The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of herbal sindoor composition for direct skin application and other purposes.
The newly formulated herbal sindoors provide an alternative to the presently only available synthetic dyes and heavy metal's salts based sindoors by natural ones for their application as women cosmetic and other religious purposes. Most significantly, the invention relates to a process in which natural, eco-friendly, pharmaceutical and/or food grade ingredients are blended with natural dyes to yield synergistic mixture of dry herbal sindoors. The resultant colour, powders thus prepared have good sticking capacity to skin and hair and can be easily removed with soft mop or water washing. The natural dyes used for blending are plant or insect based and considered safe. These dyes are extracted from the plant parts and insect twigs and also available in the market. Other than the natural dyes, ingredients used are permitted non-synthetic, natural bulking agents / fillers and vegetable hydrocolloids. Permitted metallic salts are used as mordants and dye-fixing agents within safe biological limits. The production profile of the herbal sindoors is eco-friendly as no toxic effluents are released during preparation, which do not disturb the eco-system.
Being an ancient civilization, India is noted for its distinct religious and cultural traditions that they defy all attempts to merge anonymously with the rest of the world. An Indian married woman can be clearly identified by the red coloured sindoor at the top of the forehead at the parting of the hair and a colourful marking, called the bindi, placed almost in the center of her forehead right above the meeting point of the eyebrows as traditional symbol of auspiciousness. Two types of sindoors, red and orange, are popular in India; the orange one is also called as kucha sindoor. The sindoor or kumkum plays a very auspicious role in the country. It is used by a married woman every day as well as on special occasions like Sankranti and Navratri to the longevity of her husband's life. The kumkum is also smeared on to the edges of a marriage invitation card and placed before the God's idol before the invitations are sent out. In north India, as part of the
wedding rites, is the ritual of applying sindoor on the bride's forehead and on the top of her head, where she parts her hair.
Sindoor (also called vermillion) and kumkum have traveled through more than 5,000 years of Hindu culture. Female figurines excavated at Mehrgarh, Baluchistan, show that sindoor was applied to the partition of women's hair even in early Harappan times. Legends say that Radha, the consort of Lord Krishna, turned the kumkum into a flame like design on her forehead. In the epic Mahabharata, Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, is believed to have wiped her sindoor in disgust and despair. The Puranas, Lalitha Sahasranamam and Soundarya Lahhari all mention their use.
Hindu astrologers say that, Mesha Rashi or the House of Aries is on the forehead. The Lord of Mesha is Mars and his colour is red. It is believed to be auspicious. This is why red sindoor is applied at the forehead at the parting of the hair. Both are signs of saubhagya (good fortune). Sindoor is also considered to be the symbol of the female energy of Parvati and Sati. The Goddesses from the Hindu pantheon are now offered kumkum which is revered and worn by both men and women.
Traditionally, the red sindoor was made at home from turmeric and alum. The turmeric powder which becomes red when mixed with lime juice or lime powder (calcium compound), moistened in water, or with alum, iodine and camphor, or with oil and sea shell powder (calcium salts), or aguru, chandan and kasturi. It can also be made of sandalwood mixed with musk, or from a mixture of saffron ground with kusumbha flower. Another traditional ingredient used in making sindoor was raw rice in water heated in a pan until it formed into a glue-like red carbonaceous compound which solidified on cooling and finally powdered. It is also believed that in olden days, sindoor was also made with a special type of red marble stone, covered with turmeric and a little oil and left undisturbed for a few days, after which it turned into red powder. In Tamil, turmeric powder is known as manjal and the final product is called manjal kumkuman.
However, these traditional preparations have long been forgotten after the emergence of synthetic dye industry which offered a variety of brilliant and fast red dyes at cheap cost. Nowadays, sindoors are produced from chemical dyes, synthetic materials and lead salts. Some of the manufactures produced it through powdering crude red lead (Pb3O4). Commonly sindoors prepared at large scale mostly contain very toxic, low grade commercial red lead oxide as such or along with other synthetic or natural bulking materials. The sindoors available in market is usually of non standard specifications and parameters and their quality%is generally unfit for skin application. As there are no strict regulations, there is very likelihood that some other harmful and banned red dyes are being used. In general, manuiacturers aim is to produce