Ayurveda Support Thread

[CurlyMoo]

From Pakistan, do let the henna powder sit at least 6-8 hours or even overnight. It should be okay to use, but of course the obvious things would be that we don't know how fresh the henna is, like what the color results would be (meaning how intense or not it would be), and the sift most likely won't be as great. If you can do a hair strand test to be safe.

erplexed Well, I will do without henna this time because I want to do this now. I was about to put a few teaspoons in my mix. The box does not have a date on it so next time I will look for fresher Henna. Thank you.

 

[Khadija.D.Carryl]

Aawww CurlyMoo, sorry it couldn't be quicker. Just want to make sure the henna powder gets its dye release. Pakistani henna seems to take longer then the rest, like Jamila henna.

I have this testing method you can use to see if the henna powder has had dye release when you make it as a paste. Read this:
http://hennablogspot.com/fool-proof-testing-of-your-henna-paste/

 

[CurlyMoo]

Aawww CurlyMoo, sorry it couldn't be quicker. Just want to make sure the henna powder gets its dye release. Pakistani henna seems to take longer then the rest, like Jamila henna.

I have this testing method you can use to see if the henna powder has had dye release when you make it as a paste. Read this:
http://hennablogspot.com/fool-proof-testing-of-your-henna-paste/

Thank you Khadija. This is a good link. I went ahead and added a teaspoon to my mix, I decided that I'll just add it for the strengthening qualities.

 

[CurlyMoo]

Aawww CurlyMoo, sorry it couldn't be quicker. Just want to make sure the henna powder gets its dye release. Pakistani henna seems to take longer then the rest, like Jamila henna.

I have this testing method you can use to see if the henna powder has had dye release when you make it as a paste. Read this:
http://hennablogspot.com/fool-proof-testing-of-your-henna-paste/

I wonder if I could just go ahead and make this paste now and stick it in the freezer. Or should I let it sit until it's ready before I stick it in the freezer?

 

[Aggie]

I wonder if I could just go ahead and make this paste now and stick it in the freezer. Or should I let it sit until it's ready before I stick it in the freezer?

CurlyMoo, let the color release first, then put it in the freezer honey.

 

[Aggie]

Thanks Khadija...I was waiting for you, Aggie and/or FL to respond....I've DC'd, and now I'm under the dryer with my twists for my twist out. I can def see the color in my grey, lol....I can say that my hair feels pretty good. I added Maka to my Henna mix along with a little amla oil. We'll see how the rest of my hair hair responds to the color and I'll report back in a few days after giving it time to oxidize.

Yes Khadija is right about the frequency of using henna to cover grays. I usually have to re-touch with it every 2 and a half to 3 weeks. Thank God henna and indigo powders are natural.

 

[Khadija.D.Carryl]

Aggie, yes thank goodness it is natural. Could you imagine putting chemicals onto and into your body every 2 weeks? That's a lot. Someone came by yesterday and told me about Oyin products. They look really good, and well they've given me a lot of inspiration. It's oyinhandmade.com

There are so many options and choices out there. PHEW!

I agree with Aggie and was going to say let it have dye release and freeze it. Now that might be a good idea for anyone using jamila or henna powders that they want to use and have ready when you are ready to use it. If you had it already read you could just thaw it out and apply it on the spur of the moment.(well as long as you are able to wait for it to thaw at least) Interesting thought...

 

[*Muffin*]

Question about Fenugreek:

Has everyone had problems using it in powder form? I bought it for the mucilage to be used in conjunction with my other powders, and I won't be using more than a tablespoon of it at a time. Will it still leave hair gunky or is it all right in paste form if used in small amounts? If it's going to pose a problem I'd much rather just use the tea.

 

[~NanCeBoTwin~]

Ok ladies my hair feels great and it looks good, but I don't notice much in the color area, besides my greys, after doing my first Henna treatment yesterday. My hair is a bit lighter, I guess, but even in sunlight my dh and dd couldn't see a difference. I love dark hair, and was suppose to order some Indigo, but I was so pumped to try it out after seeing a recent post of another LHCF member's henna treatment. Her color was beautiful. So I thought I'd take the chance and see what color I'd get. I did take a few pics today I'll edit and post in a few.....but it pretty much looks the same as in the big pic in my siggy....
I posted this yesterday, but my mix was:
100g Jamila Henna
1tbls Maka Powder
a few drops of Amla added after dye release

 

[flowinlocks]

Question about Fenugreek:

Has everyone had problems using it in powder form? I bought it for the mucilage to be used in conjunction with my other powders, and I won't be using more than a tablespoon of it at a time. Will it still leave hair gunky or is it all right in paste form if used in small amounts? If it's going to pose a problem I'd much rather just use the tea.

