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'Sindoor' is a red powder used by married Hindu women and some Sikh women. During the marriage ceremony, the groom applies sindoor to the parting of the bride's hair to show that she is now a married woman. Subsequent sindoor is applied by the wife as part of her dressing routine. Once widowed, a woman is not supposed to wear sindoor.
Most women purchase commercial sindoor powder. A traditional component is powdered red lead. Alum and turmeric are sometimes ingredients.
Sindoor worn in the parting of the hair must be distinguished from the bindi many Hindu women wear on their forehead, between the eyes. Often the bindi is applied with the same sindoor powder as used in the hair; Hindi speakers may call the bindi a "sindoor" in colloquial speech. Conceptually, however, the mark in the hair (a sign of marriage) and the mark on the forehead are quite distinct.
The bindi mark can have several meanings. Sometimes the bindi is a symbol of religious affiliation, or a mark of a recent religious ceremony; sometimes the bindi is mere beautification, like the velvet patches or beauty-spots worn by well-dressed European women in the 18th century. Even a widow can wear a bindi. She cannot wear sindoor in the parting of her hair.
While sindoor was the ancient name given to the very toxic, red, mercury oxide, as a cosmetic its most common base is 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 kumkum was raw rice in water heated in a pan until it formed into a glue-like red carbonaceous compound which solidified on cooling. At the time of placing the kumkum, it was made into a paste by adding water. National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) color experts say that in olden days sindoor was 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 kunkumam.
However, these traditional preparations have long been forgotten. Today most modern cosmetic product manufacturers produce sindoor and kumkum from synthetic materials, lead, zinc and industrial dyes. It is also called red lead (Pb₃O₄). Manufacturers follow no single method. Some mix oxidized metals and substandard oil to bring about the texture. Now sindoor is also available in liquid form. Scientists also say that it would not be surprising if the red sindoor color was attained by adding Rhodamine B dye, which can induce hereditary disorders. Red is also being derived from mercury sulphite, which can cause skin cancer. All these toxic substances can trigger hair loss, edema and erythema.
Branded sindoor and kumkum, even the liquid sindoor marketed by the reputed cosmetic company, Lakme, does not carry the mandatory label of ingredients. Adding to the toxicity problem are a flood of unbranded products on the markets. Even big shops in urban markets sell spurious or unbranded products without a list of ingredients

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★ The Hazards of Synthetic Sindoor