Suddenly seeing lots of YT vids about Clove Water rinses...what have y'all heard?

[H.e.L]

I watch as many gentle long-hair centric YouTube videos as any long hair enthusiast.

I've noticed a new (to me) trend of natural hair videos suggesting a hair rinse prepared thusly; boil some water, pour over some whole cloves (usually the ratio is ~1 tablespoon of whole cloves per cup water). Cover and leave it alone for 24 hours, then strain & use twice per week as a final rinse after washing. (Some suggest adding a tablespoon or so of rosemary as well, some suggest putting the liquid into a spray bottle and ONLY applying it to the scalp.)

It's supposed to increase blood circulation, improve growth, help with scalp issues, all kinds of stuff.

I looked here in the mane forum and the herbal haircare forum and found nothing on this topic (although granted, I suck at search terms so I may have missed it.)

I was just wondering what y'all thought, if you've tried it or something similar, if so how it worked, etc. Please let me know your thoughts!

(I have a mildly gripe-y scalp so I thought it might help with my occasional itchiness/sore spots, and might as well see if it accelerates growth as well eh? Unless someone has a horror story, I'm likely to start experimenting on myself with it in short order.)

[tuanyiji]

I’m seeing this too, I think it has to do with tiktok culture where something gets trendy and suddenly influencers all rush to do a similar hair care routine for more views, and hair youtubers do longer version, just like the rice water, flaxseed, fenugreek, capillary phrases… etc, often with just one or two trials without actually showing significant long-time results. Meanwhile some will take too extreme, Doro Cubillo’s channel is basically all about those 7-day hair treatments and each time her hair looks almost the same by the end lol. I’m surprised it’s not always protein overloaded if she keeps experimenting like that. It would be more convincing if it’s done to prove how it improves dry straw-like hair instead of start from naturally shiny hair.

I’m not proud to say I’ve often fallen for this kind of stuff too lol, as I now have quite a stash of ayurvedic herbs after watching too many Henna Sooq videos.

[Shorty89]

I’m seeing this too, I think it has to do with tiktok culture where something gets trendy and suddenly influencers all rush to do a similar hair care routine for more views, and hair youtubers do longer version, just like the rice water, flaxseed, fenugreek, capillary phrases… etc, often with just one or two trials without actually showing significant long-time results. Meanwhile some will take too extreme, Doro Cubillo’s channel is basically all about those 7-day hair treatments and each time her hair looks almost the same by the end lol. I’m surprised it’s not always protein overloaded if she keeps experimenting like that. It would be more convincing if it’s done to prove how it improves dry straw-like hair instead of start from naturally shiny hair.

I’m not proud to say I’ve often fallen for this kind of stuff too lol, as I now have quite a stash of ayurvedic herbs after watching too many Henna Sooq videos.

I think a lot of it is trends. I know rice water got really popular all around YouTube for a while. I'm not on TikTok so I don't know about that. I do think that sometimes they can be beneficial for some people. I personally like an occasional rice water treatment but nothing is a miracle cure-all.

[H.e.L]

Yeah I wasn't thinking it'd magically solve all my problems(haha), but I thought it might be worth a shot for scalp itchies and such. I'll still give it a whirl to see what I think and report back.
Might as well, have plenty in the pantry anyway.

[Gibson_Girl]

No horror stories--but no experience with it, either. But cloves have some antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and I've used clove oil as a numbing agent (teething, primarily) before. It could help with itching, depending on the cause, and depending on how strong you make the clove water, you might feel some numbness. But until I test this out for myself, I can't really say how it might turn out.

[shelomit]

My grandmother uses cloves a lot in yarbing. If you get a wound, she might clean it out with clove water the same way she would with garlic. She always made us chew cloves for toothaches; they make your mouth go kind of buzzy and semi-numb. But for hair I've never heard of it.

[shelomit]

Kind of makes you smell like a kebab, though ( ;

[C_Bookworm]

Kind of makes you smell like a kebab, though ( ;

My brain went food, too. We've got some pickles currently that have a clove aftertaste. It's a head trip.

[H.e.L]

I gotta admit, I kinda love the idea of my hair smelling like nice spicy tea for a couple days. lol

Yeah, I've used cloves/clove oil for dental complaints as well. That's why I thought it might help with scalp irritation/infection/dandruff/etc. If it doesn't do a single thing to effect growth I'd still use it if it makes my temperamental scalp a little less touchy.

I'm not gonna go completely Doro Cubillo (hahaha), I'm only going to try it as a post-shampoo rinse twice a week for a little while to see if I like it.

[barnet_fair]

My grandmother uses cloves a lot in yarbing. If you get a wound, she might clean it out with clove water the same way she would with garlic. She always made us chew cloves for toothaches; they make your mouth go kind of buzzy and semi-numb. But for hair I've never heard of it.

What is "yarbing"?