First off, making organic, home-made chemical free colours is not as elaborate and time taking as you might think. Very simple and readily available ingredients can serve the purpose, and will help you save time while you scrub off harsh chemicals later. Some people even get severe allergies and rashes with the widely available colours in the market.
Several brands are also selling relatively non-toxic chemical dyes as eco-friendly Holi colours. Whilst these may be safer than the regular chemical colours, they are by no means natural or 100% safe or biodegradable, even when mixed to edible fillers like flours or starch. So, make sure you know what you are buying, or simply go a mile extra to safeguard your skin and health, by opting for 100% chemical free, plant and flower derivatives.
Now, you might think who will go through all the hassle of actually making all these home-made colours, and might look for alternatives available in the market. However, please be sure of what you buy since it’s very easy to mix chemical dyes in colours and sell them saying they are organic. It’s best to invest some time and make your own colours, for your skin to thank you, the same skin that you spend thousands on every month investing in skincare products.
Another great thing to notice would be chemical dyes, and artificially made colours when washed off might eventually reach water systems and are very harmful to the aquatic life, and the environment. Read on to know how to make your favourite Holi colours at home, which are a hundred percent safe for use.
The versatile Gulal
Who doesn’t love gulal? And especially, whoever comes to our homes on Holi with mouth -watering gujiyas is smeared with the powder as a mark of celebration. While Pink/Red and Yellow are popular colours, use dried orange peels to churn out a bright-hued yellow colour. Sun dry orange peels for over 2-3 days, spread all the peels on a tray and cover with a thin cloth. Put all the dried peels into a food processor and grind till you get a fine powder. Simple, isn’t it? Start collecting orange peels instead of throwing them away so that you can make enough powder by the time Holi’s here.
If you are feeling a little more fancy mix turmeric powder, marigold flowers, and the grinded orange peel powder, along with drops of lemon/orange essential oil. Do use essential oils sparingly, like only a few drops in a bowl full of the powder mix.
Scintillating Saffron
You can soak Tesu flowers overnight in water or boil them to get a brilliant yellowish orange colour. You can also dry these flowers in the shade and grind them finely for a dry colour. A few strands of Kesar or Saffron can be soaked in water overnight and can be diluted with water to achieve a saffron orange colour.
Calming green
Mix equal quantity of good quality henna powder with flour to form a green color home made holi powder. Make sure the henna powder you are using is pure and chemical free. If henna leaves are readily available, try using those. You can make wet Green Color Holi powder liquid by using fresh neem leaves and boiling them in water. After the mixture gets cooled, remove the excess water and dilute as needed.
Pink pop
Make this beautiful colour using chopped beetroot and pressure cooker them for 5-6 whistles. Once cooled, dilute it as required. For a lovely pink colour, you can use beetroot. Sun dry beetroot bits for over 2-3 days. Grind all the dried beetroot bits in a food processor till you get a fine and pretty pink coloured powder. Mix besan or gram flour to the beetroot powder to up the quantity.
The modern pakka rang
If you want to go for deeper colours Mix 1 part of Henna powder with 4 parts of Amla powder for a nice Brown color. Dilute this with water to fill in your pichkaaris. Deeper colours have harsher chemical content owing to their opaque consistency.
HD Tips
- Before using any type of colour on your skin always do a patch test behind the ear, in order to avoid a major breakout or allergy.
- Keeping in mind the organic nature of these colours, they have a considerably lower shelf life. Make sure to use them fresh, or store them in a refrigerator to avoid any stale odors.
- Add few drops of essential oil of your choice to enhance the aroma of your colour.
Please respect your skin and the environment, skip the Synthetic Holi colours whih usually contain cheap, toxic substances which affect human health including mica, acids, alkalis, and even pieces of glass. The mildest forms of adverse health effects include hair and skin problems like irritation, itching, rashes, allergies, eye infections, hair roughness, etc. whilst the more serious forms include poisoning, impaired vision, respiratory problems and even cancer. The risks increase when these colours are mixed with oils and fluids and applied to the skin.
These readily available colours are sold loose in the market, and are usually liberally priced. And the worst part is one can never be too sure what ingredients are actually added and how harmful they might be.
