Hibiscus Flower - Part 4 - Hibiscus Hair Tonic

I typically cover my white with henna/indigo but I want to try something different.  Also, I am going to pick 20 to 30 hibiscus flowers as called for in the recipe and dry them myself.  This color treatment is suppose to be great for covering greys and providing a rich deep dark colour to your hair. I found this recipe for a hibiscus treatment for both color and conditioning:

"Suitable for those with dark red, brown and/or black hair.

Uses:
1. To strengthen the hair from the papila root to tip
2. To cover premature greys
3. To immediately seal the hair cuticles, stop hair breakage and repair split ends

Preparation time required:
10 to 15 minutes

Over low heat, warm 450-500 ml of water
Add 20-30 dried Organic Hibiscus flowers
Simmer, making sure NOT to let the mixture boil or evapourate - too much heat will destroy the goodness in the Hibiscus.
Remove from heat
The water would have turned a dark purply-pink.
Cool and store in a clean dry jar overnight
In the morning, wash your hair with our Babassu Shampoo Bar, rinse, and then instead of using your regular commercial conditioner use the Hibiscus infusion to condition your hair and scalp.

Do not rinse out.

Cover hair with a towel or cling film.
Leave the infusion on your hair for at least 45 minutes to an hour.
Rinse until all of the colour is gone.
Your hair and scalp will look & feel soft & moisturised.
..and your greys will be naturally dyed & nourished..

Source: Anita Grant

The Best Hair Dryer Ever

This is the kind of "blow dryer" I remember my mother's haridresser using, only my mom faced away from and under the blower so that the heat blowed on her hair and not her face (duh!).  The heat wasn't real hot but it blowed it dry enough for my mother's hair to be pressed and curled.   Oh yeah, only one dryer per customer was needed.

 I am fifty-five years old and when I was a child there were no blow dryers or hood dryers for the home. My mother would wash my hair in the kitchen sink then make me go outside with a comb and dry it in the sun. The good old reliable sun -Nature's lamp and heater.  It's free, it's good for you in small doses and it's everywhere.  The only problem is supply - it can be very iffy in certain places and certain times of the year.  If it was cold or rainy she would open the oven door and  place a small stool in  front of it where I sat combing my hair.

Although air-drying is the least-damaging, hence the "best" method of drying hair, practically speaking it may not be the best if it means wet hair when you leave home.   Indirect heat like a hood dryer helps to speed up the drying process without causing damage.  Both methods are simplistic but when compared to the blow dryer which blasts intense heat up to 400 degrees a mere inch away from the hair, they almost seems like the common sense thing to do.  I put my blow dryer down in 2009 and have never used it once!

I often dry my hair in a warm room, next to a heater or a fireplace.  Once I set my waves I let my hair dry without touching or combing it.