Tea Rinses: The Good, The Bad, The Useless

[Puffer Fish]

I'm still pretty new to LHC haircare and after learning a few things, I've discovered that I would really like to try doing a tea rinse eventually.

But! I can't find a thread specifically about tea rinses. So here it is I guess.

If you use tea rinses or ever have used a tea rinse, what worked best for you? What does it do for you? Is there a tea that didn't work for you at all? Is there one that somehow did bad things to your hair?

Personally, I'm more willing to try tea rinses over other kinds of herbal haircare because I conveniently already LOVE drinking tea, so if it doesn't work for my hair it'll work for my stomach (...except mint teas, as my stomach dislikes minty things. So no mint for me).

[Annalouise]

Wow. Two days and no responses! That is odd.
I dilute my shampoo or soap with tea. And I often do a final tea rinse. I use primarily unscented products so I use the tea as a scent, and also because
I think the herbs are good for the scalp. I like flowers for conditioning like lavender and hibiscus and chamomile. And I like rosemary and basil
for the scalp. And I use distilled water to make the tea so the final rinse is a distilled water/herbal rinse which takes off the hard water.

I have a book that describes which herbs are good for the scalp and which ones are good for the length of the hair.

Every week I'll make a tea batch according to my preferences and store it in the fridge.

You can make some heavenly smelling teas and for me, it is MUCH more preferable to synthetic fragrances which make me sick anyways.

It's fun!

I didn't use any conditioner for about a year and didn't have any damage or tangling issues.

You can also use herbs to add shine and also cover grey hair. But that hasn't been my agenda per say.

Buy or grow a bunch of herbs and put them in your cupboard then you can mix and match every week to create a different smell. So much fun!

[Shorty89]

I've only tried chamomile tea rinses, with limited success. It did help with dryness from herb rinses, but it didn't last long. After a couple days my hair felt a bit gross. I want to try a hibiscus rinse, but the only hibiscus that I've found is really expensive organic tea.

[Babushka]

Not sure if anyone's weighed in on this, but you can get Hibiscus pretty cheap at some Latino/Hispanic supermarkets.

[ChloeDharma]

A rinse made from fresh rosemary is very good for the scalp. It was one I used a lot when I was younger and cleared a scalp problem I had from the first time I used it. I don't do rinses as often as I should but green tea and rooibos are on my list to try.

[sjlaurence]

I use plain chamomile tea as a deep conditioning treatment for my fine, straight hair. I simply make a big cup of tea, let it cool down, and then simply pour over my dry hair. I usually let it sit for at least one day. It leaves my dye damaged hair soft and less prone to tangles. If you want to use it just be aware that chamomile may lighten your hair.

[JustPam]

Not so much a rinse but I make a scalp spray with camomile tea, ACV and lemon EO to soothe my dermatitis, two thumbs up from me.

[mira-chan]

In general for tea rinses flowers are conditioning and leaves are astringent and can be drying.

I have dry hair so I usually go for the flower ones. Hibiscus is my favorite, give more shine and it can tint hair slightly red, temporarily.

[Kayleigh]

I love tea rinses! There's a list of beneficial herbs around here somewhere and there are some topics about reported hair growth when using herbs.

Nettle, horsetail and coltsfoot is a good hairtrio! They're mineral bombs for your hair Personally, I have had great result using nettle for hairgrowth. Am using Viola Tricolor (I'm not sure about the English name) to ease my eczema at the moment.

What was said about leaves being more astringent is not entirely correct, its really more about the constituants of herbs. Herbs with tannines in them are astringent, these are mostly herbs in the rose family. Mucilage herbs are generally speaking conditioning for your hair and soothing for your scalp, marshmallow root is a good example.

Here's the list I mentioned, maybe you'll find it helpful: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com...ad.php?t=20085

[mira-chan]

Generally leafy things have tannins.

I completely missed roots in my comment before. Roots can go either way depending on components but yes many of them, and also seeds are mucilaginous. Fenugreek works similar to marshmallow.