Catnip for split ends?

[alishaxmarie]

I just used catnip on my hair for the third time. I'm not very impressed with the results. I've been trying to use catnip with WO washing. Normally I CO my hair - however in my reading the first 50 pages of this thread ktani stated over and over again that catnip does not work over conditioner. My hair is waaay too dry to use shampoo. After using catnip 2 times my hair was starting to feel kind of heavy and stiff. This time when I wet my hair - even before putting the catnip in it felt tacky. Now as it is starting to dry it is frizzy and not shiny.

Also, every time I wet my hair and comb it I lose tons of hair - more than I used to when I was just CO washing my hair. I think catnip has to be washed out every week.

Has anyone else experienced this with catnip? So now I'm trying to decide if I want to go back to shampoo so I can continue to try catnip, or if I should try something else.

Catnip did not increase my shedding so something else may be the culprit. If you haven't already, I would try using the catnip as a leave-in after you CO-wash. That's what I've done and I've never experienced any build-up. I've been experimenting with shampoo bars for a couple of weeks now though. From my understanding, catnip won't stain hair over conditioner. If staining isn't your concern then it's worth experimenting. Perhaps once the conditioner is rinsed out, the catnip will still be able to penetrate (or coat?) the hair shaft in order to prevent split ends (I'm not really sure how/why catnip prevents splits, I thought perhaps because of an increase in moisture or something to do with the resins in the catnip). So if you don't care about staining your hair, there's no reason not to test catnip as a leave-in while waiting to see if the shedding is seasonal or otherwise temporary and unrelated.

[veryhairyfairy]

I agree with alishaxmarie, CraftieKittie. I've been using catnip as a leave in over conditioned hair for awhile, and I actually hated the way it felt as my only form of conditioning.

I think ktani's assertion about conditioner blocking the effectiveness of catnip may have been based on color uptake, as alishaxmarie said. Or maybe it just didn't work for her hair. As in all things hair; your mileage may vary (YMMV).
Some people don't like catnip over conditioner, some people don't like it without conditioner, some people love using it as a leave in, other people hate it as a leave in and love it as a rinse out. And some people hate the way catnip makes their hair feel regardless of how they try it.

I would go back to what was working for you before, and try some other methods for catnip use.

[Larki]

Can you use catnip as a rinse and then follow it up with conditioner? Like shampoo, catnip, then conditioner?

And I'm curious about how you brew it, it's supposed to brew for like five hours right? So what, you throw it in a pot with a bunch of water on low temp and leave it on the stove for hours? I don't like leaving things unattended...

[DragonLady]

Can you use catnip as a rinse and then follow it up with conditioner? Like shampoo, catnip, then conditioner?

That's how I use it. It works wonders for me.

And I'm curious about how you brew it, it's supposed to brew for like five hours right? So what, you throw it in a pot with a bunch of water on low temp and leave it on the stove for hours? I don't like leaving things unattended...

I put the catnip into the bottom of the glass, and add hot (not quite boiling) water. Cover the glass with a small saucer asap to prevent evaporation, and let it brew overnight. If I don't use it the next day, I put it in the fridge and rewarm it in the microwave (still covered) when I'm ready to use it.

[Larki]

When you say let it brew, do you mean you just let it sit? I mean, there's no outside heat source or anything keeping the water warm?

[DragonLady]

Right. I think I should have said I let it "steep" instead of "brew". "Brewing" implies a heat source. I just set the glass aside where it won't get spilled or a family member won't pour it down the sink, and let it steep.

[Larki]

Right. I think I should have said I let it "steep" instead of "brew". "Brewing" implies a heat source. I just set the glass aside where it won't get spilled or a family member won't pour it down the sink, and let it steep.

Awesome thank you! Yeah, when I see brew, I think that it's going to be sitting on the stove for five hours, and eek! That would make me nervous!

[CraftieKittie]

Catnip did not increase my shedding so something else may be the culprit. If you haven't already, I would try using the catnip as a leave-in after you CO-wash. That's what I've done and I've never experienced any build-up. I've been experimenting with shampoo bars for a couple of weeks now though. From my understanding, catnip won't stain hair over conditioner. If staining isn't your concern then it's worth experimenting. Perhaps once the conditioner is rinsed out, the catnip will still be able to penetrate (or coat?) the hair shaft in order to prevent split ends (I'm not really sure how/why catnip prevents splits, I thought perhaps because of an increase in moisture or something to do with the resins in the catnip). So if you don't care about staining your hair, there's no reason not to test catnip as a leave-in while waiting to see if the shedding is seasonal or otherwise temporary and unrelated.

