Official Caffeine Rinse Thread!

[-Fern]

Just an update, that I did not get skin reactions from the caffeine pill dilution rinse.


How often are your guys doing the rinses? I wash my hair almost daily, at most every other day, and the pace I am doing them now is something like every other wash, so maybe 3 times a week. I wonder if that's too much. I also wonder if useing 2 x 100mg caffeine pills is an overkill?

I'm thinking that maybe 2 times per week would be better...

There was a discussion earlier on in the thread that using too much caffeine can actually retard hair growth. One of those "too much of a good thing" sort of things. If I remember right, apprx once every seven days was generally agreed to be about right, and diluting the caffeine appropriately was important, too.

I'm glad you're not getting any more skin reactions! =D

[JustPam]

I use 2x50mg pills once a week and I hear that's a strong treatment. I looked up the Alpecin caffeine shampoo website to see how much that has in it and all they say is that each application has about a fifth of a cup of coffee worth of caffeine (so maybe 20mg?) but it doesn't say how frequently it should be used that I can see. So if ~20mg is enough for someone who is actually balding then I imagine it's enough for the average person just wanting a growth boost.

[MsVenus]

I am applying my coffee brewed oil every two days and I am sticking to that. I will be adding monistat to it also once I go out and get some next week. I will try the 4%

[Arctic]

Thanks for the answers, everyone! I think I will start doing mine about once a week. I might have hard time remembering them that irregularly though! I will start using only 1 caffeine pill (100 mg) per rinse.

So far the most pleasant effect for me has been how soft, shiny and silky - almost slippery- my hair has become! I used to have fine hair which was slippery and soft, and I have missed that! These rinses have given me much joy as they seem to bring a little bit of my old hair back. Buns and braids are not as easy to make though now!

[Shadow Walker]

Has anyone tried caffeine shampoo? I've been considering giving it a shot.

[Arctic]

Shadow Walker - I have glanced through the various caffeine/coffee threads and there has been few who have used ready bought shampoos. I can't remember names though (members or products). Also some people have added caffeine pills into their normal shampoo. But most common method seems to be the rinse, either with coffee, caffeine pills or even tea. Then there are various other methods, like coffee oils, coffee ground scrubs, coffee deep treatments.....

Have you planned to take the DIY road or buy a commercial shampoo?

[Arctic]

double post

[Shadow Walker]

Not sure yet, still kind of looking at options.

[Arctic]

I'm still very new to this, but I've had great experiences with the caffeine pill (diluted in water) rinses. They have made my hair feel amazing. I'll have to give the experiment several more weeks before I can say anything about the effects on growth. I can recommend the caffeine pill rinses, they are quite easy to do. I imagine diluting couple of caffeine pills in a shampoo bottle would be super easy too.

The general experience seems to be that coffee beverage is drying but the caffeine pills aren't.

[divinedobbie]

I did the caffeine pill rinses for a month (along with monistat) and didn't notice a difference. Stopped for three weeks. I'm planning to start up again with just the caffeine pills beginning in March and give it another chance.

[copperlites]

I did 7 days of inversion therapy, I've had a 4 day break and going to try a caffeine rinse today.

[jacqueline101]

I did another caffeine mist the 10th of March is measure day. I'm hoping I'm wrong about my ends being not to thick.

[MsVenus]

today is going to be caffeine day. For those who stop and restart impatiently, know that in order to see results on anything you need to do a few months of it consistently. Long term consistency is key with any regimen. Short 2 or 3 week trials give no results on any regimen.
I like to give growth aids at least 6 months if not a year before I evaluate anything. It takes a few months for body chemistry to even catch up.

[copperlites]

Well the caffeine totally dried out my hair. I have now plastered on a Moisture treatment in hope tof rregaining some moisture and shine.

[Nanna]

I used coffee on my scalp a few times last fall, but why haven't I remembered it lately? It's not that we wouldn't have coffee left over, but maybe it doesn't coincide with my wash day..? Anyway, tomorrow is wash day and I'll try to remember this time. Or maybe I could use some of the black tea that I have in the cupboard and never drink... Or I could put it on today and leave it overnight. Yeah, or maybe green tea..? Or coffee?

Hmm, sorry for the rambling, but that's my brain today unfortunately. I should be doing lots of things, translating texts from German and stuff, but somehow I just don't see that happening right now. My brain is going all directions at the same time, but somehow peacefully, in a calm way. Still, it means I can't concentrate on anything right now. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I'll just go and brew some tea, drink some of it and put the rest on my head, and just have a nice day of rest. :)

[girlcat36]

I'm jumping on the bandwagon!
I decided to infuse castor/coconut/jojoba oils with coffee.
I'll be applying it once a week to my scalp. I am at 24" currently, and generally get 1/4-1/2" of growth per month.
I've done it twice already...the second time I got a horrible headache. Maybe a coincidence?

[SunlightShines]

Arctic- I use 1 x 200mg caffeine pill and only do the rinse 1x weekly. It controls my shedding for the entire week. Although the soft silky feeling fades away after the 2nd or 3rd day. Because my hair is on the thin side, I wash every 1 to 2 days all depending on how my hair feels in the mornings. Today will be my 4th caffeine rinse. The first 2 were coffee. I didn't have any reactions to the caffeine pill, but the coffee dried out my hair, gave me a bad headache and I broke out. The small hives it gave me really stung & burned for hours. Maybe the oil in the coffee was what caused the reaction? I'm hoping the pill continues without any reactions!

I wasn't going to measure, but my curiosity got the better of me! So far I've gained 1 inch growth in 3 weeks. Normally I get 1/2 inch growth per month.

[LauraLongLocks]

Arctic- I use 1 x 200mg caffeine pill and only do the rinse 1x weekly. It controls my shedding for the entire week. Although the soft silky feeling fades away after the 2nd or 3rd day. Because my hair is on the thin side, I wash every 1 to 2 days all depending on how my hair feels in the mornings. Today will be my 4th caffeine rinse. The first 2 were coffee. I didn't have any reactions to the caffeine pill, but the coffee dried out my hair, gave me a bad headache and I broke out. The small hives it gave me really stung & burned for hours. Maybe the oil in the coffee was what caused the reaction? I'm hoping the pill continues without any reactions!

I wasn't going to measure, but my curiosity got the better of me! So far I've gained 1 inch growth in 3 weeks. Normally I get 1/2 inch growth per month.

That's fantastic. On my next wash day I'll do a pre-treatment with the caffeine pill.

[Pinni]

I did my first caffeine rinse today. I used 100 mg tablet and let it dissolve to 3 dl water over night. It was 10 minutes at hair.

My hair grows slower during dark winter months, hope this helps to get faster growing. I got also mild headache it feels. Not sure is it from this though.

[Arctic]

today is going to be caffeine day. For those who stop and restart impatiently, know that in order to see results on anything you need to do a few months of it consistently. Long term consistency is key with any regimen. Short 2 or 3 week trials give no results on any regimen.
I like to give growth aids at least 6 months if not a year before I evaluate anything. It takes a few months for body chemistry to even catch up.

You are absolutely right MsVenus. It's always good to have someone remind us (especially new members ;) ).

I do think, however, that the way caffeine rinses are being presented here does give more than an implication of almost instant gratification and quick results: shedding stopping after one rinse and people growing double or triple what they normally do in the next few weeks/a month after starting. I have got a feeling this leads many to jump in with expectations of getting results NOW, and does not encourage to be patient.

It's always good to be patient with hair. I personally have no idea if this works or not for me. If my skin doesn't start getting irritated, I plan to give this at least few months. In fact I might take these as a part of my regular routines even if I don't get any growth boost, as I simply love how the caffeine pills make my hair feel.



Well the caffeine totally dried out my hair. I have now plastered on a Moisture treatment in hope tof rregaining some moisture and shine.

Did you use coffee or caffeine pills? In anycase, deep treatment can never hurt.



I used coffee on my scalp a few times last fall, but why haven't I remembered it lately? It's not that we wouldn't have coffee left over, but maybe it doesn't coincide with my wash day..? Anyway, tomorrow is wash day and I'll try to remember this time. Or maybe I could use some of the black tea that I have in the cupboard and never drink... Or I could put it on today and leave it overnight. Yeah, or maybe green tea..? Or coffee?

Hmm, sorry for the rambling, but that's my brain today unfortunately. I should be doing lots of things, translating texts from German and stuff, but somehow I just don't see that happening right now. My brain is going all directions at the same time, but somehow peacefully, in a calm way. Still, it means I can't concentrate on anything right now. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I'll just go and brew some tea, drink some of it and put the rest on my head, and just have a nice day of rest. :)

Welcome. I think it would be wise to choose only one beverage to test at a time. I haven't found caffeine rinses take much extra time, in fact the extra time can be counted in minutes. But if you are very restless and don't normally use caffeine, it might make you even more restless. Give it a go some morning, nighttime is not ideal for caffeine anything.



I'm jumping on the bandwagon!
I decided to infuse castor/coconut/jojoba oils with coffee.
I'll be applying it once a week to my scalp. I am at 24" currently, and generally get 1/4-1/2" of growth per month.
I've done it twice already...the second time I got a horrible headache. Maybe a coincidence?

Great to have you here! Hope the headache was unrelated to caffeine.



Arctic- I use 1 x 200mg caffeine pill and only do the rinse 1x weekly. It controls my shedding for the entire week. Although the soft silky feeling fades away after the 2nd or 3rd day. Because my hair is on the thin side, I wash every 1 to 2 days all depending on how my hair feels in the mornings. Today will be my 4th caffeine rinse. The first 2 were coffee. I didn't have any reactions to the caffeine pill, but the coffee dried out my hair, gave me a bad headache and I broke out. The small hives it gave me really stung & burned for hours. Maybe the oil in the coffee was what caused the reaction? I'm hoping the pill continues without any reactions!

I wasn't going to measure, but my curiosity got the better of me! So far I've gained 1 inch growth in 3 weeks. Normally I get 1/2 inch growth per month.

Thanks for the info! I have decided to decrease my rinse frequency to about once a week. So far my experience with the soft feel is, that it seems to last quite long time! I love it!

I think we'll have to ask the OP to add the info in the first post about possible breakouts from coffee, and also that caffeine is more moisturizing and coffee more drying.

Wow, that's a wonderful growth!



I did my first caffeine rinse today. I used 100 mg tablet and let it dissolve to 3 dl water over night. It was 10 minutes at hair.

My hair grows slower during dark winter months, hope this helps to get faster growing. I got also mild headache it feels. Not sure is it from this though.


Welcome Pinni! Keep an eye of the headaches, some people do get them from caffeine rinses.

[Arctic]

QUESTIONS to those who have gotten or suspect they have gotten skin reaction or headaches from rinses (or from other forms of using caffeine). Also some general questions of the effects you have noticed.

For clarity, I will refer to all types of methods using caffeine on scalp as "the caffeine method". I think it would be helpful if we can gather more information about these methods. If someone has ideas how to tweak these questions, please let me know!


SKIN REACTIONS

- What kind of skin reaction did you have?

- How you used the caffeine method when you got the skin reaction(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

- Why you think the skin reaction was from the caffeine method?

- Did you get a reaction on first try or later on?

- How long did your reaction last?

- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided skin reactions with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause reaction on you?)

- How irritating/strong the reaction was on a scale 1-10. Did the reaction stop you using the caffeine method?

- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

- Anything else related to skin reactions and the caffeine method?



HEADACHES

- What kind of headaches did you have?

- How you used the caffeine method when you got headache(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

- Why do you think it was from caffeine method?

- Did you get your headache on first try or later on?

- How long did your headache last?

- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided headaches with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause headache on you?)

- How irritating/strong your headache(s) was on a scale 1-10. Did the headache(s) stop you using the caffeine method?

- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

- Anything else related to headaches and the caffeine method?



GENERAL EFFECTS AND OBSERVATIONS

- What type(s) of caffeine method(s) did you use? (Detailed descriptions of type of method, what your application routine and frequency are, strength of used caffeine...)

- What hair related positive and negative effects did you notice or did you notice anything at all (please be specific of the possible different methods, for example coffee vs caffeine pills)? Increased growth? Less shedding? Sparse hair filling in? Dryness? softness? Slipperiness? Loss of curl?

- How long have you been using the caffeine method(s) and at what point you started to notice the above mentioned effects?

- Anything else?

[Arctic]

QUESTIONS to those who have gotten or suspect they have gotten skin reaction or headaches from rinses (or from other forms of using caffeine). Also some general questions of the effects you have noticed.

For clarity, I will refer to all types of methods using caffeine on scalp as "the caffeine method". I think it would be helpful if we can gather more information about these methods. If someone has ideas how to tweak these questions, please let me know!


SKIN REACTIONS

- What kind of skin reaction did you have?

My torso broke out in hives. They were red blotches, not itchy nor raised.


- How you used the caffeine method when you got the skin reaction(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

I used it as coffee beverage rinse. The coffee was undiluted. I shampood my hair, poured 2-3 deciliters of coffee on my scalp/hair, added conditioner, let them sit for about 5 minutes, rinsed coffee and conditioner. I had used soap on my body while the coffee was on my scalp, so I did not finish the shower with soaping my skin, which might have been contributing to the skin reaction. I did, however, rinse it really well and avoiding the coffee/conditioner water to run over me.


- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

I got the reaction from undiluted coffee rinse. It was instant coffee (100% freezer dried coffee), prepared normally in hot water which had cooled down to a room temperature. It was of same strength than I drink my coffee, which is probably more strong than some people like theirs. My instant coffee is frreezer dried without any additives. Just 100% coffee.


- Why you think the skin reaction was from the caffeine method?

I had not done or eaten anything different that day, the coffee rinse was only thing that was different from my normal day. I don't have super sensitive skin and I have no allergies that I know of. It seemed pretty clear the cause was coffee rinse.


- Did you get a reaction on first try or later on?

I got the reaction on my first try of coffee rinse, but I had done caffeine pill rinses one or twice before without reactions. Also I have continued with the caffeine pill dilution rinses without ill effects. I have not tried coffee rinses since.


- How long did your reaction last?

About 12 hours or so.


- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided skin reactions with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause reaction on you?)

Yes, caffeine pills diluted in water and used as rinse (with exact same method as I had used the coffee rinse) seem to be fine for my skin. It was only the coffee that cause a reaction.


- How irritating/strong the reaction was on a scale 1-10. Did the reaction stop you using the caffeine method?

Well it looked bad but did not feel at all. No itchies or pain. So the feeling was on this scale # 1. It looked bad though, very red and blotchy and it covered my whole torso, so quite a big area. The look was # 8. I have continued doing caffeine pill rinses since then, so using different method than the one I got skin reaction from.


- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

Yes, I drink lot of coffee daily.

- Anything else related to skin reactions and the caffeine method?

I used exact same way of doing the caffeine method with coffee and with caffeine pill dilutions. Only coffee caused reaction.




HEADACHES

- What kind of headaches did you have?

I have not experienced headaches that I would associate with the caffeine method. I do suffer from frequent headaches in general though. But so far I don't think I have had a single headache on the same day I have done the caffeine method.


- How you used the caffeine method when you got headache(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

- Why do you think it was from caffeine method?

- Did you get your headache on first try or later on?

- How long did your headache last?

- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided headaches with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause headache on you?)

- How irritating/strong your headache(s) was on a scale 1-10. Did the headache(s) stop you using the caffeine method?

- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

- Anything else related to headaches and the caffeine method?



GENERAL EFFECTS AND OBSERVATIONS

- What type(s) of caffeine method(s) did you use? (Detailed descriptions of type of method, what your application routine and frequency are, strength of used caffeine...)

a) Caffeine pills. I have diluted 2 x 100 mg pills in 2-3 deciliter of water overnight. I have used this several times now, though am still a beginner (a week or little more? Using the rinse maybe 3 times per week). I shampoo my hair as normal, rinse, pour the caffeine pill solution on my hair and scalp (trying to cover all scalp), add my normal conditioner, let them sit while I shower, about 5 mins. Then rinse the caffeine and conditioner. (I am switching on to 1 x 100mg pill once a week from now on.) Style as normal.

b) Coffee beverage, undiluted, from instant coffee. Did everything the same way as I do the caffeine pill rinses. Used this only 1 time because of skin reaction.



- What hair related positive and negative effects did you notice or did you notice anything at all (please be specific of the possible different methods, for example coffee vs caffeine pills)? Increased growth? Less shedding? Sparse hair filling in? Dryness? Softness? Slipperiness? Loss of curl?

a) Caffeine pills diluted in water. Too early to say if there are any effects on growth. It does make my hair feel very good though, soft, more slippery, silky. It acts like a acidic rinse with conditioning effects on my hair. I am not having a shed right now, and have not noticed any effect on my normal shed, which is only few hairs a day. Because my hair is softer and more slippery, updos and braids are slightly more difficult to make. I have noticed an effect on volume: I wear my hair up/braided or blowdried straight most of the time, and my hair does seem to be more compact since starting this. This translates in smaller braids and buns, for examle. That effect isn't very welcome, but not something I mind at the moment. Otherwise the effects on texture have been very welcome to me, as I have lot of coarser and wiry hairs. Oh, and this method does not leave any smells on hair.

b) Coffee beverage rinse. Made hair feel different than caffeine pills, even though I did everything in same way. There was less softness, silkyness. Hair smelled like stuffy coffee room of some workplace, you know, of stale coffee. Even if I wouldn't have gotten skin reaction (see above) I would choose caffeine pills over coffee rinses anyday!


