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Category Archives: Ayurvedic Herbs

Indian Herbs–Revisited

31 Oct

Today is Month 2 – Week 1 of my Autumn/Winter Regime, which called for an Indian or Ayurvedic herb treatment. It’s been a while since i’ve done this treatment and i was quite excited to do it. Indian herbs always make my hair feel great and i’m so pleased with myself that i gave it a go.

I followed the same proportions of ingredients and made it the usual way. Click HERE for my post on what i use and how i make it. Also check out my Tutorial for step by step pictures of how i make and apply it.

So i mixed my treatment and applied it to my hair which i had oiled from the night before using my Oil Mix (i just couldn’t be bothered to apply the Aloe Gel, i was so tired, lol). I left on the herbs for about 20 minutes and then, one section at a time, rinsed thoroughly until the water ran clear and co-washed with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration. I rinsed that out thoroughly and re-applied the conditioner to detangle with my wide tooth comb and Denman brush. I rinsed that out again just to make sure that i got all the grit out. I twisted the section, applying a dab more conditioner before moving to the next section.

Once i had finished washing my hair i towel dried and applied my usual DC of JASON’s 84% Aloe Conditioner, honey and olive oil and wrapped a plastic bag over my head and my headscarf over that.

Whilst i was applying my DC, i noticed that my hair felt really soft and fluffy. I love this treatment!

I finished my hair by rinsing off the DC and dried it using the Quick-Drying Method i spoke about in my previous post. Followed by twisting my hair for the week using my Leave-In Conditioner and my Shea Butter mix.

Indian Herbs, although rather messy, are well worth the effort in my opinion.

 

Take care!

 

 

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2010 in Alternative Cleansing, Ayurvedic Herbs, Hair Care

 

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The Benefits Of… Neem

02 Jun

I’ve been using neem leaf powder for a while now in my indian herb treatment and recently in the Cayenne and Neem hair loss treatment. I’ve also used neem oil in my children’s nappy balm recipe with excellent results.

I thought i’d post the benefits on neem in greater detail here as it’s a kind of ‘cure all’ plant.

Health Benefits Of Neem

Both neem oil and neem leaf are fantastic skin care ingredients:

  • Neem relieves dry skin.
  • It soothes itchiness, redness and irritation.
  • It improves general skin health and immunity, combating bacterial infections, as in acne, boils and ulcers.

One of the top neem benefits is that it lets you avoid harsh chemicals and nasty insecticides when treating conditions like

  • psoriasis
  • eczema
  • scabies
  • head lice and more.

Neem is just about anti-everything:

  • anti-bacterial
  • anti-viral
  • anti-septic
  • anti-diabetic
  • anti-fungal
  • blood-purifying
  • spermicidal

Yes, spermicidal. Neem also shows great promise as a natural means of birth control. Amazing, isn’t it?

(Source – http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-benefits.html)

 

Neem oil is quite strong so i would suggest mixing it with a carrier oil such as olive or almond oil so as not to irritate the scalp.

Try adding it to your oil or butter mixes along with essential oils such rosemary, tea tree and peppermint for a real invigorating scalp rub.

This will help with dry, itchy, irritated scalp and clear up any fungal infections, thereby helping to promote healthy hair growth.

You can also make a paste with the powder in some oil, such as olive, and rub that into your scalp and leave for 15-30 minutes before washing your hair for an excellent scalp treatment.

 

Take Care

 

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Posted by on June 2, 2010 in Ayurvedic Herbs, Hair Care, Neem, The Benefits Of...

 

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Cayenne Pepper Treatment – Week 2

17 May

This week i again did the cayenne and neem treatment i talked about in my previous post.

This time i reduced the amount of oil from 2 tablespoons to 1, again using hemp seed oil. It turned out a great consistency, nice and pasty, not too thin and runny and not too thick. Because of this i was able to use up the full amount and really got to work it into the scalp and especially in the nape area. It really felt good.

This week for my cleanse i did the ayurvedic hair treatment but left out the neem as i already had it in the cayenne and neem paste.

I started off by oiling my hair the night before with olive oil, covering my hair with a plastic bag and my head wrap. In the morning i made up the paste and applied it to my scalp, massaging it in carefully so as not to get it into my eyes. I wrapped up with a plastic bag and left it on whilst i made up the Indian herbs.

Once i had made that up i took off the plastic wrap and applied the paste section by section, wrapping them into bumps as i went along. I left that on whilst i made up my DC using the Ikove conditioner i’ve mentioned earlier and some honey and olive oil.

From start to finish i left on the cayenne treatment for about 30 mins before rinsing my hair. Taking one section at a time i carefully and thoroughly rinsed out my hair making sure that the water ran clear before co-washing. Using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration i washed out the remaining grit and oil, rinsed and applied more to detangle. Once fully detangled i applied some Herbal Essences Beautiful ends, twisted and clipped the section out of the way. I repeated the process for the remaining 3 sections.

WOW. Can you say soooooft? I was gob smacked at how SOFT my hair felt. Not just the ends but my roots were incredibly soft. I cant quit describe it. To date this is the softest it has EVER felt. I hadn’t even DC’d yet. I honestly was contemplating whether to actually DC or not. I went ahead and DC’d anyway because i had already mixed it.

I applied the DC and covered my head with a plastic wrap (bag) and left it on for about an hour and a bit.

I honestly don’t know what made it feel so good. Was it the Hemp oil in the Cayenne and Neem paste that gave my roots that fuzzy woolly feeling? Maybe. Was it the mid-week co-wash i’ve begun to include because of my newly put together exercise regime. Maybe. I dunno. But i’m on a high right now.

As i type this up my scalp is still tingling. Which i believe is a good thing. I’ll continue to do this for the remainder of the

month and document my results at the end.

