Hair oiling – the ayurvedic secret to healthy hair growth and balance. Krya shares a testimonial and tells you how .

This post was last updated on July 16, 2022 by Preethi Sukumaran

Sub: Miracle
Hello Preethi & team Krya,
I’m CM from Kerala. I hope you remember my earlier email to you on April 19th 2016. I had written that my hair was dry, frizzy, and was breaking very easily, especially when combing and washing the hair. I was facing a lot of hair loss and I also had severe itchiness on my scalp. I wanted to try your products and wanted to know if I should go for the anti dandruff treatment. Earlier I did a keratin treatment as per a hairstylist recommend to reduce breakage of hair, but it went a total disaster my hair become worse than before. I came to know about Krya a year after my Keratin treatment.))
Along with the product suggestions you asked to go through 2 links of the Krya blogs which explained how SLS and SLeS aggravated the hair and scalp and altered sebum production on hair causing dryness.  
This was a true eye opener for me and helped me find the root cause of my hair problems. On may 20, onwards my problems slowly started to reduce when I received Krya classic hair oil & Krya classic hair wash powder and I started to do  hot oil message once in a week with this .After that I went through a hair cut to remove my treated hair. I also started doing a hot oil massage in parlour with my classic hair oil of Krya just see the results, and I was thrilled with the results ( I’m like oh God my hair is back and I’m really feel grateful to use this product!)
And I know everyone believes in proof. So I’m attaching the pictures of my hair latest version after using Krya’s hair products. My hair has grown in the last few months, it is shiny, thick and healthy and my hair fall has greatly reduced. “CM, Thrissur, Kerala
 

The myth of the shampoo: and no, it does not give you healthy hair
Unlike what synthetic shampoos tell you, using a shampoo and conditioner will not give you healthy or well nourished hair. The purpose of a hair wash product is to cleanse your hair of oil, dead cells and debris. This cleansing has to be done without altering the pH of the scalp and hair, without damaging the delicate cuticular structure of your hair, and without altering the working of your sebaceous glands.
However, time and again we have seen how this delicate balance of the hair and scalp is shattered repeatedly by the use of a synthetic shampoo. The primary surfactants in any synthetic shampoo (SLS and SLeS) are extremely harsh, synthetic degreasing agents developed for industrial cleaning.

Here’s the crucial point here: even if you are buying a SLS free or sulphate free synthetic shampoo, you are still buying a shampoo whose primary ingredient is a commercial surfactant.
A commercial surfactant is designed to do one thing and one thing only – remove oil and remove dirt. By the nature of this format which is application plus immediately rinsing, it is untrue to expect any delivery of nutrition, health or well being.

Yet time and time again, all commercial shampoos tell you that you simply need to apply and rinse off for good hair health. In the short 5 – 10 minutes that you spend in the shower, with most of the shampoo’s composition being the synthetic surfactant, how are you supposed to satisfactorily give your hair this supposed health?

Yes, all of us buy into this shampoo hair health myth because of a single reason: silicones / artificial conditioning agents.

The irony is that silicones were first added to shampoos in order to smoothen out hair that was damaged by the harshness of shampoos. As shampoos started out being alkaline, they tampered with hair’s structure and caused damage in the cuticular structure leaving hair drier, frizzier and full of static. Silicones and other conditioning agents and pH adjusting agents were added to shampoo formulations to smoothen over these defects. Please note the use of the word “smoothen over” – the silicones do not heal or repair but simply added an artificial smooth layer over the damaged hair that mislead you into believing that your hair is actually healthy.

So when we begin washing and over washing our hair with a synthetic shampoo, our hair feels smooth and shiny because of the silicones in the shampoo. The hair also looks glossy for a while and we are fooled into believing that our hair is healthy and full of life.
Soon, the excessive oiliness on the scalp, the thinning of the hair, the fact that the hair breaks easily and the hairfall now make us understand that the smoothness and glossiness we were temporarily fooled by were just decoys – our hair is in real danger.

