OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That's right...the vegetable!

lthomas1

Hair Power!
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

[ QUOTE ]
pookeylou said:
Ok...so I am porusing through a "loc" forum and I see where someone mentions they are using okra (yep...that's right the vegetable) for their daughters hair. So my question was: What are the benefits? and How do you apply it?

I have not got a response yet, so I went online. I found a popular conditoner in the UK called LUSH Okra Conditioner made with the following ingredients in the follwoing order: Okra infusion, corn silk infusion, Nettle Infusion, Mountain Grape Decoction, Cetearyl Alcohol and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Balsamic Vinegar, Lavender Oil, Rosemary Oil, Lanolin, Perfume, Cetrimonium Bromide.

Can anyone tell me if they have used this? What is their review of the product? Can you point me towards any other sites that discuss the benefits of okra in the hair? Do you have any recipes of a conditioning treatment using Okra that I can make myself (should I choose to accept this assignment)?

I would be forever grateful.


I found a site that sells the conditioner with okra:

LUSH OKRA CONDITIONER

I think I have found another natural hair product favorite site. They make shampoo bars with coconut milk. My credit card is going to be sick.

[/ QUOTE ]

You always find the most interesting info about hair and hair products
 

Armyqt

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

[ QUOTE ]
Isis said:
In the meantime, while some of you are looking for the maple wood and getting your concoction brewing, here is an okra recipe (for your hair)to get you started, that I've tried and it's pretty delicious.
The okra stays pretty firm too. I use cayenne pepper instead of the hot chile and olive or coconut oil. There are some others on this site also. I'm going to reprint this in the vegetarian recipe thread on the Off Topic Discussion board.

[b[Curried Okra[/b]
http://www.africhef.com/Curried-Okra-Recipe.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Isis we can always count on you to know everything about anything natural or earthy
Thanx for the link
 

gn1g

Well-Known Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

This thread has me cracking up laughing!!! It is hilarious.

Chanou's Aunt talks too much
that's funny. I can barely see the keys on the keyboard, I am laughing so hard.

We are all going to cast long hair spells on ourselves, but if Chanou doesn't make that call we could very well get it confused and become bald.

How does the talkative one wear her hair?
 

ananas

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

LUSH actually discontinued it's okra conditioner last year. I remember liking it - it was slimy (true) and on the watery side, but it was the business for my hair.

actually, if you ladies are up to it, you tend to boil the okra in water until the water gets slimy (all you west indians know what i'ma talking about, with fish soup/ steamed fish and crackers and all...). You then allow it to cool and then pour it over your head. It's about as slimy as marshmallows are (prolly a little slimier).

another product that i used to LOVE from LUSH was gentil lentil - it was a shampoo bar that was oh, so delicate, despite the sls.

i tried BIG - the salt shampoo - i liked it, and finished the container - a little goes a loooong way. However, i will be buying 'hard' their shampoo bar for hard water. i can truly say that despite or inspite of the SLS in the shampoos, it doesn't really affect the quality of the products that LUSH makes.

The strokes conditioner is good as well - but i wouldn't call it a deep conditioner, more so conditioning wash conditioner b/c it's on this side of watery.

i know that indian women use okras and lentils in their home made hair concoctions.

well...

regards

ana
 

Isis

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

[ QUOTE ]
Armyqt said:
[ QUOTE ]
Isis said:
In the meantime, while some of you are looking for the maple wood and getting your concoction brewing, here is an okra recipe (for your hair)to get you started, that I've tried and it's pretty delicious.
The okra stays pretty firm too. I use cayenne pepper instead of the hot chile and olive or coconut oil. There are some others on this site also. I'm going to reprint this in the vegetarian recipe thread on the Off Topic Discussion board.

[b[Curried Okra[/b]
http://www.africhef.com/Curried-Okra-Recipe.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Isis we can always count on you to know everything about anything natural or earthy
Thanx for the link


[/ QUOTE ]
You're welcome Armyqt! I'm always learning too about the natural things. It's never ending.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

