Swathy and Sky

You are here: Home / Archives for dandruff

dandruff

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 4 – Essential Oils for Hair Care!

· · 24 Comments

essential oils in hair care

I am extremely sorry for not turning up yesterday. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I just could not come online!!

Anyways, I had decided to keep holi free but since I skipped yesterday, I have an activity for you today 🙂

Btw, wish you all a very Happy Holi! Hope you are busy enjoying the festival of colors instead of reading the posts here 😉 So, lets get on with the activity.

Incorporate Essential Oils

If you are a regular reader, you would already know I am crazy about using essential oils. My first was lavender which I did not really become a fan of but then I went on to try rosemary and some other exotic ones and I am a fan for life. And, since then, I have tried my level best to tell you all how awesome they are. So, this is again one of the my trials.

There are a few essential oils which you must have in your house and they are multi-purpose so you can use them from healing your wounds to cleaning the air in your house! Let us check out which 5 essential oils I think are important to have in the house.

Rosemary

This one rules the roost. Since we are talking about hair care, rosemary is the one EO which stimulates hair follicles and actually helps in hair growth.

Peppermint

Though it helps the oily scalp more but it reduces dandruff and also helps in hair growth.

Tea Tree

This one helps in cleansing your scalp and reducing the dandruff. Also, helps with acne.

Lavender

This one is not really on my favourites list. But, it helps calm your senses and lulls you to sleep, helps with hair fall and is also said to help with hair growth. It definitely helps with wounds and burns, though!

And, finally, we have

Clove

Actually, there is a list of spice essential oils which are amazing for hair growth. But, clove is probably the most easily available. I would also like to include ginger and cinnamon leaf (not bark) but remember that overusing any of the spice essential oils can be irritating for the skin. But, the advantage of spice essential oils are that they stimulate the follicles and improve the blood circulation in the scalp which leads to better hair growth.

So, today’s activity is to at least get one of the these essential oils and infuse them with all of your hair products.

How to use the Essential Oils?

Pour 5-10 drops of any of the above EO in all your hair products like shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, leave-in treatment, hair masks, any DIY’s you do, and then use the products.

You can make your own Essential Oils as well!

This would not be exactly essential oil but definitely cheaper and effective treatment. This is specially easy for all the spices which are easily available in your kitchen. So, take a table spoon of your favourite spice (ginger, clove, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper) either in ground form or you can just use your mortal and pestle and lightly break the spices to release the oils.

Put the spice in a clear bottle and cover with oil (apricot or almond are preferred as they are better at absorbing the plant nutrients) and leave for a week in direct sunlight.

Keep shaking the bottle in between to release the oils.

After a week, your customized EO is ready for use! Remember to make it in small batches and use it within a month.

Btw, since this is not exactly as potent as essential oils, you can use around two table spoons for each of your products. And, you can keep alternating using different spices every time.

So, do try out this fun DIY and I am sure you will love it!

References:

Earlier Posts from #OneMonthtoHealthyHair event:
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 1 – Hot Oil Treatment
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity of the Week – 1
#OneMonthofHealthyHair – Activity 2 – Get a Hair Cut!
#OneMonthofHealthyHair – Activity 3 – Go for a Hair Wash!

Which Shampoo to Use? {Reader’s Query}

· · 5 Comments

“Could you please suggest a shampoo for 8 yr old girls? I am using J&J baby shampoo still but I have started observing it is not working on their hair and cleaning it properly? I see dandruff also started developing in their scalps. Any remedy for that?”

Actually, I would suggest organic surge shampoo for anyone. I would say stay away from sls shampoos and get organic products. They help keeping the scalp healthy and moisturized. The dandruff being developed might be due to the dryness of the scalp as far as I understand. Do you oil their hair? I would suggest you to oil their hair regularly and then use shampoos. Or, you can also go for body shop or schwarzkopf shampoos but all of them are definitely expensive!!

Thanks so much for the reply! I’m oiling their hair with J&J baby hair oil only. Do you suggest any other oils (brands)? Also can you please recommend any brand for organic shampoo? I heard Body shop products have lot of chemicals and they tend to dry hair. I’ve no idea about schwarzkopf shampoo. Should I get one for me first and see 🙂 

I would suggest you to go for pure coconut oil or such things instead of J&J baby oil and all. It has mineral oil and might not suit everyone. Also, if possible, I can suggest to you the bhringraj oil or neelibrigandi sort of oil from arya vaidya sala shop or website or even pure coconut or sesame or mustard oils from 24 letter mantra or any other organic brand. If you stay in Hyderabad or Bangalore, I can suggest you to check out goodseeds website. And, for arya vaidya sala, they have lot of shops in Hyderabad and Bangalore as far as my knowledge goes.

Check out the following:
www.aryavaidyasala.com/(S(emocbj45sqglubyiy2aeivib))/Index.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/goodseeds

And, regarding organic shampoo, I would say Organic Surge brand is really really good. I have been using it almost since a year and its awesome. And, regarding body shop or schwarzkopf, I have not personally tried them so I can really not say anything about them. I just suggested coz I have heard good reviews about them!!

What do you say? Any pointers as to which shampoo should she use?
Related Posts:

Hair Combs and Brushes
My dilemma with becoming a mother
Dark Patches on Skin

My Hair Diary – February 2014

· · 9 Comments

Finally, I have started taking back my life in control!! This month has been really good on my hair and the hair growth regime is back with a bang 😀 So, check out what happened.

The good news first. 
– One, I got a haircut so most splits gone 🙂
– Second, I have been pretty regular at oiling so my hair is back to its old silky self
– Third, less hair fall 
– Fourth, dandruff and lice gone 🙂
– Fifth, tried a new cocktail of oil!! Oh yes, I have new oils to talk about. 
– Sixth, I got the wooden comb finally! Oh, I forgot to tell you all that my TBS comb broke sometime back in December or January and I was not able to find it for one month in any of the outlets. Finally, got it in Del. And, my hair is happy again 🙂 
Now, coming to the bad part! My scalp still itches and hair fall is not entirely gone. Mum said that hair itches even during hair fall so I am guessing that might be it. And, I did not really get any time for hair spa which I had determined to get at least once in three weeks. 
Anyways, I have to mention a few points this time.
– Wooden comb is really better than plastic when it comes to frizzy hair! I do not know if it is more efficient in distributing the oils, though. 
– My hair gets itchy on the second day of the wash so it can also be due to any sweat or dirt which gets accumulated on the scalp and hair fall is a direct result of it. 
– My MIL also loved the Kamini shampoo! I got 3 bottles for her this time. I mean the shampoo is really awesome even though I do not know the ingredient list. 
– The Love Long Hair Range is performing well on my hair and I am guessing if it is Pantene only. My dad also suspected the same! 
– Since I got finished with the grapeseed oil, I got rosehip this time to use as a leave-in though I have not yet started trying it!
Products Used

  • Shampoo – Madara Shampoo + Love Long Hair Range
  • Conditioner – Love Long Hair Range
  • Hair Oil – Cocktail (which I will talk about soon)
So, how was the month for your hair? Is it over the winter blues?
Related Posts: