How to Get Gorgeous Hair with Herbs

Herbs are more than just tasty additions to a crock pot stew, or fragrant ingredients in potpourri. They're also the perfect solution if you're seeking healthy, gorgeous hair. Herbs are natural, gentle and inexpensive. There's no one shampoo on the market that has the same ability as herbs to stimulate the scalp, add shine and body, get rid of dandruff, reduce sun damage and even help prevent hair loss.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Mix up a nice all-purpose herbal hair rinse to repair damaged hair and promote growth. Pour a cup of hot water over a teaspoon of linden flowers, steep for 10 minutes, then strain. Stir in two teaspoons lemon juice. Massage the rinse into the scalp and leave on without rinsing. Air or towel dry hair.
2. Banish dandruff with a mixture of one cup of dried chamomile flowers, one cup of dried, chopped burdock root, one cup of dried rose petals and two quarts of apple-cider vinegar. Place mixture into a glass jar, seal and seep in a sunny location for two or three weeks. Before using, pour the vinegar through a sieve and wring out the herbs, then filter the vinegar through gauze. Massage 2-4 teaspoons of the mix diluted with equal parts water into the scalp and leave in for about 30 minutes.
3. Try out a rinse that may help prevent hair loss. Pour one cup boiling water over one teaspoon birch leaves and steep until it cools before massaging into scalp. Use on a regular basis. Be careful; birch leaves will darken blond or gray hair.
4. Drink green tea if you're battling male-pattern baldness. The catechins in the tea inhibit the enzymes that convert a male's testosterone into di-hydrotestosterone (DTH), which create an unfriendly environment for hair growth.
5. Go retro -- 17th-century retro that is, with "setting lotion," an herbal tonic used to set a hair style in place. To make a lemon setting lotion, combine two ounces of lemon juice with five drops of rosemary essential oil. Comb into your hair before setting. While this will hold your do and condition your tresses, don't be surprised if it makes your head feel a bit sticky.

Tips & Warnings

• To lighten blond hair, use the all-purpose herbal hair rinse recipe above. Instead of adding the linden flowers, add one teaspoon of chamomile flowers. Pour the water over the flowers, steep until the mixture cools, then strain out the flowers before massaging into scalp.