Using Indian Herbs and Oils to grow, Grow, GROW!

**HotRag** · January 23rd, 2009, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by ChloeDharma

Hi Eaglefeather
Yes i use the vatika coconut oil, i love it on my length but i've not used it consistantly enough on my scalp to say whether it gives the same benefits i found with the bhrinhraj oil as i specifically wanted the benefits of that herb, although i don't find the bhringraj oil as conditioning as the vatika oil, just better on my scalp.
I still am using the oils with Indian herbs in but haven't been using herb washing much recently but not because i've been disatisfied with them and do plan on using them again (i have a huge stack of them still).

I will try Vatika coconut oil on my lengths next week. But it may be not very good, as my lengths doesn't seam to like coconut oil. It could be better though, when other ingredients are included (as in Vatika oil).

For wash, I have just tried liquid made on whole aritha, but will try a more complex mixture, as soon as I can get hold on amla (should take 2-3 seeks).

Do you use herb washes as paste, or do you strain it in filter?
I tried to strain some grained herbs, but it wouldn't go through the filter, and then the filter broke.
So I used it as a paste, and ended up with a lot of stuff in my hair, that was hard to get rid of.

**eaglefeather71** · January 23rd, 2009, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by HotRag

I will try Vatika coconut oil on my lengths next week. But it may be not very good, as my lengths doesn't seam to like coconut oil. It could be better though, when other ingredients are included (as in Vatika oil).

For wash, I have just tried liquid made on whole aritha, but will try a more complex mixture, as soon as I can get hold on amla (should take 2-3 seeks).

Do you use herb washes as paste, or do you strain it in filter?
I tried to strain some grained herbs, but it wouldn't go through the filter, and then the filter broke.
So I used it as a paste, and ended up with a lot of stuff in my hair, that was hard to get rid of.

I have used it both ways. My favorite way is to make a medium-thin paste and shake it up like crazy to form a thick foam (easier to apply this way) and apply that to my scalp and hair carefully, trying not to rub too much. I leave it in for 5-10 minutes and then rinse very well. It does feel weird having all that grit in your hair, and it does take a while to get it all out, but it's so worth it. The aritha liquid is the easiest way to do it, but aritha alone doesn't have as much good stuff and I want to get the benefits of each herb. I'm on an aritha only thing right now for a week or two because I'm having scalp issues, but I am really missing the other herbs.

**lynnala** · January 23rd, 2009, 06:16 PM

Regarding the Vatika coconut oil, as much as I love the results, I've found that I can't use it because the perfume gives me a headache. This is not unusual for me, most scents give me a headache, particularly rose oil. I've had to go back to plain old coconut oil. But I did love the results of the Vatika.

**tiny_teesha** · January 23rd, 2009, 07:03 PM

wow, the before and after picture have an amazing difference!!!!
I used to use herbs and i still have HEAPS left! I am itching to use them again!

**eaglefeather71** · January 23rd, 2009, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by lynnala

Regarding the Vatika coconut oil, as much as I love the results, I've found that I can't use it because the perfume gives me a headache. This is not unusual for me, most scents give me a headache, particularly rose oil. I've had to go back to plain old coconut oil. But I did love the results of the Vatika.

That's really too bad. I hate when something is working for me and one of my sensitivities gets in the way. I'm hoping that doesn't happen with the herbs.

Originally Posted by tiny_teesha

wow, the before and after picture have an amazing difference!!!!
I used to use herbs and i still have HEAPS left! I am itching to use them again!

Thanks! What's stopping you? You must be like me, easily bored and distractable. Thats me.

**eaglefeather71** · January 23rd, 2009, 10:25 PM

After searching like a mad woman, I think it will be near to impossible to get the "B" oil mentioned earlier in the US without paying an arm and a leg for shipping from the UK or India. Also, every single one i found had mineral oil in it to some extent, even the Hesh one. It's weird because Hesh sells other oils to the US but not this one. It only seems to be available in europe and asia.

**ChloeDharma** · January 24th, 2009, 02:41 AM

Originally Posted by eaglefeather71

After searching like a mad woman, I think it will be near to impossible to get the "B" oil mentioned earlier in the US without paying an arm and a leg for shipping from the UK or India. Also, every single one i found had mineral oil in it to some extent, even the Hesh one. It's weird because Hesh sells other oils to the US but not this one. It only seems to be available in europe and asia.

Look what i found

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hesh-Bhringraj-H...742.m153.l1262

Other oils with bhringraj in them are trichup oil, Pune Mahabhringaraj oil, Hesh Heenara oil, Hesh Herbal Almondol (but i've only seen this once in one shop, it is lovely though)...i can't think of the others off the top of my head.
With the Hesh brand it's easy to confuse the Bhringraj and the Mahabhringraj, though the latter is part of their ancient formule range.

