Tea Rinses: The Good, The Bad, The Useless

**mira-chan** · November 19th, 2014, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Zebra Fish

I tried:
catnip - nothing for me, dunno if the one I used wasn't good (I got it from a petshop) or it just doesn't work for me.
chamomile - softness to hair (but I'm kinda lazy to do it all the time as my hair is soft and slippery on her own so

)

Would like to (but as already mentioned, I'm lazy) hibiscus. And I'm interested for people that use rosemary for scalp - how do you do it? I have rosemary in my mum's garden all year long (and as ecological as it can be) so I can get some whenever I go there, but dunno what to do with it? Boil it and let cool? How much rosemary in how much water? As my scalp is as happy as it can be atm, I really don't like using stuff on it, but wanted to try this for a while. I would use it every now and then.

You can just steep it like a tea. The more you put in the most concentrated the tea gets. I'd suggest starting with less just to see how your hair and scalp reacts. How much liquid do you use for your previous rinses? That's the volume of water I'd go for. As you'd be using fresh, I'd say fill 1/3 of the container you will steep it in, or just cover the bottom.

**Annalouise** · November 19th, 2014, 01:37 PM

I cut about 2-3 7" sprigs and put them in about 5 cups of water.
I add other herbs as well. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer it for about 20-30 min.
Strain and store in the fridge. Remember to take it out of the fridge a couple hours before your shower
as fridge-cold tea on the head is quite shocking! Or you can re-heat it if you're in a hurry.

**Seventy7** · November 19th, 2014, 02:29 PM

I need a garden.. This sounds so nice to do.
Might have to check the stores some time for the dried stuff.
Any suggestions what to look out for?
I guess the cleanest stuff possible, with regards to pesticides and stuff.

**Kayleigh** · November 19th, 2014, 02:35 PM

I see you live in the Netherlands too! I totally recommend buying your herbs from Pit-Pit (its an online health store), their products have great quality

**Seventy7** · November 19th, 2014, 03:08 PM

Thanks Kayleigh, I will check it out.
And yep, another dutchie got lost on this forum.

**Zebra Fish** · November 20th, 2014, 02:04 AM

Thanks for the tips

Next time I go there, I'll give it try (I'll try to force myself of not being lazy

) And I'll update. I will probably use it only on scalp, not on length.

**MadPirateBippy** · November 20th, 2014, 08:58 PM

I like green tea as a scalp rinse, makes my scalp feel lovely. Fairly neutral on it's use in my hair, but it's supposed to increase tensile strength over time, so I'll leave it in as long as it does not get crunchy or weird.

**Annalouise** · November 21st, 2014, 04:30 PM

I haven't tried green tea, thanks for the suggestion.

I have to say that nothing smells better than teas! My bathroom smells SOOOO GOOOD after I shower from the tea smell.
Today I made one with chamomile, hibiscus, lavender, rosemary, basil and nettle. It smells so nice! Heaven!

**AlexDig** · November 23rd, 2014, 04:15 AM

I generally love herbal rinses! Since I don't use commercial products, it's really fun to mess around with rinses for both their cleansing and conditioning properties. Currently, I'm on a hibiscus and horsetail kick which makes my hair shiny :-)

I haven't had much luck though with rinses containing caffeine. They just dry the heck out of my ends. Though I do think caffeine helps me shed less so I just apply coffee or black tea to my roots as a pre shampoo treatment.

**AmberJewel** · November 24th, 2014, 11:06 AM

Hmm, interesting thread. I like experimenting with teas but my herbal options are fairly limited where I live. I liked chamomile, especially with lavender. Still haven't tried green tea yet. I bought some parsley the other day and am hoping it turns out well. I suppose I just chop it up and pour hot water over it and let it steep?