How To Get Smooth Hair Without Straightening

Everyone who has curly or wavy hair must have had dreams of hair straightening at some point in their life. Some might have slept over it and let the feeling go, while others would have indulged in extensive treatments at salons or at home.  Whoever has visited the salon and spent time and money getting that permanent straight style knows that nothing is permanent. The structure of our hair is a part of our gene code, hence the new hair which grows will follow the gene code, and not the external heat treatments. It is also important to realise that the treatments start spoiling your hair and makes it look dry and rough. So the question remains, how to get smooth hair without straightening?

Many people are not aware that there are so many natural alternatives to straighten hair. These natural recipes and procedures involve regular home use ingredients. With these DIY solutions, do not be surprised when you see your hair look even more smooth and silky as compared to the salon treatment. One thing is for sure, these solutions will not straighten your locks overnight, but will start working their magic in a few weeks of regular applications.

Tips to have smooth hair without straightening:

#1: Cold Wash

When washing hair, try to use cold water as much as possible. Use warm water only when you need to deep clean your hair. All other times use cold water. Cold water keeps the hair flat and reduces the chances of it to roll.

#2: Multani Mitti Pack

Many use Multani Mitti (Fuller’s earth) to deep cleanse the skin but little do people know it can work wonders when you are trying to tame hair. Make a paste of Mesmara Multani Mitti by mixing it with sufficient water. Apply the paste uniformly all the way from the root to the tip of the hair. Use your comb to brush it straight and allow it to dry. Leave this for an hour until it is dry while it forms a mould that straightens hair. It may seem a tad bit inconvenient, but nothing more than when you apply color or henna to hair. After it is fully dry and set, wash it off and see how smooth and straight your hair looks. You will be amazed at the difference from the first treatment itself and you can keep at it regularly to continue with the look.

#3: Coconut Oil and Cornstarch Pack

Coconut oil has been used in Indian households from ages as an external application for hair. It replenishes the serums required to nourish the hair and keeps it smooth and strong.

To make this DIY pack, add to Virgin Coconut Oil some cornstarch and mix it well to prepare a thick paste. Apply this paste in the same way as multani mitti and let it dry. The coconut oil nourishes the hair while the corn starch provides the stiffness required to hold the hair straight. Let the application dry out completely; this may take up to an hour. For people with too much curl in their hair, hold on to it for a bit longer. Wash off the application to see your hair look silky and straight.

#4: Milk

Who would have thought that this humble household ingredient can save you thousands of bucks you would have spent on salon treatments for straightening your hair. Rinsing your hair in milk and keeping it for 15-20 minutes before heading into the shower can reduce the waviness in the hair.

#5: Aloe Vera Pack

Create a thick paste with equal parts of Mesmara Aloe Vera Powder and Mesmara Virgin Coconut Oil.  Add to the mix a few drops of any Mesmara essential oil and whisk it well. Apply this mix on your hair evenly and let it dry. Let the dried application stay for another half hour before washing it off with cold water.

#6: Post Wash Drying

Many of you must be using the hairdryer with different heat settings to quickly dry the hair. Instead of using a drier, let it dry naturally. The weight of the hair itself will straighten the curls and you can additionally keep combing it all the way through to stop them from getting entangled.

Also read our 5 DIY Hair Packs For Dry And Frizzy Hair

Apart from burning a hole in your pocket, heat treatments to hair leave your hair damaged beyond repair. While the above, pocket friendly, natural treatments not only help you get smooth hair without straightening, but also nourish and moisturise your hair. These remedies will definitely change the way you might have approached hair straightening in the past. All they need is consistency in the process and a bit of patience. Anyone who has gone the natural route has never looked back. So, experience the same and spread the goodness.

Holi Festival – Tips to Protect Your Hair and Skin

Drawing curtains on winter and welcoming the summers is the Holi festival. Everyone awaits unabated for this special day, especially the young ones. This is the festival when the town not just paints itself red but in all the colours that you can get hold off.  

With the growing demand for colours, the industry has conveniently moved to chemically prepared recipes leading to harmful colours. While they are bright and come cheap, these colours cause skin and hair related complications. However, with increasing awareness, lot of organic holi colours have come up in the market. You can use such colours to reduce your chemical footprint and also keep your skin and hair safe.

