Spotlight on - Ayurveda for hair

Have you ever seen a bald Indian woman? Not matter how young or old, if you look around, Indian women have some of the most beautiful hair. We even go so far as to buy their hair in order to achieve that look! So many of us have been guilty of visiting our local beauty supply store and asking for  "12" inch, Indian Remy in 1B". About a year or so ago, I became interested in Ayurveda principles for hair care after visiting several hair boards and reading about many women's great experiences with Ayurvedic based hair care principles and products. I then went so far as to ask various indian women that I would come into contact with about these products and all of them confessed to using them. 

Ayurvedic Hair Care comes from ingredients and practices that are staples in Ayurveda which is medicial practices that are native to India.

The principles of the Ayurvedic hair care focus on nourishing your hair from the inside first and then the outside.

This is just a brief introduction to some of the oils, powders available. If this has peaked your interest the following are a few websites that give a lot of feedback on the topic.

- Amla - the Indian gooseberry; comes in different forms and is usually found in oils and shampoos. Used for preventing premature greying and preventing what Indians call "hair fall" or hair loss. It is said to strengthen hair at the root.

- Shikaikai - Also known as "fruit for hair" in Ayurveda; it is used a lot in its powder form, made into a paste and used as a natural shampoo because of it's natural cleansing properties. It is also found in oils. It is said to provide an optimal enviroment on the scalp for hair growth due to its astringent and low pH nature.

- Neem - relieves dry, itchy scalp, cure for dandruff, promotes hair growth; usually found in shampoo formulations and oils; known for it's purifying properties to the scalp

- Brahmi - known as a hair rejeuvenator; usually found in oil form

- Bhringaraj - promotes hair growth and prevents hair loss, known as the "king of tresses" in India; usually found in oil form.

- Coconut Oil - Promotes hair growth; one of the oils that has been said to penetrate the hair shaft. used as an oil base for many of the above items in powder form.

- Henna - (*see previous posts from several members)

All of these products can be found in your local indian store as well as various online websites.

I have to say that I have tried all of these oils and have had some success with them as far as helping with my hair not to shed but I have to be honest in saying that I haven't used them long enough to see any long term results however I do believe in Ayurvedic hair care and I do believe that it can promote hair growth. I've never kept up with an Ayurvedic regimen because it can be time consuming. I do like to use the oils for occasional scalp massages the night before I wash my hair.

I recently purchased an oil based hair serum with Ayurvedic oils that I have found to be vitually weightless.

One of my previous hair idols who converted to using primarily all Ayurvedic products on her hair is a woman in the picture below, she used to post on a blog but sadly stopped a while ago but the pictures have stuck with me to this day! (I couldn't find the before picture to give the full effect).


There is a wealth of information out there on the topic which can be found by just Googling!

A few hair care websites out there geared to "us" but based on Ayurveda are:
http://hairveda.com/default.aspx (*if I had to recommend one product from this site it is the Cocasta Shikakai hair oil - it's the truth", great for scalp massages).
http://www.afroveda.com/Default.asp
http://www.qhemetbiologics.com/