Herbs and Their Uses

[Aisha25]

Wow very good posts, shikakai is the best for hair wash very good job Diamondbell

[Diamondbell]

Wow very good posts, shikakai is the best for hair wash very good job Diamondbell

I know I love Shikakai!

[Aisha25]

Oh also shikakai and hibiscus together makes very very good hair wash too my favorite

[ChloeDharma]

Something i have been curious about, I have seen a shikakai oil sold by Hesh, but other than their promotional information i can't find any information about what benefits shikakai oil would give, does anyone know more about this? Links would be great

[Diamondbell]

I've never heard of Shikakai oil! - What could it be? It must be a base oil with coconut oil or sesame oil with some shikakai extract.

[ChloeDharma]

I've never heard of Shikakai oil! - What could it be? It must be a base oil with coconut oil or sesame oil with some shikakai extract.

Yes i took it to mean macerated in a base oil, but the Hesh one has mineral oil in it and i think from memory some other very un-natural additives to it, so i thought of just adding some shikakai to coconut or sesame oil. But i'm not sure what benefits it would give.

[Diamondbell]

Amla(Hindi)/Amalaka (Sanskrit)/Amlaki (Bengali)/ Botanical name: Emblica Officinalis/ Nellikaai (Tamil)/Indian Gooseberry (English)

The Indian gooseberry is indigenous to India. It has been used as a valuable ingredient in various medicines in India and in the Middle East from time immemorial. Shusrut, the great Ayurvedic authority considers it as the best of all acid fruit and most useful in health and disease. It is chiefly valued for its high vitamin C content.

Amla stimulates hair follicles thus promoting hair growth and also improves texture of the hair. It also prevents premature graying of hairs and dandruff. Indian women generally use Amla to wash their hairs, which act as natural hair conditioner.


The Amla Fruit


Dried Amla pieces



Recipes

(1)Hair Tonic:

Take equal weights of Avuri (Indigo/indiofera tinctoria) leaves, Bringhraj (Wadelia calendulacea/eclipta prostrata), fresh amla and hibiscus flowers and grind to a paste. Mix the paste with an equal quantity of coconut oil and heat on a medium fire till the moisture evaporates. Cool, filter and store in a bottle. Rub on the scalp and hair daily.
--------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Homemade shampoo: For clean and shiny hair, make this shampoo at home. Soak Shikakai seeds, soapnuts (ritha) and dried amla overnight. in the proportion of 2:2:1. Next morning, boil them in water for 15 minutes. Remove the seeds and blend the pulp in a mixer. Store this mixture in the refrigerator and use once a week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) HAIR OIL WITH DRY AMLA: The amla fruit cut into pieces is dried in shade. These pieces are boiled in coconut oil till the solid matter becomes like charred dust. This darkish oil is an excellent oil to prevent graying.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(4) AMLA RINSE WATER: The water in which dried amla pieces are soaked overnight is also nourishing to hair. This water should be used for the last rinse while washing hair.

(5)Fresh Amla Massage: Regular massage of Amla (fresh) ground to paste and rubbed into the scalp has worked wonders in many cases frequently reversing the process of greying or falling off of hair.

(6)Amla-Milk Paste: To encourage growth of hair and to make hair dark, soak a few amlas in a little milk for a couple of hours, then drain and grind to a smooth paste along with a handful of mehendi leaves, mix well and rub into the roots of the hair one hour before you wash hair (either shampoo or herbal hair wash).

[Diamondbell]

Fenugreek (English)/Trigonella foenum-graecum/Methi (Hindi)/ Vendhaiyam (Tamil)/ Bockshornklee(German)/alholva (Spanish)

