Why No Fancy Serum Can Beat This 100-Year-Old Indian Hair Oil Ritual

by Lanceek Cv October 16, 2025

The handmade Indian ritual that outlasted every beauty trend and how returning to it changed my hair forever.

When I was thirteen, I used a liquid silicone serum that came in a transparent bottle with a purple lid. I’d seen the commercial after school (I was in 7th std), a woman running her fingers through glossy, waist-length hair and asked my dad to buy it. (My mom would be so annoyed with me because she wanted all my focus on academics)

He brought it home that weekend. It felt like magic at first: my hair was easy to detangle and smelled sweet. I saw less hair in the comb after detangling.

But month after month, the shine faded. My hair didn’t get longer or softer; it only grew drier. One afternoon I saw a photo and felt a small jolt of panic. My ends looked fried. They had none of that heavy, black sleekness I’d known as a child after undoing a long braid. (my mother's braid. She never used these fancy serums or oils)

I remember thinking, what have I done to my hair?

The Day I Accepted That My Hair Wouldn’t Grow

Around that time, I discovered an online forum called The Long Hair Community and fell into it completely. People there talked about “terminal length,” the point where hair simply stopped growing, no matter what you tried. I read post after post from people who swore their hair refused to go past the waist.

For a while I believed them. Maybe my genes had decided this was it. Maybe the goddess-like hair I’d imagined as a child, the kind that fell in dark sheets or long, thick braids, wasn’t meant for me.

I envied my mother's, all the time. But my hair wouldn't grow past waist no matter what I did.

The Shift. A Return to the 100-Year-Old Habit

What changed everything wasn’t a new product. It was a memory.

My mother always oiled our hair before school, a few drops warmed between her palms, then neatly braided. My grandmother’s youngest sister kept hers long until she passed away at eighty. (Hers turned mostly grey, but still thick braids) I started asking questions, comparing notes between aunts. Who oiled regularly? Who used the herbs? Whose hair lasted longest? Slowly, a pattern appeared.

So I began again. I soaked our native herbs. Bringaraj, roots, and floral parts that we carefully cleaned - in premium grade base oils without heat, the way my mother did. At first it felt like work, then like meditation. After each wash my hair softened. Within weeks, it began to fall differently, heavier, silkier, calmer. (that people on my blog noticed). Read my one year hair growth journey on the blog.

One afternoon, while cooking, I caught my reflection and froze. My braid brushed the curve of my hip, thick till the ends. No splits. I touched it again and again, half disbelieving. I looked exactly like the woman I’d promised myself I’d become.

My Scalp Science! Why Mild Wins Over Modern

My scalp has always been temperamental. Fragrances, preservatives, even “natural” essential oils would sting or cause itching. Later, blood tests confirmed a high IgE count, a possible allergic dermatitis, the doctor said.

That’s when I started reading about scalp microbiomes and calm environments for hair growth. I learned that sometimes the mildest oils, cold-infused herbal blends — perform better than high-tech serums. Bringaraj, in particular, is known for strengthening follicles and improving micro-circulation. A small PubMed study even shows measurable regrowth potential.

Once I stopped trying to “treat” my scalp and started nurturing it, everything changed.

The Cold-Infusion Secret. Where Most Oils Lose Their Soul

Most commercial oils are heated till they darken. It’s faster, and it may work. (better than not oiling at all) but something gets lost along the way. Cold-infused hair oil takes patience: the herbs release their colour and scent slowly, without burning. The result is pale green, almost floral, and alive in a way heated oils never are.

I steep mine in a dark room instead of under sunlight. Some of the herbs act as natural preservatives, so it stays fresh for months. There’s no perfume, no additive, just the quiet scent of leaves and roots.

When I open a new batch, it smells faintly of earth after rain.

The 90-Day Growth Experiment

In 2011, I began documenting everything on my old blog. I’d measure my braid each month, post photos, and write what I did differently. (Read an hair update I posted on 2019 - sharing my oiling routine, diet etc.) Back then, the hair oil was named as MABH fast growth hair oil - named after my blog. Then I received the trademark approval from the Indian governement for the name 'Lancemade.'

Other women joined. We traded routines and results; I sent a few of them bottles of my handmade herbal oil to test.

We kept the process simple: detangle twice daily, braid loosely, trim ends gently, clean scalp weekly. By the third month, my hair started catching light differently. That soft, reflective shine you can’t fake with silicone. It wasn’t faster growth, just real growth finally visible.

Building a Community. From My Bathroom to the World

The first compliments came online. Then, gradually, in person. Women would stop me in grocery aisles or weddings to ask what I used. I’m shy outside sometimes so I rarely mention that I make oils myself. I just tell them: “Don’t tie your hair too tight, and use something pure, like a premium edible grade oil. Avoid the colored/scented ones.”

One of my earliest readers, Shilpa, still messages me fourteen years later. She even speaks to my mother sometimes. Stories like hers remind me why I began, a circle of women keeping alive a ritual that works.

Why This Ritual Will Outlive Every Serum Trend

In the last decade, hair serums have become a global billion-dollar market. They promise instant smoothness through silicones and synthetic polymers, but studies show that these coatings only create temporary surface gloss. Once washed out, the hair fibre returns to its previous state, often drier because moisture balance is never restored at the root.

Cold-infused herbal oils work on a completely different principle. Instead of sealing, they feed the fibre. Plant oils such as coconut, mustard contain triglycerides that penetrate the cortex, something no serum can replicate. A 2015 International Journal of Trichology study confirmed that coconut oil reduces protein loss from both damaged and undamaged hair better than mineral or sunflower oil.

When these base oils are steeped with herbs like Bringaraj, rose petals and other wild herbs that are believed for years to promote hair growth, the result is a micro-nutrient-rich compound that supports stronger follicles and higher retention rate. Consistent use of such handmade hair growth oils shows measurable improvement in tensile strength, shine, and density within 90 days, not because of external coating, but because lipid levels and cuticle alignment improve naturally.

Unlike commercial formulations that rely on preservatives and synthetic fragrance, a cold-infused hair oil stays biocompatible with the scalp’s natural sebum. This makes it ideal for sensitive-scalp users who struggle with dermatitis or high IgE reactions. Over time, the cumulative effect is healthier hair growth, reduced breakage, and visibly thicker ends, outcomes that are proven, not promised.

For all the marketing that surrounds hair serums, data continues to show what traditional Indian hair care routines already knew: slow herbal infusion creates lasting structural health. That is why this simple, handmade ritual will keep outperforming modern quick fixes, not out of nostalgia, but because the biology still agrees with it.

I still make my batches the same way — cold-infused, unhurried, and steeped with herbs that feed the fibre instead of coating it. The blend eventually became Lancemade Hair Growth Oil but at its heart, it’s still the same family recipe that restored my hair.