a fast blood red powder at cheap cost using any brilliant red dye without considering the hazards and after affects of the product. Different methods like blending of red dye with ingredient or mixing of lead salts with fillers or oils are adopted to obtain good bright red powders. Now sindoor is also available in liquid form. It is not surprising that red colour might be obtained by using Rhodamine B dye, which can induce hereditary disorders. Red colour may also be derived from mercury sulphite, which can cause skin cancer. All these toxic substances can cause hair loss, edema and erythema. Branded sindoors marketed by the some reputed cosmetic companies, do not carry the mandatory label of colouring agent and ingredients. The market is flooded with unbranded products which generally cause toxicity problems.
In 1994, a working group comprising the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi, CUTS and Pharmacological Laboratory of Indian Medicine (PLIM), Ghaziabad, was formed to verify the detailed technical information of ingredients of liquid kumkum, sticker bindi and sindoor before awarding the Eco-mark. Eco-marked products must satisfy the quality, performance and safety requirements of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). These products are also required to declare the list of critical inputs and are not supposed to be manufactured from any carcinogenic or harmful ingredients. Though the Eco-mark has been made mandatory, to date no producer of sindoor has applied for it.Prolonged use of the sindoor generally causes local irritation and skin toxicity problems. It can also be resulted into blisters, itching, rashes, pigmentation and, at times, serious dermatological disorders. It is observed that the continuous use of sindoor causes decolouration of skin at applied site and also graying the hairs. In a survey conducted by the Consumer Unity and Trusts Society (CUTS), Kolkata, in November 2001, half of the respondents (consumers) said that they had suffered allergic reaction to personal care products which included bindi and sindoor. The synthetic adhesive used in sticker bindis may lead to eczema, leucoderma or skin irritation. Dr. Roopa Vajpayee, a consumer activist of Delhi-based Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE), says the use of sticker bindis can cause white patches on the forehead.
Monitoring of lead levels in food materials undertaken from time to time by the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre (ITRC) have also found possible exposure to lead through adulterated sindoor. A scientist at ITRC says lead enters humans mostly through ingestion, inhalation, skin absorption and in-vitro exposures. Ingestion can occur through lead contaminated hands, he adds. Lead exposure can resulted into a wide range of biological effects, depending upon the level and duration of exposure. When traces of lead salts ingested, inhaled or absorbed, these can harm virtually every organ in the human body, especially the brain, kidney and reproductive systems. (Bibliography - Websites: HTML documents - G:\bindi,Indian women, kumkum, sindoor and kumkum.htm; Tirtho Baneerjee G:\ Hinduism Today Sindor October November December 2004.htm; G:\SINDOOR.4.HTM; G:\SINDOOR6.HTM; G:\CURRENT STATUS OF LEAD IN INDIA-Sindoor.htm)
During the last one and half century, excessive use of synthetic dyes and synthetic chemicals caused adverse effects on human health and also disturbed our eco-system. It is evident from the fact that international consumption of synthetic dyes are around 1,000,000 tones per annum whose production and application release vast amount of waste and unfixed colourant causing health hazard and pollution to the environment. Germany was the first country to take initiative to put ban on specific azo-dyes for manufacturing, dyeing and importing textile and other consumer goods dyed with these
yes. It was followed by The Netherlands, India and some other countries. Certain chemicals Viz. pentachlorophenol, benzidine, formaldehyde, hexachlorobenzene etc., used in textile dyeing have been banned and put up in red-list. In view to protect public health and environment, a trend is started for the more usage of natural dyes through its revival.
In past before the emergence of synthetic dyes in 1856, India had virtual monopoly in natural dyes for its manufacturing, textile dyeing, printing and other application. After the advent of synthetic dyes, the natural dyes became uncompetitive with reference to cost, availability, number of colours and shades, fastness properties and blending properties. Natural dyes were forgotten and neglected and confined to isolated pockets. It is only last two decades, human health and environmental concerns created interest in natural dyes, its production and more usage for colouring textile and other consumer goods. Plants are the main source of colours and there exist about 300 plants which yield colours. The consumption of natural dyes at international level is around 10,000 tones and there is likelihood that it will boost to many folds in coming years. Natural dyes are now available and national and international markets and information is available on websites.
