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You are here: Home / Archives for home remedies

home remedies

How to get undisturbed beauty sleep of 7-10 hours? {Health}

Swathy · April 27, 2015 · 5 Comments

how to sleep well

Sleep is a naturally recurring state of relatively suspended sensory and motor activity, characterized by total or partial unconsciousness and the inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. (Macmillan Dictionary for Students Macmillan)

It is a major misconception that our body is resting when we are asleep. It is, instead, performing the most basic functions of detoxification and rejuvenation so that we feel renewed when we get up from our sleep. According to this post, our body starts its detox process from 9 P.M and we are required not to perform any adrenalin raising activities from this time onwards. Instead, it is advised for us to rest from this time hence.

  • One of the basic rules of sleeping is having a very light dinner, probably some soup and salads. You can try to manage your weight by following this routine. Having cabbage soup is the best way to cut down your belly fat. Salads ensure the health of your teeth. They do not overload the stomach. You should eat your dinner two hours prior to sleeping.
  • Do not take any fluids in the mean time. But, if you must drink a cup of green tea one hour before sleeping. Reduce your water intake at night. You can refill your system in the morning. Taking fluids just before sleeping will interrupt your sleep.
  • Take a warm and relaxing bath before having dinner, if you wish. It will also aid in good sleep. Finish your skin care routine during this time.
  • 9 P.M onwards relax and do not indulge in any physical activity. Instead, listen to music, read, do little stretch exercises or light yoga, massage your scalp and face. These activities will help you get quality sleep. Do not watch television or browse internet. Take break and think about pleasant thoughts which make you happy and lift your spirits. Do not think about work next day and get stressed.
  • Remember, your sleep should always be undisturbed at night. Exercise is one of the best ways to go for it. Make it a routine to exercise regularly. Half-hour a day is enough. Try to exercise in the early morning, instead of evening, as it freshens up your entire body inside out. You feel energized and eat more breakfast which goes well with the body.

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5 Reasons why Salon Treatments are better than home remedies #OneMonthtoHealthyHair {Hair Care}

Swathy · March 27, 2015 · 19 Comments

beauty salon

I had been bred with the mindset that salons are useless and complete waste of money, the consequence of this being I never got a good hair cut in my entire life till I was in my high school. And, my regular hair cuts which were once in a year or something, that too when I was very young, used to me done by my mom.

Well, I would not say that my hair was all that bad because it grew well even though I never really liked my hair texture then. But, then, one fine day I go to supposedly-the-best-salon in our area and get a hair cut.

Now, that was not any Lakme or Javed Habib but a small beauty parlor run by a small-time beautician. These were the times when you would find beauty parlors existing in one room apartments or as one of the room in their houses.

In her defense, this lady did really have a shop.

Well, the result of this hair cut was a gradual hair fall which we could never really observe. And, slowly by the end of my first year, my hair had thinned to a considerable extent. And, with that, my belief that parlors were really a big waste of money strengthened. And, I did everything at home to revive my hair length and volume. And, yes, my hair improved.

But, then, the home remedies were messy and we had to save the curd from our dinner or bring a extra bowl of it from the mess (while staying in the hostel). The logistics were the added trouble during those days but I braved them all. And, in the mean time, real professional salons were cropping up all around.

My relationship with my hair went on and off till late into my post graduation when one fine day I discovered how damaged and full of splits my hair was. And, that was the first time when I got a real hair cut. I got all my hair chopped off till shoulder-length in layers and I loved them. My hair felt fantastic.

The next time I went was to get a hair spa and high-frequency treatment which I absolutely loved. And, since then, I have been going to the salons on and off, not regularly but occasionally and I no longer consider it a waste of money; though I did consider it a luxury even when I was earning and still do.

But, I can now justify some of the reasons why salon treatments are actually better than at-home remedies.

#1. They are professionals and they have been trained at the best institutes.

Okay, so we are no longer talking about the one room apartment salons. Though, honestly, some are d*mn good.

I have also found that the company outlets are better than the franchises so make sure you are going to them. There is at least one in every city.

And, these people are professionally trained and they do know what they are doing. Granted that it costs money in these times of inflation, some things are worth it.

 

View image | gettyimages.com

 

#2. At-home Hair Coloring is NOT recommended.