- How long have you been using the caffeine method(s) and at what point you started to notice the above mentioned effects?

I only used coffee rinse once and am not going to repeat that.

The caffeine pills diluted in water, those I have not used that long either, maybe a week or little more. Max two weeks. I have used them frequenting about 3 times a week. The positive effects on my hair texture started after the first use.


- Anything else?

[Arctic]

Did my caffeine rinse today. It was my first time using "only" 100 mg of caffeine. Otherwise did everything the same way.

Might be that my hair did not become exactly as smooth/silky as when I used 200 mg, but I'm not 100% positive, as I braided my hair when it was still damp.

These rinses have affected how compact my hair gets, meaning smaller looking braids and buns. That's not really welcome effect for me, but not bad enough to stop because of that either.

[MsVenus]

I did the math on the anticipated 40% increase in growth per month using caffeine. And according to my math, if my normal slow growth rate is 1/4"/ month, 40% more per month would give me a whopping 1/10th of an inch extra. Please check my math. But 1/10th an inch extra is not a lot as far as I am concerned. So I've decided I definitely need to add Monistat to this regimen as opposed to doing the caffeine rinses or oil alone.

(0.25" x 0.4 (40%) = 0.1" more or 1/10th of an inch more per month for me.http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/smileys/smiley36.gif I'd get about 1/3"/month total instead of 1/4 theoretically. That would be a total of 3.15 inches hair growth between now and Dec 2015. This allows for no trims and no breakage whatsoever to get 3 inches by 12/15
Every little bit counts.


OK so for someone whose hair grows 1/2" month lets see
.5x.4= 0.2" extra per month or 1/5" inch extra per month They would get almost 3/4"/ month total. (.5 +.2=.7....0.7x9 remaining months in year=6.3" ) That would be 6.3" hair growth by December 2015. Again this assumes zero hair loss by either trims or breakage.


For someone with a standard growth rate of 1" per month, your 40% increase should allow you up to 12.6" of total growth for the remaining 9 months in this year! Again this does not account for any breakage or hair cuts. It also assumes you will use the regimen religiously with no lapses for the entirety of the year.

[Arctic]

MsVenus I admire your scientific/mathematic approach :)


Nobody wants to answer my questions?


Well I have a new question: Has anyone gotten buildup from caffeine rinses? My hair was really strange yesterday. I had done my rinse as normal, braided my 90% dry hair in a crown braid in which it was probably over 24 hours. When I took the crown braid down, my hair was just one big tangle. It was horrible and I couldn't get my fingers through it, and it kept re-tangling. It was so unlike my hair normally behaves. I can't think of anything else than maybe the caffeine rinses? I'll keep an eye on it in the future. Normally caffeine rinses have made my hair slippery. This was the first rinse where I used only 100 mg caffeine pill and not 200 mg like I had before, otherwise I did everything as normal. Perhaps it makes it even more strange that after putting on some leave-in on that tangle city and sleeping, my hair seemed to be back to normal today.

[alishaxmarie]

Arctic, do you make this instant freezer dried coffee or do you buy it from the store? I ask because I'm a little confused by what you mean by "instant coffee (100% freezer dried coffee)" since I've never heard of it before, and instant coffees have additives in them which could be the culprit for your skin reaction.

[Arctic]

Oops, sorry if I was unclear, I have written about the coffee I used in some of my previous posts.

My instant coffee is bought from a store. It is 100% coffee and has no additives. It is made with a method called freezer drying (or maybe it's freeze-drying?), which makes it possible for it to be without additives.


ETA. I did read your first post and lot of other posts and threads, and saw the warning about instant coffee, but since mine was pure coffee I decided to try it anyway.

ETA2. ...and because I had read the warning, I made it explicitly clear that I had, infact, used instant coffee.

[Pinni]

Arctic, I answer to your questions when I have more experience. Maybe about 4 times.
I have not noticed buildup after my first rinse. My hair has felt this week more tangled.

[LauraLongLocks]

I would answer your questions, except I haven't been consistent with this enough to know yet. I haven't had any undesirable reactions though.

I crushed half of a 200 mg (so 100 mg) caffeine pill and dissolved it in water and applied it to my scalp this morning. Hope to get a growth boost.

[hanne jensen]

I used freshly brewed coffee. I sprayed it on my scalp until it dripped. I did this twice weekly. I didn't get rashes, headaches or outbreaks of any kind. I did however experience much slower hair growth. From mid January until yesterday I grew a total of 2 centimeters. I usually grow over 2 centimeters in January and 2.5-2.8 centimeters in February. I'm a winter grower.

My conclusion is coffee rinses are not for me.

[SunlightShines]

QUESTIONS to those who have gotten or suspect they have gotten skin reaction or headaches from rinses (or from other forms of using caffeine). Also some general questions of the effects you have noticed.

For clarity, I will refer to all types of methods using caffeine on scalp as "the caffeine method". I think it would be helpful if we can gather more information about these methods. If someone has ideas how to tweak these questions, please let me know!


SKIN REACTIONS

- What kind of skin reaction did you have?

small raised hives that burned & itched along the edges of my hairline, neck & chest and a headache

- How you used the caffeine method when you got the skin reaction(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

poured a mixture of 1 to 8 coffee & water over my head after shampoo, left on for 2 minutes & rinsed with water before using conditioner

- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

I used left over coffee (from ground Arabica beans) -see above mixture description

- Why you think the skin reaction was from the caffeine method?

it was the only thing that changed in my daily routine

Did you get a reaction on first try or later on?

both times I used it caused a reaction. the second time was more hives.

- How long did your reaction last?

approx 2 days of hives

- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided skin reactions with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause reaction on you?)

caffeine pills don't cause a reaction

- How irritating/strong the reaction was on a scale 1-10. Did the reaction stop you using the caffeine method?

around an 8. I switched to caffeine pills

- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

I drink coffee. Approx 2 to 3 cups per day

- Anything else related to skin reactions and the caffeine method?

I did get really dry, tacky feeling hair with course brittle ends.


HEADACHES

- What kind of headaches did you have?

It felt like my PMS headaches. Pressure around the sides of head & temples

- How you used the caffeine method when you got headache(s)? Detailed description of method of usage.

poured a mixture of 1 to 8 coffee & water over my head after shampoo, left on for 2 minutes & rinsed with water before using conditioner

- Did you use caffeine pills? If pills, how strong they were (caffeine per mg)? If you used a beverage, what kind it was (instant coffee, ground coffee, tea)? If beverage, was it pure without flavouring and additives? Did you dilute the beverage or use it neat? If diluted, approximately how much?

I used left over coffee (from ground Arabica beans) -see above mixture description

- Why do you think it was from caffeine method?

It was the only thing that changed in my routine.

- Did you get your headache on first try or later on?

A brief headache the first time, and a full on headache the 2nd time.

- How long did your headache last?

The first time it went away after a couple of hours. The 2nd time, I had the headache for the entire day.

- Have you tried using the caffeine method with other types of caffeine source(s) and avoided headaches with them? (In other words, does only one type of caffeine method cause headache on you?)

Yes, the caffeine pills don't give me a headache.

- How irritating/strong your headache(s) was on a scale 1-10. Did the headache(s) stop you using the caffeine method?

level 5 headache. I switched to caffeine pills .

- Do you use coffee/caffeine in your everyday life (as in: drink coffee, tea, coke, etc)?

2 or 3 cups coffee per day.

- Anything else related to headaches and the caffeine method?

no

GENERAL EFFECTS AND OBSERVATIONS

- What type(s) of caffeine method(s) did you use? (Detailed descriptions of type of method, what your application routine and frequency are, strength of used caffeine...)

I tried (2X) 1 to 8 coffee & water mix poured over my head after shampoo, let sit 2 min, rinse with water, then condition- 1X wkly. Now I use 1 200mg caffeine pill disolved in water poured over hair after shampoo, left in for 2 minute, rinse with water, then condition.

- What hair related positive and negative effects did you notice or did you notice anything at all (please be specific of the possible different methods, for example coffee vs caffeine pills)? Increased growth? Less shedding? Sparse hair filling in? Dryness? softness? Slipperiness? Loss of curl?

coffee & water made my hair very dry & tacky feeling and made my ends feel brittle, but my hair didn't shed for a week. caffeine pills make my hair feel very soft & smooth and it doesn't shed. Although, I'm not sure which method caused the increase in growth, I measured an extra 1/2 inch growth this month.

- How long have you been using the caffeine method(s) and at what point you started to notice the above mentioned effects?

I've been using caffeine for 4 wks, 2 coffee & 2 caffeine pills

- Anything else? Even if the caffeine pills don't cause extra growth, I would still use them for the way they control my shedding & for the way they make my hair feel afterwards.

[jacqueline101]

I did another caffeine mist. I gained an inch. I measured at my natural braid wavy state. Straight looks longer like I might be gaining 1.5 inches a month. Since all my measurements have been natural state wavy braid waves I measure that way.

[Arctic]

Pinni and LauraLongLocks, hope to get your anwers some day too, but no stress :)


hanne jensen - sorry to hear this didn't work for you. A month might be too short a time to really tell, though, but I understand not wanting to continue. As a side note, wow you have a fast growthrate without any helps, I wonder if it's really even possible to speed it up still! Many can only dream of such a rate!


SunlightShines - Thanks for answering the questions!



jacqueline101 - congrats! Was that in a month and is it quicker than your normal growth?



***


Did my rinse today. 1 x 100 mg caffeine tablet, same method as before.

One thing I have noticed after doing 2 rinses with this milder solution: my hair does not get as soft and slippery feeling with it as it did with the stronger solution (200 mg). Has someone else noticed the same?

I simply LOVED the slippery softness but on the other hand it made my hair seem thinner as it was more compact, hairstyles were more difficult and so on. The 100mg seems to leave my hair feeling more or less normal.

No tangly hair this time, probably the sudden tangle-city last week was because of somethign else. What, who knows. My hair is not normally tangly. It can't be that I slept in crown braid either, because I've done so many times. Well, it's a mystery and I might never know. :)

[mamaherrera]

I like the "low shed" number, but I'm seeing acne along my hairline. I can't 100% blame it on the coffee, because I am also doing "oil massaging" on my face/forehead, but I might try green tea, just to see if that makes a difference. anyone know if green tea has more or less caffeine than coffee?

[Arctic]

All teas have less caffeine than coffee.

Oy, sorry to hear about breakouts. My bet is on the oils, based on my own experiences. ETA: I personally can't use ANY oils at all, not for hair, not for skin, not for oil pulling, etc. And I can't use much in my diet either. I get instant acne if I do.

[Pinni]

I did my second rinse today, with same 100 mg. It was only 5 minutes on this time. No headache. :)

[Mearwynna]

oil gives me acne. I like the green tea I use quite alot. It has a astringent effect on my scalp. Maybe it will help.

[luvlonghair75]

Does it matter if the coffee is instant or brewed? I just did one cup of rich instant coffee, put some in a spray bottle and have spritzed my scalp before my shower today.

[Arctic]

luvlonghair75 - Seems like the jury is still out about that. Apparently some instant coffees contain additives, which might irritate your skin. I personally have only ever seen 100% coffee instant coffees where I live (excluded spiced instant coffees or ones which contain milk powder etc), but it might be different in different countries.

Let us know how it goes, I am interested in collecting more data so we could better give answers to questions like yours. For now the recommendation is to use brewed coffee over instant, if you read the first post of this thread.

[Beborani]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24836650

I am posting this link here. I am a little worried that some of you are using such high concentrations of caffeine when researchers are going lower. These same people found higher concentrations to have inhibitory effect on growth in their previous paper that is linked earlier in this thread.

[Beborani]

http://www.physiologyweb.com/calculators/percent_solutions_calculator.html

I am also linking a calculator for those who need it--scroll to the bottom. Be sure you pick the right units.

[Arctic]

Beborani - Thank you for the links, especially the calculator was helpful, I am terrible in math. I hope I used it correctly. So according to it, I should use something like 15 mg of caffeine in 3 dl of water to get 0.00500 % solution, which is the upper limit mentioned in the research. Or 1,5 mg in 3 dl if I was aiming for the lowest mentioned solution % (0.00050 %). The caffeine pills I have are 100 mg of caffeine, without possibility to divide them. How on earth could I get 15 mg not to mention 1,5 mg?

Boy that does sound like a huge difference difference to the solution I have been using :D


If I crush the pills into fine powder, how I could then get the right quantity?

ETA: 3 dl of solution seems to be good amounth for me, but maybe it I do the solution in much bigger amount of water.

ETA2: Ok, so if I'd manage to half the pill, and would do the solution in one liter of water, it would be 0.00500 %

[Beborani]

The way to do it is make a larger batch or concentrated solution and then dilute it 10 or 100x. If you are usng folgers instant coffee which is supposed to have 75 mg of caffeine in a teaspoon one tenth of that in 100 ml will give you .007% which is not a bad amount to start with assuming not all of it gets absorbed by the follicle during topical application. There are some papers about this too but none of them give percent absorbed, just that it is absorbed rapidly and can be detected in bloodstream (these experiments were done to use caffeine as carrier of medication, not hair growth).

another thing to keep in mind is that researchers are able to keep the percentage of caffeine constant as it is done in cell culture but when you apply topically it will go down in a matter of hours. So more frequent application maybe necessary.

[Beborani]

And yes, your calculations are correct Arctic.

[Arctic]

Thanks for confirming the calculations, Beborani. How many times a week do you think it would be wise to do the rinses?

[Beborani]

i recall reading that caffeine is present 24 hours after application in the follicle. Unfotunately their next datapoint was only at 72 hours at which point it was not detected. So I would pick a time period between these two--alternate days? Also I am thinking in terms of leave in rather than short term application before shower. In those cases higher concentration may not hurt mainly because only a fraction of caffeine will be absorbed in the two to three minute period.

[Arctic]

Thank you Beborani! I've been using the shower application and letting the solution sit about 5 minutes before rinsing, but I don't shampoo after the rinse.

[Pinni]

Thank you for calculator and new information. Must think what to do with coffee rinses. How to change routine.

[mamaherrera]

For those who do green tea rinses, how many packets per 8 oz of water?? today I went to do one, and lucky me! I only had decaff green tea

[Arctic]

I think I am going to continue my experiment as I have thus far.

Halving the caffeine pills (100 mg) would be a big hassle, because there is no divination line, and they are rather small and hard. They have a slippery coating, making any knife-action an accident waiting to happen. To crush them would be a big job too, as I think it would be easier to do a bigger batch of pills at once, but I would still have to crush one pill at the time, so I could half (or otherwise divide) the powder of each pill. I would need to somehow store each of the divided powder quantities seperately, which would be difficult. And knowing myself, I simply would skip the whole rinse if I would have to crush the pills individually prior each rinse, so it's not an option really. And who knows if the caffeine is homogenously in the pills/crushed powder.

Maybe when I run out of these pills I will find pills with 50 mg of caffeine. I don't think smaller ones would be available here.

I'll continue doing the rinse about once a week with the same method I've been using thusfar: dumping the solution on my head in the shower (after shampooing), let sit for 5-ish minutes (with conditioner), rinse well. (Note: in the beginning I did the rinses probably about 3 times a week with 200mg/3dl water solution, untill started to do them with more time between and with weaker solution, which was still strong as it turned out.) I might start shampooing after the rinse though, have not decided yet.

What I will do differently, is that I'll start to dilute the 100 mg caffeine pill in more water, maybe in 1 liter = 10 dl.


I assume that if there are negative effects, they are temporary.


I am not really doing the rinses to speed up my growth, though that would be a nice side-effect too. I do them to try make my sparser, possibly a bit thinned out front hairline to fill in, someone said they had had good results with these rinses.

One thing was a pleasant surprise - at first anyway. I loved *initially* the way caffeine rinses made my hair feel, and that in itself became a motivation to do the rinses. And while I still love how my hair feels with the rinses, after few weeks I am actually really missing my normal hair :D

It's easier to put up and get styling to stay, and it poofs up more which makes it look thicker. Caffeine rinses, especially the 200 mg/3 dl of water made my hair really sleek, compact and silky soft and it gets oilier faster. Now the 100 mg /3 dl of water rinses have not had that exact effect, but my hair doesn't quite feel like it should be yet, and I actually have started to hope I'd get my hair feel completely normal again with the more diluted rinses.

But I will keep this trick in mind if I sometimes temporarily want to have super soft, silky hair, I can do one strong caffeine rinse.


As for other effects/results, I haven't really noticed any. Granted I have not been approaching this in a scientific way.

- Shedding: the same. I shed very little normally. I went through a bigger shed last autumn/winter, it was the first one I had for years and it lasted months. But it had already stopped by the time I started the rinses.

- Growing speed. I am an avarage grower. I have not measured in years, but when I did it was about 1 cm monthly like a clockwork. I have not measured for this experiment, but I did happen to take a length photo few days before I started the experiment. But, then I trimmed my hair few days after starting, and I have no-idea how much I trimmed, probably 0,5-2 cm (uneven growth). I did took an after photo of the trim results, and it doesn't look that different from the starting length photo. Yesterday (approx. 3 weeks after starting the rinses) I took another photo where my length was visible, and out of curiosity compared to the previous photos and they look very similar (although the photos are not comparable: different posture and so on). I am guessing I have gotten my normal 1 cm-ish growth again and combined with the trim the end results are pretty much the same as when I started. Ofcourse IF I would gain my normal 1 cm in 3 weeks rather than 4, that would be faster growth rate. But like I said I have no real data, only few photos.

