Soft, shiny hair is a symbol of health and vigor. The way you live affects your hair. The elements affect your hair. What you eat affects your hair. If you don't have a healthy lifestyle, it will show in your hair. Even your shampoo or conditioner can build up on your hair and cause it to be lank, dull or brittle. Getting back to basics with herbal rinses and shampoos might be just what you need to restore your hair's luster and silkiness.
Soap Lilies
Soap lilies--also known as amole, soapwort, soap root, or soap plant--have bulbs that make a shampoo that will leave your hair soft and glossy and may also help with dandruff. Soap lilies contain saponins, which produce lather when rubbed with water.
Rosemary
A rosemary rinse on your hair will condition it and make it shine. Rosemary is also known to stimulate hair growth. Soak rosemary leaves overnight in water, and use it as the final rinse when you wash your hair. Rosemary can also bring out highlights in dark hair and can darken light hair over time.
Sage
Pour 2 cups of boiling water poured over 1/4 cup of dried or fresh sage leaves and let it steep. Cool and strain, and then pour over clean hair without rinsing it off. Sage will remove residual shampoo and conditioner that has built up on your hair to leave it shiny and soft.
Stinging Nettle
Twentieth-century herbalist Maud Grieve suggests nettle to soften hair and make it glossy. Make the lotion by simmering a handful of nettles in a quart of water for two hours. Strain the solution, and bottle it when cold. Use the lotion every other night, saturating the scalp. Stinging nettle will also prevent falling hair and can be used as a treatment for dandruff and irritated scalp.
Yucca
Yucca has long been used by Navajos to make hair shiny and stimulate growth. Like the soap lily, yucca also contains a high concentration of natural detergent saponins. Yucca has anti-inflammatory properties and is helpful for dandruff and itchy scalps.
Other Herbs
Use chamomile as a rinse to condition and soften hair. Scarlet globemallow also conditions hair and revitalizes the scalp. Parsley is said to give hair luster, as are calendula and horsetail. Jojoba oil will also make hair manageable and shiny; add a few drops to your hair conditioner, apply it to the ends of your wet hair or massage it into your scalp.
References
- Palomar College: Wayne's Word: Soap Lilies
- Carlton College: Greenhouse: Rosemary
- University of Maryland Cooperative Extension: Great Ways to Use Herbs
- University of California Cooperative Extension: Contra Costa Master Gardeners: Stinging Nettle
- PBS: Tradition Today: Time Among the Navajo: Yucca Shampoo
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