My Hair Diaries - November 2012

is my hair looking rough or is it the lighting??? I washed it without using conditioner but my hair is damn soft to touch even if its not looking like that!!

Oh my gosh!! I can't really believe the year is coming to an end and yeah, I know I am gonna bore you with the countdown. I don't know why but something is in the air and its exciting and its making me happy even without me knowing what's there!!

Yeah, I am really weird!! So, lets cut the crap and proceed with my hair diary. Honestly, I am very happy with my hair this year and the way I have maintained my journal. I hope it has been of help to you as well.

What did I do in November?

• No DIY - Honestly, I have not done any DIY on my hair in terms of hair masks and I have mostly used all kinds of products on my hair but these days, its so soft and heavenly to touch. I truly love my hair with all its faults. 

• DIET - Ok, one thing which has helped my hair is DIET. Very, very important to eat properly. I am not on a weight-loss regime and I haven't started eating healthy. If you remember, I had mentioned that my diet had suffered a lot last year and it showed on my face, my body and my hair as well. Yes, it is very important to eat healthy and breakfast is important. I shall do a post separately on it.

• Hair Cuts - Another thing is I have had a lot of hair cuts this year. One very important observation I have made is that I have had a lot of split ends this year even with regular hair cuts. The only difference between this year and last year is the homemade hair masks and deep conditioning treatments I had done on my hair. So, I can positively say that JUST oiling and regularly conditioning and using an SLS free shampoo is not gonna help your hair at all. Deep conditioning and homemade hair masks do help. Since, I haven't used any professional salon range products, I can't say if they help or not.

• I have started to use Jojoba and Grapeseed oil for hair growth but its been just two or three times I have used so obviously can't say!! 

• I have been very regular this month with oiling and washing regime both in Delhi and Hyderabad. I have been using more or less many products on the hair but it hasn't suffered :) 

Products Used

• Hair Oil - Auravedic Restructuring Hair Oil + Kamini Hair Oil + Mom made + The Body Shop Polynesian Monoi Oil

• Shampoo - Kamini Shampoo

• Conditioner - L'Oreal Total Repair 5 + Liz Earle Botanical Shine Treatment + Dove Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner

I used Kamini hair oil and mom made oil at Delhi and finished Auravedic one this month and before last wash this month, I used Polynesian Monoi Oil (review coming soon). I am totally loving Kamini shampoo, in fact!!

this time I used the conditioner and leave-in as well and that's my messy side-braid night look :D

It really keeps my hair soft and prevents dryness. And, not loving the conditioner but finishing it :( I am also starting to use the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Serum from this month.

Previous Journal Entries:
My Hair Diaries - October 2012
My Hair Diaries - August + September 2012

My Hair Diaries - July 2012

My Hair Diaries - June 2012

My Hair Diaries - May 2012

My Hair Dairies - April 2012

My Hair Diaries - March 2012

My Hair Diaries - February 2012

My Hair Diaries - January 2012

Mom's Oil {DIY}

I remember talking about this oil sometime last year and many of you had asked me the recipe for this. I did not really talk about the DIY since then because I did not have the recipe and I was not sure how good it really was.

But, this time when I went home, I made sure that I get the recipe from mum and also try out the oil so that I can actually share it with you with its amazing benefits!! And, it has been ages since I have done any DIY and I am really glad to do it.

First, I am sorry I do not have any pic. But, the oil is very pretty red in color thanks to one of the herbs! Anyways, let me speak about the results first. I have kept the oil only for 2 hours at max before washing it off.

So, it makes my hair more shiny and really really soft (unbelievably so!). I am missing the softness. Hair is also better hydrated but one has to apply the oil once in 2 days. I guess this part applies to all oils. The oil gets washed off pretty easily. It nourishes the scalp as well, thanks to all kinds of herbs put into it. I have not seen any hair fall with the oil and neither did my mom. That is interesting because my mom actually faces hair fall quite a lot! So, that is quite a small list of amazing results. But, I have used the oil only a few times.

