Holi is just a day away and by now you would be pumped to immerse yourself in the festive fervour. While everyone is in high spirits and will go frenzy with colours, the nasty and stubborn colours take a real long time for one to get rid of. These colours can be harmful for your skin and can cause irritation and rashes. The colours also tend to make your hair dry and frizzy. But before you let people smear your face blue, orange and red, below are few tips to get rid of those annoying colours. Also, better be safe than sorry. Prep your skin and hair in advance before stepping out for the celebrations.

Tips to remove colours from skin, hair and nails

Use cold water: Contrary to the popular belief, rinsing your body or hair with warm water will not remove the colour stains. In fact, hot water will solidify the colour on your skin and makes it tougher to get rid of. Clean up after yourselves using cold water. Hot water will also make your hair further dry and frizzy.

Scrub lemon: Lemon contains citric acid which will help lightening Holi colours. You can also infuse lemon juice with curd, honey, gram flour, turmeric or oil. These will strip of the dark colours and help your skin get back its original colour and glow.

Moisturise: People with sensitive skin are more prone to rashes and irritation. Although not all colour will come out instantly, but you can use some preventive measures post washing off the colours. Moisturise your body with antiseptic cream or lotions. This will prevent from drying of the skin. For your face, mix calamine lotion and rosewater and gently rub it onto your skin till all of it is absorbed.

Condition your hair: After shampooing and conditioning most of the colour will come out from your scalp. But your hair will be dry and frizzy for a couple of days. For soft and smooth hair, massage egg yolk onto your scalp and hair. If you cringe at the idea of egg, you can also apply curd onto your hair. Mix curd, almond oil and castor oil or olive oil and massage gently. These measures will not only help you in getting rid of the colour but will prevent your hair from side-effects of chemicals and other harmful substances.

Multani Mitti: Make a paste of fuller clay (multani mitti), rose water and a drop of glycerine. This pack will help cool your skin and prevent rashes. You will be left with a soft and supple skin.

Nail care: The best way to prevent your nails from colour stain is to wear a nail paint beforehand. Girls you can put on a coat of a dark coloured nail paint and boys can wear a coat of transparent nail paint. Post Holi, the colours should ideally come off easily with a nail polish remover. However, if it is still stubborn, soak your nails in lukewarm water with some vinegar – it will help the excess colour to wash out. Keep your nails bare for a few days and moisturise it regularly. You can also scrub a lemon wedge on your nails, it will help clean the cuticles effectively.

These measures will surely remove the colours in a safe manner. Also avoid bleaching your hair or skin post Holi for at least a week or so. Your skin is very sensitive, so these treatments may have adverse effects on your skin. Gear up folks, play hard with colours but also be safe. Other than painting faces red with gulal, don’t turn other’s face red with anger. Be cool like colour blue. Wishing everyone a safe and colourful Holi.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2018 07:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).