Black tea - coarser strands?!

[CurlyCurves]

I done a tea rinse last week, with chai tea.

Big.

Mistake.

The second the tea touched my formerly conditioned, detangled, soft hair, it turned it to straw. It felt awful. I done a deep condition after, panicking as I went, and it felt .. okay, but still dry.

It's now been a week or so, and my hair is still a bit weird. I had a look at some of my strands, and they look coarse?! I have F/M hair.

I read a few things that said (paraphrasing here!) that black tea can act like a protein treatment and/or tannin can bind to your strands, or something.

Help. Is it going to go back to normal or not?

[lmfbs]

I done a tea rinse last week, with chai tea.

Big.

Mistake.

The second the tea touched my formerly conditioned, detangled, soft hair, it turned it to straw. It felt awful. I done a deep condition after, panicking as I went, and it felt .. okay, but still dry.

It's now been a week or so, and my hair is still a bit weird. I had a look at some of my strands, and they look coarse?! I have F/M hair.

I read a few things that said (paraphrasing here!) that black tea can act like a protein treatment and/or tannin can bind to your strands, or something.

Help. Is it going to go back to normal or not?

That's interesting that it can act like a protein treatment. I wonder if it acts a bit like henna does?

I think the only way to counteract protein is moisture, but it's not really a proper protein treatment, so maybe clarifying will do the trick? I avoid clarifying if I can because it dries out my hair, so I'd be doing some DTs first and clarify as a last resort.

Maybe a conditioner only DT will help break it down a little bit? Otherwise, I've seen people say that heavily coconut oiling can break down colour a bit, so maybe it will do the same?

Good luck - I'll definitely remember that one!

[lilliemer]

Tea rinses are supposed to be acidic so it could have dried your hair out. Have you gotten similar results after vinegar or lemon juice rinsing?

[Miss Catrina]

Coarser strands you say....

Guess I need to get to steeping. :p

[bekstamonkey]

The first thing that jumped out at me, is that you used chai tea...chai tea, whilst being a regular black tea, generally contains cinnamon, cardamon, ginger etc...a whole whack of spices which give Chai it's specific taste compared to regular, plain black tea...have you tried using plain black tea? I'm wondering if the one/more of the spices could be what set this reaction off?

[Rufflebutt]

If it works like a protein treatment like you said, I would try more moisture treatments to restore the balance. Other than that.. I'm not exactly sure.

[CurlyCurves]

The first thing that jumped out at me, is that you used chai tea...chai tea, whilst being a regular black tea, generally contains cinnamon, cardamon, ginger etc...a whole whack of spices which give Chai it's specific taste compared to regular, plain black tea...have you tried using plain black tea? I'm wondering if the one/more of the spices could be what set this reaction off?

I think it was that.. They must have really dried my hair out.

It took my hair weeks to return to normal. Never again.

[Nightshade]

Tea has tannins in it, and black tea more than green or white. Tannins are what's used to cure leather, so yes it can be very acidic and drying.

You might have better luck with an herbal tea like chamomile. :twocents:

[spookyghost]

I just did my second black tea rinse tonight. My first was on Sunday. Im loving it so far. My hair is a titch drier but its almost unnoticeable. I have fine bleach/straight ironed damaged hair that is bsl. Of course I have stopped both the bleach and flat iron.

I used just regular black tea. I couldnt find how to do it on here so I just did alot of research on google and I found a blogger that goes by-keep it simple sista. Im pretty sure thats her name. I just followed how she did it. I washed my hair and sprayed the black tea on my scalp and length and massaged it in to make sure it was evenly distributed. I put it in a towel and let it sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I put on a deep moisturizing condtioner(I used macadamia hair mask and shea moisture) and massaged that in and put my hair up in a towel again for 20 more minutes. I put the conditioner on top of the tea before I rinsed. So when I finally rinsed, I rinsed out both the tea and conditioner.

The next day I had almost no shedding. Just a few hairs. I couldnt believe it because my shedding has been horrible. I cant believe Im not bald. My hair felt stronger and layed so nice. I do know what you mean by your hair feeling like straw. As soon as I put the tea on my hair it felt like straw instantly. Scared me to death. But since I watched the keep it simple sista video I knew to use the moisturizer and since she put it right on top of the tea so did I. I have no idea if that mad a difference or not.

My hair also hates protein so if it has any protein like qualities my hair didnt show it. I hope your hair gets back to normal soon. I know what its like to try something and have it not work out. I think almost everything I have tried on here so far has failed. But so far this one is a winner for me. Good luck!

[CurlyCurves]

Tea has tannins in it, and black tea more than green or white. Tannins are what's used to cure leather, so yes it can be very acidic and drying.

You might have better luck with an herbal tea like chamomile. :twocents:

Yeah, I figured. Defo not trying it again!

I've used herbals before and usually like the effects :)


I just did my second black tea rinse tonight. My first was on Sunday. Im loving it so far. My hair is a titch drier but its almost unnoticeable. I have fine bleach/straight ironed damaged hair that is bsl. Of course I have stopped both the bleach and flat iron.

I used just regular black tea. I couldnt find how to do it on here so I just did alot of research on google and I found a blogger that goes by-keep it simple sista. Im pretty sure thats her name. I just followed how she did it. I washed my hair and sprayed the black tea on my scalp and length and massaged it in to make sure it was evenly distributed. I put it in a towel and let it sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I put on a deep moisturizing condtioner(I used macadamia hair mask and shea moisture) and massaged that in and put my hair up in a towel again for 20 more minutes. I put the conditioner on top of the tea before I rinsed. So when I finally rinsed, I rinsed out both the tea and conditioner.

The next day I had almost no shedding. Just a few hairs. I couldnt believe it because my shedding has been horrible. I cant believe Im not bald. My hair felt stronger and layed so nice. I do know what you mean by your hair feeling like straw. As soon as I put the tea on my hair it felt like straw instantly. Scared me to death. But since I watched the keep it simple sista video I knew to use the moisturizer and since she put it right on top of the tea so did I. I have no idea if that mad a difference or not.

My hair also hates protein so if it has any protein like qualities my hair didnt show it. I hope your hair gets back to normal soon. I know what its like to try something and have it not work out. I think almost everything I have tried on here so far has failed. But so far this one is a winner for me. Good luck!

I'm glad it worked for you!

[HylianGirl]

Ooh, I tried it once and got the same results as you x.x

[CurlyCurves]

Ooh, I tried it once and got the same results as you x.x

What kind of tea did you use hun?

[xoxophelia]

Next time you do a tea rinse, try an herbal one without caffeine. The caffeine can dry out your hair. I made some with some raspberry tea, honey, and a little balsamic vinegar and it worked very well :)

[spookyghost]

Next time you do a tea rinse, try an herbal one without caffeine. The caffeine can dry out your hair. I made some with some raspberry tea, honey, and a little balsamic vinegar and it worked very well :)

I could be wrong but I think its the caffeine that helps stop the shedding and increases the growth. I think it helps stop somethig called dht which is what inhibits hair growth. Caffeine is the key ingredient.