I know that in the States some people use a concotion that involves burning the Southernwood leaves for hair growth. well we use Essential oils, dont't we? We also know that E. Indians can make Amla Oil by cooking the dried amla berries in coconut oil until the berries crisp and break up. They strain the oil off and use this so......maplewood...don't knock it ladies...up here in Canada we drink pure maple syrup... from the juice of the maple tree by boring a hole in the wood...draining the mapple liquid, boiling it and etc. check it out on the internet...what can I say/ Have you ever tried our Pure Canadian Maple Syrup? The bottle with the Maple leaf? It doesn't sound strange to me. Bonjour.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

site showing the kinds of trees the Indians (North American--some of my people used for all kinds of things...did you know that the aspirin came from a tree?
) Anyway this site contains some interesting information about the maple trees and their benefits to man and the variety of uses for mankind. Bonjour.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Last post of sites. http://www.conisallc.com/products.htm
Heck, I use African Black Soap on my skin and it is made from among other things, ASHES. sO I MIGHT would try this one. Guess I'll check out Home Depot for the lumber section
lol Bonjour.
 

Isis

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

[ QUOTE ]
Mahalialee4 said:
I know that in the States some people use a concotion that involves burning the Southernwood leaves for hair growth. well we use Essential oils, dont't we? We also know that E. Indians can make Amla Oil by cooking the dried amla berries in coconut oil until the berries crisp and break up. They strain the oil off and use this so......maplewood...don't knock it ladies...up here in Canada we drink pure maple syrup... from the juice of the maple tree by boring a hole in the wood...draining the mapple liquid, boiling it and etc. check it out on the internet...what can I say/ Have you ever tried our Pure Canadian Maple Syrup? The bottle with the Maple leaf? It doesn't sound strange to me. Bonjour.

[/ QUOTE ]
Many of us are doing the pure maple syrup on the Health discussion board, with the Master Cleanse. I've tasted the one you are talking about - it's costly here but delicious.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

After checking this out, I am sure that "pure Pine Tar" oil, that you buy at a Tack Shop, is what I would need to use. Chantou has the correct French spelling and I have invited her to post relative info on this post. I already have pine tar and pine tar soap and I am going to make this little batch. Pine Tar is made from burning wood stumps anyway. I just have to wait till I find the okra and use some fresh carrots. up UP and AWAY!!!!!!
bONJOUR
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

http://www.seedtosupper.com/okra.html Which variety of okra did your Aunt use. As you an see it can range from Hibiscus types to etc etc. I have Hibiscus flowers from the West Indies. Ask your Aunt to describe what the okra that she uses looks like including the color. If I cannot find it here, I will find it in the West Indies. Does she live on an Island or is she from an Island? that would break it down for me. Thank you. Bonjour.
 

DragonPearl

Well-Known Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegeta

[ QUOTE ]
Pepperanne2 said:
Stop acting new Chanou...you know on this board we try anything just once!

[/ QUOTE ]
Ladies, you crack me up! No shame in your game...
 

chanou

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegeta

Update on okra-wood concotion- I caved in and called my aunt this weekend to ask her about the wood. She really couldn't tell me what the wood is good for, just that she has done it and it works, afterwards the conversation moved to my upcoming wedding on next september and all the many concotions she has to give me so I can make sure I keep my fiance happy until the date-
Okay we're from Haiti, so I've tried my best to translate all her words to English to the best of my knowledge- If anyone has light on this please chime in- Thanks. This is the conversation I had in PM land with Mahalialee4 which leads me to thinking that maplewood is not the wood she used but Pinetar-


This will totally clear up the mystery for you.
http://www.wildwnc.org/trees/Pinus_strobus.html

Here is a direct quote from the site:
"Associated Forest Cover
White pine is a major component of five Society of American Foresters forest cover types (70): Red Pine (Type 15), White Pine-Northern Red Oak-Red Maple (Type 20), Eastern White Pine (Type 21), White Pine-Hemlock (Type 22), White Pine-Chestnut Oak (Type 51). None of these are climax types, although the White Pine-Hemlock type may just precede the climax hemlock types, and Type 20 is very close to a climax or an alternating type of climax on the sandy outwash plains of New England (42). White pine occurs in 23 other forest types:

1 Jack Pine
5 Balsam Fir
14 Northern Pin Oak
18 Paper Birch
19 Gray Birch-Red Maple
23 Eastern Hemlock
24 Hemlock-Yellow Birch
25 Sugar Maple-Beech-Yellow Birch
26 Sugar Maple-Basswood
30 Red Spruce-Yellow Birch
31 Red Spruce-Sugar Maple-Beech
32 Red Spruce
33 Red Spruce-Balsam Fir
35 Paper Birch-Red Spruce-Balsam Fir
37 Northern White-Cedar
39 Black Ash-American Elm-Red Maple
44 Chestnut Oak
45 Pitch Pine
53 White Oak
57 Yellow-Poplar
59 Yellow-Poplar-White Oak-Northern Red Oak
60 Beech-Sugar Maple
108 Red Maple