You can control what you purchase and use, you cannot say the same about your neighbours. But will all this deter you from enjoying the festival? Come on, what harm will a little colour do? Exactly our point too. Let us prepare well and take the right steps to protect our skin and hair before and after the holi celebrations. Not to sound cliched, a stitch in time saves nine and the same goes here to make it a safe and skin friendly Holi.

Pre Holi Festival Preparation

Skin care

Try to take a bath in cold water if the weather permits before stepping out. This closes the pores on your body thus stopping a lot of the colour to seep in. You should then generously massage virgin coconut oil all over your body, this creates a hydrophobic layer preventing colour absorption.

A good sunscreen is recommended to protect skin from UV radiation. Eucalyptus oil combined with olive oil makes a natural moisturizing sunscreen.

It is very important that you make sure your skin is heavily moisturised and there are no cracks.  Do start off this process a few days ahead of the big festival. Applying shea butter or cocoa butter regularly keeps your skin hydrated.  

As you protect skin, do also show some love to your nails. Massage the ends and especially around the cuticle with few drops of tea tree oil.

Hair Care

On the day of Holi, wash your hair and rinse your scalp in cold water. The pores sizes will reduce and limit the chances of chemicals and colours getting absorbed into the scalp and hair roots. Do apply some mesmara Argan hair serum and a conditioner to make the hair less frizzy. The silicon layer that forms, as a result, minimizes the colour sticking to them.

Folks with long hair should be careful not to leave their hair loose. More surface area means more potential for damage. So neatly tie it up in a bun or alternatively use a bandana/a scarf to cover up before stepping out.

During Holi Festival Celebrations

While playing, stay in shade as much as possible. Sunlight makes the colours set in faster and coupled with the tan, it is difficult to remove. Resist the use of stubborn colours to minimize post-event issues.

Post Holi Festival Celebrations Cleanup

Even before you think about taking a wash, you need to dust off all the dry colour from your hair and body. Use a dry gentle cloth and a hairbrush to remove them.

Use oil-soaked cotton balls to ease out the stubborn colours. Had you applied oil before you stepped out, you will be surprised how easier it gets to remove. Use of oil has the additional benefit, it soothes your skin and nourishes during the cleaning process.

We suggest that you choose organic cleansers to wash off the colours. They are gentle to your skin and are packed with goodness. They will alleviate the already damaged skin.

Once you are done with superficial cleansing, use face packs. Mesmara’s range is very effective and can help in deep pore cleansing. They exfoliate and cleanse and in addition restore the hydration the skin needs. At the end, indulge your body in deep moisturising sessions for a few successive days.

To protect hair, a good shampoo is the only answer. Try to minimize damage by using an organic or mild shampoo. If you’ve got a lot of colour on your hair and scalp, they may not come off all at once. In such difficult situations, you should wash and let your hair dry. Apply oil and massage it well. Leave it for a few hours before you head back into the shower for another hair wash. This repetitive process will be beneficial to your hair and scalp. The dryness will be lesser from repeated washes and the oil will help in dissolving and releasing the colours from the pores.

In contrast to the cold-water bath before you stepped out, post-Holi, the bath needs to be in hot water. This will open-up the pores and make the process easier.

Hope the festival of colours paint the canvas of your life with joy, love, happiness, prosperity, good health and success. Mesmara wishes all its readers a colourful and happy Holi.

Natural Hair Dyes – Herbal, Chemical Free Hair Colours

The process of aging is different for each one of us, however, its effects can not be ignored. Some accept it with grace while some shudder when the first strand of their hair turns grey. Then there are some  who mix their greys with some smart colours and start a new style. One such iconic person was India’s ex-PM Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Her styling was very unique and distinct. Today let us explore some natural hair dyes which are herbal and chemical free alternatives to the branded chemical ones.

The easiest way to get back your youthful colour can be achieved by dyeing your hair. These days the process of how to dye hair has been made so easy that you don’t always need to visit a salon. There are ready mix packets that you can quickly mix and apply it on your hair. There are others which are sprays which provide a quick result but with relatively temporary effects. However, these conventional dyes are chemically produced. The chemical footprint that they leave is quite high. Prolonged use might lead to irritation of the scalp, hair fall and in some extreme cases, it may even cause psoriasis or cancer. Since the number of such cases are very limited, many do not realize that the impact of chemical dyes. Hence, using chemical dyes still remains the easiest method to cover the greys.

One truth that cannot be debated is that prevention is better than cure. So why not try some natural hair dyes which does not have chemicals and give peace to your mind.

