Vitamin E and Evening Primrose for Healthy Hair

No, I am not talking of supplements. This is a little advise which I got from my hair stylist when I went for a haircut. Every time you oil your hair, pour a tablet of vitamin E oil and Evening Primrose Oil in the oil and put the container in hot water for 10-15 minutes to heat it up and then, massage the oil in your hair. It helps in prmoting hair growth and keeps your hair healthy. Another advantage of doing this is that your hair will recover from breakages it might be suffering from. 

Another tip is that you can also pour contents of 5-6 vitamin E tablets in your hair conditioner as well (both leave-in and after-shampoo). This method will help your hair heal better from any dryness and split ends too.

Update: An important detail which I completely forgot to mention earlier. You might also be wondering of how and which supplements to get hold of. So, I was suggested Evion (Vitamin E supplements) and Primosa (Evening Primrose supplements) and they were pretty easy to get hold of. You should be able to find them in any drug store near your house. And, Evion is just 15 Rs per strip and Primosa is a little expensive at around 100 Rs. So, I would say use Primosa tablet once a week and Evion tablets at least twice or thrice a week both in oiling and conditioners for better results.

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Onion for hair growth

So, has anyone heard of using onion to combat hair growth. Well, its true. And, I can assert this because I have tried it on myself. Onion is rich in sulfur which is one of the essential nutrients in promoting hair growth. So, if you are facing a lot of hair fall problems or have developed any bald patches on your head, try onion. It stimulates hair growth. It is also beneficial for people who want to increase the length of their hair. But, putting onion on a very healthy hair would really not show much difference. Onion is also useful for treating dandruff and other scalp infections like dry scalp or itchy scalp. For any major infections, you should definitely consult a doctor. Onion is not a medication.

The easiest way to do is to collect the outer peels of the onion which are to be discarded (while cutting the vegetables) and blend them. Put them in a sieve cloth and extract the liquid. Apply the liquid on your scalp. You can also apply the blended onion paste directly too. The smell would be stinking so you have to wash your hair after that. Keep it on for half- hour or as long as you can and then wash off with a mild shampoo. Do this as many times as you can in a week and you will see results within a month or two. You have to be consistent with the treatment. You can also add fenugreek paste to condition your hair simultaneously. Try to be innovative. Add eggs, honey, fruits, oils or anything else you are in a mood for.

Another advantage of applying onion on your hair is it will give you hair a nice coppery shade. It makes your hair look glossy. But, if you want to maintain the natural color of your hair, mix the onion blend with adequate amount of mustard oil. The oil will prevent the color lightening caused by onions. And, you can increase your daily consumption of onions for a beautiful hair.

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Get rid of Split Ends

Split ends are ugly and make our hair look unhealthy. More than that, they actually make our hair unhealthy by climbing up the hair shaft. The only way to get rid of split ends is by trimming your hair up to the level where you are sure all your damaged hair is gone. Next step is to take care of your hair properly so that there are no split ends in the future.

• First is to handle your hair very gently. Do not rub with a towel or use a rough accessory on it. Do not be harsh with it while drying it. Just gently squeeze the excess water out of the hair and let it air dry.Keep your combs and brushes smooth. If they develop jagged edges or get broken at any point, change them. The jagged edges or sharp broken points can rip off the hair. 
• Proper nutrition and regular exercise is necessary to maintain beautiful hair. Why? As our hair grows from the follicle, it gets old. The tips of our hair is years old actually and due to the lack of proper nutrients and exercise and loss of proper capillary action in the hair, it becomes difficult for the hair follicles to provide proper nutrition to the ends of the hair. This is one of the reasons for even the hair getting dry as it grows past a certain length. Due to the lack of nutrition, the cuticle wears off and the hair strand starts splitting.
• Due to the very same reason, we need to provide the ends with extra nutrition on a regular basis. If your hair is extremely dry or is prone to lot of split ends, do a weekly pre-poo on your hair. Egg and honey is especially helpful. 
• Excess usage of hair products can also bring this calamity to your hair. Use only the most required of the products and make sure they are of the highest quality. Use as minimum amount as possible of any product. 
• Mix a tea spoon of castor oil with two tea spoons of pure coconut oil and massage in into your hair with special attention to the ends twice a week. Dip a towel into warm water and wrap your hair in it. You can even take a steam for your hair. You can leave it overnight or wait for an hour or two and wash off with a mild shampoo. Do not forget to dilute the shampoo. After washing your hair, apply a intensive hair conditioner to the ends of the hair and stay for 5-10 minutes. Wash off. You can follow with leave-in conditioner.

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Home Remedy for Hair Loss

I will be sharing with you a very simple home remedy for hair loss and promote hair growth.

