Natural hair rinse from your kitchen ingredients

It's not just enough to have a shampoo, washing your hair with a natural rinse is equally important.

Considering a nutrient giver to hair, it lends shine, adds moisture and can cover graying too. Hair also gets affected by the chemical content in shampoos & hair dyes and often looks like a messy frizz again, just two days after you have washed and conditioned it.

Here's where rinses come in "Most shampoos have chemicals, and strip your hair of sebum, which is the natural oil produced by sebaceous glands to help protect each strand. Conditioners also have chemicals which damage hair in the long run.

Instead, use a hair rinse, which restores pH balance of scalp and hair and improves blood circulation in the scalp, which in turn improves hair growth and makes it soft and healthy. For busy people, hair rinses are ideal. But use it only once a week."

Get a rinse from your kitchen

Hair goodness can be got from basic ingredients found in your kitchen. "For instance, neem (Azadirachta indica) is an anti-septic and used for scalp health. Egg and as well as a paste of almond are popular too, but when it comes to rinses try coconut juice, which makes hair protein and is an excellent moisturizer. Just massage it with the pulp and leave it on. Beer is another rinse used for shine. 

Rinses and their benefits:
Honey
Advantage: Shiny, smooth hair
How it works: After washing, mix a tablespoon of honey in two mugs of water and pour this over your hair. Leave it in and let the hair air dry as normal. It leaves you tresses soft and smooth and provides moisture to the hair. Honey can also be used with olive oil in a hair mask.

Coffee
Advantage: Can add color and shine to hair
How it works: Did you know that coffee is also a great rinse for dark colored hair? You can use beans or just steep coffee powder in a glass of water and keep it overnight. Pour it on the hair and allow it to remain for about 20 minutes, then wash it off. The result is a nice tinge of color to the hair.

Vinegar
Advantage: Stops scalp flakiness
How it works: It can be used to keep your scalp from becoming flaky. After washing the hair, combine two cups of apple cider vinegar with three mugs of cold water and rinse the hair out with it. Alternatively, try an apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse, which helps the hair retain moisture, adds shine and bounce. But dilute this in water as it's strong.

Hibiscus
Advantage: Darkens hair
How it works: Has astringent qualities. It releases a darkish purple dye that can be used to color graying hair, darken the prevalent color and detangle the hair.

Lemongrass rinse
Advantage: Eliminates dandruff, strengthens hair
How it works: Lemongrass is a herb that's popularly used in Thai cooking. It is also good for strengthening hair. For the rinse, prepare a mix using 2-3 teaspoons of dried lemongrass with just one cup of boiling water.

Let this steep for 15 minutes, then strain the herbs from it and use this as a hair rinse (before conditioning unless you have oily hair) when it has cooled down.