Holi, the festival of colours, fun & masti is here. Children & adults are all waiting eagerly to play with their gulaal, colours & pichkaaris. Here are some useful HOLIstic Skin & Hair Care tips to prevent damage during Holi.
Dos & Don’ts for skin care before playing Holi:
What needs to be done?
- Apply a liberal amount of moisturizer on your skin head to toe properly before you start playing with colours. This will create a barrier between your skin and the colour & will also help to remove the colour more easily. Petroleum Jelly or Coconut Oil is a good option.
- Protection yourself from the sun by applying sunscreen lotion on all the exposed body parts liberally.
- Protect your lips with a lip balm with SPF.
- Trimming your nails short and covering them with nail paint or oil can protect them from getting coloured with stubborn Holi colours later.
- Prefer to wear dark coloured full sleeved cotton clothes. Avoid synthetics as they would be sticky after you get wet.
- Drink plenty of water & fresh fruit juices to keep yourself hydrated.
Skin Care After Playing Holi:
- You should avoid excessive hot water for washing of the colour as it may worsen the skin damage caused by the chemical containing colour.
- You should avoid scrubbing or rubbing your skin vigorously to remove the colour as that may worsen the damage & irritation.
- Try to remove the colour by applying oil & gentle rubbing.
The chemical constituents of colours of Holi, water, the sun and finally overzealous cleaning may leave your skin dry. After bathing, pat dry your skin to leave it slightly damp. Apply oil to trap the water on the surface of the skin, hydrate it and keep it soft & supple. Repeat moisturization a few times when your skin becomes dry again.
Who needs to avoid playing with Holi colours?
All those who have recently undergone procedures such as bleaching, waxing, threading, peeling, laser treatments 2-3 days before the Holi day should avoid playing with colours as your skin is more sensitive for some days after these procedures. You should also stop using prescription creams containing hydroquinone, retinoid, benzoyl before the Holi day.
Holistic Hair Care Before Playing Holi:
- Avoid playing Holi with colours if you have undergone hair treatments such as steam, sauna, hair colour 2-3 days before the Holi day.
- Apply a liberal amount of a good oil before you venture out on Holi to avoid the direct contact of Holi colours with the surface the strands of your hair to prevent the damage.
- Avoiding the use of styling gels or creams is a good idea on Holi day.
- If you have long hair then try tying up your hair before playing Holi as loose hair tend to become more frizzy & get tangled making them easy to break.
Holistic Hair Care After Holi:
- Use plain lukewarm water to wash your hair so that the colour can come off easily.
- Use a milder version of shampoo for washing & make it a point to condition your hair after the colour has been removed.
- Avoid combing on a wet scalp & avoid hair dryers. Avoid vigorous rubbing of hair with a towel.
- Once dry, massage hair with liberal oil.
What is to be done if there is itching or redness of skin after playing Holi?
- In spite of taking proper precautions, some people may still have an adverse reaction of colours especially in those with sensitive skin.
- If you feel a burning sensation in the skin or you feel itching in any of your body, then pat which has come in contact with colour, then stop playing immediately, get indoors to a cooler place.
- Rinse with plenty of cold water, pat dry with a soft cloth.
- Don’t be desperate to remove the colour in haste. Rubbing will only irritate the skin more.
- Avoid further sun exposure.
- Apply ice packs.
- Pacify the skin by applying coconut oil.
- Calamine lotion or medicated aloe vera gel can be used if severe burning is severe.
- Consider seeing a Physician or Skin Specialist if the problem persists.
Stay blessed, have fun & Live Life More.
Osteoporosis is a silent disease characterized by loss of calcium from bones resulting in loss of bone strength & bone making them prone to fractures.
On World Osteoarthritis Day today, LiveLifeMore presents this presentation on this disabling disease which can be naturally prevented & treated by simple diet & lifestyle measures.
Indian population is probably more scared of mosquitoes than tigers these days. With Dengue & Chikungunya prevalent this season, a bite by a mosquito sends more danger signals in the minds.
Not all the cases of these illnesses have to land in hospitals or prove to be fatal but the physical & mental agony of the patients & their family members is worth a consideration for all the preventive measures. Being a clinician for last 23 years, I have not seen this concern reflecting on many faces when the diagnosis is disclosed in clinics. Leaving the treatment, waiting and watching for the danger signs is what is usually advised by good physicians but why not prevent if it can be prevented so effectively.
How to Prevent from Mosquito
Let me rather tell you how to prevent the mosquito bites which is the only way we can shun the chances of these diseases.
In fact, the mosquitoes find their victims through smell. Their sensory organs are trained to find the sources of carbon dioxide & lactic acid because these chemicals give them the whereabouts of warm-blooded animals, like you and me.
It is not that mosquitoes hate the smell of these mosquito repellents which makes the repellents work. Rather, it is because the usual chemical put in repellants namely ‘DEET’ which is very effective at masking the smell of carbon dioxide and lactic acid. When we apply DEET, the mosquitoes can’t smell us and so they leave us alone. There are natural repellents such as geranium oil or citronella that work the same way, but they just don’t seem to be quite as effective as DEET.
You might have probably noticed that certain people complain that they are bitten more by mosquitoes than others. Now that is also due to smell and not because the mosquitoes prefer certain blood-types, as people sometimes think.
Each one of us carry a unique smell, a type of aromatic unique identity code. There are around 400 different aromatic compounds which make up the human scent and aexert\
bout 30 out of them appear to have an effect which may help you hide yourself from the mosquitoes. If any of these 30 masking compounds happen to be prominent in your aromatic unique identity code, it tends to make us less visible to mosquitoes. One the other hand, the other compounds act as attractants, making some people not just visible to mosquitoes but favorite mosquito magnets. Around 10% of the population are mosquito magnets.
So, the question that arises now is, whether we can do something to manipulate our smell so that we become less appealing to mosquitoes? Is there scientific justification that eating garlic can repel mosquitoes? In fact, there is…
How garlic can help you keep mosquitoes away?
Eating garlic can give us mild protection from mosquitoes, both from the odor in our breath as well as sulfur compounds that we emit through our skin.
The smell of garlic is supposed to repel mosquitoes. So it might make sense to smell like an Italian restaurant full garlic recipes rather smelling like mosquito magnet. Applying or consuming more garlic during this season may help, although it probably may repel more than just mosquitoes. Eating has an added advantage of added protection, both from the odor on your breath as well as the sulfur compounds come out through your skin when you eat garlic.
Though, scientists estimate that the genetics are responsible for about 85% of our attractiveness to mosquitoes, so we mosquito magnets may have to pray for the good luck to be spared by the virus carrying mosquitoes.
Other ways to be less visible or less attractive to mosquitoes is not to indulge in exertion when mosquitoes are around. When you exert, you emit more lactic acid & more carbon dioxide, which attracts them to you. So, this will be the one season when I’ll be advising you to be more home bound or if you have to venture out, then do yourself a favour by wearing full sleeves light coloured clothing especially during the peak hours for mosquitoes bites which are early mornings & dusk time.
