Catnip for split ends?

I have done my first catnip rinse with letting the catnip brew until cool down, not deactivating at the 30 minute or a bit longer mark.

Last time I let it brew almost an hour.

Both times the conclusion - is the same.

It has made no difference to the conditioning but the colour is more intense.

It saves me an extra step - so I see no reason to steep the infusion for only 30 minutes, deactivaate and have one more thing to do by that step.

What do you experts think about using fresh catnip? I grow it, and I better find a good use for the stuff before it takes over my lawn.

My difficulty is I don't have enough time to sit around for an hour or so on wash day. What if I saturated my hair the night before wash day? Would the color just come right out when I shampooed?

Girltron

The colour does wash out - but not all of it - at least for me - it depends on whether you are trying to cover grey.

I have never tried fresh catnip - it you do try it - use the flowers and leaves.

I would love to know how it works for you.

I'll try this summer's worth of test period. I figure color buildup and split prevention might take that long to become noticeable. I'll keep you informed!

Girltron

I got colour right away - but it took a while to get consistant colour and grey/white coverage.

I generally pick fresh catnip for my cats during the summer months. It grows wild around here.

Generally speaking, when one is making an infusion, you need about 3x the amount of fresh herb in order to get the same result as you would if you were using dried. The reason is that with fresh herb, you have a lot more natural water content. Dry herbs are more concentrated.

Having said that, it's not always true. Catnip is part of the mint family, and generally mints distribute more essential oils when they're used fresh. Peppermint tea when made with freshly crushed herb tends to be stronger than tea made with dried peppermint. Depending how it's dried, some of the oils can be lost in the process. One of the reasons you should never boil mints is that their essential oils are volatile, meaning the oils will evaporate right out when boiled, leaving almost nothing behind. If you boil peppermint tea instead of steeping it, you end up with very bland-tasting hot water.

So as to how fresh catnip would work, I can see it going either way. Might be very interesting to try!

I'm more interested in the conditioning aspects than the colour. My hair is dark auburn that I brighten up with henna, so I'm sure any stain from the catnip would be impossible to see. But I do get a ton of splits now that my hair is approaching tailbone, and winter is always more drying. It's early spring now and I'm seeing splits all over the place! It would be wonderful to find something that reduces them, and our pet store sells some good organic catnip.

I've made an infusion today and I'm going to apply it to my hair when I wash it later on. I'll report back on how it goes! :D

I look forward to reading your results.

And thank you for the fresh herb tips.

From everything I have read, flower herbs and most leaves are never to be boiled - just steeped.

Roots and barks can be boiled.

I do CO to wash though -- I don't think I even own any shampoo. So not sure if my hair will feel coated or not. We'll see!

Okay, I have just come out of the shower. I did an SMT but my hair came out of it feeling very clean, so I don't think there was much conditioner residue left behind. My hair is used to CO washes anyway.

I rinsed my hair thoroughly, filled a small plastic tub with the catnip infusion, and dunked my hair in it up to the ears. I let it soak for a minute or two, then twisted my hair into a loose bun in the shower and pinned it. I did not rinse my hair after I dunked it in the catnip. I'm going to leave the catnip to soak in my bun for awhile, and then rinse again and see what results.

Thanks Stagecoach for posting about your catnip-soaked braided bun -- that's what gave me the idea!

Wavelength

For extra or deeper conditioning, you could cover your hair bun with plastic, let it cool down when you remove the plastic, then rinse it out.