Natural dyes are mainly used for colouring textile, jute, hosiery, bed linen, curtains, carpets, leather and other consumer goods. Printing and designing industries are also using these colours. Recently, natural dyes have also been used for the preparation of herbal gulals for safe holi playing and rangoli purpose. Now-a-days, natural food colours, are much preferred colours for their application in food, ice creams, desserts, dry mixes, beverages and meat. List of permitted natural food colours is specified in different countries according to their legislations.
No reference has been found regarding preparation of sindoor powder using extracted natural dyes and natural ingredients for their application by Indian women as a traditional symbol of auspiciousness and other religious purposes. (References: R.B. Chavan, Colourage, April 1995, pp. 27-30; Proceedings of Convention of Natural Dyes, I.I.T., Delhi, December 9-11, 1999;G.D.Premi, Clothline, September, 1996, pp. 105; M.L. Gulrajani and D. Gupta, Natural dyeing and their applications, I.I.T., Delhi, 1992; V.P.Kapoor and P. Pushpangadan, Natural Product Radiance, 1(2), 2002, 8-14; V.P. Kapoor, Proceedings of Development of Food Processing Industries in U.P., Department of Horticulture and Food Processing, Lucknow, 2002; Different volumes of Wealth of India - Raw Materials, P.I.D. - C.S.I.R., New Delhi)
* The main object of the present invention is to provide a process for the
preparation of Herbal Sindoor to be used by women for application on the top of the forehead at the parting of the hair as a traditional symbol of auspiciousness and other religious purposes, which aviates the drawbacks noted above.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process wherein natural dyes and natural ingredients are used to replace the use of heavy metal salts and synthetic dye based red coloured sindoors are used for the above mentioned purposes
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process which is eco-friendly and does not disturb the environment.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide ample opportunity to utilize our agro-forest wastes and un-utilized regenerative plant and animal wealth for the production of vegetable dye based herbal sindoors.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the preparation of a synergistic composition of herbal sindoor powders comprising of natural dyes and natural ingredients with good sticking capacity to skin, which can be removed by soft mop or water washing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a process wherein the natural dyes and ingredients used are easily available in market as these are used extensively in various industries and their extraction procedures are well known.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide women, who are allergic and sensitive to synthetic colours and heavy metals, an opportunity to enjoy the use of herbal sindoor.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for the preparation of herbal dry colour composition for direct skin application and other purposes, which comprises:
a) preparing a. 5-25 % homogeneous colour solution using one or more natural dye(s) by known methods, filtering the resultant colour solution followed by adding to the filtrate under stirring 10 to 20 volume percent ( of colour solution) of 2 to 5 % gum solution to obtain a dispersed dye solution;
b) preparing a homogeneous mixture of bulking agent / filler consisting of 60 to 90 wt. % of food grade starch(s), 5 to 25 wt. % of IP. grade steatite, and 5 to 15 wt. % of food grade gum, passing the said mixture through 100 to 150 mesh-size sieve followed by preparing # water / polar solvent based slurry of the sieved mixture;
c) blending the slurry obtained in step (b) with the dispersed dye solution
obtained in step (a) in presence of 0.5-3.0 % (dye weight basis) of a mordant
(optional), at a temperature in the range of 50° to 60° C under constant vigorous
stirring for a period of 2 to 3 hours to obtain a uniform coloured residue, filtering
the said residue followed by drying and grinding to 100 -150 mesh-size coloured
powder, optionally adding a fragrance agent.
In an embodiment of the present invention the natural dye used may be from vegetable and animal / insect sources such as:
(Table Removed)
DyeChemical classDescription
Lac dye (Red) Hydroxyl anthraquinone carboxylic acidLac is the resinous protective secretion of tiny lac insect (Laccifer laced) which is a pest on number of plants. The insects secret a thick resinous fluid which envelopes their bodies and becomes a hard continuous encrustation over twigs. The twigs are harvested and the encrustations scraped off, dries and processed to yield shellac and the dye. The principle constituent of lac dye is laccaic acid. It is available in India.Manjit dye/ Maddar dye (Red)
Purpurin (trihydoxy
anthraquinone and
munjistin.Obtain from the roots of a variable prickly creeper, Rubia cordifolia Linn., found throughout India. It belongs to family Rubiaceae and about 15 species occur in India but R. cordifolia is supposed to be best in colour content. Used for textile dyeing. Available in India.



