A comment from GiiGii on this post:
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From the category archives:
Zizyphus Spina Christi
I tried the Zizyphus Spina Christi yesterday, henceforth referred to as ZSC. If you read my first post about ZSC, you know it’s a desert plant but here is more information about it.
- The shrub has flowers and berries that look like wild cherries
- In addition to still growing wild in Upper Egypt and Nubia, it also cultivated in Egyptian gardens
- It was part of Egyptian pharaohs’ diet
- Also used to treat constipation, as a cooling bandage, liver disease, urinary disease
A lot of what I found was very confusing. Some of the sources seemed to use ZSC interchangeably with other plants such as Zizyphus Lotus while others made a distinction. Anyhoo, here is my initial impression of it.
First, the price: It’s 4.50 for 25g. Now why I thought that was enough for my hair, I don’t know because it was barely enough for half. So for one treatment I would need 50g.I do have to say that once the water was added that the mixture really swelled and was a lot more than it originally seemed.
ZSC
There is no option to buy a bigger amount as there is with Cassia. Cassia and ZSC cost the same for 25g though.
Second: The instructions are confusing. The package says to leave it on for 20 minutes after mixing it with water. I’ve just now noticed the instructions on the website:
Mix Zizyphus Spina Christi with water until it is a paste about as thick as yoghurt. Let the paste rest an hour or two. Section your hair, and apply the paste. Work the paste throroughly into your hair. Let it stay in your hair for an hour. Rinse your hair completely with hot water. 25 grams of Zizyphus will clean and condition your hair.
I just mixed it and applied, went and ran on the treadmill for 25 minutes and then rinsed. Sooo, I wonder if I got the full benefit.
ZSC after water's added
The mixture felt strange once the water was added. First it felt a little sudsy. Not just like soap, but just a hint of it. And it also felt sort of slimy. I wonder now how it would’ve felt if I’d left it for longer like the instructions on the website say. It smelled a lot like cassia, but not as strong.
I thought it fate that I didn’t have enough for my whole head, so I just rinsed my whole head and applied the ZSC to half of my hair. Good to compare, right?
Third, the rinse: Pain in the butt. I thought it rinsed out easily at first. I rarely have problems with the cassia when rinsing. I didn’t really notice the tiny bits of debri in my hair until I got to the mirror. The instructions online say to rinse with hot water, I only used warm so that may have been part of the problem.
After rinsing
I finally went ahead and applied my DC to my whole head hoping that it would help get some of it out. It did for the most part.
After DC, detangling
My initial impressions:
- My the half I used the ZSC on did feel cleaner after rinsing (despite the debri). This is in comparison to side that was just rinsed with water following a week of frequent cowashing.
- My curls felt springier on that side. There was still frizz in all the same places
- It left my hair somewhat drier, but not as dry as cassia does. I still needed to use a moisturizing DC
- I noticed no change in color or texture
- I let both sides dry a bit before applying any product and found that the side I used the ZSC had more sheen. I don’t know if this was a fluke or what, but it was noticeable. I did not notice a difference in sheen once I applied my leave in and shea butter for my twists however.
I want to try it again so I’m reordering it so I can try the instructions on the website. I also may order the shampoo bars with ZSC in them. I’m also going to email the people at mehandi.com to ask them which set of instructions are best to follow.
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1) For the transitioners who’ve asked me about entering the two giveaways, you may enter the compliment giveaway for the cassia, but the compliment has to be related to your new growth, not your relaxed hair. I will be having a giveaway only for transitioners in a few weeks that I am really excited about, so stay tuned.
2) T (who has an awesome blog about makeup) recently asked me about a twists/twist out tutorial, but this is not the first request I’ve recieved for such. I am planning to do one soon and have even toyed with doing a video on it, but we will see 
Ya’ll know how camera shy I am!
In the meantime, curlynikki (who I’m sure none of you have heard of ) has an awesome and popular twist n curl tutorial. I don’t typically do a twist n curl, but may do them more in the future when my hair is longer.
3) I’ll be trying out the KBB hair milk and perhaps the hair masque later today and the reviews will be up tomorrow or maybe even later today.
4) I’ve ordered and recieved Zizyphus Spina Christi which I will be trying in the near future. From mehandi.com:
Zizyphus Spina Christi is a desert plant. The leaves were powdered and used to wash hair before shampoo was available. It leaves hair clean, shiny, healthy and well conditioned. It does not leave any color in the hair.
Zizyphus Spina Christi is ideal for:
- people who have light colored hair and would like the conditioning of henna, but with no color change
- people who can’t use any soap or detergent to wash their hair.
- people who have fine, limp hair and would like more thickness and texture
- people whose hair needs extra protection from water, sun and dust
Mix Zizyphus Spina Christi with water until it is a paste about as thick as yoghurt. Let the paste rest an hour or two. Section your hair, and apply the paste. Work the paste throroughly into your hair. Let it stay in your hair for an hour. Rinse your hair completely with hot water. 25 grams of Zizyphus will clean and condition your hair.
I was pretty excited about this when I saw it. It may be good for those ladies with gray hair who do not want to color. I myself will more than likely go prematurely gray if my family history is any indication, so I’m really interested in this. I have no plans to hide my gray ever. (shh! I already have a good deal of gray!)
I’m going to do more research on this plant and have (hopefully) a good article put together for ya’ll to read.
And lastly:
5) I’ll also be trying Amla which Fleurtzy of Texture Playground has MADE me purchase, darn her. Check out her experience with it.
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I did another ZSC treatment the other day, GiiGii. I’m glad you said something because I’ve been meaning to do one for awhile and just haven’t gotten around to it. I can’t wait to hear how your second use went, so please share if you can!
After my second use, I’ve decided this is something I’d like to use on a regular basis.
This is especially so since I found a few “blond” hairs from my cassia using days
I never thought the cassia affected the few gray hairs that I have until I noticed these blondies popping up. Luckily it’s not that noticeable. But since I want to keep my gray, cassia is a no go for me.
This ZSC treatment was done using the instructions found online. If you read the last post on this subject, you will notice that I had some confusion on how to use this. Here’s what I did:
1. Mixed 50 g ZSC with water until yogurt like consistency. I also added a splash of ACV. Next time I may try adding an oil.
2. Applied to wet hair in sections and wrapped in plastic.
3. Kept on hair for a little over an hour.
4. Rinsed each section thoroughly and then dunked my head in my tub. I got this tip from SBB (check out her fotki here), who dunked hers in the sink full of water. This stuff is a mother to rinse out. So, after rinsing, dunking, and then rinsing once more while fingercombing gently, I had most of it out.There were still a few flakes here and there that disappeared once I did my DC later on that night.
5. Wore my hair naked in a fro. Rinsing upside down gives me major volume and the fingercombing on naked hair really seperated the curl.
ZSC head
Side
I got a lot better coverage with 50g. If you have hair around 3-4 inches or fine hair, 25g will probably be enough.
Further conclusions:
I definitly noticed a sheen to my hair. In my last ZSC post you may remember me saying that I thought I noticed it then, but it was a sure thing this time. I rarely wear my hair naked, without a leave in at least, but I did after this treatment and I could tell a big difference in the sheen. I don’t know if it’s because of it cleaning my hair or what. My hair feels springier and clean afterwards. I am going to continue using this on a regular basis to see if I find long term effects evident.
I did not notice any curl loosening or anything.
Dry, naked hair after treatment
I have to say it felt pretty soft this time too.
I wore it like this for the rest of the day and then did a DC overnight