Hair health is something I've always seen as a roller coaster. Sometimes it's dry as heck and sometimes its shiny as a clear summer nights sky. I've tried various natural shampoos and foreign shampoos to get healthy looking hair.
I somehow always come back to my roots (no pun intended) of using hair oil. I would stock up when I visited India. I'd go to the Ayurvedic store and get the ones that claimed hair growth. Especially for my sister as her hair growth has seen a lot more drastic changes than mine.
My hair just has a tendency to grow very long very fast and bulks up and gets so heavy that it gives me headaches. Yes some see it as an envious thing but living through all that weight on your head can be quite frustrating. Perhaps why I see all these youtube videos of people shaving their heads! I digress. It's thus very important for me to use the hair oil to keep it from getting too dry as it gets longer.
I always heard of people making their own hair oil back home. I had never tried and it was always a chore to actually do that kind of treatment; till you actually do it and you wonder why you don't do it often enough! It brings me back to my childhood when my aunts would give me a scalp oil massage. It was the most relaxing experience.
There are different kinds of hair oil I have tried. There is the most popular and economical coconut oil. Then there's the almond oil that doesn't make your hair as sticky as the coconut oil. And then the sesame oil, my favorite. Ah... the best results you get were from the sesame oil based oils. They all have different herbs added to it for added hair health benefits. Amla, Bhringraj, Brahmi are some popular herbs.
source: deposit photos
My journey of self teaching Ayurveda during the great isolation of 2020, brought me to a whopping 20+ herbs that can be concocted into the hair oil. WHOA baby! It was beautiful to learn and experience all these herbs. There was even Rose petals, Tulsi and Neem in it. I stepped out of Ayurveda as well and added things like Ginkgo and radish seeds to the oil. I used a mix of oils like sesame, almond, castor oil etc. It all turned into this gorgeous green colored oil after 3 weeks of just letting the oil steep into these herbs. It's like an oil tea for your hair.
How does one use this hair oil?
The traditional method is to really give your whole head and scalp a drench. It's like food for your hair. You start with taking sections and concentrating on a scalp massage with the oil. You will really feel your scalp just taking this thirsty drink! If your hair is very dry it will especially seep into the hair really fast. Then you add the oil to the length of your hair. You can do this with sections for a more even application. Remember a little goes a long way so start with coin sized puddles in your hand. You leave this in as long as desired. Sometimes I keep it in 3 hours, overnight or even two days if I'm going to just be a home body.
To use the oil as a leave in conditioner, simply take a few drops and disperse through the length of your hair. Repeat as needed. Goal here is to give some of your dry damaged hair some moisture so it prevents from tangling and drying out. Avoid the scalp area if using as a leave in conditioner.