Amla - Reetha - Shikakai Shampoo - Update

Such fine weather outside in Mumbai – makes me super lazy. I so wanna sit by a window sill with a nice Jane Austen novel & a cup of cocoa. :)

As some of you know, I have been using Amla – Reetha – Shikakai (ARS) decocotion to cleanse my hair. It has been over a month, I thought I would give you an update as well as answer some queries I have received on this.

First of all, I must say I am absolutely in love with this homemade shampoo. It smells earthy & woodsy, charmingly. My hair has never felt or looked better – it is more thicker, lush almost, easy to style, it looks healthy & bouncy. Also somehow I need to wash it less frequently now.



Shikakai



Earlier when I used shampoo (L’ Oreal Professional), my scalp would get really oily within 48 hours of washing, as a result my already fine hair would look limp & lifeless, necessitating a wash.

Such frequent washing over time, I believe, lead to my hair becoming very dry – I suffered from frizzy, dry hair, & my scalp would go into overdrive making even more oil – hence the endless parade of washing & conditioning every other day. Even then, my hair never really looked good.



Reetha

I figured this out, when; due to an family emergency I was not able to make this ARS decoction for a week. When I use ARS I need to wash my hair once every 4-5 days (as opposed to the earlier once every 2 days with shampoo). I had to shampoo my hair – Lo & Behold – dry frizzy hair was back, and by end of day 2 so was the super oily scalp. Back I went to my ARS.

Making ARS is quite simple, but it takes long – the overnight soaking & all. But I found that this stays quite well when refrigerated, with no loss of potency. So now I make a batch on the weekend – enough for 2-3 washes & store it in the fridge. Whenever I have to wash my hair – I just take some out & warm it in the microwave before use (I noticed it works better when warm)

During the first few uses – it left my hair feeling a little dry – but over time my hair has adjusted so I feel no frizziness or driness. Just for the record – I have been using only this on my hair – no conditions or post wash serums. I just don’t feel the need.

During the 2^nd or 3^rd week I used an after rinse of lemon juice diluted in a cup full of water – but it left my hair feeling little oily so I never repeated it.

Amla

Ms. Gayathri who oils her hair a lot wanted to know if it cleanses the oil in first application:

I tried this once, I applied coconut oil overnight. Unfortunately it didn’t remove the oil well enough for me. I had to use a diluted solution of shampoo to do the needful.

Veena wanted to know how frequently one should use this:

I say go by how your hair feels. I use it whenever my hair starts to feel greasy – which is like once every 4-5 days. She also wanted the English names so here they are

Amla is Indian Gooseberry

Reetha is Chinese Soapberry, North Indian soapnut, Washing nuts

Shikakai is Soapnut/Acacia Concinna

Nisha wanted to know if it is safe to apply daily..

Honestly I don’t use this everyday coz my hair doesn’t feel that dirty or oil to wash daily. But I don’t think this would be harmful even if used daily. As I said – go by how clean or limp your hair feels. You’ll fall into a routine by yourself.

My hairfall has reduced, but has not been cured completely though.

Now my hair care routine is super simple – I just wash my hair with this. That’s it. I think I am done using commercial shampoos for a long time now. Loving this.

Now only if I could snuggle under a blanket near the window sill with a cup of cocoa & Jane Austen for company. *sigh*