Colours that double up as beauty powders

Get smeared

I don’t go out for Holi.” If you hear someone say this, the reason, most probably, could be the use of colours which are high in chemicals and can dampen the spirit of the festival. But what if you plan a Holi party and introduce colours that instead
act as beauty treatment for the skin?

It isn’t a joke for gone are the days when people used to just talk about organic colours or thought of making herbal colours at home. Today, beauty experts are suggesting alternatives that have properties to soothe and nourish the skin, while you enjoy the vibrant festivities.

Starting from options available in the market, a basic set of blue, pink and yellow colours are available with few shops such as The Vedic Collection in M Block, GK I. “Since these colours are made of flowers, they have no side-effects and can be easily wiped off,” says Divita Kanoria, chief wellness officer, The Vedic Collection.

“We dry the flower or vegetable that we want for about six months and store it in a cool place. Take for instance, if we need to make blue colour, we dry the indigo plants,” adds Kanoria, warning that the ‘drying has to be only up to the point that it doesn’t rot’!
To add a beauty touch to these organic colours, how about adding a few drops of aroma oils to lend fragrance and enhance its benefits? “One can add lavender or jasmine oil to blue, lemongrass oil to yellow and rose oil to pink,” says Ishika Taneja, international beauty expert and executive director, ALPS. “While lemongrass has a soothing effect and helps cure acne, jasmine is an aphrodisiac and reduces puffiness.”

Taneja suggests that organic colours can be made at home too. “Add powdered turmeric to distilled water and boil till it is reduced to one eighth to make a yellow colour. The same procedure can be replicated with beetroot– chopped or grated – to make bright pink or magenta colour.” Similarly, for a green, henna powder can be used and for orange, this powdered henna can be added to turmeric powder. Even dried rose and marigold leaves can be put to use.

“Peels of pomegranat when boiled in water give red colour,” says herbal beauty expert Shahnaz Husain. “Even red sandalwood powder can be used to make both dry and wet colour.” Though the latter is a bit expensive but its results on skin will be outstanding.

“Marigold helps to soothe skin and scalp irritation,” says Husain and Taneja adds, “While beetroot has anti-oxidant properties, turmeric is an antiseptic and helps in protecting against any anti-bacterial infections.”

But one problem that remains unsolved is how to make these colours/beauty powders in bulk? Since any addition of talcum powder will make these colours synthetic so Husain says, “One can add gram flour to turmeric after the preparation of the yellow colour.”

Kanoria informs that they use rice and corn flour, to make organic colours in bulk, which is another brilliant idea to make you look all the more beautiful post-Holi!