Holi – the festival of colours – fills almost everyone with zest and fervour. As opposed to other festivals, Holi is one occasion where the clothes, matching accessories, make-up and brands don’t matter at all. However, one thing that does matter is the quality of the colours being used because a moment of incautious fun may amount to a lot of skin trouble later.
Here are a few easy techniques to make 100% organic and natural colours at home that will make your Holi memorable and absolutely safe.
1. Red Color Homemade Holi Powder Recipe
Red color signifies both sensuality and purity.
How to make holi color at home
Dry Colour:
Red Sandal Wood Powder / Raktachandan / Lalchandan (Pterocarpus santalinus) has a beautiful red colour, is extremely beneficial for the skin and is used in face packs, etc. This can be used instead of Red Gulal.
Dry red hibiscus flowers in shade and powder to make a lovely red colour. To increase the bulk add any flour to it
Sinduria, called Annato in English has a water chestnut shaped fruit which contains lovely brick colour red seeds. These yield both dry and wet colours.
Wet colour
Put 2 teaspoons of Red Sandal wood powder in a litre of water and boil. Dilute and use.
Peels of Red Pomegranate boiled in water give red.
For a bright orangish-red, mix thoroughly a pinch of chuna / lime powder (the one that we eat with our paan / betel leaves) with 2 spoons of haldi/ turmeric powder and a few drops of water. Use only after diluting with 10 litres of water.
2. Saffron or Orange color Homemade Holi Powder Recipe
Wet Colour
The Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma), known as Tesu, Palash or Dhak in vernacular languages, is the source of the wonderful, traditional colour for Holi. The flowers are soaked overnight in water and can also be boiled to obtain a fragrant yellowish - orange colored water.
The dried flowers can be dried and powdered for a orange powder. Legend says that Lord Krishna used to play Holi with Tesu flowers, and the flowers also have a lot of medicinal properties. Tesu blooms during month of March.
Boil flower petals of red variety of Semul / Silk Cotton (Bombax ceiba ) in water.
Collect and dry the stalks of Harashringar / Parijatak (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) flowers during the early winter season. Soak them in water to get a pleasant coloured orange.
Mix a pinch of Sandalwood powder from Ujjain (also used in our temples) in one litre of water for an instant, beautiful and fragrant saffron colour.
Soak a few stalks of Saffron / Kesar in 2 table spoons of water. Leave for few hours and grind to make a fine paste. Dilute with water for desired colour strength. Though expensive, it is excellent for our skin.
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Use mehendi / henna powder, separately or mix with equal quantity of any suitable flour to attain a lovely green shade.
Make use only pure mehendi and not the one mixed with amla (meant to be applied to our hair) as this would be brown in colour. Dry mehendi will not leave colour on your face as it can be easily brushed off. Only when it is
a paste (i.e. it is mixed in water) will it leave a slight colour on your face. Thus, it can be used as a pucca / fast colour.
Many people like smearing other person's hair with colours. How about doing it with mehendi powder and saving a trip to the parlour?
Wet colour:
Mix two teaspoons of mehendi in one litre of water. Stir well.
Green colour can also be obtained by mixing a fine paste of leaves like spinach / palak, coriander / dhaniya, mint / pudina, tomato leaves, etc. in water.
Add one teaspoon of haldi to two litres of water and stir well. This can be boiled to increase the concentration of colour and further diluted.
Soak Amaltas (Cassia fistula) or Marigold / Gainda (Tagetus erecta) flowers in water. Boil and leave overnight.
4. Blue Color Homemade Holi Powder Recipe
Dry Colour
The Jacaranda flowers can be dried in the shade and ground to obtain a beautiful blue powder. The flowers bloom in summers.
The blue Hibiscus which is found in Kerala can be dried and powdered just like the red hibiscus
Wet Colour
Crush the berries (fruits) of the Indigo plant and add to water for desired colour strength. In some Indigo species the leaves when boiled in water yield a rich blue.
5. Yellow color Homemade Holi Powder Recipe
Dry colour:
Mix two teaspoons of haldi / Turmeric powder with double quantity of besan (gram flour). Haldi and besan are extremely healthy for our skin, and are also used widely as a ubtan while taking bath.
You can use the ordinary haldi or "kasturi" haldi which is very fragrant and has enhanced therapeutic effects. Besan can be substituted by atta, maida, rice flour, arra rot (ground nut) powder, fuller's earth (multani mitti) and even talcum powder.
Wet Colour:
Add one teaspoon of haldi to two litres of water and stir well. This can be boiled to increase the concentration of colour and further diluted.
Soak Amaltas (Cassia fistula) or Marigold / Gainda (Tagetus erecta) flowers in water. Boil and leave overnight.
Also Read:
4 Amazing Decoration Ideas To Make Your 'Holi' More Colorful
3 Traditional Food And Drinks for Holi Festival
Running Horse Paintings & Pictures influencing Vastu of your house
