New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) Maintaining healthy hair is an essential part of ones life as every girl or woman desires for a luscious mane. As with ones skin, keeping hair in good condition depends on proper hair care routine, well-balanced diet and use of essential oils.

Gaurang Krishna, Director, MedLinks, lists down some tips:

* Conditioning for dry hair: Every kitchen has some great items for conditioning your hair and make them silky and shiny. Egg yolk, honey and mayonnaise are great for deep conditioning. A paste of 2-3 egg yolks and honey applied for 15-20 minutes is an awesome way to naturally condition your hair.

* Dandruff control: Dandruff troubles many of us. It makes the scalp itchy and it simply looks hideous. Lemon, vinegar, amla, honey are great for natual dandruff control. A paste made of a lemon squeeze, a dash of apple cider vinegar with some amla powder can be massaged on the scalp and left for 15 minutes to get rid of that stubborn dandruff.

* Oily hair: If your hair becomes oily just a day after wash, try a vinegar rinse before shampoo. It is really effective in washing away that extra oil.

* Hair loss: Onion juice, ginger juice and castor oil (diluted) are irritants and are scientifically proven to be beneficial in hair loss problem. Also, 2-3 times per week use of onion juice on the scalp will reduce your hair fall.

* General care: Avoid hot drying, use cold water to wash hair, use sulphate free and pH balanced shampoos, use a broad toothed comb, avoid combing in wet hair.

* Diet: a balanced diet is extremely important to have healthy hair. Protein rich, low dairy and low carbohydrates is the mantra. Good iron intake (spinach, apples, pomegranate) is very important.

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Blossom Kochhar, Chairperson, Blossom Kochhar Group of Companies too have some inputs.

* For dry hair, one should apply a generous amount of oil on a regular basis and massage it before washing the hair. Dry hair is rough to touch and more prone to tangles, damage and split ends. Thus they should be taken care of, nourished and conditioned properly. One can also use some natural DIY (Do-It-Yourself) hair masks. A mix of castor oil, almond oil, glycerine, vinegar, protein powder and sandalwood oil can do wonders in bringing out that natural shine.

* Coconut oil is also recommended for the same. One can apply this mixture and wash after half an hour. People with dry hair are advised not to use shampoo on a daily basis.

People having oily hair should avoid using harsh shampoo and prefer mild shampoo to remove excess greasiness. One suggested essential oil for the same is Patchouli which brings out amazing results for oily hair. Mix this oil with 1 tablespoon of water and gently apply all over the scalp. One can also use a toning lotion by mixing this oil with malt vinegar and one glass of water.

* Normal hair is healthy and has a lot of bounce and shine. An occasional hot oil treatment will keep this hair in good condition. This hot oil mix includes one tablespoon of coconut oil, castor oil, sesame oil, and two drops of rosemary oil. One can wrap a hot towel after massage and let the oil sit.

--IANS nv/rb