Make your own nourishing herbal hair oil

Oil baths were an every-weekend affair for us, growing up.

Someone would apply oil and massage our scalps, or we’d be instructed to do so ourselves. At home, we’d then be further instructed not to lean on upholstered surfaces. In Rishi Valley, we’d be hanging about in the school courtyards talking and (*cough*) “doing homework” until it was our turn for a bath stall, for which we’d have figured out turns by throwing identifying towels over the stall doors. Shikakai powder was what we were provided to wash, though I suppose we all preferred shampoo back then & I didn’t return to hair powders until later in life–a trajectory I’m working to radically compress with my own children.

At home, lunch would follow as oil baths were always had in the mornings. We were always somehow extra hungry and lunch was somehow always extra delicious, after all that massaging, soaking, and hot-hot bathing. I’m not sure how taking care of your head appears to whet appetite, but it does. Even a simple rasam-rice meal with some vegetable on the side would transport us into bliss. At school, dinners weren’t spectacular but the sleep that followed after sure was. It helped that the next day was usually a Sunday.

Now the oil of choice was invariably coconut for its cooling properties, though I’ve grown to understand that it’s sesame or gingelly oil that forms the base for most of our Ayurvedic tailams or massage oils for its nourishing properties (roughly speaking). Sesame oil is said to get to and work more on nourishing hair follicles. I’ve made Radhika’s hair oil which she says is for “dandruff and hair fall control” with coconut, but relied primarily on sesame for my own, though I mixed in a little coconut oil as well.

The choice of ingredients to add to hair oil is virtually endless, as it could include anything that helps maintain scalp/skin health; promote hair growth or reduce hair-fall by nourishing follicles–which happens in turn by either restoring micro-nutrients or improving overall circulation; restore hair sheen, shine, and body or condition hair. The possibilities are many.

I’ve chosen a set that is primarily good for:

1. keeping a healthy scalp (it is a hair massage oil, after all, and should be allowed to penetrate to the scalp),
2. cooling head, skin, eyes, and
3. mildly coloring or preventing premature greying

…in that order. There are lots of oils out there that will claim to boost hair growth, prevent hair-fall and such like. Technically, this oil should achieve similar effects, if used regularly. But hair fall has many causes, not all of which can be addressed with better care for hair alone, and the logic is that IF your scalp is healthy and nourished, hair health should naturally follow. Hence the idea of a hair oil that nourishes rather than preventing or boosting anything, which would be claims I can neither make nor substantiate.

The cooling effects are separate, however. The potency of karisalankanni and ponnangani and the added coconut oil in combination can be significant, so this is probably best labelled a summer oil. Best not to use it overnight, if you’re prone to colds and allergies. But great for a summer morning ending, as I say, with a good lunch and a nice nap.

What you’ll need:

• 2 bunches Vellai [white] Karisalai/ karisalankanni keerai [கரிசலாங்கண்ணி கீரை] or bhringraj: Eclipta prostrata
• 1/2 bunch ponnangani keerai [பொன்னாங்கண்ணி கீரை]: Alternanthera Sessilis
• 1 big bunch marudani [மருதாணி] or henna leaves (the equivalent of 2 large handfuls, once plucked): Lawsonia inermis
• A small handful of neem leaves [not more, or the smell overpowers]
• 1 small bunch curry leaves (the equivalent of a large handful, once plucked): Murraya koenigii
• 10 red hibiscus flowers, stamens removed
• 20-30 hibiscus leaves
• 5-6 nellikaya [நெல்லிக்காய்] or amla fruits, grated: Phyllanthus emblica
• 1 large kattrazhai [கற்றாழை] or aloe vera leaf, cut into pieces
• 6-8 small onions [kutti vengayam, sambar onions] or shallots, peeled and roughly chopped: Allium cepa L. var. aggregatum Don.
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 handful of aavaaram seeds, if available
• 3/4 liter of sesame oil (or just use a full liter and skip the coconut oil mixing)
• 1/4 liter of coconut oil (roughly)