Fenugreek Seeds


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)HAIR WASH POWDER:
Bengal gram (cicer arietinum) 1 part, green gram (phaseolus mungo/ mung bean) 1 part and Fenugreek seeds 1\2 part is powdered coarsely. This mixture can be used to wash your hair, which does not remove the natural oil from the hair thus preventing dryness
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2)Hair Pack for Dandruff: Take fenugreek seeds, lime seeds, little pepper and aloevera, grind it to a paste and use it on the scalp. Using this twice in a week may be beneficial. Do not keep it for longer hours on the scalp, since it may be so very cooling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(3)HAIR WASH POWDER WITH SPROUTED DRIED FENUGREEK (COMPLICATED!!):
Take 100 gm of methi seeds,and soak this in 500 ml of aloevera juice.( remove the skin of the aloevera leaves, take out the pulp and with the blender or juicer take out the juice). Keep the mixture covered with a net, and keep in a shaded place. After four or five days it will start sprouting. Take out the methi only and keep in sun. In the evening put the methi again in the old aloevera juice. Repeat this until all the juice is soaked by the methi. When the methi sprouts are dry, powder it and keep in a airtight container.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(4)QUICK SCALP MASSAGE OIL WITH FENUGREEK SEEDS:
Take a tablespoon coconut oil and 1 teaspoon methi powder, and double boil the mixture. Strain the fenugreek powder and discard. Apply the oil to entire scalp and massage scalp lightly. After 30 minutes, wash with herbal shampoo(or shikakai).
Washing the hair with Hibiscus leaves & buds ground together or shikkakai powder gives a better result.

An alternative method: The seeds of 'Methika' or fenugreek (Trigonella foenum) is soaked in coconut oil and kept under direct sunrays for 7 days and applied to the scalp, which prevents hair loss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5)METHI-LEAF DRINK FOR HAIR GROWTH:
Wash and clean a bunch of Methi leaves in water. Without adding water, add black pepper, a few drops of lemon and salt to taste and boil. Churn this in a mixer or juicer and drink this concoction. Drinking this regularly will increase hair growth.
************************************************** ***********************
(6) METHI-HENNA HAIR PACK:
Ingredients used

Henna: 1 teacup
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Methi seeds- 1 teaspoon
Water- as per requirement

Method of preparation:
Cumin and methi seeds are fried till golden brown on a pan and soaked in water overnight. Next morning a fine paste of it is made and mixed with henna and applied to the scalp for 2 hours.
(Here, the henna acts as a dye and a conditioner that helps in building the melanin and retention of hair color from the root base. Cumin seeds are responsible for improving the blood circulation and hence promote hair growth. The methi seeds help in cleaning the scalp from the dirt accumulated on the scalp).

================================================== =========
(7) SIMPLE HAIR PACK:
Make a paste by grinding fenugreek seeds with water. Massage on the scalp after oiling the hair and leave it for one hour before washing. Repeat it every morning for a month. (I have not tried this!)
--=============================
( 8 )ANTI-DANDRUFF HAIR PACK:
To control hair loss, try this home-made hair growth and anti-dandruff pack: 6 tsp Feenugreek seed paste (soak the methi seeds overnight and grind them into a fine paste) 4 tsp green gram flour (sabut moongdal powder) 3 tsp curry patta paste 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 2 tsp amla powder 2 tsp shikakai powder
Mix all the ingredients and grind them finely. Store the mixture. Use it as a hair pack. Leave it on for 15 min. and wash it off. This paste prevents hair fall and dandruff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(9) Fenugreek-Sesame Oil

Take a bunch of fresh green methi (fenugreek) leaves and grind smoothly. Make them into small balls and keep in the sun for two days or more (till the moisture evaporates). Heat Sesame oil (gentle heat) and put in the dried fenugreek-leaves balls. Keep on slow fire. Cool the oil. Keep aside. After ten days, strain out the fenugreek-balls and use the oil. This is good for luxuriant hair growth [*I have made this oil myself and think it is really good!]
================================================== ======
(10)FENUGREEK-CURRY LEAF-YOGURT DRINK:

Take one cup of warm milk and add a teaspoon of yoghurt to it and keep it outside (not in fridge) and add fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to the yoghurt. Next morning, drink this yoghurt on empty stomach. This is good against shedding. Buttermilk also may be used instead of yogurt.

[Aisha25]

Excellent excellent on amla and methi very nice Also you have to mention for dandruff too is curd+methi hair pack that is good one!!

[Diamondbell]

Excellent excellent on amla and methi very nice Also you have to mention for dandruff too is curd+methi hair pack that is good one!!

Thanks Aisha25- Have you used the curd+methi it with good results? If so, may be could you please write the recipe here? Thanks!