Catnip for split ends?

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Originally Posted by enfys

To me it just looked like a bag of herbs; my kitty never liked catnip for me to get to know it or te constituents. It has leaves? Buds? What?!

Well last night I brushed my hair damp with Tangle Teaser. I never brush wet hair, I wait until it's bone dry but I was too excited to wait until the morning! It brushed very easily, the same as with "real" conditioner.

This morning it felt lovely and soft too. This may be partly that my hair is used to herb washing and so I was starting off with a different finish on my hair. But to me it felt like no different to a normal conditioning agent. Amla/shikakai washes give me a similar feel. It feels like...hair. It's a feeling I haven't had for a long time. And it felt good to do. It was a lot more satisfying than bottled goop.

If it's effect builds up I can't wait!

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I am glad that you are so pleased.

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Originally Posted by ktani

Next time, try just the shampoo bar and a vinegar rinse, then the catnip, and leave the catnip on longer, bagged. Shampoo bars leave a residue that catnip alone may not be able to remove, or get through.

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Will do, ktani. :flowers: Thank you for the suggestion.

For anyone who's intested in the costs of catnip, I just measured all mine out into dubious looking baggies. Yeah I now have a stash of hebs in little re-seal bags. I hope the cops don't have sniffer kitties!

Anyway, here's what I found:

1 bag of this http://www.petsathome.com/find/keywo...oduct-is-18985 was £1.49, and contained 18 teaspoons worth of catnip. That's 8p a go!

This. at 2 washes a week equates to 5.7 bags (we'll say 6!)

Annual investment: about £8.60!

Unless the price of catnip sky-rockets, I'd say it's a bargain.

I've read that if you want to use a herb for its volatile oils then the best way it to extract them by making a tincture. Do you think it might be a good idea for catnip?

Isn't alcohol generally avoided on hair? I can't remember why, but I've read it here!

I think that the covering it and tappling condenation back in is what preserves the volatile oils.

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Originally Posted by enfys

Isn't alcohol generally avoided on hair? I can't remember why, but I've read it here!

I think that the covering it and tappling condenation back in is what preserves the volatile oils.

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Well, most organic and commercial products add herb extracts. They are very potent, and meant to be diluted in something else for use. I'm not sure, that's why I ask.

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Originally Posted by enfys

Annual investment: about £8.60!

Unless the price of catnip sky-rockets, I'd say it's a bargain.

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Not yo mention the fact that you can buy Nepeta Cataria seeds for likely less than £1.00, and it will be a ton of seeds, and it's like a weed, it supposedly doesn't need much, if any, babying once it has grown to plant size, and that would reduce your costs greatly if the price were to sky-rocket.

I did consider getting seeds. Maybe next year; garden space has all been allocated this summer haha.

Does the live plant attract cats at all? My father really does hate cats coming to our garden to do toilet things.

Today, I shampooed twice with a SCH bar. I followed that with a mild vinegar rinse.

After that, I squeezed the excess water out of my hair and followed the prescribed process with my catnip rinse.

After five or 10 minutes, I rinsed it out.

Again, my hair feels oddly soft and dry and the same time. It reminds me a little of the "doll hair" that we sometimes talk about on the shampoo bar thread.

I doubt that I will continue this experiment, since I don't have many splits. Maybe I'll do it from time to time.

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Originally Posted by enfys

I did consider getting seeds. Maybe next year; garden space has all been allocated this summer haha.

Does the live plant attract cats at all? My father really does hate cats coming to our garden to do toilet things.

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It should not attract any cats unless the leaves(?) of the plant is damaged or bruised. That can cause the volatile oils to release the smell, as I understand it.

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Originally Posted by Nynaeve

It should not attract any cats unless the leaves(?) of the plant is damaged or bruised. That can cause the volatile oils to release the smell, as I understand it.

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I might try my luck with a pot plant on the windowsill; I'll start looking into it I think. I love growing useful things. Normal flowers don't do it for me.

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Originally Posted by enfys

I might try my luck with a pot plant on the windowsill; I'll start looking into it I think. I love growing useful things. Normal flowers don't do it for me.

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I can understand that. Growing useful things can be very uplifting and liberating, which is just brilliant. It can be a form of relaxation, a way to learn control, a way to learn subtleties, etc.


Hmmm. catnip. Does anyone here who uses catnip also use henna in any fashion? I have been thinking of a henna gloss, but don't want it to interfere with my happy catnip.

