8 Essential Skin Care Products to Use This Holi!

The festival of colors - Holi has come with all its bright colors and hues. Are you all excited to celebrate it?

Obviously yes, we all are excited to celebrate this festival with all our loved ones, sharing the happiness, fun and the sweetness. But…

Are you taking precautions to prevent your beautiful skin from getting damaged?

Celebrating holi without taking any precautions for your skin can damage your beautiful skin turning them dull, dry and infected by the chemicals present in the colors. Make sure you take care of your skin not only after playing holi but also take some proper precautions to keep your skin glowing and healthy before celebration too.

In this article we have a list of eight essential skin care products which you should make sure to use this holi in order to prevent roughness, itching, dullness and breakouts.

Oiling is the key to keeping your skin safe from harsh colors and dryness due to lots of exposure to water. You need to have good body oil which you can buy from the market easily. You can even prepare one for yourself, at home by mixing a variety of skin conditioning oils. All you need to make sure is that all your skin pores are well covered with oil.

Which “Body Oil” to Use?

You can make your own nourishing and skin protecting body oil by mixing coconut oil, castor oil, lemon drops, wheat germ oil and olive oil. All these essential oil will prevent your body by not letting the harmful colors to set on your body.

Thus, apply a coat of oil all over your body before playing with colors and then it won’t be a tedious task to remove those dark colors.

"Body Oil" Suggestions :

• Neutrogena® Norwegian Formula Body Moisturizer
• Neutrogena® Norwegian Formula Body Emulsion
• The Body Shop Cocoa Body Butter
• Parachute Coconut Oil
• Castor Oil, Olive Oil and Wheatgerm Oil by Soulflower

You can use body butter to cover your body for a second layer and lock-in the base coat oil.

How to Use Body Oil?

• Take a little amount of oil in your palm, warm it up by slightly rubbing palms of your hand.

• Apply a base coat of the body oil all over your body.

• Once done with the base coat it’s time to apply the second layer of the oil to ensure that body oil is present all over your skin and no color would penetrate through your skin pores.

• Follow it up by moisturizing your whole body and take special care to cover your elbows and ankles. Do not avoid any skin area while applying moisturizer to prevent irritation.

Make sure you wash yourself after playing holi as soon as possible because if you’ll wait for the colors to get dry, it will get harder for you to get rid of them!

Your skin being the most exposed part during Holi, you need to take care that you remove all the colors from your skin after playing holi.

Which “Body Wash” to Use?

Make use of foaming body wash or cream-based body wash for cleaning your body. As you already have body oil applied all over your skin, it would be easier for you to remove all the colors from your skin.

"Body Wash" Suggestions :

You can opt for any of the following body wash:

• The Body Shop Strawberry Body Wash
• The Body Shop Strawberry Body Polish
• Sebamed Cleansing Bar
• Himalaya Herbals Nourishing Cream & Honey Soap
• Sebamed Olive Face & Body Wash

Make use of exfoliating brushes or loofahs while gently rubbing your skin with the body wash.

How to Use "Body Wash"?

1. Instead of vigorously rubbing your skin, start by gently removing top coat of colors with warm water.

2. Next, gently rub the body wash all over your skin to remove left colors

3. Finally, wash with cold water to lock in the moisture.

For regular use, it's advisable to use Lotion over Cream but especially for Holi you should use a good cream.

Your visage needs utmost care before the Holi celebration as playing with lots of water and colors can lead to breakouts and dull looking skin. So, it is important to prepare your face well before the celebration to avoid unwanted skin issues later.

What’s the difference between Cream & Lotion?

Simple reason being, Lotion (Oil droplets in Water) have more hydrating content & prevent general breakouts when used on daily basis while Cream (Water Droplets in Oil) have more oil content making it suitable for covering your skin in more better way especially on Holi!

Which “Face Moisturizing Lotion” to use?

Make use of moisturizing oil which can form a barrier on your skin without making your skin too greasy.

"Face Moisturizer" Suggestions:

• Vaseline Germ Safe Petroleum Jelly
• Boroline
• Fab India Skin Hydrating Cream

Once you have applied moisturizer it's time to prepare your skin to face the sun. Mostly people play Holi in open areas where it is more likely to get your skin sunburnt. So, it is very important to always follow applying sunscreen after the moisturizer all over the exposed skin area and especially your face.

Which Sunscreen to use?

