Strolling through colourful gullies on Holi with perfectly blow-dried hair is pretty much a Bollywood dream. Trying to rock freshly washed and styled hair during a colour parade is a bad idea, IRL. You will ruin a salon trip, overstress your scalp and lengths, and make your post-Holi hair care feel like a proper chore.
Similar to your skin, your hair can also rake up damage from Holi colours. The dyes, natural or otherwise, can sensitise your scalp. The fine powder can further clog hair follicles, heightening the risk of contact dermatitis, redness and irritation. You also need to remember that hair, when wet, has its cuticles open. This means your defences are low but you can save your strands the stress by prepping well along with after care.
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We’re laying down the Holi hair care guide right here -
1. Prep:
Do not douse yourself with coconut oil before Holi. Heavy oils in your hair can be too overwhelming for sensitive and acne-prone skin types. Running down your face when mixed with water, may do some good for your hair but your skin might pay the price!
Our Holi hair care tip would be to divide and conquer - massage lightweight, dry oils closer to your scalp - look for avocado, jojoba or rosemary. Treat the ends to a leave-in conditioner or hair mask to avoid dryness and brittle ends caused by dye exposure. Get a trim to take split ends out of the picture post-Holi. You can also cover your head with colourful bandanas to minimise exposure.
Tira Recommends:
K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask
2. Cleanse:
Your post-Holi wash is crucial to ensure all the colours are off. Since your scalp is already stressed, opt for a gentle, clarifying shampoo to eliminate the fine powder or permanent pastes from your hair.
If you aren’t in the habit of rinse and repeat already, Holi is the right time to do it. For the first round, emulsify the shampoo in water and work into the scalp and hair lengths - gently massage and rise. For round two, go in with the shampoo directly, work up a good lather and wash. Follow up with your regular conditioner to replenish the lengths of lost moisture from the clarifying shampoo.
Tira Recommends:
Marc Anthony Macadamia Oil Shampoo
3. Treat:
An invigorating Holi sesh calls for an equally intentional after-Holi hair care and pampering sesh. Indulge in a deep conditioning hair mask straight out of the shower. Look for a formula that works on both scalp and strands without making your scalp too oily. Formulations with milk proteins, amino acids, fatty oils and hydrolysed keratin can help make up for moisture and protein loss from your mane. Even better if you could cover your head with a hot towel to speed up the nourishing action.
Tira Recommends:
Bare Anatomy Expert Damage Repair Hair Mask
Once you’ve let your tresses settle down, it’s time to hit the salon for a professional touch. Hair treatments like hot oil massage, deep condition, softening, or your regular old hair spa will be enough to hit reset on Holi damaged mane!
