Catnip for split ends?

**ktani** · January 22nd, 2010, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by MandyBeth

I'm currently cone-free, and I don't FEEL like I've got a lot of buildup. I'll give the catnip a try following a rinse (ok, I use lime juice instead of ACV, I can't stand the smell of ACV) and see what my hair thinks of it.

My cats best not chew on my hair after!

Lime juuice should be fine or white vinegar. No cats should be chewing on your hair, lol.

**catfish** · January 23rd, 2010, 08:41 PM

I'm glad to be using catnip again as my scalp is soothed wonderfully and my hair is shiny. I had forgotten though how rough and tangly my hair feels while wet, opposed to the slick slippery feel from conditioner...hmmm...I'm going to have to experiment again.

**Sissy** · January 24th, 2010, 04:06 PM

alright, I'm going to try to give catnip more of a try! I used it last night and it wasn't so bad. I steeped it for 5 hours, strained it and applied it to my hair by soaking my hair in a bowl and then with as much liquid as I could get to stay in I put my hair in a bun with a scrunchie. I put a plastic baggie over the bun and put a second scrunchie over it to keep it in place. I let it soak for an hour while watching TV and then I was going to rinse it out and apply extra conditioner but I was feeling lazy so I just took my hair down, combed it with my seamless comb and let it air dry with the rinse in my hair. I took a picture of my hair this morning and it seems OK with the catnip tea left in it. I have a few questions about my method and rather than search through all 100 pages of this thread I'm going to ask them here

1. Is there any reason I shouldn't leave the catnip rinse in my hair to air dry?

2. Do we really know for sure that the catnip treatments will be ineffective without shampoos? I am asking because I only shampoo my hair about once per week but i shower daily due to exercising and sweating from it. I don't want to shampoo daily but I would like to try using the catnip daily.

3. When I do shampoo I sometimes use a shampoo bar. Will applying catnip tea after a shampoo bar be effective or do the shampoo bars leave too much buildup on the hair for this?

4. I refrigerated the leftover catnip tea last night and am reusing the catnip rinse tonight. How many times can I reuse this mixture? Or should I be brewing a new one every time? I seem to recall reading that refrigerating it was OK but I want to double check that.

I stored my tea in a plastic mixing bowl with plastic wrap over the top to collect the condensation instead of it escaping in the fridge. I am worried some of the good stuff might have still gotten out so I'm going to start using a stainless steel mixing bowl I have which has a air tight plastic lid. That should prevent any of the good stuff getting out. Which brings us to question 5

5. Is storing the catnip tea rinse in stainless steel OK?

Thanks so much in advance for answers

**ktani** · January 24th, 2010, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Sissy

alright, I'm going to try to give catnip more of a try! I used it last night and it wasn't so bad. I steeped it for 5 hours, strained it and applied it to my hair by soaking my hair in a bowl and then with as much liquid as I could get to stay in I put my hair in a bun with a scrunchie. I put a plastic baggie over the bun and put a second scrunchie over it to keep it in place. I let it soak for an hour while watching TV and then I was going to rinse it out and apply extra conditioner but I was feeling lazy so I just took my hair down, combed it with my seamless comb and let it air dry with the rinse in my hair. I took a picture of my hair this morning and it seems OK with the catnip tea left in it. I have a few questions about my method and rather than search through all 100 pages of this thread I'm going to ask them here

1. Is there any reason I shouldn't leave the catnip rinse in my hair to air dry?

2. Do we really know for sure that the catnip treatments will be ineffective without shampoos? I am asking because I only shampoo my hair about once per week but i shower daily due to exercising and sweating from it. I don't want to shampoo daily but I would like to try using the catnip daily.

3. When I do shampoo I sometimes use a shampoo bar. Will applying catnip tea after a shampoo bar be effective or do the shampoo bars leave too much buildup on the hair for this?

4. I refrigerated the leftover catnip tea last night and am reusing the catnip rinse tonight. How many times can I reuse this mixture? Or should I be brewing a new one every time? I seem to recall reading that refrigerating it was OK but I want to double check that.

