Tips to use hair wash powder

​Hair wash powder is different from shampoo, here are few tips to help you use the hair wash powder.

An average shampoo contains many ingredients that are designed to give you a convenient easy wash. Many times these ingredients are harmful. They can in the long term cause hair fall, dandruff, damaged hair, and some chemicals that are linked to diseases like cancer, reproductive disorders, and other issues. Natural ingredients are mild and gentle and need your patience to care for your hair. It can take a few washes for you and your hair to get adjusted to the hair wash powder.

1. If you are finding that the powder is not removing oil, keep it applied in the hair for 5-10 minutes. Make sure you apply thoroughly on your hair and scalp and massage well.
2. If you want a slight foam in the paste, you can make a paste with hot water and leave for 15-30 minutes before using it.
3. It is in powder form to avoid adding any preservatives or chemicals in the product thus it may feel different to use. It is important to wash thoroughly with water. If any powder is left after your hair dries just shake it off the hair.
4. Make sure you store the powder dry and moisture-free. Use dry hands when taking the powder. This is important for long shelf life of the product
5. It's recommended to use hair oil on a regular basis along with the hair wash powder. 
6. If you feel the hair wash powder is drying out your hair, you can add any conditioning ingredients in the paste - Soaked fenugreek seeds paste or fenugreek powder, Gooseberry powder or fresh, Curry leaves fresh or powder, hibiscus flowers and leaves fresh or powder are some ingredients. Note I can customize a hair wash powder to suit your needs too!

Happy chemical-free hair care! Do connect with me for any feedback or doubts. 

Why and How to use toothpowder

Toothpaste has many harmful chemicals. How can we put something non-edible ingredients in our mouth? The chemicals, when put into our mouth, are absorbed via swallowing and sublingual absorption. Sublingual, meaning 'under the tongue'. From our mouth cavity substances are rapidly absorbed via the blood vessels into our bloodstream. This method is used in medical procedures also, like first aid for heart attack. We are allowing chemicals to enter our bodies through our digestive system and bloodstream. 

Traditionally toothpowder or tree twigs were used to maintain oral health and it is the time we also switch to these natural methods. So buy a natural toothpowder or make your own! It's very important to keep the toothpowder dry and moisture-free. Make sure to take the toothpowder with dry hands.

How to use toothpowder: In your palm take around 2 pinches of powder, use your finger or toothbrush and gently brush your teeth for 2-5 minutes. Rinse your mouth well. 

Some concerns around toothpowder are

1. It can abrasive as its a powder form  - It's important to use a very fine toothpowder. The best way to brush is to use your finger to brush, massaging the toothpowder on your teeth and gums. However, if you do use a brush, brush gently. When using toohpaste we brush vigorously but when we brush with toothpowder we should be gentle to make sure it's not abrasive.

2. Teeth are yellow - I have been using toothpowder for the past 3 years and I have not visited the dentist even once, because I have healthy teeth. My teeth are slightly yellow but are healthy. So I question this concept of white sparkly teeth. Has the media influenced into believing that white teeth = healthy teeth? Of course for a few people, yellowing teeth could also be some medical issue, and that should be addressed but otherwise, I don't see an issue with my slightly yellow teeth. There are natural remedies and ways also to gain white teeth like salt. Some ways are to use salt water to brush your teeth, oil pulling,  gently rubbing the inside of a banana peel on your teeth.

3. Teeth become sensitive when using toothpowder - If you are using a toothpowder that has a citrus element like amla or lemon then you can experience sensitivity in your teeth. It's then advisable to take a break from the toothpowder regularly, like for a week every month and use a not citrus toothpowder. 

4. Tooth decay or cavity - Believe it or not your teeth have the potential to heal itself. It is called the remineralization of teeth. Your saliva is the way your teeth remineralize. Your diet affects the nutrition content in your saliva and its potential to heal the teeth. Good to have vitamins and minerals in your diet. Also, a good oral hygiene is important for healthy teeth and teeth remineralization so brush regularly, cleans your tongue and rinse your mouth after eating. For cavity, some ingredients to add in toothpowder are Guava leaves, Mango leaves and Banyan aerial bark powder. 