 

Take Care

 

 

 
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Posted by on May 17, 2010 in Ayurvedic Herbs, Cayenne Pepper, Co-Wash, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Scalp Issues

 

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Mid-Month Cleanse

19 Apr

Oh Indian herbs, how i have missed thee!

I was contemplating washing my hair with either a shampoo or the Indian herb mix. In the end i opted for the Indian herbs as last month i missed it out to try shampooing again as Kimmaytube suggested. I’ve already posted the results of that in an earlier post.

I must say that my hair LOVES the herbs. I made the paste a bit too thick though and it caused it dry a bit too much on my hair and become hard so it took a while to rinse out properly. But after i rinsed it out my hair was singing and dancing to me in joyful gratitude to it’s satisfaction of being nourished and cleansed. As i co-washed out the remaining grit my curls were bouncing up and down. Detangling was gorgeous with minimal shedding and my hair felt so alive. My hair definitely responds well to alternative cleansing. Bentonite clay makes my hair feel just as good.

But unfortunately my hair highs turned into major lows as i tried out a new conditioner for my DC (deep condition) treatment. I ran out of the JASON’s conditioner and as a result i decided to order and try something new. I’ve used Aubrey Organics before and i was less than moved by it. But i decided to try a different conditioner in the range called White Camellia ultra-smoothing conditioner for dry, course hair. I added some honey and some extra virgin olive oil into the conditioner and applied it to my hair (it felt very promising). I put on a plastic cap and wrapped a towel around my head. I left it on for about an hour (i think) and then washed it out. How disappointing.  My hair didn’t feel deeply conditioned at all. It wasn’t ultra soft like i expected. It was such a let down. I was having such a good hair moment. I might as well have just slapped it in and rinsed it out. That’s how it felt. I really want to love you Aubrey Organics but my hair just doesn’t. It’s a real shame because the ingredient list is so wonderful. So natural. So straight forward. Never mind. I think i’ll stick to JASON’s from now on. I’ve learned that my hair loves you and i will continue to use you.

I also tried out a different conditioner for the co-washing process today to compare it to the Herbal Essence conditioners i normally use. The conditioner was called Nature’s Gate Organics – Chamomile & Lemon Verbena Conditioner. I used it on one half of my head and used Herbal Essences Breakage Defender on the other. I’m sorry Natures Gate but Herbal Essences (H.E) is WAY better. My hair felt instantly softer and conditioned with H.E but Nature’s Gate just seemed not to penetrate the hair shaft as well. It’s a shame (again) . The ingredients are so good. Absolutely no nasties or strange words i can’t pronounce.

Maybe my hair can grow to love them over time. But for now Herbal Essences is my go-to co-washing conditioner and JASON’s my DC conditioner. My hair just loves them.

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2010 in Alternative Cleansing, Ayurvedic Herbs, Co-Wash, Deep Condition, Hair Care

 

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To shampoo or not to shampoo

14 Mar

That is the question. Lol

Ok, so i just watched something on youtube by a woman named Kimmay. Her channel is Kimmaytube.

I’ve only recently decided to stop shampooing my hair as the stripped feeling it leaves is rather unpleasant to me. Now, I love Kimmay and i find her knowledge invaluable. It’s so detailed and not on hearsay or opinionated (to some degree) but quite factual. She talks about the anatomy of the hair and how it works, why we do what we do and so on.

Shampoo (apparently) is designed to take away from the hair and conditioner is designed to add to the hair or leave something behind. So co-washing alone will always leave build up on your hair and scalp no matter what kind of conditioner you use (natural or not). Shampooing is designed to remove product build up off the hair and scalp leaving it cleansed.

She gives excellent advice on how to combat that ‘stripped’ feeling shampoo gives by removing excess shampoo with your hands and adding conditioner to the hair before rinsing out the shampoo. Interesting. Now i’m hear to learn and i will most definitely give it a go and see if it makes a difference to me.

On the other hand, i’m not too ‘frazzled’ by this info because i do believe in cleansing the hair. I’ve never advocated co-washing alone as i know that it does leave build-up on the hair and scalp and also adding on top of that your oils and butters leaves the hair and scalp weighed down. They all eventually need to be removed from the hair by clarifying. Other than shampoo ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) is a good clarifier and so is baking soda (which i’ve never tried).

The cleansing methods i have employed are the bentonite clay and rhassoul clay and also the Indian herbs that are good for cleansing and conditioning along with ACV rinsing.

The problem is they are quite ‘long winded’ and i guess shampooing is the easier option. It’s much less hassle.

Kimmay also mentions acidity levels again here as she uses a shampoo with an acidic ph range which is important as this is the normal ph range of our hair. She goes more into depth about this in her videos so you’ll have to check it out.

But all in all i know my hair is CLEAN because of these cleansing methods i’ve employed. If you’re not sure about the benefits of these methods stated above then check out my earlier posts on the benefits of…  which discusses the way in which the clays work in deep cleansing the hair and scalp and removing all build up whilst imparting nourishment to the hair.

I’ve only posted the results of the Indian hair care treatment on my hair and not researched it fully. I know what is cleansing and what is conditioning. I decided to try it after months of deliberation on the matter as recommended to me by family and friends. I will look more deeply into the benefits of these herbs and post them at a later date.

As i said i will give this a go because i love to learn. Check out her other videos as well. She has a wealth of knowledge on natural hair and shares her own successes and failures found here.

The detangling methods she employs are very much similar (practically identical) to what i do which is nice to see as it means i’m doing something right. Lol.

The Shampoo regimen can be found here.

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Posted by on March 14, 2010 in Alternative Cleansing, Ayurvedic Herbs, Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Hair Care, Shampoo

 

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