amla paste for hair washing

[ratgirldjh]

has anyone tried this? i used to use it a few years ago.
i think i stopped because it dried out my ends. but since i'm not allergic to it - and it doesn't require an oiling beforehand - i'm thinking about trying it again - also because i happen to have a large amount of amla powder on hand!

what i used to do was once a week i would take a few tablespoons - usually 3 - and mix it with very hot water and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. then i would apply it to my damp hair concentrating on the roots and scalp and then just leave it on for a few minutes - longer seemed to dry out my ends - but if i would just put it on my scalp and bag my hair - i would get very nice results. when i would rinse it off - the liquid would run down the rest of my hair and this did seem to get my hair very clean.

now i never noticed any curl definition or darkening of my silver hairs - but i could tell it made my hair stronger and i had WAY less hair fall.

i love shikakai and i would use it also - but i seem to have become sensitive to it and other saponin containing plants.

so if anyone has any experience with using amla for cleaning your hair.... ideas?

[cocolover]

I have only used amla mixed with shikakai for cleaning, but I love it when used this way. My hair has gotten a lot glossier and my shed goes down when I wash with herbs. I got my method from someone on here, don't remember who. I put conditioner on my hair from about ears down (this is all out of the shower), then mix my shikakai and amla in an old honey bottle, more runny than a paste. I have found this is a lot easier to rinse out if it is mixed with more water. I can also get it all the way down to the scalp with less hair manipulation. I squirt it all over my scalp, pushing/sqooshing it down to the scalp area, then put a shower cap on. 15 minutes or so later I hop in the shower and rinse it all out, finished :) I am very happy with this routine.

[ratgirldjh]

i don't like using conditioner and i am sensitive to shikakai! which sucks - because shikakai makes my hair very shiney and soft. i am afraid to keep using it though because once i become sensitive it just gets worse and worse...

i have tried using amla alone in the past - and i absolutely love it for facial masks. on my hair it can get drying - but i do lose less hairs and i can tell it makes it stronger.

so i guess i may try using it for washing - alone - because i have a case of it! - and since i can't use shikakai :( and soapnuts are making my ends too dry... the amla doesn't seem so bad about drying after my other experiences - LOL maybe it is strengthening my hair???

[ratgirldjh]

i just tried making a hair pack with amla powder and yogurt. it seems to have really strengthened my hair! i don't know if i will do this weekly or not - i don't like the smell yogurt leaves behind - but it does seem to make my hair seem thicker and strong.

EDIT: i spoke too soon! my hair positively reeked like yogurt! my bf said even the office where i was sitting smelled horrible! this may have been because i went outside in the sun afterwards to dry my hair - but i ended up re-washing with my poo bar.

i could tell however when washing that my hair felt stronger and smoother - so maybe this will be an occasional hair treatment!

[lynnala]

ratgirldjg, there is a thread on using Indian herbs for washing and conditioning, not sure if you've seen it: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=18424
I've discovered that if I do a pre-oil, amla by itself is not enough to get the oil out of my hair. I have to mix it with shikakai. But without a pre-oil, it seems to work just fine.

[mellie]

Hi Ratgirl!! I did an amla-only treatment once - here's the results:

Before amla:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=9743

After amla:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=9746http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=18847

It seemed to change the texture of my hair somewhat, it knocked the waves out for one, and left it feeling a bit heavier...hard to explain. I actually had to throw it out because the powder was too fine and DH and I both ended up in sneezing fits - NOT fun!! :(

However, I saw that Amazon.com has WHOLE amla, and I've been curious to try that, I haven't though for one because soapnuts are working so well for me, and also because it's rather expensive in its whole state:
http://www.amazon.com/AMLA-FRUIT-WHOLE-DRIED-oz/dp/B000ETL6NW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1237556315&sr=8-5

[tabitie]

Amla does seem to relax curl. But I like that because I'm so curly.

I also don't like to use the powder directly-- I boil it on the stove, then strain in a fine mesh coffee strainer to get out the big particles. It's much less abrasive that way.

Thanks for the pix mellie! Teal blue is definitely your color (turquoise?)

I like fenugreek tea as well with the amla, as a conditioner, followed by vinegar rinse.

I'm still learning, but those are the "heaviest" natural conditioners I've found to weight down my mop.

Egg also works. I've yet to try oils.


My understanding is that amla is not a shampoo, it's more of a rinse (acidic conditioning rinse) to be used before other rinses like fenugreek and vinegar.

Others use it differently I suppose...

