My hair – My love

I look at my shoulder length hair now and wonder – how wonderfully soft my hair feels against my hand !!! WOW !!! It’s a great feeling, which has been achieved by the gentle shampoo and conditioner from my favorite brand, for the past few years – Dove. And today, with Dove, it’s so easy to get this feel, compared to my growing up years.

The time I grew up was when we were shunned for cutting / trimming / styling our hair, by the elders in the family and we never took a chance of going against the elders.  After so many years, I feel courageous to accept that I’ve indeed trimmed off the split-ends, on the third day from the New Moon Day, because doing that makes our hair grow long.

And of course, oil bath was a compulsory once in a week affair and there was no escaping it. We never bought shampoos for a long time and the only hair scrubber was the amazing shikakai powder – a totally home-made solution to counter hair loss.  Only thing is that, we needed the strength of a wrestler in our arms, to make all the oil vanish from our hair.  I am telling you, it was not an easy task to scrub away all the oil, my grandma used to apply on my hair.

Then slowly, I learnt the natural shampoos / conditioners that I can make, as I loved the feeling of soft hair. My most favorite was the hibiscus leaves shampoo.  Take a handful of hibiscus leaves and keep crushing them on a coarse surface, like the washing stone. Sprinkle water and keep crushing the leaves. Squeeze out the gooey liquid that comes out of the leaves into a separate vessel. After collecting a considerable quantity, apply that gooey liquid on the hair and leave it for half an hour to one. Wash gently with plain water. The hair feels fantastic and it’s a great and simple way to get that great feeling hair.  Now, I search hard for those hibiscus leaves – but if I see it anywhere, I  ask the owners shamelessly, if I can have a handful of leaves. I am still addicted to this softness.

Those weekends, when I don’t happen to get hibiscus leaves, I found another hair softener. It was methi seeds.  Soak 2 tsps of methi seeds (fenugreek) overnight and blend them in the morning, adding enough water. The frothy result, when applied to the hair, makes the hair tremendously soft.  Just plain water is enough to wash it off.

There is one more favorite conditioner of mine – the egg.  But, egg was a big taboo in my house. So, I’ll just buy one egg from the shop, smuggle it in between the folds of my skirt and take it into my room, where I’ll break open the egg, beat it well and apply it on my hair. But this needs to be washed off with shampoo or some shikakai.  I loved the eggy fragrance in my hair, even though everyone used to close their nose and walk away from me…..ha ha ha….I had great fun doing it and loved the texture which the egg conditioning, gave my hair.

Then came the Meera Herbal Shikakai powder, which actually reduced the effort put in by my arms to wash away the oil in my hair.  Actually, I thanked this product so much for helping me not to develop muscles in my arms and look like Sarah Connor of Judgement Day !!!  But I felt my hair was becoming frizzy after the wash.

Even though I enjoyed doing all these techniques to soften my hair and feel the bouncing hair when I walk, I got tired of all these methods over the years, as the stress of having two children took on me. Hair-fall was terrible post-delivery and I had to struggle with it.  Snip, snip went my length and shoulder length hair became a manageable task – easy to wash and maintain with a hectic morning schedule.  I had the luxury of buying shampoos and conditioners, but never felt happy with any product. One month it was Brand A and the next month, it was Brand B.  Life was good but the hair felt dull and lifeless. Everyday struggle to contain hair fall, led to more stress and more hair fall.

Then came my wonder product Dove. I first tried the moisturizing bar – not a soap, mind you – and was terribly, totally happy with the feel of my skin.  And when I saw the Dove shampoo, I just couldn’t stop myself from buying it and trying it on my hair, as I was already a loyal fan to the Dove brand.

Dove shampoo and conditioner has really changed my hair’s life after that.  Whether its washing off my hair after a swimming session or cleansing the hair after going out on a dusty afternoon, the results have been fantastic and consistent.  In fact, my daughters recommend them highly to their friends, after becoming great fans themselves.

My love for my hair can be understood by the tedious methods I learnt and did, to make my own hair-washes and conditioners.  Now, Dove does everything for me.  Its easy, its a 5-mins job spent on hair-washing but the hair looks great, as though its been groomed by a stylist. 🙂

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This post has been written as part of the  Indiblogger & Dove contest : “Love is a two way street: Love your hair and it loves you back!”