This is specifically for girls who color their hair.

Well, these days almost everyone does get their hair coloured by a stylist but still there are people who dye their hair at home.

I would not get into the debate whether a professional hair color is better than the box colors we get. But, yes, there is a process of applying the hair color and that is best left to people who have been trained in it for best results.

Also, color touchups and follow up treatments can be detailed out by your hair stylist depending on your hair type and hair strength.

#3. Salon Treatments cheaper than visiting Dermatologists and Trichologists.

I come to my favourite point. Let me narrate two incidences, one of them includes an extremely local roadside but quite popular men’s salon.

So, one of my friend had been suffering from dandruff since a long long time. And, she went for a spa package which completely got rid of the dandruff issue for her. I have even written a post about it. Read all about it here.

Have you ever felt jealous that men services are so cheap in any sort of a salon?

Yeah, this roadside salon I talked about! Mr. P went there once for some issue and I guess he was facing this dandruff problem. That guy used some ampoules, took them out and cut them and gave a scalp massage with the serum. No, those are not the hair spa ampoules we get. Mr. P got some of those home but that guy (salon guy) has not yet disclosed the name of the product. But, it is d*mn effective at curbing dandruff is what Mr. P said and you do not need any fancy products to go with it either. I guess I will make a trip there to ask around.

And, I have quite often talked about the high frequency treatment I absolutely love. It is great for combating hair fall and taking good care of the scalp as well. So, you can see not all salon services are complete waste.

It is better than going to a dermatologist and spending loads on the medicines and extremely expensive hair products which you do not know will work which is anyway the last resort available to us unless the case is pretty serious in which case there may be an underlying medical condition which must be diagnosed as soon as possible.

Hair Clinics are a good place for this. The hair clinics are places where hair treatments and medicine come together to give a holistic perspective on your hair condition. But, these are not your regular salons.

 

View image | gettyimages.com

 

#4. Going to Parlor Less Messy and Regular Hair Care.

Well, no doubt, home remedies are always very messy and you have a lot to clean up after. And, some of the remedies are so messy that cleaning your hair becomes difficult and uses a lot of water and takes a lot of time. And, more messy the process, more you try to avoid it or postpone it and the hair care routine gets discontinued.

To avoid all that and to keep up with your hair routine, you can instead opt for a hair spa package or whatever treatment you are interested in and be sure to attend your appointments. This would ensure healthy hair any day 🙂

#5. And, what about all the chemicals?

Ohkay! So, this is one major glitch when we go to the salons.

So, for the starters, these days even the salons are providing organic hair spas and other treatments but they are way expensive.

Further more, the professional ranges used in the salons have been exclusively curated for hair. They have the ingredients which actually help hair like ceramides and keratin. Those products are not the regular over the counter products made of cheap and inexpensive ingredients passed off to do miracles for your hair. So, yes you can take those treatments once in a while.

And, any day, a salon session is very pampering for a girl. So, just go and enjoy 🙂

What do you say, girls? Did I convince you to try out salon treatments? Or, you would still prefer the home remedies? Or, are you an ardent fan of salons already?

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 10 – Weekend Hair Care Routine – III

Swathy · March 21, 2015 · 6 Comments

weekend hair care routine for long and shiny hair

So, we are in weekend 3. And, today, I really want you guys to spend time with your hair and see what exactly does it need?

Hair Concerns

Split Ends

If it has splits, please get a hair cut. Do not be afraid of losing the length or the fact that salon people cut more than necessary amount of hair. You can tell them before hand that they should show you how much of the hair they are snipping off.

And, then, follow with weekend hair mask treatments or deep conditioning treatments to keep away the splits and make your hair happy!

Dry, Rough, Colored and Chemically Treated Hair

If it is dry and rough and colored and chemically-treated, following these weekly hair care regimes will definitely help you!

Hair Growth

If you are looking for hair growth, use essential oils and be diligent with scalp care.

Dandruff, Itchy and Oily Scalp

If you are tackling dandruff, oily scalp or itchy scalp, try the vinegar treatment and if it does not work, seek a trichologist or a dermatologist’s help.