- Hairline. Well I only started to really pay attention to it very resently, and even more resently started to suspect if it had actually been thinning in the recent years (comparison with older hair photos, etc). I can't really say anything about this yet. In some light it looks like there might be new growth, but since I only started to observe the area, I have nothing to compare to, and it might have looked like that for a long time. Time will tell, I am sure.


- Negative effects: Nothing that I've noticed from the pills. Only the instant coffee (no additives) gave me hives.



And that was my plan of action and result report thus far. My first rinse was Feb 19th, so 3 weeks ago.

[Pinni]

I thought of this and decided to do it sam way 2 times more. It will be one month experiment then. And I got 1 cm growth in 2 weeks so it feels like this helped. I usually get only about 1 cm in a month at winter time.

[Beborani]

Arctic have you tried minoxidil for sparse hair? I have had tremendous success wth it. Caffeine has nothing on it if it works for you. It creates new follicles (rather rejuvenates dead ones) and fills in gaps. I have posted about it off and on. I just consolidated a few of those posts in blog form (didnt realize this option was available)--I have some pictures there too.

[Arctic]

Beborani - No, no I haven't. It can be really counted in days since I even started to suspect the possibility of thinning, so I haven't really thought about options, and I'm not even sure if it has thinned out from the front or not. I know nothing about minoxidil other than what I just quickly googled. The price, the need for 2x daily application for the rest of your life, the side effects of possible acne, hair type changes and hair growing on your face do not sound appealing at all, and I will most probably not look into it anymore unless I find my hairline getting even more sparse.

[mamaherrera]

Arctic--Taht's what I think too. I actually had a dream last night that I Put minoxidil on my head, the whole head, and then I thought, man I didn't even check if I got any on my face. I think, (mine are all "maybes") as well, nothing for sure, because it really is one of those things where you just start looking at something a lot and you keep seeing it worse. I can tell by old pics,I've ALWAYS had a sparser hairline. I REALLY like the less shedding I'm seeing, but I Just hope I get new growth to replace so my ponytail can go back to where it was. It dropped a tiny little bit last time I checked. still hoping someone can share with me how much green tea they use per so much water, so I can try that. Thanks

[Arctic]

Mine has always been sparse too.

MamaHerrera, according to this site (http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/green-tea) green tea has caffeine approximately 25 mg per 8 fl. oz (236 ml), so that's approximately a cup of tea. I don't know how much it affects if your soak it 2 minutes or 30 minutes, and I assume this is with one tea bag and a normal, recommended soaking time (what, 1-2- minutes?).

As a comparison, a cup of coffee has +/- 100 mg per portion/cup. In other words green tea has quite low level of caffeine.


Using the calculator that Beborani linked to earlier I got this result (and I'm sorry I have to do this in milliliters, I don't know how the American system works):

If you pour a cup of green tea (which has 25 mg caffeine) into 500 ml (= 5 dl = 0,5 liter = 16.90701127945 oz [I hope that's the correct unit!]) of water, you would get a solution of 0.00500 % of caffeine, which is the upper level mentioned in the research abstract, so that should be safe to use.

Now you mentioned your tea is decaf? That might have some other benefits, but since the caffeine has been removed it won't act like a caffeine rinse.


ETA: Oops, sorry. Decaf green tea does have some small amount of caffeine, but I couldn't find how much approximately with quick googleing.

[Beborani]

Mamaherrera, you need to google your brand to find caffeine content as they vary wildly. Also if you are worried about hair growing on face, remember any caffeine that drips on face or other part if body will be absorbed by follicle, enhancing its growth as there is no lag time at all-- even wiping won't be effective. And finally, caffeine's longterm effect on follicles have not been studied--inhibition of growth has been glossed over in that paper--we don't know if it causes permanent or temporary damage.

[Arctic]

Beborani, I may have come off as a bit harsh, we Finns are not good at chitchat (it's not part of our communication culture) and tend to go straight to the point (or wander long time around it, many might say about me) and forget everything else :D I'm happy for you that you found help, and I'm sure it a great product. I am going to consider it, if I notice my hair getting thinner, if that's what my doctor thinks would be best. I saw your photos and they were impressive, and I read you haven't had any negative effects, which was good to hear!

So far I have not read anyone reporting or suspecting extra hair growth on the face or body from caffeine, and I have read quite a bit user experiences here and elsewhere on the net, so I think it's safe to assume it is very unlikely. I wouldn't mind if it would make my lashes grow denser and longer and brows grow denser though :D


***

I'm going to pop a caffeine pill into water this evening to dissolve, and do my rinse tomorrow. I'll be using probably about 8-9 dl water to allow stirring room in my 1 liter shower friendly container, then just pour out so much water that I'm left with 3 dl. It's still stronger that the numbers mentioned in the study, but much weaker than I have done this far.

[Beborani]

Arctic, I didn't take it personally as I was just giving information that I thought might be helpful--it is upto individuals to decide how to apply it in their life. This is the internet after all. By the same token, I don't read internet reports of people unless it is on a message board I frequent and have a sense of posting history (like lhc) so I have no idea of people's experiences with caffeine (if any). I have been scouring research data--there have been no actual clinical trials on humans and I dont expect one as it is not patentable.

I posted the above based on logic and personal experience which I have not yet shared. I tried caffeine on my eyebrows the first couple of weeks and found increased growth to the point I have had to trim some strands--has never happened in my life! Also, I tried it on my head and found it dripping all over and got concerned about my face based on eyebrow experience--if caffeine enters a follicle it is bound to increase the length of that hair--a lot of other experiments were done on chest hair of men (for ease I think). I do have some facial hair that I have been bleaching for decades--I didn't want any more hair than I already have. What I found alarming about caffeine is how it stopped even normal sheds dramatically (collected in shower and robot vacuum ). While some here may like that outcome I do not as I want normal sheds---I have plenty of new growth due to minoxidil so that is not an issue. I thought if caffeine accelerated the length of some of those tiny hair strands, it would be easier to style, but I had second thoughts and have stopped for now. Good luck with your experiments.

[Arctic]

Thank you for the good luck wishes and the headups, Beborani. I'll try to pour the caffeine liquid on my hair so, that it doesn't touch my body, if that's possible. May I ask how long you did the rinses? And when you stopped, did for example your brows return to normal? It's smart to rely on scientific data, I should probably too as an academic student/person. But I do value personal experiences too, comes with the territory of studying humanist sciences, I guess. :)

I haven't really noticed any effects yet, and it's 3 weeks - which is ofcourse quite short time. (Other than that the caffeine pill rinse makes my hair's texture more sleek and silky.) If I see any unpleasant effects, I'll be sure to report here and stop the experiment.

[Beborani]

I did the brow separately--just use fingertips to spread dilute morning coffee--I quite like the effect and will continue as I remember. I stopped the full head treatment after two weeks or so--will see if the hair collected in the vacuum increases in the next few weeks.

[mamaherrera]

No I meant minoxidil causing hair growth on the face, not caffeine. So are you saying that perhaps longterm use of caffeine can cause permanent damage to follicles, meaning they won't grow any longer?

[mamaherrera]

Well now you've all got me worried. Ive been doing exactly what is stated at the beginning of this post, 1 TBSP per 8 oz and I've been doing 16 oz per 2 TBSP and leaving it in 5 minutes. I've been doing it for two months, first I did it 3X weekly, then 2, and now down to 1. I've been happy about the less shedding, but now if there is evidence of hair no longer growing, now I'm worried I've permanently damanged hair follicles and some hairs won't grow back ever again or something. maybe I'll quit???

[Arctic]

I doubt there is such an evidence, caffeine is for example used in some shampoos aimed for balding men. I don't think it would sell, if the customers would actually lose more hair. And many people do frequent coffee rinses for colouring effect, not even knowing of it's other effects.

I am not an expert, ofcourse, but I highly doubt there is reason to be scared, if your skin isn't reacting negatively (rash etc). Seems like your routine has been really sensible, especially lately. We put so much chemicals of all kinds on our skin, I think our skin and hair follicles are tough cookies.

That being said, each and everyone of us who are now experimenting with these caffeine methods is a sort of guineapig, the 2 most popular threads on LHC of this subject are both very new and this is a latest craze here, so there isn't so much user experiences from our members, especially on long term. Who knows maybe the pharma industry has spies here and they have been planting a want to try yet another method of speeding growth on the crazy longhairs, so they get to observe us :D Just kidding ofcourse. But even the scientists are still researching this, so it's impossible that anyone on LHC can really say this or that for sure, we can only tell about our user experiences and gather (very unscientific) data.

You'll do what you feel the most comfortable with. I myself plan to continue at least to my 2 month milestone, unless I lose interest first (very possible, knowing myself) or observe anything negative at all. In fact the very soft and slippery hairtexture has actually started to irritate me and I have started to miss my normal hair, so that alone might become that thing for me which makes me stop the experiment. I don't really have any noticeable effects other than the texture, so for me it either takes a bit longer to kick in or it doesn't affect me in the ways I'd wish.


ETA: Maybe you could compromise, and slowly make the time between rinses longer and longer, until you notice your normal shedding rate starting to return. Then make it few days shorter intervals, and stick to it, so it would be just enough to keep the shedding down but you'd do them as irregularly as possible.

[mamaherrera]

Thanks Arctic at least so I don't get so nervous about it. so you are only planning to use it two months total?? I'm right at the two month marker now, and I can say I see less shedding for sure. But I would hate to find out long term, that none of the hairs didn't grow back or something like that. But you're right, other people use hair dyes with stronger chemicals but they don't use it weekly like me. I do henna weekly too, but that does not penetrate into the follicle. I do have to say that also with the coffee, I feel my hair more slippery too, more soft, and doesn't poof as much. And it was right around the time taht I noticed my ponytail circumference went down (like 2mm) but still. . . maybe it's from the coffee not allowing my hair to poof and have it's normal texture and maybe that's why it went down a bit.

[Arctic]

Well if I don't see any effects (denser hair, new growth and/or speedier growth), then I probably won't use the rinses longer than 2 months, that's good enough time for an experiment. If I DO start seeing signs that the rinses work, and I don't get any side effects or anything, I am all game for continuing as long as I have enthusiasm! (I get all hyped up on different things very often, and when I find a new interest, the old one loses it's charm - story of my life.)

I think for me, too, part of the reason why I am now thinking whether my hair is thinner than it used to be, is this slippery soft texture. I have lost my poof too, and my hair goes to very compact and small space now. I LOVED it at first, but the more time goes by the more I miss my poof and volume and slight grip my natural texture has :D Grass is always greener...


I'm really having a calm feeling about these rinses. I mean I drink so much coffee every day that it is probably more harmful than few minutes of caffeine solution on my head once a week. Ofcourse I might be wrong, but I am sceptical that there would be any permanent damage. Follicles/hair roots/ are one of the fastest growing cells in our bodies, so there should be quick turnover of the new cells. Also the caffeine is being removed from the system relatively fast.

[Arctic]

I did the brow separately--just use fingertips to spread dilute morning coffee--I quite like the effect and will continue as I remember. I stopped the full head treatment after two weeks or so--will see if the hair collected in the vacuum increases in the next few weeks.

Let us know what you notice abot the shedding rates. That's a handy method to apply the coffee on brows! Have you tried it on lashes? I am intriques, but wonder if it's harmful to the eyes. I might just have to start putting my solution to my brows too, wouldn't mind a bit filling up!

[mamaherrera]

BUt you know why I'm so worried. I was just rereading this whole thread and I understood Beborani-totally wrong. My error. she was saying 1TBSP of coffee, not powder, to 8 oz of water, and I've been doing 1 TBSP per cup, so I've been doing high concentrations. So I really hope I haven't permanently stunted follicles so they will no longer grow. Hopefully Beborani chimes in, and gives me some calm to this uneasiness of mine. Thanks though Arctic. My only concern comes from the fact that I've been doing it so highly concentrated, without realizing how "bad" it was.

[Arctic]

By powder, do you mean caffeine in powder form, ground coffee or something else? Sorry, I'm non-native English speaker and sometimes somethings don't open to me.

[mamaherrera]

I mean 1 TBSP of ground coffee, supposedly that's way too much, and now I'm scared of having caused permanent damage of something to hair follicles. I have loved less shedding, but not this!! And I correct myself, it was more like 1.5 TBSP of ground coffee to water (8 oz)

[Arctic]

Hopefully someone with better math skills will chime in.

But let's think: when you measure ground coffee to the coffee maker, you will put about 1 tablespoon or one scoop (which probably are approx. same sizes) per cup of water, at least that how we here in Finland do it. So we can assume that 1 tablespoon of coffee powder in a cup of water is hopefully about the same in caffeine content than a normal cup of coffee, which is +/- 100 mg per cup.

So that is about the same strenght, a little bit more, than I have been using lately. And in the very beginning I did many rinses with not one, but 2 x 100 mg caffeine tablets in 3 dl of water (which is few sips larger quantity than a cup) which is super strong dilution. So I've been doing either stronger or almost as strong rinses as you have. No ill effects so far anyway! Thanks to Beborani and the calculator she linked to, I will from my next rinse forward be doing more diluted rinses.

[mamaherrera]

Really Arctic??? You are so sweet. thanks, at least I'm not alone---I am for sure I've been doing 100mg. strength rinses, and some days more, like 150 mg. But if you've done 200mg. we're in the same boat. About. But how many have you done??? I've done like 20-25 within these two months. And I have noticed less shedding, but also a slight reduction in my ponytail circumference. I've not measured lately as I will have a heart attack if it goes any smaller, but you've given me some calm. ANd I do think I've read of others doing 200 mg, but I don't know in how much water. Your ponytail circumference hasn't gone down at all??? Mine. . . . I am hoping it is from the 'less poof"/change in texture or from postpartum, although my baby is a year old already. You've calmed me down quite a bit. And I just read about someone who said they've down it for a year now (I don't know the frequency or the amount) and they are happy with it.

[Arctic]

mamaherrera - Yep, we've been both waking our scalps from winter hibernation really fantastically well :D You know the saying that coffee is strong if the spoon stays erect in it? Well our hair haven't got the memo and they have become limp and lost their poof! :eyebrows: ( <-- That is me after I start putting caffeine in my brows.)


I'm not sure how many rinses I've done, but I've written after each on this thread. I probably did on the first week, week and half, about 3 rinses per week (those were the 200 mg per 3 dl water ones), then I was adviced to do them less often and with less caffeine, and I swithced to about once a week with 100 mg/3 dl water solution. It's probably more likely been 5-6 days between rinses rather than 7. And I have just finished my 3rd week, so I haven't have done as many as you have, but approx. as strong ones. We'll be fine, but let's start doing this with more modest dilutions from now on :D


I measured my hair in February, can't remember now if it was right before or right after I started the rinses. My hair had lost thickness comparing to the thickest of my previous measurements (2008 ), but here's the but. The newest of those previous ones was from 2009, and I haven't measured my thickness after that until this February (I had a pixie cut phase there). So yes it is thinner than it has been, by over 1 cm if I remember correctly (lower end of ii now. ETA: My mesurements do change depending my hair/day/etc). If the newest measurement was after coffee rinses, these might have affected the result because my hair is noticeably more compact and soft and straighter. There are other factors too, like me growing out henna since the old measurement, my hair being a little less wavy now than it was then [even before the rinses], me having a big shed last autumn, etc. So I am keeping an eye on the situation.

I don't think my hair is *actually* became thinner now, after starting the caffeine rinses, than it was right before the rinses. Thinner as in that it would have less hair strands or finer hair strands, but the rinses definitely make my hair less poofy and more slippery, which means the hair will compress more, which then affects the appearance of perceived thickness.


ETA: Wanted to add that it's probably very normal and common for measurement to differ a little bit, without it meaning anything. Some days the hair is poofier, some days it's dirty, some days it's full of static, some days you have styling product, some days you have been wearing a bun all day and hair is compressed... I think measurements on a longer interval are better, you can keep an eye if there is a trend upward or downwards or if it stays on same levels.


ETA2: My newest thickness measumerement was taken after starting caffeine rinses.

[mamaherrera]

everything you say is very true and good for my ears. Funny how we have been watching/noticing the same effects in every aspect. And yes I realize that ponytails can change, but I've been monitoring mine for five years and it's never gone down, not even a bit, whether it's dirty/cold/hot/humid/product. But I truly hope it is something as simple as this and that it hasn't gone down more. I left it because it was tormenting me too much to see it go down a bit more each week. Funny thing: when I was just starting the coffee rinses, like my second week, I measured, and it was normal. then I measured like three weeks later and it was when it had gone down, in February. My husband tried to make me feel better the following week, (he said it looked bigger) so I measured, and it had gone down another mm. So I stopped, it was killing me. I hope if I leave the caffeine rinses, my hair will compact less, because it is a type of hair that poofs, and it compacts so darn well, and then with this change (hope it's the coffee) it compacts more and my braids just aren't looking as big. But can you imagine: You've had your ponytail go down 1 cm in a 6 year time frame, and mine has gone down almost .5 cm (hopefully no more) in a matter of two months. That's what has me a bit concerned. I've been a bit worried too about these "skinny hairs" I lose in my sheds, they are super thin and grow to like 2-3 inches max, and they come from all over my scalp. I was hoping the coffee would help with them, but I still see them growing! The only thing that calms me is that my children also have these skinny (weird) hairs as well.

