My plants are just starting to bud :)
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My plants are just starting to bud :)
I just wanted to pop in here and add my latest experiment with catnip. I've used it many ways off and on over the last year or so - the traditional way (1 tsp. steeped) poured on just washed hair and left under a cap for an hour; before washing and left for an hour; and also as a wash poured through wet hair and immediately rinsed or if more conditioning is needed left on for 10 minutes to an hour then rinsed.
All of these worked pretty good for me - the best being used as a wash since I don't really like using it as a conditioner as it made my hair too soft and limp.
The way I've been experimenting with it lately is totally different!
I've been grinding up the catnip very fine in my coffee grinder. I use dried catnip leaves and bud mix.
Then I take a heaping teaspoon of the powder and put it in a liter bottle and add warm water almost to the top - and shake it til I see it turn greenish and I get some foam - then wet my hair well and squeeze it out and pour this through it. I kind of massage my scalp and then rinse until I get most of the pieces out.
This leaves my hair shiny and soft! And it doesn't require steeping but I can tell it still conditions a bit too!
I have only used this a few times - but so far it is cleansing well enough but eventually I may need to use my poo bar. But so far so good!
djh
Wow, ratgirldjh, that is interesting. You mention getting "most of the pieces out" - what is the stuff left behind like? Does your hair feel gritty at all? Do you think straining through a piece of cheesecloth would help?
I am currently CO washing. What should I do if I want to use catnip to help my split ends and colour my hair? I DO have a cleansing shampoo (Redken), should I use that before I use the catnip, and how often should I use catnip (and therefore shampoo) to maintain the colour?
I can't answer as to the frequency for maintaining color but I would use the cleansing shampoo before doing the catnip if your conditioner has any ingredients that can build up on your hair ( the catnip can't penetrate coatings on the hair shaft)
I guess if I wanted to use the catnip everyday then I'd have to change my washing method and buy myself a regular shampoo, then?
Revontuletar - why not try herbal washes with the catnip? Indian herbs are awesome but they are a completely different way to wash your hair. Shihaki steeped in warm water and squirted on my roots did wonders for my hair, then I soaked the length in catnip tea. Goo luck!
Sounds cool. I have no idea what shihaki is or where I would be able to get some though. What do you do, just brew it like a tea and then strain it into a spray bottle? I think it is time for some googling!Quote:
Originally Posted by kdaniels8811
Ok, I bought some catnip, and have my first rinse currently steeping. I am going to steep it for 4.75 hrs, as ktani recommends, and tomorrow I will try it! Yay!
After you strain it and pour it into a bottle, be sure to put it in the fridge, since you are going to use it tomorrow. I take mine out of the fridge if I have made it in advance, and let it sit for 1 hour to warm up to room temperature. I never heat it again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
Thanks, I will definitely do that:) I just have to look for a suitable bottle to put it in now.Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
Someone pmed me about clay as a hair clarifier.
Clay is cosmetically defined as an absorbant.
I do not consider it to be a hair clarifier in spite of some artful marketing to the contrary.
There are different cosmetic quality clays and they can be abrasive. Clay is alkaline on its own. It will leave behind mineral deposits which can build-up on the hair. It is often sold and used with herbs added to it and oils used before or to follow using it. Both herbs and oils can build-up on the hair, depending on which products are used.
Mineral deposits? Sounds nasty.Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
Mineral deposits can be removed by some acidic rinses like vinegar or club soda.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
The point is though that clay cannot remove conventional and natural product build-up efficiently enough to be classified as a hair clarifier, like for example, baking soda or a basic clarifying shampoo without certain additives (not all clarifying shampoos are equal to the task).
ktani, what would you consider to be the shelf life of catnip tea? No longer than the day before? A week? Kept in the fridge, of course.
