Green Tea, Oh How I Love Thee. . .

let me count the ways ~lol~

So I participate in a couple of hair forums, and on one of them a few ladies would talk about doing “tea rinses” to their hair. It sounded interesting, and since the ladies had beautiful hair I thought “hey, maybe there’s something to this”. So, I started doing some research on tea and hair. As it turns out, I only had green tea in the house so I wanted to see what benefits it has for the hair. Here’s what one article had to say about it:

 

Soothes Dandruff and Psoriasis

Research also suggests that green tea can help with scalp conditions such as dandruff and psoriasis by soothing skin and reducing inflammation. Using a shampoo that contains green tea or using a green tea rinse after shampooing can help reduce scalp irritation. Many commercial anti-dandruff shampoos contain carcinogens, making green tea products a safer alternative. When choosing a green tea shampoo, look for one in which green tea appears close to the top of the list of ingredients and that does not contain harmful chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulfate or parabens, which could contribute to scalp irritations.

Strengthens and Conditions

Green tea also contains vitamin C, vitamin E and panthenol, which are all common ingredients in hair conditioner. Vitamin E restores dry or damaged hair, while vitamin C guards against damage from UV radiation. Panthenol, a provitamin, strengthens and softens hair and prevents split ends. Choose hair products that contain real green tea extract or EGCG.

Read more: How Green Tea Benefits Hair | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5002209_how-green-tea-benefits-hair.html#ixzz0rgj2IALf

It also supposedly makes hair grow, but I’m more concerned with dandruff/itchiness and conditioning. So I made up some green tea using loose herbs and a personal tea maker thing I got from Wal-Mart. I can’t remember the name of it, but here’s a picture:

So it’s like a little tea kettle and cup, it’s for making individual cups of tea. I think if you fill it it actually makes a little over 1 cup. So I’d put in two teaspoons of the herbs to a cup of water. Then I’d microwave the water and let it stew for about 5-10 minutes. Then I’d put it in a little plastic container and throw it in the fridge. I filled a little spray bottle (like one of the $1 travel ones you can find at Wal-Mart or CVS) and I keep it in the fridge. I wake up in the morning and spritz some on, and I spritz some on before bed. I use this instead of water now (something I picked up from one of the ladies on CurlyNikki.com.

After doing this for a week my hair was soooooo soft and moisturized. Here’s the twist-out I ended up with after using this method:

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Now, I didn’t do a great job of getting the tea on my scalp, I really need to figure out a failsafe way to moisturize my scalp. My HAIR was really soft and moisturized, but my scalp was dry, and I ended up with a lot dandruff for like the first time in a long time. I think that also may have been from the fact that I didn’t DC last week. I only co-washed. So I washed my hair with my SheaMoisture Brilliant Curl Shampoo yesterday and DC’d with ORS mixed with Honey, EVOO, and a couple of drops of Jojoba Oil. My scalp feels MUCH better.

I think the next time I wash I’ll actually try the tea as a rinse as well as a spritz. But basically, I say if you haven’t experimented with tea, you should give it a shot! I may even try drinking more green tea too (even though I don’t care too much for the taste).