So if you are watching an advertisement that says that the latest shiny synthetic shampoo is fill of milk proteins, or essential oils, or natural extracts and is going to make your hair grow, switch off that television right away. You know better.

My hair stylist tells me not to use hair oil and go for a hair spa instead
Most consumers are aghast when we speak to them about the Krya hair oiling programme. We consider this an essential and indispensable step to hair health. As we have demonstrated in the paragraph above, a wash off product like a shampoo /hair wash cannot give you hair health simply by its transient nature. For long lasting hair and health benefits you need to use hair oil that is preferably left on for extended periods of time on your head.

Most of us have moved away from good hair oil. Oiled hair is no longer aesthetically appealing. Neither is long hair. We are also quite frankly addicted to the lure of hair shampooing because of the heavy scents, bubbles and the artificial silicones. And the temporary highs of frequent hair shampooing, and the look and feel of shampooed hair in the beginning leads us to believe that everything that was said about hair oiling is either over stated or a myth

This is further compounded by our time in beauty salons. Many of us have a fixed monthly routine where we spend time in a beauty salon. We learn to, over time, trust the recommendation of our favourite hair stylist, because we assume that they are much more experienced than us, and are, after all handling many any customers like ours – therefore we believe they have nothing but our hair’s health in mind when suggesting products for our head.

The simple fact of the matter is that most stylists have been trained by companies that manufacture hair products. Most of them have also experimented heavily with their hair as their profession demands it – most hair stylists learn on their hair and their colleagues’ hair first. This is true of hair colours, cuts, keratin treatments and hair spas. So as expected, their hair is usually in extremely bad shape.

The second fact is that employees of a salon are incentivised to promote products and services. Every month, the salon sets a target especially for high profit services like hair colouring, hair conditioning and hair smoothening treatments and hair spas. So a salon employee has a financial incentive to urge you to treat your hair to the latest hair spa or hair keratin treatment. And as they are trained by the company promoting these products and services, they are also under the assumption that these services are good for your hair, not damaging and that they will promote hair health.

The multiple benefits of hair oiling – for hair growth and health
Ayurveda teaches us that hair oiling is an essential part of maintaining the body’s health and as a side benefit, ensuring the smooth health growth and care of health. Hair oiling in Ayurveda performs an extremely important function: to balance the pitta dosha generated by the workings of the brain and the eyes. As millions of neurons fire through our brain and we take in the sights of the world and process this information, pitta dosha helps us analyse this information and make intelligent sense of our day.

When pitta dosha aggravates in this area, it impairs the working of both the brain and eyes which are both made up of fatty tissue provided by kapha dosha. This is why Ayurveda advises that this heat generated, should constantly be kept in check to keep the body cool and ensure the doshas are always in a state of balance.

When heat goes out of balance in the hair, Ayurveda teaches us that there are a few definite consequences.
“Krodha shokha shrama kritah
Shariroh shama shiro gataha
Pittacha keshanu pachati balitha thena jayate” – Sushruta Samhita
Brief translation – “The pitta and ushna (internal heat) generated due to anger, grief and stress strike at the head (or hair root), resulting in premature greying of hair.”

This is why all Ayurvedic for premature greying have cooling herbs in them and are often made with either cow’s milk or goat’s milk which are considered cooling and tridoshic – an example of this kind of preparation is the Neelabhringadi tailam and also the Bhringamlakai tailam. Both are made with cow’s milk and/or goat’s milk.
The internal use of amla is also prescribed in premature greying as amla is a tridosha balancing herb.

Several synthetic treatments that are now prescribed for the hair like keratin treatments and synthetic hair colour have a similar consequence – the chemicals used in the treatment increase ushna / heat in the body, so the hair suffers just like it would if pitta dosha is in excess.

Hair loses its natural pigmentation tending towards brown or red tones and then grey. Hair becomes rough, dry and brittle from the excessive heat, and hair starts to fall with poor regrowth as the doshas are out of balance.

When we reduce this ushna / heat generated in the head, we are not only able to balance the doshas, we are also able to effectively delay premature greying, control hair fall and hair breakage due to excessive heat and return the body to a state of health where hair begins to grow.

