Bhringaraj for Hair

Bhringaraj for hair is one of the oldest and best-settled ideas in Ayurvedic hair care, for this is the herb the tradition names above all others where the hair and scalp are concerned. Its very name carries the claim: Bhringaraja, the king of bhringa, is glossed in the tradition as the king of the hair, and the classical Nighantus place it first among the Keshya herbs, those said to be good for the hair. Where a hair oil is being made, Bhringaraj is very often at the heart of it.

The herb is Eclipta, a small, unassuming plant that grows in damp and marshy ground, with little flowers that give it some of its regional names. In the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu and the other classical herbals it is described as cooling, nourishing and a Rasayana, a herb taken over time to renew the body, and its virtues are directed especially at the head, the hair and, in the tradition, the liver. For hair, three of its qualities matter most: it is Keshya, good for the hair; it is cooling, which the tradition connects with the health of the scalp; and it is nourishing, which supports the strength of the hair.

Why Ayurveda links Bhringaraj with the hair

Ayurveda reads the hair as an outgrowth connected in a fine way with the tissues of the body, and it connects the health, colour and strength of the hair with the balance of the Doshas, and with Pitta in particular. Premature greying, thinning and heat in the scalp are traditionally read as expressions of aggravated Pitta, the hot, sharp quality, reaching the region of the head. Bhringaraj, being cooling, is understood to settle that heat, and being nourishing, to support the tissue from which the hair grows. This is why it is the herb the tradition reaches for first in the care of the hair.

The classical texts also group hair care within the wider idea of Keshya and Rasayana: herbs that both nourish the hair directly and, taken over time, renew the body of which the hair is an outgrowth. Bhringaraj belongs to both groups, which is part of why it holds such a settled place.

There is also the matter of the scalp itself. The tradition treats the scalp as the ground from which the hair grows, and a scalp that is nourished, cool and settled is held to grow better hair than one that is dry, hot or out of sorts. Bhringaraj, brought to the scalp as a regularly applied oil and worked in with a gentle massage, answers on both counts: it cools and it nourishes, and the massage itself is valued in the tradition for bringing ease to the region. This is why the daily or regular oiling of the scalp, rather than an occasional heavy treatment, is the classical way with Bhringaraj for the hair.

How it is used

By far the commonest way Bhringaraj reaches the hair is as a medicated hair oil. The fresh herb, or its juice, is cooked into a base of sesame or coconut oil by the long process of sneha-paka, so that the oil takes up its virtue, and the resulting oil is massaged into the scalp and left to act before the hair is washed. The best known of these preparations is Neelibhringadi Thailam, a classical hair oil built on Bhringaraj together with Nili and other herbs, long used in the traditional care of the scalp and hair, and often cooked in a coconut base in the southern tradition. Many household and classical hair oils use Bhringaraj in the same way.

Beyond the oil, Bhringaraj is used as a paste of the fresh herb applied to the scalp, and as a powder, churna, or a fresh juice, swarasa, taken internally, where its action reaches beyond the hair to the liver and the tissues. For hair alone, the gentle regular oiling of the scalp is the classical way, and the oil is chosen to suit the person: a coconut base where a cooling oil suits, a sesame base where the scalp is dry.

Neelibhringadi Thailam

The best known of the Bhringaraj hair oils deserves a closer look. Neelibhringadi Thailam takes its name from Nili and Bhringa, the two herbs at its heart, and it is one of the classical hair oils of the southern tradition, cooked most often in a base of coconut oil, sometimes with a portion of sesame, and enriched with the juices and decoctions of Bhringaraja, Nili, Amalaki and other herbs, along with milk. It is applied to the scalp and left to act before washing, and the tradition associates it with the nourishing of the scalp, the support of the natural darkness and strength of the hair, and the settling of heat in the head. It is a good example of how Bhringaraj is rarely used alone for the hair, but set among companion Keshya herbs in a considered preparation.

Bhringaraj taken within

Because Ayurveda reads the hair as an outgrowth connected with the tissues, the tradition also uses Bhringaraj internally for the good of the hair, drawing on its Rasayana nature. As a powder or juice, or within compound preparations, it is taken to nourish the body and, in the classical view, to support the hair from within, alongside its recognised action on the liver. This internal use is more potent than the oil and engages the herb’s fuller virtue, which is why it is fitted to the person and guided by a practitioner rather than taken casually.

The dravyaguna

In the language of dravyaguna, the classical materia medica, Bhringaraj is described as bitter and pungent in taste, with a light and dry quality tempered by its overall nourishing nature, cooling in its potency, and pungent in its post-digestive effect. Its karma, its action, is given as Keshya, good for the hair, Rasayana, renewing, and Kaphapittahara, settling Kapha and Pitta, with a particular reputation as a herb for the liver. It is this combination, cooling and nourishing and directed at the head, that fits it so well to the care of the hair.

The tradition draws a further thread here, connecting the health of the hair with the state of the liver and the blood, Rakta. Because Bhringaraj is a herb the classical writers value for the liver and for cooling the blood, and because a heated Rakta is read as one of the causes of premature greying and a scalp out of sorts, its action on the hair is understood to run partly through this deeper channel, and not only through what it does when spread on the scalp. This is another reason the tradition reaches for it both within and without.

Which constitution it suits

Because it is cooling, Bhringaraj is especially suited to settling Pitta, and so to the hot scalp, the premature greying and the thinning the tradition reads as Pitta reaching the head. Being nourishing, it also supports the hair where the dryness of Vata is at work, softening and feeding the tissue. It is generally well tolerated on the scalp across constitutions as an oil. Where it is taken internally, a practitioner fits the herb, the form and the dose to the person’s constitution, since internal use engages its fuller, more potent action.

In the tradition of hair care

Bhringaraj rarely stands quite alone. The classical hair oils set it in the company of other Keshya herbs, Nili for colour, Amla for its cooling and nourishing virtue, and others, and the tradition surrounds the oiling with the wider habits it recommends for the hair: a regular oiling and gentle massage of the scalp, a cooling, Pitta-settling diet where heat is at work, and attention to the general balance of the Doshas, since the hair is read as an outgrowth of the body’s own health. The oil is the vehicle, but the tradition treats the whole regimen as the care.

Precautions

As an external hair oil, Bhringaraj is gentle and long used, and suits most scalps; patch testing a new oil on a small area is a sensible precaution, as with any oil. Taken internally, it is a more potent herb with a recognised action on the liver, and its internal use, form, dose and duration are best guided by a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner rather than self-prescribed, with particular care in pregnancy and alongside medication. Hair loss and scalp complaints can also have causes that deserve medical assessment, and Ayurvedic hair care sits alongside, not in place of, that.

This article describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of Bhringaraj for the hair for education and is not medical advice; consult a qualified doctor or a registered Ayurvedic practitioner before taking Bhringaraj internally, especially in pregnancy or where a health condition is being managed.