colored hair care

How to use Henna and Indigo to naturally darken brown Hair?

Nayantara Karnik · July 22, 2015 · 48 Comments

Since I hit my 30s, I’ve been noticing greys creeping up one by one. Maybe not 50 shades, but enough to be noticeable! Sadly, most of them turn up around the crown of my head and end up being very visible. Ever since I decided to grow out my hair, I’ve been trying to take care of it better and part of that was to stop using chemical dyes on it.

I just got tired of the whole cycle of getting damaged and split ends, cutting it then wondering why I wasn’t able to grow it out. So around 3-4 years ago I decided to start using henna. My henna of choice is the one by Shahnaz Hussain, and I’ve been happy with it. I actually like the smell and love the way it conditions my hair.

But, from 8-10 greys or so, I now have loads more…sigh, the perils of ageing!! And, I really detest those bright orangey-red threads running though my hair. I literally had nightmares of my whole head turning a ghastly orange. After the usual internet research, I found there were 2 options to naturally colour hair dark-brown to black, though it doesn’t seem to be used commonly in India. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Both these methods involve the use of indigo, and as fate would have it, when I happened to step into the local organic store a few days later, I spotted it on the shelf, so picked up a pack. This is the one that I’m using, and it’s available on flipkart and amazon, probably other sites too. Since then I’ve used it twice, and I did get better results the 2nd time I used it. Just like plain henna, it builds up colour with each use.

By the way this is the same indigo used to dye denim, and it can’t be used on it’s own, it’s always used in combination with henna. So, if you would like to know how to use it, read on ladies (and gents)!

So, the thing about the indigo molecule is that it literally needs the henna to hold onto the hair shaft and they are used together either as a 1-step or 2-step process. In a 2-step process, you get a deep blue-black colour, which I understand colours even lighter toned hair and the 1-step gives you a deep auburn to dark-brown shade.

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – How to take care of dry and rough hair?

Swathy · March 23, 2015 · 5 Comments

Huh…getting on quora is such a time pass or a time waste, whatever!

So, how was your weekend, folks? Mine was a bit hectic with Ugadi, the new year of the Telugus 🙂 It was the first time I made the Ugadi pacchadi. It is said that the taste of your pacchadi determines how your next year is going to go! Mine was sour, all other tastes were in balance apart from sweet and I am a bit shorthand with sweet.

Ugadi Pacchadi or sauce, you can say, is basically a combination of various tastes – sweet in form of jaggery and banana, sour in form of raw mango (kairi) and tamarind (imli), bitter in form of neem flowers, salty as in salt, spice of red chilli powder and black pepper. These are what I added. It varies from person to person. Basically, the sauce is made of six tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, salt and spice – reflecting the varied phases of life.

Anyways, enough of the talking. So, did you guys get time to finish your weekend hair routines? Hopefully, your hair is now doing a lot better than what it had been when you started the event. And, yes, expect a mail from me tomorrow and we have a new contest coming up as well 🙂

So, let me start with this simple query I got from one of the readers.

How to take care of dry and rough hair? Let me add the colored hair, chemically treated hair, frizzy hair and damaged hair to the list!

Well, the entire #OneMonthtoHealthyHair event was about taking care of unruly hair so let me just put down some of my points which I might have missed out during the past three weeks.

Hair Cut is the first step

Well, that was the second activity which I mentioned as part of the #OneMonthtoHealthyHair Event. You have to get rid of the damage before you really start on making your hair healthy because damage has a bad way of making your healthy hair also look bad.

When you cut your hair, you are basically starting over with a new phase of hair and getting rid of all the splits and frizz and damage and even old colored hair. It is better to get rid of the entire damage at once rather than going in phases about it.

Get the Right products

Try to change your products and shift to more natural and sls-free versions or the professional ranges. They are made of hair-friendly ingredients which actually help your hair instead of just cleaning it.

Hot Oil Treatments

This is my go to hair treatment whenever I feel it needs some TLC. A warm oil and a good massage, nothing beats it. And, add up some castor oil and some essential oils and you have the perfect recipe for hair growth and taking care of dry and rough hair.

Btw, work out your hair wash schedules so you can also work out when you will be doing the hot oil treatment in the entire week. Though, thrice a week sounds extremely tempting, it is really not possible to spend that much time on your hair if you are a working professional or a student. Even the work from homes and at home ladies would find it difficult to devote that much time for the hair among all the chaos.

Regular Deep Conditioning and Hair Spas

This is what I have been talking when I write about the weekend hair routines including after-wash hair routines. The last weekend I had actually elaborated on what all options are available for a deep conditioning at-home treatment for the hair on the weekends and you do have plethora of options to choose from.

Another thing I would like to add here is that once a month hair spa at parlor is also a good idea for pampering yourself and making your hair feel loved. These days there are quite a lot of organic hair treatments also available in the salons if you are interested in going the organic route.

For Colored Hair

Follow what your hair stylist advise and go for gloss treatments once a month to keep the color vibrant and make it long-lasting than the average 6 months. And, weekly deep conditioning treatments also keep your hair healthy in the long run.

Regular Hair Cuts

Yes, going for regular hair cuts is one of the easiest way to keep your hair in order. If you are not prone to unsightly split ends, you can schedule your cuts once in 3 months. Otherwise, you can go for a hair cut once in two months.

Following the above guidelines at least once a week will definitely ensure in taking care of your dry and rough hair. And, gradually, your hair will become manageable and soft in the longer run. The results are visible from the first week itself.

Loving It / Using It Vol. 7 – Madara Colour and Shine Shampoo for Colored / Treated Hair

Swathy · September 11, 2014 · 2 Comments

Madara Colour and Shine Shampoo for Colored / Treated Hair product review

I had been looking around for quite sometime for a SLS-free shampoo other than organic surge when I came across this brand on flipkart. I have been using the product on and off since then and its almost on the verge of finishing so I thought I might as well share my thoughts on this with you.

Loving It / Using It : Using It

Price. Rs 900 for 200ml. Definitely expensive!

Availability. Not available in stores. Guess flipkart is the only website which carries the brand for now!

Smells of Rosemary. Love it.
Packaging is not really great. Sort of a seesaw opening and then you have to press the product out.
Usage. One dollop of shampoo is enough for two uses. Lathers pretty well.
Removes oil completely. Does not require lot of water to wash off.

Adds shine to the hair.

Makes hair soft and rough at the same time. I do not know how to explain this. When I am washing my hair, I can feel it is rough. And, even when hair is drying, I do not find it soft. But, as the day progresses, my hair becomes soft. In fact, this is one phenomena I have noticed with the recent shampoo I am gonna review soon. I guess it is a SLS-free shampoo trend!
Makes my hair frizzy. Unfortunately, I think lack of care for my hair and the dryness due to this product both dry out my hair and frizzes it.

Overall Verdict

I would say this product is not really worth the money I ended up paying for it. And, my search for another SLS-free shampoo carries on. Sometime back, I noticed that flipkart was out of Organic Surge shampoos which made me start hunting for other options. I checked again and the OS is back and available! So, get your stock before they run out of it.

Have you used the product? Or, are you searching for any SLS-free shampoo?