How does the Krya Classic hair system help you restore hair growth, reduce hair fall and delay premature greying
We started this post with a testimonial where we shared the magical transformation experienced by CM when she switched to the Krya Classic hair oil and hair ash. Are we selling magic here? Have we discovered a new Amazonian berry? The fountain of eternal youth?
NO!
We follow the basics as described by Ayurveda.

The head is prone to a quick increase in heat because of the activity of the brain and eyes. All of us are engaging our eyes and brains much more with the visual stimulation we subject ourselves to, use of smart phones, consumption of media, etc. Therefore it stands to reason that we are producing great deal of ushna / heat. This combined with the fact that we have all stopped oiling definitely means that this excess Ushna is going nowhere. It is sitting in our heads, unbalancing all our doshas and striking at our hair drying it with heat, turning its colour, making it dry and brittle and slowing down hair growth.

So the Krya Classic system, which we usually suggest for pitta related problems, is designed to remove this excess ushna.

The Krya Classic hair oil is a proprietary formulation that takes inspiration from the classic Bhringamlaki hair oil formulation in Ayurveda. Just like Bhringamlaki hair oil, the Krya Classic hair oil has been designed to reduce excess pitta and increase hair health, growth and strength. In this formulation, we use 9 classic hair rasayana herbs like Bhringaraj (which we harvest wild), Amla (organically cultivated), Moringa (organically cultivated), hibiscus (wild harvested), Curry Leaf (organically cultivated), Haritaki (wild harvested), Nutgrass (wild harvested).
The herbs used are known for their pitta reducing activity and promote deep rooted, strong hair growth. In addition, our consumers report that their hair feels much softer, healthier and smoother with regular use.

Why is my regular non sticky hair oil not working? I am still seeing hairfall, hair greying and hair breakage!
We had recently written about an independent research conducted to test claims of popular hair oils in the market. A consumer panel had tested various brands of hair oils offered by reputed companies and had found that contrary to what they said in their advertising, most of these oils contained 60 – 92% by weight of simple Liquid Paraffin or Mineral Oil.
Mineral Oil is ubiquitous in cosmetic formulations of body oils, baby oils and hair oils in India. It is used extensively across moisturizers, sunscreens, lotions, body oils, baby oils and hair oils as it is colourless, has a thick consistency and is neutral in its colour and odour and is therefore able to easily take in a synthetic fragrance and colour and other additives.
A study published by the American Journal of Dermatology found that moisturizing creams containing mineral oil were tumorigenic when applied topically to UVB pre-treated high risk mice. These creams increased the rate at which tumours form.
Occupational exposure to mineral oils may occur among workers in automobile manufacturing, airplanes, steel products, screws, pipes and transformers, brass and aluminium production, engine repair, copper mining, and newspaper and commercial printing.

The National Cancer Institute says that occupational exposure to untreated or lightly treated mineral oils is strongly associated with an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer, particularly of the scrotum.
On scalp, mineral oil forms an occlusive barrier, and prevents the healthy interaction of the scalp with the environment. It also seals in dead cells, dirt and grime which could lead to blocked pores and toxin accumulation. Most importantly it does not penetrate the scalp or nourish it any manner.

How are Krya’s hair and skin oils processed? And how are they different from mineral oil based products?
Krya follows several important Ayurvedic texts like Charaka Samhita, Sahasrayogam, Saranghadhara Samhita and Bhaisajya Ratnavalli to understand what classical Ayurvedic medicine prescribes is the right way to manufacture Ayurvedic oils for skin and hair. We also take inspiration from the kind of herbs suggested by the texts to work with different skin and hair types. However, our formulations are unique and are not the classical formulations from the text. We have developed our formulations through extensive research and understanding of new age hair and skin problems like hair damage due to synthetic colour, etc.
The 2 most important differences between a genuine Ayurvedic oil like Krya’s and a standard synthetic hair or skin oil that uses Mineral oil is the process followed and the selection and quantity used of base oils and herbs.