[Arctic]

mamaherrera - Yes we indeed have lot of same experiences!

Maybe your ponytail was a tiny bit different position as it normally has been, or you missed a small lock of hair. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see a downward trend over several months. I understand loosing thickness is heartbreaking. But realistically, if you see less shedding, and you see new hair growing to replace the shed ones, your hair thickness should be doing well, maybe it will even become thicker. *) The caffeine rinses really do seem to make my hair more compact, so you might have that going on too. If you like to use any hair styling products (Salt spray? mousse? dry shampoo? hair powder?), or do some heatless waves and curls, you'll get the most out of your hair, even if the rinses make it more slippery and compact.

Well seeing the shorter hairs on your children too is a sure fire sign they are normal and you shouldn't worry about them. I think everyone has hair with varying terminal lengths, some never grow very long and some grow years and years. And that's also normal to have different thicknesses of individual hairs. I have everything from so fine they are transparent to coarse individuals. I bet most of us are a big mixture on the hair department, but "normal" people outside hair forums (or people who have some hair related problems) probably don't pay so through, microscopic attention to the hair.

I have had problems to accept my hair textures in the past and I overanalyzed individual strands and was unhappy. I have decided to stop thinking about my hair as individual strands and think of it as a mass, as a one whole unit. It's been super helpful!

*) Thickness is a bit slippery slope to define, as if you have more hair but they are more compact that when you had less hair, which is considered thicker? I would think the denser hair, even if more compact, would be thicker, even if the measuring tape wouldn't show it.


***

For me, today's a rinse day. I put 100 mg caffeine tablet in 1,5 or 2 liter of water. Something stole my attention while I was measuring the water and I couldn't remember where I was. So the solution is either just inside the limits mentioned in the research paper, or slightly more. Still super dilute if I am comparing my previous mega-solutions :D I am going to stir the solution well and take 3 dl from it to pour over my head, same method as before (maybe adding a shower cap into my routine to prevent some of the dripping).


Question: Does anyone know if the caffeine pill/water solution stays usable in the fridge and if so, how long? It's not a huge waste to pour most of my solutions down the drain, but I hate throwing money away. It would be great if I could get at least 2 rinses (about 1 week apart) from the solution, and even then most of it would be wasted.

[mamaherrera]

Thanks Arctic, for everything!! Keep us updated on the rinses and results!

[Arctic]

You're welcome :)

***

I did the rinse, like I had planned. I forgot to take a shower cap to the shower, so didn't use it. Same method as before:

Shampoo, rinse, pour 3 dl of caffeine pill solution (either 0.00500% or 0.00667% dilution, not sure which) on my head, add conditioner, let sit while showering, rinse.

Hair is drying in mini buns now, so don't know yet if it's less slippery or the same. Probably the slipperiness wouldn't vanish right away, even if I'd stop the rinses completely, because my hair is slippery from caffeine 24/7, and that's with almost daily washing and almost once a week rinses, so seems like it would take a while to get my normal hair texture back. BUt I do hope the milder solution would not have such a strong effect on my texture.


Almost all the time I've been doing the rinses, starting after the rash incident, I have been pouring the solution on my head so, that it would touch my body as little as possible. I bend to both sides and backwards to do the pouring, let it drizzle slowly, covering all the scalp. Then I squeeze the excess liquid from my length, before adding conditioner and clipping the hair up. Today I was super aware though, how some of the solution did get on my body and face. I could have sworn previously, that I am able to get it done so neatly, that all of it ends up in my hair and scalp with almost no splatters (the room temperature liquid feels super cold in the shower, so it's easy to feel where the liquid goes). After the conversation here, I was extremely aware of any and all splatters, and felt several - even if I have never payed attention to them before, and have never noticed any "leaking" before (I think I have been concentrating to feel the cold liquid on my scalp to get an even coverage, and that has overridden other sensation of cold splatters).

I have *not* noticed any changes in my body hair since starting the rinses though, so I guess my technique is relatively good even if there have been some splatters. It also helps that I don't have huge amout of liquid, 3 dl is enough to cover my scalp and make my length wet without ending up everywhere. I might even start taking less of the liquid to the shower with me, to find through trial which would be the minimum to cover the scalp. I see no point in trying to wet my length with it, scalp is enough. I'm pretty sure I could get away with 2 dl, maybe even less (good things about thinner hair is the easy application and scalp coverage).


Oh, I noticed today lot of baby hairs at the top of my head. Might not have anything to do with caffeine, though. I had a big shed which lasted about 5 months or more last autumn-winter, so these are probably hairs growing in after shed.

[Beborani]

Looks like Arctic has reassured you mamaherrera.

[Arctic]

I think it's good for everybody to understand that we are all experimenting and there is no proper/enough scientific evidence yet about this method, not years long user experiences of our members yet, and there are lot of questions that we can't answer yet, etc. We are all guineapigs of a sort. No-one can say for sure that "yes this works for you and here's why/how, and here's the side-effect list". I am certainly not any type of expert, and not even very experienced with the method yet, but I can say that the method seems relatively harmless to me. Especially now that I know about the correct dilutions mentioned in one of the studies, and how to calculate it on my own. Coffee has been used widely on hair care, so I'd assume if it would be damaging it would have been noticed by now. I have also not heared/read anyone mention getting unwanted hair growth elsewhere on the body.

I don't think that stirring worry is a good approach. When someone, anyone, starts to really worry, and ruminate, and maybe even panic, they can't think clearly and make clear decisions then.

It's good to gather as much info as we can, so we can stay calm and make clear and as educated choices as possible, considering the lack and unavailability of trustworthy data. We should all be realizing there *might* be some risks - what in life wouldn't have. CO-washing has risks, oiling hair has risks, using essential oils has risks. Many popular LHC-methods have no scientific research done at all, and yet still people use them. Weighting those things against the data/knowledge/experiences we do have so far, in a calm manner, is a base for making well informed, educated choices (as much as that's possible with the relatively hazy info available).

To cover both sides of the coin, it IS good to voice out concerns, worries,any negative user-experiences, and any worst case scenarios of negative possible possibillities of possible side-effects - that no-one knows if they actually would ever happen (repeating the word "possible" to highlight the uncertainty of them). If someone knows a cold, hard facts about any side-effects, or positive, wanted effects, those are even more valuable, but I fear we here don't have much of that kind of data yet, to my knowledge anyway - even the scientists are still researching. Sharing the other side of the coin can hopefully be done without anyone panicing.

(I try to do my part of gathering user experiences by typing down detailed experiences of my own, and would love to see more people do the same. I also made a quiz, and would love to see more people answer it. Maybe we could make a new quizz of the possible side effects mentioned recently in the thread, too, to see if anyone has suspected or noticed those effects.)



In the end each has to choose themselves, ofcourse, but we can do it with clear thought and without panicing.


My two cents and I'll step out of the soapbox now :)

[mamaherrera]

I can share one thing that also gives me less fear about the "stronger" rinses I have done. Throughout this whole time, my white hairs have continued to grow (meaning I've had to keep doing my roots weekly with henna) so I assume they give a good representation of the rest of my hair, that yes it keeps growing. plus I've gotten "new white ones" as well (not a yeah, but still) so new growth is coming in.

[LauraLongLocks]

Dang! I saw this pop up in my subscriptions and realized that I forgot to do my caffeine rinse before I washed yesterday. Oops.

[Arctic]

I can share one thing that also gives me less fear about the "stronger" rinses I have done. Throughout this whole time, my white hairs have continued to grow (meaning I've had to keep doing my roots weekly with henna) so I assume they give a good representation of the rest of my hair, that yes it keeps growing. plus I've gotten "new white ones" as well (not a yeah, but still) so new growth is coming in.

That's great to hear, so there is no stalling of growth even with mega dosages! If your whites are growing, then all your hair is growing :D



LauraLongLocksTry to remember the next time, probably not much difference if you skip one time or stretch the time between the applications to a bit longer (not sure how often you normally wash).

[LauraLongLocks]

That's great to hear, so there is no stalling of growth even with mega dosages! If your whites are growing, then all your hair is growing :D



LauraLongLocksTry to remember the next time, probably not much difference if you skip one time or stretch the time between the applications to a bit longer (not sure how often you normally wash).

I wash twice a week, but try to do any and all extra stuff on the weekends only.

[Arctic]

I have noticed more shedding in the recent days. It's a bummer as I went through a really long shed last autumn and winter, and it only returned to more normal last month (before starting the rinses), and now I see more shedding again. Hopefully just a normal spring shed. I used to get regular short shed with seasons changing, but the past years I didn't have any shed periods, only lost few hairs a day, until last autumn when the bigger, long shed started. I'm not worried, but thought to report here that for me caffeine rinses really don't seem to affect on the shedding. I keep an eye on it and if this continues, then I'll contact my doctor.

I might have some slight thickening of my hairline since starting the rinses, but I might be wrong. I have taken photos but they are hard to compare, each looks different.

[Beborani]

Arctic, I am sorry it seems to increase shedding for you. Did you try on eyebrows? I read your protocol up above and it is quite different from mine. I applied diluted (similar percentage) coffee directly on dry scalp with dropper sometime before bedtime on alternate days. That was the easiest way for me as I did not have to worry about dilution that would happen in the shower. I do the same for eyebrows---sometimes even on consecutive days.

[Arctic]

Hi Beborani! I'm not really saying caffeine rinses cause shedding, more like it didn't prevent it. :) I normally shed very little and I notice any changes easily, and I didn't expect to see any increased (seasonal or other) shedding for a while because the super long shed had just stopped. On the other hand this is the time when the seasonal shed often starts. Maybe I should really contact my doctor about it and not just see how it goes. My diet has been quite bad recently which probably does not help, and might be a big reasons behind this, and it's the first thing the doctor's going to say to me: eat more, woman. :)

I might still continue the rinses for a month or so, but am not really that impressed all and all. I haven't really seen any of the effects that many others are seeing. The only real effect has been the slippery, soft texture, and even that has started to get on my nerves. I haven't noticed any negative either (other than the one time rash incident and assuming the shedding of previous days has nothing to do with the rinses), I am just getting the feeling more and more that this isn't doing anything to me. But I might continue for a while more, to really see if there will be any changes in my hairline.

I did try the solution on my eyebrows the last time I did my rinse, and washed my face after about 5 minutes. No idea if it has any effects applied this way. It would be cool to find a way to make brows and lashes thicker, denser and longer, without using any oils. My skin can't take any oils and seems like all the DIY trick involve some sort of oiling. It's encouraging to hear you have been able to get thicker brows :)

[mamaherrera]

Gosh I would like that for my brows too. Don't try and compare with pics, it's super hard. I've tried it, and every time the lighting is different, the angle, the closeness/distance, so it's impossible to make it look exactly the same, but I go through paranoid moments as well, . .. it's gotten sparser, it's gone back. But my husband reassures me that 1) you can't remember something like that 100% and 2) pics are good to see "MEGA" change, but you can't freak out about a small little detail because there's just no way to take the same pose twice.

[Beborani]

I have an idea for eyelashes--use qtip and apply as if you are removing eyeliner. i don't think anything bad will happen (can dilute even more as .001% is more effective than .005) but am not ready yet to experiment. Eyebrows make me happy--I was filling in with pencil which I no longer have to do, instead I apply gel to keep them lying flat down!

[Arctic]

Gosh I would like that for my brows too. Don't try and compare with pics, it's super hard. I've tried it, and every time the lighting is different, the angle, the closeness/distance, so it's impossible to make it look exactly the same, but I go through paranoid moments as well, . .. it's gotten sparser, it's gone back. But my husband reassures me that 1) you can't remember something like that 100% and 2) pics are good to see "MEGA" change, but you can't freak out about a small little detail because there's just no way to take the same pose twice.

I'd love to have more dense brows too, and longer, denser lashes :inlove: I've noticed the pics are not a good indicator of positive/negative changes, for the reasons you named. Every single one looks different :D BTW I have measure my ponytail now several times, and each measurement is different. I have tried different placements, cleaner/dirtier hair, product/no product, braid/bun waves/straight-ish... all these things affect the measurement. I did it as an expreriment. The differences were big, the lowest was, if I remember correctly as low as 6,2 cm and the biggest was, again if I remember correctly, 7,6 cm. One was even over 8 cm but I might have placed the measuring tape over the elastic there, so I'm not counting it.




I have an idea for eyelashes--use qtip and apply as if you are removing eyeliner. i don't think anything bad will happen (can dilute even more as .001% is more effective than .005) but am not ready yet to experiment. Eyebrows make me happy--I was filling in with pencil which I no longer have to do, instead I apply gel to keep them lying flat down!

Great idea! I think it would be safe for eyes, because caffeine is used in some of the commercial lash growth products too. I'm happy for you that your brows have started to look so great!

One problem I have with the lash/brow applications spread over the week is, that I'm not sure how long caffeine pill solution keeps in the fridge. I won't put actual coffee near my skin anymore, after the rash incident, and I only have instant coffee which is not recommended anyway. I have only those 100 mg caffeine pills, and it would feel wasteful to make a new solution every time I'd treat my brows/lashes, if I only need few drops but would have to make a big batch of solution. But I can experiment some, apply at the same time I do my scalp application and maybe one few days after that - I am sure the solution keeps few days in fridge without risks to eyes.


***

Today was a rinse day. I made a stronger solution, I think it is ok after all, because it gets diluted even more with the shower method and because I leave it on for only 5 minutes max. I put 100 mg pill into 7 dl of water, and used 2 dl of it (down from 3 dl I have used thus far). Did everything the same way as before.

I think can shave down the quantity I take with me to the shower even more, I think 1 dl would be enough to cover my scalp. The less liquid I would have, the less it would drip on my face and body.


BTW, re-reading the first post of this thread, maybe I interpret it wrongly, but it recommends making a normal cup of coffee and using that as a rinse, so in that way using 1 caffeine tablet (100 mg) in a cup of water would be good.

The thing that is makes this whole caffeine method a bit hazy is the wide variations of what everyone thinks is ok. It's really confusing to know what is recommended and what is not, when there are so many contradictory opinions and different kinds of information.

[mamaherrera]

That's what I went by too Arctic, was the first one, and that's why I just did my 1TBSP per 8 oz thing. I skipped this week, a rinse, but still enjoyed low shedding--50-70 per day.

[Arctic]

Good to hear the effect of reducing shedding doesn't go away if one rinse is missed. Are you going to continue, or stop them altogether? If you quit, do keep us updated on the shedding levels. It would be interesting to hear when the normal shedding comes back for those who have experienced reduced quantities after starting the rinses.

Yeah you did the exact strength of rinses as the first post recommended, and I did too when I started using 100 mg instead of 200 mg like I did in the very beginning. I think I am going for some kind of golden middle way from now on: stronger than the scientific paper mentions (because they put it on dry scalp without washing it off, very different that the shower rinse method I use) but weaker than the first post in this thread mentions.

[epicrosie]

Well I thought I would give a SMT style treatment with this morning's left over coffee grounds. Its now been an hour hoping to leave it a little longer as I'm hoping for some of the staining as I'm a chestnut brunette so some lowlights would be pretty awesome to me :D

[LauraLongLocks]

I remembered my caffeine rinse this morning. Yay!

[Arctic]

Good luck epicrosie. Did I understand correctly, that you put the used grounds on your hair as a mask? Alone, or mixed with something? How did it feel and how did it make your hair feel afterwards?

Yay, Laura!


**


All, I seem to have lot of new growth all over my scalp! I first noticed it at the top of my head, as the little hairs stick up. But when I really feel with my fingers, the new growth is everywhere! It's about inch or less long! I don't know if this is from caffeine rinses, or just normal growth after long shedding phase. I have also started scalp massages and aromatherapy on scalp, but both of there only recently, and I doubt they would have had time to work just yet. I hope this will mean my hair will thicken some, and that the sparser areas will fill in! I try not to get my hopes up, maybe it's just normal growth, that I have there all the time, but haven't just payed attention to recently. The new hairs do seem to be quite numerous (though not an explosion by any means), but I haven't really been observing my scalp so close, as to know how much new hair I normally have growing in there at a given time (ofcourse there are always some new hair growing and old hairs shedding).

[-Fern]

Good luck epicrosie. Did I understand correctly, that you put the used grounds on your hair as a mask? Alone, or mixed with something? How did it feel and how did it make your hair feel afterwards?

Yay, Laura!


**


All, I seem to have lot of new growth all over my scalp! I first noticed it at the top of my head, as the little hairs stick up. But when I really feel with my fingers, the new growth is everywhere! It's about inch or less long! I don't know if this is from caffeine rinses, or just normal growth after long shedding phase. I have also started scalp massages and aromatherapy on scalp, but both of there only recently, and I doubt they would have had time to work just yet. I hope this will mean my hair will thicken some, and that the sparser areas will fill in! I try not to get my hopes up, maybe it's just normal growth, that I have there all the time, but haven't just payed attention to recently. The new hairs do seem to be quite numerous (though not an explosion by any means), but I haven't really been observing my scalp so close, as to know how much new hair I normally have growing in there at a given time (ofcourse there are always some new hair growing and old hairs shedding).

:cheer: I'm happy for all your baby hairs! May they be fruitful and continue to multiply. :D

[Arctic]

-Fern - Thanks! I was starting to be a bit disappointed in the caffeine rinses because I didn't see same kind of results as many others did, but now I think I will continue them. They are easy (pop pill into water, rinse hair), fast (less than 10 minutes per week), cheap (100 caffeine pills is few Euros) and seemingly harmless, and if they help my new hairs to grow, then yay!

