Hi guys, this is Aarushi, the founder of Blend It Raw Apothecary. If you follow me on my personal profile Glitter Naturally, you would know that I used to have long hair until I cut them soon after lockdown out of boredom. And you know this drill, once we chop off our long hair to experiment, we start regretting our decision. Even though I am loving this low maintenance short hair life, I am also missing having long hair. So, I am going to take proper care for my hair nourishment from now on so that we can get back the length and of course the hair health. This time I planned to create this Hair Growth Challenge where I will be sharing hair care tips, DIYs for champi oil and hair masks on a regular basis and you guys will have to join me in everything I do for promoting healthy hair growth and mainly for GOOD HAIR HEALTH. In addition to this, I have planned to include one superfood too for everyday consumption which we generally ignore. This will not only be great for hair but also our health. I am doing this as it will really help you all stay regular with your haircare ritual without the need of incorporating too many expensive hair masks or oils. For the November Hair Growth Challenge, I have chosen Moringa as my main ingredient for consumption and DIY Hair masks & oil.

Why Moringa?

Moringa Leaves are rich in Vitamin A, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium- all of which are great for hair growth when consumed and applied topically. If you all don't know, Moringa is nothing but our humble sehjan/drumstick tree. We are going to use moringa leaves powder for this challenge. If you have a tree near your home, you can choose to use fresh leaves.

If not, you can get this Moringa Powder.

Please note: Herbs when eaten respond differently for every individual. Moringa Oil extracted from the seeds of moringa tree is rich in antioxidants and vitamin A and E. The oleic acid in moringa oil helps to strengthen the hair and retain moisture. It’s antibacterial properties can help keep dandruff and/or dry scalp away as well. Moringa has one of the highest naturally occurring levels of behenic acid, a common ingredient in hair conditioners which implies that it will also help in hair softening.

You can get this Moringa Oil.

Other than these two ingredients, we will only be using kitchen ingredients.

What to do for this Haircare Challenge?

It can sound too much work but once you start doing this regularly, all of this will become a part of your ritual.

• Scalp Massage with Moringa Oil once a week (midweek)
• A simple hair mask with Moringa Powder on weekend
• Hair Rinse after shampoo
• Protecting hair styles every single day (braids to be precise). I will also be doing buns on some days.
• No heating tools
• No hot water hair wash
• Daily consumption of Moringa Leaf Powder

I will be measuring the length of my hair from starting to ending of this challenge. If you want, you can too but just a reminder- while you will DEFINITELY see a difference in hair health (shine, texture and frizz), speed or amount of hair growth varies a lot from individual to individual.

Some additional tips to follow throughout the month for Healthy Hair

-Keep your hair tied in brainds. Why? When your hair is neatly tied in a braid, there is less hair breakage, as opposed to when you leave it loose. If you cannot keep them tied for the entire day, do tie them when you go to bed. If your hair is super dry/rough, apply few drops of Moringa Oil to hair ends and then braid them. - No hot water for hair wash: Hot water strips your hair of natural oils, especially if the temperature is too high. This will leave your hair with no natural, valuable oil and leave it looking dry and brittle. Hot water dries out scalp, which can lead to itchiness and dandruff. Luke warm water is fine. - No heating tools for styling. Let your hair be as they are. Since this challenge is over, I have complied the DIYs we followed for haircare on this post. Join the next challenge: Hair Growth Challenge Part 2