Enjoy springtime recipes that give your hair a great flair - soft, silky and utterly gorgeous! By Rakhi Agarwal

NOTHING like quick hair fixes to keep you from going to pieces.

But before we give you the stuff in a bowl, know that hair is protein; so try getting enough of the good stuff from your diet.

It is important to balance the yin and the yang to get hair that is at its best.

Yin is cool energy that can be found in foods like aloe vera, honey, cucumber, etc.

Yang is hot, like cherries, chilli, etc. Maintain a synergy between them and your hair stays happy.

Getting back to quickies, nothing like hair masks as thirst quenchers. Try one at least once a week and enjoy movie-star-style luxury.

A Fruit Smoothie
1/2 banana
1/4 avocado
1/4 cantaloupe
1 tbsp wheatgerm oil
1 tbsp yoghurt
Blend together in the mixer and apply to hair. Leave on for 15 minutes and shampoo.

Amazing Avocado
To revive stressed-out hair: Take an avocado, peel and pit it and mash it up along with two tablespoons of honey. Massage the mixture into your hair and leave on for about 20 to 30 minutes. Wash off.

Olive Oil Mask
Mix five tablespoons of olive oil with two eggs. Apply to hair and cover the head with a shower cap. Rinse well after 15 minutes.

Go Bananas
Combine a ripe banana with a few drops of almond oil. Massage into your hair and allow this combo to work its wonders for 15 mins. Rinse off with soda water, and then shampoo and condition. This is a great recipe for damaged hair.

Vitaminotherapy
Vitamin A is needed to keep hair healthy, and its deficiency can lead to dry and dull hair. Besides, it also keeps dandruff at bay. Get your quota from eggs, carrots, green leafy veggies, tomatoes, papaya and melon.
B vitamins delay greying. A deficiency can cause dandruff and lead to poor hair growth and oiliness.

Vitamin C helps prevent hair tangling or breaking and is important to maintain general hair health. Unlock your mouth for not sweet-little-somethings, but veggies like broccoli, cabbage, green peppers, tomatoes and fruits like lemon, orange, kiwi, strawberries, cherries and grapes.

Expert's Recipe: Naturopath Nirmala Shetty helps us mask up!

Pure Pulse
Four tablets of Brewer's yeast
1/4 whole green gram
1/4 cup fenugreek seeds
1/4 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup fresh or dry amla (gooseberry)
Soak all the ingredients overnight. In the morning, grind everything to a paste and while grinding make use of the soaking water. Cover the scalp and hair with this paste for 20 minutes and then rinse off. This is a strengthening mask, good for hair that is dull and fine and helps pump up the volume.
PS: For the final rinse, add a teaspoon each of honey and lemon juice to a mug of water and pour over the hair.

Gimmie Greens
One bunch parsley leaves
One bunch curry leaves
1/2 bunch fenugreek leaves
10 to 12 neem leaves
Grind the leaves together to make a paste (use very little water so as to not make it too watery.) Apply to scalp and hair and leave on for 20 to 25 minutes and then rinse off with plain water. This mask provides vitamins and iron and helps control greying.

Mask Of The Moment
1/4 cup fresh coconut cream
1/2 cup fresh aloe vera gel (take a fat leaf which gives thick gel)
2 drops rosemary oil
2 tsp soaked and ground brown rice
Blend together and keep it for some time before applying. Leave on the head for 20 minutes and wash off well with a herbal shampoo.