Tea Rinses: The Good, The Bad, The Useless

**talervo** · August 24th, 2015, 05:42 PM

I'm considering starting tea rinses, since CO is not working for me. We moved from a hard water to a soft water area and it's now just building up to look really greasy.
Anyone with fine light brown straight hair? I've tried chamomile, but have a ragweed allergy. If I get it in my eyes, they get really red and itchy for a while.
Any other recommendations?

**DollyDagger** · August 24th, 2015, 05:58 PM

@meteor was kind enough to post a really awesome link .. in a thread i posted about rosemary rinse http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...=133563&page=2

Nightshade : Hair Coloring with Herbs, Plants & Other Natural Ingredients: http://web.archive.org/web/201112211...le&articleid=2

and thanx to Nightshade for writing it!!!

eta-sorry you were asking for conditioning rinses specifically

**PalomaSincera** · August 24th, 2015, 06:05 PM

Wow this is totally the thread for me. I hope more people post here.
I do Rosemary rinses and I really like them. It gives my hair shine and a little softness. Peppermint tea rinse gives me a similar result. Tomorrow I'm trying catnip or lavender, I haven't decided yet.

**DollyDagger** · August 24th, 2015, 06:15 PM

the catnip is supposedly really excellent for split ends theres a thread on that too http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...read.php?t=476

and alot of other stuff here on herbal/natural haircare

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...d.php?t=115830

**pahbee** · October 8th, 2015, 01:54 AM

I bought some nettle and hibiscus from my local co-op and I tried the hibiscus tea.
It works amazingly! I didn't expect my hair to be so soft and frizz-free. It even looked straighter than usual. Yesterday I boiled some water, put hibiscus in a metal tea infuser, and soaked it in for twenty minutes or so. While it was still warmish hot (but not so hot that it'd burn me), I poured it over my hair after S&C'ing. I rinsed it off with water, and when it dried my hair was amazingg. It made my hair last two days. Usually my oily Asian hair has to be washed every single day.

Today I did it again, but with cold hibiscus tea that I soaked overnight in the fridge & used it as my last rinse. I'd say that the above method worked a bit better, but it's still pretty amazing.

Has anyone tried stuff like green, white, black, oolong, chai, or other teas?
I have some Genmaicha teabags and I'm wondering if it'd be good for a hair rinse. Maybe I'll try it sometime ha.
And does anyone use tea just from the bags? Does it still work?

**Smky_Mtn_Echo** · October 8th, 2015, 04:24 AM

I have what is often called 'dirty dishwater' blonde hair. I use chamomile/marigold rinses once a week to brighten the blonde. I also like catnip tea. I think it helps strengthen my hair and I haven't noticed any staining from it.

**Izzie** · October 8th, 2015, 11:04 AM

Hello

I also use tea rinses in my haircare routine (mostly chamomile, fenugreek and mint at the moment) but I would like to try other tea rinses

I heard rosemary is good for hair loss/growth/strengthening?

I really need something for that. And for moisture.

**holothuroidea** · October 8th, 2015, 11:14 AM

Not all of these are herbal teas but here are the things that I've tried.

The Good: Catnip (strength), Hibiscus (shines, brightens), Oatstraw (softness), Marshmallow Root (slip, smoothness), Slippery Elm Bark (smooth and soft), Amla (conditioning), Green Tea (clarifying for scalp, astringent), Black Tea (same as green tea), White Vinegar (clarifying, shine), dead sea salt (in small amounts, texture)

The Bad: Rosemary (the smell gave me a headache), Aloe (powdered, too difficult to filter out, leaves residue), Anything with Tea Tree in it (smell), Bentonite Clay (super dry, leaves residue), Baking soda (seriously!!! don't do it!!), Apple Cider Vinegar (not as good as white vinegar in my experience, smell), soap nuts (not a strong enough cleanser on its own)

The Useless: Chamomile, Rooibos, Lavender, Mint, Honey

**Izzie** · October 8th, 2015, 11:18 AM

Oh, thank you so much Holothuroidea

I would really love to try catnip but I just can't find it here in Croatia.

**holothuroidea** · October 8th, 2015, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Izzie

Oh, thank you so much Holothuroidea

I would really love to try catnip but I just can't find it here in Croatia.

I went through a phase where I put everything I could find in my hair just to see what happened, lol.

I like to use rosemary in cooking but the smell it has when you use it as a tea is completely different and it gave me a headache. I actually ended up having to wash my hair over again to get it out because it bothered me so much. I am very sensitive to smell, though, it might not bother you!

The catnip I used was just a package that came with cat toys. If you can't find catnip, though, you might want to try other herbs in the same family (mint, thyme, sage).