The festival of colours is around the corner, and preparations are on for its celebration. With the increasing use of chemical colours for celebrating Holi, we need to take care of our skin, hair, and eyes to prevent damage, and also know the correct methods of removing the colours.
Traditionally, spring flowers were used as a source of colours for Holi, but with time, artificial colours have replaced these natural ingredients. For the yellow colour, turmeric powder was used; hibiscus flowers were used for the red colour, and henna was used for the green colour.
However, today, markets are flooded with expensive artificial colors containing chemical solvents. These colours are actually industrial chemicals — black (lead oxide), green (copper sulfate and malachite green), silver (aluminum bromide), blue (Prussian blue, cobalt nitrate, indigo, and zinc salts), and red (mercury sulfate). Occasionally, additives such as mica dust and glass particles are added to the colours to give them a shine. These again are very harmful to the skin. The sale of such products is largely unregulated.
Side effects of Using Synthetic Holi colours
Industrial colours carry side effects, including itching, dryness, exfoliation of skin, erosions of skin, and eczema. Skin abrasions can occur due to scrubbing of skin to remove the colour, along with secondary bacterial infections and aggravation of acne and pre-existing eczema. Also, chemical colours when applied to the skin can cause loss of hair (alopecia).
Contact with chemical colors in the eyes can cause irritation, watering of the eyes, corneal abrasions, and conjunctivitis. In rare cases, systemic side effects can occur due to chemicals, which can manifest as breathlessness and cyanosis. These chemicals can even cause serious injury to the skin upon scratching, besides leading, sadly, sometimes even to lifelong impairments like blindness, skin diseases like vitiligo. Liquid colours available in the market are even more harmful than powder colors as they tend to collect in fold areas such as the groin and armpit area.
Precautionary Tips
- To prevent your skin from getting damaged, apply oil to the skin and hair.
- Wear nail enamel so that the colours cannot go inside the nail bed.
- Wear protective glasses while playing Holi.
- Splash eyes with clean water multiple times.
- Do not scrub aggressively while removing.
- Use a mild soap to wash off the colors. To remove oil paint from your face, mustard or coconut oil can be used. Use cotton to apply the oil on your face and rinse it off gently with both hands. If you want to remove gulal or dry colour from your head, never make the mistake of pouring water to wash it off. This only spreads the gulal all over your body and makes it stick. Try to dust away the gulal by using dry hands first, and use water only when this does not work. For washing the colour off your hair, use a mild herbal shampoo or a home-made one. Soak shikakai, reetha, and amla or Indian gooseberry overnight, boil and strain it in the morning, and you have a very good shampoo ready. If you had already applied oil to your hair before playing with colours, it would not be too difficult to wash the colours off.
- Try to opt for home-made herbal remedies to do away with holi colours like lemon, which is a natural bleaching agent and is useful in getting rid of colour stains. Lemon contains citric acid, which is a perfect component for lighting Holi colours. Mix lemon juice with an equal amount of honey or curd, and apply it all over your face, body & hair. Leave it for 15 minutes and then apply plenty of moisturiser after that.
Play Safe & enjoy healthy Holi.