly. The toner will help to reduce the pore size and prevents the seepage of colours through the pores of your skin which can further clog the pores.
• If playing Holi outside, for a long time, it is better to secure your skin with a broad SPF sunscreen. 
• You can also try rubbing ice on your face, that will help to shut down all the pores and thus contact with colours will be avoided.
• Restricting these chemicals to enter your skin, apply Vaseline on your eyelids, ears, lips, nails and other exposed areas of your body. 
• Apply protective colourless nail paint so that your nails are protected. You can apply Vaseline around your cuticles to avoid deposition of colours around the nails. 

Post-Holi Skin Care Tips: 

After you are done playing, it’s time for that tough task which everyone would hate. Remember that you are removing the colours from your skin and you don’t have to be harsh on it.

• Avoid rubbing your skin. Wash your face and skin with plain water, this will remove most of the colors.

• Avoid using soaps as it will dry up your skin, instead use Aloe vera gel or natural home remedies like curd or milk to remove the colors. 
• Avoid using lukewarm water to remove the colours. Many people think that using warm water will help to remove the colours very easily. The fact is totally opposite to that. Warm water makes the colours stick more to your body.
• Make face packs for your skin at home. Refrain from using the readymade face packs available in the market; they will just be adding on the chemicals.
• Gram flour- yoghurt and honey face packs will moisturise your skin from within which is exactly what you want after the dryness caused by the chemicals.
• Apply rosewater with a cotton ball to add softness to your skin. This will remove the colour, repair the damage done by the sun and also moisturise your skin. 
• At the end, apply good mild moisturisers or Lacto Calamine on your skin after you remove all the colours. Colors make your skin dry and needs nourishment, oil can also be used to moisturise the skin.

Over to you

Wish that you have an easy time removing the colors and these tips would help you to take care of your skin more while not losing the joy of playing with colors too. Yes, the process of removing colors from your skin might be bit time consuming but definitely you would not refuse that it will be worth the fun you will have!

Enjoy your Holi bash!