Make Natural Hair Dyes At Home

Why look outside when you can make herbal hair dyes safely at home. Some of these simple tips will introduce you to how to make natural hair dye at home and how to color hair naturally black at home.

Natural Oils

A lot of natural oils can darken the shade of your hair. Prolonged use of such oils helps retain the original shade and hence delays greying.

Bhringraj Oil:

This oil is well known in the Indian circuit for delaying the greying process. It is generally prepared from crushed leaves that are mixed in a carrier oil, e.g., Coconut, Amla oil etc. The oil is generally dark green in colour and has an intense aroma.  

Brahmi-Amla Oil Combo:

The combination of Brahmi oil and Amla is another good one to manage greying of hair. You can also make a homemade combination by heating up dried Amla and curry leaves in Mesmara virgin coconut oil. You should apply these preparations at least once a week, followed by a gentle massage and ensure that it stays on for a minimum of 30 mins. It would be nicer if you could keep it on for a few hours instead.

While you may apply these to delay greying, they come with other benefits too. They improve your scalp condition and you will start seeing less of irritating dandruff.  Also, you will see a remarkable reduction in hair fall, ultimately reducing the chances of baldness. You will start getting a noticeable hair shine too.

Rosemary Essential Oil:

Mesmara Rosemary oil allows you to darken grey hair. During the process, it also fights dandruff and hair loss. It is a great treatment to eliminate dryness too. Folks who have blonde hair will see their natural colour darken too. In case you do not want the same and mess up your look, all you need is to mix it with a carrier oil of your choice and then apply it only to the grey areas. The effect will be gradual, and you can carefully increase or decrease the proportion of Rosemary oil.

Read about the benefits of Kalonji oil for hair here.

Natural Dyes

Henna Powder:

Henna powder has been an all-time favourite for naturalists and herbal aficionados. It is one of the most commonly used natural hair dyes. It has a lasting colour and leaves the hair much fluffier and feeling voluminous. Henna in its traditional form has a distinctive shade and suits the Indian diaspora. It can be mixed with a few natural additives like eggs, honey, to make it last longer.

Amla Powder:

Many henna hair dyes come mixed with amla powder. However, the use of Mesmara Amla powder as a paste in itself is an excellent way of preventing greying of hair. The medicinal properties of amla make it one of the best rejuvenating herbs. In the traditional ayurvedic treatment, it is used to fight excess body head, which is another cause of greying hair. Its antioxidants properties neutralize the effect of free radicals thus shielding hair from greying.

Bhringraj Powder:

Regular use of Mesmara Bhringraj powder makes hair grow darker and adds shine to those locks. Bhringraj restores dead hair cells and reduces greying hair. You can use bhringraj powder in a hair mask – mix it with brahmi powder, ama powder, shikakai powder and water to form a paste. Then apply it and wash as usual after 30 mins.

Indigo Powder:

Mesmara IndigHo Powder is one of the best natural hair dyes to make your hair dark brown or black. Though named indigo due to the deep blue pigment in it, application of the indigo powder with henna powder only gives dark brown or black colour to your hair. A fact to note here is that indigo powder in itself may not give you the desired result. You need to apply it either by mixing it with henna powder or after applying henna powder on your hair. Whichever way you choose to apply it, indigo powder gives a deep black/brown colour with a wonderful shine. A mixture of pure henna and indigo powder will give you different shades of brown depending on the ratio of each powder used. More the henna, darker brown it gets.

Black Tea / Coffee Brew:

Everyone is aware that black tea and coffee are rich in antioxidants. Not everyone know that they are also used to dye hair. You need to brew them a bit more than what you’d need to drink it. Also, the amount of tea/coffe required to brew is about 3-4 tablespoons. This just ensures the colours are into the brew. Filter the brew and apply it to your hair. Be careful not to apply to your scalp; you do not want to dye your scalp.

Read our Natural Treatments for Hair Loss and Premature Greying.

While natural hair dyes are one way of reducing greying of hair, internal well being is also very important for healthy hair. One of the main reasons these days for the early onset of greying is stress. The pigment melanin, that is naturally produced in our body is responsible to maintain the shade of our hair. When people suffer from extreme stress, our body secretes some hormones to manage stress. These hormones, in turn, impact the production of the melanin. And more sooner than later you see grey strands. Meditation is a mind detox. Once you can really blank out yourself for about 30 mins, you will start thinking clearly and you will find your stress levels go down.