Cochineal / Gamine (Red)

Carminic .acid (class:
anthraquinone); its
aluminium chelate is known as carmine.

Insect dye obtained from the dried female coccid insect Dactylopius coccus costa ( Coccus cacti L.). It is imported in India and very expensive.



Paprica dye (Orange-Red)

Capsanthin, capsorubin and {3-carotene (Carotenoids)

Obtained from total extract of paprika ( Capcicum annum); Distinctive flavour; Expensive.



Beetroot dye (Red)

Betanin (Betalain)

Approved dye in EU and USA as food additive; rarely available in India.



Annatto dye (Yellow-Orange)

Cis-bixin (monomethyl ester of diapocarotenic acid) and norbixin (found as a resinous coating surronding the seeds

Obtain from the seed of bush Bixa orellana cultivated in tropical regions of India. Permitted food colour in India, EU and USA. Easily available in India and extensively used in foods and food processing.



Katha/Kutch
dye
(Brown)

Catechin (Class:
Flavone) and condensed tannins ( Poly phenolic

Katha and kutch are obtained from heartwood of Acacia catechu (Khair tree) by hot water extraction. Catechin is an

compounds)

essential constituent of katha and its value depends upon the catechin content. Cutch consists of a highly complex mixture of polyphenolic compounds known as tannins.