• Collect the lime seeds and dry them in the sun for a day or two. 
• Mix the lime seeds with black pepper seeds and grind them or powder them. 
• You can store the powder for use but not more than a month. It is better to make a fresh batch every time.  
• For application, take an adequate quantity of the powder to cover whole of you scalp and mix it with water to make a paste. Apply everyday on the scalp for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  And, if  not everyday, make sure you use it once a week. Wash off with cold water. You need not follow it with shampoo. 
• Alternatively, you can take all the seeds (lime, black pepper and fengreek). Soak them in water overnight. Make a paste of the ingredients. Apply it on the scalp. Best results if done at least thrice a week.

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Olive Oil for Hair Growth

Olive Oil is an extremely useful product not only in culinary purposes but also in skin care and hair care. We have already talked about the role of Olive Oil in Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). We will talk today about the benefits of olive oil in hair care. Olive oil is extremely light and does not easily grease the hair. It makes hair smooth and shiny and is easily absorbed. 

Method of application: Warm a little of olive oil and massage it into your scalp. Keep massaging your scalp for 20-30 minutes. This will ensure better absorption. You may steam your hair after that or put hotel towels on your hair just like in hot oil treatments. You can do this at night and wash off on the next day. A regular application of olive oil would kill all the bacteria and get rid of all scalp infections. And, it would promote healthy hair growth. 

You can use 2-3 drops of olive oil to moisturize your hair instead of using a leave-in conditioner. This would not weigh down your hair and keep it healthy and free from split ends.

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Scalp Problems: Home Remedies to get rid of them

Today, I would be discussing with you one more benefits of making Neem a part of your daily lives. Scalp problems are one of the main causes of hair fall, dry and dull hair or thin hair prone to lots of breakage. Dandruff, itchy scalp, redness in the scalp, dry scalp, acne on the scalp; these are some of the problems related to scalp which can be easily cured using neem leaves or neem water or even oil. 

• Use neem water as a rinse after every shampoo. Let your hair air dry. 
• Mix neem water and lemon juice and massage into scalp. Let stay for 30 minutes. Wash off. You need not follow it with a shampoo. A simple rinse would be fine. This is a cure for dandruff.
• As we all know that neem leaves are extremely good for acne on skin. So, make a paste of neem leaves and apply on the skin. Let it stay for 30 minutes or till it dries off. Wash off. Regular application (two times a week) should show results in a month. It would also cure itchiness and irritation in the scalp. 
• You do not have to go and take high frequency treatments to kill bacteria in the scalp. Mix neem and olive oil and massage into your scalp a night before you will shampoo your hair. This would kill all bacteria on the scalp. 
• If you do not get neem oil, you can put lot of neem leaves in olive oil and leave under direct sunlight for a week or two. Shake the bottle everyday. This would infuse the essence of neem leaves in the oil. And, this would be equally effective. Always remember to buy a Cold Processed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the purest form of olive oil). This is one of the healthiest ways to grow more hair on your head. You can use little warmed oil for massaging into your scalp.
• You can mix neem water or neem leaves in various hair masks you make.
• You can also use neem leaves while making the herbal shampoo.

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Turn your regular shampoo into a homemade herbal shampoo

Today, I would be sharing with you a recipe which I have been using for long for my hair and believe me, it has done wonders. I no longer believe in buying hair products according to your needs like a hair fall shampoo as a solution to hair loss or a damage repair shampoo for a heat burnt hair. I have got rid of these things using simple home remedies and I would suggest you to practice them regularly to see quick and long lasting results. You can use tomato repair the dry dull hair or fenugreek for hair loss.  If you feel like, you can top your treatment with such fancy hair products too. They might do you some good, who knows!!! 

Coming back to the topic, the recipe is very simple.

Ingredients (practically everything you think is good for hair and worth boiling in water):

- Indian Gooseberry (fresh or sun-dried amla) 

- fenugreek seeds and leaves (methi)

- curry leaves

- sage leaves / basil leaves (tulsi)

- hibiscus flower and leaves 

- mehendi leaves (henna)

- jasmine flowers and leaves

- rose petals

- lavender and rosemary flowers (if available)

Method: Soak them all in two liters of water overnight. Boil next morning till water remains half of the original quantity. Let the water cool and then strain. You can use this directly as a shampoo but it would not lather. And, you might not get satisfied with it. So, take a fresh clean bottle. Pour your regular shampoo to a one-third quantity of the bottle. And, pour the liquid over it. Shake well. Your herbal shampoo is ready. Do not worry about diluting your shampoo. It is good for you as less number of chemicals are applied on your hair and your shampoo lasts longer. And, it will definitely give better results than the regular application. Do not judge it until you try this out. It might sound weird to some people. But, if you have ever heard, many people advice that one should dilute the shampoo with water to decrease the harshness of chemicals on the hair. I will request you all to give it a try. You can use a shampoo sachet for a trial. And, then, you can decide for your own self whether this shampoo will suit you or not. And, it surely does help in hair growth too.

Words of Caution: Please refrain from using any ingredient, which you already know, you will be allergic to. If you want to dye your hair some color, you can continue with using henna leaves. But, remember that though henna is conditioning for hair, it is extremely drying too. So, you can skip it. You may put some green tea (or your favorite flavor) too int he boiling water. Do not add anything which has short shelf life as it will spoil the whole recipe like lemon peels, soapnuts or shikakai. Use them fresh. You can use lemon juice as a hair rinse for shine. But, lemon causes hair to get dry. So, you might want to check that out. There are a lot of remedies for shiny hair.

