Shikhee Agrawal shares tips to protect one’s skin and hair before and after Holi

The most-awaited festival is finally around the corner. The festival of colours is celebrated with a lot of vigour and energy by children and adults alike. But most of us ignore preventive measures to ensure that our hair and skin aren’t damaged by harmful chemicals in the colours. Individuals need to have a good time without rigorous scrubbing to get the colour off.

The Before treatment

Apply sunscreen — Holi is an outdoor festival and it is customarily sunny. Your face is at risk of getting blemished. To avoid unwanted skin tanning and skin problems from your end, it’s best to apply a sunscreen 20 minutes before stepping out of your house. It is advisable to use a sunscreen that contains a SPF higher than SPF 20. These days, sunscreens have built-in moisturisers so you can follow up with them on arms and other exposed areas as well. This will protect one’s skin from the sun as well as the colours.

Don’t ignore fingernails — Fingernails are as important as your face especially on the day of Holi where the sensitivity of one’s cuticles and nails are quite evident. It is best to pay attention to areas like your fingernails and apply transparent nail varnish, polish or petroleum jelly as a protective coating. This helps to protect the nails from absorbing the colours and to keep stains off.

Protect your hair with the goodness of oil — Colours can presumably damage your hair to a great extent. Applying coconut or even a normal hair oil, half an hour before stepping out can cutback the damage scope to a nominal level. The oil with its natural ingredients will create a shield on your hair to reduce the ill effects of harmful colours and will make it easy for you to get rid of it later. Also, it’s best to tie your hair down rather than leaving them open for all the obvious reasons.

Lip balm — Don’t miss out on applying lots of lip balm. Just like your fingernails, your lips too occupy a small but sensitive area of your skin. As there’s always a risk of colour entering into your mouth through lips, it would be nice to apply a thick layer of lip balm jelly generously over them so that the colours do not get stuck to them. It will also help them to stay softer and maintain the moisture without turning them dry and pale.

The After treatment

Cleansing the right way — Once the celebration gets over, then comes the real problem of removing colours from one’s face. Rinse the face with plain water and then apply a cleansing cream or face lotion over it so that it is clean from deep within. It is important that all the impurity and toxic substances release out of your skin’s pores. It is suitable to use a cleanser containing minimum chemical elements and maximum natural ingredients like tea tree. It will also help you to get rid of blemishes.

Shampoo and conditioner — Wash off the impurities and colours with a good hair shampoo having natural vitality to wash away the noxious substances from your hair. Also, once you are done with the washing part, don’t forget to apply conditioner as your hair needs to have the nourishment, shine and strength that a good conditioner offers.

Eye Cream — After all the exposure to sun, harmful hues and toxic elements flying in the air throughout the day, our eyes becomes stressful. It is important to apply a good and efficient eye cream full of vitamin E before dozing off to sleep. This will make you feel fresh, the next morning and will clear your dark circles and patches overnight.

( The author is the head trainer of a top line beauty chain from UK)