(Bibliography - G.A.F. Hendry and J.D. Houghton, Natural Food Colorants, Ilnd edition, 1996, Blackie academic & Professional, London; Different volumes of Wealth of India - Raw Materials, P^.D.-C.S.I.R., New Delhi; M.L. Gulrajani and D. Gupta, Natural Dyes and Their Application to Textile, 1992,1.I.T., Delhi; V.P. Kapoor, Applied Botany Abstracts, 18 (1998)205; V.P. Kapoor, Dye Yielding Plants - Extraction and Applications, In Advances in Ornamental Horticulture, 2005, Ed. S.K. Bhattacharjee et.al., Pointer Publisher, Jaipur, (In Press); M.D. Teli, R. Paul and P.O. Pardeshi, Colour age, April 2001, 51; G.E. Wickens, Economic Botany- Principle & Practices, 2001, Kluwer Academic Publisher, Netherlands)
The vegetable dyes have been used since ages in traditional systems of medicines, food and cosmetics. There are many other plant species, which yield colours and can also be used after suitable trials under safety parameters and ecological factors.
In another embodiment of the present invention the gum used may be any of binding and thickening agent which provides affinity between dye and bulking agent, any of the food hydrocolloids such as guar gum, alginates, cassia seed gums, gum arabic, karaya gum, gum tragicanth, modified derivatives of natural gums.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention the bulking agent / filler used which may be the mixture of following ingredients: i. food grade starch such as obtained from tapioca, arrowroot, maize, potato etc. and
their several modified derivatives (cationic starches, amphoteric starches,
acetylated starches etc with different nitrogen contents and degree of
substitutions);
ii. 96 % pure, I.P. grade steatite powder; iii. food grade gum such as guar gum, alginates, cassia seed gums, acacia gum ,
karaya gum, gum tragacanth, modified derivatives of natural gums.
In still another embodiment of the present invention the polar solvents used may be such as water, acetone and primary and secondary alcohols or mixture thereof.
The herbal siondoor composition can be prepared using water only for cottage industry but to facilitate rapid and large scale manufacture, other polar solvents can be used.
In still another embodiment of the present invention a fragrance agent such as natural oil extracted from rose, sandalwood, lemon grass, jasmine etc. may be used.
In yet another embodiment to the present invention darker shades may be obtained by repeating the process by substituting the bulking agents / fillers with the colour powder obtained.
In order to accelerates the affinity of dye towards the natural ingredients and also provide lusture to sindoor depending upon dye used and its concentration. 0.5-3.0 % (of dye weight basis) of any one or more of the following mordants / fixing agents can be used depending upon specific dye and shade required; boric acid, stannous chloride, alum, sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, tannic acid etc. The salts of heavy metals such as lead, chromium, mercury etc. can provide very fast shade but their use is not recommended since they are toxic, harsh to skin and cause pollution.
The herbal sindoor composition prepared by the process of the present invention is not a mere admixture but a synergistic mixture having property, which are different from the mere aggregated properties of the individual ingredients.
The detailed steps of the process of present invention are given below: Step 1: Dispersion of dye solution:
5-25 % of homogeneous dye solution (depending upon particular dye) is made with sufficient quantity of hot water / organic solvent with continuous stirring for 15-30 minutes. The solution is filtered through a sintered funnel under vacuum. In another 250 ml beaker, 100 ml warm water (50-60 ° C) was taken and 2-5 g of guar gum / alginate / arabic gum / gum tragacanth / cassia gum is added slowly with continuous vigorous stirring till a semi-thick gum solution is obtained. The resultant solution is transferred to the beaker having dye solution and mixed properly through continuous stirring until uniform dye dispersion is obtained.
Step 2 : Preparation of fillers / bulking agents:
1000 g of filler powder containing 60 to 90 wt. % of food grade starch(s), 5 to 25 wt. % of I.P. grade steatite, and 5 to 15 wt. % of food grade gum is taken in a mixer and blended for 15- 30 minutes and passed to 100-150 mesh-size. Sufficient amount of warm (50-60° C) water / polar solvent is added to the filler mixture till thin slurry is obtained using a mixer for another 15-30 minutes. The slurry is transferred to a beaker. Step 3 : Blending of dyes and filler material:
The resulting ingredient slurry is warmed to 50° C and transferred to the mixer. The dispersed dye solution (50° C) is added in fractions to the ingredient slurry followed by sufficient blending. The process of adding dye dispersion to slurry and blending is completed in about 30 minutes. 0.5-3.0 % (dye weight basis) of mordant is added to the mixture (Optional). Finally, the colour mixture is blended for 2-3 hours. The resultant residue is taken in glass flat tray, dried in air for 5-8 hours and finally under vacuum oven at 60-70° G for 12 to 15 hours till it becomes completely dried. The residue is powdered to 100-150 mesh. Darker shades of the powder can be obtained by repeating cycles of treating the resultant dry powder with dye in above manner. Finally, if desired, 0.1- 0.4 % of rose, sandal wood, lemon grass or jasmine oil etc. can be mixed for fragrance purpose.
