How to protect your skin and hair during Holi

Yes, finally, Holi is just a few days away and all are gearing up for the celebrations and festive cheers. But, the season of Holi brings with it the added risk of chemically synthesized colors which are extremely harmful for our skin and hair. So, you must take certain precautions before staring off with playing with colors. Not only should you take care of your face and hair, but do not forget your arms and your nails. 

Before playing:

• Wear a high factor water proof sunscreen on every part of your body which is exposed. Apply it in thick layers. You should ideally go for 2-3 layers applied at an interval of half or an hour each. This will protect you from prolonged sun exposure and do not forget that the colors might react with your skin and make it photo sensitive. Try to use a chemical sunscreen instead of a physical one as they are more effective and make sure sunscreen is the first thing you apply on your skin.
• After applying sunscreen, apply a thick layer of any oil like almond, olive, coconut or sesame oil (preferably castor oil as it is thick in texture) as they make a film on your skin and protect direct contact from colors. Sesame Oil also provides an added sun protection as it is a natural sun blocker.
• Do not forget to apply the sunscreen and oil to your arms and other parts of your body exposed. All the precautions apply to your feet as well. It will be beat if you are wearing socks. If not, apply oil and then, put a very thick coat of glycerin or honey to avoid slipping.
• You should take care of your nails too. So, apply a thick coat of any nail paint in the morning. And, do not forget to oil your cuticles. They get the worse effects.
• Oil your hair nicely concentrating on the roots and ends. And, after an hour, apply a thick coat of your hair conditioner to your hair. Prefer a leave-in instead of the regular after-shampoo hair conditioners.
• Apply a moisturizing lip paint coating it with a lip gloss.

After playing:

• First of all, wash all your skin with cold water. Do not use hot or lukewarm water. It takes more time to wash.
• Brush your teeth. I know you would have done it in the morning, but, nothing wrong in doing it again.
• Do not use a soap or cleanser to wash your skin. Use a homemade scrub mixed with milk and milk cream to wash your body.
• Now, use a herbal shampoo to wash your hair. After washing your hair, use an intensive conditioner or a deep conditioning treatment or you can apply honey on your hair and wash off after 30 minutes. 
• During your bath, clip your nails. The nail beds would have been ruined because of the color so make them grow nice and strong again. 
• Do a hand soak and a foot soak to relax your hands and feet during your bath. 
• Remove the lipstick and scrub your lips nicely.

And, now, you are back to being beautiful and gorgeous without ruining your skin and enjoying the festival of colors. Some precautions to be observed:

• Do not let the color go into your eyes. If you wear contacts, I would advise you to wear specs as they give a barrier between your eyes and color. If any color enters your eyes, wash them with cold water repeatedly.
• Do not let the color enter your mouth. Yes, it happened to me once. Someone attacked me from the back and it was liquid color. It went into my mouth. If it does, rinse your mouth thoroughly and brush your teeth then and there. 
• I would suggest you all to go for herbal colors available in the market instead of the synthetic colors. 

Wish you all a very Happy Holi.