Catnip for split ends?

**Budgie** · May 3rd, 2014, 07:47 AM

So, if I leave catnip with water in a bottle for 3 days, will that go bad? I did that and it smells awful. But catnip smells awful too. I'm not sure if it went bad or not.

**veryhairyfairy** · May 3rd, 2014, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Budgie

So, if I leave catnip with water in a bottle for 3 days, will that go bad? I did that and it smells awful. But catnip smells awful too. I'm not sure if it went bad or not.

Lol, if it smells different from the first time you smelled it, dump it!

(I'm imagining moldy hair disaster where you have to wash just to stop yourself from getting sick, darkly funny!)

I put my spray bottle in the fridge and it generally stays good for a week. You can also freeze it into ice cube trays and thaw one use worth at a time. I've done that and it works the same for me.

**alishaxmarie** · May 4th, 2014, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by Budgie

So, if I leave catnip with water in a bottle for 3 days, will that go bad? I did that and it smells awful. But catnip smells awful too. I'm not sure if it went bad or not.

I leave mine in the cabinet under the sink sometimes, and it generally smells the same (at least approximately since I can't be 100% sure based off of my memory of how the mix smelled the day before). Honestly though, it's started to smell somewhat minty over time, like it doesn't smell as odd to me as I think it once did. Does that make sense? Like it doesn't smell like peppermint tea but it smells like a tea that has some kind of mint leaves added to the mix? Sorry if that's confusing but I think catnip is related to mint plants which would explain the change in scent but I might be remembering that incorrectly lol. I'm just saying your perception of the scent may change but if it smells somewhat repugnant or disgusting at all then you need to brew another batch of the catnip tea. If your air conditioning is low enough though (as in cool enough), then leaving it out (my container has a lid which may affect this) should be fine, according to my personal experience at least. My AC is generally under 73-ish during summer though... I feel like my worry that I'm a mere outlier made this completely unhelpful but if it smells yucky then don't put it on your hair! If it smells relatively the same over a couple of days then go ahead and experiment, I believe the worst that could happen is that you smell rotten, it's not as if your hair will be damaged, it simply won't be reinforced by the catnip since it's gone "bad".

**veryhairyfairy** · May 4th, 2014, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by alishaxmarie

I leave mine in the cabinet under the sink sometimes, and it generally smells the same (at least approximately since I can't be 100% sure based off of my memory of how the mix smelled the day before). Honestly though, it's started to smell somewhat minty over time, like it doesn't smell as odd to me as I think it once did. Does that make sense? Like it doesn't smell like peppermint tea but it smells like a tea that has some kind of mint leaves added to the mix? Sorry if that's confusing but I think catnip is related to mint plants which would explain the change in scent but I might be remembering that incorrectly lol. I'm just saying your perception of the scent may change but if it smells somewhat repugnant or disgusting at all then you need to brew another batch of the catnip tea. If your air conditioning is low enough though (as in cool enough), then leaving it out (my container has a lid which may affect this) should be fine, according to my personal experience at least. My AC is generally under 73-ish during summer though... I feel like my worry that I'm a mere outlier made this completely unhelpful but if it smells yucky then don't put it on your hair! If it smells relatively the same over a couple of days then go ahead and experiment, I believe the worst that could happen is that you smell rotten, it's not as if your hair will be damaged, it simply won't be reinforced by the catnip since it's gone "bad".

Oh interesting, maybe that's what Budgie is smelling. I actually kind of think I know what you're talking about in terms of the minty smell... and it makes sense because they used to/sometimes still do call catnip 'catMINT'.

Mine has a minty undertone right away, but maybe it gets a little stronger toward the end...
I recently started putting lavender EO in my catnip tea (like one drop per 6 ounces) to act as a bit of a microbial retardant, so I don't smell straight-up catnip very often anymore.

**alishaxmarie** · May 4th, 2014, 10:06 PM

By "it's started to smell minty," I meant that the very first time I brewed catnip I didn't think it was minty but now I always smell mint when I open the container or brew it. But that is very interesting, catmint...

**Vanilla** · January 27th, 2015, 01:44 PM

After another extensive S&D session yesterday where I found a lot of splits, I'm brewing some catnip tea for my hair. The only thing I don't like about carnip rinses is the time required to do one.

**veryhairyfairy** · January 28th, 2015, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by Vanilla

After another extensive S&D session yesterday where I found a lot of splits, I'm brewing some catnip tea for my hair. The only thing I don't like about carnip rinses is the time required to do one.

I don't do rinses/soaks (because I just can't stand having the drippy wetties for so long), but I've been too lazy to even make catnip tea for months. When I finally got around to it this weekend I felt stupid for putting it off so long. One spray-bottle application and my hair was/is the best it's been in months. It seems like the tea is the last puzzle piece in my routine: WCC w/ an oil+conditioner rinse out sealer + spray with catnip tea when dry= best hair I can have!

**Vanilla** · February 1st, 2015, 01:00 PM

I'm going to have to try spraying it on dry hair and see if my hair likes that.

**Vanilla** · February 1st, 2015, 09:07 PM

Brewed another batch of catnip and put it in my trusty spray bottle and put it in the fridge. Sprayed it on dry hair tonight. I can't wait to see how it looks tomorrow morning.

Will report back!

**veryhairyfairy** · February 2nd, 2015, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Vanilla

Brewed another batch of catnip and put it in my trusty spray bottle and put it in the fridge. Sprayed it on dry hair tonight. I can't wait to see how it looks tomorrow morning.

Will report back!

Oh an experiment! I really love what it does for my hair when sprayed on dry, I hope you get similar results!