Mesmara aspires for the holistic wellbeing of everyone. Leading a healthy lifestyle and using natural products not only helps in building a healthy body, but also a healthy environment around to live in. Click here to check Mesmara products.

Kalonji Oil – Uses and Benefits

For those who have not heard about Kalonji, it is internationally known as Nigella seeds. Nigella sativa plant, on which the seeds grow, is an annual flowering plant native to south and southwest Asia. The plant grows with finely divided leaves; the leaf segments are narrowly linear to threadlike. The flowers are white, yellow, pink, pale blue or pale purple, with five to 10 petals (see picture above). Kalonji is also referred to as Black Seed or Black Cumin. The Kalonji Seeds and the Kalonji Oil extracted from the seeds are both highly beneficial.

Kalonji is no stranger to the Indian and Middle-eastern cuisines. It is an interesting spice used to add a distinctive peppery flavour to food, mainly curries, stir-fried vegetables and dal.  Traditional bread preparations and a lot of savouries such as samosas, kachori, mathri etc have Kalonji seeds as taste enhancers.

Kalonji is also widely known to have many health benefits. It is used from times unknown and even has a reference in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. Apparently, it was said that it could heal anything. Even our Indian Ayurvedic practices have abundant mention of Kalonji and Kalonji oil usage.

Benefits of Kalonji Oil in Hair Care

After a good shower as your hair dries up, apply kalonji oil on your scalp and massage it well. Regular use of this oil prevents hair fall. It also helps in the blood circulation around the roots which make them stronger. Also, it prevents premature greying of hair. The oil also comes as a blessing when you want your hair dye last longer. You should mix it with henna, this helps in darkening of the colour and you get to cover grey hair naturally.

Another lesser known benefit of Kalonji oil is to reduce frizziness of hair. This effects in the softening of hair like a conditioner.

Uses of Kalonji Oil in Skincare

Kalonji oil has antibacterial properties and is anti-inflammatory. Hence, it is helpful in managing acne on the face. As you stay regular with its application, it reduces the recurrence of your acne too. In order to get results, clean up your face with some lime juice. Gently massage your skin with small amounts of the oil. You can also indulge in exotic Mesmara face packs to exfoliate your skin. Mesmara offering includes face packs such as kaolin clay, coconut shell charcoal powder, and dead sea mud face pack.

A great moisturiser which while lubricating the skin, it goes on to alleviate it from any irritations. A regular use will guarantee you soft and supple skin to be proud off.

You can use this to treat the usual areas where skin dries up and cracks. Like the elbows, knees and heels as well.

Kalonji Oil for Managing Breathing Problems

A common usage of Kalonji Oil is to manage breathing problems. Kalonji oil is very pungent and when inhaled it works as a bronchodilator. It causes the bronchial to widen and allows patients with breathing trouble to breathe better. People suffering from asthma can use Kalonji oil to relieve their problems. You can also cure blocked nose during the bouts of common cold. One can pour a few drops on to a hanky or any clean cloth. The fumes of the evaporating oil can then be inhaled and it frees up a clogged nose.

Kalonji Oil for Managing Diabetes

Little do folks know Kalonji Oil also contains insulinotropic properties. In simple words, it helps manage insulin production and helps fight the effects of diabetes. A few drops in green or black tea can help get the desired management required. However, such administrations should be done only under the guidance of a certified practitioner.

Kalonji Oil for Stomach Ailments

Another interesting benefit of Kalonji oil is that it helps soothe stomach from irritations and lesions in the inner walls. This gastro-protective nature reduces the gastric acid secretion and in turn, reduces acidity. It also protects from ulcerations in the stomach and intestine walls.

Kalonji Oil for Controling High BP and Cholesterol Levels

Kalonji Oil with hot water can help alleviate high blood pressure. However, you need to supplement with a prescribed diet and an active fitness regime. The oil is also medically proven to reduce the cholesterol level in patients.

Not just the ancient scriptures, there is a lot of research and many studies that reinforce the benefits of Kalonji oil. A unique spice offering holistic healing if taken in the right amount and using the right methods. You must try genuine products that are pure and organic. Do share your experiences as you start using it.

Mesmara’s Kalonji Oil is therapeutic grade. Nigella seeds using cold-pressing method. It is also available on Amazon and Flipkart. Buy today to enjoy the benefits of this ‘miracle cure’.