Siddha Medico-colours are pure bio-active colour extracts from flowers, bark, leaves, twigs, and roots of herbs, grasses, plants and mineral waxes (or oxides), from the Siddha Materia Medica.

The natural high molecular weight waxes from Siddha botanical sources are incorporated or coated on to a variety of substrates using critical high temperature heat. These substrates include minerals or freshwater sourced pearls, Mother of Pearl or Pearl Oyster shells or other marine shellfish shells, in finely ground form. The sealing together of the wax and the substrate is carried out using the Puddam and/or Suriya Patham process in special earthenware containers which are buried-beneath the ground and heated by means of an animal dung fire or other natural heat sources like the sun and geo-thermal.

The resultant product is a mineral calx (or oxide), or pearl calx, mother of pearl nacre calx or a marine shell calx, which is finely, coated with the colourant waxes from the respective Siddha herbs.

Traditionally, in Siddha medicine, these mineral calxes (or oxides) are used to treat various kinds of skin afflictions. They are also used as articles for merry making, in certain annual festivals, for example the well-known festival of Addhi Perukku, which is celebrated in August when the monsoon rains are imminent.

During the course of the merry making, the participants spray the colours on to one another. In addition to the joyous and frivolous side of this act, however, there is also a serious side - for it is also the basis of an effective form of preventative health care. It is particularly advantageous against skin afflictions, which may be initiated by seasonal climatic changes, for example, in humidity and temperature at the onset on the monsoon season. Typifying this kind of affliction is Saethu Punn, a serious ulcerous type of athletic foot which becomes prevalent during the monsoon rainy season and ifs aftermath when floods and muddy wastes are widespread.

Each Siddha Medico-colour extract (or pigment) defined in the data sheets has a dual purpose of bioactivity and therapeutic function. These colour extracts have been chosen on the basis of the Siddha definition of their properties for promoting preventative health care. Additionally, they function as novel, totally pure and natural cosmetic colours, without any form of synthetic lake or artificial colour additive being added at any stage during their development. This makes them ideal ingredients that satisfy the many needs and requirements of the modern cosmetics formulator.

In nature, plant and herb waxes have a protective function. They are secreted onto the surface of petals and leaves to aid the control of, and maintain the moisture balance during the process of transpiration; and aid in solar UV absorption and protection from UV damage. In the Siddha Medico-colours, the use of these waxes provides softness, hydrophobicity and lubricity to the mineral calxes or oxides; or freshwater or marine shell calxes.

Biochemically, these waxes are high molecular weight natural waxes taken from 27 botanical species, including Thulasi, Vasa Kovil Thulasi, Mahakanni, Maruthanni, Sunisannaka, Balada etc. They exhibit unique affinity for Siddha medico-colour pigment substrates giving a thin, monomolecular natural botanical wax film on the pigment particle giving a pleasant, soft feel on the skin.

These Siddha medico-colour pigments, treated in the manner described above, show increased substantivity, offer increased water and smudge resistance and hence give longer wear. They thus provide new, novel, natural pigments that exhibit ease of application of a soft true colour and which are particularly effective with matte colours.

Alternative safety testing without the use of animals, utilising the Matrex and Testskin in-vitro human cell culture systems assays are found to be conclusive proof of safety in use of these products for cosmetics formulations. Additionally, they may be used in food and with traditional herbal drugs. These tests confirm data provided in the various Palmyra books of the Tamil Siddhars.

The modem cosmetics formulator therefore now has the unique opportunity to create novel decorative cosmetic products that not only provide long lasting colours, but also decorative cosmetics that demonstrate safer active moisturising properties based on the technology of an ancient, progressively vibrant, traditional medicinal system - Colour cosmetics ingredients for the new era of green cosmetics and cosmoceuticals from the perspective of traditional Siddha ethno-cosmeticology.

Colours Table: