Amla

[wackyredtangles]

I've heard a few times that doing an alma condition will revive curl. The last time I hennaed my hair I used a 1:1:1 henna:amla:cassia mix, and my hair wasn't nearly as limp as it is after the last times I hennaed.

I have some amla left. I'd like to know people's mixing of an alma treatment to get back some more of the curl back that I lost when I started hennaing.

Recipes would be very appreciated!

Thanks!

[ChloeDharma]

I just add a spoonfull of it to my conditioning mix, or sometimes do a hair wash of 2 parts shikakai and 1 part amla.
I'm thinking you could just use it as a hair rinse though if you wanted, either infusing it for a while in water, straining then rinsing your hair with it. Or just make a paste of amla with water then use that as a hair pack.
There are lots of things you could use it for....maybe try adding a paste of it to an SMT mix, or yogurt etc as a deep treatment :)

[tabitie]

I love scrubbing my face with Amla. Really exfoliates and cleans pores like salicylic acid used to do in the overnight deep poor formulas.

I make amla tea by straining it through a plastic mesh coffee filter, then rinsing it over the hair prior to conditioning, followed by acid rinse.

Amla clarifies the scalp, stops hairloss, and makes the hair feel strong. But it did not tighten my curl.

[hennaphile]

I love scrubbing my face with Amla. Really exfoliates and cleans pores like salicylic acid used to do in the overnight deep poor formulas.

I make amla tea by straining it through a plastic mesh coffee filter, then rinsing it over the hair prior to conditioning, followed by acid rinse.

Amla clarifies the scalp, stops hairloss, and makes the hair feel strong. But it did not tighten my curl.

Amla is great for skin, I use Hesh's skin tone-up and mix it with rose water. Such a great herb!

[mellie]

An amla-only treatment actually made my hair straighter and took out my waves, which was the opposite of what I expected!

before/after:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=9743http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=18847

[Heidi_234]

An amla-only treatment actually made my hair straighter and took out my waves, which was the opposite of what I expected!

I have to disagree based on the pics. It doesn't look less wavy, not that you have crazy waviness going on beforehand. But, from what I see on the pics, it didn't took the wave you had away IMO.

[mellie]

It seemed to take the waves away, in real life. It made the hair heavier and lay flatter, whereas before there was more waviness and body (especially towards the ends). Here's some more pics, maybe this will show it better:

Before (right after a honey lightening) and After an Amla treatment:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=9747http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=423&pictureid=9746

[ChloeDharma]

Mellie, i have to admit, i love your hair after the honey lightening treatment! I really must use honey more often.....i miss how shiney it makes hair.
I can't say i notice amla making my hair more wavey again, but i don't really use it in high concentrations.....more as just one of a few ingredients in a wash/conditioner.
I really should try some on my skin.

[mellie]

Thanks ChloeDharma! :-) I was really happy with those honey treatments too. I used Laney brand alfalfa honey, which I've never been able to find again since. It worked so beautifully! I added it with some chamomile and mullein tea, and a splash of lemon juice. Each time it made my hair so bright and shiny, it was great! But I've never been able to replicate that with other brands of honey... :-(

[ChloeDharma]

Thanks ChloeDharma! :-) I was really happy with those honey treatments too. I used Laney brand alfalfa honey, which I've never been able to find again since. It worked so beautifully! I added it with some chamomile and mullein tea, and a splash of lemon juice. Each time it made my hair so bright and shiny, it was great! But I've never been able to replicate that with other brands of honey... :-(

Oh that must be so frustrating! I've often wondered if different types of honey give different results, i have been considering trying that manuka honey, have you tried it? I'm just put off that it's so much more expensive.

[mellie]

No, I haven't tried manuka yet, but it is tempting as my local health food store has it!! It's horribly expensive though!