White pine also grows with pitch pine (Pinus rigida), jack pine (P. banksiana), shortleaf pine (P. echinata), sweet birch (Betula lenta), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), black cherry (Prunus serotina), black oak (Quercus velutina), white oak (Q. alba), and various hickories (Carya spp.). The ground vegetation in a white pine stand varies greatly, as evidenced by the number of forest cover types in which it is a major or minor component. Beneath pure or nearly pure stands of white pine, understory plants usually are sparse compared to those in the pine-hardwood mixtures (70). "

So you see the correlation then. It is all growing together all over the place like a part of the white pine family. So it could be the maple growing with the pines. Hope this helps. Post this to the board if you like. Bonjour.




Quote:
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thanks- Okay I got the wrong name- I just panicked for moment- The actual tree name is Bois de pin ou boispin. I went to home depot to actually make sure that I was saying the right name and it is not maple wood. Apparently there lots of home remedies that can be done with trees. Thanks.


Quote:
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erable -maple (do not know how to do the grave A^accent on the computer.Anyway maple sugar is what we get from this tree. Here they speak two national languages...English and French Canadian. French Can. sucrerie...for the maple bush and for the maple grove...erabliere( overhead accents missing. Du pain is (bread)Is the word l'arbre (the tree) or is that the correct spelling as you have posted it....l'abre? Does she mean breadfruit? or some type of bread?


> Post your question on the board as there are several French speaking members. Between us we will try to figure this out. Ask her to spell it for you. Hope this helps Bonjour


Quote:
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Mahalialee4 do you speak french if so you might be able to help with whole thing... I just called my aunt again who explain that she used "L'abre a pain" which I assume is maplewood in english. Is that so?? I'm afraid I might be mistranslating the ingredients.... does anyone else speak french and knows what maplewood translates to?
 

chanou

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

[ QUOTE ]
Mahalialee4 said:
http://www.seedtosupper.com/okra.html Which variety of okra did your Aunt use. As you an see it can range from Hibiscus types to etc etc. I have Hibiscus flowers from the West Indies. Ask your Aunt to describe what the okra that she uses looks like including the color. If I cannot find it here, I will find it in the West Indies. Does she live on an Island or is she from an Island? that would break it down for me. Thank you. Bonjour. [/quote

From the description she has given me, I think it's this okra- Can you find a website with pictures?? that would be more helpful. My aunt said she only use the leaves not the flower/fruit. Apparently, in the islands, they pour boiled okra on a woman's head/hair after she gives birth to prevent hair shedding and the milk to go into her head which if not done could make her crazy???..(aunt exact words)



Aibika Hibiscus (Abelmoschus) manihot, Aibika also known as, Bele (Fiji) Pele (Polynesia) and Ailan kapis (Vanuatu)
A perennial in the tropics or an annual in cooler climates Aibika bears edible leaves on plants reaching 6 feet in height. Pale yellow flowers 6 inches across with dark centers make Aibika another attractive background plant. The leaves have a high level of leaf protein, iron, potassium, magnesium and calcium. They are eaten raw as salad, or mixed with other vegetable in a stew or as a cooked green vegetable. Aibika should not be cooked longer than 5 minutes and turned only once. The flavor is sweet and mucilaginous. Flower buds are consumed either raw or cooked.
Give aibika a sunny location and moist soil, and it will be happy. As summer heats up, aibika will flourish.
 

mystiquesista

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Mahaliee4-I love my black soap! I get mine from Nasabb.com.
Where do you get yours?
 

Irresistible

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegeta

i just cant jump on the Okra train with ya'll or the burnt wood or burnt wood ashes....i shall just watch and see how it goes for ya'll
 

Bobbie

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegeta

Chanou -- l'arbre du pain is another way of saying l'arbre veritable... "tree bread" or "truth bread". Both mean breadfruit.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegeta

I get mine from a store in Canada. It is on the Internet.site: wwwFresties.com She brings it over directly from Ghana.
Irresistable...I think that this is plain old Black Castor Oil, which is made by the locals in the Islands...Dominica, St. Lucia and others. It is a smelly dark concotion. and you can buy black castor oil I have heard that it is a cooked concotion. Raw and unfiltered. I also believe that the one they make "back home" and personally use is stronger and more herbal than the one that is sold to the public. I think that this recipe is a version of the "real thang", and that different cooks and families make it their own way. That is why I will try it because I already use the black pine tar in my oils and Grandpa's Pine soap. If some of the ladies were to ask their West Indian Grandmas they would probably be told a similar recipe. (Smiling) Bonjour.
 