Mine still turned like wet grits in my hair. Even mixed with other powders and cond. and even in small amounts.

 

[LadyD]

Aggie has a really good recipe and method LadyD2U, but I just wanted to ask what were your indigo to henna proportions used? The indigo can shade off for some, especially at first when the hair hasn't had many herbal applications. The greys in the front can be a little tough too.

If the recipe and proportions aren't good, then do a two step process. If it were me personally I'd give the two step another shot first, before deciding on going to black. It's harder to go backwards from a dark tone to a lighter one. or at least do a small mix again and do a root touch up where it didn't take so not as much product is used.

Sorry, I just saw this tonight. I used 2 parts Indigo, 1 part Henna with about 2 tablespoons of Amla. I also added Maka oil.

I did it again today and did the two step process. My hair is darker than I wanted it but the greys covered better. I still have a few orange ones but I only left the Indigo on for 45 mins with no heat.

 

[*Muffin*]

Mine still turned like wet grits in my hair. Even mixed with other powders and cond. and even in small amounts.

Wow. Definitely not liking the sound of that . I guess I can always make the tea in advance and refrigerate it so I can mix with my powders. I don't want it to feel like grits. Did you use boiling hot water to help the powder dissolve?

 

[flowinlocks]

Wow. Definitely not liking the sound of that . I guess I can always make the tea in advance and refrigerate it so I can mix with my powders. I don't want it to feel like grits. Did you use boiling hot water to help the powder dissolve?

No, I actually used warm water the first time, mixed with other powders. The times after that I just mixed with cond. and other herbs. I notice when I have it in my strainer to make tea, It kinda glues together in a ball after steeping, even when mixed with other herbs. So I don't know if boiling water will even help. Check this out. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=352583&highlight=fenugreek&page=2

 

[Khadija.D.Carryl]

Fenugreek is also known as methi. I have attached an article I found on it that has really gerat info on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek

Try using it in an oil. Like a hair oil that contains methi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methi

 

[Aggie]

Methi/Fenugreek seed powder is best used as a tea/rinse but strained first to avoid the grit remains left in the hair.

 

[*Muffin*]

Hey ladies. Just wanted to share the results of my ayurvedic paste. I decided to conduct an experiment and made my paste equal parts Hibiscus, Brahmi, Amla, and Fenugreek powder. I LOVED the results! I didn't have any problems whatsoever with the fenugreek powder. It provided tons of slip and made my hair super soft. Here's a link to the fotki album. In it I explain exactly what I did. Thanks so much for all your advice . I'll post some more pictures of the complete result when my hair finishes drying.

http://public.fotki.com/ccmuffingirl/hair-stuff/ayurvedic-paste-hib/

 

[flowinlocks]

Hey ladies. Just wanted to share the results of my ayurvedic paste. I decided to conduct an experiment and made my paste equal parts Hibiscus, Brahmi, Amla, and Fenugreek powder. I LOVED the results! I didn't have any problems whatsoever with the fenugreek powder. It provided tons of slip and made my hair super soft. Here's a link to the fotki album. In it I explain exactly what I did. Thanks so much for all your advice . I'll post some more pictures of the complete result when my hair finishes drying.

http://public.fotki.com/ccmuffingirl/hair-stuff/ayurvedic-paste-hib/

So maybe the boiling water was the key??

 

[HealthyHair2007]

Did my second tea rinse using Alma and Henna powerders. I used a knee-hi to hold the powerders. No straining was needed. Just boiled some water till it was rolling, put the powerders in the knee-hi, tied a knot at the top so it can hang outside the jar. When I poured the hot water in the mason jar, I poured it directly on the stocking that was holding the powerders. Capped it and let it sit over night. In the morning, I had a rich tea that was ready to go. My scalp is really loving it..... so am I. Can't wait to get these braids out to see what's it's doing to my hair....

 

[Aggie]

Did my second tea rinse using Alma and Henna powerders. I used a knee-hi to hold the powerders. No straining was needed. Just boiled some water till it was rolling, put the powerders in the knee-hi, tied a knot at the top so it can hang outside the jar. When I poured the hot water in the mason jar, I poured it directly on the stocking that was holding the powerders. Capped it and let it sit over night. In the morning, I had a rich tea that was ready to go. My scalp is really loving it..... so am I. Can't wait to get these braids out to see what's it's doing to my hair....

Hmmm, very interesting and easy. I likey.

 

[HealthyHair2007]

Hmmm, very interesting and easy. I likey.

Wow, I am flattered. I got the courage to try this because of you... I have been following your regi with the braids. Cool.....

 

[*Muffin*]

So maybe the boiling water was the key??