Make use of at least 30+ SPF sunscreen. You can use a waterproof sunscreen.

"Sunscreen" Suggestions:

You can try following sunscreens :

• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sun Block SPF 50
• Dermalogica Waterblock Solar Spray SPF 30
• Lotus Herbals 3-in-1 Matte Sunscreen

How to Apply "Sunscreen"?

1. Always apply sunscreen after moisturizing your face and neck.

2. Gently apply with upwards strokes starting from your neck towards your face, ensure to cover-up full face area.

3. Next, apply sunscreen lotion on your hands and feets.

4. Make sure all over body, the visible skin area is fully moisturized and sunscreen-coated by now.

Avoid using soap on your body for removing the colors instead you can use cleansing milk.

Undoubtedly, it's very important to cleanse your face/body. On Holi, you can use cleanser that will help you removing dust particles, colors etc. from your skin.

Which "Cleanser" to choose?

It's advisable to use mild cleanser meant for sensitive skin and that should also be chemical free.

Opt for products which contain glycerin and moisturizing content keeping your skin gentle.

Never use chemical products like kerosene or petrol to get rid of colors, instead of it please make use of body oil.

"Cleanser" Suggestions:

You can try following mild cleansers:

• Episoft Skin Cleanser
• Cetaphil Skin Cleanser
• Neutrogena® Extra Gentle Cleanser
• Liquid Neutrogena®

Never Use Soap on your face as it can strip off all natural oil and make it appear dull and rough.

Your face is mainly a part where people apply gulal (color). Getting rid of stubborn colors from your face can be tiresome.

Which "Face Wash" To Use?

Use a cream based face wash which is meant for sensitive skin and do not cause further dryness.

"Face Wash" Suggestions:

You can use following sensitive skin face washes :

• Neutrogena Face Wash
• Clean & Clear Face Wash

Herbal Face Care Options :

• Face wash : Using lemon and tomato are great natural way of removing stubborn colors from your face.
• Face Mask : Mix the paste of papaya, banana and cucumber to prepare a soothing face mask that will replenish your skin and help in gaining back the lost moisture.
• Face Scrub : Mix curd, orange zest, reetha (soapnut), Olive oil and Vinegar to make natural skin cleansing face scrub.

You can also use of baby oil along with face wash to remove excess color from your skin.

How to Use "Face Wash"?

1. Use lukewarm water to wipe off excess color from your face. Never use hot water as it can burn and scar your face.

2. Take some face wash on your palm and apply gently all over your face in upwards direction.

3. Wash your face with cold water, in order to lock the moisture and close the skin pores.

Just like the other body parts, lips too can get stained after playing with colors on holi. Playing with water under harsh sunrays falling on you, your lips can get dried up and chapped if you do not take proper care of them before the celebration begins.

Which "Lip Care" Product to use?

You can use vaseline petroleum jelly or castor oil as a lip balm before going out to play with colors. It's mostly preferable to buy an SPF 15+ lip balm.

"Lip Care" Product Suggestions:

You can choose from following Lip Care Products :

• Vaseline GermSafe Petroleum Jelly
• Burt’s Bee Wax Lip Balm
• Nivea Repair & Protection – Lip Balm
• Sebamed Lip Defense with Spf30

How to Use Lip Care Products?

1. Gently rub petroleum jelly or castor oil on your lips.

2. Follow it by applying a good SPF containing lip balm to help your lips be safe from the sun.

Don't let people be harsh on you while applying colors on your face, rubbing it vigorously.

When it comes to protecting your nails, we all ignore and mark it as a low priority task. Sometimes we do not even think of doing anything for the safety of our nails.

On Holi, playing with colors can make your nails more vulnerable to breakage and color can get embedded on your cuticles making your hands look ugly.

"Nail Care" Product Suggestions:

You can choose from following Lip Care Solutions :

• Vaseline GermSafe Petroleum Jelly
• Lakme Nail Paints
• Oriflame Base+Top Coat Nail Paint

What can you do to protect your nails?

• Apply a little amount of petroleum jelly under and over your nails to keep them smooth and coated before playing with colors.
• Apply a Nail Paint :

1. Start by applying the base coat. It should be transparent and provide strength to your nails.

2. Apply nail paint color of your choice.

3. Lastly, apply a top coat which is also transparent and gives a polished look to your nails, also making your nail paint last for a long time.