Want glowing skin for Diwali without a last-minute panic? Between festive shopping, cleaning, late nights and endless preparations, skincare often gets pushed aside.
The week before Diwali often means cupboard cleaning, picking rangoli designs, deep in Dhanteras shopping, painted diyas and house cleaning. These everyday factors can leave your skin feeling dry, congested, or tired.
Diwali is undoubtedly a festival full of lights and sweets to enhance our mood and energy levels, but to make our skin glow and shine, we need to start preparing it well in advance so that it can be protected from dust, pollution and other environmental stressors.
Starting a pre-Diwali skincare routine is very essential for achieving glowing, healthy skin, making it to deal with environmental stressors and ensuring you look radiant throughout the celebrations.
Night-time Routine
After removing your makeup and cleansing your skin, nighttime is your opportunity to focus on hydration and barrier support. Double cleansing at night can help remove stubborn pollutants and makeup residues, ensuring your skin breathes freely. Apply oil-based cleansers to dry skin and massage gently in circular motions for one minute to dissolve waterproof makeup, glitter, sunscreen and oil buildup.
Wet your hands with a little water to emulsify the product until it turns milky, then rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Follow with a gentle hydrating or Vitamin C face wash to clear away remaining soot, dust and pollution residue.
Exfoliation
Gentle exfoliation a week before Diwali helps remove dead skin cells and allows festive makeup to sit smoothly without causing irritation or breakouts. Exfoliation is optional, not a compulsory step for glowing skin. Choose gentle exfoliation like mandelic acid or lactic acid, which are well-tolerated by Indian skin tones or enzyme powders like papain. Choose a skin-friendly DIY mask based on your skin type.
Always follow up exfoliation with hydrating and barrier-repairing ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, or ceramides, and never skip daytime sunscreen. Do not combine multiple acids, a scrub and a strong retinoid in the same week just because Diwali is approaching. If you have never exfoliated before, this is not the ideal time to experiment. Never exfoliate over sunburn, cuts, active irritation or freshly waxed skin. Avoid trying multiple new treatments immediately before Diwali.
Under-eye Care
Prepare your under-eye area for Diwali with targeted hydration, gentle ingredients and natural products to reduce puffiness, dark circles and fatigue.
Use a light moisturiser if the area feels dry and avoid rubbing. A cool, clean compress can feel soothing after a long day, but it will not permanently remove dark circles. Apply a chilled teaspoon, cool cucumber, cold washcloth, bag of frozen veggies or ice roller for 5-10 minutes to constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling.
Before applying, wrap your compress with a soft cloth to protect your skin from getting too cold. Steep two tea bags for 5 minutes. Let the tea bags chill in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. Then, squeeze out the extra liquid and apply it to your under-eye area. Leave the tea bags on for half an hour.
Home Remedies
As Diwali and winter approach, try some home remedies to relieve dryness. Apply honey on the face daily for 10 minutes and wash off with water. If you have an aloe vera plant at home, the gel, found in the inner portion of the leaves can be applied on the face to moisturise it.
Grate carrots and apply on the face for 15-20 minutes. Carrot is rich in Vitamin A and good for nourishing the skin in winter. It suits all skin types.
Mix half a teaspoon of honey, one teaspoon of rose water and one teaspoon of dried milk powder. Mix into a paste and apply on the face. Remove after 20 minutes with water. Suits normal to dry skin. Applying mayonnaise or egg yolk on the skin also helps to relieve dryness. Suits dry skin.
Nourish the hair with oil treatments. Heat olive oil and apply on the scalp and hair. Then dip a towel in hot water, squeeze out the water and wrap the hot towel around the head, like a turban. Keep it on for 5 minutes. Repeat the hot towel wrap 3 or 4 times. This helps the hair and scalp absorb the oil better.
Egg white is a wonderful natural cleanser for oily hair, and its protein content helps to add body. Apply egg white to the hair about half an hour before your shampoo. To nourish dry hair, massage egg yolk or mayonnaise into the scalp. Leave it on for half an hour and then wash the hair. It helps soften hair and is especially useful for hair damaged by colouring, straightening, or perming.