I stored my tea in a plastic mixing bowl with plastic wrap over the top to collect the condensation instead of it escaping in the fridge. I am worried some of the good stuff might have still gotten out so I'm going to start using a stainless steel mixing bowl I have which has a air tight plastic lid. That should prevent any of the good stuff getting out. Which brings us to question 5

5. Is storing the catnip tea rinse in stainless steel OK?

Thanks so much in advance for answers

1. Is there any reason I shouldn't leave the catnip rinse in my hair to air dry?

None except there are those including me, who prefer the results of rinsing it out.

2. Do we really know for sure that the catnip treatments will be ineffective without shampoos? I am asking because I only shampoo my hair about once per week but i shower daily due to exercising and sweating from it. I don't want to shampoo daily but I would like to try using the catnip daily.

Experiment and see for yourself how it best works for you.

3. When I do shampoo I sometimes use a shampoo bar. Will applying catnip tea after a shampoo bar be effective or do the shampoo bars leave too much buildup on the hair for this?

After a shampoo bar, use a vinegar rinse, then catnip.

4. I refrigerated the leftover catnip tea last night and am reusing the catnip rinse tonight. How many times can I reuse this mixture? Or should I be brewing a new one every time? I seem to recall reading that refrigerating it was OK but I want to double check that.

Depending on how careful you were in preparing it (I sterilize my already washed mug, saucer, pyrex cup, and strainer with boiled water before use) up to a week or longer, kept in the fridge between uses.

I stored my tea in a plastic mixing bowl with plastic wrap over the top to collect the condensation instead of it escaping in the fridge. I am worried some of the good stuff might have still gotten out so I'm going to start using a stainless steel mixing bowl I have which has a air tight plastic lid. That should prevent any of the good stuff getting out. Which brings us to question 5

I store mine in a washed out shampoo bottle. How much did you make? It should be fine as you stored it though.

5. Is storing the catnip tea rinse in stainless steel OK?.

I do not recommend it. It is acidic. Acidic herbs react with metals except for stainless steel but it depends on the stainless steel. I would store it in glass or plastic.

**Sissy** · January 25th, 2010, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by ktani

1. Is there any reason I shouldn't leave the catnip rinse in my hair to air dry?

None except there are those including me, who prefer the results of rinsing it out.

2. Do we really know for sure that the catnip treatments will be ineffective without shampoos? I am asking because I only shampoo my hair about once per week but i shower daily due to exercising and sweating from it. I don't want to shampoo daily but I would like to try using the catnip daily.

Experiment and see for yourself how it best works for you.

3. When I do shampoo I sometimes use a shampoo bar. Will applying catnip tea after a shampoo bar be effective or do the shampoo bars leave too much buildup on the hair for this?

After a shampoo bar, use a vinegar rinse, then catnip.

4. I refrigerated the leftover catnip tea last night and am reusing the catnip rinse tonight. How many times can I reuse this mixture? Or should I be brewing a new one every time? I seem to recall reading that refrigerating it was OK but I want to double check that.

Depending on how careful you were in preparing it (I sterilize my already washed mug, saucer, pyrex cup, and strainer with boiled water before use) up to a week or longer, kept in the fridge between uses.

I stored my tea in a plastic mixing bowl with plastic wrap over the top to collect the condensation instead of it escaping in the fridge. I am worried some of the good stuff might have still gotten out so I'm going to start using a stainless steel mixing bowl I have which has a air tight plastic lid. That should prevent any of the good stuff getting out. Which brings us to question 5

I store mine in a washed out shampoo bottle. How much did you make? It should be fine as you stored it though.

5. Is storing the catnip tea rinse in stainless steel OK?.

I do not recommend it. It is acidic. Acidic herbs react with metals except for stainless steel but it depends on the stainless steel. I would store it in glass or plastic.

Ktani,

Thanks so much for the answers. I did catnip again last night. I this time rinsed it out of my length in the sink and then applied conditioner to my length and rinsed that out in the sink too. Then I used 3 drops of Camellia Oil as a leave-in. This made my hair dry supper soft and it has good shine. Too soon to tell if it's doing anything for the split ends but I need to do a good S&D and keep trying the catnip!