Pre Wash Hair Care

Now, last week and before last week, I asked you to apply egg and curd respectively, this week I give you the choice to do anything you would like to. We are strictly talking here about the deep conditioning treatments only. You can do the home remedy or go for the more sophisticated professional products.

Home Remedies

– egg
– curd
– henna or henna gloss
– powdered hair masks mixed with some thing

Henna Gloss

For those who have dry hair but love henna, I have this idea called Henna gloss. You apply henna on your hair but it has other conditioning agents so you have less of dryness and it just leaves the shine on your hair instead of coloring it. You can call it a light tint. You can see my henna gloss recipe here. I did try it once.

For Colored Hair

Well, for you gals, I specifically recommend using the products which your stylist recommended. You can ask them for intensive hair mask treatments. The professional products are gentle on your hair and they have color binding and lasting ingredients which nourish your hair color making your hair look shinier.

If you still want to try out the home remedies, only try out egg. Curd will react with your color. Henna is totally not acceptable and other homemade or commercial hair powders might have some dyes mixed with them so better be safe.

Also Read:
Products which helped my hair
Home Remedies which helped my hair grow

During the Wash

Ohk, so, this is something I have been saying since quite sometime.

Also Read: Everything about Shampooing and Conditioning your Hair

I am reiterating some tips which you might have missed again.

Shampooing

– add a table spoon of vinegar to your shampoo for clarifying your hair.
– dilute your shampoo in water. two dollops of shampoo in two handfuls of water will give rich lather to remove the oil as well.
– wash your hair twice.
– apply shampoo only to the scalp and spread the lather to wash off your hair length. if needed, only then use the shampoo on the hair length. the lather washes off the oil from the hair length also generally so do not overuse your shampoo.
– after lathering your hair, massage your scalp for 1 minute gently.
– rinse well with warm water. repeat the shampoo and rinse again properly to remove all the shampoo. use warm water only.

Conditioning

– after rinsing your hair properly to remove all the shampoo with warm water, squeeze out the excess water gently.
– separate your hair into two partitions gently with fingers.
– take a large dollop of conditioner and spread on hair ends on one partition and then move up the hair length. do not apply conditioner above your ears. repeat with the second partition.
– if using intensive treatment, leave in for 15-20 minutes and if using regular conditioner, 3-5 minutes is fine. make sure you have something else to occupy yourself with. good time to give your nails a trim or a pedicure to your feet.
– wash off gently with warm water first and get rid of all the stickiness and slip of conditioner.
– after washing off properly, follow with a cold water rinse. make sure the water temperature is comfortable for you to bear.

De-tangling the Hair during Conditioning

Generally, it is suggested to de-tangle your hair using a wide-toothed comb after applying the conditioner. I have never done it and I do not advocate it because hair is wet and really weak so any sort of comb can result in hair breakage. You can try it for yourself and see if it works.

Otherwise, if your hair is prone to lot of tangles, the after wash hair care will take care of it 🙂

After Wash Hair Care

Scalp Treatment

For the scalp treatment, you can make your favourite DIY’s or use the ones available in the market. For the simplest treatment, mix freshly made green tea with few drops of rosemary essential oil and apply on the scalp using a cotton ball. This dries off in 5 minutes.

Leave-in Treatment

Just like I mentioned last time, using 2-5 drops of any non-sticky oil – like apricot, argan, jojoba, grapeseed oils – on your hair as a leave-in is a great idea to nourish the hair and keep it from getting dry.

So, this is in a nutshell what I used to do to make my hair absolutely gorgeous but since then I have discontinued it because of the lack of time and change in lifestyle. And, have consequently suffered with my hair again going dry and not growing and developing splits.

Hair growth is more or less a continuous dedication and take a lot of work with results not being immediate just like you are on a weight loss regime. So, have patience and the results will show in a month, at least 🙂

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!
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 4 – Essential Oils for Hair Care!
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 5 – Weekend Hair Care Routine – I
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity of the Week – 2
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 6 – How to take care of your Scalp?
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 7 – Dry Shampoo for Clean Scalp!
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Supplements for hair growth?
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 8 – Weekend Hair Care Routine – II
OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Why is your hair not growing?
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Hair Care Secrets and Two Weeks Feedback!
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 9 – Scalp Massage with Rosemary Oil
#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Thinning Hair or Hair Fall Causes

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