What I've Been Up To And Upcoming Plans for My Hair

I'm planning to kick off June with a henna gloss treatment (henna plus my deep conditioner, and a few other ingredients for shine). For this henna treatment I will soak overnight but leave on for no more than one hour (my focus will be not so much on getting color but shine).  I will of course post the results and more details afterward.

I also need to make another batch of shikakai tea for my hair cleansing as I am running out.  I will do that early June and probably make more than last time (a full bottle) since I know the recipe works well for my hair.

Yesterday I did a deep conditioning treatment.  I wish I had pictures but I didn't think of that.  I know I need to so I can share results with you guys. A new camera would help me alot because I've been using my blackberry to take pics and that's not exciting.  I also want to add videos but videos from my phone turn out weird. I promise though, more result pics to come.

Anyway, it was a brahmi tea strengthening treatment.  I applied my brahmi tea (recipe found here) directly to co-washed and towel-dried hair.  The tea was not mixed into a bentonite paste so it was runny (I didn't want clarifying because I had poo-ed with my shikakai tea about 4 days before).  I applied in the shower and  used a shower cap to prevent dripping.  I left the treatment in for about 30 minutes and then rinsed out. If you do this and your hair isn't slippery-feeling after, just run a commercial-brand conditioner through your hair and wash out immediately.  My hair and scalp were happy.  I then applied my 'super-moisturizer' mix and let dry.

 I don't do an herbal cleansing and conditioning treatment at the same time becauseI think  of it as herbal overdose for my hair.  So generally, when I do an herbal hair cleansing, I just use a commercial-brand conditioner after and then a few days later (usually 4 days or more) before my next poo, I co-wash with my commercial-brand co-wash conditioner and apply my homemade herbal conditioner.  I have no reason to think that an herbal hair cleanse with an herbal homemade conditioner will have any negative effects on my hair I just think my current regimen is a balanced approach to caring for my hair. 

That's all folks!

Ayurvedic Series to Come

Additions to my current regimen: Oiling my scalp once, sometimes twice a day with a mixture of these oils:
Hemp Seed Oil
Jojoba Oil
Black Castor Oil
Olive Oil (I think, I can't remember)
And a few drops of spearmint essential oil because the hemp seed oil mixed with the castor oil has an overwhelmingly nutty scent to me.

Anyway, on to the point of this post: I've come to appreciate that the quality of the hair I grow will depend on how healthy my scalp is.  So I thought, what if I upped what I'm doing for my scalp, optimize my scalp cleansing and moisturizing regimen with time tested ayurvedic oils and treatments?  Would it affect the growth of my hair?  Would I see an increase in growth rate or notice healthier, thicker new growth?

We all know fine, brittle hair is prone to breakage.
But did you know that hair does not only become fine and brittle as a result of chemical treatments or harsh products or lack of moisture?
It can grow out of our heads that way!
Yes, the quality of the hair we grow at different points in time, also depends on our diet, hydration, stress levels and how healthy (balanced) our scalps are.

So with this news, I am going to start a regimen series - I will call it the Ayurvedic Series because I am tapping into the centuries-old, tried and true techniques from places like Asia, India and Africa  and applying them to my hair care process.  I will also be treating my scalp as gently as I treat the skin on my face which I am very discerning about - I mean, its my face!
You know sometimes we don't treat our scalps as well as we should.  We scratch it with combs to get rid of  'flakes;' we scrub it with our nails....  I mean how ironic is it that we baby the hair that grows out of our scalps but treat the source of the hair, our scalps, like we would the bottom of our feet?  (Not sure about my analogy but you get my drift...)

And don't worry I will share my treatments, instructions on how I did it - everything.

The treatments will center around  including the use of extracts (in the form of oils, powders) from the following plants in my haircare regimen:

• Amla - historically used to strengthen and condition hair

• Henna - historically used to strengthen hair

• Ginseng - historically known to improve hair growth

• Brahmi - historically known to improve hair growth

• Shikakai - historically used to cleanse scalp

• Tamanu - historically used and known for its regenerative properties

• Neem - historically used and known for its antimicrobial properties

• And some great oils I can't remember too much of right now but will list in the treatments I will use them in.

I will continue to post on this topic.