I will have a look around for a small plastic mixing bowl with lid. I made two mugfuls of catnip tea and had it stored in a small mixing bowl. I want to keep storing it in some sort of a mixing bowl so that I can just soak my hair in that same bowl all the time and not dirty other dishes. I part my hair in the middle and soak the left side and cover the length with catnip then I repeat with the right side. Then I soak both ends again and leaving as much liquid as I can in my hair I bun it and cover the bun with a ziplock bag, another scrunhie over that, then I put a shower cap on. This method seems to generate less drips than when I just used shower cap alone. Drips was one of the things that made me not be able to stand doing the catnip treatments, especially during wintertime when I'm already chilled to the bone! However, this new method I think I can live with so long as I get around early enough every night to do it so that I don't go to bed with a damp head (can't stand that either). I do notice I"m losing a few long pieces of hair from doing the updo, but I don't think it's too much.

**Sissy** · January 25th, 2010, 05:31 AM

Ktani -

I Have one more question. I know you said catnip tea will keep up to a week in the fridge. Is it effective even if you've soaked your hair in it previously?

I made two mugfuls Saturday night and I soaked my hair in it Sat. and Sunday. How many more soaks do you think I could get out of it before I need to discard it and make new?

I'm sorry if I'm sounding confusing. I'm basically trying to find out how many times should I soak my hair in the same catnip tea mixture?

Thanks so much.

Also wanted to say I love the way my hair is looking. It has some added shine and is very easy to detangle.

Sissy

**ktani** · January 25th, 2010, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by Sissy

Ktani -

I Have one more question. I know you said catnip tea will keep up to a week in the fridge. Is it effective even if you've soaked your hair in it previously?

I made two mugfuls Saturday night and I soaked my hair in it Sat. and Sunday. How many more soaks do you think I could get out of it before I need to discard it and make new?

I'm sorry if I'm sounding confusing. I'm basically trying to find out how many times should I soak my hair in the same catnip tea mixture?

Thanks so much.

Also wanted to say I love the way my hair is looking. It has some added shine and is very easy to detangle.

Sissy

You are most welcome!

If your hair is clean each time, it should not matter how many times. I have never tried what you are doing. You have to see how it goes. I can get away with washing my hair and doing a catnip treatment once a week. I leave mine on in the bath/shower.

**Rivanariko** · January 25th, 2010, 03:43 PM

Okay, I've been reading about this around the forums for a while and wanting to try it. I just bought one of those corrugated cardboard cat scratchers and it came with a baggie of catnip, so I figure this is a good opportunity to give it a try. I've got a mug of catnip brewing in the kitchen at the moment.

I do have one question... I haven't read through the whole thread (it's rather long!) so I hope this hasn't been asked too often. I have really golden blonde hair naturally, and I don't really want the color to change. I read that it won't stain over conditioner. I usually CWC, so if condition with my normal coney conditioner, then shampoo like normal, and use catnip for the second condition, would that reduce the chances of it affecting my color? I'm not too concerned about it, since I read that it washes out after a few washes, but if this works for helping control my splits-from-hell, I'd like to be able to use it regularly without fear of changing my color.

This is my first foray into herbal hair care... I'm kind of excited

**Sissy** · January 25th, 2010, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Rivanariko

Okay, I've been reading about this around the forums for a while and wanting to try it. I just bought one of those corrugated cardboard cat scratchers and it came with a baggie of catnip, so I figure this is a good opportunity to give it a try. I've got a mug of catnip brewing in the kitchen at the moment.

I do have one question... I haven't read through the whole thread (it's rather long!) so I hope this hasn't been asked too often. I have really golden blonde hair naturally, and I don't really want the color to change. I read that it won't stain over conditioner. I usually CWC, so if condition with my normal coney conditioner, then shampoo like normal, and use catnip for the second condition, would that reduce the chances of it affecting my color? I'm not too concerned about it, since I read that it washes out after a few washes, but if this works for helping control my splits-from-hell, I'd like to be able to use it regularly without fear of changing my color.

This is my first foray into herbal hair care... I'm kind of excited

catnip should not change either of our hair colors. I had the same concern before too but was reassured that it won't change hairs color. It merely provides a stain to white/grey very light hair. For hair colors like ours, it should not affect it. I have only noticed more shine and softness the past couple nights I've been using catnip... so far so good!

**Sissy** · January 25th, 2010, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by ktani

You are most welcome!

If your hair is clean each time, it should not matter how many times. I have never tried what you are doing. You have to see how it goes. I can get away with washing my hair and doing a catnip treatment once a week. I leave mine on in the bath/shower.

good, good... thanks for the answer. I'm going to try to stick with it for a bit and see how it goes