The above procedure is novel as natural dye(s) is taken as a colouring material for the preparation of herbal sindoor and base material is also natural which is food grade starch and I.P. grade steatite. Vegetable gum is used as a natural additive for uniform dye dispersion and which also works as a binding agent amongst dye and filler material. The use of safe mordant imparts better fixation and fastness properties. It is observed that although a variety of starch can be used but better results are obtained with food grade tapioca starch. The starch and gum samples have been obtained by courtesy of Bharat Starch Company, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana and Sunita Minechem Industries, Jodhpur, respectively. This combination provides a powder material having soft and supple touch with good sticking capacity to skin. No such combination in sindoors has been reported till now. The blending of bulking agents / fillers with activated natural dye solution with mordants in the presence of guar or other gums provides a synergistic mixture of dry colour powder having desirable properties to be used for direct skin application. The use
of guar gum or other gum is based on the fact that it possesses excessive hydroxyl groups in the sugar moieties of main and side chains, which provides hydrogen bonding in the formation of synergistic mixture of the dyes and ingredients. The inventive steps of the invention is the selection of natural ingredients of I.P. and food grade level in specific proportion and their blending with natural dyes in the presence of natural thickening and binding agents. There is no reference available for the use of guar gum and other food grade gum for the preparation of herbal sindoors. Moreover by the above procedure, Red, orange, maroon, dark pink, xiull red and other shades can be prepared using different amounts of natural dyes or their mixtures with natural ingredients in different proportions. The mixture of starch or their mixture, steatite and seed gum after blending with natural dyes in the presence of dye fixing agent and binding agent provides a combination which has a good sticking capacity to skin and can be easily removed by soft mop or water washing.
The following examples are given by way of illustration and therefore should not be construed to limit the scope of present invention.
EXAMPLE-1 Preparation of red coloured herbal sindoor using lac dye:
900 ml of water is taken in 2 1 beaker and warm to 50° C. 100 g of lac dye was slowly added to the water with continuous stirring till a homogeneous solution is obtained. The solution was filtered followed by adding 100 ml of 3 % guar and whole
solution is vigorously stirred for 2 hours at 60° C.
780 g of food grade tapioca starch, 140 g of I.P. grade steatite, and 80 g of food grade guar gum are taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes and passed to 150 mesh-size. The powder is taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes using sufficient amount of warm (60° C) water to obtain its thin slurry. The dispersed dye solution (800 ml) is
slowly added to the filler material slurry maintained at 50° C with vigorous stirring in
about 30 minutes. The resultant mixture is agitated at 50° C for 2 hours to obtained uniformed coloured residue. The material is transferred to a flat glass tray, dried in air for 5-8 hours. The resultant coloured powder is again treated with rest of the 200 ml dye dispersion under vigorous stirring condition at 50° C and finally dried under vacuum
oven at 60° C for 7 to 15 hours till it dried completely. The dried material is powdered to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural rose oil is taken in 25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue.
EXAMPLE -2 Preparation of maroon red herbal sindoor using lac dye and catechu:
900 ml of water is taken in 2 1 beaker and warm on water bath maintained at 50 ° C. 100 g of lac dye wasslowly added to the water with continuous stirring till a homogeneous solution is obtained. 100 ml of 2.5 % gum solution is added to the resulted
solution and whole solution is'vigorously stirred for 2 hours at 60° C.
850 g of food grade tapioca starch, 50 g of I.P. grade steatite, 50 g of I.P. grade boric acid and 50 g of food grade guar gum are taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes and passed to 150 mesh-size. Sufficient amount of warm (60° C) water is added to the filler mixture using a mixer for another 30 minutes. The dispersed dye solution (800 ml) is slowly added to the resultant slurry with vigorous stirring in about 30 minutes. The resultant mixture is mixed with 50 ml each of 1 % stannous chloride and
3% catechu (katha) solutions and agitated at 60° C for 2 hours to obtained uniformed coloured residue. The material is transferred to a flat glass tray, dried in air for 5-8 hours. The resultant coloured powder is again treated with rest of the 200 ml of dye dispersion under vigorous stirring condition at 60° C and finally dried under vacuum oven at 60° C for 7 to 15 hours till it dried completely. The dried material is powdered to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural rose oil is taken in 25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue.
EXAMPLE 3
Preparation of oranged coloured herbal sindoor using annatto dye: 500 g of annatto seeds is taken in 3 1 conical flask to which 21 of ethanol is added and kept at 45 ° C for 24 hours with time to time stirring. The coloured extract is firstly filtered through muslin cloth followed by Buchner funnel and concentrated to 800 ml. The resultant solution was mixed properly with 100 ml of 5 % cassia gum solution through vigorous stirring for 15 minutes.
600 g of food grade tapioca starch, 100 g of cationic starch, 80 g of food grade potato starch, 100 g of I.P. grade steatite, and 120 g of food grade cassia gum are taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes and passed to 100 mesh-size. Sufficient amount of warm water / polar solvent is added to the filler mixture is blended in mixer with warm water (60-70° C) for 20 minutes. 600 ml of dispersed dye solution is slowly added to the resultant slurry with vigorous stirring in about 30 minutes. The resultant mixture is
