Herbal Magic For Hair

Herbal Magic for Hair

Hair is the most prized possession of any woman. And now it is not only women, men are becoming equally conscious about their hair. Unfortunately, the current lifestyle creates a very bad effect on our hair. Random eating habits, haphazard lifestyle, stress, all of this takes a big toll on our health. As a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, so do healthy hair. External application of exotic shampoos, hair gels, and other chemicals never helps in reality, as is promised in the advertisements.

Ayurvedic Approach to Haircare

Beautiful and thick hair is a reflection of a healthy metabolism. If the body systems are imbalanced, their imbalance is bound to take a toll on the hair as well. Therefore Ayurvedic approach for haircare does not start from the hair shaft. It starts with the digestive system. The digestive system decides whether quality nutrition will reach the hair roots or not. If the digestive system is not functioning well, all other systems will fall like a pack of cards.

However, the internal growth of hair can be effectively promoted by the use of natural and herbal products. Mother nature has provided us with enough resources to keep ourselves healthy and beautiful. There are many herbs which have a magical effect on the hair health.

Let's discuss 3 magical herbs for hair

Brahmi for Hair

The name “Brahmi” means the herb which increases intelligence. Brahmi is a herb mainly found in India and Sri Lanka. Brahmi is a herb of choice not only for hair care but also for multiple disorders like insomnia, paralysis! This underlines its powerful effect on human body.

• According to Ayurveda, it increases the blood circulation. Increased blood circulation helps in normalization of the body temperature. Enhanced blood circulation in the scalp area provides great nourishment to the hair roots.

• By increasing the blood circulation, Brahmi helps to reduce any swelling in the scalp area. It keeps the skin of the scalp well-nourished and healthy. No dandruff or other problems can flourish in such hair.

• Brahmi also is an excellent blood purifier. Pure blood is definitely the ultimate resource for internal correction of all hair problems.

• It has very high content of antioxidants and anti-aging properties. It helps to prevent early aging and death of body cells, including the hair follicles.

• Brahmi prevents the early greying as it has a cooling effect on the head region.

• Brahmi effectively prevents dandruff by increasing the flow of nutrition to the scalp region.

• It has a pacifying effect on the mind. It is an excellent stress reliever. Less stress also means less hair fall.

• Apart from direct benefits to the hair, Brahmi is believed to promote the digestive fire and prevents acidity.

Because of the multiple magical benefits of Brahmi, it's effect is far reaching as compared to the superficial application of chemicals. The most important benefit of Brahmi is that it can be taken both orally and applied externally.

Henna for Hair

Henna is a very famous herb in the Asian countries. It is used to decorate the hands of brides during the wedding ceremonies. It is an integral part of Indian wedding tradition. Apart from that henna is used as a natural hair color. It is especially good for oily hair.

• Henna is the ultimate cleanser for the hair. It removes the excess oiliness of skin secretions, along with dirt.

• Apart from the cleansing effect, it promotes the health of scalp skin.

• Henna is antifungal and anti-microbial in nature. It prevents all kinds of scalp infections.

• It prevents inflammation, swelling or any kind of itching in the scalp region.

• Henna also promotes rapid healing of wounds. It helps to remove ticks and head lice.

• It naturally alleviates a headache.

• It improves the blood circulation and helps to improve the quality of sleep. Good sleep is definitely indispensable for healthy hair.

• It is a natural hair conditioner. It imparts natural shine to the hair and makes it more easily manageable.

No doubt, Henna is the most widely used herb for haircare because of overall benefits it offers!

Amla for Hair

Amla is the wonder fruit of Ayurveda. This single herb is a complete health tonic. This is reason amla is used in all the rejuvenation treatments of Ayurveda.

• Amla is an adaptogen, which means that it normalizes all the functions of the body.

• Amla is full of vitamin C and it helps to increase the immunity against diseases. Vitamin C improves the health of scalp and prevents hair fall.

• It provides internal nourishment to the hair when consumed orally. It is also used for external application along with other herbs.

• Amla prevents dandruff and makes the skin of the scalp supple.

• It enhances the natural shine of the hair.

• It is a natural remedy for hair greying.

• Because of its cooling temperament, it improves sleep quality and promotes healthy hair growth.

Importance of Powder Form

The herbal that is used is important as the results significantly vary from one herbal preparation to the other. There are many forms of herbs available in the market, for example, extracts, capsules, powders, and juices.

Ideally, powder form is the best for general use for the following reasons –

· It is easier to digest than the capsule form.

· It provides a higher amount of roughage as compared to the capsule form.

· Besides, the powder is the easiest to use with multiple usages as compared to capsules.

· Powder is also more economical than most of the other preparations. You can get 3 times powder quantity for the same price as you would spend for a single bottle of capsules.

· Powder can be readily mixed with other herbs to make remedies suitable for different diseases. It can be mixed with honey or ghee to ensure better assimilation inside the body.

· Decoctions also can be prepared with the powder. Therefore it is advisable to use the powder form for better results.

Herbal Home Remedies

Brahmi

10 gm of Brahmi powder should be boiled in approx. 200 ml of water till only half of the water remains. Consume this decoction early morning empty stomach. Make sure that the decoction is warm when consumed. Cold Brahmi decoction should not be consumed.

Use this decoction for a period of one week and take a gap of a week.

This is decoction brings all the pure goodness of Brahmi directly to you.

It will help enhance the quality of your sleep, prevent dandruff and increase hair growth.

Henna

Henna has a very drying effect on the hair. If you have dry hair, massage your head with good hair oil the night before the henna use and leave overnight.

Soak henna powder in tea filtrate, lemon juice, little mustard oil, and water overnight. Apply the paste on the hair and leave it to dry for approx. one hour. Wash it with water after 1 hour. Try not to use shampoo for best results.

Amla

Soak 10 gm of Amla powder overnight in water. Drink the filtrate in the morning after sunrise. This is an excellent remedy for early greying of hair. Continue the treatment for one week. Take a gap of one week and follow again if required.

*Cold Amla filtrate should not be consumed by people who face chronic cold and cough.

Trio – Henna, Brahmi and Amla

There are many chemical based hair dye available in the market. However, they do immense damage to the hair. Eventually, they steal the natural shine and retard the hair growth. Henna is an excellent alternative as a natural hair coloring agent.

There are multiple benefits of Henna paste mixed with Brahmi and amla. The proportion should be 3:1:1 for Henna, Brahmi and Amla respectively. For long hair, the ideal quantity is approximately 100 gm of henna mixed with 30 gm each of Amla and Brahmi. For shoulder length hair, 30-50 gm of Henna with respective amount of other two herbs is adequate.

This paste is ideal for external hair application as compared to the single herb – Henna alone.

Brahmi gives a cooling effect, aids in improving the nervous conduction and blood circulation in the scalp region.

Amla also offers similar benefits as Brahmi. However, it provides additional benefits of detoxification. It also helps to enrich the hair texture and colour.

Apart from these 2 herbs mentioned above, Henna gives excellent results when washed with Shikakai. Shikakai is a natural hair wash as well as a conditioner which helps the hair from excessive dryness after Henna application. Also, it helps in easy removal of the Henna paste from the hair.

Coffee, wine or lemon juice also can be added to this mixture to act as a conditioner and produce different variations of colours.

Note : Leaving the paste on head overnight might give better results. However, it is not be advisable for everyone. Some people might develop cold and cough after long exposure to wet hair.

PGDHHM - Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Healthcare Management