[Arctic]

Darn it, Leechblock ate my post.

I did the rinse today. 100 mg of caffeine in 7 dl of water, of which I used a cup. Same method as always.

One thing I noticed. Using a regular coffee cup in the shower to hold the liquid makes the caffeine rinsing much more difficult than using a thin, tall container I have been using thusfar. The cup made it difficult and even impossible to control where the liquid goes (because it was so full), and I spilled much more on my face and body. It also made it feel like I would have need more to cover my scalp, wereas I can get a controlled, even coverage with minimal liquid when using tall, thin, bigger container. I'll be sure to never use cup again, and will stick with the container I have been using with the rinses normally.

[mamaherrera]

i did a diluted one a couple days ago, it did help with shedding, I think. Have you decided if you're going to start doing it twice a week, now , since yo'ure doing it more diluted?

[Arctic]

I might start doing this twice a week, and maybe even get back to the original dilution of 100 mg/cup. Since the research paper only concentrated on putting caffeine on dry scalp without rinsing, and I put it on soaking wet hair/scalp, and rinse off after only few minutes, I think it would be safe to do both (more often and/or more strong dilution). Although I like my hair texture better with milder dilution on the longer run, it's not quite as slippery and silky now! Maybe I could start with twice a week with the current dilution (100mg in 7 dl, take couple of dl to use in shower).

What I like about the rinses is, that they are easy, quick, not messy, cheap, and I haven't noticed any negative effects.

PS. I might be imagining, but looks like my lashes have grown after only few treatments! Can't say anything about brows yet.

[mamaherrera]

How the heck do you get it on your lashes?? I would die for long lashes, I've never had them, ever!!

[Arctic]

I have been doing what Beborani suggested few times now: putting a tiny bit of the caffeine liquid on q-tip and applying that on my lashline and brows, not rinsing. My lashes seem longer already, after few times. I've been doing this twice a week.

[Shadow Walker]

I did my first one last Saturday, and throughout the week I've noticed less shedding already. I'm doing my second one tomorrow, hopefully I will notice some added growth soon.

[Akville]

I have been doing what Beborani suggested few times now: putting a tiny bit of the caffeine liquid on q-tip and applying that on my lashline and brows, not rinsing. My lashes seem longer already, after few times. I've been doing this twice a week.

would never thought of that..

[mamaherrera]

so for me, I would just dip it into my coffee mix and dab it on brows/lashes and leave it on?? How many weeks have you done it up till now?

[Arctic]

I think I have done it maybe 4 times now, I think this is second week. I haven't wrote the times down or counted them, really (and am not about to start either). Beborani uses real coffee, diluting it a lot. I use my caffeine pill solution. Beborani has only used it on brows (and gotten nice results), and I've been using on brows and lashes. Caffeine is on many commercial products meant for encouraging lash growth, so it's safe for eyes. To be even safer, it's good to use very diluted solution. At the very first I applied in the shower when I did my rinse, but have started the q-tip method now.

[Arctic]

I did my first one last Saturday, and throughout the week I've noticed less shedding already. I'm doing my second one tomorrow, hopefully I will notice some added growth soon.

What method you ended up choosing? Great to hear you noticed immediate effects! That seems to be the beauty of this method, people notice usually very soon, whether this works for them or not!

[Pinni]

First month of caffeine rinses is over. I got around 0.6 inch growth this month. (It is easy to follow from my roots.) Last month it was 0.4 inch. I got headache only at first rinse. So maybe it was not from caffeine rinse at all.

First two times I made stronger rinses and hair got little bit slippery. With solutions mentioned in research papers my hair was normal. But it seems I got better growth with stronger rinses. On the other hand only one month has passed and it can be other things too effecting to growth.

Is anyone using these rinses by putting the water and pill solution to spray bottle? I have thought I could try that method to not get the slippery effect from this by putting this only to roots.

[JustPam]

Is anyone using these rinses by putting the water and pill solution to spray bottle? I have thought I could try that method to not get the slippery effect from this by putting this only to roots.

It would depend if the pills you use are completely soluble in water or not. The ones I use aren't, so they would just clog up a spray bottle. I have been thinking about switching to a green tea spray once my pills are finished.

[Nanna]

I have now been doing coffee or tea rinses weekly. I use coffee when there is some left over, and strong black tea when not. Mostly I just pour the liquid into my scalp, let it dry for a bit and then braid. I'll let it be for a few hours and wash in the evening.

I don't know yet if I have got any growth or reduction in shedding, but the rinse is easy to do and I don't have any ill effects from it, so I'll keep on doing it and we'll see. :)

[Pinni]

It would depend if the pills you use are completely soluble in water or not. The ones I use aren't, so they would just clog up a spray bottle. I have been thinking about switching to a green tea spray once my pills are finished.

Tea spray could be option then. I think my pills would clog up a spray bottle too.

[Lady melissa]

i was just interested in using this method and voilà, there is a thread! will try it out somewhere this week...maybe after washing and before i put on my conditionner...or maybe as a leave-in spray

[StellaKatherine]

I use chamomile tea, which supposely doesn't have caffeine in. I wonder if teas can be mixed in any way ?

[Arctic]

^ Sure, why not? Since you are blonde, I think you could use green tea (isn't there something called white tea, too?) or even caffeine pills (colourless) with your chamomille. You can even calculate how strong your your liquid will be when it comes to caffeine, using the online calculator links posted earlier in this thread (3-4 pages back?).

[StellaKatherine]

Arctic, I am not blond hehe, Just shine gold in the sunlight ;) I love to enchance the gold with chamomilla tea ( which is good for scalp, dandrum as well ). Yes there is white tea, and green tea has for sure some caffeine! Thank you for your suggestions! I shall look in to adding some caffeine next time :D

[Arctic]

First month of caffeine rinses is over. I got around 0.6 inch growth this month. (It is easy to follow from my roots.) Last month it was 0.4 inch. I got headache only at first rinse. So maybe it was not from caffeine rinse at all.

First two times I made stronger rinses and hair got little bit slippery. With solutions mentioned in research papers my hair was normal. But it seems I got better growth with stronger rinses. On the other hand only one month has passed and it can be other things too effecting to growth.

Is anyone using these rinses by putting the water and pill solution to spray bottle? I have thought I could try that method to not get the slippery effect from this by putting this only to roots.

Thanks for the update! Interesting about the strength of caffeine versus growth. I am getting back to stronger rinses again, especially when done in shower, the water dilutes them even more and the time the liquid is on the scalp is not very long - well I don't know how long you keep it on before rinsing, but for me it's probably less than 5 minutes.

I've seen people mentioning clogged spray bottles. Maybe pouring the pill solution through a very fine sieve? Or even coffee filter or paper towel? That should take most of the insoluble material from the liquid.



I have now been doing coffee or tea rinses weekly. I use coffee when there is some left over, and strong black tea when not. Mostly I just pour the liquid into my scalp, let it dry for a bit and then braid. I'll let it be for a few hours and wash in the evening.

I don't know yet if I have got any growth or reduction in shedding, but the rinse is easy to do and I don't have any ill effects from it, so I'll keep on doing it and we'll see. :)

Since you are doing it on dry scalp and leaving it for so long, it might be good to dilute a bit. Keep us updated!

[Arctic]

Arctic, I am not blond hehe, Just shine gold in the sunlight ;) I love to enchance the gold with chamomilla tea ( which is good for scalp, dandrum as well ). Yes there is white tea, and green tea has for sure some caffeine! Thank you for your suggestions! I shall look in to adding some caffeine next time :D

Ha ha, your avatar and siggy pic fooled me :D In any case, normal tea will darken hair on many people, so if you don't want that, I'd stay with the lighter ones (green, white). I can also warmly recommend the caffeine pills, they are colourless, easy to use, easy to calculate the strength of solution, and don't seem to have any drying effects, based on my own experience and reading this thread.

Teas have much lower caffeine percentage than coffee, so your liquid will be quite week if you mix tea and chamomile infusion. That can be seen both good or not so desirable thing, depending whom you ask from. So if you start with mixing teas but don't see any effects, then you maybe could try the caffeine pills dissolved in chamomile infusion.

[StellaKatherine]

Ha ha, your avatar and siggy pic fooled me :D In any case, normal tea will darken hair on many people, so if you don't want that, I'd stay with the lighter ones (green, white). I can also warmly recommend the caffeine pills, they are colourless, easy to use, easy to calculate the strength of solution, and don't seem to have any drying effects, based on my own experience and reading this thread.

Teas have much lower caffeine percentage than coffee, so your liquid will be quite week if you mix tea and chamomile infusion. That can be seen both good or not so desirable thing, depending whom you ask from. So if you start with mixing teas but don't see any effects, than you maybe could try the caffeine pills diluted in chamomile infusion.

Yeah, I know my hair keeps on fooling people everywhere :D No one really knows what color it tries to be in the end ;)

Do you use the normal caffeine pills which are used for drinking?

[Arctic]

Yeah, I know my hair keeps on fooling people everywhere :D No one really knows what color it tries to be in the end ;)

Do you use the normal caffeine pills which are used for drinking?

I have also ever evolving hair colour, very hard to photograph :)

Yes, I have been using the house brand from Yliopiston Apteekki, "Professorin" I think it's called. It's 100 mg per pill, which equals approx. one cup of coffee. It doesn't have any harmful additives, mostly cellulose.

The only problem with the 100 mg pill that I can think of is, that if you want very weak solution, like those mentioned in the research paper that has been posted in this thread, then you need to see some trouble to get mild enough solution (like using a big batch of water/camomile tea, which means you make much more of it than you will use) - the online calculator link Beborani posted will help to calculate the percentages. But if you go for the dilution % mentioned in the first post of this thread, then 100 mg pill is just perfect for one rinse. I think the very weak dilutions are better for those, who use the caffeine on dry scalp and leave it for longer time, whereas the shower method folks can probably use stronger %. I think I am getting back to stronger % again, after trying the weak solutions for a while.

[StellaKatherine]

Thank you for your help Arctic! Was happy to see, that the pills are not too expensive eather :D Really curious to see if my hair would grow any faster... :)

[Swan Maiden]

I think I will start this back up to calm my current shed, it helped greatly with lessening shed last time.

[Akville]

I use caffeine pills couse I'm blonde I use 200mg in to 150ml into some tea(light color).. the I spray it only on my scalp without wetting the length..
I've been doing it for three weeks now so 8 of April is measuring day.. then we will see if there's been any extra growth.. I'm doing it twice a week... If there's no extra growth them I'm quitting because it costed me almost 70kr (7 euros) a month... I mean caffeine pills :D.. not counting time and tea price.. :D...

[Arctic]

Akville, that sound like awfully strong solution. The research paper stated that too much caffeine can actuall stall growth. If I were you I would definitely make a weaker solution. It would save you some money too!

[Arctic]

Thank you for your help Arctic! Was happy to see, that the pills are not too expensive eather :D Really curious to see if my hair would grow any faster... :)

No problems! I agree, the pills are very cheap (and I happened to have some at home already!), and the whole method is fast, easy and something I can see myself keeping at in the long term. Let's hope you'll get faster growth from the rinses; do you know how much your current speed is?



I think I will start this back up to calm my current shed, it helped greatly with lessening shed last time.

Nice to see more people here!



Tea spray could be option then. I think my pills would clog up a spray bottle too.

I got another idea: I wonder if one of those big syringes (without needle, ofcourse) from pharmacy would work? If it's big enough, also the hole on the tip is quite big, isn't it, so I'd imagine any fluff from the caffeine pill would easily go through it. It would help to get the liquid on the scalp (making parts right next to eachother and gliding the syringe along the parts, slowly squirting the solution).



i was just interested in using this method and voilà, there is a thread! will try it out somewhere this week...maybe after washing and before i put on my conditionner...or maybe as a leave-in spray

I have put the caffeine liquid and conditioner on my head at the same time, cuts down the showering time and seems to work nicely!


***

My update. I am a bit unsure what strength of solution I'll continue to use, and how often. I think I will switch back to twice a week for now, and make my liquid a little bit milder than the first post suggests, but nowhere as mild as the research paper suggests.

Today I did my rinse and dissolved 100 mg in 4 dl of water, of which I used 1,5 dl. Otherwise same method as always.

This was also a test about what would be the minimum quantity of liquid that I need in the shower, and I felt 1,5 dl was really pushing it. I will go back to 2 dl per rinse, that seemed like a good quantity.

[Budgie]

Does anyone know how much caffeine the study used? I don't want to stunt my hair growth by using too much.

I was going to make a mix of aloe and caffeine powder and put it on my scalp in the shower.

[Budgie]

.................

[Arctic]

If you browse back the thread maybe 4-5 pages (?) you'll find link to the abstract of the study, Beborani posted it. I can't remember the exact strength, but it was very low. However, they did not use a shower method, which automatically dilute the caffeine plus you rinse it away after a while. They used it on dry scalp/follicles (in test tubes) and did not rinse. (The link might be on the first post too, can't remember.)

[Budgie]

............

[Budgie]

..........

[Arctic]

I don't think anyone in this thread has experienced anything hair-related negative effects from the rinses (headaches and few skin reactions have come up). Many people leave their caffeine in their scalp. Beborani also posted very easy to use online calculator, with which you can calculate your dilution's strength very accurately. You can make exact strength the researchers used in their study, if you want to.


ETA: Beborani's posts can be found from page 29 forward, there are the links to study abstract and calculator, and our general pondering of the strength subject.

[Budgie]

.................

[Arctic]

I just edited my post above. Beborani started posting on page 29 and forward, she posted link to study and calculator, and then there was general pondering of the strength subject.

[Budgie]

.................

[Arctic]

Nice to have you join us Budgie, the more the merrier! Hopefully the rinses work for you!

[divinedobbie]

Walmart does sell caffeine pills, they should be in the supplements/diet isle.

I don't think you'll experience negative effects. I know that the study warned of stalled growth but I used 100 mg caffeine pills in 1 cup of water, left on my hair and not rinsed out and I did this 3-4 times a week and while I didn't get any growth, I didn't slow my growth either.

[tigress86]

I brewed some coffee this morning, put it in a spray bottle when it cooled down, sectioned my hair and sprayed it on my scalp, then gave myself a scalp massage. I wanted to try this already but wash day isn't until two days, so I just sprayed it instead of rinsing. But I think I will need to buy caffeine pills instead of actual coffee, so I can get the right percentage of caffeine and won't stain my virgin roots.

[Akville]

Akville, that sound like awfully strong solution. The research paper stated that too much caffeine can actuall stall growth. If I were you I would definitely make a weaker solution. It would save you some money too!

whoops..
:D
had no idea.. I was thinking .. the more the better.. :)

I will put 100mg from now on..

Thanks for warning...

[AmethystLily]

How much green tea would I need to add to 8 oz (or approx. 236.6 mL) of water to get 0.001% dilution? I've got Uncle Lee's Green Tea, and it says avg. mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving of green tea is 20-40 mg.

[Arctic]

You can calculate the percentage with this online calculator:

http://www.physiologyweb.com/calcula...alculator.html

The problem I see is the big variation of possible caffeine content of your tea, makes the calculation a guessing game.

[stargazer616]

Alright, so I've done this twice so far. Once last week, and again today. Not sure if it's doing anything for growth yet. (I took a picture and measured at the end of March, we'll see what happens at the end of a month)
Last week I made one cup of coffee (since that's what my coffee maker makes at once) let it cool, and upon realizing that it wouldn't be nearly enough to rinse all my hair with, I tried to focus on applying it to the scalp.
Wanting to try something new, this week I tried the paste method. It was pretty messy and difficult to get all the coffee grounds out of my hair. Since part of the appeal of that method was that it seemed like less work than making a cup of coffee and waiting for it to cool and it didn't turn out that way, I'll be a little less lazy next time. Make a bigger cup of coffee and maybe mix in some conditioner?
Both times I left it in for 30 minutes and then washed and conditioned.

[chantecler]

So, I've been shedding a whole lot lately and sure wouldn't mind a boost of growing. Has any of you really seen obvious results? I'm currently sitting with a brew of rosemary, sage, marshmallow root and black tea on my hair and scalp, and am quite desperate to find a solution to my shedding!

[Arctic]

I did a rinse last night. Same method as always. Diluted 100 mg caffeine pill in 4 dl of water, of which I used 2 dl. I think I am sticking with this strength for now and try to do them 2 times per week.

[Akville]

I did a rinse last night. Same method as always. Diluted 100 mg caffeine pill in 4 dl of water, of which I used 2 dl. I think I am sticking with this strength for now and try to do them 2 times per week.

how long have you been doing this stuff???.. does it work? do you see any results??

[Arctic]

double post

[Arctic]

If you read back the thread you'll find all the answers. (Same goes with everybody else.) I have recorded my process in detail in this thread.


Well, maybe it's time for another general update from me...

I can't remember when I started, probably about 5-6 weeks ago??? And an honest answer is, that I have no idea if the rinses work.

I don't measure my growth, and haven't really been eyeballing my photos either (though it does sometimes feel like it's been growing more than my normal 1 cm per month). I shed very little normally, and this has not affected my shedding in positive (reducing) way, and did not prevent my spring shed from starting (or the time will tell, maybe the rinses make me shed a little bit more, and its not a spring shed). I do have some new growth (new baby hairs) but I don't know if they are from the rinses. What do know for sure, is that the caffeine rinses make my hair very soft, slippery, silkier and straighter, and seem somehow very conditioning. I have been exprimenting quite a bit with strength of dilution as well as frequency of rinses too, during this time - some of them were super strong, while some were very weak, and the rest somewhere in between. I have also started doing other things (upside down scalp massages with aloe+essential oils) during this time, which might or might not affect my results (or lack of them :) ).

