New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) With Holi, the festival of colours, approaching on Thursday, it is important to protect yourself from the harsh colours and elements which are used during the celebrations.
Sadiya Naseem, founder and CEO of Glam studios, has given a few tips for skin and hair care pre and post Holi.
* Cover your body as much as you can. Lesser the area exposed, lesser it is smeared in colour, and as a result, lesser pain to remove colour from.
* Cover your hair. Wear a cap, scarf or turban before playing Holi.
* Apply a thick layer of oil on your body as well as hair. The oil will make the body slippery and as a result help to wash off the colour easily. It also protects the skin from immediate effects of chemicals.
* Paint your hand and toe nails before playing Holi. This will help avoid staining the nails with colour.
* Before stepping out to play Holi, apply a thick layer of petroleum jelly under your nails, behind your ears and on lips.
After the celebrations, it’s important to cleanse out all the colour and other materials that the body has been exposed to during the Holi celebrations. Here are a few tips to follow post-celebration.
* Use lukewarm water to wash off colours from your face and apply a few drops of glycerin.
Do not rub your skin vigorously with soap to take off colours. Use liquid wash or cleanser instead. Rub lemon edges over your skin to get rid of the colour.
The natural bleaching agent in lemon helps remove stains. After showering, you can use home-made remedies like curd, sandalwood, turmeric & white flour scrub, besan or multani-mitti scrub on stubborn colour so that it goes away.
* You can dip your hands and feet in mugs of warm water with hydrogen peroxide and rosewater.
* Wash face with cold water gently. Use olive oil with cotton to remove colours.
* Wash your hair with shampoo and let it stay for at least 10 minutes before you wash it off. If you had put oil before playing Holi, the colour should get off easily. Condition your hair with a rich and deep conditioner. If your hair becomes dry, apply oil and sleep overnight. Next day wash it with a mild shampoo and condition it deeply.
* After washing your body, apply plenty of moisturiser to prevent the skin from dryness.
* Once you take the immediate home remedies to get rid of the harmful chemicals, your body still requires some pampering and treatment after the hectic celebrations. You could visit a nearby salon and take treatments like facial and massage.
