Herbs for a Healthy Mane

 by Kelsey Ligon

When you walk down the street and the wind gently lifts your hair up behind you and swirls it around, you probably imagine looking like someone in a shampoo or conditioner commercial.  In reality, your hair probably looks something like this:

There’s a lot to hair health to take into consideration, and even then you might not have hair worthy of a shampoo commercial.  The goal is to make your hair feel and look beautiful. 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Herbal hair treatments have been around for thousands of years and have been used on some our most celebrated beautiful women: Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Queen Elizabeth. The benefits of treating your hair with natural herbs are stronger hair, restored shine, and flaky scalp relief.

As always, when considering an aspect of your health, it’s important to ensure that you are taking good care of your body.  This means exercising, eating well, getting plenty of sleep, and drinking lots of water.  If you’ve taken care of your body, the next step is treating your hair.

Herbs, similarly to traditional hair care products, work on both the scalp and the hair shaft.  The difference between using herbs and using traditional hair care products is the extra layer of protection you give yourself.  Your hair has a natural pH level of 4.5-5.5, and this level of acidity is intended to prevent bacteria from adhering to your scalp.  However, the alkaline materials found in traditional shampoo and conditioner products can interfere with the natural process and cause more damage.

Taking all of this into consideration, your next step is to determine which herbs work best for you.  You can mix and match the following herbs based on your hair care needs.

Dry hair:

If you have flaky, itchy hair that sometimes results in dandruff, the following herbs work well to provide relief and soothe your scalp:

·        Olive oil

·        Rosemary

·        Burdock root

·        Eucalyptus (always good for anything soothing)

·        Parsley (particularly good for thin and dandruff-prone hair)

·        Tea tree

Oily hair:

Oily hair can look dirty and can feel slimy.  Besides brushing the oil evenly throughout your hair, the following herbs help restrain oil production:

·         Lemon

·         Sage

·         Marigold

Hair loss or fragile hair:

There have been all kinds of magical remedies for hair loss or weak hair, but there are several herbs with different properties to help you keep your hair healthy:

     

·      Aloe for new hair growth; it retains water, plumping up the hair shaft and making it appear thicker

·      Burdock root can stimulate hair growth

·      Nettles stimulate growth and increase circulation in the scalp

·      Rosemary for hair growth

·      Witch hazel

·      Cayenne for increased blood flow

References:

Strausfogel, Sherrie.  “Herbal Hair Therapy.”  Better Nutrition.  Apr. 2015, Vol. 77 Issue 4, p. 28-30.

“Help for Hair Loss.”  Natural Health.  Aug 2002, Vol. 32 Issue 6, p. 22.

Turner, Lisa.  “A look at some ‘mane’ herbs for hair care.”  Better Nutrition.  Oct. 98, Vol. 60 Issue 10, p. 40

Orr, Tamra B.  “Mane attraction.”  Better Nutrition.  Jun 99, Vol. 61 Issue 6, p. 38.