Holi is just around the corner. Its a celebration to welcome the ‘New & Fresh’. This is the time when Nature renews and refreshes herself. With a little care, we can do the same for our skin and hair and eventually sustain our youth and beauty. Holi is all about gulal and colors! These days, the dry Gulal and the wet colors that we use are not derived from natural sources. They contain chemicals, shiny particles of mica and even lead, which irritate the skin and also lead to hair woes when collected on the scalp. To save you from such skin hair worries, here we are presenting Holi Skin & Hair Care Tips by Shahnaz Husain.
Holi is played outdoor, so, obviously sun-exposure can have a harmful affect on us. Apart from UV radiation, sun-exposure suck the moisture off our skin and makes it dry. Plus, tanning is also there. The skin can become dry and dull after playing holi. So, the first and foremost step is to apply sunscreen. Remember to apply a sunscreen 20 minutes before going out in the sun. Your sunscreen should come with SPF 20 and above. Higher SPF is recommended for those who suffer from pigmented patches on the skin due to sun exposure. These days, most sunscreens have built-in moisturizers. But if your skin is very dry, then first apply the sunscreen, wait for a few minutes and then follow up with a moisturizer on the arms and other exposed areas.?Apply transparent nail varnish on the nails. This helps to protect the nails from absorbing holi colors.
Let’s move onto hair care now. Always apply leave-on conditioner or hair serum on hair before playing holi. This creates a protective shield on the hairs and cut down the harmful affect of sun exposure and dryness caused by gulal or wet colors. It will be even better, if you apply a Hair Cream containing sunscreen. Take out very little amount, spread on both palms and massage lightly into the hair, or simply smooth palms over the hair. Alternatively, pure coconut oil can also be applied to protect hair from the side effects of chemical colors. All you have to do is to take out little quantity and massage it lightly into the hair.
Now once all the celebration gets over, comes the real problem!! Yes, how to remove the colors!! Follow this step by step – First, rinse the face with plenty of plain water and then apply a cleansing cream, or lotion. Massage it on the face and wipe off with moist cotton wool. Using light touch, cleanse the area around the eyes too. Cleansing gel helps to dissolve the colors and facilitates their removal.
[Photo 1 credit : sayfty.com | Photo 2 credit : india.com]
If you want to use a homemade cleanser, here is the recipe. Take half a cup of cold milk and add one teaspoon of any vegetable oil, like til, olive or sunflower oil. Mix well. Then Dip cotton wool into this mixture and use it to cleanse the skin.
Now for the rest of your body, use Sesame seed (til) oil. Simply massage it on the skin. This will remove the colors, while providing an added protection to the skin. Sesame oil actually helps to cut down the damage caused by sun exposure. While bathing, scrub the body gently with a loofah or wash cloth. Immediately after your bath, apply a moisturizer on the face and body, while the skin is still damp. This helps to seal in moisture.
See
Skin and Hair Care Tips for Holi
Hair Care Tips For Very Long Hair
Healthy Hair Care Tips for Summer
The chemical laden colors often make our skin itch. If such is the case, add two tablespoons vinegar to a mug of water and use it as a last rinse. This helps to reduce itching. However, if the itching continues, and there is rash and redness, then it is advisable to consult a doctor as soon as possible.
Coming to hair, first rinse the hair with plenty of plain water to wash away the dry colors and tiny particles of mica. Then apply a mild herbal shampoo, working it into the hair with the fingers. Massage the scalp gently and rinse thoroughly with water again.Beer can be used as a last rinse. It will soften and condition the hair. You can also add lemon juice to the beer and pour it over the hair after shampoo. Leave on for a few minutes and rinse off with plain water.
[Photo credit : rediff.com]
The day after holi, give your skin some natural care. Mix two tablespoons honey with half a cup of curd. Add a pinch of turmeric. Apply this on the face, neck and arms. Leave it on for 20 minutes and wash off with water. This will not only remove tan. but soften the skin as well.
Within the next few days give your hair a nourishing treatment. Mix one tablespoon pure coconut oil with one teaspoon castor oil. Heat and apply on the hair. Then dip a towel in hot water, squeeze out the water and wrap the hot towel around the head, like a turban. Keep it on for 5 minutes. Repeat the hot towel wrap 3 or 4 times. This helps the hair and scalp absorb the oil better. Wash your hair after an hour. This will take care of the dryness and will nourish the strands.
The author is international repute beauty expert and is called herbal queen of India.
That curd plus honey mixture truly works. It’s wondrous for brightening one’s skin too 🙂
Thanks Shahnazji 🙂 for this lovely post
Shahnaz ji’s tips are easy to do plus super effective 🙂
Yo are genius. I will follow these tips for sure.