Sneha kalpana / paka method followed at Krya:
Sneha kalpana is a prescribed pharmaceutical process followed in Indian traditional medicine to prepare medicated oils or ghees from kalka (herbal pastes), Kwathas (infusions), Kashayas (decoctions) and Swarasa ( self expressed fresh herb juice) taken in specific proportions and heated in a particular way along with a mixture of oils or ghee. This method has been outlined in order to extract the active principles of each herb in the medium in which it best expresses its active ingredients.

Sneha Kalpana is a unique extraction process followed in Ayurveda. Through this process, the formulator aims to transfer aqueous and lipid soluble active principles of all the herbs and other raw material used into the oil.

So a genuine Ayurvedic oil will always use 3 components to make a herb enriched oil –
• Water based herb extracts like kwathas (mild infusions), kashayas (steeped , boiled and reduced decoctions) and Swarasa (self expressed juices from fresh plant parts)
• Thick granular herbal pastes or kalpa that are cooked in oil to extract the oil loving active principles
• Base oils

Difference between medicated Sneha kalpana oil and the pure base oil :
The process of Sneha Kalpana alters the very nature of the base oil. Gingelly oil is often used across Krya’s formulations because of its vata reducing nature and also because it does not aggravate kapha. Gingelly oil is considered very good base oil for most skin and hair conditions, so many traditional formulations use this oil.
This oil is usually considered extremely strong, heavy and sticky to use on skin, but when processed in the Sneha kalpana method, the oil becomes much lighter, less sticky and is able to easily penetrate skin and hair without leaving a lot of oil or residue behind.
This however in no way means that Ayurvedic oil is as light as a mineral oil based product – it is not. However, it is much much lighter and more penetrative compared to the base oils themselves.

The 5000 year old Ayurvedic secret to healthy hair and health
We have a secret at Krya. And this is why our formulations work so well. And it isn’t because we have invented something that no one has seen before. OR because we chanced upon a secret stash of ancient Himalayan scrolls which gave us the recipe for eternal youth.

Our secret is that we follow the basics. As outlined by Ayurveda.

And this secret is simple: if we remove the conditions that cause dis-orders, the body should return to a state of health.

So if we take away your synthetic shampoo, and replace it with a gentle, non invasive hairwash made entirely from herbs, add a rigorous regime of hair oiling with the best and most rasayana hair oil, and gently remind you to follow a balanced diet and regimen, then we have taken away the reasons that your hair went out of control in the first place.

This means that your hair will regain its health. It will stop breaking. And it will grow. Just like it did for CM of Kerala.
It is not magic. And it doesn’t have to be. Life is already magical. We just need to remove the blocks.

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Krya’s range of hair care products for different kinds of hair and challenges:

1. Krya Classic Hair nourishing system – useful if you have straight – wavy hair, are seeing premature greying, have hair that is fluctuating in its oiliness, and hair tends to be dry or break due to excess ushna / heat production

2. Krya Conditioning Hair system – useful if you have wavy to curly hair that is inherently dry, and are seeing manifold issues of dryness like dull un-glossy hair, hair that has split ends, lots of static when you comb hair, and are facing issues of aggravated vata dosha

3. Krya Anti Dandruff hair system – useful if you have large flaky, itchy dandruff which is persistent and nearly chronic, which could sometimes be accompanied with a fungal infection of the scalp

4. Krya Damage repair Hair system – useful if you have hair that has been persistently chemically treated – coloured frequently and regularly, has been permed / straightened or exposed to treatments like the Brazilian, Keratin, etc. This kind of hair is described as straw-like – is extremely coarse, ragged, dull and frizzy. This is the kind of hair that requires heavy application of silicon based conditioners to get it into any kind of manageable shape (and this is this way because of chemical damage and not its inherent nature). The Krya Damage repair hair oil which is a part of this system is excellent for chemical and heat damaged hair. 

5. Krya Intense Hair system – useful if you have medication and illness based hairfall.

And there’s a 6th component to this – balancing pitta is also about controlling the heat generated through the rest of the body. Read more about how the Abhyanga can help you in this here.