A natural hair care routine

Can you believe the above picture of hair without a single grey hair is the hair of an Asian lady who is 49 years old? These are my luscious locks, which are my identity. When people talk about me, they will recall Oh! that lady with long hair and people identify me from behind when my hair is left open and hanging.

During the 1950s to 1990s, long curly hair was the norm of beauty for ladies in Kerala. My grandmother, mother, sister, and I have long curly hair. People used to come to my house to take the falling hair of my grandmother and mother to collect fallen hair which was used to make artificial hair.

Even though many of my colleagues have trimmed their hair due to the difficulty in maintaining it, my sister and I have kept our long hair as such. 

Hair growth is related to factors like,

• heredity,
• health status,
• healthy food,
• maintenance.

I can boast of heredity, which may not be possible for everyone.

But a healthy diet can be followed by anybody. Stick to homemade food, which is local and seasonal. Munch on salads, veggies, fruits, nuts, etc about which has already been said many times and are followed by people these days.

Health status needs to be checked regularly, including the levels of vitamins, minerals, etc. A shortage of any essential nutrients has to be taken care of by external addition.

Maintenance is the most tedious part. There are different ways of maintaining, either at home itself or with salon care. I stick to natural home care.

 Recently, straightening, perming, colouring, etc. are the norm for young generations to look chic. That has its own side effects, like permanent damage to hair strands leading to hair fall. So, ensure you are going to a good salon where there will be qualified hands who can find out the problems of your hair and suggest the required treatment. Make sure they use quality products for spa and other treatments.

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I can share my hair care tips:

·    Every morning I apply a dash of coconut oil and detangle my hair. Then I tie it into a bun, cover it with a clip-attached net, and leave it that way until I go to bed. It is convenient, and my hair will not fall into food while cooking or onto the floor and make everything messy. The picture below shows that.

The picture below is another type of net with strings that is tied to the hair by pulling the string.

·       After coming to the city where only hard water is available, I have reduced hair washing to once a week. Also, chronic rhinitis made me stick to washing my hair once a week. Since I am mostly inside the house, there will not be much dirt on my hair due to pollution, compared to someone who travels daily, who may require regular hair washing.

·       Use a water softener filter on the tap to reduce hardness.

·       Usually, I wash my hair in the evening. Mostly, I use coconut oil. Sometimes I use oil enriched with herbs like curry leaves, aloe vera, brahmi, hibiscus flower, gooseberries, tilseeds, kalonji, shallots, etc. I grind all these items and mix it into oil, boil it for sometime and, sieve and keep it in a bottle, which can be used for several days.

·       I thoroughly massage oil onto my scalp so that blood flow to the scalp is increased, thereby nourishing hair follicles. I tie the hair and keep it like that for at least half an hour. Then, I wash the hair thoroughly.

·       For washing hair, I use various things like bengal gram flour, rice gruel water, etc. 

I just soak three tablespoons of bengal gram flour in water and soak it and apply on hair. There are lots of herbal powders like shikakai powder, rita powder, etc., which can remove oil and dirt from hair. Since they are all herbal powders will not do any harm to hair. But just do a patch test to ensure that there is no skin irritation, as the skin of each person has different levels of sensitivity.

Please do not use gruel water during winter, and if you have sinusitis. To get rid of the smell, I add a little shampoo at the end of washing. The picture of rice gruel water is shown below.

·       Then I pat dry my hair with a towel and tie my hair with a soft cloth that can absorb water. Do not do harsh wiping of hair. Gently pat the hair with a terry towel, which easily absorbs water.

·       Then, I let my hair hang loose so that it will dry on its own. Due to the massage, I get sound sleep also.

·       I do not do any heat treatment that is harmful to hair strands.