Essential Hair and Skincare Tips for a Safe Holi

Holi is a festival of colours and happiness. It is one such festival that brings out the child in us. The vibrant colours and the festive mood is enough to light up the atmosphere and enabling people to enjoy. However, it is very essential to ensure that we have a safe Holi.

During this festival we tend to use colours that have harsh chemicals, so first I would request all to play Holi with organic colours. The colours that are usually used during Holi can lead to skin allergies, rashes and damaged hair. According to me, the best way to play Holi is to play it with flowers. The aroma of different flowers makes a wonderful ambience and it is the safest way as well. I would recommend you to follow a pre-Holi overall skin and hair care as under:

Nails:

• Paint your nails bright as this will help you keep your nails and the cuticles safe from the harsh colours and the chemicals.
• Before going to play Holi, I would recommend you immerse your fingers into a mixture comprising of 1 tablespoon each of coconut oil and olive oil and 1 teaspoon of castor oil. This will help in keeping the colours from penetrating the cuticles of your fingers. This should be done for both fingers and toes.

Lips:For protecting your lips while playing Holi, use a lipbalm or a lipstick so that it keeps the lips protected and moisturised at the same time.

Skin:

• Make a mixture of 1 tablespoon each of coconut oil and olive oil and add to it a teaspoon of castor oil. Apply this mixture all over your skin before playing Holi. Make sure you apply it on the ears as well and the area behind the ears.
• If you wish after moisturising your skin thoroughly with oil mixture, you can apply sunscreen on your face.
• I would recommend you avoid putting any kind of make up while playing Holi with colours.

Hair:

• Oil your hair from the scalp to tip of the hair the night before.. Give your scalp a gentle massage before you sleep and repeat the process in the morning.
• Do not leave your hair open. Tie it into a ponytail or a bun and cover your head with a scarf.

Post-Holi Skin Care:

• Do not scrub the colour off with soap. Use a cream-based cleanser or you can even use oil for removing the colours, and then go for a bath. Apply a lot of moisturising cream to keep the skin hydrated.
• If the colours are still left on your skin you can follow the given two recipes: a.) Add a teaspoon of besan to 2 tablespoons of milk powder and to it add a few drops of lavender essential oil. Apply this mixture on your skin. Then have a bath. b.) Take 2 tablespoon of besan and sandalwood powder, to it add a tablespoon of orange peel and milk. Mix them together thoroughly and to this paste add 2 to 3 drops of sandalwood essential oil. Apply this mixture on your skin thoroughly and then have a bath.

Here are some great face packs that you can try at home-

For oily skin: Make a paste of papaya, lemon juice and milk powder. Apply it on and leave it for 20 minutes and then rinse off.  

For dry skin: Mix a teaspoon of honey in half a mashed banana. To it add a pinch of sea salt, scrub for 10 minutes. Then rinse it off.

Skincare regime:

• Clean your skin morning and night using a cleanser
• Keep your skin thoroughly nourished by applying moisturiser
• You can either use an almond nourishing cream or a Vitamin E cream in the night for keeping your skin smooth and supple.

How to remove colour from hair

• Rinse your hair completely without using shampoo at first. Once the colours are removed, then you can wash them with a mild shampoo and conditioner.
• To revitalise your hair further, take yoghurt and mix a few drops of rosemary essential oil in it. Then apply it on the scalp. Leave it on for 30 minutes and then rinse it off.

Post-Holi hair care tips:

• Since your hair turns dry after the festival of colours is over, you need to put it through deep conditioning. I recommend the following recipe for post-holi hair care.
• Take 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and coconut oil, to it mix 1 teaspoon each of castor oil, glycerine, vinegar, conditioner and your shampoo respectively. Apply the mixture on your hair and the scalp and leave it on for an hour and then rinse it off.

Improve Your Concentration

How many times have you sat at your desk and tried to focus on a task, only to find that your mind is wandering? Despite your best intentions, you just can't concentrate. We've all been in this familiar, frustrating situation, and it's something that can really undermine your performance.
In this article, we'll review strategies to improve your concentration and reduce your daily distractions.

Environment

Your personal work environment plays a large role in your ability to concentrate. The more comfortable and welcoming your environment is, the easier it will likely be for you to stay there and focus.
Here are some ideas for improving your physical environment:

• Make sure you're comfortable – Start by ensuring that your chair and desk are at the right height for you to work comfortably. If your chair is too high or your desk is too low, you'll be uncomfortable, and you'll be tempted to use this as an excuse to get up and walk away.
• Put up pictures – Viewing a natural scene or watching wildlife can help improve concentration. If you're able to put up pictures in your office or work area, then choose landscapes or natural images that you enjoy. This can help your focus, especially if you can see the pictures from your desk.
• Shut out distractions as much as possible – Listening to music can help, especially if it's instrumental music. Some people even use noise machines in their offices – these produce a steady "white noise," like ocean waves or falling rain. This steady background noise can drown out other noise, helping you focus better and ignore distractions.

Nutrition

Follow some simple nutritional tips:

• Drink water – Many of us don't think about drinking water while we're at work, yet dehydration can make us feel tired, irritable, slow, or even sick. When our brains don't have enough fluid, they can't operate at peak performance. Staying hydrated is an easy way to help improve your concentration during the day.
• Eat breakfast – Start your day with a healthy breakfast. It's much harder to concentrate when you're hungry, so eat a well-rounded meal before you go to work. You can also help your concentration throughout the day by keeping healthy snacks at your desk. Almonds, whole-grain crackers, fresh fruit, and vegetables are good choices.
• Get up and move around – Do you walk around during the day? If you're like many people, you probably don't move around enough. Research has shown that regular walking can help increase your focus during the day.