If you still have trouble, i wonder how much it would cost to send a bottle to America from London, there are a few of us here and i wouldn't mind helping out although i'm not terribly reliable for remembering to do things.
Another option is to buy the herb Maka/Bhringraj and infuse it in oil yourself, which is quite easy really, you could add other herbs to suit your needs....alma, brahmi, methi etc.

HTH

**ChloeDharma** · January 24th, 2009, 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by HotRag

I will try Vatika coconut oil on my lengths next week. But it may be not very good, as my lengths doesn't seam to like coconut oil. It could be better though, when other ingredients are included (as in Vatika oil).

For wash, I have just tried liquid made on whole aritha, but will try a more complex mixture, as soon as I can get hold on amla (should take 2-3 seeks).

Do you use herb washes as paste, or do you strain it in filter?
I tried to strain some grained herbs, but it wouldn't go through the filter, and then the filter broke.
So I used it as a paste, and ended up with a lot of stuff in my hair, that was hard to get rid of.

I usually do a 2 step herb wash where i put some shikakai powder in a jug then pour on just boiled but not boiling water on, give it a stir, cover, wrap and leave to cool, then i pour the liquid over my scalp ltting it run down the hair but i stop pouring before the powder/sludge at the bottom comes out.
I massage that through then rinse, then i apply a paste made from powdered methi seed, amla, bhringraj, brahmi, kapoor kachli and a little cayenne pepper. If i leave this overnight or for at least a few hours so that the mucilage from the methi releases it becomes kind of slimey but easily rinsed off.
If you like aritha then maybe try buying the whole nuts nstead of powdered, they can be soaked and i think if you dry them out afterwards they can be reused.
HTH

**eaglefeather71** · January 24th, 2009, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by ChloeDharma

Look what i found

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hesh-Bhringraj-H...742.m153.l1262

Other oils with bhringraj in them are trichup oil, Pune Mahabhringaraj oil, Hesh Heenara oil, Hesh Herbal Almondol (but i've only seen this once in one shop, it is lovely though)...i can't think of the others off the top of my head.
With the Hesh brand it's easy to confuse the Bhringraj and the Mahabhringraj, though the latter is part of their ancient formule range.

If you still have trouble, i wonder how much it would cost to send a bottle to America from London, there are a few of us here and i wouldn't mind helping out although i'm not terribly reliable for remembering to do things.
Another option is to buy the herb Maka/Bhringraj and infuse it in oil yourself, which is quite easy really, you could add other herbs to suit your needs....alma, brahmi, methi etc.

HTH

Your Awesome! I bought the one on E-Bay right away. The idea to infuse the herbs myself will definetly come in handy when I get more adept at using these herbs. Great Idea, and thanks so much for finding that link for me.

**HotRag** · January 24th, 2009, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by eaglefeather71

I have used it both ways. My favorite way is to make a medium-thin paste and shake it up like crazy to form a thick foam (easier to apply this way) and apply that to my scalp and hair carefully, trying not to rub too much. I leave it in for 5-10 minutes and then rinse very well. It does feel weird having all that grit in your hair, and it does take a while to get it all out, but it's so worth it. The aritha liquid is the easiest way to do it, but aritha alone doesn't have as much good stuff and I want to get the benefits of each herb. I'm on an aritha only thing right now for a week or two because I'm having scalp issues, but I am really missing the other herbs.

Thanks for sharing.
I have used whole aritha, but that was rather drying. Made hair soft, but dry. I did not pre oil especially though.

Originally Posted by ChloeDharma

I usually do a 2 step herb wash where i put some shikakai powder in a jug then pour on just boiled but not boiling water on, give it a stir, cover, wrap and leave to cool, then i pour the liquid over my scalp ltting it run down the hair but i stop pouring before the powder/sludge at the bottom comes out.
I massage that through then rinse, then i apply a paste made from powdered methi seed, amla, bhringraj, brahmi, kapoor kachli and a little cayenne pepper. If i leave this overnight or for at least a few hours so that the mucilage from the methi releases it becomes kind of slimey but easily rinsed off.
If you like aritha then maybe try buying the whole nuts nstead of powdered, they can be soaked and i think if you dry them out afterwards they can be reused.
HTH

You just use shikakai as cleanser then? No aritha?

As I wrote just above, I have tried whole aritha, and it was to drying. On top of that, my scalp wasn't to glad (but not worse than SLS, slightly better even, like with CO).
When I retry, I would like to make a herb mix and preoil too.
I should buy and try methi also.

Why do you make this wash in two steps? Does the cleaning effect and conditioning effect get better when they acting on their own, or do you get less "grit" in your hair?
Or (I read once more) can the paste with no cleaning agent be left on hair for longer than with shikakai/aritha, so you can let the mucilage release (and mucilage get the grit to rinse away easier)?

Sorry for all the confused questions, I blame it on my bad English vocabulary...