Birch leaf 'shampoo'

[henné]

Hello! Just wondering if any of you have ever tried using fresh young birch leaves as a hair wash?

I'm referring to just cut up birch leaves left in cold water in order to release saponin ad then using the resulting water to wash hair with ...

[Swan Maiden]

I don't have readily available fresh birch, but I do use dried siberian birch leaves made into a tea. It leaves my hair wonderfully fresh and clean. I love it.

[henné]

I don't have readily available fresh birch, but I do use dried siberian birch leaves made into a tea. It leaves my hair wonderfully fresh and clean. I love it.

Sounds great! What brand is it and how do you prepare it for hair washing purposes?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Hello! Just wondering if any of you have ever tried using fresh young birch leaves as a hair wash?

I'm referring to just cut up birch leaves left in cold water in order to release saponin ad then using the resulting water to wash hair with ...

What kind of birch? Silver birch?

[henné]

What kind of birch? Silver birch?
I actually don't know. I live in Sweden and I have no clue which kind(s) we have here :)

[Swan Maiden]

I bought it off of amazon. Its just dried siberian birch leaves. I boil water and pour it in a french press with a good amount of leaves. I let it steep for a couple of hours and then just pour it on wet hair, let it sit and rinse out. I love the smell. I might do one this weekend. It really helps with my shedding if I am consistent with it.

[Platzhalter]

Well... I only have dried birch leaves, but now that you mention this idea, they still might be worth a try :)
So... thanks a lot.

[Arctic]

What kind of birch? Silver birch?


I actually don't know. I live in Sweden and I have no clue which kind(s) we have here :)

I am guessing Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, these two are the most common birches in Finland and possibly in Sweden too.

[henné]

I am guessing Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, these two are the most common birches in Finland and possibly in Sweden too.

It's definitely some sort of Betula :)

I heard that now or soon (depending on where in the country one lives) it's the best time to collect fresh leaves. They can be used immediately to make shampoo (a handful in about 4dl cold water in a jar, shaken left for 30-60min, according to the instructions I've read) or dried and then used all year long.

I'm fixin' to try it soon :)

[Platzhalter]

Update time :)

A few days ago, I decided to boil some of my dired birch leaves (about three heaped tbsp in roughly one pint of filtered water) for 30 minutes or so and strained it for later use. Once it was cool enough to be put on my head, I've soaked my hair with this birch water and gently massaged it into my scalp, pressing out the excess water after a few minutes and rinsing with filtered vinegar water (okay, this description sound weird... writing those description is hardly my thing, you know ;) ).
Now on the results... my hair was extremely greasy, so my expectations weren't too high. It looks like the birch leaf water did have some cleaning effect sinc emy hair still is slightly greasy and shiny, but not as much as before... and it definitely feels better.

[01]

Interesting. I didn't knew you can wash with it. In Poland you can buy something called birch water, whatever it is. It's used on scalp to make hair grow faster.

[Platzhalter]

Interesting. I didn't knew you can wash with it. In Poland you can buy something called birch water, whatever it is. It's used on scalp to make hair grow faster.

From what I know, it's the "juice" you can get from the stem of the tree :)

[Thinkerbell]

I know there's an organic danish brand selling an entire hair care line with birch extract, but where can I find some leaves? I never saw one nor in supermarket or organic shop...

[poli]

I used birch leaf tea as a rinse few times and it really felt nice on the scalp. I just think this herbal rinse leaves behind some more buildup than other herbs, so I might try it this way - rinsing out with water at the end. The smell is really good too, kind of smoky IMHO
Thinkerbell i got my leaves online (form herbs producer website), but you could probably gather some yourself.

[Loktra]

I tried to wash with birch yesterday with leaves form the local Betula species.

I didn't go for super young leaves, which may be a problem. Mostly because there aren't many young leaves at this point, and also because I don't see myself going out and harvesting a years worth of hair-washing leaves all at once in the early spring if it does work.

So, I went outside to a little group of birches near my apartment and took some leaves. I took them one at a time from different branches of different trees, but in the end it was probably a good handful or so of leaves. I chopped them up a bit, and put them in my French press with about 3 cups of near-boiling water. I left that sit for about 3 hours.
When it was time to shower, I wet my hair first (didn't want the birch water to just pour off the top layers of my hair), then poured the birch leaf water through slowly. I tried to put my fingers through my hair, to see what it felt like. Sort of squeaky and hard to run fingers through. I left it on while I gave the pits and trenches a quick wash, then rinsed it out. I didn't follow up with anything else, wanted to see what the birch alone did.
My hair was on its 3rd day, and was just getting to that "comfortably dirty" point I enjoy, which I thought was a good place to test if a mild washing method would work.

It didn't seem to do much for me, honestly. It felt nice and didn't make my scalp itch, but I didn't notice that my hair felt any cleaner or anything like that. I will try it again today, and while adding another variable into the mix isn't a great thing to do, I think I will up the quantity of leaves to see if I can get any noticeable results.

[henné]

I washed with birch leaves some days ago and it didn't do much for me ... I have to say. But I do have some more in the fridge that I'm planning to use, this time I'll use boiling water and steep the birch leaves in it - we'll see what difference that makes.

[henné]

Interesting. I didn't knew you can wash with it. In Poland you can buy something called birch water, whatever it is. It's used on scalp to make hair grow faster.

We have a similar 'water' in the Czech Republic ... I wonder how much 'birch' is really in it :)

[Platzhalter]

We have a similar 'water' in the Czech Republic ... I wonder how much 'birch' is really in it :)

While it is diluted with water and has some added sugar in it (from what I know), the stuff should have as much birch in it as maple syrup contains maple. If you get one with no extra taste (have seen mint and rosehip so far) there's even a slight undertone that seems somewhat similar to maple syrup. In case anyone is curios I can try finding a tutorial on how to make your own birch water/juice.
Just had a mug of birch water today ;)