Homemade Aloe Vera Gel Shine, Moisture and Volume Boost Hair Masks: Very Easy

To know how to extract pure and fresh Aloe Vera Gel directly from the plant, check my article HERE. The internet has more than enough information on how to use this gel, right from incorporating it into food to making skin care and personal care recipes out of it. I will here be briefly sharing with you some of the uses I have made of this gel and my experience.

Click Here to read How to Extract Aloe Vera Gel at home

Pure Aloe Vera Gel Shine and Moisture Boost Hair Mask

This Hair Mask can be used before shampooing or after shampooing as per your choice. This was suggested by one of my blog readers Pratibha Rangavajulla, who has great interest in reaping benefits from natural and organic products easily available around us.

Aloe Vera Gel after Shampoo hair Mask (As used by Pratibha):

Step 1: After shampoo, either towel dry or gently wring out excess water from your hair. Spread the Aloe Vera Gel into scalp and hair length and leave on for minimum 10 minutes.  Rinse off with plain water. 

Step 2: Run a few drops of Jojoba Oil through your towel dried hair, just like a hair serum. This will give immense shine and softness to your hair and will act as a great styling agent too. As per Pratibha, whenever she does this, her hair dry to a salon shine finish.

Aloe Vera Gel Pre-Shampoo Hair Mask:

When I first used pure Aloe Vera gel in the hair, I felt that the plant smell remained in my hair for one day. So I decided to use this pre-shampooing. Blended Aloe Vera gel has the same consistency as a shampoo and when it touches the scalp, it fluffs up a little and easily spreads into the scalp. 

Rub into scalp/hair roots just like shampoo and use the remaining liquid to cover hair length. Use lavishly and leave on for minimum 10 min or more as per your choice. Rinse off with plain water (warm or cold). Shampoo as usual. You will notice immense shine and a very soothing sensation in the scalp.

MY EXPERIENCE: 

I had very sensitive scalp which used to itch and burn on using hair color. I have been using this hair mask some 4 days before I color my hair and within 2 uses, my scalp is 98% healed. I applied color yesterday and there was no burning except for a very small area in the scalp. It gives a very soothing and cooling effect and is superb for summers especially. The scalp immediately feels fresh and all itching/burning is gone. My hair got an immense moisture and shine boost.

Aloe Vera Gel Shine and Volume Boost Hair Mask:

Use the same hair mask as above with the juice of half a lemon added to it. This will be comparatively runny than pure aloe vera gel and will drip a little. So wear an old shirt or shower cap. I kept for 10-15 minutes and it gave not only shine but immense volume to my hair. I did not use a conditioner nor Jojoba oil since I color my hair and the oil wears off the color. 

People with freshly colored hair do NOT use the lemon as it will wash out some of the color. But you can use it a few days before you color/touch up next.

Note:

1. Filter out the plant fibres in the gel using a wide-pore sieve otherwise the fibres dry up on the hair strands and it becomes quite a task to remove them.
2. You will not feel any difference while your hair are wet. Once water dries out of hair, you will notice the shine and volume.

ALTERNATE USES:

If you don’t want to use it as a hair mask, you can mix the gel with any shampoo of your choice right at the time of shampooing. Alternatively, you can mix the pure gel with your hair conditioner right at that time and use it.

Aloe Vera Gel Other Hair benefits:

People suffering from excessive hair loss/thinning hair or any scalp infections will also benefit from these hair masks as Aloe Vera promotes hair growth and also helps regeneration of hair in bald areas on the scalp. 

You can add a few drops of any essential oils of your choice to the hair mask. The internet is full of information on this so go and research on more uses.

Caution: 

Like with everything else, there can be a small fraction of people to whom this plant may not suit. I have very sensitive skin and did not feel any irritation. While extracting the gel, sometimes I feel a slight scratchy feeling in my palms similar to what you feel when chopping lady fingers or any sticky vegetable. But it went away as soon as I washed my hands with water. If this gel does not suit you, please do NOT use it.

Vidal Sassoon Premium Color Care Treatment Review

This is a review of Vidal Sassoon (VS Sasoon) Premium Color Care Treatment for color treated hair. Vidal Sassoon is known for its salon quality hair products, hair styling accessories, hair coloring and also runs the Sassoon Academy that offers courses for hairdressers. (Article Updated on Apr 18, 2013).

This brand offers many products in the color care series but only the shampoo, the conditioner and this treatment cream were launched in India in 2012. When I bought this Vidal Sassoon Premium Color Care Treatment, there were no reviews available, but the idea of applying a cream to my hair excited me to try this out. This is the first hair treatment I have ever used and I have finished one tube. Here's the updated review.

