Very possible. I'll let you all know what happens on the next batch.
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I am not doubting that what you saw was solidified oil, only that it was catnip oil, as that has never occured for me, and neither has any type of separation.
Catnip may work over conditioner to some degree but for me, it never worked well, in comparison to catnip alone, which IMO, works best.
ktani, can you remind me what your hair type is? I wonder, if that makes a difference? Mine is 2b/M/C/iii and difficult, as I mentioned. My concern is that I would be a puffball w/out doing a CO and that it's better than shampooing (even non SLS, etc.). Also, I don't seem to have any issues with residue when I use a non-cone one.
Hmm, pondering.
I never typed my hair here officially. It is fine/medium in hair shaft diameter, wavy and thin.
Catnip did not stain over conditioner for me because it did not have direct access to my hair. I had more breakage than without conditioner.
I never continued with conditioner, to see if I would get split ends again but after I stopped all conditioner used for any length of time, and increased catnip timing, I saw my last split end and that was over 1.5 years ago.
I had pretty well seen no split ends before then, except for the odd one, very rarely but I had started to use conditioner again in tests only, for short periods of time, and only after that, when I went for a trim (my stylist is not as gentle as I am with my hair), once every 4 months. I now trim my hair myself and use no conditioner at all, at any time.
Prior to catnip, I used only herb rinses, chamomile and then linden tea, following shampoo, with no conditioner after those. I had a lot of breakage and split ends from both. I had breakage and split ends from conditioner, following shampoo, prior to that.
I also did make changes while all of this was happening; satin acetate bedding, no combing, no brushing, just finger separating. However, most of that was in place in the last few years, so my observations regarding catnip alone and no split ends, and less breakage, than with any other method for me, still stand.
I think that it comes down to degrees of success with catnip. The best and most success I have had with it, is on its own. In the beginning I had build-up, so the catnip did not have full access to my hair then. I experimented by adding things to it. That did not work out. Then the timing. That did. Both coatings and timing played a part, IMO.
That is supported as well, by the fact that with less moisture in my hair (squeezing out the extra water, post shampooing) more catnip has access to the hair shaft, without being further diluted. I get even better results, now that it has been a good while, since any conditioner or any other product (except my shampoo) has touched my hair (except for a bit of maple syrup, used once, and that made my hair drier, because it coated my hair).
I actually proved that to myself, that maple syrup coated my hair, by accident, when using up the maple syrup on my cereal. I eat Post Shedded Wheat With Bran, with soya milk. On a few occasions, I poured too much syrup on the cereal. It sinks to the bottom. That cereal gets soggy quickly, normally. But even after a while, the parts coated with maple syrup, at the bottom, remained crisp. The maple syrup prevented the soya milk from saturating those bits of cereal, the same way it coated my hair, IMO, "sealing" my hair, and causing my hair to be drier, than with catnip alone. My ends with maple syrup on them, over catnip, and then rinsed out well, were slightly "crunchy" (I had used very little maple syrup as a test, and mostly on my length).
But not going by my observations alone, there is research I found, that explains it too, for me.
"Two joined monosaccharides are called a disaccharides and these are the simplest polysaccharides. Examples include sucrose and lactose."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate
"Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup
Polysaccharides in chamomile tea and conventional products, always left me with drier hair and they built-up.
And from my experience with linden tea and its mucilage, that built-up on my hair, big time, causing breakage and split ends. I used the linden tea, the way I use catnip now, post shampoo, left on (I am not sure if it was bagged) and rinsed out well but not timed anywhere near as long as I time catnip now.
My hair did tangle in the shower and when dry but was not sticky when rinsed out and my scalp appeared to be very clean. I tried to wash my hair with it once or twice (it does contain saponins) but that did not go well. I used it for about a year. I did not use conditioner to follow it, at all. It did not require anything to follow it, even when I went for a trim. The build-up was gradual but steady and snuck up on me.
"Mucilage, a class of polysaccharides, are high molecular weight biopolymers; commonly occurs in higher plants"
http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/36(2)/PJB36(2)381.pdf
It came up in a pm recently as well, that mucilage may clog pores (not my suggestion, but a very good one IMO, thank you, rymorg2, it made me think back). I had not thought about that but when I had switched from linden tea to catnip and my hairline filled in, it may have been in part to the lack of mucilage (and it being washed out and not replaced), as well as catnip being known for growth as well as shine.
There is no specific mucilage and human skin clogging reseach that I could find but this IMO, is close enough. "Opuntia-Ficus-Indica (Nopal)", is a species of cactus.
Opuntia-Ficus-Indica (Nopal) mucilage as a steel corrosion ... One possibility is that the mucilage acts as a pore clog, stopping the penetration of chlorides and/or water through the concrete pore network by forming a ...
www.springerlink.com/index/1071127421W23176.pdf -
by AA Torres-Acosta - 2007 - Related articles
"Based upon quantitative analysis of photomicrographs, bacterial mucilage does not completely fill porosity but does clog pore throats, thus significantly impacting permeability."
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007AM/fin...act_130347.htm
scalawaggirl, my hair is VERY similar in type to yours. I use DW to shampoo with and Catnip as conditioner. My hair is very soft, not puffy, and I've noticed a reduction in splits and damage as well.
eta my new avatar is dried after washing with DW, a second wash with catnip, and a catnip treatment for conditioner.