What does Natural mean to me @ Dhanak

The word natural has many different perspectives. Each individual understands natural personal care, sustainable living and eco-friendly differently. In my journey of exploring eco-entrepreneur, I have explored what does natural products at Dhanak mean to me.

There are many degrees of natural products. Either you can use plant-derived materials or direct plant materials. Either you can use natural, safe chemical preservatives or you can use no preservatives. Chemicals are not bad, water is after all a chemical compound. However, some chemicals are harmful to us and that why we need to move away from those ones. For example, Sodium Laureth Sulphate(SLS) is a very harsh chemical that not only stirps our hair/skin from its natural oils but has been linked to diseases like cancer. Not all ingredients are bad but there are some that we need to watch out for in the ingredient list. That's why is very important that whatever product you use, read the label, research about the ingredients and know what you are using. There few harmful chemicals have led me to switch to natural personal care.

There are different shades of natural ingredients. Broadly can be categorized as

1. Purely Natural: 100% Natural denotes only ingredients that are purely derived by botanicals with minimum processing (only powdering, drying, or extracting through heat mechanisms). Ex: Shikakai powder, essential oils, kokum butter)
2. Naturally derived: Naturally derived denotes that the ingredients have been sourced from botanicals but have gone through a chemical process to get them to the state they are in. They may or may not use preservatives, maybe chemically altered, and artificially colored. Example: Commercial Aloe Vera Gel, Vitamin E Capsules
3. Natural identical: Pure synthetic preparations where the end product resembles what may be naturally occurring on Earth. Example: Flavour oils, Citric Acid Powder
4. Chemical / Synthetic: Purely synthetic ingredients which may not have anything like it resembling in nature. Example: SLS in soap, Artificial Fragrance

Every ingredient, in all the 4 categories have its benefits, has its uses and properties. There is no right or wrong, no black and white when it comes to natural ingredients or Natural products.
I personally in my own life and at Dhanak want to create products that fall in the first category. I want to use Nature in its pure form for my formulations. This has its limitations but my values are very important to me.
I deeply also believe in Natural Beauty. Everyone is beautiful/handsome just the way they are. Whatever colour/size/shape, whatever lines/spots/styles are there in the body are perfect. My products also reflect that. I want to create natural products that will care for the body and support the body, keeping its natural beauty. Of course, Natural personal care also is in harmony with nature because you are not hurting the planet by using the products or making the products.

Of course, I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I make compromises, I experiment and am on the journey of understanding the world of natural personal care!

My personal journey of Dhanak so far.....

If I look back, the last few months ( May to August ) look like a jumbled up ball of yarn. A jumbled up ball of yarn that created something amazing, ‘Dhanak’. The first few months of starting an eco-entrepreneurship were super busy, challenging and very fun. 

Printing visiting cards, product photography, graphic designing, customer relationship, courier packing, product pricing, car driving, social media marketing, accounts, printing, raw material procuring and the list just goes on, I had not imagined I would have to do all these things. I just thought it was about making and selling but oh! It's much more.

What was great that even though I was alone, the sole proprietor, I had the support of my parents, family, and friends. The continuous feedback, advice, and help they gave me helped me learn and overcome all the challenges.

The biggest challenge I faced was myself. I held the high expectation of perfection from myself and of course couldn't fulfill it. I thought that I can't make any mistakes, I need to be able to do everything right, I need to make each and every customer happy, my products need to be perfect and I need to achieve a lot. These thoughts blocked me from facing the reality. 

The reality of mistakes, Some couriers arrived torn to the customer but only because of that I have now learned to parcel well. The reality that mistakes are the only path to success.

The reality that I am human and can do only so much, I have let go of some tasks from my todo list, maybe someone else can do it for me or maybe I can do it later. 

The reality that I need to accept and love my products and more importantly myself, Not every customer will like them, some will and some will not but can I take each feedback and embrace it rather than feeling inadequate about myself. 

The reality that every business has it good days and bad days, good sales and bad sales.

Slowly the ball of yarn has untangled and I am feeling like still water in a lake. Many things have got streamlined and I have got the basic hang of running Dhanak. This has given space for me to breathe. Dhanak now is flowing at the gentle pace of a river. At the moment I am not in a hurry to expand, to increase business but just go with the flow. I want to also bring balance in my own personal life, so along with Dhanak have started my side interest of Art. 

