Ayurvedic regimen help

justthinking

I was inspired to start using Ayurvedic products because of "Curly Proverbz". The only problem is, I don't understand her routine. The instructions in the videos are all over the place and other people seem to be confused also based off of the comments.

Is anyone familiar with her routine or able to understand the steps in her videos? I have made the products (Tea, gloss, oils & mask) but I don't know where to start and what to use next.

I would really be greatfull to anyone who could help me figure this one out.

bomega

Welcome to nc.com. I've never followed Curly Proverbz, but part of why it might be confusing is that there kind of isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to ayurvedic formulations. In addition, they can be used multiple ways according to your need and inclination.

Without knowing any of her recipes:
1) A tea can be used as a rinse. It can be used before shampoo/condition or after. You can leave it in after pouring it on or rinse with water only. You can leave it just for a minute or use it like a deep treatment (leaving for 20-30 minutes or longer) then rinse and/or wash out.

2) A gloss can be used as a basic conditioning treatment (leave for 2-3 minutes) or a deep treatment (leave for 20-30 minutes, or longer). Again, you can just rinse out, or shampoo/condition after.

3) A mask is usually left at least 20-30 minutes for it to be effective but can be left longer. Again, you can rinse only or shampoo/condition after. (If it is grainy, you may have to shampoo all the powder out.)

Oils are usually a pre-treatment or a post-treatment. You can use the oil as a pre/post treatment to regular shampoo/conditioner. If you use an oil as a pre-treatment, your mask should probably have a cleansing powder to it (shikakai and/or aritha...the two together are great.). If your mask has amla in it, it could benefit from a post treatment from a coating oil. Actually, pretty my any ayurvedic treatment could benefit from a post-treatment with oil. If you use a post treatment, I leave the oil overnight (or at least 1 hour) then shampoo/condition.

I don't know...you might be overthinking it. There are a lot of ways you can use ayurvedic treatments. Admittedly, I tend toward a minimalist approach, so I don't have direct experience with a lot of the ideas out there.

justthinking

Thank you so much bomega! That is what I needed. I just couldn't understand all of that from the many videos I had to watch. I definitely feel more confident about this process and you're right, I might be overthinking all of this.

I have another question. As far as shampooing, the only thing I see on her channel about that is clay washes. Do you think that would be sufficient? For example, one of the recipes calls for Shikakai & aloe vera juice.

bomega

Hi,

I honestly don't know if clay washes are necessary after an ayurvedic treatment. I think the traditional thinking is that in general, is water rinsing is enough, even for a non-cleansing treatment like brahmi or amla. I only once did a rhassoul clay wash (on it own...not part of a ayurvedic treatment), and my hair felt nice enough, but I didn't think it was very special or anything. I left a sort of matte-look, which I didn't like too much, but didn't hate or anything. I think I would have had to do it a couple more times to decide if I liked it or not.

So, I think if you want to do a shikakai-aloe juice treatment, water rinsing might be enough too, because remember shikakai is a cleansing powder (the original shampoo powder) and aloe juice is conditioning. You would probably be fine just applying...leave on maybe 1 hour, then rinse with water, then either apply some oil, or just call it a day.

Now, I think the most basic traditional mix for curly hair is shikakai-amla applied to hair pre-pooed with coconut oil. Rinse with water, then, a post-poo of either seseme oil or coconut oil. You can vary the pre and post oil with any ayurvedic oil (amla oil/those brami/bringraj oil infusions...whatever) to see what you like. Recently I've seen recommendations for shikakai-aritha-amla, and that might be because the modern taste for hair is less oily, and the aritha adds some clarifying to the mix. (Traditionally, Indian women oiled their hair before AND after this treatment, then braided it. This oily braid was the fashion.)

To explain how minimalist my process is, I should say I came to ayurvedic solutions because I needed to start covering the gray. I learned about the "two-step henndigo" treatment to get black hair (my hair is naturally brown/black). All of my adapting and experimenting have been to optimize that, largely because frankly although I completely adore the results, it is quite a production. That optimizing is:

1) I used to use lemon juice for the dye release of the henna. This led to a flattening of my curls to the level I didn't like. I found out that amla is often used to prevent that, and can also be used to dye release the henna. This turned out to be true for me, and I lovelovelove henna/amla for my hair now. However, since adding amla to the mix, I have to do a post-poo for which I currently use seseme oil (a coating oil). Then shampoo/condition the next day to wash out the oil. I use the Alaffia formulas in my signature, and as a side note, I highly recommend Alaffia's original line shampoos, which are based on African Black Soap. The matching conditioners seem to work really well with them.

2) In order to save some money, I started doing roots-only treatment of henndigo. and thought I could further extend the henna, by trying out some of the other powders I had lying around from abandoned experiments of days gone by (note: abandoned due to laziness.) I started adding 1T. of brahmi/bringraj blend (3:1 ratio) to my henna mix and have a subtle conditioning effect that I like.

3) I started adding 1t. shikakai to my indigo mix because it seems to help it rinse out better.

4) I also started adding about 1/4-1/2 t. neem to both my henna and indigo mixes because it is said to help with irritation. I think it does somewhat. However, this gets me to my real reason for shampoo/condition after treatment. Both the henna and indigo cause some minor itchiness/irritation, and shampooing (with my regular shampoo) considerably alleviates that. The sites all say don't shampoo for better stain, but I can't....its too irritating.

5) I once did an amla only treatment to pre-pooed hair, and my hair was left too oily, but I still got some curl enhancement. In the future, I want to try amla only to dry non-oiled hair to see if I like it.

So....that was the very long-winded way to tell you that the traditional method is actually to do water rinsing only. However, you may find you prefer something more. As for recipes, I would encourage you to explore what works best for you. I just checked a couple of Curly Proverbz videos. She really had some gorgeous hair. But really I think its better to figure out what your hair needs rather than what a youtuber thinks is a good idea. The other reason for the minimalist approach (besides laziness) is to see what effect the herbs have on your hair, and whether you like it or not. Mixing up complicated mixes that work for someone else may not give you that knowledge.

Anisa.g

She broke it down in her recent video
Week 1 
Clay wash 
Moisturizing deep conditioner
Leave in
Use 3× a week
Oil scalp 3x a week

Week 2
Pre poo with oil and scalp massage
Shampoo or co wash
Apply gloss
Apply leave in
Use tea 3× a week
Oil scalp 3× a week