Catnip for split ends?

Wow -- this is really interesting. I had no idea catnip would do more than stain the hair. Any idea why it conditions and strengthens? Is it a property of the volatile oil?

ktani, I have seen a similar process recommended for horsetail. Have you tried horsetail as well? Can you tell me how it differs from catnip?

Thanks!

Wavelength

Catnip also contains fixed oil and pantothenic acid.

One of my links - I keep a research stash. The catnip I buy is the leaves and flowers - that is how it is sold for the most part - the flowers contain more oils than the leaves.
http://www.monroecountymi.net/Medica...rbs/catnip.htm

I am not sure exactly how it works but it does.

I got conditioning benefits from it straight away but I wanted more.

I have been using it for over 2 years now and within the first year - I forget at which point - I no longer got split ends.

I think I did find one tiny one in the last year or so.

Conditioners never did that for me.

It did take a while for me to get to where I am now - my hair is softer, shinier and most importantly for me - my ends no longer taper between trims.

I still get some breakage - catnip is not a miracle - but I have less breakage than I have ever had before.

Catnip will not stain over conditioner - I have sensitivity to many chemicals and I was determined to see if I could get catnip to the point where I would not need conditioner - I did.

Morag

I have never tried Equisetum arvense or horsetail.

The one thing I do before I try any plant is check out the constituents the same way I read ingredient labels - and of course check out its safety or toxicity.

After chamomile and my linden tea disaster, I avoid these things in a plant - mucilage, polysaccharides, resins - all of them can build up on hair.

Horsetail, from my research contains both mucilage and resin. Linden tea contains mucilage. Catnip contains none of the above.

I did find one reference on catnip that said it contains mucilage but only one reference and from my results - I would say that the amount is insignificant.

Chamomile built-up on my hair - breakage city and dryness (German chamomile, Matricaria recutita - the one I used, contains polysaccharides - Roman chamomile, Anthemis nobilis - which I never tried on my hair, contains resin). I was using 8-10 teabags at a time though, for colour.

So, part of what makes catnip work so well for me is that it does not have anything in it that would require me to clarify.

Enough of the catnip washes out with just shampoo so that I can reapply it each time I wash and get colour and conditioning.

From my experience, in reading constituent listings, if a constituent is in a high enough percentage, it shows up in more than one reference and is considered an "active ingredient". Apparently, mucilage is in most plants - it is the amount that makes the difference for use on hair, IMO.

You have to find what works best for you.

Thanks for all the info on preparation and application, Ktani! I tried it and am happy with the results. It gave my fine hair fullness as well as making it a little brighter.

I am wondering if anyone has tried adding a little 'catnip tea' to their cassia mixtures? I have had good results using chamomile tea in cassia obovata (with a squirt of conditioner and a few drops of olive oil). Cassia also made my hair a little fuller, the color a really nice, deeper gold.

I may try this tomorrow and post results if this is a new experiment!

GoldLady

I am glad to hear that you are so pleased with catnip.

My hair is fine/medium - catnip not only makes it fuller but increases my natural wave pattern - something conditioners never did.

I haven't gotten around to purchasing any cat nip yet, but I did have one more question.

Do you think it would effect my hair color? (Dark, dirty blonde/light brown.)

Stagecoach

Catnip does not lighten hair - it is can and does stain my hair light blonde and cover my grey/white.

It might "brighten" your hair a bit but probably not much.

I have some natural copper tones in my hair - they seem less deep in colour than before - but that is probably because I no longer use products with any dark colours in them - my shampoo is light yellow.

When my hair was very dry - years ago - it tended to absorb FD&C colours from products not designed to deposit colour.

Stagecoach, my natural color is similar to yours, and catnip didn't change it. I wasn't using the catnip the way ktani does, though. She leaves it on for a long time to get the color, I just left it on for five minutes or so.

I got PLENTY of conditioning by leaving it on for only five minutes. In fact, my length became extremely oily after a week of so of using catnip for five minutes a day (I was washing daily, I never shampoo my length, just the roots/scalp, and I was using the catnip every day instead of conditioner). I was baffled at how oily it apparently was. If I were to use catnip regularly (too lazy right now) I should either shampoo the length, like ktani does, or not use catnip every day.

So, you don't need to keep it in for long to get the conditioning, and if you don't keep it in for long you also won't get a lot of color, if any.

Iris

Thank you Iris and Katini!!!