What has been so beautiful is that every day has been a learning, a blessing, and a journey and will continue to be. Dhanak is where what I am passionate about, what skills I have, the world needs and earning money comes to one common point. In japanese, it's called ‘Ikigai’.

An illusion of choice. Am I a free consumer?

When I enter a supermarket, or when I browse online, I encounter numerable choices. As a consumer, I feel that I have the freedom to choose, to decide what product I want to buy. However, I would like to question this sense of freedom of choice. 

Do I get to choose whether I want toxic chemicals in my soap or not? Do I get to choose if I want it to be packaged in single-use plastic or not? When companies choose to influence me on a psychological level to buy a soap, where is my freedom? Of course, there are different fragrances, colours & types of soap available but if you zoom out and really analyse, there is only one popular, mainstream option. Do I have the freedom to choose the right soap for me or for that matter any other consumer good?

If I wish to buy a bar of soap I can choose from neem to lemon or creamy to clear. I can choose Lux or Dove or Pears or Dettol or any other brand. But am I really the one making a choice or has the system already made choices for me?

Am I really choosing or have the choices for me have been already made by the system?

Let me try and explain this with a story.
 A man was drinking in a bar with his friends when the clock struck at 10 pm. Halfway through his drink, he got up hastily to leave. His friends mocked him, "Are you leaving your drink midway because you are scared of your wife?" They asked him, "Are you the man of the house or a mouse?". The man replied ''I am the man of the house. If I was a mouse then my wife would have been scared of me, not the other way around." When he reached home, his wife was angry because he was late again. The angry wife began to chase him with a rolling pin in hand. The man ran all around the house with his wife on tow. When he reached the bedroom he quickly slipped under the bed,  where he knew his wife couldn't fit. His wife screamed "Why are you hiding under the bed? Are you the man of the house or a mouse?". The man responded, "I am the man of the house. That's why I have the freedom to sleep wherever I want".

Did he really have the freedom to sleep wherever he wanted or he had no other choice but choose to stay in an illusion of choice?

Did he really have the freedom to sleep wherever he wanted? Or did he have no other choice but to stay in an illusion of having a choice? While sleeping under the bed we may feel we have the choice between the different companies and technologies of phones or TV or clothes or cosmetics. The important question is if we have blinded ourselves with the current reality of the market and stopped thinking beyond it. In this process have we forgotten to consider our health and our planet's well-being?

Here I would like to state the fact that there is no legal definition of the words Ayurvedic, Natural, Organic, Healthy. I can label a packet of chips Healthy and fill it with whatever ingredients and sell it to you. I am not implying that all ingredients and all companies are bad or that they have a bad intention. All that I am asking you is, "Are you are making an informed choice?". "Do you know what is there in your so-called Natural Ayurvedic Toothpaste?

If freedom means choosing whatever type of clothes I want to wear, am I aware of the workers who are underpaid, overworked and abused to make those fashionable branded clothes so affordable?

If freedom means keeping my hair the way I want, am I aware of the harmful chemicals put in shampoos, hair gels, conditioners and hair colours?

If freedom means having the choice to eat veg or non-veg food, do I know how cruelly animals are treated in today's mass meat industry? Do I know that the modern meat industry is one of the top contributors to global warming?

Do I and you live in a false sense of freedom?

For many of us, shopping has become an activity to feel good about ourselves. Using one's own credit card make one feel free and independent. But what are you really free from? Haven't we become slaves to modern stereotypes of being fashionable, successful and happy. How and why does owning the best thing available in the market dictate my self-worth? And mind you, the best things in the market change every day.

Leading a modern and free life to me doesn't mean falling prey to a consumeristic lifestyle. To me, a free life means being true to who I am. It means living my life to its full potential and leading a conscious lifestyle.

 

Protest for Climate Justice.

Greta Thunbery is an inspiring young environmental activist. Her strikes for climate change has given rise in the environmental justice movement.  Inspired by her, around the globe people are protesting for climate change. India is one such country to have just recently adopted this phenomenon of friday for future. Friday for future essentially means fighting on every Friday for a better future for coming generations.