Right, this time I heavily oil my hair, including the scalp because I felt guilty that I'd not be CWCing. I then washed it twice with Dr. Organic's honey shampoo. Twice because of how much oil I used. Unrelated, but that stuff foams more beautifully than anything else in the world. Yummy.

Then I did an ACV rinse, then catnipped. It's getting harder to find things to occupy myself with for an hour while I have a carrier bag on my head. I've now started cleaning the bathroom when I haven't even made the mess!

Once again drying over night, hoping for the best in the morning.

Next day result: my hair is bogging. It looks greasy and limp. I'm never oiling it near the scalp again. And the lack of tangles suggests I didn't need to oil it so much. Pants. Why did I still doubt the catnip?

I'm doing my first catnip experiment today.

Nynaeve I henna and use catnip with no problems so far. I hennaed before I even found TLHC and have been using catnip for a while now.

I think it may take a bit for the resin ( or somesuch..I am sure Ktani will come and correct me lol) in the henna to wash out and maybe the catnip wont work so well untill then but I hennaed my root a few weeks ago, washed it out with a poobar, did a vinegar rinse and catnip soak and my hair has been doing fine.

xeternalsilence, its nice to see you here :) Catnip is awsome. I have been condish free since I started using it.

My siggy pic is of my first catnip after a clarifying shampoo. No condish. It was shiny and detangled easily. I clarified firsst because I wanted to see what catnip did on its own.

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Originally Posted by Suldrun

Nynaeve I henna and use catnip with no problems so far. I hennaed before I even found TLHC and have been using catnip for a while now.

I think it may take a bit for the resin ( or somesuch..I am sure Ktani will come and correct me lol) in the henna to wash out and maybe the catnip wont work so well untill then but I hennaed my root a few weeks ago, washed it out with a poobar, did a vinegar rinse and catnip soak and my hair has been doing fine.

xeternalsilence, its nice to see you here :) Catnip is awsome. I have been condish free since I started using it.

My siggy pic is of my first catnip after a clarifying shampoo. No condish. It was shiny and detangled easily. I clarified firsst because I wanted to see what catnip did on its own.

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:flower:

Thanks so much. :)

I don't have the money for it currently, but I had been thinking of experimenting with maybe a henna gloss first, before I decide if I really want to henna/henndigo. I'm very glad to know that it meshes okay for you. I'm only **slightly** paranoid. :silly:

I'm sorry if this as been asked before, I don't have time to read the entire thread, but read the article.

I've been wanting to try out catnip for a long time now and because you almost can't buy it dried in Germany, I got my own plant.
So, do I need to dry leaves and flowers (doesn't have them yet, but in a few weeks) or can I use the fresh ones? I'd like to try it out as soon as possible. And if I can use fresh leaves, do I need more or less of them than a teaspoon?

Nynaeve Your welcome :) Yes a gloss is a good idea to try first as henna is so permanant.

How do you guys rinse out the catnip?

When I rinsed out my catnip, my hair felt disgustingly dry and I was very upset that it seemed to not work for me. So I put in a bit of conditioner so that I could actually finger comb through my hair, and rinsed it out and my hair felt GREAT. It stayed tangle-free for the rest of the night and throughout the next day. This has never happened before!! It was CRAZY! Haha. But now it's back to it's normal tangly-self since I showered this morning and got my hair wet. :rolleyes:

I'm gonna blame what I thought was a failure on me not rinsing out the catnip properly at first, but I dunno. Any input?

Did you let the catnip tea soak in for a while? I leave mine in for a half hour to an hour, rinses do not do anything for me. Then my hair is soft and shiny and tangle free. My two cents....

Oh, also, it takes a little while for the effects of catnip to take place, it took me three or four times using it before I could comb it out without any dryness or tangles.

My hair feels nasty when I rinse out the catnip. I've been using conditioner after, but yesterday I skipped that and just I just let it dry. It was easy to detangle, and this morning is lovely and feels nicely conditioned. Apparently the rough feeling is only when it's wet.

I am thankful for this thread! I have been using catnip for a couple of months now and I am very happy with it. I actually don't need conditioner when I use it, and I have far fewer split ends.

I think you need to experiment a bit. I notice changes depending on the amount of time I leave it in, bagged or unbagged, overnight and as a leave in. I also notice changes depending on the dilution. If its too strong it is a bit drying.

