Hair Care

Patanjali Kesh Kanti {Product Review}

Swathy · February 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Price: Rs 35 for 100ml

Ingredients

Reetha, Amla, Bhringraj, Heena, Shikakai, Neem, Jatamansi, Tagar, Bakuchi, Haldi, Giloya, Ghrit Kumari, Amahaldi

Base material: SLES, NaOH, CMEA, Nacl, Cabopol-980 (Source)
Preservatives: Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben

“In a nutshell”

Pros

Full of amazing ingredients too apart from SLES
Very inexpensive

Cons

Dries the scalp and hair completely
May leave the scalp itchy

Wish List

I wish that the shampoo had no SLES and was really made up of only reetha extract and all herbal things

My Experience
I had read many reviews of this product and bought this one with huge expectations. No offence intended to the reviews I read but unfortunately, the product did not at all turn out the way I had expected. That taught me something new (more in some other post, keep a look out!!). Anyways, I have used the product with and without conditioner so one thing which remains imprinted in my memory after using this product is that it dries out my scalp so much that my scalp cries out for moisture. Seriously!!

No, you should never skip the conditioner because it can turn back the damage caused by the shampoo. But, this shampoo dried out my hair a lot and made it rough like jhadoo (broom). Before using this, I has used the Dove Nourishing Oil Range and Pantene Total Damage Range and they both had kept my hair so soft and silky and shiny. This shampoo actually removed all those results and I seriously feel bad to talk like this about this product.

Speaking on the positive side, it does leave the hair feeling softer when you feel your hair in bulk but the ends are not so really soft!!! Even when wet, the ends of my hair (my hair is cut in layers) always felt rough on being touched. I don’t know how to explain that but I do hope you get the idea. And, probably, a little shine does get added to the hair but I am not so very sure of that. But, there was no hair fall or any other side effect.

If you are using this and you have dry hair, you should really use a lot of deep conditioning treatments and softening treatments for your hair and especially the ends. I would say that if you have dry hair, you should definitely skip this product. And, I am going to use the rest of my shampoo for pedicure or some other purpose because I hate to throw away products.

Availability
Patanjali stores across the country

Also read other reviews of products from the same brand:
Patanjali Aloevera Gel
Patanjali Tejus Tailum Body and Hair Oil
Patanjali Divya Dant Manjan
Patanjali Ojas Multani Mitti Soap

Availability of Indigo Powder? {Reader’s Query}

Swathy · February 16, 2012 · 5 Comments

Hey Everyone, Gayathri had asked me to post this query and I do hope some of you might be able to answer her. I can’t 🙁 So here goes her question.

I have brownish-blackish hair – upto my waist.
I have applied henna/mehendi and have found that it makes hair really soft. A few greys are popping out and the henna does a good job of coating them a deep red shade.
But, I want to change them to black.
I have read that Indigo powder (similar to henna) makes the dyes the hair blue – which means henna’s red + Indigo’s blue = Bluish- black.
I am finding it very very difficult to get indigo powder (in India).
1. Can anyone suggest where to get the indigo powder from? If an online store, have you ever bought anything there before?
2. Have you had any experience with Indigo powders?

So, have you guys any idea of where one can get Indigo powder? Btw, pure indigo powder is extremely hard to obtain ad is expensive too. So, it is always better to buy for reliable sources to ensure minimum or no adulteration of the powder. And, btw, Lush also has one of their Cacas in Indigo variants but I have had it from one reliable source that it doesn’t do anything for gray hair which is pretty sad!!!

Should I apply conditioner or not? {Hair Care}

Swathy · February 14, 2012 · 12 Comments

PS: This post is in perspective that leave-in serums are used after washing the hair.

A week back, I was too tired of washing my hair and applying the conditioner and waiting in the shower so I made a simple process by simply washing my hair and sticking to the leave-in serum. And, I found my hair was really fluffy and well-behaved and was not weighed down for 3-4 days which wasn’t there earlier. This prompted me to think if the conditioner is really needed for hair?

Fine Hair and Conditioning

Since I have done the article on hair textures, I have been inclined to think about hair care separately for both kinds of hair. Yes, conditioners are very necessary for hair but then a lot of other things also affect it – amount of conditioner needed and types of conditioners needed also depend quite a lot on your hair texture, right? So, why to make it a universal rule that you need a conditioner for your hair howsoever your hair and leave-in serum is also a conditioner.

Conditioner keeps hair soft

But, there is another perspective that conditioner does keep the hair soft. So, leave-in serum’s job becomes easy – to protect the loss of moisture. And, conditioner helps detangle the hair too by providing a little slip to the hair. And, many conditioners are able to tame frizzy hair. But, conditioners also have big disadvantage – they can weigh the hair down.

So, what do you think – Conditioner or no Conditioner?