Catnip for split ends?

**Linda K** · October 5th, 2009, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by ktani

Loviatar

I never had broken hairs in the sink - before carnip my hair was brittle, with a lot of white dots and I had split ends.

Now I have no split ends and very few white dots, which I think are just mechanical damage.

My hair is no longer brittle - the opposite - the elasticity is excellent.

I have also noticed reduced shedding - much less than when I used to use conditioner and other herbal rinses after that.

Hi Ktani! Very interested in this for the conditioning ...
Curious tho - do you think the reduced shedding is a benefit from the time on the scalp?

Brewing a batch right now for sometime tomorrow! Forgot you didn't trust using a ball tho ... ( fingers crossed w/ high hopes ...)

**ktani** · October 5th, 2009, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by Linda K

Hi Ktani! Very interested in this for the conditioning ...
Curious tho - do you think the reduced shedding is a benefit from the time on the scalp?

Brewing a batch right now for sometime tomorrow! Forgot you didn't trust using a ball tho ... ( fingers crossed w/ high hopes ...)

Very possibly about the shedding. That makes sense to me.

I wish you luck and please update.

**Canarygirl** · October 5th, 2009, 01:07 PM

Last week I tried my first shampoo plus catnip tea left on for 1 hr. My hair turned out feeling very weird...a combination of dry, fly-away, sticky and brittle. Not at all what I was expecting! FWIW I used Aubrey Organics Swimmer's Shampoo to clarify before using the catnip tea. I rinsed out the tea after one hour and did not follow with any other rinse or conditioner. The tea was steeped for only about 1 hour before I used it. All I can say is that my hair felt much more fragile/breakable than usual after this process.

What could have been the problem, do you think?

Not sure if I should try it again.

**ktani** · October 5th, 2009, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Canarygirl

Last week I tried my first shampoo plus catnip tea left on for 1 hr. My hair turned out feeling very weird...a combination of dry, fly-away, sticky and brittle. Not at all what I was expecting! FWIW I used Aubrey Organics Swimmer's Shampoo to clarify before using the catnip tea. I rinsed out the tea after one hour and did not follow with any other rinse or conditioner. The tea was steeped for only about 1 hour before I used it. All I can say is that my hair felt much more fragile/breakable than usual after this process.

What could have been the problem, do you think?

Not sure if I should try it again.

What were you trying to clarify with the shampoo? Some things require more than one washing to remove.

The Swimmers shampoo has film formers and things that coat the hair in it as well (I put in bold) and is soap based.
"Deionized Water, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein (made from organic, non-GMO soybeans), Coconut Oil-Corn Oil Soap, Vegetable Glycerin, Organic Corn Syrup, Organic Aloe Vera, Citric Acid, Carrageenan, Organic Shea Butter, Panthenol (Vitamin B-5), Bitter Almond Oil, Aminobenzoic Acid, Aubrey's Preservative: (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E)"
http://www.aubreyorganics.co.uk/prod...s-shampoo.html

**Canarygirl** · October 5th, 2009, 02:50 PM

Ktani,

I didn't know what if anything I was trying to clarify. I can't really tell that my hair has any buildup on it. I just thought I should, before doing the catnip. So, do the people having success with the catnip all use the same kind of shampoo beforehand? A detergent-based shampoo I mean? Or are people using lots of different methods to clean their hair before doing the catnip treatment? I have enough types of shampoo around I should be able to find something suitable. For example, I have one with these ingredients:

Ingredients: Water, Decyl Polyglucose, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, C 12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Panthenol ,PEG 150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, Fragrance, Propylene Glycol (and) Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate.

and one with these ingredients:

Ingredients: Water, Decyl Polyglucose, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Vegetable Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Avocado Oil, C 12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Hydrolized Oat Flour, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynl Butylcarboamate, Fragrance.

Also, I am thinking that I may not have steeped the tea long enough (1 hr)? People seem to be doing the all-day or overnight steeping thing.

**ktani** · October 5th, 2009, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Canarygirl

Ktani,

I didn't know what if anything I was trying to clarify. I can't really tell that my hair has any buildup on it. I just thought I should, before doing the catnip. So, do the people having success with the catnip all use the same kind of shampoo beforehand? A detergent-based shampoo I mean? Or are people using lots of different methods to clean their hair before doing the catnip treatment? I have enough types of shampoo around I should be able to find something suitable. For example, I have one with these ingredients:

and one with these ingredients:

Also, I am thinking that I may not have steeped the tea long enough (1 hr)? People seem to be doing the all-day or overnight steeping thing.

