With Holi round the corner, we bring to you the homemade holi colors which are safe for your little one and family as a whole.
Hope you have already started the preparations to make this year’s Holi a special one.
Holi, the festival of colors is all about filling colors to the life. The main fun and attraction of Holi is the play with colors in which the whole family and neighborhood comes together.
With the excitement and the festive spirit, there is also a fear in all of us about the colors that are used to play Holi.
How chemicals in holi colors can harm us?
There have been a lot of things talked and written about the chemicals used in the colors available from the market and the hazards that they cause to us, especially children and elders.
Many people complaint of rashes on the skin or some kind of pigmentation after using chemical filled toxic color powders and colored water. Some have burning sensation and dryness.
Some chemicals used in holi colors can even cause adverse effects like blindness, alleriges and asthma.
How do we avoid this and take precautions?
There are lots of organic options for Holi colours available in the market that claim to be non-toxic and skin-friendly. But we can’t be sure what all goes into the making of such powders that are claimed to be organic.
The best way is preparing your own colors at home.
The satisfaction and the assurance that you will get when your children and the neighbourhood plays with the homemade colours is worth the effort that you put in making these colours all by yourself.
Remember before all these toxic chemical based colors came into existence, our forefathers played holi with the naturally available colors and flowers.
Homemade holi colors with naturally available products:
This Holi choose to go the ‘ natural way’.
You can prepare Holi colors all by yourself at home with the things available at home. Every household uses a lot of things that are naturally colored.
Below I have given the preparation of commonly used Holi colors. Give it a try and make this Holi safe and non-toxic.
- Yellow
For the bright yellow, mix turmeric powder (haldi) with flour like besan, rice flour, maida (whatever is available).
Besan is suggested because it is very good for the skin. It’s widely used as a facepack and skin cleanser.
- Green
For green, you can use mehendi or henna. Mix it with any flour that is available at your home.
Henna has a very good cooling effect. It’s a very well-known hair conditioner.
- Brown and Black
For the darker shade of brown or black, boil coffee or tea powder in water and use the strained out water.
You can even use the kokum syrup to give this dark shade. Black grapes also can be used to give the dark shade.
- Red
For the red, use rakt chandan (red sandalwood).
Other alternative is dry red hibiscus or red roses grind them and use them as powder.
- Saffron / Orange
For the tinge of Orange, you can use saffron boiled in water or a mix of rakt chandan (red sandalwood) and turmeric.
- Magenta
For magenta color, boil slices of beetroot in water and use the water as color.
- Violet
Potassium permanganate can be used to give the bright violet color. Mix very little quantity of potassium permanganate in a bucket of water to use this as color.
To increase the volume of the colors, add flour as and when needed.
Stay away from toxins this Holi and play safe with homemade holi colors. Go the natural way!
Please do share your ideas for homemade natural colors in the comments.
Like the article? Please share it through Facebook and Twitter.
Image credits: StevenJackson, Iqbal Osman, William Neuheisel