I have kept it in the fridge up to 2 weeks with it being fine but I do not recommend keeping it that long for use.Quote:
Originally Posted by neko_kawaii
ktani, what makes some clarifying shampoos better than others (specific ingredients to look for)?Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
It is more about what is not in one, like waxy alcohols or coating botanicals like aloe gel.Quote:
Originally Posted by islandboo
That makes sense - thanks!
Hi Revontuletar and everybody,
I made my first catnip brew today too! I only steeped it for 3 hours as I had to go out and wouldn't have been back in time otherwise. I decanted it into a bottle in the fridge and will be using it tomorrow. My MIL is comnig round for the day, so don't know when I'll fit in the soak AM or late PM, but am looking forward to comparing notes! Apart from the conditioning benefits, I want to see what the colour staining is like. I currently have nearly 2cm of very silver roots (growing out henna) and whilst I'd like to be silver long term, it might help the transition be more bearable, or at least more interesting, or just maybe a change from time to time.
Hope the catnip is okay - I got it from a petshop and it was very dusty! The cat seemed to like it though, so it must have something to it. My poor little catnip plant outside was grown from a cutting and has been looking a bit sorry for itself since I planted it out.
Hey coppersilver! Welcome to the LHC! :D
I am currently sitting with the first part of the treatment (underside and length) in my hair. I had put my catnip in an empty 600mL coke bottle (all I could find) and used the method of pouring it into my hand then putting it on my hair. I forgot to let it warm up to room temp first. I found it very hard to put on my hair. It dripped a lot, I probably got more on the floor than my hair :( it's still dripping underneath the shower cap a bit. I think for the second part I will use a bowl to catch it then dunk my head in the bowl. Off to find a bowl.
Dunk-my-head-in-a-bowl seems to have worked much better for me, and distributed the catnip throughout my hair. It's still dripping out from underneath the shower cap, but at least I am certain it got over all my hair. Now I am waiting...
Results
The catnip had kind of dried out in my hair by the time I got to rinsing. I had left it in for an hour all up. When I was rinsing in shower my hair felt very dry and crunchy. I'm not sure whether this was because of the catnip or just the fact that my hair hates the nasty, drying, sulfatey clarifying shampoo (the only shampoo I have). I had to condition quite a bit to rinse it, and afterwards with a liberal amount of coconut oil my hair seems to be ok. I will try this again, but first I need to find a much gentler shampoo, as since doing CO I have found that my hair and scalp really hates shampoos in general.
A gentler shampoo should help. Try bagging the catnip with saran or a bag that fits tighter than the shower cap so that the catnip does not dry out during the treatment time. Mine never does that. I use a freezer bag and the stretch the opening to that I can twist it tight when on my head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
ETA: If you gently squeeze out extra water from your hair after shampooing and apply the catnip a bit at a time with your hands you can avoid drips while the treatment is on - I only get drips during application.
Great thanks, I will get myself some freezer bags and a better shampoo :DQuote:
Originally Posted by ktani
If you go back to COing it will be a clarify - catnip - conditioner cycle. Clarifying often can be very drying to the hair.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
Catnip and shampoo is a very different system to COing. The two are not compatible for what you may want from catnip - no splits and colour - from my experience.
Yeah, I figured that. I plan to get a better shampoo and really give the catnip routine a proper go. If it works for me and I like it better than the CO then I will switch for good. I would need to stretch time between washes though, since currently I wash every day and doing the catnip wash every day is not practical time wise.Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
You do not need to use a clarifying shampoo when and if you do this - just one that does not build-up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
I never tried COing but whenever I used even a small amount of conditioner to follow catnip - it stayed in my hair and it took several shampoos to remove it and catnip did not colour or condition as well over it while it lingered.
