The Gray Area

THE GRAY AREA

Jo Francks MH 

There are many herbs that have been used as hair rinses.  I think the one people have been most interested in from the classes I have taught is the one to get rid of the gray hair.

Dr. Christopher promised that if you rinse your hair with yarrow tea two or three times a week, within a year you would have your natural hair color back. That’s quite a promise, so I decided to put it to the test.  In February I started using yarrow tea to rinse my hair.  I make a quart of the tea by boiling a quart of distilled water and adding 2 handfuls of dried yarrow leaf then cover and let it steep for 30 minutes.  The tea is stored in a quart jar in the fridge and will keep for about a week.  It takes about a half cup of tea to rinse the hair after it has been washed and the tea is not rinsed out.  A plastic bottle with a squirt lid works well for applying the tea.  Squirt it on the head and massage it in to the scalp.  I have been using it every day and so far I can tell that I have less gray hair now than I did when I started. 

The progress has been slow, but it’s the comments from other people that are the biggest clue that it is working.  I see my hair every day and so does my family so the change is not as obvious to us.  Some of the comments I have heard are “Your hair is getting darker,” and “You’re looking younger and younger all the time.”  The best one is when the hair dresser was cutting my hair and he said “Jo you’re really lucky that you don’t have much gray in your hair.”  This is enough incentive to keep it up and I even have my husband using it.  I’ve also noticed that I’m not losing as much hair.

Not only do herbal teas help to get rid of gray hair, they can also be used to bring out natural highlights.

Chamomile is used to bring out the highlights of blond hair.

Sage is used for darker shades and henna for auburn hair.

Rosemary is good for dark hair and it stimulates the roots to prevent hair falling out and to stimulate new growth. It is also used to prevent dandruff.

Nettle tea is an excellent hair tonic and will bring back the natural color of the hair. Use as the last rinse when shampooing.  Make a cup of the tea by steeping a teaspoonful in a cup of boiling water for thirty minutes.  Dip the fingers in and thoroughly massage the scalp.  This will cure dandruff.  It is well to boil the leaves in vinegar for this purpose. (Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss, Pg 161)