Isis

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Do you mean the hair recipe Mystiquesista? It looks like Chanou posted info from her aunt.
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Cha! I have done the deed. I made the oil. It turned out be-utifully. Thick and now I have a sulphur carrot oil-black castor oil with pine tar (pine ashes), and before I removed it from the heat, I added a generous helping of MSM and stirred that in. I strained it well with cheese cloth and straining cloths, and filtered it into the large castor oil bottle with my funnel and bottled this baby. I am percolatin' as we speak, so to speak
. I oiled my scalp with this a day ago, and put some throughout my hair. This stuff is thick but I could tell my hair loves it. The texture of my hair with this on is too sweet. I pinned it up in a half bun, tucking in the ends and covered my hair with a silk satin scarf. I will not need to oil the ends for the remainder of the week, so this is going to be my growout oil, since I will not have to disturb it. I will surge three days a week and check this....I can spray a moisturing leave in when I do the surge instead of daily. I am going to become the Ultimate Minimalist when it comes to my hair and see if I can retain 6 inches of growth this coming year.......I can wear this style casually as well as for dress, as it looks very sophisticated. My waves are so shiny looking, but best of all this is not greasy looking or feeling.
Just think, only oiling anything once a week!!!!This is a keeper!!!! Bonjour mes amis.
 

chanou

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

hey Mahalia, I'm happy it turned out great for you. My aunt does use this oil mixture only once a week too and that's the only thing she puts in her hair. Did you add the okra in your mixture, what about the smell, does it still smell in your hair after a day??Adding MSM is good idea, now you have me thinking of trying this in my hair??

Inquiring ladies the ingredients for the recipe is:
Pine tar oil or Pine tar wood
Castor oil
carrots or carrot oil
okra

Don't know about the exact portions to be used. All these ingredients should be cooked together then strained.
 

Vanessa22

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Please do tell us the exact amounts you did use Mahalialee to make your concoction. We all want to know!

Chanou, I'm Haitian as well and I definitely have to ask my mom or grandmother if they have heard of any of this. Maybe they have. Do you have any idea what your Aunt calls this concoction in Creole?
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Gee: I used about 6 okra and 3 medium sized new carrots, cut thin in circles after washing and rinsing them. Set aside. Then I took a bottle of Home Health Castor Oil app. 18 fl. ounces and started heating the oil and added the vegetables. I cooked a little above medium heat until the veg. shrunk and looked like wizened or dried articles. The pan looked all frothy inside and I cooked until the oil turned to a liquid and then set aside the pan onto another burner. Next I added about 1/4 tsp. of my liquid pine tar to the mixture, 2 tbl. of MSM powder, stirred it up and then put the pan back on the burner and cooked on a lower heat for another 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. I set aside to cool for about 20 minutes, strained it into another container, then strained and funneled into the empty castor oil bottles. Hope this helps. WARNING!!!!Do not add any oils or anything else into this while you are cooking it, because anything cold will cause a lot of spitting and splattering!!!!
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

Re: Smell: To me it smells a bit like caramel pudding, probably because of the carrots After it is bottled and cooled, a drop of Ylang Ylang, or Lime, or Grapefruit would be nice or Vanilla Ess. Oil. I do think you will love the thickness and the non greasiness, if you want to do a love it and leave it style on your hair to grow it out. You definitely will not have to do this more than once a week, it is that rich! I spray my hair with Biolage leave in Hair tonic on the edges and brush gently each night as this is an area I want to thicken and grow faster. I spray the ends every thir day after the surgeing. If someone wanted to Surge more often...personal choice. I am just looking at limiting the manipulation of my hair.
Hope this helps. Bonjour.
 

hotshot

Well-Known Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

im feeling you on the limited manipulation thing. .. i cant wait for my sample from chanou. keep us posted!
 

Mahalialee4

New Member
Re: OKRA FOR YOUR HAIR - That\'s right...the vegetable!

So-0-0--0! Has anyone else made the concoction yet? Any feedback?
Bonjour
 
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