[Heidi_234]

Mellie, i have to admit, i love your hair after the honey lightening treatment! I really must use honey more often.....i miss how shiney it makes hair.
I can't say i notice amla making my hair more wavey again, but i don't really use it in high concentrations.....more as just one of a few ingredients in a wash/conditioner.
I really should try some on my skin.
I have to agree with that.
I did honey lightening recently, on my roots, and now my hair is so soft I didn't go to the pool so I won't have to wash it and lose the softness :cloud9:

[ChloeDharma]

No, I haven't tried manuka yet, but it is tempting as my local health food store has it!! It's horribly expensive though!

Exactly, it is tempting though, but then again i never remember to do my honey treatments these days (for conditioning/shine not lightening specifically).

Heidi, i used to use honey in every wash, i'm sure you can do it as often as you want? It seems a shame to loose out on doing things you enjoy xx

[mellie]

I used to use honey in every wash

Hmmm...interesting! I wonder how that would be added into my soapnut foam wash?

[gmdiaz]

Exactly, it is tempting though, but then again i never remember to do my honey treatments these days (for conditioning/shine not lightening specifically).

Heidi, i used to use honey in every wash, i'm sure you can do it as often as you want? It seems a shame to loose out on doing things you enjoy xx


What are the details of your honey/wash routine?

And I am wondering, doesn't honey damage your hair, even a little bit, if it's lightening it?

[Heidi_234]

Heidi, i used to use honey in every wash, i'm sure you can do it as often as you want? It seems a shame to loose out on doing things you enjoy xx
Well, usually I do use honey every wash actually (because I do semo-SMT every weekend), but sometimes I have to wash my hair in between, and I don't have that extra time to sit with honey mess on my head for at least an hour. Do you add it to your conditioner, or how do you use it? I second gmdiaz's question heh :p

And I am wondering, doesn't honey damage your hair, even a little bit, if it's lightening it?
Honey lightening aren't suppose to damage hair, as a)It's very little peroxide we are talking about. One drop of household 3% peroxide is 1000 stronger than the whole mix (if I'm not mistaken, but it's really really small amount nevertheless). And b) honey also chaletes the free radicals that make the peroxide damaging.
So, yeah. Honey is safer to use than alot of thing that are intended for hair care out there...

[princess]

Mellie I love your hair. And I feel the Amla has made it straighter.

[mellie]

Thank you, Princess! :flowers:

[ChloeDharma]

Hmmnnn the details of my routine......well it's quite a while since i was using honey in every wash, but basically i was CO washing, and usually i mixed one part honey with 2 parts conditioner, though i did vary it a bit with recipes so thats just a basic guide. I left it on for at least an hour then rinsed off, my hair was always heavily oiled when i washed.

I'm not sure how to combine it with Indian herbs, i would probably mix it up with the conditioning herbs rather than a cleansing one, although experimenting isn't a bad idea.
I didn't find honey at all damaging, quite the opposite i'd say :) Honeys lightening ability is nowhere near as strong as the peroxide you mix with bleach or tint to lighten hair enough to change colour

[mellie]

I didn't find honey at all damaging, quite the opposite i'd say

I agree! :-)

Sorry that I hijacked this into a honey thread, LOL!

[wackyredtangles]

Wow! I didn't notice there had been so many responses.

I still have some amla, so I think I'll at least try it. When I was doing henna only, it left my hair feeling strong and soft, but also kind of limp and lifeless. This last time I hennaed with the amla, and I didn't get that effect at all, so I wanted to do a conditioning with amla. I think I'm going to start doing henna glosses, and see if I can get by with a few of those to cover up my roots.

There doesn't seem to be too much info out there on amla mixes, so I guess I'll just mess around, and post pics.

Mellie - I'm really interested in the honey conditioning. Lately I've been using coconut oil, which I love. All hair topics are related anyways. =)

[Heidi_234]

Hmmnnn the details of my routine......well it's quite a while since i was using honey in every wash, but basically i was CO washing, and usually i mixed one part honey with 2 parts conditioner, though i did vary it a bit with recipes so thats just a basic guide. I left it on for at least an hour then rinsed off, my hair was always heavily oiled when i washed.

LOL that's exactly what I do (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/blog.php?b=38603). Great minds think alike. ;)