Tress factor

Sumithra Balamurugan harks back to her grandmother’s recipe to make hair oil with the goodness of natural ingredients

Sumithra Balamurugan’s hair oil has all things natural and nutritious

At a school carnival what drew considerable attention was a stall that showcased bottles of hair oil! Sumithra Balamurugan from Coimbatore makes them and her own glowing tresses are a walking advertisement for her product that she calls Cascade by Meadows.

The concoction was something Balamurugan’s grandmother made back in the day. And after she was urged by a friend, she them sent out to a select group of friends and family for some honest feedback.

The base is a blend of three oils (coconut, castor and sesame) in a specific proportion. To that Balamurugan has added ingredients like curry leaves, almonds, fenugreek and lots more. She is very interested in Ayurveda and natural therapies.

Sumithra Balamurugan makes hair oil from her grandmom’s recipe

I got a bottle and what struck me was that the oil wasn’t overly greasy and a light massage was all that was necessary for it to be absorbed nicely into the scalp.

Balamurugan retails from home and she says she really enjoys that as this way she is better able to interact with customers. She says she has learnt a lot from them as well about hair care. When mothers of teenage children come to her for help in dealing with skin and hair related problems,Sumithra offers simple doable advice that she says will assure the user years of hair health.

But she is quick to caution that her hair oil is not an an overnight ‘magic cure’. There are dos and don’t s that must be adhered to to extract the maximum, benefit from it.

The ingredients that go into making this oil are sourced from her parents’ farm and other known farms. The oils come from her regular ‘ chekku yennai ’ supplier and she never deviate from that. Sumithra’s sister-in-law helped her with the names for her brand and product.

She says the name,‘Cascade’ represents long luxurious locks that resemble a cascading waterfall and ‘Meadows’ conjures up an image of land that is green and natural, exactly what this oil is all about.

A visual communications student who is Balamurugan’s friend designed the packaging. That’s how this darkly translucent green hair oil made it’s way from the quiet confines of her kitchen to the school carnival.

For contact, call 9944023311or mail to sumithrajb@yahoo.co.in