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A deep conditioning treatment for your hair

Today, I would like to share with you a conditioning treatment for hair which is not messy at all. Ok, I have already written about the pre-poo treatments. Hoping that you have tried them and already seen the differences, I can say that they are quite messy though worth the trouble. I hope you will all agree. And, another fact is that many people do not have the time today to spare on the pre-poo treatments. So, here comes a very simple tip to deep condition your hair. Use your favorite conditioner.

Yes, you read correctly. Using your conditioner to give the deep conditioning treatment is one of the best things you can do for your hair. You can do it before the co-wash. Apply generous amount of conditioner on your hair. Remember to apply only to the hair body and ends and not the roots. And, leave it for 20-30 minutes before washing off. If you want better results, steam your hair before applying the conditioner and put on a shower cap to trap the heat after applying the conditioner. You can also give it a hot towel treatment by covering your head with a hot towel and keeping it on till it loses its heat and replacing it with another hot towel and repeating it for around 45minutes to 1 hour. You can also leave the conditioner on your head overnight. You need not shampoo your hair. Just wash off the conditioner.  

I have left conditioner on my head for 1 whole day and the results next day have been awesome.I have mixed the conditioner with glycerin too. It gives really good results. You can try honey also. It keeps your hair moisturized all through. Your hair would be extremely soft and shiny. And, of course, manageable too. You can style your hair after the hair becomes damp. You can even use the restorative treatments in the same way. This way, the results would be better than the regular usage instructions on the package.

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Yogurt and Egg to grow long hair

Today, I would be talking about some very simple and age old methods to grow long hair.
Egg is one of the best conditioners for our hair. And, massaging hair with egg is one of the best things one can do to grow hair. Egg has lot of protein content which is very useful for the health of our hair. So, start massaging egg into your hair for 45 minutes according to this post. And, you would see results in as less as a month. 

But, many people are averse to the smell of egg and the mess created by using egg. There is an alternative. But, it is no less messy. But, it gives you freedom from the egg odor. Yogurt. Yes, applying yogurt to your hair before washing. Yogurt provides all the nutrients required by our hair and has been touted from centuries to be helpful in hair growth. So, start applying yogurt to your hair from today and see the difference in a month. A better result would noticed if you apply yogurt daily on your hair and wash off without using a shampoo. And, shampooing your hair only twice a week or as usual. I know it would mean having your hair oiled all time and tied down and not being able to style. But, the remedy is worth that sacrifice. And, this can be done at least on the weekends when you are not planning to go anywhere. Trying it once a week also gives fabulous results. Not only does it stimulate hair growth, but also, makes your hair soft, smooth and shiny. It keeps hair moisturized and well hydrated. Yes, you would not need any pre-poo treatment if you are doing this regularly. 

If you have read this post I published a while back, you would know that yogurt is one of the ingredients in making a biotin rich drink. This means that applying yogurt is actually giving all those nutrients directly from outside. Not only that, it is pretty useful for people having a blood group of A. Blood type A people have hard time absorbing the B group vitamins. Similar is the case with blood type B people. They have hard time absorbing A group vitamins. And, our hair needs all the B vitamins to stay healthy. So, feed your hair all the healthy vitamins from outside as well as inside. And, do not forget to ingest at least two servings of dairy products daily for a healthy head of hair.

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Natural Shampoo-cum-Conditioner to increase hair growth {DIY}

Some days back, I had posted about the need of co-washes. Today, I am posting a recipe for a natural conditioner which can be used during a co-wash. Actually, it can also be used as a shampoo. We all know how good is hibiscus for our hair. Yes, you guessed it right. The natural shampoo-cum-conditioner is made from hibiscus flowers and leaves.

Method: Soak some hibiscus flowers and leaves (around 5 flowers and 15-20 leaves) in 2 liters of water overnight. Make sure that the leaves are thick and use the fresh flowers. Next morning or evening, boil the water till it remains half in quantity. The liquid would be green in color and thick in texture. Strain it in a bottle and store it in the fridge. Use this liquid while co-washing your hair. You can also substitute your shampoos with this natural shampoo. It can also remove a little oil in your hair. But, mind you, it can not remove a oil from a well-oiled hair. Then, you have to switch back to your own brand of shampoo. So, I prefer this natural shampoo for a co-wash. Prepare small batches of the shampoo and use it within a week or two.

It makes hair smooth and soft. It hydrates the hair well. You do not need to follow up with a conditioner. You can instead use a few drops of oil at the ends. It also helps in hair growth and reduces the risk of hair loss. You can use this shampoo to dilute your own shampoo too. This way, the chemicals in the shampoo would be less harsh on your hair.And, moreover, it controls the oil in your hair. If your hair is oily, it tries to neutralize it.

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