Catnip for split ends?

[ktani]

I guess I'll just have to play with it and see what works for me. I just need to find someplace that sells catnip! It grows wild around here, and I could pick and dry some myself, but I'm sure it's not flowering right now, so all I'd get is leaves.

You need to harvest the buds before they open.

[ktani]

I just did a thorough s&d and cut 1.5 inches off my length. No real news but I have had some knotting lately.

Too much catnip can do that, so this last wash, I used less catnip on the length and my hair came out very shiny and fuller. By knotting I mean single fairy knots. I never used to get them except rarely and I started to get them more so when I tried using catnip as a shampoo. One caught 4 other hairs this week and instead of unraveling them I pulled in the wrong direction and tightened it. I cut it out, something that has not happened in over 4 years of catnip use (I usuallu just cut the single hair above the knot. I had more of the curlover this week, in spite of smoothing my hair after washing it but I did do a hafl hearted job of it because I was going to be late for school (I got there on time).

I am re-examining using so long a brewing time and the amount I use on the ends. The colour and conditioning this last time is perfect though and it was about a 7 hour brew and I had about 1.5 inches of catnip left in my shampoo bottle, when done. I may reduce the brewing time further. This knotting is directly related I think to the extra time there. It may be that something extra is released into the tea with the extra time. The conditioning over all has been better but it reaches a too soft or too mosturized point with extra catnip if I am not careful. I have to work this out.

No split ends in the s&d even with the stress from the knots which were in total about 4 single hairs in different places but they catch the other hairs. My breakage is still very low and no static, as I said earlier, so I am not unhappy.

I have not figured out what I am going to to about my length. I keep growing it and it is longer. I am enjoying it though. I just haven't decided what length to keep it. I do not like wearing my hair up unless I do chores. So far wearing it down by far most of the time is not a problem. As long as it it not a bother and I enjoy it loose, great.

I seem to have a lot of new growth at the nape and front sides hairline and my hair is growing very fast. My shedding is normal for me in that it is not that much. I do not count shed hairs and with hair as thin as mine in terms of the number of folicles, excessive shedding and thinning would be very evident. Just the opposite has happened with continued catnip use. My hair does not look thin.

[ktani]

I am devoting this post to Feye as a special thank you for her hair cutting method, which I continue to be thrilled with.

Thank you again Feye. I know that you have finally found a stylist that you like to cut your hair but you have done so much for a number of people here, including me.

You Rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

[ktani]

Notes on my catnip curlover, which I think caused that knot.

My hair normally waves nicly with catnip but the curlover is something new. I get shrinkage too but not like when I used linden tea. It shunk a lot with that and the breakage was awful. I stretch my waves out by shaping my hair with my hands. With catnip the waves stay stretched and sometimes the wave pattern increases but not the shrinkage really. I am still thrilled with catnip, except for this recent development. I think it is directly related to the brewing time because nothing else has changed. I have used too much catnip before and not had this. So something happens past a certain brewing time point.

That also makes sense to me. In some link on brewing catnip tea to drink, it said that brewing it too long can make it bitter. I noted that but I had no problems increasing the time and liked the results. So, something in it needs a longer time to be fully released. I do like the increased conditioning though so this is a balance thing. The curled over hairs, when I straighten them out with water, show no signs of stress breakage usually (with exceptions) and they curl over other hairs needing to be separated. This week was the first "tangle" I have had in over 4 years.

My hair was more prone to white dots before with catnip but again, nothing in comparison to using conditioner or chamomile or linden tea, when every s&d was a question of "where do I start?" Now and for a long time, I have to search well for white dots. They are not that visible anymore and with magifying reading glasses I get them before they are white. I actually have more of the ones just starting than fully formed white dots and altogether very few of those in comparison the old pre-catnip days, when all dots were white and I had splits too. Still no splits now at all. I now s&d once every few months except for mini s&d's, if I feel that there is an area where hair is catching. Even when I do, not always is there a white dot, forming or otherwise. I used to s&d after every shampoo, which was 2 x per week. If a hair breaks and of course any s&d can never get them all, my hair seems no worse for it. I have not had a breakage taper for a long time.

[PrincessFurball]

Ktani, I know you said that you apply the catnip to freshly washed hair-- do you let your hair dry first, or is it still wet/damp when you apply the catnip defusion?

[ktani]

Ktani, I know you said that you apply the catnip to freshly washed hair-- do you let your hair dry first, or is it still wet/damp when you apply the catnip defusion?

No, my hair is still wet in the shower. I gently squeeze out any extra moisture, then apply the catnip.

I just tried a 4 hour brew for catnip and got no curlover. I will be testing this a few times to see the optimal brewing time for me but I will no longer be brewing the tea for 6 hours and longer.

[PrincessFurball]

No, my hair is still wet in the shower. I gently squeeze out any extra moisture, then apply the catnip.

I just tried a 4 hour brew for catnip and got no curlover. I will be testing this a few times to see the optimal brewing time for me but I will no longer be brewing the tea for 6 hours and longer.

Thanks!

I just got some catnip today, and brewed it this evening. I'm excited to try it out tomorrow!

[ktani]

Thanks!

I just got some catnip today, and brewed it this evening. I'm excited to try it out tomorrow!

Good luck and please update.

[PrincessFurball]

Good luck and please update.

Well, I did the catnip this afternoon, and I'm really pleased with the results. My hair is nice and soft and shiny, and feels well-moisturized. I did wash my scalp only with a little shampoo diluted in water, but only rinsed my length, then applied the catnip.

I brewed it for just half an hour, but I may experiment with brewing it longer.

[ktani]

Well, I did the catnip this afternoon, and I'm really pleased with the results. My hair is nice and soft and shiny, and feels well-moisturized. I did wash my scalp only with a little shampoo diluted in water, but only rinsed my length, then applied the catnip.

I brewed it for just half an hour, but I may experiment with brewing it longer.

30 minutes is what I used for a long time and what I used that prevented split ends for me to begin with. I only started to use longer brews in the past while.