The water from our spa/bath, which is where the shower is and thus where we wash our hair, goes directly to the banana circle so I am always on the lookout for hair cleaning products that lack any of the chemical nasties found in many commercial hair shampoos. Imagine my surprise though, when I saw on a website (India.com) that you can use hibiscus flowers as a hair shampoo! This was the first I have heard of it, but the idea sounded pretty good as, according to the website - “This mixture will not only clean your hair but will also treat dandruff and hair fall. Hibiscus also seals the hair cuticles and helps in detangling your hair. Your hair will be super soft and moisturized.” Winner!
I have since seen ‘Hibiscus Flower Extract’ mentioned in such glowing terms as an ingredient in herbal hair washes and as it turns out we have a decent sized hibiscus shrub in our front garden. So free, environmentally friendly hair wash? I had to give it a go!
The instructions for use were pretty sketchy and I was not sure exactly how many hibiscus flowers would be required for a hair wash. As it happened the one flower that I had worked out pretty well for my short hair, but if you had long hair I suspect 2 to 3 flowers might be needed per wash. To prepare the flower I removed the petals and placed them in our small mortar and pestle, added a bit of water (probably 20 to 30ml) and then mulched them up with the pestle.
It didn’t tale that long to prepare my hibiscus shampoo, so I climbed in the shower, wet my hair down and then grabbed a handful of hibiscus (goo? Slime?) shampoo and applied it to my hair. I must say it was not the most pleasant of experiences. It seemed to make my hair clag (technical term) together. I was able to rub it through fairly well and then I washed it all off.
It was a bit disconcerting when a lump of hibiscus goo, which was on the back of my neck and I didn’t realise it, proceeded to slide from its hiding place, down my back, down onto my left leg and thence to the floor. Interesting.
Anyway, this caused me to look at the floor of the spa and the reddish lumps scattered around, making it look like a scene from ‘Psycho’! It wouldn’t have been as much of an issue but Linda had spent considerable time and effort that day making the spa bath all spick and span. So rather than re-do ‘Psycho’ for real, I washed as much as I could down to the banana circle and then pulled out the rest to compost.
In fact, once my hair dried the hibiscus flower shampoo did seem to have done a reasonable job and my hair did feel fresh and clean, plus on top of that it gave my bald spot a lustrous shine so the hibiscus shampoo was worth using for that alone! If you have access to some hibiscus flowers, give it ago!