Thanks for your suggestions. I should say that I think I figured out why I am getting so much shedding. I've just been to the doctor and my thyroid is really low - that can cause hair to shed. So I'm not going to worry about that for awhile until I get my thyroid numbers back in balance.

I might try the catnip as a leave-in after my CO-wash and see if that works. I really want the catnip to make my hair stronger and not so brittle, and to reduce the split ends - the staining would have been a nice side effect but is not necessary.

VeryHairyFairy - you mentioned that some people use it as a rinse out. Do you think it works if I put it in after my CO wash and then rinse it out at the end of my shower? That would only give it a few minutes in my hair - would that be enough? I want to keep experimenting with the catnip and see if I can get it to work for me.

[CraftieKittie]

Catnip did not increase my shedding so something else may be the culprit. If you haven't already, I would try using the catnip as a leave-in after you CO-wash. That's what I've done and I've never experienced any build-up. I've been experimenting with shampoo bars for a couple of weeks now though. From my understanding, catnip won't stain hair over conditioner. If staining isn't your concern then it's worth experimenting. Perhaps once the conditioner is rinsed out, the catnip will still be able to penetrate (or coat?) the hair shaft in order to prevent split ends (I'm not really sure how/why catnip prevents splits, I thought perhaps because of an increase in moisture or something to do with the resins in the catnip). So if you don't care about staining your hair, there's no reason not to test catnip as a leave-in while waiting to see if the shedding is seasonal or otherwise temporary and unrelated.

Sorry about the double post before. I think my computer hiccupped. If I get a double post again I apologize ahead of time as I tried to answer this post a few minutes ago and my computer froze up.

Thanks for the response alishaxmarie. I think I figured out what has been causing my shedding. I've just been to my doctor and found out that my thyroid is really low. So I'm not going to worry about the shedding until I get my thyroid back in balance.

I think I will try to use the catnip as a leave-in after my CO wash. Hopefully that will work. I'm not concerned about staining - I just want the catnip to make my hair stronger and less brittle, and to reduce the split ends.

VeryHairyFairy - you mentioned that some people don't use the catnip as a leave-in but rinse it out. Do you mean that they just put it in their hair in the shower and then rinse it out at the end? If I do that it will only be in my hair for a few minutes. Is that long enough - has it worked for others to leave it in such a short time? I may want to try that if the leave-in doesn't work for me.

Anyway, I plan to keep experimenting to see if I can make it work somehow.

[veryhairyfairy]

Thanks for your suggestions. I should say that I think I figured out why I am getting so much shedding. I've just been to the doctor and my thyroid is really low - that can cause hair to shed. So I'm not going to worry about that for awhile until I get my thyroid numbers back in balance.

I might try the catnip as a leave-in after my CO-wash and see if that works. I really want the catnip to make my hair stronger and not so brittle, and to reduce the split ends - the staining would have been a nice side effect but is not necessary.

VeryHairyFairy - you mentioned that some people use it as a rinse out. Do you think it works if I put it in after my CO wash and then rinse it out at the end of my shower? That would only give it a few minutes in my hair - would that be enough? I want to keep experimenting with the catnip and see if I can get it to work for me.

I'm glad you figured out the shedding, thyroid stuff really affects your whole body, so I bet you'll feel loads better in general when you get sorted out.
Thyroid problems also cause the hair you grow to be dry and fragile, so you may have been low for awhile and that's why your hair feels (and maybe is) brittle, so maybe this will also solve itself in time. (but you'll basically be growing out stronger hair like growing out color, so it will take awhile to see a difference in the bulk of your hair, just FYI)

As for the rinse out, as you can see from the posts above, DragonLady uses it as a rinse out between shampoo and conditioner (I think she does NOT rinse the catnip before putting the conditioner on, so it sits on the strands for a longer time).
I have also read some posts where people use it as a rinse out, but I think you're right that a few minutes may not give you optimum benefits.

I love the way it makes my hair feel when I put it in a mister/spray bottle and dampen my dry hair with it every morning (I wash twice a week but I never feel like the catnip is making my hair sticky or bad in any way because of the repeated applications). You could also try spraying your hair after you get out of the shower (while hair is still wet) and leaving it in, that way it'll be diluted enough to not be sticky.

HTH