Hi people, what's been on?
One weekend, I cleaned up, sorted out a portion of my life...haha....and decided to go grocery shopping in the market. As I was leaving the busy market, I spotted something.........zobo leaves a.k.a. dried hibiscus flower.
So I bought it on a whim and fantasized about a cool delicious rich red drink for.....wait for it.......my hair! *facepalm*
.....and no, I am so not obsessed about my hair......well a little.....lol!
If you've read this post.....you'll know the benefits of tea rinses. To add to it, zobo infusions not only nourishes the roots of your hair, it's also a good way to revive the red tones in your hair if you had it dyed to that colour with box dyes or with henna. It also great as an ayurvedic hair shampoo and conditioner.
Here's a little bit about it....
In the Indian traditional system of medicine, Ayurveda, hibiscus is considered to have medicinal properties. The roots are used to make various concoctions believed to cure ailments such as cough, hair loss or hair greying. As a hair treatment, the flowers are boiled in oil such as amla oil or coconut oil along with other spices to make a medicated hair oil. The leaves and flowers are ground into a fine paste with a little water, and the resulting lathery paste is used as a shampoo plus conditioner. (wikipedia)
Here's the recipe for shampoo....it's similar to the recipe for making shikakai shampoo and is a good substitute.
- Take a few hibiscus leaves and crush it to make a fine paste using
water.Don't worry, the pieces of leaves will come out while washing.
- Add a few drops of coconut or olive oil to this paste.
- Proceed to wash your hair using this paste. It foams well and cleans your hair making it super soft. The good thing is you can skip prepooing i.e. adding oil to your hair before washing because the paste contains oil.
Well, I didn't use it as a shampoo because I had already washed my hair and even had it in mini twists. I used it as a conditioning rinse instead because I wanted to do a twistout and I wanted it soft, moisturised but product free.
Notice how I'm trying to use less product on my hair? I'm trying to slowly reset my hair so I could see if the curl loosening I observed (am I the only one?) will revert and I'm gradually noticing that my coils are getting tighter and tighter.
Some people may prefer their coils to get looser and it seems like curl friendly products accomplish that for my hair....but once in a while, I need my coils to be tighter because I'm scared that one day I'll end up with straight hair...*gasp*
So back to the rinse.
The rinse is simple.
- Take about two standard cups of hibiscus or zobo leaves and pour in two cups of boiling water and allow it to steep for an hour.
-Strain the red juice, allow to cool and apply to hair after you shampoo.
Some people rinse off after 30mins but I decided to leave it in.I wrung off the excess from my hair and patted dry with an old T then sealed with coconut oil.
Remember my hair was in mini twists all the while which made it easier to manipulate my hair.
It's really messy so to avoid painting everywhere red, I placed a big empty bowl beneath me and used it to collect the red juice instead of it going down the drain and staining the bathroom.
Does it colour hair red? Well unlike henna, it rinses off easily. To have the color, do not rinse off and the more concentrated the juice is, the deeper the red.you have light colored hair, it can temporarily stain it red. If you have darker hair you won't notice it until you step out in the sun.
I didn't notice the red but I did notice my coils felt as springy as when I did a deep conditioning treatment and shinier....though it might just be because my hair is damp....let me wait until it dries to know how conditioning it is especially now the weather is dry.....
Here's my twistout after my hair dried.
It does feel softer and not crunchy dry.
I still made cool refreshing ruby red zobo drink.....so I fed two mouths with one cup...lol!
Have you tried using zobo aka hibiscus leaves for your hair? What was it like??? Any special recipes we could try????
Share!
9 comments
Are you saying its an equivalent to shampoo?
ReplyDeleteYes it is an equivalent to sulfate free shampoos especially if you are one that doesn't use a lot of silicone and petrolatum laden products.
DeleteIt will not lather a lot like the shampoos you are used to but it lathers well enough.
My hair has been drinking Zobo since without my knowing the benefits...
ReplyDeleteNow I know, my body shall join to drink the Zobo(though it has been joining too)
Thanks girl!
Lol! You are welcome! What's your experience like?
DeleteUpdate: This is day four, I haven't used a moisturiser on my hair, I haven't spritzed with water in two days and my hair still feels soft, shiny and bouncy.....wonder how I didn't notice how good this ish is till now. Hmm will certainly incoporate it into my regimen.....the only downside is the red mess I'll be dealing with.....
ReplyDeleteMy hair drinks Amaretto Sour :p
ReplyDeleteMy skin is the one that drinks zobo. i add it to my black soap body wash with Baobab oil and co.
ReplyDeleteI want long hair
ReplyDeleteI intend to try using it in my deep conditioner and for final rinse.
ReplyDeleteHave a question or comment? We would love you to share!!!!