Newest herbal wash my hair loves....?s

[cocolover]

Okay, so I've been just mixing lots of stuff together that is in my hall closet and my hair is very happy. This morning I did this wash, no pre-oiling (is that bad? hair doesn't seem dry) :

I put AO Honeysuckle rose conditioner on the last 5 inches of hair

Mixed with 1 Cup of water- 1 T amla, 2 T shikakai, 1 T methi powder, 1 T cassia, 1 T rice bran powder
I simmered this on the stove for about 5 minutes, then put it in an old agave bottle. Then I added about 1/4 C buttermilk
I poured this all over my head, using the last bit on my ends on top of the conditioner.
I let this sit for about 20 minutes on my head with a shower cap on. I rinsed it out in the shower and followed with a rinse made of hibiscus, brahmi and ACV. This probably sat on my head for 5 minutes.
Finished by putting Fox shea butter cream on my ends like usual

My hair is soooo silky today, it obviously loved something about this experiment :). My questions....is it wasting the cassia to put it in, can it really do any good in that short of time? I added the buttermilk because I had it in my fridge and it needs to be used up, does it help moisturize?

I'm just kind of throwing things together and seeing what comes out of it. Do any of you who have more knowledge about herbs and stuff have any suggestions for me?
Thanks in advance for your input.

[wahmof9]

Okay, so I've been just mixing lots of stuff together that is in my hall closet and my hair is very happy. This morning I did this wash, no pre-oiling (is that bad? hair doesn't seem dry) :

I put AO Honeysuckle rose conditioner on the last 5 inches of hair

Mixed with 1 Cup of water- 1 T amla, 2 T shikakai, 1 T methi powder, 1 T cassia, 1 T rice bran powder
I simmered this on the stove for about 5 minutes, then put it in an old agave bottle. Then I added about 1/4 C buttermilk
I poured this all over my head, using the last bit on my ends on top of the conditioner.
I let this sit for about 20 minutes on my head with a shower cap on. I rinsed it out in the shower and followed with a rinse made of hibiscus, brahmi and ACV. This probably sat on my head for 5 minutes.
Finished by putting Fox shea butter cream on my ends like usual

My hair is soooo silky today, it obviously loved something about this experiment :). My questions....is it wasting the cassia to put it in, can it really do any good in that short of time? I added the buttermilk because I had it in my fridge and it needs to be used up, does it help moisturize?

I'm just kind of throwing things together and seeing what comes out of it. Do any of you who have more knowledge about herbs and stuff have any suggestions for me?
Thanks in advance for your input.

hum! Why the rice bran???

[SimplyLonghair]

hum! Why the rice bran???I know that some use it to get rid of sebum on the scalp. It is an exfoliant.

[cocolover]

I used the rice bran because I have it on hand and I had read about some people on here using it to clean their hair and saying it left it really shiny. I've also read about people using rice rinse water, that it has saponins in it, and thought maybe the rice bran would also.
Like I said, it was all really unscientific and I just went through my box and went, "oh, I have this, lets throw it in!" :D

[jivete]

The only problem I could see with your experiments is you'll never know which ingredients work for your hair and which ones don't. However, if you're just using stuff up then go for it.

I know I'm a pretty big fan of the amla/shikakai mixture and I like aritha pretty well too. Sometimes they're over cleansing for me but I'm betting the butter milk would help with that. Hmmm, maybe I should try adding some buttermilk to my mixes...

[LiraelQ]

1 T rice bran powder

I've read that this is a great exfoliating/chelating substance on the skin...it makes me think it would be great for the scalp. But what about the hair cuticle itself? Would it damage it at all? Or is it too gentle?

[cocolover]

LiraelQ-I had not read that about rice bran being chelating, that is interesting. I don't think it would be damaging. On its own it is a very soft powder and then I dissolve it in the herbal tea mix. When I apply my herb washes I don't manipulate them at all or rub them. I just squirt them on and let them sit, so I don't think so....anyone else have a different thought or knowledge about that though?

jivete-I'm finding that my hair really likes buttermilk. I used it in a different successful recipe also, the methi/buttermilk one on here. I may have to start keeping buttermilk in my fridge at all times!
I may just have to eliminate a different thing each time to see what is really working and what is unnecessary.

[wahmof9]

I was inspired by this recipe last night but when I saw it I was trying an egg wash....which did nothing for me. I still had greasy hair (I oil before washing).

So since I have an appointment today and did not want greasy hair, I decided to wash my hair again this morning.

This is what I did;

1/2 cup of water to which I added 1/2 tsp of catnip and nettles each. Let is sit all night.

Strained the water and added two scoop of Meera (Indian Herb Mix), 1 TB of Methi (fenugreek). I heated the stuff.

Then I added a pinch of ascorbic acid and 1 TB of sour cream (don't ask..I did not have buttermilk) :)

Put the slop on my hair. shower cap on, wait 20 minutes.

Rinse.

I made a rinse 1 cup of water, hibiscus flowers, and acv.

My hair feels awesome and not greasy at all.

The only thing I would change is I would put something on my ends: oil, leave in conditioner...or do you have another suggestion???

I'll have to try it again but if the results stay like this...this is a winner for me.

[cocolover]

wahmof9- do you mean something on the ends pre-wash or post? I actually did both since I have DRY ends. I love the fox shea butter cream for my ends pre and post wash, but also put conditioner on the ends to sit while the wash sits. Oils alone make my ends crunchy. I have also successfully used coconut milk on the ends, coating the bottom part of my hair before applying my wash too (using in place of conditioner). I don't always have coconut milk on hand though and if I accidentally get it too high up my hair it is greasier post-wash.
Glad your new wash worked so well for you!

[wahmof9]

wahmof9- do you mean something on the ends pre-wash or post? I actually did both since I have DRY ends. I love the fox shea butter cream for my ends pre and post wash, but also put conditioner on the ends to sit while the wash sits. Oils alone make my ends crunchy. I have also successfully used coconut milk on the ends, coating the bottom part of my hair before applying my wash too (using in place of conditioner). I don't always have coconut milk on hand though and if I accidentally get it too high up my hair it is greasier post-wash.
Glad your new wash worked so well for you!
A lot of people use the shea butter maybe I'll look into that. I oil pre- . I have a leave-in from Giovanni..maybe I'll try that too.