The herbal ingredients, explained

• Vellai Karisalai/ Karisalankanni, Bhringraj, Eclipta prostrata: treats premature greying, body cooling; karisalankanni is a liver stimulant (yellow more than white, but both). A combination of karisalai, vallarai [Brahmi, Centella Asiatica], siru seruppadai [Coldenia Procumbens], and Kuppaimeni [Acalypha indica] in equal proportions is prescribed in Siddha medicine for skin diseases.
• Ponnanganni, Alternanthera Sessilis: cooling for eyes, skin, and hair; rich in micro-nutrients for scalp health & thus said to be heavy in “manvaaasanai” or the scent/qualities of the earth. [“Ponnanganni” or “ponnmeni-aahum-kaan-ni” means “to glow like gold” — regular consumption of this green circulates nutrients in the blood and causes the skin to glow.]
• Marudani/Henna, Lawsonia inermis: helps restore scalp pH to healthy levels, nourishing follicles, used to improve softness and lustre, conditioning & of course, red-staining–though the color is intensified by acids like lime juice, so in oil form this colorant effect is mild.
• Veppam/Neem, Azadirachta indica: known widely for anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties; promotes scalp health and reduces lice
• Curry leaves, Murraya koenigii: rich source vitamins, minerals, and some amino acids which increase hair growth, strengthen follicles, and moisturize the scalp. Also help to remove dead follicles, thus reducing dandruff.
• Red hibiscus flowers & leaves: deep conditioning, prevents hair-fall and split ends, restores softness and shine
• Nellikaya, Amla, Phyllanthus emblica: Strengthens hair follicles, promotes scalp health, restores natural oils, reduces frizziness, improves dark hair pigmentation, and prevents premature greying.
• Kattrazhai, Aloe vera: Strengthens and nourishes hair strands; helps improve lustre
• Kutti vengayam, small onions or sambar onions [substitute with shallots if necessary]: onion juice is said to improve circulation and therefore offer better nourishment to hair follicles (some say owing to high sulfur content), in addition acting as an anti-fungal (anti-dandruff) treatment. It has been used historically to prevent hair thinning and early greying, among other hair loss conditions by increasing catalase levels [catalase being an enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide, which is bleaching].
• Garlic: anti-microbial, kills bacteria that affect the scalp and inhibit hair growth.
• Black pepper: warming, used to mute somewhat the ultra-cooling properties of coconut oil and the karisalai/ponnangani greens. Also contains vitamins and micro-nutrients that nourish the scalp, inhibits hairfall, and promotes healthy hair growth.
• Aavaaram, Cassia Auriculata/ Tanner’s Cassia: used to promote skin health

The Process

• You’ll need a large pot to heat the oil–much larger than you think you’ll need as the oil will rise significantly once the leafy matter goes in. You’ll also need a second, smaller heatproof vessel into which to strain the infused oil, a large-wide strainer and a piece of cotton cloth that can hold all the plant matter during the straining process (it will have about halved in volume).
• Keep your mix of floral and leafy ingredients cleaned, washed, patted dry and ready.
• Roughly peel and cut the onions, aloe, and amla. Amla can be grated also. Peel the garlic. Have the black pepper handy.
• Heat the oil on a medium flame in the large vessel. Once it’s “dry” as we say in Tamil, which is to say it’s heated sufficiently, start dropping in the ingredients in handfuls. There’s no particular order, but leaves and petals are going to scorch a lot faster than onions and aloe, so you might want to put in the thicker, fleshier bits first.
• Once all ingredients have been added, reduce the heat to low and allow the oil to simmer and the ingredients to further “dry”. Mix periodically, and keep a watchful eye that they do not scorch and burn. About 10-15 minutes.

• The oil is ready to be strained once all the fresh ingredients that went in are completely dry/crisp. You can test by lifting out a piece of something–if it crumbles when you crush it, stop. If not, heat a little more. Your goal is to make sure all the water is gone from the oil, or you’ll risk early spoilage.
• Switch off the flame once the plant matter is all dried and easily crumbles. Lay a piece of cotton cloth across a large strainer with the smaller heatproof vessel below it, and carefully pour the oil mixture through. Now leave this to cool for some time.
• Once the dessicated plant matter is cool enough to handle, lift and squeeze all the remaining oil out. It’s a bit of a messy process, so the simplest thing would be to use any excess oil that you need to clean off your hands etc. during this step directly on your own hair or arms — or that of a nearby loved one! Basically: plan on having an oil bath right after.
• Transfer the oil to bottles. You’ll notice that it will be a dark green now, the result of having had so much infused into it. It will also smell quite strong: the effect of karisalankanni, curry leaves, and neem. Just keep in mind that this is a cooling, nourishing oil, not a finishing serum with an alluring fragrance!
• If made correctly, this will keep for a year, easily, and my benchmark is my hot-humid town.

To use

This is the easy part: apply! Both to your scalp, massaging it in slowly, and down the length of your hair. How much you use is up to you, but do leave it in for long enough to allow the oils to reach your scalp and follicles effectively — anywhere from a few hours to overnight. [Bear in mind, again, that the plant matter that goes into this oil gives it a number of body cooling properties, so if you’re prone to colds, it’s best not used overnight].

Wash off first with warm water, and then with this hair powder (4 tablespoons for long hair, less for short) or your favorite shampoo. A puli kozhambu+rasam meal like this one finishes it all off nicely!

A once-a-week-regimen of this sort should leave both you and your hair feeling wonderful. Now that’s a claim I can and will make!