Vidal Sassoon (VS Sassoon) Premium Color Care Treatment

Price: INR 525. After a year of launch, prices have come down and many online stores are offering it at 50% off

Quantity: 180 gms (non-standard size packing)

Shelf Life: 36 months from Mfg Date

Make: Vidal Sassoon is a Japanese brand but the products are now made by Procter & Gamble Thailand.

Color: Off white with a hint of pink

Fragrance: Mild, a little soapy

BRAND CLAIMS AS MENTIONED ON THE ONLINE STORE:

The foundation for beautiful hair. Color Care creates salon like experience. Luxury bouquet fragrance enhances luxurious feel while spreading premium floral scent. Combination of Amino Salon Essence and dual surfactant technology for a beautiful finish. It repairs chemical damage. Color Care Treatment deposit on the hair provide coating and smoothes the cuticles giving hair shine and helps to protect color.

I had bought Vidal Sassoon Color Care Shampoo and this Premium COlor Care Treatment tube from medplusbeauty.com. Never tried the conditioner from this range.

USAGE INSTRUCTIONS:

Usage Instruction on the pack were very poor and unclear: After shampoo and conditioner, spread onto wet hair after lightly squeezing out excess water. Massage the product onto your hair, down to the hair tips.

Instructions not helpful because:

1. It is not mentioned whether it is safe to to be applied near hair roots since that’s where you touch up your hair color. So I have never used it on the scalp.
2. The first time I used it as suggested on the pack. My hair remained very wet for hours and the cream just settled on my clothes and the back of my neck. Finally I had to wrap my hair in towel to absorb excess moisture and wasted the cream.
3. The pack should have clearly specified that this is a leave-in hair treatment. Since it has no instructions about rinsing off, I leave it in and do not wash it off.

HOW TO USE:

After wash, keep hair wrapped in towel for till excess water is absorbed. Apply when hair is still wet but not dripping. Squeeze out and rub palms together to spread the cream. Run the palms through your hair length with fingers spread like claws. Once all hair is covered, rub the palms on the hair to wipe off any remaining cream.

For long hair, bend head forward with hair hanging in the front and do this, so you can apply it as near the roots as possible. Longer hair need more cream. I am not sure if you should use a hair dryer after using this cream, so I have always let it dry naturally.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH VADAL SASSOON PREMIUM COLOR CARE TREATMENT

This hair treatment brought new life to my colored hair. For the first time in so many years, I could actually see the color on my hair and it felt beautiful. It did enhance my hair color and made my color last longer. 

I got more time in between touch ups and enjoyed the lower maintenance as compared to the past. This treatment kept my color treated hair in sufficiently good condition and I skipped on the conditioner most times (though it spreads better and you need less quantity on conditioned hair).

While I enjoyed the radiance it gave to my hair, problem started arising when the shampoo started showing its effect. I ended up with a highly sensitive, itchy and burning scalp, and lost almost 50% of my beautiful hair within 2 months. You can read the Vidal Sassoon Color Care Shampoo review HERE.

So I stopped using the shampoo and continued with this color care treatment with my new Organic Surge Color Protect Shampoo. That brought down the hairfall, but after I stopped using this cream altogether, my hair fall also stopped altogether.

The other thing I realized over continuous usage is that this cream just forms a protective coating on your colored hair, and the coating withers off in just 1-2 days if you use a tight toothed comb. It comes off as lint and makes your comb really dirty after every combing session, which I disliked. Since the cream comes off so quickly with friction, how can it really protect your hair, unless you wash your hair and reapply every second day?

I finished my remaining tube by using it once in a month or so and have mot repurchased this. While the shampoo was a real poison for my hair, this cream wasn't that harmful but after a year, I have realized I am better off without it than with it.

THE PLUSES:

1. Noticeably enhanced hair color immediately after application. The color lasts longer.
2. Makes hair very soft and smooth
3. Not a hint of stickiness. Once it is absorbed, hair look totally natural and have a healthy shine.
4. Leaves each hair strand separate and you can style them easily as you want.
5. Gives good volume and bounce to hair.

THE MINUSES:

1. While you can notice your enhanced hair color immediately, takes some 12-18 hours for the other results (smoothness, shine etc.) to start showing. So apply in advance if you have a function to attend the next day.
2. Leaves a lot of lint and grit in my comb and hair brush. The cream coating on the hair withers off in 3 days with friction/combing. Need to wash hair at that stage else it becomes a little hard to comb.
3. The brand claims luxury bouquet premium floral scent, but I found it a little soapy and nothing luxurious.

THE VERDICT:

Interesting concept but I did not like it enough to repurchase.

It is interesting to note that this brand used to be in the US market around 2001-2002 and was chucked off from the US soon after that. 10 years later it launched in India as if it needed new guinea pigs to experiment on, and that too it launched at very steep prices. Ironically, nobody wants to buy this brand again. It is on clearance sale on most online stores and seems it is time to bid it goodbye from India too.