[ratgirldjh]

thanks guys!
hey mellie - i noticed that the last time i used amla it seemed to make my hair wavier!
weird, because before when i had used it - it definitely made my hair straighter!
its pretty hard for me to get consistent results - but i have learned my lesson about yogurt!

lynnala - i tried last year oiling my hair and then doing an amla pack. although i only left it on for 30 minutes. it did take out some of the oil - but i had to do it again to get out the rest. so it does take out some oil - but not much. it sure makes your hair thick though!

mellie - have you ever done a shikakai washing? for some reason it doesn't seem to dry my hair out - but i may have developed a sensitivity to it... now i seem repulsed by the smell!
oh well, i also tried another soapnut liquid wash the other day after a light oiling. it worked better but didn't take out all the oil. my hair was very shiny though.

i wonder why amla sometimes takes out curls and sometimes adds waves...
maybe it is something to do with the humidity

one thing i did notice about the amla was that it definitely made my hair thicker. before when i used it my hair was much shorter - so i couldn't tell the thickness factor as much. also it didn't leave my hair with the stripped ends like it did before. now i'm thinking that when i used it last year that my ends were still being grown out from previous hair coloring - and now i've trimmed several times and maybe they are gone...
it also didn't give the the 'barbie doll' feeling hair that soapnuts and shikakai both did. although shikakai didn't seem to dry my hair really - it made it feel sort of 'teflony. i've tried using amla in the past to remove oil and i didn't work - but i only left it on for 30 minutes - then i did another amla pack and the rest of the oil came out - but it is too much trouble! i think i may do a very light (LOL good luck!) hair oiling and try leaving it on for an hour sometime.

[mellie]

Thanks Tabitie! :-)

Ratgirl, I've never tried shikakai yet!

[Heidi_234]

I got myself some amla finally! How do I prepare it for conditioning treatment? Make it like a tea? Soak it overnight in water? Make a paste out of it?

[mellie]

When I used it, I made a paste out of it like henna.

[cocolover]

I was poking around on a site looking at henna stuff and found some info about washing with amla. Here is the directions:
Soak Amla powder with adequate amount of hot water preferably in an iron vessel. Leave it overnight, and wash your hair in the morning with this extract. Repeat this every 3rd or 4th day. Alternatively prepare a consistent paste with Henna powder or Indigo Powder and apply it on the hair. Leave the paste on for hour allowing the nutrients to absorb and rinse the hair properly afterwards.

Regular usage of Amla powder gives nourishment to the hair. It may also remove mild dandruff from hair scalp while giving body to the hair.

[Heidi_234]

thanks Millie and cocolover! I'll have my first amla treatment next week (or the week after, as I just hennaed so my hair is going to be heavenly when the dryness is over :cloud9:). I think the iron vessel is to make it stain darker (I suppose you looked it up in an Indian hair care page), so I'll skip that part happily hehe.

[cocolover]

Heidi, I think you are right. I've seen it mentioned with other powders, to soak in an iron vessel for a dark stain.

[ratgirldjh]

thanks Millie and cocolover! I'll have my first amla treatment next week (or the week after, as I just hennaed so my hair is going to be heavenly when the dryness is over :cloud9:). I think the iron vessel is to make it stain darker (I suppose you looked it up in an Indian hair care page), so I'll skip that part happily hehe.

be careful - i've read other places that people who hennaed said that amla treatments after henna would tend to change the color of their henna.
i don't think it is a permanent change though - but i would check this out - maybe do a test strand or something first.

oh - and i tried mixing amla up with full fat plain yogurt and it was very easy to use and easy to wash out - but my hair stank like yogurt afterwards and i finally had to use my poo bar. BUT it still felt like my hair was stronger and the waves that the amla took out came back full force after i used my poo bar.

my bf even commented on my hair today! AMAZING :)
so i will probably do the amla in yogurt once a month or so

i think it is too drying for me to even use it once a week as a cleanser - though i do think it cleans somewhat
it just doesn't take off a full coconut oiling or full fat yogurt - i tried using it after my yogurt/amla pack and it still smelled!!!

EDIT: what i actually will probably do next time is to do a full coconut oil oiling and let it sit overnight and then do an amla pack on top of the coconut oil and let it sit for an hour and then rinse it out and finally do a poo bar wash.
long ago i tried to wash out VCO with amla paste and it didn't take it out - but my hair was SOOO soft when i finally got it out with my poo bar!
i guess it is kind of like using amla oil made with VCO