This blog post (and accompanying video) marks the start of an experiment.
My experiment to test whether amla can help to prevent grey hair.
Why am I doing this? Because I want to see for myself whether it works.
What is amla?
Amla is also known as Indian Gooseberry and it comes from the Amalaki plant. It is known as a super berry because it is jam packed with nutrients. It is one of many Ayurvedic herbs that have been used medicinally for thousands of years.
Amla is thought to contain the highest known concentrations of vitamin C in the plant kingdom and even when processed, it retains very high levels of vitamin C.
Amla can be bought in three different forms: as the fresh green berry (if you’re lucky enough to find it), as dried amla chunks and in powder form.
Interestingly, although the berry is green, amla powder is a dull brown colour and when you make amla oil using the powder, the oil has a greenish hue to it.
Amla powder can be used to prepare an amla paste or amla oil.
What are the benefits of amla?
Apart from an impressive list of health benefits, Amla has a host of benefits for the hair and scalp.
Amla:
- strengthens the scalp and hair
- stimulates hair growth
- reduces hair loss
- can be used to prevent or treat dandruff
- can be used to prevent or treat dry scalp conditions
- reduces premature pigment loss from hair
- prevents greying
And I’m particularly interested in the last one.
How am I going to test amla on my Sisterlocks?
The Sisterlocks-friendly version to use is amla oil – and I am going to use the oil because a paste would get stuck in the Sisterlocks – and who wants that?
I’m going to cover, in detail in a forthcoming video and blog post, how to make amla oil. I’ll provide the full list of ingredients and quantities and the implements. I will be using the infusion method and storing the oil and amla powder mix in an amber Mason jar for a month, but as I say, more about that in a forthcoming video.
I have an amla oil I prepared before and have used inconsistently, but as part of my experiment, I will be applying amla oil to my scalp every week for 6 months.
But what about the henna?
If you’ve been reading this blog or seen any of my videos, you will know that I love using henna on my hair and have been using it for a few years. But in order to test amla fully, I’m going to stop using henna while I’m testing the amla oil.
I will report back in 6 months – so stay tuned for the amla oil results!
Watch the video on YouTube.
