Amla oil home-made

[Fethenwen]

I found this video on youtube, and made an oil based on the instructions, I might as well share it to you herbal ladies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkJVe...layer_embedded


I had not powdered amla but dried berries, it worked just as well. I cooked the berries with not 4 liters of water but about 2-3 liters. I did not measure anything. I cooked it until I got at thick consistency and the berries was like a porridge. After I had strained that, I added some more water and cooked and strained again to get as much as possible from the amla as I could.

Then I added the strained amla "sauce" to the coconut oil and cooked as instructed in the video. I had it boiling on low heat for almost an hour before it started to separate, I was surprised that it actually worked. The remaining water evaporated fully and the amla sank to the bottom forming a thick dark glue like thing (it was quite hard to clean from the pot afterwards).


After straining that I got a coconut oil infused with amla, it smells like amla and has a nice honey tone to it:



I used cheaper refined coconut oil in case I would screw it up.

Now I wonder how potent this one is and about how much amla got into the oil?
I wonder if this is superior to amla oil made with dried amla that has just been sitting in the oil without boiling it?

Anyone here good at chemistry who could maybe have an idea on what exactly happened during this process?

[PolarCathy]

Awesome!!!

Can't tell what happened.

But... Tell me please hoooow/where did you get your hands on amla berries in Finland?

(...)


After straining that I got a coconut oil infused with amla, it smells like amla and has a nice honey tone to it:



I used cheaper refined coconut oil in case I would screw it up.

Now I wonder how potent this one is and about how much amla got into the oil?
I wonder if this is superior to amla oil made with dried amla that has just been sitting in the oil without boiling it?

Anyone here good at chemistry who could maybe have an idea on what exactly happened during this process?

[Fethenwen]

^ I was in Helsinki and stumbled upon an Indian store, they had everything in there including amla

[john1234]

Beautiful try Fethenwen! Congratulations!

[sakuraemily]

Congrats! It was that ayurvedic doctor's recipe wasn't it?
Its definitely potent. Check out the color of the oil minus the amla sludge left behind. It should be different from the color of normal straight coconut oil.
For double potency soak the amlas in oil for a while before heating them the next time.

[sakuraemily]

From chemistry POV, heating things in a liquid medium like oil or water causes nutrients to leach out. Thats one of the reasons deep frying is bad; along with calories you also lose fat-soluble vitamins and I don't think anyone guzzles the remaining oil.
So the nutrients from amla have come into the oil now.

[Fethenwen]

Congrats! It was that ayurvedic doctor's recipe wasn't it?
Its definitely potent. Check out the color of the oil minus the amla sludge left behind. It should be different from the color of normal straight coconut oil.
For double potency soak the amlas in oil for a while before heating them the next time.

Yes, that's the recipe. The color of the oil is quite similar to his concoction, a nice honey golden color. I will try the soaking next time, thanks for the tip!

From chemistry POV, heating things in a liquid medium like oil or water causes nutrients to leach out. Thats one of the reasons deep frying is bad; along with calories you also lose fat-soluble vitamins and I don't think anyone guzzles the remaining oil.
So the nutrients from amla have come into the oil now.

Awesome!


I thought I'd post and update about the results I am having, I really like this oil! I find it even better than Vatika Coconut oil, maybe mostly because I like the smell and feel of this better.
I have had almost two weeks of amazing hair thanks to this oil
Bouncy, shiny, soft hair! And my scalp has been feeling great, also it has reduced my already small shedding even further. Yay! And no build up so far either.

[sakuraemily]

Yes, that's the recipe. The color of the oil is quite similar to his concoction, a nice honey golden color. I will try the soaking next time, thanks for the tip!


Awesome!


I thought I'd post and update about the results I am having, I really like this oil! I find it even better than Vatika Coconut oil, maybe mostly because I like the smell and feel of this better.
I have had almost two weeks of amazing hair thanks to this oil
Bouncy, shiny, soft hair! And my scalp has been feeling great, also it has reduced my already small shedding even further. Yay! And no build up so far either.

Oh, do please! maybe I'll try it out too, sometime!

[Fethenwen]

Well, my amla oil has solidified. The air is getting colder, I think this years coconut oil period had ended

Last two times I used amla I noticed crispy ends, which I sometimes tend to get when I use coconut oil during colder months. Well it was a really good oil while it lasted. I had fantastic results with it while it stayed liquid.

I made an oil with infused plantain, I made it for my skin as an ointment, but I noticed that it's great for the hair too And it's made with refined peanut oil, so it should work during colder months as it does not solidify.
---

Ok, I might as well post the recipe for plantain oil, it is very simple.

You pick plantain leaves, and put them on newspapers to dry for a while, they should be dry and free from excess moist, but not dried, it takes just 1-2 hours. Fill a jar with coarsely chopped dry and clean plantain leaves and fill the jar with your oil of choice. The jar should be full with plantain and oil, leave it to sit for a few weeks - about 6 weeks. You might want to poke the insides of the jar from time to time to let out air pockets, air and moist is what you don't want in your oil as it can make it spoil. After six weeks or more you end up with a very green oil that smells maybe a little funky but plantain oil does that. Strain the oil into a bottle through a cheesecloth.

Here's the end result:



Well, plantain as you may know is great for the skin to soothe itches, burns and all kinds of skin conditions. I'm not sure what it does for the hair, other than it should be great for the scalp. So it will be an interesting experiment to continue using this stuff.