Rewritten 12 September 2026. An earlier version of this article said that bhringraj increases the size and density of hair follicles, that brahmi is rich in vitamin C and zinc and strengthens the blood vessels of the scalp, and that our colours treat the scalp while they colour. We cannot support those statements, and we have taken them down. What follows is what we can actually say — sorted by how well it is known.
Three kinds of knowing
Almost everything written about herbs and the scalp mixes three different things together. We are going to keep them apart, and label each one.
- Tradition — what Ayurvedic practice has said, often for centuries. Real, and worth knowing. Not the same as evidence.
- Measured — what a study has actually found. We will say what kind of study, on what, and what it did not test.
- Plausible, untested — what the chemistry suggests could happen, and that nobody has checked. This is the largest category, and the one most often dressed up as the second.
Two of our twelve herbs are in our colours mainly for the scalp rather than the strand: bhringraj, in 22 of our 24 shades, and brahmi, in 11 of them. Here is each one, honestly sorted.
Bhringraj (Eclipta prostrata, syn. E. alba)
Tradition. Its Sanskrit name, kesharaja, means king of hair. It has been the scalp herb of Ayurvedic practice for as long as the practice has been written down, used against hair loss and early greying. That is a long record of use. It is not a record of results, because nobody was measuring.
Measured. There is a real animal study, and it is where every “increases follicle density” claim on the internet comes from. In 2008 Roy, Thakur and Dixit applied extracts of the plant to shaved skin on albino rats every day, alongside minoxidil as a comparison. Hair began growing back in about half the time, and more follicles were in the growing phase. That is a genuine finding. Here is what the same study also tells you, if you read past the abstract:
- The extracts were made with petroleum ether and ethanol — solvents that pull out oil-soluble compounds a bowl of warm water largely leaves in the leaf.
- They were carried in an oily cream, on skin with the hair shaved off, so the compounds had direct contact with bare skin.
- They were applied every day. A hair colour goes on once every four to six weeks.
- The animals were rats. Rat hair cycles in weeks; human scalp hair cycles in years.
A second study, in mice, used a methanol extract and reached a similar conclusion. There is no human trial of bhringraj on the scalp that we have been able to find, and none at all of milled leaf in water.
Plausible, untested. The leaf contains wedelolactone and related coumestans, which is what laboratories use to identify the plant. Some of these compounds show anti-inflammatory activity in cell studies. A colour paste sits on the scalp for an hour or two, and skin does absorb some small molecules. So it is not unreasonable to think something reaches the skin. Whether enough reaches it to do anything, from a water paste, once a month, on a human scalp — nobody has measured. We include bhringraj because it has always been in blends like ours, and we say so on the pouch. We do not include it because we can show you it works.
Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri)
Tradition. In Ayurvedic practice brahmi is first a herb for the mind — memory, calm, focus. Its use on hair is real but secondary, and comes partly from being paired with bhringraj in oils. It is worth knowing that a different plant, Centella asiatica, is also called brahmi in some regions; ours is Bacopa, and the two are unrelated.
Measured. The bacosides in brahmi have been studied for cognition, taken by mouth. On the scalp, topically, we have found no study at all. The earlier version of this article said brahmi is rich in vitamin C and zinc. A dried leaf powder carries trace amounts of both, and vitamin C in particular does not survive drying and storage in any useful quantity — we say the same about amla, and it is true here too. That claim is withdrawn.
Plausible, untested. Bacoside A is a mixture of saponins, and saponins on skin can be mildly cleansing and mildly irritating in the same breath. Beyond that, we have nothing to offer. Brahmi is in eleven of our shades — every one with “Blonde” in its name — because it has been in pale blends traditionally. We do not claim it does anything to your scalp.
Why we still think the scalp matters here — and where the evidence actually is
The honest scalp benefit of a plant colour is not what the herbs add. It is what the formula leaves out. This part is not tradition and it is not inference. It is on the label, and it is audited.
- No PPD. Para-phenylenediamine is the most common cause of hair-dye allergy, and it is in most permanent colour, including much of what is sold as natural. There is none in a Radico pouch.
- No ammonia, no peroxide. Neither is on your scalp for the hour the paste is, because neither is in the paste.
- Twelve plant powders and nothing else, certified by an outside body that checks the formula rather than the marketing.
That is a real difference to the skin on your head, and it is the one we are confident about. Subtracting the irritants is documented. Adding a benefit is not. We would rather you buy on the first than on the second.
What plants can still do to skin
None of this means a plant paste is inert. Bhringraj is in the daisy family, and people sensitive to ragweed or chrysanthemum occasionally react to it. Henna and its relatives are a concern for anyone with G6PD deficiency. Saponins sting the eyes. Patch test on the inner forearm 48 hours before a full application — plants can cause reactions too, and the fact that nothing synthetic is in the pouch does not change that.
What it would take to say more
We would need to put milled bhringraj in water on human scalps, at our ratio, at our frequency, for months, with a comparison group, and count something — shed hairs, follicle density, irritation scores. Nobody has done that. If someone does, the result goes on this page whichever way it lands. Until then, the shade counts are facts, the tradition is a fact, the rat study is a fact with four caveats, and the rest is a plausible idea we are not going to sell you as a finding.
Where these herbs are in the range
Bhringraj is in 22 of our 24 shades — every one except Violet and Honey Blonde. Brahmi is in 11, all of them blondes, and every one of those eleven also contains bhringraj. Both are also sold on their own, as single powders, on the bhringraj and brahmi pages, where each herb gets the same three-way sorting in more detail.
Reference
Roy RK, Thakur M, Dixit VK. Hair growth promoting activity of Eclipta alba in male albino rats. Arch Dermatol Res. 2008;300(7):357–364. doi:10.1007/s00403-008-0860-3 · PMID 18478241.
Petroleum ether and ethanol extracts in a water-in-oil cream, applied daily to shaved rat skin, against a 2% minoxidil control. Not a water paste, not a scalp, not a human. We cite it because it is the source of the claim, and we describe it so you can judge the distance between the study and the pouch.
Radico Colour Me Organic is a cosmetic product for external use on hair. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition of the scalp.