Shikakai — herbal shampoo for your hair

Learn how to make hair packs using shikakai.

Kriti Saraswat | Updated: November 20, 2014 12:00 pm

Shikakai translates to ‘fruit for hair’ in English and has been in use for centuries in India. Earlier, when there were no shampoos available commercially, women in India washed their hair using reetha and shikakai. With the advent of various brands and types of shampoos, the natural remedy has been forgotten with perhaps only a handful of people using it now. If you wish to switch back to a side-effects-free natural shampoo for your hair, shikakai is the answer. Here’s how it is good for your hair.

Shikakai is excellent for hair as it does not have side-effects unlike shampoos which are loaded with chemicals to add more lather.
It does not strip your hair’s natural oils, which means that they are stronger from within and do not look rough and dry.
It helps in controlling hair fall and also in reducing dandruff naturally due to its anti-bacterial action.

Shikakai hair packs

While shikakai in itself can be used as a mild shampoo, you can definitely add more herbal ingredients to it to enhance its benefits. These days, its powder is easily available in most herbal stores. All you have to do is mix it with water and then use it to wash your hair.

Many add other ingredients like reetha or soapnuts to it as well. Get reetha powder and mix it with shikakai powder and warm water. Once it cools down, shampoo your hair with it. If you have greasy hair, you can mix the two in equal quantities or add more reetha. If your hair is naturally dry, add more shikakai powder to the mixture. This shampoo will add a natural shine to your hair and also more volume to it.

If you want to get rid of lice from your scalp, here’s a paste you can try. Take shikakai and reetha powder and add camphor and Indian gooseberry or amla to it. Mix water and then apply it on your scalp. After 30 minutes, rinse your hair with warm water. This will help in killing the lice and will also make your hair silky soft.

Try these hair packs for a few weeks regularly (wash your hair with them once or twice in a week) and you will see a difference in your hair’s texture. If you find the results to be good, you can completely switch to this herbal shampoo and give your chemical shampoo a miss.

Though it may take some extra time to prepare these shampoo packs, you can expect greater hair health in return. And if you are too pressed for time, you can make and store these powders in a jar and just mix them with water before each use. Keep in mind that since they are herbal, they do not have a very long shelf life, so do not store them for over a month or two.

Image source: Getty Images

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Published: August 13, 2014 3:07 pm | Updated:November 20, 2014 12:00 pm

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