It’s time, it’s time, it’s time! Time to reveal those amla oil results!
What is amla and why am I doing this?
Amla – also known as Indian gooseberry has many benefits for hair. I wanted to check out those benefits and see the results for myself, and so I made my own amla oil using amla powder in a selection of oils and applied the DIY amla oil to my scalp (all over) once a week and to my hairline around 5 times per week for 6 months.
How long did I use the amla oil for?
When I started – Nov 2020 and it’s now May 2021 – so I’ve been doing this for 6 months.
What I did – weekly scalp oiling with amla oil and around 5 times per week, applied amla oil to front hairline
The look
The amla oil is a light oil, due to the mixture of light oils I used. It has a greenish hue and blends nicely into the scalp and hair.
The smell
Has a smell of berries – with hints of the peppermint and rosemary essential oils. It is pleasant without being overpowering when freshly applied.
The feel
Yes it feels oily (because it is an oil!) but not overly so. It is a wonderfully light oil.
My thoughts….
Strengthens – yes, my hair feels stronger
Stimulates growth – while I can’t prove this as my hair would have grown anyway and taking into account shrinkage, I believe the growth has not been adversely affected. So a semi yes for this one!
Reduces hair loss – yes! I have not noticed any hair loss, in other words, I have not noticed the fine hairs that sometimes shed into the sink or bath when I wash my hair.
Prevents & treats dandruff and other dry scalp conditions – a resounding yes for this one too! In addition I do not have an itchy scalp at all. I have previously had a very dry scalp and overall my scalp tends to be on the dry side, but the amla oil has helped with that. It now feels wonderfully nourished.
Prevents greying/premature pigment loss from hair
I’m not fully sold on this one!
In this video you can clearly see the greys and so can I. The question is, would I have had more grey if I hadn’t used the amla oil? It’s difficult to say, as I don’t have extensive grey anyway.
In terms of my results, I would say that the amla oil has not prevented the grey hair. It may well have or be helping to reduce pigment loss from the hair, but unless I were to do a more scientific experiment, which would be very hard to do, I can’t say that either.
The issue is that while there is an overall advancement towards greying, the hair on my scalp is greying at different rates. So there is more grey in the crown area and some in the front and sides, but even in those areas, some sections will be greying faster than others.
Another thing to note is that grey hair grows faster than hair that hasn’t turned grey. So the only way to tell if the pigment loss was being reduced would be to test a bunch of hair strands that are identical in terms of state of greying, greying patterns and greying progression. Almost impossible to do, in my opinion.
Other benefits I’ve noticed
While the amla oil leaves my scalp and locs moisturised, I found it to be a light oil (due to the mix of oils I used), and even though I applied it regularly (all over my scalp once per week and almost daily to the edges), I didn’t notice any build-up at all. In my view, this amla oil mix doesn’t clog the pores.
I noticed that when I apply it, my scalp feels refreshed and nourished. It’s rich enough to work as a once-per-week only application, but it works when used more regularly too and does not leave an overly greasy feel, there is no unpleasant residue and there is no build-up.
Plus – and this is a bonus I feel – it doesn’t feel horrible and sticky after a workout, even when my scalp becomes very sweaty.
Would I recommend amla and am I going to continue to use it?
Yes I would recommend it for all the benefits it offers and I am going to keep using it because even though it does not appear to reduce greys to any noticeable degree, it has so many other benefits that I want to keep enjoying those benefits – while also using henna. And as you’ll see I do add amla to my henna mix.
What would I do differently if I were to do this challenge again?
I would apply it to half my hair only and just use regular oil on the other half to compare the results. But I’m learning and it has been an interesting test to run.
Let me know in the comments. As I mentioned, these are my results, and if you do try this, your results may be different, for example, if you use different oils, or simply because our hair is unique.
