Herbs and Their Uses

[Diamondbell]

Hi mellie and mira-chan - that's interesting to know that it does give a red tint! Thanks for the picture mellie - that's convincing! - it doesn't make the hair black, does it?

[ljkforu]

Hi mellie and mira-chan - that's interesting to know that it does give a red tint! Thanks for the picture mellie - that's convincing! - it doesn't make the hair black, does it?

What a cool red though!

[mellie]

No, definitely not black! But kind of purple, as you can see on my grays!

[ChloeDharma]

When i tried the hibiscus-rosehip mix i did remember thinking my red looked brighter, but if you look at the pic there's a link to in my siggy it was that kind of colour i was comparing it to so hard to say how much. I really should try it now to see if i still get dryness. My old hair frazzled up and turned to crunchy tangles if you just looked at it the wrong way.

[Diamondbell]

Makoi ( ?), Mulli or Karimulli (Tamil), Birhatta (Hindi), Solanum indicum(botanical name)/ Poison Berry or Indian Nightshade (English)



Makoi is a common wasteland as well as field weed in Chhattisgarh, India. It is also found growing in wastelands in the rest of India. The traditional healers and natives use its fruit as natural hair dye.

The fruits are collected and juice is extracted. Equal quantity of juice and Sesame oil are added and applied externally on hairs to make white hairs black. Many healers suggest that its application inside the nostrils (few drops) can help in making the hairs healthy and stronger[Note: This seems unclear what is meant here!!]. Solanum Indicum is also used in herbal hair growth remedies.

[ljkforu]

I found a cool place to get herbs, local for me but also has mail order. Dragon Herbarium in Portland, OR. I went in yesterday and went crazy. I can't wait to see what happens when I mix the Hibiscus with the Henna/katam/indigo mix (The 3 previous came from H4H)

[Diamondbell]

Beetroot:
Beetroot can make the skin and hair shiny and is used in hair care treatments.



1)For coloring hair/shiny hair: Grind a bunch of avuri leaves (indigo leaves) soaked in beetroot juice. Apply this as hairpack and wash hair after half an hour. Grey hairs will become blue-black. Hair becomes shiny too.

2) To stimulate hair growth and for cooling scalp:
Needed: Adhimathuram powder (liquorice root powder) – 1 tablesp.
Fenugreek powder- 1 tablespoon

Grind the above 2 ingredients in beetroot juice. Apply on scalp and wash after half an hour. The fenugreek powder is cooling. The adhimadhuram (liquorice root) powder stimulates hair growth. Beetroot juice makes the hair shiny and soft.

3) Against Dandruff:
Keep 2 teaspoonful of castor oil in a small metal bowl, and place in a vessel with boiling water. Remove from fire, when it is moderately hot. Mix 2 teaspoon of beetroot juice. Add fenugreek powder to it, enough to make a paste. Apply all over scalp. Wash hair. As final rinse, use a mug with lime mixed in water. This can be done twice a week, for removing dandruff and for shiny hair.

4) Henna + Beetroot – Hair Coloring (For black/dark hair)- (Note: Not sure how it would turn out for blond hair or other lighter hair types ):
a) Boil 25 gm tealeaves in water. With that add 50 gm Henna powder, 5 gm Tulsi powder, 5 gm Haritaki powder and keep in a vessel. After half an hour, place this vessel in another larger vessel with boiling water, till the smaller vessel containing the henna powder mixture gets heated up.
b) When cooled, add half cup of beetroot juice, one lemon’s juice.
c) Next day, in the same way as previous day, boil the mixture in the smaller vessel, placed in a larger vessel with hot water. Now add some hibiscus powder to it. Remove from fire.
d)Add this paste to hair and keep for maximum 3 hours and minimum ½ hour. Rinse hair.

[mira-chan]

Shiny skin?

Eating beetroot is good for you, but if you have light hair or leaving the house soon after, don't put it on your scalp. Unless you want pink scalp. The stuff stains with the same strength as Northern European blueberries and turmeric, except in pinky red. The stain goes away from hands in anywhere from an hour to a couple of days, depends on how much juice was encountered and how many times you've washed that spot.

You can get beet root powder and add it to henna mixes instead of juice. It's also used as a dye in lip balm/ natural lipstick.

[Diamondbell]

LOL mira chan - the magazine I took the article from on Beetroot did have a lot of recipes for face and even whole body (with beetroot juice)! Mixed with henna and kept on scalp for upto three hours (recipe #4), it does work, I have tried it. It was good.

[mira-chan]

LOL mira chan - the magazine I took the article from on Beetroot did have a lot of recipes for face and even whole body (with beetroot juice)! Mixed with henna and kept on scalp for upto three hours (recipe #4), it does work, I have tried it. It was good.

I'm imagining the whole body one. The only way that would work normally is if you have quite a bit darker skin (not deathly pale like me) and the concentration of beet is low.