Neem Oil

[Heidi_234]

I brought pure neem oil earlier this year, and for the life of me I can't remember what I did it for. :p I searched, it supposed to treat dandruff but I never really had dandruff. I'm sure I bought it for a darn good reason!
And yes, it does smells like peanuts and burnt tires, which I find hilarious for some reason. :p

[Pierre]

I added neem oil to my perfume to repel mosquitoes. It's 2% neem in jojoba with some EOs.

[Eireann]

It's a fungicide (at least that's what I use it for in my garden!) So, I imagine it helps your scalp. .. similar to tea tree oil. I think it smells like old onions. :p

[HotRag]

I use my neem oil in schampoo (2 %), I add it to my Pune's mahabhringraj oil (2 % there too).

Next time I make feet oil and body oil, I will add 2 % neem oil to them. Against ticks and other bugs.

I also got leaves, which I use for water sprays and decoctions (I've just started with those leaves).
I spray that decoction on me and my dog against ticks, and on my scalp for hair growth.

[Heidi_234]

Hair growth sounds more like something I'd be after. Also, after some thought I recall something about weak hair and that. :ponder:
It's interesting, if the secret of monistat induced hair growth does indeed lies in the antifungal properties (as opposed to the theory about allowing oxygen to access the scalp better), maybe neem oil can do the same?

[HotRag]

Also, after some thought I recall something about weak hair and that. :ponder:
What about that?
Something bad?

[Heidi_234]

What about that?
Something bad?
No no something good, that it helps strengthen weak hair. I wish I knew where I saw it, back at the time it was so obvious to me, after all I did bought the oil.

[Evilynn]

I bought a "Neem hair lotion" (http://www.drhauschka.com/natural-skin-care-products/details.aspx?id=36) from Dr Hauschka that contains neem oil, and it says it's good for balancing out too dry/too oily scalps, help with dandruff, as well as strengthening fine, thin hair and help promote hair growth.

[Eireann]

I bought a "Neem hair lotion" (http://www.drhauschka.com/natural-skin-care-products/details.aspx?id=36) from Dr Hauschka that contains neem oil, and it says it's good for balancing out too dry/too oily scalps, help with dandruff, as well as strengthening fine, thin hair and help promote hair growth.

Does the lotion smell like neem oil? All the things it says it does sound appealing to me, but if it smells like the stuff I spray on my fruit trees, I just can't see putting it on my hair!

[Anlbe]

Does the lotion smell like neem oil? All the things it says it does sound appealing to me, but if it smells like the stuff I spray on my fruit trees, I just can't see putting it on my hair!

I've got the lotion too, it doesn't smell like the neat stuff. Wouldn't say it's my favourite scent but there's nothing wrong with it.

[Heidi_234]

I've got the lotion too, it doesn't smell like the neat stuff. Wouldn't say it's my favourite scent but there's nothing wrong with it.
lol I bet they would do their best to mask that dead-peanut-burned-tires smell :laugh:

[Evilynn]

They mask the smell pretty well, but now I got a bit worried about what I'm going to do with the neem oil I have ordered! :laugh: Does the smell stick to your hair after washing it out?

[Heidi_234]

They mask the smell pretty well, but now I got a bit worried about what I'm going to do with the neem oil I have ordered! :laugh: Does the smell stick to your hair after washing it out?
I haven't tried it yet, but I've some manage to mask it with tea tree EO. Unless you can't stand that smell either of course. I'm rather sure the smell out linger after you wash your hair.

[Evilynn]

I haven't tried it yet, but I've some manage to mask it with tea tree EO. Unless you can't stand that smell either of course. I'm rather sure the smell out linger after you wash your hair.

Hmmm, maybe I'll try to mask it with tea tree oil, that's a strong enough smell to mask almost anything. Otherwise I have 30 ml of Neem oil that I have to find another use for. :laugh:

[Heidi_234]

Hmmm, maybe I'll try to mask it with tea tree oil, that's a strong enough smell to mask almost anything. Otherwise I have 30 ml of Neem oil that I have to find another use for. :laugh:
lol I've got 50, and if I won't use it on my hair, I have nothing else to use it for (maybe only to repel ants and cockroaches? hmm.... :p)

[Elettaria]

I've been struggling with seborrhoeic dermatitis on my scalp for years, and recently it's got particularly bad, probably because I have severe ME/CFIDS and haven't been well enough to wash my hair as often as I should of late. The doctor prescribed oral antifungals, which did nothing, and Nizoral shampoo, which helped, but only while I was using it, and I didn't want to be using something with animal ingredients that wasn't particularly good for my hair and smelt awful.

A few weeks ago I was in a herbalist shop and spotted Bioforce Neem Oil (https://www.avogel.co.uk/shop/products/neem/neemoil.php). The ingredients are sweet almond oil, neem oil, rosemary EO, bergamot EO, eucalyptus EO. They won't tell you the proportions, it's a trade secret, but since I hear that neem smells utterly appalling, I think it must be a reasonably low dilution as this smells quite pleasant, though it's still strong enough to overpower the EOs completely. The bottle recommends using it four times a day and just says vaguely "for nail and skin care", although the staff at the shop looked at the literature they'd been given and it was more open about using this as an antifungal for nail bed infections and the like.

After some experimentation, I have found that the best way to use it is to apply it to the scalp four times a day and wash my hair with neem 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner (http://www.houseofmistry.com/shop/neem-shampoo-conditioner-p-13.html?zenid=8d4526c06f1db00f19b184515e57ea55) every evening. I spent the first couple of weeks applying it less often, and not washing my hair more than once or twice a week due to exhaustion, and it didn't make much difference, not to mention that my hair got horribly oily. The good news is that almond oil washes out of the hair very easily, unlike, say, olive oil, where I always have to put the shampoo on before I wet my hair. There are other neem shampoos out there, this is just the one I happen to like, although I don't like the other neem product (http://www.houseofmistry.com/shop/neemee-2-in-1-shampoo-conditioner-p-12.html) in the Mistry range, as it's much stronger and irritates my scalp. (Mistry shampoos and conditioners are far and away the best I've ever found, excluding that one stronger neem one. They're made entirely of Indian herbs, organic, gentle but effective, low odour, and my hair utterly loves them.) The oil did make my scalp itch for a short while to begin with, but it never lasted too long, and it's stopped doing that now.

I've been doing the oiling 4x day and washing nightly for a week now, and I think my scalp is almost entirely back to normal. I haven't seen a flake in a couple of days, and when I feel my scalp just now, it feels fairly smooth. I'm going to keep going for a few more days, then have a break from the oil, then henna/cassia my roots, which will hopefully give the eczema a damn good seeing to.