Long, Lustrous Locks

In your home and right there on the kitchen shelf are some of the most powerful natural ingredients for hair care. From a quick fix to long term treatments, beauty care and remedies are so easily available to us. In fact, long before cosmetics were manufactured, women looked towards common remedies to enhance their beauty, or to deal with beauty problems.

One such common ingredient that is available in the home is garlic. This small humble ingredient with pungent smell is recommended by experts in your daily diet because it is full of goodness for your hair besides many powerful health benefits.

Garlic not only provides remedies for ailments but can give you external beauty benefits like acne-free skin and healthy lustrous hair.

Garlic is rich in nutrients such as vitamins B-6 and C, manganese, and selenium which help stimulate hair growth.

In fact, it is said to be beneficial for the hair and can actually control hair loss and help to promote hair growth. Studies have shown that garlic has properties that help the hair. It has been seen that applications containing garlic have helped to promote hair growth on areas showing hair loss or thinning hair. Research has indicated that garlic helps hair growth because it contains important properties like selenium and sulphur. Fresh Garlic Juice has selenium content which boosts blood circulation & thus stimulates hair growth

Actually, the hair is fed by the nutrients in the bloodstream. Therefore, selenium boosts blood circulation, which helps to transport nutrients to the hair follicles. This nourishes the hair and helps hair growth. Garlic is rich in Vitamin C, which boosts the health of the hair. Garlic has anti-microbial properties and fights bacterial and fungus infections of the scalp. In fact, it helps to cleanse and unclog the pores of the scalp, thus helping to treat problems like hair loss and dandruff and also soothes the scalp.

Here are simple and useful ways in which you can put garlic to use for long & luscious locks.

Take around 10 garlic cloves and mix it with 2 tablespoons of honey to prepare a mask. Apply it on your hair and let it dry in natural environment say approximately 30 minutes and wash it off with clean and fresh water .You can use it twice a week to get long shiny hair . Honey helps in retaining the moisture in your hair and conditions it well. Whereas garlic gives Vitamin E to the hair and prevents hair fall, hair breakage and promotes hair growth.

Garlic should be mixed with other ingredients and then applied on the hair. Avoid applying garlic by itself. You can make hair oil at home, which is infused with garlic. This can be done by chopping garlic cloves in small pieces and add it to pure coconut oil or olive oil. Keep it in a jar and store for seven to ten days in a cool, dry place. This oil may be applied on the hair to derive the benefits of garlic. Or, you can mix chopped garlic with warmed coconut oil. Massage the oil on the scalp half an hour before your shampoo. You can also mix garlic with aloe vera gel and apply the paste on the hair. Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes and then wash the hair.

Blend and strain 5 garlic cloves and 2 onions and extract the juice. Apply on hair and massage it into your scalp. Leave the mixture on your hair for 15 minutes and wash your hair with a mild shampoo as usual.

Another way of using garlic is to make a paste of garlic and fry it in oil. Once it turns brownish, cool the oil and remove the garlic. The oil can be applied on the hair.

Take 10 cloves of garlic and add a few drops of olive oil to a cup of water. Boil the mix. Apply directly to your roots for thick hair. Wash the hair with fresh water after half an hour for lustrous hair. Take 6 tbsp of garlic oil, 2 tbsp each of castor oil and coconut oil and one tsp of rosemary oil. Mix them all and keep in a jar. Take three tbsp of this blended oil and massage your hair and scalp. Allow it to dry in natural environment approximately for one hour and wash it off with fresh normal water.

Add a clove of garlic and some honey in your shampoo or conditioner and use it to remove harmful toxins from the scalp, enhance hair texture and also treat dandruff and itchy scalp.

Indeed, kitchen remedies are well within your easy reach for enhancing the beauty of your hair.

- The author is a beauty expert, popularly known as Herbal Queen of India