How To Make Infusions with Ayurvedic Powders
If you've been following this blog for the past few weeks, you'll have gotten to know a bit about Ayurvedic ingredients. Amla and Brahmi (post coming up on that soon) have multiple uses for both skin and hair care, and today, we're going to use them to make infusions.
An infusion is quite easy to do and doesn't even call for all kinds of expensive equipment.
Gather Your Gear
You'll need:
- Demineralized water
- Ayurvedic powder
- Broad-spectrum preservative (an absolute must if you want your infusion to keep! I used a mix of phenoexethynol, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and methylparaben for my infusions)
- Coffee filters (or cheesecloth/muslin)
- Sterilized pitcher/large beaker (in which to steep your infusion)
- Sterilized container (in which to store your infusion)
Measure
For both Amla and Brahmi powders, it is recommended to use 10% powder to 90% water. So, for a liter of infusion, 10 grams of powder to 90 grams (or milliliters) of water
Measure out the powder (as you can see, it doesn't take a lot of powder to create a liter of product).
Place the powder in the pitcher (or container you will be steeping in).
Tip: choose a container you can easily pour from. This will make it easier when it's time to strain.
Measure out a little more than a liter of water and boil it. You'll need a bit more as there is some loss - I added an extra 10 ml. Pour the boiling water over the powder and cover the pitcher. I just used a (clean) plate to cover each container.
Steep
Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Above: Brahmi on the left and Amla on the right.
Filter and Bottle
Filter through coffee filters or muslin/cheesecloth.
Bottle and label - don't forget to keep track of the production date
Next time, we're going to use our infusions!
More About Ayurvedic Ingredients on this Blog
Ayurvedic PowdersAmla
Comments
At the moment I've tried amla, shikakai, aritha (soapnuts powder), cassia (neutral henna) and orange peel powder.
I love them in my hair and face, but I prefer hair. For masks they're great, and also washing with a mix of shikakai and aritha, this leaves my hair so smoooooooooth. However, if you have oily hair, they may not be strong enough for a good wash. For people that like to wash hair everyday, this could be a great idea for a no-poo washing.
Also as face mask for oily skin, just gorgeous :)
I recently bought two of your ebooks, Emulsions and The Art of making Glycerites and I love them! Thank you ☺️
Reading this post today I would like to ask for your opinion, please. I got some tepezcohuite powder, I used the percentages for a “dried material “ in the ebook and I made a glycerite! And I added to an emulsion. I loved the pinkysh colour on it and the idea that my emulsion could have some of the properties of such powder.
Do you think that what I made is ok (Making the glycerite)? Or should I better make an “infusion “ or perhaps a “macerate” with the powder? I am confuse about what would be better if any ? I am in the UK and I really want to use the tepezcohuite in my creams.
Thank you very much.