amla versus shikakai - drying?

[ratgirldjh]

hi - i was just wondering...
i always heard that shikakai was more drying for hair than amla - and for me it seems the opposite
anyone else noticed this?
if i add even a small amount of amla to my herbal mixes the ends of my hair come out crunchy and stripped feeling - if i do just shikakai - i don't have this problem
once last year i tried using an amla pack on my hair and it made my scalp feel nice - but the ends of my hair were straw-like and although this feeling went away in a few days - they didn't want to curl but just stuck straight out!
amla is also said to increase curliness of hair - LOL

oh and my skin prefers amla to shikakai - although amla packs do dry my skin out some they really get the blood moving and take off the dead skin - but my face is left feeling a little weird - sort of like my hair feels after using it - i think it is the extreme astringent properties of the amla
or the high vitamin c content

any ideas?

[Flaxen]

I was never able to get shikakai to work for me. Drying? LOL, not at all; in fact it wouldn't clean even the tiniest amount of oil from my hair. My hair seemed even more greasy after a shikakai wash, if that's possible.

I never found amla to be drying, but it did have a slight astringent effect on my hair - just enough that I used to use amla as a final rinse like people do ACV rinses. It never increased the wave, though.

[ratgirldjh]

yes i was sort of disappointed with amla. i can get the oil out of my hair with straight shikakai if i do it with the paste and leave it on long enough - i just have to make the paste creamy enough to get over all my hair and for me it works better on damp hair.

but the amla - even if i add a little bit in my mix the ends of my hair feel weird.

i think shikakai makes your hair feel almost like cones! so silky and slippery. did you ever use a paste? or were you trying to do it with the liquid. i could never get the liquid to take the oil off - it would take several washes.

[Flaxen]

Come to think of it, I did use it as a liquid. :lol: