Take care of your skin this Holi

The festival of colours is around the corner and you must be very excited to indulge in the spirit of Holi. While all your family and friends are busy covering you in gulal, opting for organic colours can be a good option to ensure the safety of skin.

With all the synthetic colours, water balloons and pichkaris floating around on Holi, it’s important that you protect your skin, hair, eyes – and even your nails by following below mentioned tips:

Before Holi

• Avoid any Dermatological and Salon procedure that involves damage to the barrier of skin like threading, waxing, chemical peels, LASERS, etc.
• Start moisturising your skin, especially if dry, until the skin texture returns to normal.
• Just before you step out to play Holi:

Head to toe

• Apply a thick moisturising cream or oil on all the exposed parts. This makes your skin greasy and slippery preventing colours from settling down skin deep. This would reduce absorption of colours into your skin and also prevent dryness.
• Application of a thick layer of petroleum jelly under your nails, behind your ears and on lips is highly recommended before you step out.

Clothing

• When you pick out all your old clothes from your cupboard for a splash of colours, make sure you pick up clothes that cover maximum part of your body, preferably either high-necks or full-sleeves. The more your body will be covered, the lesser you have to worry. Cover your head with a colourful bandana or cap to prevent your hair from getting coloured.

Nails

• Trim your nails short and put on your favourite nail paint and once dry, cover them up with the petroleum jelly.

Save yourself from the sun

• Rashes from colours are more likely to appear on frequent exposure to the sun. Apply a thick layer of waterproof / water-resistant sunscreen lotion with an SPF of at least 50 before stepping out. This is advised because, playing Holi outdoors under the sun, with harsh chemical induced colours can very well be a cause for getting severe photodermatoses and photo-pigmentation. Use a lip balm with SPF as well.

Organic colours

• Spending more on the organic colours can save both, your skin and the environment.

During Holi

• If during the play you feel itchiness or irritation on your skin, make sure to wash the area immediately with cold water. Washing off with cold water will reduce the instant inflammation, which once subdued can be further treated with a local soothing agent like calamine lotion or a thick moisturiser.
• Keep drinking as much as water you can, both before leaving the house and after coming indoors. You should always keep in mind that the colours contain chemicals, which snatch away moisture from the skin, so it becomes very important to keep rehydrating your skin and what better way to do it than drinking plenty of water at regular intervals!
• Keep away from alcohol it dehydrates your skin further.

After care

• Dust all the dry colours away with your hand or pieces of cloth gently without rubbing your skin.
• Most of the fast colours are oil soluble, so slather oil on the skin and relax.
• While bathing, first wash away the entire colour from hair and skin with running water, followed by application of liquid cleanser and mild shampoo.
• Rub the skin gently to remove colours, do not overdo because the friction of rubbing would aid in penetration of colours into your skin. The colour would gradually fade in a day or two.
• After the shower, leave your skin slightly damp and apply thick body lotion to trap the water on the surface of the skin. Repeat moisturising each time your skin feels dry.

The week after

• The skin care post-Holi is concentrated around moisturising and avoidance of harsh chemicals:

Use a gentle cleanser to wash your face.

• Apply a bland cold cream/lotion each time your skin feels dry.
• Do not use a scrub, bleach, toner, skin lightening or anti-ageing creams for a few days.
• Protect your skin from the sun by covering your face or by applying broad-spectrum sunscreens. However, even sunscreen should be avoided if your skin feels itchy or burning.

By: Dr Sravya C Tipirneni
The writer is a Consultant Dermatologist & Cosmetologist at Columbia Asia Hospital.