Anyways lets check out the Ingredients.

Base Oil - Refined Oil. I was completely against it but my mom does not really listen to me :D Now, she is going to use sesame oil. I would suggest any cold-pressed organic oil like coconut, almond, sesame.

Herbs:

- dried fenugreek seeds (methi)

- dried Tulsi leaves (basil or sage)

- Dhaniya (coriander seeds)

- Jeera (cumin seeds)

- Black pepper (kali mirch)

- Green tea

- Cinnamon stick (dal chini)

- Laung (cloves)

- dried kari patta (curry leaves)

- dried Rose petals

- Sesame seeds (til)

- Mustard seeds

- groundnut

- badam (almonds)

- walnuts (akhrot)

- ratanjot (this is an interesting herb)

- Bhringraj

- Brahmi

- Amla (if not using triphala otherwise only triphala)

- Triphala

- dried Hibiscus leaves and flowers

- dried Neem leaves (margosa)

- Dried ginger (sounth)

- dry jasmine flowers

- dried marigold petals

- dried paan patta (betel leaves)

- dried mango leaves

Yeah, a long list of ingredients and I have no idea if she forgot some of the other ingredients! Anyways, let us talk about Ratanjot herb.

This is the one which gives the lovely red color to the oil. It is basically a red dye which is used in oils like dabur lal tail. It is actually a rare herb which might not be available everywhere. If you live in Himachal or Jammu, you can still get it in ayurvedic shops but I have not idea if you can get in normal shops.

Rest of all the ingredients are known pretty widely. I have no idea what some of the herbs actually do to hair like mango leaves or paan patta. And, I am not googling it right away. Ok, how to use these herbs. First of all, the herbs should be air-dried in shade but not in direct sunlight.

Once they are all dry, powder all the ingredients together. Take a two heaped tablespoons of the powder and put it in a bottle or a jar of 200-300 ml. Pour the oil in the jar till it is full. Adjust the quantity of herbs according to the quantity of oil you are going to use. Generally, one tablespoon is enough for 100ml.

Leave the jar aside for a month. Keep stirring the oil in between. And, try to keep the in direct sunlight for sometime. Read about how to infuse oil with herbs for more specific instructions. There is another way to infuse as well but the temperature of the oil should be carefully controlled so that it is not burned. That damages the hydrogen bonds in the oil which can destroy the properties of the oil.

Once the infusion process is over, oil is ready for use so filter the oil and pour in a glass bottle, preferably! Happy using in case you are going to give it a try :)

What do you say about the DIY?

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Do you think air makes your hair dry? {Your Opinion}

I have still not got out of that non-blogging mode. If you are a blogger, take my heed. Its dangerous. Even if you are not publishing them, just keep writing the posts to stay in practice or otherwise you might end up turning lazy and not do anything! 

Anyways, this question was prompted by my colleague last evening. She has curly and rough hair and her hair is really difficult to manage being a lot frizzy as well. She loves caring for her hair and she has been giving me quite some tips, some of which I totally agree with!

So, she observed yesterday that even if she sits in front of the fan, her hair starts turning rough! Yes, you would already know wind makes the hair a lot dry so when you are traveling, even if it is a public transport, hair does turn dry and gets tangled, right? At least, mine does.

But, she is right. Sitting right in front of the fan or under the fan will also turn your hair dry. Now, why it is so is something I can not say but it might be with the dry air. If the air is dry, it will try to suck the moisture from anywhere. So, if you are sitting right in front of the air, your moisture would be the first to get sucked up, I guess! Sounds really vampire-ish :D

Anyways, if you are present in dry climate, you would notice your hair getting drier anyways, howsoever much you might try. And, that happens with best of the hairs. Only, their damage is a little less noticeable in the beginning. Same thing goes to air conditioning. Do not let your hair or skin get too used to it! 

So, what do you think? Have you noticed your hair getting dry?

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