agitated at 60° C for 2 hours to obtained uniformed coloured residue. The material is transferred to a flat glass tra^ dried in air for 5-8 hours. The resultant coloured powder is again treated with 300 ml of previously extracted annatto dye solution under vigorous stirring condition at 60° C and finally dried under vacuum oven at 60° C for 7 to 15 hours till it dried completely. The residue is powdered to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural khus oil is taken in 25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue.
EXAMPLE-4
Preparation of dull red coloured herbal sindoor using lac dye: 900 ml of 10 % lac dye solution is taken in 2 1 beaker and warm at 50° C. 2 g of stannous chloride is slowly added to the solution followed by addition of 100 ml of 3 % guar gum solution under continuous stirring till a homogeneous solution is obtained. The
whole solution is vigorously stirred for 2 hours at 50° C.
600 g of food grade tapioca starch, 300 g of arraroot starch, 50 g of I.P. grade steatite, 50 g of food grade guar gum and 20 g of zinc oxide are taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes and passed to 150 mesh-size. Sufficient amount of warm (60° C) water is added to the filler mixture in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes. The dispersed dye solution (700 ml) is slowly added to the resultant slurry with vigorous stirring in
about 30 minutes. The resultant mixture is agitated at 60° C for 2 hours to obtained uniformed coloured residue. The purple-brown material is transferred to a flat glass tray, dried in air for 5-8 hours. The resultant powder is again treated with rest of the 300 ml dye dispersion under vigorous stirring condition at 60° C and finally dried under vacuum oven at 60° C for 7 to 15 hours till it dried completely. The residue is powder to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural sandal wood is taken in 25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue.
EXAMPLE -5
Preparation of brownish red herbal sindoor using lac and madder dyes: 1000 ml of ethanol is taken in 2 1 beaker and warm on water bath maintained at 50
° C. 100 g of lac dye was slowly added to the ethanol with continuous stirring till a homogeneous solution is obtained. 600 g of Rubia cordifolia (Maddar) root powder is taken in 1 1 beaker along with 700 ml of water. The solution is vigorously stirred for 2
hours at 60° C followed b)*cetrifugation and concentration under vacuum at 60° C till about 300 ml of concentrate is obtained.
700 g of food grade cationic starch, 250 g of I.P. grade steatite and 50 g of food grade guar gum are taken in a mixer and blended for 30 minutes and passed to 150 mesh-size. The mixture is blended with sufficient amount of ethanol in a mixer till a thin slurry obtained. The lac dye solution is slowly added to the resultant slurry with vigorous stirring in about 30 minutes. The material is transferred to a flat glass tray, dried in air for 7-8 hours. The resultant coloured powder is again treated with 200 ml of madder dye extract with 20 g of alum under vigorous stirring condition at 50° C and dried. The mixture is again treated with rest of the 100 ml madder dye extract. The resultant mixture is taken out in glass tray and dried in air for 5-6 hours followed by drying in an oven at 60° C. for 7-15 hours till it dried completely. The residue is powdered to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural jasmine oil is taken in 25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue.
EXAMPLE -6 Preparation of red coloured herbal sindoor using carmine dye:
900 ml of water is taken in 1 1 beaker and warm to 50 ° C. 50 g of carmine dye was slowly added to the water with continuous stirring till a homogeneous solution is obtained. The solution was filtered followed by adding 100 ml of 2 % alginate solution.
The solution is vigorously stirred for 2 hours at 60° C.
880 g of food grade tapioca starch, 70 g of I.P. grade steatite and 50 g of food grade alginate gum are taken in a mixer and blended for 20 minutes and passed to 150 mesh-size. The poder mixer is again taken in a mixer with sufficient warm water (60° C)
and blended for 20 minutes. The dispersed dye solution (700 ml) is slowly added to the filler material slurry maintained at 50° C with vigorous stirring in about 30 minutes. The
resultant mixture is agitated at 50° C for 3 hours to obtained uniform coloured residue. The material is transferred to a flat glass tray, dried in air for 5-8 hours. The resultant coloured powder is again treated with rest of the 300 ml carmine dye dispersion under vigorous stirring condition at 50° C and finally dried under vacuum oven at 60° C for 10 to 15 hours till it dried completely dried. The residue is powdered to 150 mesh-size. 0.1 % natural rose oil is taken in25 ml ethanol and properly mixed with coloured residue. The main advantages of the present invention are:
1) It provides an option to replace synthetic dye and heavy metal's salt based dry
colour composition by natural ones, which is safe, stain-free and eco-friendly.
Presently, there are no options except to use synthetic dye or heavy metal's salts
based sindoors.
2) The powder provides a synergistic mixture of coloured dry powder which has
good sticking capacity to skin and can be easily removed by mop or water
washing.
3) The dry colours are eco-friendly and can be prepared under eco-friendly
processing without disturbing eco-system.
4) The dry colours provide ample opportunity for the utilization of regenerative plant
resources and forest / agro wastes which ultimately enhance opportunity for self-
employment for rural people.
5) The process is novel as natural dyes have been exploited for the first time for the
preparation of herbal sindoors. The women who are scared of using synthetic
sindoors because of the use of toxic synthetic dye and heavy metal's salt based
sindoor which not only damage the skin but cause considerable skin allergies and
irritation.

