Herb Infused Neem Hair and Scalp Treatment

During each pregnancy my hair seems to go crazy, and my scalp itches non-stop. I don’t know who made up the stories that women’s hair gets luscious and skin starts glowing when we get that baby bump, it’s has not been the case for me, and I’m on my third one. If I want to have decent hair, I need to work on it. Fortunately, this Herb Infused Neem Hair and Scalp Treatment makes it very easy to care for my mop, and completely resolves any pregnancy itchiness.

GHEE, OR CLARIFIED BUTTER

I use ghee as a base, since it gets very light consistency after whipping, and just melts into your scalp as you apply it. You can buy ghee at health food or ethnic stores, or better yet – make your own from pasture raised cows milk. Because of  ghee’s ability to penetrate into deep layers of the skin, it becomes a perfect delivery vehicle for the herbs and neem oil to do their magic (1). Ghee is indicated by Ayurveda for a tremendous amount of health conditions, from physical to mental, and it plays an important part in skin care preparations (2).

NEEM OIL

Neem oil has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years – from hair care, to treatment of wounds (3). It is naturally antibacterial (4), which makes it an effective natural treatment for dandruff and even head lice. It has anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties, and can even fight unwanted garden insects (5). I couldn’t find an actual study about its affects on hair growth, but since it has been used in India for that particular purpose for such a long time, and I am a big believer in folk wisdom – it’s good enough for me. I buy this brand at Whole Foods; you can use any brand, just try to get the unrefined kind.

BURDOCK ROOT (Arctium Lappa Fruit)

Burdock root is anti-inflammatory, and shows to be beneficial for aging skin (scalp is skin too, remember? And yes, go ahead, slather this stuff on your face too!) (6). It is widely used in many world cultures for ‘skin disorders, seborrheic eczema and for stimulation of the hair growth’ (7). It is even used to treat baldness (8). I buy this tea for the simplicity since nettle is my third ‘active ingredient’, and it’s sold in most health food stores.

 NETTLE (Urtica dioica)

Nettle is used to ‘control dandruff, eczema and can bring back the natural color of hair. It helps to stimulate hair growth’ (9). It’s been widely used in my native Russia in hair rinses and scalp balms. I actually remember having to pick it when I was a kid, not a pleasant task, we had to be careful not to touch the stinging leaves.

[asg-content-box boxcolor=”gray” boxtitle=”” boldtitle=”false” boxexpand=”false” showcontent=”false”]Feel free to use any other herbs you have around, like chamomile, calendula, horsetail, rosemary, etc. Most of them are available in tea form at health food stores. You can get very creative with this![/asg-content-box]

HOW TO MAKE HERB INFUSED NEEM HAIR AND SCALP TREATMENT

Bring a cup of filtered water to a boil, put it in glass jar, add four or five bags of Burdock and Nettle tea. If using other herbs, add them at the same time. Cover and steep for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better. Remove the tea bags.

Put half a cup of ghee at room temperature in a mixer, I use my KitchenAid, but a blender or a food processor would work too. Add the water that you infused with herbs, and whip/mix for about 15 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of unrefined neem oil, 10 drops of lavender oil, or another essential oil of your choice – to tone down the strong smell of neem. At the end you will have something that looks like this:

Tilt the mixing bowl and remove the visible liquid. It’s okay to have left over liquid in the mix. It’s all good stuff. The final result is a whipped looking cream with a pleasant smell. You can keep it for a month, and probably longer, I just haven’t tried keeping it longer, I run out in about a month.

Put it in your scalp and hair an hour before shower, or overnight. I use it every couple of days.