Reflections on last night's hair Rinse & the hair saving properties of Burdock Root.

June 11, 2013

Last night the last thing I did was strain the hair rinse I made and pour it over my head. It felt amazing, refreshing and conditioning. For a moment, my scalp felt like it was stinging, and I thought perhaps I should have just applied coconut oil and aloe the same day I dye my hair, considering the scalp is going to be very sensitive (and a bit burnt) from the process of dying. I will most likely do that the next time I dye my hair, possibly make a tea of lavender, and then mix it with aloe and coconut and apply to my scalp and do this for the first few days, then the conditioning treatments daily after that. But the burning sensation didn't last long, and either way there wasn't much I could do about it, it must have been due to the astringent properties of the marshmallow and slippery elm (they also have astringent properties, aside from their mucilaginous, strengthening & conditioning properties), but hey, it's all natural, so it's not going to hurt. As my hair became dry I started to see something amazing, there were some highlights there that hadn't been there before. They were gold and blonde, wow! It looks amazing. I hadn't been expecting this, since I hadn't done a whole lot of thinking about how the herbs can tint the color of your hair a bit, and was happily surprised. I had been thinking actually, prior to the rise, how if I decided to market these, that it would be great to create them for different shades of hair, since it seems appropriate, there are herbs that will bring out blonde highlights, and others that will bring out red, brown and black. You see this often on the boxes of henna, under recommendations to blend with certain teas, or coffee, if you want to infuse some color or bring out some highlights in your hair along with the conditioning treatment. So now, my hair has sort of chestnut & golden highlights, wow, very nice. It actually looks like I got some highlighting done at the salon. Plus, it does look shinier and feel stronger. I'm going to do this at least once a week. But I have to add burdock root, which I somehow must have run out of without realizing, and which is one of the most recommended herbs for strengthening hair.
What does burdock root do for hair?
Here's what it has going for it chemically in the arena of hair repair:  High in mucilage (up to 75% of fructo-oligo-saccharides (FOS) including inulin), calcium, potassium, amino acids, polyphenols, arcigen, essential oil, flavanoids, iron, lactone, chlorogenic acid, polyacetylenes resin, tannin and taraxosterol. Herbs high in mucilage (also marshmallow and slippery elm) coat and soften the hair shaft and keeps the strands from tangling. High levels of vitamin A and essential fatty acids help strengthen the hair. The chemical constituents of burdock root also reduce symptoms of scalp conditions such as dandruff, itchy scalp, redness and scalp infection, prevents hair loss and stimulates hair growth. So, basically strengthing, prevents hair breakage and loss, plus stimulates new hair growth. And good for scalp conditions.
This is such a highly recommended herb (root, actually) for hair health, I will have to add it to any hair product I decide to sell. As of now, I'm thinking of hair rinses and and oil. Later on, I'm sure I will come up with shampoos & conditioners, but one thing at a time.
The oil is a different consideration, because I have to look into what oils are best for the hair and why, aside from the herbs I will be infusing into it. So far, I'm thinking macadamia nut oil, jojoba and argan. All of the nut oils are amazing for strengthening and conditioning hair, so I'll look into some others, such as walnut, pistachio, etc. But for now, I'm thinking those three, perhaps with some shea nut butter and cocoa butter mixed in there. But the hair oil, unless I have time to grab some burdock today, will have to wait for another day. For now, I'll continue with the recipe I made last night and keep using it as a hair rinse just to see the results and make my hair healthier, shinier & stronger! I have to use myself as a guinea pig before I can vouch for any of my products anyways.
It also occurred to me, that it would be an awesome project to make a scalp oil for after dying your hair (calming and soothing) of aloe, lavender and coconut oil, and a scalp oil for dandruff, of which my ex-boyfriend frequently dealt with, and would be an excellent personal project for me. As well, dandruff is a common complaint, so I think it will be of interest to those people who have an ongoing struggle with this, and/or who use over the counter products full of chemicals, and are looking for a harmless, natural, healing alternative. That's our goal. So, I'm going to add these two to the list of products for hair that I will be formulating first and foremost.