This post will explain the way of using the Shikakai powder. First of all let me thank all of you for showing interest in using shikakai powder. I am really thankful to the people who helped me in doing this product.
I got to know that many of them have doubt about how to use this shikakai powder as some are using it for the first time. Please refer below for the procedure.
Mix this Shikakai powder 2 hours before the wash or previous night with water (Actually rice water works well) into a smooth paste and leave it.
Massage your hair and scalp with oil of your choice.
Split your hair into two halves n Take shikakai paste and spread all over the hair and scalp and wait for 5 min.
Take little water and rub the hair with your hand gently. Take more water as required.
Wash off and redo if necessary.
You will feel the softness once your hair dries.
The amount of shikakai depends on the length of your hair. I hope this is clear if you have any doubt feel free to reach me at sriharicares@gmail.com.
I’m Sri Nandhini Hari, a B.Com & M.B.A finance post graduate and have worked in American Express Bank as an Asst. Manager and later with CTS as Financial Analyst. I have a passion towards our own tradition and culture and this has triggered me to share the natural and homemade products to a bigger community for the benefit of all.
View all posts by Sri Nandhini Hari
In our whatsapp group, we generally insist on oil bath as we all know that benefits of the same. You can see the benefits of oil massage for babies in this link. For an oil bath one of the best hair washing powder is shikakai powder and Green Gram Powder (Payatha Maavu) – Ubtan For Babies. I found out that many parents do not have option other than buying shikakai power available from market. That is when I decided to help the bigger community with this homemade product which is natural and does not have any chemicals.
Our Ancient Indian practice uses Shikakai powder for washing our hair. I am one of the parent of this group who believes that there should be some scientific reason behind our ancient practice. This Ancient Shikakai powder acts as a natural astringent for hair enhancing its binding properties. It clears dandruff and cleans the dirt accumulated on the scalp. Being a natural conditioner for hair, shikakai strengthens hair roots and promotes luxuriant growth. This homemade Shikakai powder has certain vital properties that act as coolants for the scalp.
At our home we have been using this homemade shikakai powder for generations. Generally during summer we prepare this SHIKAKAI POWDER which includes ingredients that will enhance the growth and health of hair. I had learnt the art of making this shikakai powder from my grandmother and have been preparing this at home.
I generally try to restrict myself from buying these kind of items outside. But nowadays most of us do not have time to do all these things because it is a long process and time consuming. As this is not a business , I will collect orders and make as per the demand. This is a product has to be prepared only during summer , so I may not have extra stock. In case you need it later , you can always let me know as I can get it ready during the month of October which is the next possible time to get this prepared.
Normal Shikakai Powder available in the market consists only of 3 to 4 ingredients like Shikakai, Soap nut or Methi or dried amla but at home we make this ancient shikakai powder with 14 ingredients which i have listed below with its benefits
Ancient Shikkakai Powder
S.No
Ingrediants
Use
1
Shikakai
Hair growth, Treating Dandruff, Scalp related disease,Keeps the hair healthy and lusturous
2
Methi seeds
Treats dandruff and Helps in regrowth of hair,Reverses baldness, prevents premature greying, Body coolent
3
Green gram
Reduce hair breakage,Removes dandruff,Gives dark colour n shine to hair
4
Lemon skin
Improves dull hair,Hair smells fresh n clean
5
Dried amla / Nellimulli
Conditions hair leaving it Soft n luscious,Prevents greying
6
Rice
Helps to detanle n manage hair, improves hair elasticity,strenghtens hair roots
7
Hibiscus flower
Improves texture,Stimulates blood circutaion in scalp,Strenghthens root n hair
8
Hibiscus leaves
9
Boondhi Kottai/ Soap nut
To get Soapy nature,cleans scalp,adds shine,anti fungal agent
10
Neem leaves / Veppilai
Prevents hairloss,enhances growth,kills head lice,anti bacterial
Treats dry brittle hair, colours n conditions hair
14
Vettiver
Very fragrant n cooling,treats lice n relieves stress
You can keep this product for more than 6 months if maintained properly. Make sure you take little for the usage and store the rest in an air tight container. See to that the powder is kept away from any moisture.
If anyone is interested you can place your order by clicking on the above button. For more information please mail @sriharicares@gmail.com or call me at 7760292062/9884554149.
Natural Lathering Shikakai Powder
As per feedback from many of you, here is another version of shikakai powder which produces lather and makes it easy to wash the oily hair. Wanted to have an All Natural Lathering Shikakai Powder which can substitute the use of shampoos and was working on it for quite sometime and here it is for you! !
This combination of natural products will be –
Easy to wash
Produce lather in order to remove the oil and clean the scalp
Helps to have healthy, smooth and shiny hair
Naturally conditions the hair
This all natural product which consists of shikakai, amla, methi, reetha and arappu powder is sun dried and grinded in shikakai grinding machine . This frothing shikakai powder can be used just like a shampoo. We need to mix the powder with water and make it thin, to a pouring consistency, like a shampoo. This can be used separately or can be mixed with the ancient shikakai powder in equal amount to get the benefits of other herbs.
Please refer the below link for easy way of washing hair with shikakai powder
You can keep this product for more upto 6 months if maintained properly. Make sure you take little for the usage and store the rest in an airtight container. See to that the powder is kept away from any moisture. If anyone is interested you can place your order at below link. For more detail email @sriharicares@gmail.com or call me at 7760292062/9884554149.
