Founders Molly (left) and Emma (right) discussing compost at the Community Garden on Summit Street in Brooklyn, NYC. They have been practicing herbal hair care for 9 years +.
Herbal Care for Your Hair is Brooklyn Herborium’s collection of unique herbal products formulated to help you reduce your reliance on conventional haircare products and support a healthy scalp and hair with the most natural ingredients available. As with our holistic skincare products, we are working with the body instead of trying to control it. We give your scalp and your hair precisely what they need at the most appropriate times and then allow your body to take care of the rest.
These supportive methods work best when you are not actively trying to make your hair do something that it doesn’t do on its own. We are not trying to change the texture or behavior of your hair.
- Instead, we are creating a healthy ecosystem for strong, well-balanced hair growth.
- The minerals and herbs that we use don’t “combat” frizz, dandruff, or split ends but instead provide both the nutrients and physical properties that create an ideal environment for proper oil/water balance, good cellular communication, a healthy microbiome, and strong, resilient hair (which results in a fresh moisture balance, a clearer, flake-free scalp, and ends that are less likely to split!).
Supportive care is not “all or nothing.”
- Once you learn our principles and how to make them work within your own personal regimen, you can design each beauty ritual to give you the results you are aiming for.
- This supportive method is something you can turn to in order to take a break from the controlling products you usually use, or it can be your everyday haircare ritual, allowing yourself some fancy product (and then shampoo!) if you have a special occasion that calls for it.
What Products Are Included and How Do You Use Them?
Nourishing Rosemary Hair Oil
The Nourishing Rosemary Hair Oil is made by infusing our organically grown rosemary into fresh avocado oil before mixing it with jojoba oil and our blend of essential oils that are designed to entice the whole being with their aromatherapeutic properties while supporting the overall health and balance of the topical ecosystem.
- Use with Revitalizing Chamomile & Boswellia Texture Mist (5 sprays of mist directly into 1 drop of oil) to create an instant conditioning moisturizer with a great balance of protection and hydration that can be used daily. Apply to the ends of the hair and work up to the scalp.
- Use alone as a weekly treatment to nourish the scalp and remedy flyaways or frizzy hair by applying 5 to 10 drops directly to the hair, combing through from scalp to ends with a wooden comb, and leaving on for up to 10 minutes. Rinse by massaging the scalp with warm water or a very small amount of a gentle soap if necessary.
Revitalizing Chamomile & Boswellia Texture Mist
The Revitalizing Chamomile & Boswellia Texture Mist does double duty as both a hydrating treatment that delivers much-needed minerals directly to the scalp — improving cellular communication — and a great-smelling volume booster thanks to its high salt content!
- Use alone as a mineral-rich texturizing spray to increase body and fullness whenever you need a boost. Increase the transdermal mineral absorption by misting directly into the scalp.
- Use with Nourishing Rosemary Hair Oil (5 sprays of mist directly into 1 drop of oil) to create an instant conditioning moisturizer with a great balance of protection and hydration that can be used daily. Apply to the ends of the hair and work up to the scalp.
Blue Moon Hair Wash
The Blue Moon Hair Wash is Brooklyn Herborium’s answer to the buildup that some people get in their hair as a result of product use, or just from getting dirty.
- Use once in a blue moon! Less is more. Just one to four times a month, apply 1 to 2 pumps of Hair Wash to wet hair. Massage into the scalp, working through the hair from root to tip. Rinse thoroughly with tepid water.
- When you have exited the shower, you may moisturize your hair with Nourishing Hair Oil + Revitalizing Texture Mist if needed.
So What Does the Hair Need?
Each individual person is going to have different needs, depending on how porous their hair is, how much (and what kind of) product they use, when they shower, shower temperature, lifestyle, etc. Some people may have a hard time getting a comb through their hair, and others may need to avoid brushes but do great with combs. Even so, there are a few basics that most people do well with when it comes to caring for their hair in the most natural way.