How would I know if the shampoo I buy builds up or not?Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
You can tell by hair your hair feels and behaves and how catnip reacts to it. Catnip does not do well over coatings that build-up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
So if there was build up then it would feel tangly, hard to comb and dry, like if you had just used shampoo and nothing else?Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
That is a good possibility.Quote:
Originally Posted by Revontuletar
I think there needs to be a list of products that work well and those that don't work well with catnip. Help out the ignorant masses (people like me) who are trying to wade through the information and choose their stuff :)
From my experience catnip soaks do best over clean hair. Anything that is a barrier - oils, conditioner, etc., will prevent it from being effective. I wash my hair with herbs instead of shampoo but clean hair is all that is needed. Catnip IS the conditioner. And the trick is to leave it soak for 20 minutes or so. I just make a "tea" with a teaspoon of pet supply catnip, strain it, and pour it over my head and cover with a shower cap. Hope this answers your question.
Build up - a clarifying shampoo will clean it off - Suave makes one for a dollar. Good luck!
I did my catnip yesterday. I only had time to leave it on for 30 minutes and had only bewed it for 3 hours. I shampood my hair, put it up in a towel for a few minutes, then combed it out, so it was damp when I sprayed the catnip all over, upside down in the bath. I didn't really notice any difference in my hair afterwards, and I didn't get any colour change at all. Because my hair is so saturated with lawsone, it is very easy to comb through after just shampoo anyway, and always shines.
I enjoyed the whole process of brewing and soaking, and now I've given up my weekly henna, it's nice to do something else (much simpler in terms of time and mess!), so I will continue with this once a week probably. I will brew it for the time recommended by ktani to get some colour, and leave it on for longer. I also will take more time to really soak my hair - I don't think the spray worked too well, but I was rushing as I had company coming. I'm looking forward to using something that will still condition my hair naturally since I won't be getting the henna benefits anymore.
Instead of spraying, I soak my hair by making a ponytail (when I had a ponytail, smile!) and pouring the tea in the bag and saturating the hair. I used a sandwich bag, dunked the ponytail in the tea and tied the bag over the hair and let it soak for a half hour or so. It worked wonders on my dry, breaking off hair. Good luck with it!
Hi ktani! I found that clay does take off non-silicone residues (soap residue from hard water) for me anyway! But I have to add sea salt for some reason or it doesn't work as effectively. We have very hard water where I live and soap based cleansers build up on my hair and clay works great for this. I never use silicones though. Oh - I also found that clay does not oil off hair - so maybe this tell something more. It does remove some mineral build up for me though - here it would probably be calcium. I have also used it to remove calcium build up on the shower door here with vinegar added. So I would say that clay does remove natural build up like soap scum very effectively for me. And a vinegar rinse is nesessary also.Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
Yes I think it would help. It is pretty hard to get the little pieces out (lol) and this may be what helps it feel 'clean' all the water rinsing!Quote:
Originally Posted by islandboo
I have since been experimenting with using a catnip soak for an hour and then washing with my poo bar. Using catnip as a soak after a poo bar makes my hair feel 'too' conditioned!!!
I hear you.Quote:
Originally Posted by ratgirldjh
Clay can be abrasive and with vinegar, which dissolves soap scum would be effective to remove soap scum from a surface. I use a soft cloth with vinegar to "scrub" soap scum off my sink. Clay deposits mineral coatings of its own though.
The word clarify has been somewhat "muddied" pun intended because some "clarifying" shampoos also contain coating ingredients like waxes. Clarifying shampoos that are basic (without conditioning ingredients) can be very drying.
LOL Iagree! However I hope I am not using it 'abrasively'. I just make a loose paste and sort of squish it into my hair. It actually feels very velvety! Not rough at all. And my hair comes out super smooth and shiny after this. Also I have found clays to not remove oils for me but they do well for soap residue!Quote:
Originally Posted by ktani
And I always found it funny to read about clarifying shampoos with silicones!!! So I guess clay is a sort of poo bar residue cleaner offer for me! But really it seems to work best with the sea salt added!!! It gets more stuff off like when I once tried using Suave Tropical Coconut for CO-washing and I had bad build up - the clay alone didn't do it but when I used it with sea salt it always worked!!!