I’m Sri Nandhini Hari, a B.Com & M.B.A finance post graduate and have worked in American Express Bank as an Asst. Manager and later with CTS as Financial Analyst. I have a passion towards our own tradition and culture and this has triggered me to share the natural and homemade products to a bigger community for the benefit of all.
View all posts by Sri Nandhini Hari
Oil pulling is getting popular in the west. There seems to be a lot of discussion in media and research community about its various benefits. On those lines, we decided to introduce yet another important practiced by our ancient people for a healthy life. It’s called as Oil bathing. This is one activity we contently reminding our parents in our whatsapp group.
Though we (people from India) have been practising oil bathing for ages, we decided to research further into Ayurveda and siddha text to dig more details about this holistic practise. This article is not only for babies, but to all every one.
Oil bath is a process of applying certain oil over the body, in a certain way, on a certain days. When we practices this over a period of time, we reap lot of benefits in short, to long term. Let’s start with the benefits first, followed by a details procedure. The procedure we would recommend would suites well with our busy lifestyle.
There seems to plenty of benefits of performing an oil bath, some has been proved in research and some are yet to be provedJ. Over all it does benefits in a positive way to mention some:
Balances the Vata, Pitta and Kapha known as Tridosha- if this is balanced, consider all the benefits are just a free add-on!
Best Anti-ageing, younger skins, natural moistening, healthy blood circulation, healthy eyes, cool head, reduces headache, Feel lighter, frees from stiffness and body pain, Healthy hair, scalp, etc
At a spiritual level, it cleanses the Aura, balances the chakra and keep the body at alert and aware state. And the list goes on…
Let’s go deeper in the “applying certain oil over the body, in a certain way, on a certain days” part.
Recommended Oil
Gingelly oil (a.k.a til oil or sesame oil)
Coconut oil
Herbal / medicinal oil recommended by Ayurveda or Siddha doctor
Many people use other oils as well, Olive oil, Mustard oil, Castor oil, etc. There is nothing wrong in using these oils. Ayurveda or siddha speaks highly of gingelly oil. So we highly recommend gingelly oil. Not many know, it is called as queen of all oils.
We also highly recommend that you play with other oil in parallel that suites well. Your body and mind is the best judge, just explore all and you will end up with one that makes you feel well. In most cases its gingelly!
It is better if you can get cold pressed organic oil. Or if you are in India and have local knowledge you can find places where they prepare oil in a traditional way. Or even you can prepare your own herbal oil in upcoming articles.
Recommended procedure to apply
Scalp: Always start applying at the scalp with a gentle rub. You should feel the heat radiating out from the skull
Yes: if the oils Is of good quality and pure you can apply couple of drops in eyes
Ears: few drops to dilute the ear wax
Rest of face
Palms and feet: apply in both palms and rub it
Rest of body
Following the procedure in a same order will release the heat thru eyes without irritation.
Massage the body
Unless you are trained massage therapist. Do not play hard, especially with kids. Just apply oil and may be a gentle massage against gravitational pull.
Day and time
If you are from India or especially from south you know it’s a Saturday. Actually our ancient text given even more details, they recommend.
For Men: it is Wednesday and Saturday
For Women: it is Tuesday and Friday
In today life busy world, it’s hard to do this in a working day partially if you have early start. But sticking to Saturday is something we should add in our schedule.
Usually it recommended to apply oil and face the sun rise. To not wait for long time. 10 to 20 mins it more than enough if you are living in a cold country.
Scrubbing
Homemade scrubs are better for babies. Some like this
Bengal gramflour,
1 tsp tumeric powder,
1 tsp vacha powder,
1 tsp zeodary root powder
Cream of milk
Mix all together a best scrub for babies. Natural scrubbers such as vetiver scrubber, sponge guard, Bark of Rita even soft coconut fiber can be used.
One of the parent from our group was able share her home made shikakai powder and ubtan (scrub) for babies. This is a something they have be using this recipe of many generation, Unlike what we recommended or what you get in market, She makes Shikakai power with 18 herbs that is good for hair.
If you can not make it yourselves We would suggest give it a try.
Use warm to hot water. Do not pour hot water directly over the head. Use luke warm to cold water for head because hot water is said to be not good for hair and sense organs especially eyes. It can cause hair loss and decrease the strength of the sense organs.
We would not suggest soap, as it’s very hard to get the oil out and it damages the skins. We recommend gram flour.
For girls, when are using in face you can also add a pinch of turmeric powder with gram flour to remove unwanted facial hairs.
Any natural soap free shampoo is better or Shikakai power (you can even by a home made shikakai for here).
After an oil bath
Make sure you follow few things
Black pepper rasam or soup
Do not eat cooling food
Avoid sleep in day time as this is most important to follow
As you practice this over a period of time you will notice the changes in body and you will feel lighter healthier mentally, physically, spiritually.
It advisable to avoid oil bath when
You are not well
Cold or flu
Weather is cold or rainy day
To save some time over you weekend. You might first apply over your body followed by applying to your kids and give them a bath, in the last you take bath.
Do share your feedback or what kind of oil bath you do or even ask question in our comments.
Velu Jayaprakash is a social entrepreneur, product manager, techy, photographer, meditator, father of two angels, ancient wisdom seeker, holistic adviser and Soul coach. You can reach him at velu.jayaprakash AT gmail DOT com
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