In other words, I'm not approaching this in a methodical, "scientific" way, and am not the best person to ask about the effects. I'm doing these in hopes that they would help my hair regain some of the thickness back, and speed of growth is secondary in my book. Since I do see some new growth, I am planning to continue (at least for a while) the rinses though, even when it's so unsure whether they help me or not. I also might play around with the dilution strength some more, we'll see.


(In any case, I would wish more people would record their observations, progress and routines here, so new people joining in would have more knowledge about the effects and about what to expect.)

[Akville]

I've measured my month growth and its 1,5cm as usual.. :) so caffeine doesn't increase my growth rate.. but maybe it decreases my shedding I don't know..

[Akville]

If you read back the thread you'll find all the answers. (Same goes with everybody else.) I have recorded my process in detail in this thread.


Well, maybe it's time for another general update from me...

I can't remember when I started, probably about 5-6 weeks ago??? And an honest answer is, that I have no idea if the rinses work.

I don't measure my growth, and haven't really been eyeballing my photos either (though it does sometimes feel like it's been growing more than my normal 1 cm per month). I shed very little normally, and this has not affected my shedding in positive (reducing) way, and did not prevent my spring shed from starting (or the time will tell, maybe the rinses make me shed a little bit more, and its not a spring shed). I do have some new growth (new baby hairs) but I don't know if they are from the rinses. What do know for sure, is that the caffeine rinses make my hair very soft, slippery, silkier and straighter, and seem somehow very conditioning. I have been exprimenting quite a bit with strength of dilution as well as frequency of rinses too, during this time - some of them were super strong, while some were very weak, and the rest somewhere in between. I have also started doing other things (upside down scalp massages with aloe+essential oils) during this time, which might or might not affect my results (or lack of them :) ).

In other words, I'm not approaching this in a methodical, "scientific" way, and am not the best person to ask about the effects. I'm doing these in hopes that they would help my hair regain some of the thickness back, and speed of growth is secondary in my book. Since I do see some new growth, I am planning to continue (at least for a while) the rinses though, even when it's so unsure whether they help me or not. I also might play around with the dilution strength some more, we'll see.


(In any case, I would wish more people would record their observations, progress and routines here, so new people joining in would have more knowledge about the effects and about what to expect.)

I think you should measure your growth cause I always get paranoid.... and this month I SAW with my own eyes that my hair got longer
..but but...
when I measured it was the same.. :D...


But now I know that nothing really works for me... I've tried everything.. all treatments you can find on internet and hair books..
It growths as usually 1.5 cm and the only thing I can do is to wait...

I've bough shampoo and conditioner that should increase hair growth tree times!!!! and payed 800kr ( 80 euros )and guess what??? It didn't.. :DDD...

[Arctic]

Akville - Wow that was expensive shampoo! You already have faster than avarage growth, you can be very happy with 1,5 cm per month! When I did measure mine years ago, it was 1 cm per months (just the avarage). Just try to keep it in as good condition as possible, so you'd need to trim very little. That way you can maximize your growth that you do get.

***

I did caffeine rinse today. Same method and strength as mentioned after my previous rinse.

[mamaherrera]

And Arctic--how often are you doing the upside down massages?? And are you doing them the night before a wash or how do they fit in your routine of shampooing?

[Arctic]

I've been doing the massages about every other day on avarage. I'm not really keeping notes about it. Sometimes few days might pass, sometimes I might do them on two days in a row.

I am an almost daily washer (always shampooing), so I don't need to think about that aspect. But some days I have used the aloe gel+EO mix on daytime too. I always add a tiny bit of water to the mix just before using (so it doesn't start going bad), this makes the mixture more runny, and it doesn't make my hair tangly like neat aloe gel does. And right after massaging my scalp hair is a bit wet, but it dries quickly and after it's dried, my hair is looking fine, like nothing would have happened. It doesn't make my hair sticky or oily or dirty or messy or anything. I prefere nighttime application, though, because the massage is so relaxing, it's become a nice part of my evening routines.

I have no idea if this helps me either, lol. But I believe in aroma therapy and it's very relaxing. And it's nice to smell like roses :D

[mamaherrera]

can you add a link to your aloe vera gel. I find it so hard to find a 100% pure one, and so you add drops to your aloe vera gel of essential oils, any certain measurements of each, or just drops??? and you add water?? Ok, and as you keep massaging, do you keep adding more mix as your hands run out??? Sounds very interesting!! Are you doing your whole head, or just your hairline??

[Arctic]

highjack

To my understanding you can stop looking for 100% pure commercial aloe vera gel, as it doesn't exist :D I might be wrong, but I have never seen one or heared about one. These gels need other ingredients to keep it gel-like and precervatives, as water based products spoil easily.

Right now I use a brand called Esi, it's an Italian brand. This is the product: http://www.esitalia.it/en/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=13&sobi2Id=162&Itemid=66

I have written elsewhere the ingredients, if you want to know them, you can search my posts.
You want one that has as much aloe as possible, and as little other stuff as possible. No colours or alcohols. Mine says it's 99,9% pure aloe, but I noticed at home it's a marketing trick, and many aloe gel producers use it (yeah the aloe itself may be 99,9% pure, but the tube most certainly does not contain 99,9% aloe gel). The first ingredient was water, aloe was second, so it can't be that the tube contains 99,9% aloe and 0,1% something else. The package was misleading and made even me, someone who usually always reads ingredients, to assume this is mostly aloe :) So I would try to look for one that has aloe as first ingredient. And am not really sure I can necessarily recommend this brand. I have never used other aloe gel brands, so I can't compare them.


I make small batches of aloe + EO mix, maybe about 1 weeks worth. I did not buy any new EOS, but am using the ones I already had. I am still experimenting with the quantities, and never measure the ingredients, so it's extremely difficult to say how much I use. Maybe 1-2 drops of each oil I have. I mix them in clean airtight jar, never touching the mixture with my hands. I only use clean cosmetic spatula. I keep the jar in dark cupboard.

When I do my massage, I take a blob of my mixture into a small bowl with spatula, add little bit of tap water and mix. (Never add water to the jar, the aloe gel will start spoiling quickly.) Then I sit down, bend my head forward between my knees, dip my fingertips in the bowl and start applying the aloe mix starting from the hairlines allover. I apply it to all of my scalp, re-dip my fingertips often and try to get an even coverage of my scalp. I usually use all the watered down mixture from the bowl (which is something to aim for, because the ingredients are expensive so waiste is good to be avoided). If there is a little bit left I smooth it into my hair lengths and tip. Then I start the massage. I have never timed myself, I guess it's few minutes. I massage my whole scalp, and also neck and forehead (the previous because that's where the blood comes to the head and the latter because it feels good and I often have tension there).


I wouldn't otherwise add water to my aloe gel, but the gel I have makes my hair extremely tangly if I use it neat. But when diluted, it doesn't have that effect and feels very moisturizing. It feels closer to what aloe vera juice (100%) was. If the gel would be fine in my hair as is, I wouldn't dilute it. It would be better for aroma therapy purposes without dilution (and oils wold be even better, if one can use them).

Hmm, maybe caffeine solution could be added to the aloe gel :D Ha ha, I think that would be a bit of an overkill! I try to do caffeine rinses and these massages on different days. :)

/sorry about thread highjack

[Pinni]

I did today rinse-out oil and caffeine rinse "combined" wash. Hair is still wet after 3 hours and feels very slippery. I feel I need hairdryer. I have used hairdryer only few times in my life. And now there is even one thread that says it is ok nowadays to use it, when using it right way. I feel tempted to buy one.

[Arctic]

I did today rinse-out oil and caffeine rinse "combined" wash. Hair is still wet after 3 hours and feels very slippery. I feel I need hairdryer. I have used hairdryer only few times in my life. And now there is even one thread that says it is ok nowadays to use it, when using it right way. I feel tempted to buy one.

Hey Pinni, sound time efficient to combine different methods! How excatly did you do them? First normal oil rinsing method, and final caffeine rinse? Or first caffeine, then oil rinse method? Or something else?

I never used to use hair driers, but the past, hmmm, maybe 4-5 years, I have been using it regularly. Now you need to pry my drier out of my dead, cold hands (which are still clenching the cold shot button, ofcourse).

[Pinni]

Arctic, I did first caffeine rinse and then oil-rinse method. I put oil only to lengths, not to scalp.

It took very long for hair to dry. Hair feels nice today. Must try this again.

You are one of the persons who have given me the desire to get hairdryer. :) I always thought they were bad for hair. It would be nice to try one with the cold shot button. Must read and look for them.

[Symbiotek]

Hmm. I did weekly caffeine rinses for about 2 months (and forgot to write about it for another 2... :D) and there was no noticeable increase to how quickly my hair grows. But it surely did decrease shedding, a lot actually. The effect lasted for a couple weeks after I stopped doing the rinses. And then all the hair that hadn't shed during those 2 months fell out during a week or so. It was insane, I tell you :lol:
So yeah, I'm not going to continue the treatment, but it's a valid option if I really want to have "thicker" hair for an event or a short period of time. But the increased shedding after stopping with the rinses is really inconvenient and annoying. Hair, hair everywhere!

[Arctic]

Arctic, I did first caffeine rinse and then oil-rinse method. I put oil only to lengths, not to scalp.

It took very long for hair to dry. Hair feels nice today. Must try this again.

You are one of the persons who have given me the desire to get hairdryer. :) I always thought they were bad for hair. It would be nice to try one with the cold shot button. Must read and look for them.

Great to hear you had success and thanks for telling the details! On myself I have learned to connect a particularly long drying time to a well moisturized hair = a Good Thing (TM).



Hmm. I did weekly caffeine rinses for about 2 months (and forgot to write about it for another 2... :D) and there was no noticeable increase to how quickly my hair grows. But it surely did decrease shedding, a lot actually. The effect lasted for a couple weeks after I stopped doing the rinses. And then all the hair that hadn't shed during those 2 months fell out during a week or so. It was insane, I tell you :lol:
So yeah, I'm not going to continue the treatment, but it's a valid option if I really want to have "thicker" hair for an event or a short period of time. But the increased shedding after stopping with the rinses is really inconvenient and annoying. Hair, hair everywhere!

Bummer, but that's not surprise either, I have to admit. I have been suspecting that might happen.



***

Today am going to do a caffeine rinse, I now have a SMT marinating. I am starting to get a bit bored with the rinses, needing to remember to put the caffeine pill to dissolve on day before, etc etc. I knew this is inevitable, knowing myself. I always get enthusiastic and then it wanes after a while. I think I might have rejoiced too early about the new growth too (even though I tried to not get too hopeful - I should have kept my observations to myself until I was sure). Just bored bored bored with no real results to show. I might also move my caffeine rinse notes/updates to my blog, so if you don't see me here on this thread I might be keeping logs at my blog or have given up completely. :)

PS. No growth spurt if I can eyeball at all from my photos (different angle and distance and body position)

[MsVenus]

Hmm. I did weekly caffeine rinses for about 2 months (and forgot to write about it for another 2... :D) and there was no noticeable increase to how quickly my hair grows. But it surely did decrease shedding, a lot actually. The effect lasted for a couple weeks after I stopped doing the rinses. And then all the hair that hadn't shed during those 2 months fell out during a week or so. It was insane, I tell you :lol:
So yeah, I'm not going to continue the treatment, but it's a valid option if I really want to have "thicker" hair for an event or a short period of time. But the increased shedding after stopping with the rinses is really inconvenient and annoying. Hair, hair everywhere!

This is as anticipated. In the study, follicles were soaked in caffeine 24/7. Doing a quick dunk in caffeine and then immediately rinsing it off would in no way replicate a protocol of leaving something on 24/7. As another had stated, shampoos and items that are rinsed off of the hair are an extremely poor mechanism for delivery of any active ingredients to the scalp. One would have to leave a caffeine ointment on the scalp as one leaves on monistat in order to even begin to replicate the up to 40% increase from the study. I also think that monistat can produce a greater increase in rate of growth than just up to 40%. It also stands to reason that there could be temporary shedding increase upon discontinuing treatment even if one does replicate conditions necessary to experience the growth rate increase. That amount of shedding should not exceed normal shedding one would have experienced normally imo.

[Pinni]

I have not noticed my hair shedding less than normal, like Symbiotek has noticed. And some others too. Hope not to get that insane shedding after stopping these..

And nice to hear Arctic, that it is good sign. Not so nice to wait all day, but if it helps with condition of hair it is great. I put that caffeine pill to hot water and wait it to get cold. It sinks in there much faster.

[Beborani]

Here is another article on caffeine and hair follicles. According to this a short exposure results in caffeine being deposited in follicle for at least upto 24 hours. So that methodology by itself is not faulty. But you have to remember this article is not about hair growth at all, so they have used higher percentage of caffeine in order to make detection easier.

http://stemcellbaldnesscures.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/caffeineshampoo.pdf

And another article http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2009.03463.x/full

To summarise the few articles on caffeine, follicles and hair growth

1. Continuous exposure to low concentration (.001%) results increase in hair growth in cell cultures--mechanism is somewhat understood (it stimulates a growth factor)

2. High concentration of caffeine (.1%) results in inhibition of growth in cell cultures. Mechanism is not understood or looked into yet and mostly glossed over. It is important to keep this in mind while experimenting as no one knows what longterm effects maybe.

3. Short term exposure (2 minutes) of caffeine solution in vivo results in deposition of caffeine in follicle upto 24 or 48 hours. This is very important too as you cannot wash away excess caffeine quickly.

4. No research on hair growth has been reported in humans (called in vivo) as opposed to cell cultures (in vitro)

Frankly, I would discourage someone with healthy head of hair from experimenting with caffeine for slight increase in potential growth--those who wish to take risks should consider all factors before dumping strongest solutions on their head!

This will be my last post here. I notice that most new people dont read old posts but since I entered this thread, I feel a sense of responsibility to explain these things.

[Arctic]

A quick update, or anti-update from me. I decided to take a break because I got busy with school and lost interest and what not. I was planning to get back to the rinses periodically, but now that I've been caffeine-free (as in rinse form) for a while, my shedding seemed to stop almost completely, and is almost back to normal. So it seems like caffeine rinses might indeed have been making me shed more, and has made me rethink whether I'd like to get back to the rinses again after all.

I had a long shed all autumn and winter. It just stopped in February, a bit before I started my rinses. Then few weeks after starting rinses my shedding started again and continued until now that I stopped the rinses. It might be a coinsidense, maybe it was a spring shed. Or it might have been the rinses. I might try again later on to see it the shedding starts again to be sure. It wasn't a huge shedding this spring, but much more than my normal (which is very little).

On a positive side I have lot of baby hairs. But again, I have no idea if the rinses had anything to do with them, or if it's just a normal regrowth after long shed. I have also done other things like improved my diet and done scalp massages with EOs.

As a side note, the slippery feeling the rinses gave my hair has not gone away yet, so it seems to take a while for my old texture to come back (weeks).

Anyway, I bow myself away from this thread and experiment. I might or might not try them again later on. After all I did get new growth while doing the rinses, so I might get curious enough to experiment some more at some point.

Good luck to everybody else who is on board!

[divinedobbie]

I've been thinking of doing caffeine rinses again....and only because I'm cheap and don't want to throw out the bottle of pills. I can't take them because they give me anxiety and none of my friends drink coffee/do caffeine.

[Shadow Walker]

I've been doing it for 6 weeks now, and here's my results.

My shedding has gone down by about 90%. Before I started doing the rinse, I would lose clumps of hair every time I shower, but now I barely have any. Some days nothing at all. And as far as growth, the first picture is post trim about 5 weeks ago (I went in for a 1 inch trim and left minus 7 inches of hair...). And the second image is from today.

http://i.imgur.com/AXl93Ub.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/8Z09Tbn.jpg

The angle isn't quite the same, but if you use my elbows as a reference you can see I've had some decent growth the past month!

[yahirwaO.o]

http://i.imgur.com/8Z09Tbn.jpg

The angle isn't quite the same, but if you use my elbows as a reference you can see I've had some decent growth the past month!

Well first, your hair is insanely awesome dude. Now you have inspired me to give this a try.

What do you guys thingk of adding straight coffee to my shampoo? I d like to boil or brew it, but mom used to clean pots with something that has lye thingy on, and just to think boiling something with and pourin on my scalp gives the creeps.

... so instead Id like to add coffe to my shampoo. Ever since I left my egg shampoo and got back to a regular one, shedding is a bit noticiable sometimes... not a real high one, but with egg washing I shed like literally 5-15 a day, now its more the 30 50 rate. Not interested in grow tho, my hair grows pretty fasy.

[Dixie_Amazon]

I am going to try this, mainly in hopes of reducing shedding.
I'll be using green tea since I don't want to stain my silvers.

[Shepherdess]

I have decided to try this, so today is my first day. I only used about a teaspoon of coffee grounds and made a type of paste out of it, so I'll see if it helps my hair or not. :)

[Thoughtcriminal]

Coffee rinses stopped my malnutrition-related hairloss dead in it's tracks. I read somewhere the growth effects last about 8 days, so I'm gonna start doing it once or twice weekly.

[Fericera]

Shadow Walker your hair is amazing, and that's some impressive growth.

