Sunday May 4, 2008

There are no hard and fast recipes for mixing up shikakai powder, so I ended up washing my hair with it last night in the same way that I would use baking soda, mixing about a tablespoon of powder into half a cup of hot water. The only difference is that a baking soda mixture of this kind can be used immediately, but shikakai needs to soak for at least fifteen minutes. Some people recommend leaving shikakai in for hours, some for fifteen minutes, some for two to five minutes. I am impatient, so of course I left mine in for two minutes before I rinsed it out. It smells kind of earthy, like rhassoul clay. Hurts like hell when you get it in your eyes, but it's great for your skin, and I'm happy to report that my complexion and hair are both glowing. I have only baking soda and regular shampoo to compare shikakai to, but I am happiest with this result. Shikakai seems much more moisturizing than baking soda, because my hair is clean and shiny and soft, without the somewhat poofy quality it gets from the baking soda (baking soda's still better than commercial shampoo, don't get me wrong); I just can't get over this idea that it is the overdrying effect of shampoo that makes hair greasy. It seems so counterintuitive to moisturize your hair to make it free of grease. I don't think I applied the shikakai exactly right; I still have to work on the ratio of powder to water. Some people suggest making a watery paste, others a thick paste, and the directions on the box said to dissolve it in water and then strain out the grains. This is the bad side of having the Internet at my fingertips; plenty of information, but no consensus on that information. I guess the good news is that there isn't really a way to mess it up. If you put shikakai on your hair, cleaning will result.