I attended the first such protest happening in Bangalore on the 24th of May. It was also my first experience of attending a protest. I have always read about protest and been very inspired by it but also there is a fear around protest, due to the news we see in the media about violence and stuff.

When I arrived at the protest, I was disappointed. There were very few people, few means around 100 or so but I was like this is no use, to create an effect we need 1000's. People were standing on the step of the Bangalore Townhall. Many were holding different posters, with messages about the environment. On the mike, someone was singing a song, which I couldn't understand at all because of all the traffic noise. For a moment I felt like leaving, thinking I have seen all there is to the event. Since I had travelled a long way to the event I decided to stick around for a while.

They read out the protest appeal - It was an appeal to the environment minister to do some changes in govt. policy to create climate justice. There was an online petition which they asked us to sign and I did that. In my mind, there was this thought "this all is not going to create any effect because the scale is too small for govt. to take action. What is the point of this protest? It is hopeless for the planet"

Next was a talk about how in our personal lives we can be agents of change. How changes in our lifestyle can heal the planet. I knew everything they shared but I realized the importance of this strike. It is not an easy path to change and it has to happen in small steps and this was the beginning. The crowd was mainly youth, which was amazing. Because the young people of the world are the torch bearers of change.
It was nice to see people enthusiastically ask questions about what they can do in their lives and equally great to see young people answer the questions. Veganism, no plastic, planting trees whatever it may be if people are doing it, are aware of it and able to reach 100 people by the strike then its an achievement.

The government may not change immediately but it knows that the people are rising slowly. The Jhatkaa organisation along with Friday for future India will continue to organise such strikes. This shows hope and possibility for change. I left the event with awe and hope. I felt great to be able to participate in the peacefull strike for climate justice.

We declare Climate Emergency! We want Climate Justice and we need it NOW!

Travelogue : Himalayan Trek

I found myself amidst mountains, full of greenery, rocks, streams and far away peaks of snow. A family trek took me to the Himalayas for a trek. I wouldn't have gone or planned it myself, I not the adventurous type and I dislike the cold. Having a family that enjoys meaningful holidays rather than full of touristy stuff is very beneficial and that is how I landed in the cold but beautiful Himalayas.

It was a 4-day trek called the Rupin Supin Trek, it was an easy level trek. It was a new, challenging and fun experience for me. Every day we trekked around 8km for 7-8 hours. The trekking was difficult but it was fun to walk. Of course, climbing uphill was tougher than walking down. 

The best experience was the snow. First time in my life I was experiencing snow even though it was just a few 100 meters of snow, walking uphill on snow was scary, I felt I would slip and fall down the mountain. Coming down the snow was super fun because we came sliding down in the freezing cold snow!

Before coming for the trek, I worked on my fitness at home however I was still worried about my physical ability and thought that I might have to deal with body pain. I had underestimated my physical capability. The only problem I had to deal with was the car sickness I felt during the travel to the base camp and back. My body was quite capable of trekking on the level we went.

I really disliked the cold. Maybe because I have never lived in a cold area, I find it difficult to cope with cold. The mountains were cold and that was something I did not enjoy and will be one of the major aspects for me when considering another trek. I just not built for the cold. 

We stayed in tents. Everyday day we camped at different places. I was challenging for me to sleep in tents, in sleeping bags in the cold. I am very grateful for the organiser's Himalayan Hikers because they took good care of us and pampered us with good food. I am also thankful to the mules who carried our backpacks for us so we could trek with ease.

Apart from my family, a friend's family had also come along, It was super fun to play cards in the evening after the trek in the camp. I learnt some new games and enjoyed the fun company of family and friends. The villages, the children, the houses, the goats, the dogs were so different from what I have seen and so cute! I enjoyed the beauty of the place and the kind nature of the people in the mountains. 

I was very pleased to see our trip organisers take care of the environment, they made sure not to use single-use plastic and carried out packed lunches in steel boxes on the trek every day. However, I completely enjoyed food without considering my sustainability or health values like appy terta pack, toffees, kurkure, Maggi etc. I broke my values happily just for the trek.

Overall it was an amazing experience and I would recommend everyone to experience it at least once in their lifetime. I am not sure I will go again but I will cherish the memories.