Holi, March 26: This time holi, instead of torturing your skin with chemicals, make yourself some chemical-free, natural and herbal colours at home. As much as we are fond of playing with colours on Holi, the chemicals with which these colours are made can harm our skin and cause allergies or rashes.
Here’s how you can go about it
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Gulal
Any Indian festival including Holi is a perfect time for family bonding, and nothing better than making gulal together. All that’s needed is 200 grams arrowroot powder, 50 grams marigold flowers, 100 grams haldi, 20 grams orange peel powder, and about 15 drops of essential oil of sandalwood or lemon.
Blend all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and rub them together gently. What you’ll notice is a pretty orange-coloured herbal, natural, and safe gulal to enjoy the festival of colours, Holi with.
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Purple
This is one of those colours which we don’t think of first, but upon hearing about it, cannot choose to ignore. Purple can be made by grating and grinding 4 to 5 black carrots.
The next step to follow is to add cornflour and mix it well. A few drops of rosewater to the mixture can help to add a natural fragrance. Let it dry and then sieve it for a usable texture.
Also Read: Manipur gears up for ‘Yaoshang’ amid rising Covid cases
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Green
When speaking of all things eco-friendly and natural, it’s not possible to miss out on a shade that signifies these terms.
One way to make a nice, vibrant green Holi colour is by drying lots of neem (margosa) leaves, preferably under direct sunlight, and turning it into a fine powder. Voila! The other option to neem leaves could be dry methi (fenugreek) or mint leaves as well.
The process to make the colour remains the same with either of these ingredients.
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Blue
Though a challenging shade to make, the Jacaranda flowers help to extract a deep blue colour.
Bonus point: these flowers bloom during the springtime and thus, can be easily dried, ground, and crushed for an eco-friendly outcome. Alternatively, blue hibiscus, too, can be used for reaping a similar outcome.
For water-based natural colour, blueberries can be crushed and diluted, depending on the level of concentration desired.
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Grey
Despite this being an uncommon colour, it can be made using Indian gooseberry, also called amla.
The process is simple and requires the seeds to be ground in a mixer. What’s next? Corn flour can be added to the mixture and then left to dry.
Prior to using the colour, sieve it a couple of times.