Moisture and Hydration
As with the skin, putting straight-up oil on the hair and leaving it there does not work well for most people. It may provide temporary relief but doesn’t really solve the problem and usually ends up complicating it. Instead, emulsifying the oil with a mist (just like with our skin care) allows both the lubricating and protective qualities of the oil and the hydration from the water to be better utilized without the problems caused by using oil on its own. We have found that the best ratio for hair care is 5 sprays of mist for every 1 drop of oil you use — just make sure to spray the mist directly into the oil and rub together before you apply it.
One of the best ways you can do this without any special product is to simply comb or brush your hair from the scalp to the ends daily. If you are used to using controlling products (shampoo and conditioner), you may find that it takes up to three weeks (or more, if you are teetering back and forth between controlling and supportive care) for the hair to not be oily or for the oil/water production to even out. Hair masks and properly done oil treatments can help the hair rebalance itself faster.
Oil Treatments Are Oil Cleansing for the Hair
Not everyone needs to perform regular oil treatments, but if your hair and scalp tend to fluctuate greatly between feeling oily and feeling dry, you may want to add this ritual to your monthly regimen. An oil treatment does more than just soften and nourish the hair; it also helps pull any oil-based debris out of the follicle and off the hair shaft. Some people like to use quite a bit of oil and heat it up before applying it, but you can still get great results from 10 well-placed drops, hot water from the tap (hot enough, but not too hot!), and a gentle massage with your fingertips. It is important to rinse the oil out as well as possible. (Some people, particularly those who have used commercial hair products, may need a light lather of our gentle Blue Moon Hair Wash after an oil treatment.)
Purifying
Although there are a few people who get away with never using Blue Moon Hair Wash (or may use another type of “soapy” cleanser on their hair), as well as a few others who find that they absolutely need to use Blue Moon Hair Wash once a week, most of our clients report that one or two uses a month is sufficient to maintain their tresses. Our Blue Moon Hair Wash uses aloe, witch hazel, and the hydrosols of organic lavender and chamomile to draw out, gather, and wash away any impurities such as debris, metabolic wastes, and sebum buildup on the scalp, in the follicle, or on the hair itself. For some people, this step may be necessary to clear out the pores so that the natural oils that the scalp makes (for the purpose of lubricating the hair) can be freely distributed along the hair shaft.
Founders Molly (left) and Emma (right) discussing Integrity Mineral Mist at the Workshop on Prospect Ave in Brooklyn NYC.
Other Considerations
Natural hair care “works” best on natural hair, although many people who process their hair in some way have found success with these methods, mainly because the less that is done to the hair, the longer the processes are able to last. While the specifics of what the balance is and which ingredients are preferred may change depending on porosity and texture, the hair’s basic needs don’t really differ — except when you are using the products to “control” your hair or try to convince it to do something that it doesn’t naturally do well.
Like healthy skin, healthy hair doesn’t need a product to force it to do the things it knows how to do on its own. The scalp creates oils to lubricate and protect the hair. Sometimes all we really need to do is not get rid of those oils but pull them from the scalp to the ends — particularly while wet. Doing this will also help clean the hair. Shampooing is not necessary on a daily basis unless you are in a control cycle with your haircare products.
However, sometimes you really do need to wash after a day in the garden, or on the farm… or making peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches with your favorite five-year-old. (Peanut butter is surprisingly difficult to get out of long hair…)
And One More Thing…
We also make an anti-lice hair mist (Lice Off!) that can be used as a protector (when you are allowed to have your children near other children again) or mixed with conditioner for a lice comb-out if needed!
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By Emma Graves
Emma, a certified herbalist and highly skilled aesthetician, has been working in natural skin care since 1998. She originally developed the Between You & the Moon product line to serve her clients in finding a method of natural, holistic skin care that provided tangible results. A 4+ generation holistic practitioner, Emma chronicled her love of skin care and holistic methods in her early blog “The Pimple Whisperer,” some of which is still available on this website.