Mindset

Constant distractions, and the low productivity that's associated with these distractions, have become so commonplace in today's offices that doctors have even given it a name: Attention Deficit Trait, or ADT. And, they say that entire organizations can suffer from it.
Follow some of these guidelines to help focus your mind:

• Set aside time to deal with worries – Many of us have trouble concentrating during the day because we're constantly worrying about other things. It could be an approaching deadline for a project you haven't started, a new colleague who's causing problems, or just the amount of work on your desk. If you find yourself distracted by worries, then note these down so that you don't need to hold them in your mind. Then schedule time to deal with these issues.
• Focus on one task at a time – It can be much harder to focus if you take minibreaks (15–30 seconds) to answer emails, send text messages, or take quick phone calls. Some researchers believe that it can take up to 15 minutes for us to regain complete focus after a distraction.
• Close your email box and chat program – Let your voice mail do its job. If your office allows it, close your office door or put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign to let colleagues know you need to focus. (If you're a manager and you want to operate an open door policy, then consider working from home or from elsewhere.)
• Switch between high- and low-attention tasks – This can give your brain a rest after heavy concentration. For instance, if you spend two hours working on your department's budget, you'll probably feel tired afterward. You can recharge your energy by working on a low-attention task, like filing, for 15 minutes before going back to your budget.
• Prioritize – Having too much to do can be distracting, and this sometime causes procrastination. Or, you may quickly jump from task to task, creating the illusion of work – but in reality, you're not accomplishing very much. If you're not sure which tasks to start or which are most important, take 10 or 15 minutes to prioritize   your to-do list. Our article Overcoming Procrastination   can also help.

Limiting distractions allows you to get into the flow of your work – so you get more done.

More Tips for Improving Your Concentration

• Take short breaks – We can be masters at focusing, but eventually we're going to need a break. Our minds can struggle to focus intensely on tasks for eight hours a day. This is where it can be better to divide your work into one-hour segments, with a 5–10 minute break between tasks. This short break will allow your mind to rest before focusing again.
• Do your hardest tasks when you're most alert – This will help you maximize your concentration. Do you want to learn how to schedule your tasks around your energy levels? 
• Use a phone headset – If you have a headset for your phone, consider using it for a few hours each day. If your colleagues think you're on the phone, they're less likely to interrupt you.
• Promise yourself a reward – For instance, make a rule that if you focus intensively for 45 minutes on one task, you can take a break to get a cup of coffee when you're done. Little "self-rewards" can often be great motivators.
• Schedule email downloads – It can be tremendously distracting to have emails pinging into your inbox every few minutes – you're tempted to stop what you're doing, and answer them right away. If you can, schedule your email to download only a few times each day, and deal with all of your emails in one go.

5 Health tips that will change your life

Choosing a healthy lifestyle can lead to a longer, more fulfilling life. Improving your physical and mental health has a positive effect on everyone around you.

You can teach your family and friends better habits through example. There's no need to be intimidated by the idea of living healthier. Make a few small changes and see big results.

Get Moving

There are exercise programs out there that promise amazing body transformations in a short amount of time but they're grueling. If you love that kind of challenge then go for it! To begin an exercise regimen that's less extreme, start with walking. Walking is a great way to ease into exercise and is less taxing on your joints than jogging or running. Even a 10 minute walk down the street will increase your stamina and boost your metabolism. When the weather doesn't permit walking outdoors, try the local gym. Elliptical machines are kinder to your knees and with their adjustable resistance you can increase the challenge as muscles strengthen. A treadmill is a great way to get walking too and with the adjustable incline you can experience the unique challenge of traversing hills.

Hydrate Properly

Drinking enough water is vital to your health. Proper hydration aids in digestion, organ function and protects joint health. Consuming the proper amount of water daily keeps your skin healthy and helps flush out any toxins in your system. You need to drink more water when you're exercising because you sweat it out. Sports drinks are okay after a strenuous workout because they replace electrolytes but be aware that they contain sugar and added calories that you won't find in water. Fruit juices are good hydration too because they have vitamins and minerals but even the most natural juices contain sugar and sometimes high amounts of sodium.

Fresh Air and Sunshine

Venturing out into the sunlight has many benefits, a major one being that when your skin is exposed to sunlight, it produces Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium which is vital for building and maintaining strong, healthy bones. Low levels of Vitamin D can lead to certain cancers, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and depression. Vitamin D's ability to aid in calcium absorption prevents bone diseases like osteoporosis and rickets. Sunlight isn't the only source of Vitamin D, it can also be found in fortified dairy products, cod liver oil, eggs and fish like salmon and tuna.

Rest and Relaxation

Never underestimate the importance of a good night's sleep! As hectic as your life is, your body needs time to recharge. Insufficient sleep can lead to fatigue, depression and anxiety. Even just a few nights of not enough sleep affect your mood, judgment and memory. Longer bouts of inadequate sleep can lead to health problems like depression, and heart disease. You might be tempted to try and work through a problem by staying up all night but it's better to sleep on it. Quite often the right solution presents itself in the morning after a good night's rest.

Eat Naturally

A good rule of thumb to use when grocery shopping is if you can't pronounce the ingredients then you shouldn't be putting it in your body. Fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and whole grain foods are best for your body. Many breads that claim to be whole grain and nutritious are also full of preservatives and excess sugar. Take eating healthy a step further by baking as much food as you can from scratch. You'll gain peace of mind knowing exactly what ingredients went into the food you're eating. Also, keep an eye on eye on the nutritional labels of the foods you ingest and even the meds or treatments you use on your body (toothpaste, bodywash, etc).

(Data Credit: Sandy Getzky is an associate editor at ProveMyMeds and National Nail Fungus Organization (NNFO), a medication review site for common ailments that plague people everyday.)