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Carrot and Bottle Guard Mask {Reader’s Tip}

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This is one tip which was posted as a comment on an earlier post yesterday. I thought it was a really good one so sharing it all with you. This is what the reader shares:

I tried having carrot and bottle gourd juice every morning (empty stomach). Also i apply crushed carrot and bottle gourd on my face after cleansing for 30 mins everyday. My pores have visibly reduced in size from day 1 and my skin tone is improving as well.

Henna Gloss Recipe {Hair Care}

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Applying henna is a very very tedious process so I found out that there is a simpler version of henna – Henna Gloss. It is easy to prepare, apply and wash off. So, I tried this one out.
What is Henna Gloss?
Henna is mixed with a conditioner and applied to the hair.
Henna Gloss vs Henna
Henna is drying for the hair and can make the hair straight and straw-like for people with dry hair. Henna doesn’t suit everyone and then, applying henna is a really tedious process. One has to make sure that the  color doesn’t get on the hands or neck or ears or forehead and dripping is an issue if henna becomes too thin. And, applying thick henna is not easy as it doesn’t spread easily on the hair and very often, you need help to apply henna. Henna makes the hair straighter so people with curly hair who love their curls hate using henna on their hair.
So, henna is mixed in little quantity with henna to make it easy to apply henna, it helps with color touch ups for people who use henna and the roots begin to show and to avail the conditioning properties of henna without compromising on the hair texture. This also doesn’t affect the curls like henna does.
Henna Gloss Recipe
Often, henna is mixed with a conditioner which doesn’t have any silicone or protein in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 to make the texture of the mixture into a creamy paste just like those of the hair colors. The conditioners which have silicone or protein in them do not mix well with henna so try not to use such a conditioner as the results might not be that good.
My Henna Gloss Recipe
Since I wasn’t supposed to use a conditioner with protein or silicone, I thought of using the only natural conditioner I had – Biotique Watercress. I am yet to review it but for those interested, its an amazing conditioner. And, I had Biotique Henna Powder too which is again I found out amazing. I shall review that too but I am not using it for coloring purposes so I don’t know how much useful my review would be. But, one thing which I noticed was that when I mixed the powder with amla juice, it smelled exactly like the henna leaves smell when ground into a paste. Coming back to the recipe, I am elaborating it below.
Ingredients
  • 5 table spoons Biotique Henna Powder
  • Amla Juice to make paste of Henna Powder
  • 5 table spoons Biotique Watercress Conditioner
Method
I use amla juice because one should use acidic liquid to activate the henna color and also amla is very good conditioner for hair. You can use water or any liquid of your choice. Make a paste of henna powder and leave it overnight. Next day morning, mix in the conditioner. Ok, since Biotique conditioner is very watery and thin in consistency so my mixture became thin in consistency but it wasn’t dripping but it wasn’t creamy which you would get of you use creamy conditioners. Btw, you can’t use Dove as it has a cone ingredient in it. Anyway, I used Biotique conditioner because of another reason too – I didn’t want to use any heavy conditioner on my scalp. I use conditioners only below my ear level. You might want to consider that point also. Anyways, after all that mixing done, the mixture is prepared and applied on the hair. It is easy to apply and then, leave it on for as long as you desire. If you are going for a deep conditioning treatment which henna gloss is meant to be, keep it on for 3-4 hours as I did. I kept it on for 3 hours I guess. While washing off, use a conditioner to wash off all the gunk from your head. And, make sure your hair is completely clean before stepping out. Do not shampoo.
Results
without flash
My hair is shinier and so soft that I really don’t have words for it. But, the results of this was damn good. My hair is more hydrated and silkier too. And, my curls are looking great. And, I do think that there is a little bit of brown which my hair caught on to but I am not very sure of that. Next time, I shall take a before photograph too to see the difference in color and texture. But, I think my hair is looking awesome!!!
with flash
I would definitely recommend this treatment for your hair. If you don’t want henna color on your hair, you can use more of conditioner and less of henna in the original ratio of 1:4 or 1:3 as I pointed out earlier in the post.

Natural Henna Manicure {Nail Care}

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Ok, this is not a very welcome option for every one. But, still, I would like to put this up. You all know what Henna is what multitude of benefits it offers. So, did you know that henna is anti-bacterial and the smell of henna acts as repellant for mosquitoes and insects. That was one of the chief reasons of applying it on the body and of course, later on, it became famous for body art too. There is one more major usage of henna.

Henna when applied to nails makes nails strong, healthy and shiny. Yes, unfortunately, it stains the nails too so they become orangey in color and the nail has to grow out completely to get rid of that color. But, applying henna prevents the nails from any fungal and bacterial infections too. And, I happen to like henna on my nails though the nails look really bad when the color reaches the middle but it does keep my nails pretty healthy for at least a month or two. So, try applying henna next time to the nails too and you can always use the nail paints to cover the orange color.
Btw, here, I am not talking of the commercially available henna cones. I am referring to the fresh henna leaves ground and then applied on the hands and nails. The henna available in the market have a load of chemicals mixed in them so I don’t really like applying from henna cones. Instead, plucking tender leaves of the plant and drying them is a better option to keep an unlimited supply of natural henna at home for whatever purpose you want whether it is coloring your hair or for body art.

Have you ever tried this?