Hibiscus

The scarlet hibiscus flower is less a cosmetic for the India woman than an ornament, worn in the hair or behind an ear. But Chinese and Indian women have traditionally boiled the flowers and leaves of the hibiscus, then mixed the infusion with herbal oil before applying it to their hair as a stimulant to the growth of luxurious tresses. While the chinese use the hibiscus flower s juice as an ingredient in black dye for the hair and eyebrows, indians include hibiscus flower juice in a famous herbal oil and conditioner which is now bottled and sold throughout eastern India under the brand name Jaba Kusam. One reason for the widespread popularity of this oil is its effectiveness against dandruff.
In Hindu mythology the hibiscus is the flower offered in the worship of the goddess and Ayurvedic medicine seems to lend credence to the particularly virtues of this plant by prescribing it as an emmenagogue effective in promoting a woman s period. The root yields a drug which Ayurveda believes to be useful in treating venereal disease.
An extract from the hibiscus flower is also used in preventing unwanted pregnancies, inhibiting the flow of semen in men, and bringing on temporary sterility in women. Ayurvedic physicians believe the anticonception properties of the drug to be effective postcoitally.