The first shampoo you quoted ingredients for is better than the 2nd, with less to no coating ingredients.

1 hour steeping time is fine or until the tea cools enough to pour into a plastic container (about 1.5 hours). I have used just about all times. I prefer 8 hours to get a deeper colour and I have found I get better conditioning as well. However, I was able to get both colour and conditioning enough to prevent split ends at less steeping times.

**PrincessFurball** · October 6th, 2009, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by ktani

I spoke with a catnip wholesaler a while back - a catnip farmer.

He turned out to be a chemist as well.

The catnip leaves contain the yellow dye itself, which is actually a tannin. Tannins are astringent.

The flowers, he confirmed, do contain more of the oils.

From icydove's report on using leaves only being drying, although she used about 6 times more than I use in a batch, I will still go with leaves and flowers mixed - I want colour and conditioning. The tannin leaf content, unbalanced by the leaves not being mixed with flowers, may account in some part for the dryness.

Catnip stems - useless, although there are 2 kinds - the ones from the leaves - small and fine and the larger ones - which should not be too plentiful IMO, in a mix.

Based on the bolded part, is there any reason why someone who's only interested in conditioning, not coloring, couldn't use just the flowers?

Originally Posted by ktani

Raederle

It is lovely on the scalp isn't it?

I doubt that it has altered your colour much.

It needs more time to do that effectively and from the non slip you are getting, the catnip may not have gotten directly on to the hair shaft - any conditioner or othere residue there would prevent that from happening completely.

ETA: Any colour that you might get will wash out easily enough. It is not any where close to a permanent stain.

I'm a WO... sort of, anyway. At any rate, I don't use shampoo, conditioner, or anything 'common' to clean my hair. As a result, my hair is pretty well coated in sebum. Do you think the sebum would keep the catnip from getting to my hair shaft?

Also, I know you said you didn't think catnip would work well for those who don't shampoo (or at least that's the idea I got from some of your posts, forgive me if I'm wrong). Do you think using it fairly infrequently, like maybe once a week, or even every other week, would still result in build-up? Or, just the opposite, would using it only that much maybe not even do anything to strengthen/condition/help prevent splits?

**ktani** · October 6th, 2009, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by PrincessFurball

Based on the bolded part, is there any reason why someone who's only interested in conditioning, not coloring, couldn't use just the flowers?

I'm a WO... sort of, anyway. At any rate, I don't use shampoo, conditioner, or anything 'common' to clean my hair. As a result, my hair is pretty well coated in sebum. Do you think the sebum would keep the catnip from getting to my hair shaft?

Also, I know you said you didn't think catnip would work well for those who don't shampoo (or at least that's the idea I got from some of your posts, forgive me if I'm wrong). Do you think using it fairly infrequently, like maybe once a week, or even every other week, would still result in build-up? Or, just the opposite, would using it only that much maybe not even do anything to strengthen/condition/help prevent splits?

You can try the buds only. I find that the leaves and flowers give my hair a balance. It is strong and ,oisturized, without being oily. I cannot speak for buds only results.

It would depend on how much sebum is on your hair, as to how it may impeede access to your hair by catnip.

You may have an excess of catnip if you do not wash it out but it does not compare to product build-up from my experience, in that only 1 shampoo with a non clarifying shampoo is required to remove enough of it to keep my hair at its optimum conditioning level, or return it to that, when I have applied too much catnip over a period of time and not washed it out as thoroughly each time.

**kdaniels8811** · October 7th, 2009, 03:46 AM

Canarygirl- I found that if I clarified and used catnip tea for conditioning afterwards, my hair was dry and crunchy due to the oils being stripped. Catnip works best for me on unwashed length - I just wash the scalp. And catnip use just gets better over time. I would condition your hair to get the oils back and use catnip tea the next time you shampoo, scalp only. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

**PrincessFurball** · October 7th, 2009, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by ktani

You can try the buds only. I find that the leaves and flowers give my hair a balance. It is strong and ,oisturized, without being oily. I cannot speak for buds only results.

It would depend on how much sebum is on your hair, as to how it may impeede access to your hair by catnip.

You may have an excess of catnip if you do not wash it out but it does not compare to product build-up from my experience, in that only 1 shampoo with a non clarifying shampoo is required to remove enough of it to keep my hair at its optimum conditioning level, or return it to that, when I have applied too much catnip over a period of time and not washed it out as thoroughly each time.

I guess I'll just have to play with it and see what works for me. I just need to find someplace that sells catnip! It grows wild around here, and I could pick and dry some myself, but I'm sure it's not flowering right now, so all I'd get is leaves.