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Tue May 01, 2007 12:35 am  |
I am originally from India, and my mom only let me wash my hair using shikakai powder until I was about 16 yrs. After that, I discovered shampoos, and wanted none of the traditional stuff. But I got reintroduced to it in my 20's, I have used shikakai on and off.
First of all, shikakai (literally translates to fruit for hair)is a powder made from the pods of a nut tree that grows in India. It is a mild surfacant, and cleans your hair beautifully. Recently, I learnt that it is ph balanced, and also a good detangler.
The traditional hair washing routine in India goes roughly like this. The scalp is massaged with castor oil, or coconut oil, and allowed to soak in for an hour or two.
Shikakai powder is made into a paste with water, and worked into the hair to clean off the oil. Lots of other powders and pastes can also be added to the basic shikakai paste, like fenugreek powder, mung bean powder, hibiscus flowers, etc.
I have packets of shikakai sitting in my bathroom closet. My hair always looks great when i wash it with shikakai powder. Then why don't I do this more often?
1). It is time consuming.
2). It is messy.
3). It doesen't really lather well, since it is a mild (but ver effective)cleanser. Now,I am enlightened enough to know that lots of bubbles doesen't always mean good, but it is hard to break the lather habit.
Anyways, i am inspired enough to try shikakai again this weekend. Thanks for the revisit to childhood. |
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37, combo skin |
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Tue May 01, 2007 11:05 am |
Hi:
I also am Indian and I also use shikakai off and on to wash my hair. My mom also followed the coconut oil routine on my head when I was young.
However, my hair is fairly thin and fine -- I don't have the long thick black hair that some Indians have  .
Shikakai powder should be available in any indian grocery store - it is very inexpensive. I'm in Vancouver & I get it from fruiticana.
It is a little messy, but what I do is empty it into a waterproof container and store it in the bathroom. Then right before i enter the shower I pour about a teaspoon full into a small dish, and mix it w/ a little water from the shower. It doesn't take long at all to do.
Also, I'm used to my shampoos not lathering much because I don't like to use SLS.
One thing to watch for though, is that many brands of shikakai powder are not pure shikakai. Often they are mixed with different additives including SLS, so make sure to check the back of the box - if there are no ingredients listed, then don't buy that brand.
I like to mix my shikakai powder w/ bhringraj powder - apparently that is supposed to make your hair thicker and prevent gray hair.
Also, YMMV with it - my cousin in India stopped using shikakai because she said that it dried out her hair and created dandruff!
I also think that the extremely shiny, thick hair that some Indians have is partly genetics, of course, but also because they oil their hair a lot. There are many Indians who continually oil their hair with (frequently) coconut oil - before and after they wash -their hair always has oil on it. That's my theory, anyway! |
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