[mamaherrera]

Coffee rinses stopped my malnutrition-related hairloss dead in it's tracks. I read somewhere the growth effects last about 8 days, so I'm gonna start doing it once or twice weekly.

Good to know that coffee isn't only for DHT blockage, because I read it helped people with alopecia and blocks DHT. It has helped me shed less, but I don't want to think it is because I have a DHT problem,but rather that it can help any types of shedding, for whatever reason be it the cause!

[mamaherrera]

So here are my observations. I stopped coffee rinses for a month or so. . . shedding stayed the same, but slowly went back to 60-70 per day and then it was at 90-100 per day and I got nervous. SO . .. . I went back to coffee rinses. The first week, I kept shedding high, but now again, it seems to help. I was trying to see if it helped me not lose not so many of those "fuzzy" little hairs that grow on top of my head but even when I would shed less, I still kept shedding the same amount or more of those. Why it helps me shed less, I don't know. More growth, I didn't notice that.

[PalomaSincera]

I'm going to try this.

[alishaxmarie]

I've been doing it for 6 weeks now, and here's my results.

My shedding has gone down by about 90%. Before I started doing the rinse, I would lose clumps of hair every time I shower, but now I barely have any. Some days nothing at all. And as far as growth, the first picture is post trim about 5 weeks ago (I went in for a 1 inch trim and left minus 7 inches of hair...). And the second image is from today.

http://i.imgur.com/AXl93Ub.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/8Z09Tbn.jpg

The angle isn't quite the same, but if you use my elbows as a reference you can see I've had some decent growth the past month!

Great growth! I must have missed these posts, so sorry for not responding sooner everyone! Keep posting your results :)


Well first, your hair is insanely awesome dude. Now you have inspired me to give this a try.

What do you guys thingk of adding straight coffee to my shampoo? I d like to boil or brew it, but mom used to clean pots with something that has lye thingy on, and just to think boiling something with and pourin on my scalp gives the creeps.

... so instead Id like to add coffe to my shampoo. Ever since I left my egg shampoo and got back to a regular one, shedding is a bit noticiable sometimes... not a real high one, but with egg washing I shed like literally 5-15 a day, now its more the 30 50 rate. Not interested in grow tho, my hair grows pretty fasy.

Do not add coffee/tea directly to your shampoo bottle! This will dilute the preservatives in the shampoo and could lead to bacterial growth which would obviously be bad for your scalp. You may however, dilute your shampoo in a separate squirt bottle for a single use, which I never even thought of myself lol.


I'm going to try this.

Good luck! I hope you like your results!

[Neelie]

I was using the Alpecin caffeine serum for about 3 months now and I don't notice any negative effects and but little positive effects. Yes, I have very little shedding, but i'm not sure if that's the serum or just generally healthier hair than what I had last year when they were waist length. I'm running low on this bottle and I think i'll leave it be as of now and see if I get more shedding/less growth etc. without it.

[Klaudia]

At the beginning of the year I used a shampoo with caffeine, but may scalp got itchy. I don't think caffeine caused it. I experienced some reduced shedding from it.

I give a try to caffeine rinses, I'll use black tea (after shampoo, before conditioner, for approx. 10 min.), and I'm already measuring my hair growth. I'm hoping for a better result (no itching at least), let me see what happens :shrug:

[valkyrje]

I tried this last week and also this morning and I hope it really works because my hair grows very slowly... I'm not sure about this time, but last week I think I shedded less, especially the first couple of days.

[sahmama2-3]

This thread is really interesting! I think I will try doing a coffee rinse in the near future! I work for Starbucks so if I work the late shift we oftentimes have iced coffee leftover that gets dumped out. I may just take home a cup of it for my hair and test this out! If I do, I'll let you all know the results :)

[Christine_O]

This is great! Thank you so much for this thread. I'm always making too much coffee anyway, might as well do something useful with it.

[Shepherdess]

Update: I have been doing coffee rinses off and on (every week or two weeks, or so) since May 13.
I recorded my hair length/growth as follows:
May 26, 2015 hair length: 43 inches
June 5, 2015 hair length: 44.5 inches
June 21, 2015 hair length: 45 inches
July 28, 2015 hair length: 45.5 inches
September 11, 2015 hair length: 46 inches

I think that the coffee rinses may have helped me the first few months some, especially when I started out by applying it as a coffee ground paste...though that was too much of a hassle to clean out of my hair, so around late June I began to just do brewed coffee rinses. :p Another thing to note is that around June-July my hair always has a big growth spurt.

I did go through a bit of a stall in my hair growth last year and the year before, likely due to stress and hormonal stuff, so now that I am no longer stressed as much, my hair seems to be growing back thicker.

With these things in mind, the coffee rinses might be helping, but a major reason for the hair growth is likely due to the summer months, and no more stress. I will continue doing these rinses and continue to update my results. :)

[alishaxmarie]

Update: I have been doing coffee rinses off and on (every week or two weeks, or so) since May 13.
I recorded my hair length/growth as follows:
May 26, 2015 hair length: 43 inches
June 5, 2015 hair length: 44.5 inches
June 21, 2015 hair length: 45 inches
July 28, 2015 hair length: 45.5 inches
September 11, 2015 hair length: 46 inches


In the first ten days of these measurements you grew 1.5"???

[Shepherdess]

In the first ten days of these measurements you grew 1.5"???

I think so; I recall having a fast growth spurt in my hair length. I usually have a few months out of the entire year where most of my hair growth happens, so I now don't expect much hair growth until next summer, but it did seem a bit faster than usual. Looking over my recordings of hair growth for this year has surprised me some. The most I ever recorded in the past within 20 days was 1". So this was more than usual.

I have thinner ends, so i am not sure if all of the rest of my hair grew that fast either during that time, since I do have select hairs that grow out faster than the rest, making my hair have very fairytale ends.

[HairFanson]

I'm trying caffeine now. I made up a solution with water, 200 mg caffeine tablet dissolved, and a few drops castor and jojoba oils. I put it on my scalp before I pony for an updo and wear it all day, then rinse out at night. Got 1/2 inch growth last week, and will continue to monitor progress!

[Arctic]

I'm doin caffeine treatments again, for few weeks. After that I'm going to take a break of at least a month again, so my scalp won't get irritated.

I have been trying a new method that seems to be working well. It's quite strong, but I wash it off, and haven't seen anything negative thusfar.

First I put a caffeine pill in a cup with a bit of water and a squirt of aloe gel. Then I let the pill soften and the caffeine to dissolve. (That takes some time.) When the pill is softened, I break it with plastic small spatula, strir, add few drops of essential oils (hair growth stimulating ones). I then apply the mixture to my scalp, and let it sit for an hour or two, then wash my hair with shampoo normally. I've been doing this about 3 times a week (and like I said, plan to do for maybe 2 weeks total then take longer period off).

No idea if this method, or caffeine in general helps me at all, like always I hope more for re-growth and thickening up than speedier growth. But what I like about this is that there is no irritation, and this doesn't leave my hair too slippery. I also have total control of where the treatment goes (it's not drippy). I haven't gotten extra shedding either.

Do I recommend the method? Not really :D Use at your own risk :D I tried to search the internet but couldn't find anyone using caffeine pills dissolved in diluted (or undiluted) aloe gel. I am not even a believer of caffeine treatments, I haven't noticed on myself whether they work or not. BUt I am willing to try many different things to help my hair, and I like mix up things every now and then to keep things interesting, so treatments like these are a nice welcome.

[parkmikii]

I just did my first coffee rinse today. I'll see if it helps the shedding at all, at the end of this week as I only brush my hair before wash day since I'm a wavy :)

[gustavonut]

I think I am going to continue doing this. I stopped for a really long time because I didn't want everyone to keep asking me why I was taking a giant cup of coffee into the bathroom with me, lol. Anyways, I think I'll try green tea rinses this time. Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

[RSunny]

I just ordered pure caffeine capsules that are 200mg. Any suggestion for how many mg I should dissolve in water for a rinse? One pill...half a pill?

How frequently do you do this for decreasing shedding/accelerating growth? I wash my hair 2x per week and I oil my hair scalp 1-2x per month (ends almost daily). Should I do it every time I shampoo or just once per week?

[Arctic]

I just ordered pure caffeine capsules that are 200mg. Any suggestion for how many mg I should dissolve in water for a rinse? One pill...half a pill?

How frequently do you do this for decreasing shedding/accelerating growth? I wash my hair 2x per week and I oil my hair scalp 1-2x per month (ends almost daily). Should I do it every time I shampoo or just once per week?

I can't remember from the top of my hat, but all those questions have been answered in this thread, so you can search for them.

[Arctic]

I just ordered pure caffeine capsules that are 200mg. Any suggestion for how many mg I should dissolve in water for a rinse? One pill...half a pill?

How frequently do you do this for decreasing shedding/accelerating growth? I wash my hair 2x per week and I oil my hair scalp 1-2x per month (ends almost daily). Should I do it every time I shampoo or just once per week?


I can't remember from the top of my hat, but all those questions have been answered in this thread, so you can search for them.

Did you find your answers?

The first post of this thread is very informative (CLICK (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121903&p=2963577&viewfull=1#post2963577)), and while it'd be good to scan through the whole thread, I can recommend posts from Beborani, for example THIS (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121903&p=2963570&viewfull=1#post2963570)and THIS (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121903&p=2963577&viewfull=1#post2963577). My posts have also touched these subjects BUT I have no real knowledge, I've been just learning from others and learning from my own experiments. There are probably tons of other members in addition to Beborani whose posts are worth reading, but these are something where you can start from. The main issue is, that no-one has real knowledge about these methods, all we have is personal experiences and few researches that are done in different context than what we here at LHC are usually interested in. So you will need to read a bit and make your own judgements and decisions..

I hope this helps some, I know big threads like this can be overwhelming!

[RSunny]

Thanks Arctic!

I did go through many of the posts. I decided I will do a rinse with one capsule (200mg, about the strength of a cup of strong coffee) in a cup of warm water once per week. Hopefully this will accelerate my regrowth!

[Fericera]

I think I am going to continue doing this. I stopped for a really long time because I didn't want everyone to keep asking me why I was taking a giant cup of coffee into the bathroom with me, lol. Anyways, I think I'll try green tea rinses this time. Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

When I do my green tea rinses, I put an inch or two of water in a pan and boil it. I then soak three or four tea bags in there until it starts to cool. I squeeze all the excess water out the bags, and then pour the cooled rinse into a spray bottle and apply it to my roots that way.

I find pouring on my head as an actual rinse to be messy. Concentrating the tea into less water and applying it directly to my scalp is more efficient.

[Dixie Derelict]

Great looking hair, sir! I know I am not the only lady out here who deplores the vagaries of fashion that led to IDIOTS denuding themselves of their natural assets!

[Nymphe]

On the weekends, I do a rinse/soak of 12 fl oz of coffee with 1/4 cup of blackstrap molasses. It helps with my shedding, moisturizes my hair, and hopefully, will keep it dark (no greys).

[Decoy24601]

I'm going to start tea rinses once a week soon (rooibos, catnip, chamomile) with an added caffeine tablet (200mg) :). I wonder what effect it'll have on my hair.

[202_bh_rider]

just brewed a pot of coffee...waiting for it to cool :) then i'll rinse, and leave it in. just as an experiment! did this last night with mint black tea, and it made my hair really shiny and soft!

[Nymphe]

I am doing coffee soaks under a plastic cap to make sure the caffeine penetrates, minimum 30 minutes. It gave me a growth spurt in August. The shedding is still light and my hair likes it, especially after an oat treatment. I added blackstrap molasses to increase the moisturizing effect. So far, so good...

[Decoy24601]

I just ordered some caffeine tablets with some shampoos and conditioners that I can't find in stores near me (in the big bottles anyways, haha). I'm going to dissolve them into a paste and rub it into my scalp and allow it to soak for at least a few minutes.

[Gothic]

My first coffee soak is sitting on my head right now, but it's giving me a light head ache :/

[Nymphe]

My first coffee soak is sitting on my head right now, but it's giving me a light head ache :/

Uh oh, it may be too stimulating for you; a headache is one of the signs. Please, go rinse and try diluting it a lot, if you choose to try it next time.

[Gothic]

Uh oh, it may be too stimulating for you; a headache is one of the signs. Please, go rinse and try diluting it a lot, if you choose to try it next time.
I rinsed it off, and thanks for the advice I'll dilute it more next time :)

[Lisa-K]

I'm so excited to have found this thread! My postpartum shed is ridiculous. My braid is significantly thinner now than it was a few months ago, and that makes me sad. I had to chop off a good 5cm the other day just keep my hair looking somewhat full. I did my first coffee rinse this morning (simple brewed ground coffee - organic - ). Basically poured it all over my dry hair, massaged it into the scalp for a few minutes, then let it sit for another 10. So I think that was about 15min total. Then I washed and conditioned my hair as usual. I ended up losing the exact same amount of hair as I've been losing after each wash for a month now. But that's okay. I wasn't expecting any result right away.

My hair right now - despite the same loss as usual - looks just fine. No different color, same nice soft texture, maybe a very subtle coffee smell ...

Now I'm sitting here with my scalp feeling a little bit tingly. Not unpleasant at all. Maybe it's a sign it's starting to work already?

I'm definitely planning to keep this up for at least 2 months, at a twice / week rate, before judging the effect (or lack thereof). I'm not aiming for spectacular growth. Just hoping to stop the postpartum shed in its tracks.

[Nymphe]

I'm so excited to have found this thread! My postpartum shed is ridiculous. My braid is significantly thinner now than it was a few months ago, and that makes me sad. I had to chop off a good 5cm the other day just keep my hair looking somewhat full. I did my first coffee rinse this morning (simple brewed ground coffee - organic - ). Basically poured it all over my dry hair, massaged it into the scalp for a few minutes, then let it sit for another 10. So I think that was about 15min total. Then I washed and conditioned my hair as usual. I ended up losing the exact same amount of hair as I've been losing after each wash for a month now. But that's okay. I wasn't expecting any result right away.

My hair right now - despite the same loss as usual - looks just fine. No different color, same nice soft texture, maybe a very subtle coffee smell ...

Now I'm sitting here with my scalp feeling a little bit tingly. Not unpleasant at all. Maybe it's a sign it's starting to work already?

I'm definitely planning to keep this up for at least 2 months, at a twice / week rate, before judging the effect (or lack thereof). I'm not aiming for spectacular growth. Just hoping to stop the postpartum shed in its tracks.

I noticed results the next time I washed my hair. I do it weekly and got a brief growth spurt the first month I used it. My issue is perimenopausal changes.

[Gothic]

So as I posted yesterday I did this but there's a spot on my scalp that hurts when I thouch it or when I pull on my hair a little since I rinsed off the coffee-conditioner mix. It's not red or anything so I don't know why it's so sore :(

[Nymphe]

So as I posted yesterday I did this but there's a spot on my scalp that hurts when I thouch it or when I pull on my hair a little since I rinsed off the coffee-conditioner mix. It's not red or anything so I don't know why it's so sore :(

The infamous "hot spot"... It should go away soon. Did you get conditioner on your scalp? That could be part of the problem.

[Gothic]

The infamous "hot spot"... It should go away soon. Did you get conditioner on your scalp? That could be part of the problem.

I did but when I co-wash I apply the conditioner directly to my scalp and massage it in and it never causes me any problems :(

[Nymphe]

I did but when I co-wash I apply the conditioner directly to my scalp and massage it in and it never causes me any problems :(

It was mostly the coffee then. The caffeine dilated the blood vessels too much, too fast.

[Gothic]

It was mostly the coffee then. The caffeine dilated the blood vessels too much, too fast.

Oh this makes sense. Next time I'll use less coffee and more conditioner :)

[Gothic]

My scalp still hurts :( Let's see if it goes away overnight.

[Stars]

KTani is wrong (by saying oils infused with coffee or caffeine will not work because the oils clog pores--see page 11 or 12 in this thread) because companies like KeraVada are selling coffee-infused oils...and they are getting great reviews. Oils do not clog pores unless they are comedogenic. One can google to see whether a given oil is comedogenic and what the rating is (1 for low or little clogging and 4 for highly comedogenic).

I have infused coffee into oil and it WORKS. I do coffee, green tea, and black tea rinses regularly. Most light oils like sweet almond, sesame, and coconut are readily absorbed by the skin. Emu oil penetrates to 7 layers (some even say it penetrates into fascia and bone, hence why it is recommended for arthritic and inflammatory joint ailments), so I'm not sure where KTani got her info, lol.

The coffee rinse is something that is a part of Ayurveda...as is the tea rinse. It is beneficial for hair growth, shedding, and scalp health. I have done them for years and have not had any issues.

I normally shed a bit more than I like because I am anemic, but coffee and black tea rinses left on under conditioner works wonders for me. I just did a coffee rinse+ black tea + rosemary tea + cardamom tea + chamomile + sweet tulsi rose tea 2 days ago, and it is still working after all these years. I steep the tea in hot water and let it cool then use it the next day. Coffee i make in my coffee maker.

I have used brewed coffee that has sat refrigerated in the back of the fridge for WEEKS because I forgot to use it on my hair (not a coffee drinker), and it still obviously had caffeine because it still stopped the shedding.

So no, the caffeine does not dissipate if refrigerated and sealed...otherwise, how are these cold coffee brewers selling their drinks if the coffee (as other's have erroneously stated in this thread) loses its potency when saved and refrigerated?

