Pamper yourself with Aromatherapy for Holi - Times of India

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Holi - the festival of colours - heralds the onset of spring and the exuberance of a new beginning. And of course, it also brings with it a host of skin and hair problems thanks to the coloured water and harsh colours.
Skin problems, allergies, irritations, rough and brittle hair are some of the hard to miss health hazards of this otherwise fun-filled and vibrant festival.

So if you too are planning to play Holi while maintaining a healthy skin and a shining mane even after dunking yourself in buckets of coloured water, then follow the tips...

Prepare Yourself for Holi

Skin

A week Before Holi , prepare your sensitive skin from rashes, swellings and allergies by adopting a simple Aroma Spray : Add 2 drops each of Tea Tree and Patchouli oils and half tea spoon Dead Sea salt in 250 Ml water in an Aluminium or glass spray Bottle and Shake well . Spray on your face and other body parts atleast twice a day. This will help you immensely to prevent any skin allergies erupting on application of hard Holi colours

Pamper with Aromatherapy oils

"One teaspoon of Jojoba oil mixed with one drop each of lavender or Neroli Aroma oil along with tea-tree oil can make a protective base before Holi festivities. Jojoba oil has the properties of the natural oils of our skin and shields the skin against chemicals and sunlight, while tea-tree oil prevents allergies and lavender acts as soothing agent..Neroli Oil is a natural nervous soother and thus calms down the over stretched and stressed out nervous tissues..

Culinary Vegetable oils in the kitchen can also help to prevent permanent staining and any kind of itching and irritation..

Protect your delicate tissues of the face with application of Foundation which tend to come off with a good face wash . Calamine Lotions also help to protect your skin , especially if you possess Extra Oily skin texture.

Splash as much water on your skin as possible to ensure minimum contact with the metallic ,toxic colours.

Lips and Eyes

Transfer-resistant lipstick is a great way to keep colour off the delicate skin of your lips.

Keep those contact lenses away for a day and go for spectacles instead if you don't want Holi-coloured lenses.

Hands and Feet

If you don't want discoloured nails, use plenty of petroleum jelly and nail paints not just on the nails but inside and also in the nail folds. Go for Jojoba oil-based moisturisers on legs and feet.

A sunblock is extremely important to avoid the 'photo-toxic' reaction caused by the twin attacks of sun and water. Rather than a regular sunscreen, opt for a waterproof sunscreen so that it does not wash away with water and liquid colours.

And most important: Wear covered clothes. Jeans can get uncomfortable in water so go for cotton.

After Holi

The best way to beat the Holi blues is - bathe, bathe and bathe with cold water! Let a moisturising body wash with a gentle loofah begin the colour removing session. If that doesn't work on stubborn stains try cleansing milk with a wet cotton ball and Facial Cleansing Gels .

"Skin becomes very sensitive post Holi, so too much of scrubbing should be avoided. Go for mild cleansers every few hours .

Synthetic colours invariably cause dryness and harm the top-most keratin layer of your Hair. Long exposure and a vigorous rub-off with soap or detergent will further damage your skin and hair

On persistent itching on the skin , apply cool Rose water or Aloe Vera Juice followed by Jojoba Oil mixed with one drop each of Tea Tree and Lavender Oil.

Moisturising mantra

It's very important to keep the moisture levels intact all through the festivities, be it on your skin or hair. For face use gentle glycerin based soaps and a good quality mild shampoo for hair to keep them frizz-free. Don't forget to dab loads of moisturiser on skin after bath and use good amount of conditioner on damp hair for at least 10-15 minutes for deep conditioning.

A quick manicure and pedicure can be a great lifesaver for nails. Applying a nail hardener is again a great option after the onslaught of water.

Your kitchen also offers good recipes for maintaining the skin.

Use Banana and papaya pack for extra dry and itching skin

To rid of tan, you may use sandalwood powder, tulsi and pudina packs

To bring back life and lusture to dull and dry hair, mix half a cup of olive oil, an egg white and a little quantity of honey and coat your hair with this scalp for half and hour and rinse off.

- By Dr. Naresh Arora, Aromatherapist & beauty expert


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