Maybe. I just wanted to try it out. If it didn't work I was definitely going to look up the tea recipes, lol. I know that there's somethings that my hair doesn't like, but other people rave about it. For instance, that Elasta QP Mango Butter stuff. I tried it because everyone raved about it, but my hair HATED it . Left it feeling like stiff straw for some reason. But the boiling hot water seems to make the herbs dissove better. The paste was a really good consistency. It wasn't chunky or anything, very smooth. And a lot o f mucilage was released so it glided on easily.

 

[Aggie]

Wow, I am flattered. I got the courage to try this because of you... I have been following your regi with the braids. Cool.....

Awww, :Blush2:, , this is so sweet of you. I am so happy to hear you're using the ayurveda spritzer. I need to add that one to my fotki album now. I usually add something to my album that's giving me good results and I really like how the spritzer makes my hair feel.

But on a serious note though, you have come up with an awesome way to steep your powders without having to actually strain them and I will be adopting that one in my regimen. I have this huge used coffee can that I will be using to steep my powders in wrapped in a hot wet towel overnight and use the mix the following morning. Thanks again for the idea. I really need some mason jars for my rosemary/nettle/sage/horsetail leaves herbal infusions. I suppose I could use old mayo jars also.

 

[Aggie]

Hey ladies. Just wanted to share the results of my ayurvedic paste. I decided to conduct an experiment and made my paste equal parts Hibiscus, Brahmi, Amla, and Fenugreek powder. I LOVED the results! I didn't have any problems whatsoever with the fenugreek powder. It provided tons of slip and made my hair super soft. Here's a link to the fotki album. In it I explain exactly what I did. Thanks so much for all your advice . I'll post some more pictures of the complete result when my hair finishes drying.

http://public.fotki.com/ccmuffingirl/hair-stuff/ayurvedic-paste-hib/

You know I use boiling water for everything myself and I usually cook my fenugreek on the stove mixed with the oils. Boiling water works best for me too.

 

[Cassandra1975]

Hey ladies. Just wanted to share the results of my ayurvedic paste. I decided to conduct an experiment and made my paste equal parts Hibiscus, Brahmi, Amla, and Fenugreek powder. I LOVED the results! I didn't have any problems whatsoever with the fenugreek powder. It provided tons of slip and made my hair super soft. Here's a link to the fotki album. In it I explain exactly what I did. Thanks so much for all your advice . I'll post some more pictures of the complete result when my hair finishes drying.

http://public.fotki.com/ccmuffingirl/hair-stuff/ayurvedic-paste-hib/

I never get grits from fenugreek, either. I use boiling hot water. I mix it with amla, shikakai and sometime some aritha. By the time I get it mixed to the consistency I want, the paste is still warm, and it feels very good on my scalp. I can feel the slip from the mucilage and it rinses right out when I get in the shower.

 

[jeabai]

I am so happy to hear you're using the ayurveda spritzer. I need to add that one to my fotki album now. I usually add something to my album that's giving me good results and I really like how the spritzer makes my hair feel.


Oooo, cant wait for this one! Let us know when it's posted!

 

[Khadija.D.Carryl]

hhmm I like that too, a lot Glad to hear the boiling is helping with the smoothness.

 

[Aggie]

I am so happy to hear you're using the ayurveda spritzer. I need to add that one to my fotki album now. I usually add something to my album that's giving me good results and I really like how the spritzer makes my hair feel.


Oooo, cant wait for this one! Let us know when it's posted!

Will do jbailey....

 

[flowinlocks]

Thanks ladies!! I will try boiling water the next time

 

[Muse]

Hey ladies,

I just got my boxes of powders from Ruchita. I decided to go with her because unlike my local indian store her boxes have the expiration dates on them. I have more brahmi, bhringraj and amla. Are there any powders that strengthen the actual hair strands like henna does?

ETA: Is shikaki suppose to lather? I received my herbal shampoo and the ingredients are honey, almond oil, water, shikakai, and henna. I'm trying to figure out what causes the suds...

 

[*Muffin*]

Hey ladies,

I just got my boxes of powders from Ruchita. I decided to go with her because unlike my local indian store her boxes have the expiration dates on them. I have more brahmi, bhringraj and amla. Are there any powders that strengthen the actual hair strands like henna does?

ETA: Is shikaki suppose to lather? I received my herbal shampoo and the ingredients are honey, almond oil, water, shikakai, and henna. I'm trying to figure out what causes the suds...

I believe that Shikakai is a saponid just like Aritha powder is, and Aritha definitely creates suds. I did a search on Shikakai, and it is a natural cleanser. I believe it's supposed to suds, but I could be wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikakai