Play safe Holi

Holi, the festival of colours is popular in North India, where people smear each other with loads of powdered colours and throw coloured water at each other.
These coloured powders usually contain special herbs such as henna (maruthani), margosa (veppilai / neem), kumkum, turmeric (manjal /haldi), and bilva (vilvam / bel).
Gulal can be made at home by mixing red sandalwood powder with a little flour (maida or atta). Red coloured water can be made by boiling red sandalwood powder with water.Bright yellow powder is obtained by mixing turmeric powder and gram flour (Besan / kadalai mavu). Mix the paste of green leafy vegetables in water to get green coloured water. Plain henna powder mixed in water will give a vibrant orange colour. Mix henna powder and gooseberry (amla / nellikkai / peru nelli) powder in water for a bright brown colour. Synthetic dyes and colours sold in the markets sometimes have a very harsh and toxic effect as they contain dangerous toxins such as lead and mercury. Therefore buy only skin friendly natural colours.

• Before playing, apply petroleum jelly or edible oil on exposed parts, to prevent colours from coming in contact with the skin. Wear clothes that cover maximum body, to protect your skin.

• While playing, ensure that your eyes remain protected at all times. Use sunglasses to protect your eyes from coloured water.Use a hat, cap or anything like that to protect your hair from being coloured with hard-to rinse dyes.
  People with a sensitive skin type and those prone to skin allergies should avoid being exposed to colours for a long time.
  If you feel pain or burning sensation after playing Holi, splash cold water on your eyes.

• After playing, dust off the colour as much as possible. Combing leads to breaking of hairs. Massage the scalp with lukewarm oil and rinse off with shampoo. While washing off the colour, use lukewarm water and keep your eyes closed. It is easy to remove the
  colour if you apply baby oil before playing Holi.