If you use a mild or gentle shampoo you can wash your hair as frequently as you want — which might be every day for city dwellers and people with oily hair.

Make an infusion of one of the following herbs — camomile, rosemary, sage or nettle - and add a cupful to your shampoo to dilute it. Wash in warm water, then for the final rinse use cold distilled or purified water.

Every month treat your hair to a massage.

2 teaspoons of soya oil
1 teaspoon of rum
1 capsule of cod-liver oil
1 capsule of lecithin
2 drops of thyme
2 drops of sage

Mix all together, and massage into your hair for a few minutes. Then wrap your head in a warm towel to aid the penetration of the oils and leave on for an hour. When washing out the oil use a gentle shampoo, not diluted this time, and afterwards rinse through with either fresh lemon juice for fair hair or cider vinegar for dark to help restore manageability and shine. This treatment is particularly good for dull hair and hair that suffers from split ends.