We claim:
1. A process for the preparation of herbal sindoor composition for direct skin application and other purposes, which comprises:
a) preparing a homogeneous 5-25 % colour solution using one or more natural dye(s) by known methods, filtering the resultant colour solution followed by adding to the filtrate under stirring 10 to 20 volume percent (of colour solution) o f 2 to 5 % gum solution to obtain a dispersed dye solution;
b) preparing a homogeneous mixture of filler powders consisting of 60 to 90 wt. % of food grade starch(s) or its derivatives, 5-25 wt % of IP. grade steatite and 5 to 15 wt. % of food grade, gum (100-150 mesh-sizes) using a suitable polar solvent under vigorous stirring;
c)blending the slurry obtained in step (b) with the dispersed dye solution obtained is step (a), at a temperature in the range of 50° to 60° C under constant stirring for a period of 1 to 3 hours to obtain a uniform coloured residue, filtering the said residue followed by drying and grinding to 100 to 150 mesh-size colour powder, optionally adding a fragrance agent.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the natural dyes used are from vegetable and animal / insect sources.
3. A process as claimed in claims 1 & 2 wherein the vegetable dyes used are extracted from plant materials.
4. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 3 wherein animal / insect dyes used are such as lac dye, kerm dye, cochineal dye.

5. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 4 wherein the gum used is any of the food hydrocolloids such as guar gum, alginates, cassia seed gums, acacia gum , karaya gum, gum tragacanth, modified derivatives of natural gums.
6. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 5 wherein the bulking agent / filler used are:

a) food grade starch such as obtained from tapioca, arrowroot, maize, potato etc. and their several modified derivatives (cationic starches, amphoteric starches, acetylated starches etc with different nitrogen contents and degree of substitutions);
b) 96 % pure, IP. grade steatite powder;
c) food grade gum such as guar gum, cassia gum, gum Arabic, gum tragacanth, alginates and their modified derivatives.
7). A process as claimed in claims Ito 6 wherein the safe mordants (chemical salts) of Na, K, Al, Fe, Ca, Cu, Sn are used in safe limits.
8. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 7 wherein the polar solvents used is such as water, acetone, primary and secondary alcohols, or mixture thereof.
9. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 8 wherein a fragrance agent such as natural oil extracted from rose, sandalwood, lemon grass is used.
10. A process as claimed in claims 1 to 9 wherein darker shades are obtained by repeating the process by substituting the bulking agents /fillers with the colour powder obtained.