Caffeine does not "dissipate" because there are also the energy drinks which sit in cans and are still kicking when a person drinks them. Granted, they have a few preservatives, but coffee will not go bad when brewed, sealed, and refrigerated. It may not taste good the older it gets, but still very much contains caffeine. One can even freeze cubes of it and melt to use (same can be done with teas).

I use Folger's in the red canister. I will try caffeine pills too soon as a topical treatment between washes. But so far, once a week to once every other week washes have really shown positive results with the coffee-tea rinses.

[littlestarface]

KTani is wrong (by saying oils infused with coffee or caffeine will not work because the oils clog pores--see page 11 or 12 in this thread) because companies like KeraVada are selling coffee-infused oils...and they are getting great reviews. Oils do not clog pores unless they are comedogenic. One can google to see whether a given oil is comedogenic and what the rating is (1 for low or little clogging and 4 for highly comedogenic). I have infused coffee into oil and it WORKS. I do coffee, green tea, and black tea rinses regularly. Most light oils like sweet almond, sesame, and coconut are readily absorbed by the skin. Emu oil penetrates to 7 layers so I'm not sure where KTani got her info, lol.

The coffee rinse is something that is a part of Ayurveda...as is the tea rinse. It is beneficial for hair growth, shedding, and scalp health. I have done them for years and have not had any issues. I normally shed a bit more than I like because I am anemic, but coffee and black tea rinses left on under conditioner works wonders for me. I just did a coffee rinse+ black tea + rosemary tea + cardamom tea + chamomile + sweet tulsi rose tea 2 days ago, and it is still working after all these years. I steep the tea in hot water and let it cool then use it the next day. Coffee i make in my coffee maker.

I have used brewed coffee that has sat refrigerated in the back of the fridge for WEEKS because I forgot to use it on my hair (not a coffee drinker), and it still obviously had caffeine because it still stopped the shedding. So no, the caffeine does not dissipate if refrigerated and sealed...otherwise, how are these cold coffee brewers selling their drinks if the coffee (as other's have erroneously stated in this thread) loses its potency when saved and refrigerated? Caffeine does not "dissipate" because there are also the energy drinks which sit in cans and are still kicking when a person drinks them. Granted, they have a few preservatives, but coffee will not go bad when brewed, sealed, and refrigerated. It may not taste good the older it gets, but still very much contains caffeine. One can even freeze cubes of it and melt to use.

I use Folger's in the red canister. I will try caffeine pills too soon as a topical treatment between washes. But so far, once a week to once every other week washes have really shown positive results with the coffee-tea rinses.

Is the only way to use caffeine is as a rinse? I wanna try applying it to my scalp but more thicker then a rinse and then rinse it off. Is there a way to do that?

[Stars]

Is the only way to use caffeine is as a rinse? I wanna try applying it to my scalp but more thicker then a rinse and then rinse it off. Is there a way to do that?

I think you could try using caffeine powder, mixing it lightly into a paste using water, or with a little conditioner and then apply it to your scalp that way. I have seen other ladies crush the caffeine pills (like the "No-Doz" brand) and add it to water, either as a paste or by spraying it on. Some are using coffee grounds mixed with oil, water, are conditioner and are applying to scalp as a stimulating exfoliant. Hope that helps!

I use the rinses and the infused oil, but I also use a habanero + saw palmetto + nettle + aloe juice liquid on my scalp (via applicator bottle) in between washes. I alternate them. The oil I apply the night before a wash. The rinse I do before applying conditioner and I put the conditioner on top so it softens my hair (the tannins in black tea can make some people's hair brittle and straw-like).

[littlestarface]

I think you could try using caffeine powder, mixing it lightly into a paste using water, or with a little conditioner and then apply it to your scalp that way. I have seen other ladies crush the caffeine pills (like the "No-Doz" brand) and add it to water, either as a paste or by spraying it on. Some are using coffee grounds mixed with oil, water, are conditioner and are applying to scalp as a stimulating exfoliant. Hope that helps!

I use the rinses and the infused oil, but I also use a habanero + saw palmetto + nettle + aloe juice liquid on my scalp (via applicator bottle) in between washes. I alternate them. The oil I apply the night before a wash. The rinse I do before applying conditioner and I put the conditioner on top so it softens my hair (the tannins in black tea can make some people's hair brittle and straw-like).

How strong to mix the coffee? Like a tablespoon? I'm so glad your here to answer my questions lool.

[Stars]

How strong to mix the coffee? Like a tablespoon? I'm so glad your here to answer my questions lool.

No worries, dear! I enjoy helping others! I do 3 tablespoons and add 4 cups of water to the coffee maker. That way I have enough for 2 washes.You can make it stronger if you like, but it comes out pretty dark with 3 tablespoons to 4 cups. I use a single paper filter.

For the teas I use 2 bags of each tea I will use to 4 cups of water. I usually mix the tea and coffee together and pour it over my scalp and hair. The rosemary and caffeine really make my scalp tingle, like a menthol cool sensation. I haven't used peppermint tea yet, but I'm going to try it. Rooibos is another good one for hair.

[littlestarface]

No worries, dear! I enjoy helping others! I do 3 tablespoons and add 4 cups of water to the coffee maker. That way I have enough for 2 washes.You can make it stronger if you like, but it comes out pretty dark with 3 tablespoons to 4 cups. I use a single paper filter.

For the teas I use 2 bags of each tea I will use to 4 cups of water. I usually mix the tea and coffee together and pour it over my scalp and hair. The rosemary and caffeine really make my scalp tingle, like a menthol cool sensation. I haven't used peppermint tea yet, but I'm going to try it. Rooibos is another good one for hair.

Cool, i'm gonna do a rinse fpr scalp and add some with conditioner too sometimes. Lets see if it cuts down my shedding which is always alot.

[Stars]

Cool, i'm gonna do a rinse fpr scalp and add some with conditioner too sometimes. Lets see if it cuts down my shedding which is always alot.

I believe it will help. My hair always shed more than I liked, but the rinses definitely curbed it significantly. I remember one wash last winter I lost a handful of hair detangling. That had been going on for several washes. When I did a coffee-tea rinse, the hair that came out was reduced by 70%. I couldn't believe it. Then I realized it was working. I have done them for years off and on, but I get bad winter sheds. Now I will always do them every wash.

[Lisa-K]

Ok, what the Hell? This caffeine rinse really works!!! I just did my second rinse (the first one was 3 days ago), and today I only shed half the hair of what I normally do. It could still be better, but it's a clear improvement already. I don't think it's random luck, because I've been losing the same amount consistently at each wash for a month and a half or so. We'll see how it goes in a month or two. So far, it's promising.

[Stars]

So glad to hear it is working for you, Lisa-K!

I love them! They also give my hair nice shine/sheen as it is dark brown with natural light and medium brown highlights. I notice many East Indian women do coffee/tea rinses to add shine and strength to their hair, also for the boon it is for reducing shedding. :)

[littlestarface]

I think it will absolutely help some. I have bad sheds in winter. Last year, I was losing a handful of hair each wash. Finally, I did a tea-coffee rinse and the hair that came out during combing after washing (detangling) was reduced by 70%. I couldn't believe it worked so well! From now on, I will do the rinses every single wash, every 7-10 days to maintain the effects.
Wow, maybe I should put tea in my coffee that I made last night for todays wash. I made that crap strong too I was almost tempted to drink it, the house smelled so good :laugh: I didn't feel like having convulsions tho hahahah.

[Nymphe]

I have been mixing 1 part blackstrap molasses with 3 parts regular coffee as a soak, trying to keep my hair color, add moisture to the strands, and nutrients to the scalp. My hair loves the trace amount of oils in it after an oatmeal treatment. Using an applicator bottle definitely cuts down on the mess and waste. Stars is right about the caffeine still remaining in old coffee; I can get up to 3 applications from 16 oz.

[littlestarface]

I got more shed then ever in my life LOL!

[Nymphe]

I got more shed then ever in my life LOL!

Is this after the second wash?

[littlestarface]

Is this after the second wash?

I just used it once yesterday, next week will be my second wash. Should I try then also?

[Nymphe]

I just used it once yesterday, next week will be my second wash. Should I try then also?

You usually do not see the result until the second wash. I say try again.

[likelikepenny]

I am doing coffee soaks under a plastic cap to make sure the caffeine penetrates, minimum 30 minutes. It gave me a growth spurt in August. The shedding is still light and my hair likes it, especially after an oat treatment. I added blackstrap molasses to increase the moisturizing effect. So far, so good...

How much did your hair grow after using the caffeine?

[Nymphe]

How much did your hair grow after using the caffeine?

It doubled it (from 0.5" on average to 1") just for that one month. I wish it would do that again. :(

I started steeping some herbs in the mix (catnip, sage, rosemary, and nettle) to see what would happen.

[likelikepenny]

It doubled it (from 0.5" on average to 1") just for that one month. I wish it would do that again. :(

I started steeping some herbs in the mix (catnip, sage, rosemary, and nettle) to see what would happen.

I've recently started doing catnip and rosemary rinses. It's so good, it's replaced my conditioner.

[Nymphe]

I've recently started doing catnip and rosemary rinses. It's so good, it's replaced my conditioner.

Wow, now that is amazing! Let me know the long-term affect months later.

I am pondering mixing espresso with water into a paste to see if this stuff actually colors greys. I really don't want to do dyes or henna/indigo. Yup, I am crazy...

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

So I am really sensitive to caffeine, taken internally, like it gives me stomach issues.
This wont effect me the same way right? I want to try it and see if it gives growth.

[LadyCelestina]

Wow, now that is amazing! Let me know the long-term affect months later.

I am pondering mixing espresso with water into a paste to see if this stuff actually colors greys. I really don't want to do dyes or henna/indigo. Yup, I am crazy...

It does! I don't have many grays, but I used to experiment with rinses to give my hair different colours, and coffee + tea both gave me a fairly strong golden colour and also darkened my hair slightly.

[Gothic]

I stopped doing the soaks about a month ago (out of laziness) and I noriced that my hair grows slower :( I can't do one today because I'm very dizzy, but I want to get back on track as soon as possible.

[Arctic]

So I am really sensitive to caffeine, taken internally, like it gives me stomach issues.
This wont effect me the same way right? I want to try it and see if it gives growth.

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it won't give any stomach/digestive tract related issues but it will give some caffeine effects (energy, focus, alertness, etc.). If your body would, say, get heart palpitations or such from caffeine taken internally, then it might also get them from caffeine rinses. But stomach problems? I strongly doubt it.

[Nymphe]

So I am really sensitive to caffeine, taken internally, like it gives me stomach issues.
This wont effect me the same way right? I want to try it and see if it gives growth.

I say go with a very weak rinse in a small test area on your scalp.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it won't give any stomach/digestive tract related issues but it will give some caffeine effects (energy, focus, alertness, etc.). If your body would, say, get heart palpitations or such from caffeine taken internally, then it might also get them from caffeine rinses. But stomach problems? I strongly doubt it.

I have pretty severe anxiety and coffee makes me sick to my stomach and overly anxious so ill assume ill get the same effects.. darn.

[likelikepenny]

Well i tried my first rinse yesterday. I made a cup of green tea and put it in a spray bottle. I spritzed it on my scalp, massaged for 2 minutes and covered with a shower cap. My scalp got really tingly like it did when I tried the inversion method and got some length. I'm really excited to see my results at the end of the month with caffeine rinses and the inversion method.

[Kwantslonghair]

I tried it. Just regular left over brewed coffee. Scalp is tingly. No other affects. Hair is soft. Hope it helps with shedding. Will keep posted. I normally grow between .5 and 1 inch month.

[alishaxmarie]

As I was catching up on the thread, it occurred to me that I've never tried infusing oils or vinegar with coffee beans so I think I'll have to give that a try sometime soon! Has anyone else tried it yet?

[Nymphe]

As I was catching up on the thread, it occurred to me that I've never tried infusing oils or vinegar with coffee beans so I think I'll have to give that a try sometime soon! Has anyone else tried it yet?

I have not, but I have seen coffee-infused oil over the years. Vinegar would be a new one to me.

[Kwantslonghair]

It is working so far. I normally have hair all over me and the sink when I brush. I had very little. Like maybe 20 hairs. And it was after first application.

[Alma Petra]

My hair sheds heavily so I'm trying a pre-wash overnight caffeine treatment. I brewed some black coffee with black tea and crushed garlic, then sprayed it onto my scalp. I'll let it sit overnight then cowash in the morning. I hope that I'll lose less hair tomorrow and that the smell will not linger..

I hope to do this twice per week, if it seems to work.

[Rhodugune]

Thank you @alishaxmarie for starting this thread, has been a most interesting read and I plan to try it next time I need to wash my hair to see what it does for it and my scalp and I'm curious to see if it will stain my hair some but as my hair is already medium brown I don't mind if it does or not.

[littlestarface]

I had to stop, I wasn't seeing any difference my scalp smelled bitter. SO sad T_T

[Nymphe]

I had to stop, I wasn't seeing any difference my scalp smelled bitter. SO sad T_T

Oh no, sorry to hear that. It always puzzles me how some things work for some but not others, and yet, for another bunch, it works too well (overstimulating).

[Nymphe]

As I was catching up on the thread, it occurred to me that I've never tried infusing oils or vinegar with coffee beans so I think I'll have to give that a try sometime soon! Has anyone else tried it yet?

Oh, just remembered, I started steeping it with some herbs for extra conditioning. Have you tried that?

[Rhodugune]

So today was the day as I got too curious to try a caffeine rinse for the first time so now I'm sitting here letting my hair dry and it smells like someone is making coffee close by. :D

Does the coffee smell subside when your hair dries?
I used instant coffee for my rinse, took about 2-3 spoons in a bigger teacup if it matters how much coffee and water I choose to use.

[Nymphe]

So today was the day as I got too curious to try a caffeine rinse for the first time so now I'm sitting here letting my hair dry and it smells like someone is making coffee close by. :D

Does the coffee smell subside when your hair dries?
I used instant coffee for my rinse, took about 2-3 spoons in a bigger teacup if it matters how much coffee and water I choose to use.

Weird... I never have problems with the smell lingering. Maybe my castor oil mix removes it? All DH smells are my EOs.

I just use the amount the coffee maker brews. If it is too strong, you could get a headache.

[diewassermelone]

I spray green tea on my scalp twice a week; that seems to do the trick for significantly reducing shedding. I used to do once a week, but noticed it was working less and less, so upped it to two, and now I'm getting the results from before. Not sure what this says about my daily caffeine consumption...

[Rhodugune]

Weird... I never have problems with the smell lingering. Maybe my castor oil mix removes it? All DH smells are my EOs.

I just use the amount the coffee maker brews. If it is too strong, you could get a headache.


Maybe I shouldn't be surprised as I had to stop doing AVC rinses if I wanted to be around people as it's smell was still really strong even after my hair had dried.
It seems like my one of hair's secret superpower is absorbing scents and smells like these.

[likelikepenny]

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised as I had to stop doing AVC rinses if I wanted to be around people as it's smell was still really strong even after my hair had dried.
It seems like my one of hair's secret superpower is absorbing scents and smells like these.

Have you tried green tea? It has virtually no scent and works just as well.

[Rhodugune]

Have you tried green tea? It has virtually no scent and works just as well.

Thank you for the tip, as I haven't tried that and as my hair is dried now and still has the distinct smell of coffee. :p I do want to try something else for my caffeine rinses.

[hanne jensen]

I use leftover green tea. I brew loose leaf green tea by the pot. I filter yesterday's green tea through a coffee filter into a small spray bottle. I spray my scalp and gently distribute with my fingers. I do this in between hairwashes. Green tea has some caffeine and has cleansing properties. I use it for scalp health but it does help hair growth. I only use about 30 milliliters, so my scalp isn't dripping wet. It isn't neccessary to do every day-only 2-3 times a week.

[Rhodugune]

I use leftover green tea. I brew loose leaf green tea by the pot. I filter yesterday's green tea through a coffee filter into a small spray bottle. I spray my scalp and gently distribute with my fingers. I do this in between hairwashes. Green tea has some caffeine and has cleansing properties. I use it for scalp health but it does help hair growth. I only use about 30 milliliters, so my scalp isn't dripping wet. It isn't neccessary to do every day-only 2-3 times a week.

Oh, that sounds like just the thing for me to do as I wash my hair about once and was wondering how I could do a rinse more often then I washed it, so thank you so much for the suggestion. :flowers:

[likelikepenny]

I use leftover green tea. I brew loose leaf green tea by the pot. I filter yesterday's green tea through a coffee filter into a small spray bottle. I spray my scalp and gently distribute with my fingers. I do this in between hairwashes. Green tea has some caffeine and has cleansing properties. I use it for scalp health but it does help hair growth. I only use about 30 milliliters, so my scalp isn't dripping wet. It isn't neccessary to do every day-only 2-3 times a week.

Do you know how much your growth has increased?

[Silverbleed]

I don't expect it to do anything but I tried it anyway, to see if I like it c: I don't seem to react negative to it so that's good.

[lapushka]

My hair sheds heavily so I'm trying a pre-wash overnight caffeine treatment. I brewed some black coffee with black tea and crushed garlic, then sprayed it onto my scalp. I'll let it sit overnight then cowash in the morning. I hope that I'll lose less hair tomorrow and that the smell will not linger..

I hope to do this twice per week, if it seems to work.

Have you considered that it might be the CO-wash that is making you shed? It is a "thing". Did you have the same with shampoo?