Anu’s Hair Growth Story, Routine and Her Unique Hair Pack Powder Recipe

Until 2 years ago, I have had short short hair – almost a boy cut. It was suddenly that I decided that I need long and healthy hair. It adds so much beauty to the face!

I have always used coconut oil and washed it off the next day with shampoo and conditioner but I wanted faster and better results like shine and bounce and started trying a number of things. I have done some search online and that’s when I was lucky enough to come across MABH. There are so many suggestions and tips and DIY and product reviews here, such a treasure-trove of information!

My dream is to go completely herbal and use only natural products. Even the most herbal marked soaps have some chemicals in them. The shampoo and conditioner I use has some amount of SLS, preservatives in it.

My mother also has fine thin hair that doesn’t grow fast and my sister and I are also in the same boat. :( The only advantage of this is that the hair growth on the rest of the body is also slow and minimal which means lesser trips for waxing. I should mention at the beginning that I have dry scalp (not too dry) and mostly frizzy hair. I have suffered from dandruff, split ends, hair fall, dry scalp – you name it.

 

Hair Mask once a week

• Ripe banana + Curd + Honey (2 tsp) + Almond Oil (1 tsp) – Leave in the hair for half hour and then wash it off with shampoo
• Olive Oil (2 tsps) + Egg white – leave it for half hour and wash it off with shampoo.
• In case I don’t have some of the above, I just put a lot of curd and olive oil.

Deep oiling

I actually like oiling my hair. If I don’t oil it for 3 or more days, I feel very uncomfortable and rush to the oil bottle. First, I wash the scalp with a clean shampoo to remove the dirt. Second step is to rub apple cider vinegar onto the scalp. I add coconut oil and almond oil and little bit of castor oil and rub them into the scalp and length. The almond oil I use is pure almond oil with vitamin E, it’s the best I’ve seen so far and a little amount is enough.

 

Powders Mask

I bought a certain hair powder mix at some fair, and I have completely lost in touch with the manufacturers. They had made a dry powder mix of all the popular hair care ingredients. I decided to make this powder myself. Khadi gramodyog on Anna Salai in Chennai has a huge selection of all these powders. I buy the ingredients seperately and make my own hair powder. I take equal quantities of this dry powder and keep it as a mixture.

Powders are Neem, Thulasi, Hibiscus, Fenugreek, Amla, Rose powder (for good smells), Curry powder (for blackness)
I make a paste with water and apply it to the hair like mehendi is done. This ensures that I get all of these in one shot. I realised neem and thulasi are for the scalp while hibiscus and others are for the length of the hair. I may separate out the two types and try them soon.

Hair Oil

In some small shop in Karnataka, I purchased some awesome hair oil prepared with roots and herbs and only coconut oil as the base. It worked wonders and accelerated hair growth. I was not able to find another hair oil like that. The usual commercial coconut oil does not work for me.

 

Hair Wash

Ideally, I would like a herbal powder that removes oil and dirt and adds shine and moisture. For now, I am using herbal shampoo and conditioner from Isha Life. They work fine for me so far. I use the hair serum from Biotique on those days when I just want to smoothen out the frizz. One small bottle has lasted for long as I use it when all else fails.

Food

I am lazy, I have no time – there are many reasons, but I can literally see the difference in my hair on the weeks I eat a good high-protein diet versus the weeks I don’t. The hair fall is exponential if I don’t. Being a vegetarian, I know a number of good protein sources such as boiled channa, green gram sprouts, thuvar dhaal, boiled karamani, horsegram. Implementation is the problem here. However, I have to improve the intake and its ON TOP of my list of things to do this year.

 

Cutting the hair

Many times I have panicked when I thought the hair style is not good enough or not bouncy enough or the layers have to be maintained. So, I get it cut once in a while, and hence it remains shoulder length only. When I read Lancy asking us not to cut the hair so often, I panicked (again!), have I been SO wrong all this while!

 

Swimming and hair care

I used to swim once in a while and the chlorine makes my hair cry. Cucumber juice is such a relief on those days. I would say, if you are swimming – slather cucumber juice on the head on the days you use the pool and leave it for 20 mins before washing it off.
One thing I realised is that the oil and the hair wash are the two most important things in hair growth (apart from food intake of course). Everything else is an additional step to make it softer and shinier. These places I have to improve.

 

Why do I wish to try the MABH product?:

I believe the home made and lesser known coconut oil with the right herbs in the right amount prepared in the traditional manner un-corrupted by modern views and still following the olden methods are the ones that actually work. I will leave the preparation to the professionals. Help me MABH. I am long due for that perfect hair oil. I have seen Lancy’s hair growth story and my jaw dropped! Smooth and long and healthy – that’s the dream! I know the importance of a good coconut oil based preparation and would love to try this one.

So, this is my hair-care ongoing journey. I am happy to have shared it with all of you here. Writing this has given a good look-back at what I have done so far. This community is so supportive, a lovely example of girls being there for each other, a place where we can just be ourselves. I hope to have long bouncy and healthy hair going past my shoulders and complementing the face.