Personally my hair seems to like it as a leave in but some people dont. I have actually started keeping it in a spray bottle in the fridge and when I take my morning braid out I spritz any knots when it dries they slip right out. I suspect that I need this extra catnip because lately I have only used it as a rinse, when i first started catnip I left it in bagged for an hour or overnight and I did not seem to need the extra spritzing.

I left it in for an hour after shampooing.

Did you bag it?

Did you let it dry and then see how it felt. It feels very different then conditioner..I thought my hair would be tangly because it didn't have that slippery feel but after it dried the tangles fell right out.

What dilution are you using?

Hopefully you can make it work with a little tweaking :)

I used 3tsps in about 4 cups of water. And yeah, I bagged it. I didn't let it dry before I put the conditioner in cause it felt so gross, but I'm gonna do that next time. :)

While I have been without my computer (I am on a borrowed one today) I have returned to my old routine, just catnip and shampoo, as opposed to catnip as a 2nd shampoo and using less of my shampoo.

Now, I wash my hair all forward, and during the 2nd of 2 parts of my applicationin, I bring some hair back and finally bring it all forward again.

Only with the catnip shampoo did I have a knotting problem. And returning to my old routine, (bagging and timing were the same for both), my hair releases tangles under the pressure of the shower water.

I have been s&ding too. My hair is better just using shampoo before catnip. I have seen no more split ends.

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Originally Posted by ktani

While I have been without my computer (I am on a borrowed one today) I have returned to my old routine, just catnip and shampoo, as opposed to catnip as a 2nd shampoo and using less of my shampoo.

Now, I wash my hair all forward, and during the 2nd of 2 parts of my applicationin, I bring some hair back and finally bring it all forward again.

Only with the catnip shampoo did I have a knotting problem. And returning to my old routine, (bagging and timing were the same for both), my hair releases tangles under the pressure of the shower water.

I have been s&ding too. My hair is better just using shampoo before catnip. I have seen no more split ends.

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Nice to have you back! :)

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Originally Posted by ktani

While I have been without my computer (I am on a borrowed one today) I have returned to my old routine, just catnip and shampoo, as opposed to catnip as a 2nd shampoo and using less of my shampoo.

Now, I wash my hair all forward, and during the 2nd of 2 parts of my applicationin, I bring some hair back and finally bring it all forward again.

Only with the catnip shampoo did I have a knotting problem. And returning to my old routine, (bagging and timing were the same for both), my hair releases tangles under the pressure of the shower water.

I have been s&ding too. My hair is better just using shampoo before catnip. I have seen no more split ends.

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Welcome back! :cheese:

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Originally Posted by xeternalsilence

I used 3tsps in about 4 cups of water. And yeah, I bagged it. I didn't let it dry before I put the conditioner in cause it felt so gross, but I'm gonna do that next time. :)

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I think that sounds about right but I'm not that good at math lol. I use one tsp to just under 300 ml of water which I think is approx 10 oz.

It sounds like your on the right track, let us know how it goes next time when you let it dry.

I also noticed Ktani is back and she is the best person to help. Shes the one who helped me get my catnip dilution right :)

I have been very happy with my catnip usage. It really helps my hair feel great. I am stuggling right now with just about everything I have used to shampoo my hair and I think Im going to try C-CO-C which is catnip-CO-catnip. I think this might just do the trick! I'll keep you posted.

I did my first catnip rinse today! My hair is drying in little braids at the moment, so i'll have to wait for the results, although i suppose it will take a few times before i notice anything.

I hope this is the end of my (numerous) split ends...

I used a leave-in afterwards (shea butter+conditioner+coconut oil). Do most of you generally do that or let you hair dry with nothing in it?

pocahonta_s, I generally leave my hair to dry alone after using catnip. I do oil a bit before my next wash or in between washes sometimes only if my ends feel very dry. I can only speak for me though :)

Conditioner may block the catnip tea from penetrating, I usually soak mine in clean, unconditioned hair. The catnip tea is the conditioning.

double post

I'm doing my second catnip soak tonight with the same dilution as before, but I'm not going to use the conditioner afterward.

I have read this entire thread! :thud:
My hair is dry and fairly fragile and splits like mad, while my skin is sensitive and overreacts to oil, so conditioners are dicey. Catnip sounds like a wonder-drug, practically.

I've got some on order and am all but camped out at the mailbox with impatience. I'll let you know how it works.

Does anyone here use both indian herbs and catnip?

So out of curiousity, how does catnip work on split ends? I mean like down to the nitty gritty how it works.