Don’t end up red in the face after you finish playing Holi! Follow these tips to keep your skin and hair looking healthy and shiny, even after a day of fun and games.
Precautions to take before you start playing Holi
Prevention is always better than cure – even when it comes to enjoying the colourful festival of Holi! Take these precautions before you set out to play, so you don’t end up causing long-term damage to your hair and skin.
- Buy only natural or organic colours that are water-soluble. Avoid glitter and paint and metallic colours, as they can be very harmful.
- Oil your hair well before you start playing. Coconut oil and olive oil are good options to protect your hair from harsh colours.
- Also apply some oil behind your ears, ear lobes and nails as these are points were the colour really tends to settle.
- You can further protect your nails by covering them with nail polish.
- Similarly, put lip balm or lipstick on your lips to protect those as well.
- Use a toner to close the pores on your face before you head out. This way, you reduce the chances of colour going in too deep.
- Don’t forget to wear waterproof sunscreen before you step out for a day in the sun!
- Wear clothes that cover most of your body. These clothes should be in a lightweight, easy-to-dry material. Avoid heavy fabrics like denim that don’t dry easily.
- It’s a good idea to wear a thick scarf or bandana to cover your hair.
- Don’t wear lenses when you go out to play! While Holi colours by themselves cause irritability, lenses have a tendency to absorb the colour, thereby making things worse. Wear glasses and keep wiping them clean from time to time.
After you’re done playing Holi
While the precautions you have taken before playing will help you immensely, there are a few points you must keep in mind even after you’re done.
- Holi can be exhausting! But remember to clean up before you take a nap or start relaxing. The longer you let the colour stay, the harder it’ll be to remove.
- Remember to dust off the dry colour before you hit the shower.
- Use a mild cleanser, not a harsh detergent to remove the colour.
- Clean your face using cotton dabbed in moisturising cream or oil. It’s a myth that kerosene or nail polish remover help remove colour. Avoid those at any cost.
- If a mild cleanser doesn’t quite do the job, try using a scrub. An apricot scrub or even a homemade scrub should suffice. But excessive scrubbing or rubbing may damage your skin and can cause irritation.
- Wash your hair using a mild shampoo, but don’t overuse the shampoo. If the colour doesn’t come off your scalp in one try, just let it stay on and shampoo again in a day or two.
- All that colour and shampoo will tend to dry out your scalp. Definitely use a conditioner after.
- Remember it may take few days to get rid of whole colour, don’t try to remove the colour from whole body at the first go.
Reviewed by Dr.Bhushan Madke, Dermatologist
Photograph 1 by FaceMePLS (originally posted to Flickr as Holi Feest 2008) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photograph 2, courtesy of Parachute Coconut Oil
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