by
The Natural Haven
Tea rinses are growing in popularity within the natural hair community. Green tea and black tea are generally widely available and therefore are also the most frequently discussed. Could there be some science to tea rinsing? I decided to investigate and discovered some interesting reasons as to why a final rinse with tea after washing hair may possibly be beneficial.
1. Amino acids – Stengthen Hair
Theanine is an amino acid that is unique to tea. A recent study showed that a purified extract of this amino acid could penetrate fully through to the hair cortex of bleach-damaged hair after a 10 minute soak at 30°C (Surface and Interface Analysis, pp 562-565, 2010). The study was designed to complement a previous investigation that related theanine to improving the mechanical strength of bleached hair. Even if your hair is not bleached, it is possible to accumulate damage to the cortex due to styling and combing as well as normal weathering. A tea rinse could be considered as a very mild protein treatment.
2. Polyphenols – Stimulate Growth
Green tea is currently being studied as a possible candidate for treating hair loss. It is preferred over black tea as the roasting of tea to create black tea oxidises the polyphenols. Tests so far have been performed on rats as well as human hair in a petri-dish (not on actual people) with similar results. The polyphenols are seen to stimulate re-growth of hair (J Natl Med Assoc, pp 1164-1169, 2005; Phytomedicine, pp 551-555, 2007). If you therefore have problem spots e.g at the temples, or are experiencing hair loss, then a tea rinse may be worth a trial.
3. Caffeine – Stimulate Growth
Did you know your hair follicles can take up several drugs and caffeine is one of them? Studies done once more on human hair in a petri-dish showed that the hair follicles do rapidly take up caffeine and this stimulates hair regrowth for hair previously showing signs of hair loss. (International Journal of Dermatology, pg 27-35, 2007).
4. pH
The pH of tea actually depends on how it is brewed as well as the water used to brew the tea. In general, figures of between pH 5 and 7 are generally quoted for both green and black tea. For hair, this means that the final tea rinse will be just slightly acidic to neutral. This pH tends not to irritate the skin or disturb the hair cuticle. Naturally, you should not add a squeeze of lemon or orange to fragrance the tea unless you do actually want a more acidic brew.
Have you tried a tea rinse? What were your results?
27 Responses
ya’ll do know that’s Genovese basil in the picture, right?
Wow well I will be pulling at all my teas and making me a powerful brew!
What is your opinion about daily spritzes of green tea that has a few drops of vitamin e and a tiny bit of tea tree oil as preservatives? I spritz this solution onto my hair and scalp before my daily scalp massage using a light oil. I don’t rinse the tea from my hair, except, of course, until shampoo day. Is this too much of a good thing? Thanks!
JC, what about drinking? Will I get the same benefits if I drink instead of rinse?
Yes except pH! The tea rinse delivers the ingredients to the follicle directly where it is supposed to have an effect but drinking tea would eventually get some of them through the bloodstream.
Time for me to finally do a tea rinse! xo, Mo. http://www.fab.me
I am the tea rinse queen! I use herbal tea as the water for my spray bottle, along with aloe vera juice and my favorite oil blend.
My favorite tea blend consists of nettle, burdock root, chamomile, marshmallow root, rosemary, sage. I have almost no shedding and strong healthy hair. Love it!
That sounds like my tea rinse, except I add lavender to the mix!
Nice article, thanks for posting! I’ve noticed that a green tea rinse also softens my hair as well as gives it more shine and gives my scalp a tingly feeling which is really nice.
I love green tea rinses! It has definitely stimulated hair growth.
Green tea rinses are my staple. I am mostly a no shampoo cowash girl and I use green tea solely or with apple cider vinegar to cleanse my scalp and hair before I use my conditioner. Love it!
Hi Mochachick,
Please how do you do green tea rinses. Do you just use the contents of a tea bag?
Hi Miss Mo,
There are several ways to do it! You can either purchase a tea bag or if you have a place that sells loose herbs, you can buy reusable tea bags, fill them with the herbs and boil the water with the tea. The pictorial I posted is for my herbal black tea rinse! Will decrease shedding and condition the hair!
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/BlackTea_Pictorial1-300×300.jpg[/img]
Got it. Thanks Knotty Natural 🙂
Hi Miss Mo. Yes you can use a tea bag to brew your tea rinse but you later remove the teabag( and it’s contents ) and use only the brewed tea. I personally just make green tea in the same way i would if i was going to drink it, then i let the tea cool down a bit while i wash my hair. Then, i pour the tea on my freshly washed hair( don’t rinse off ) and proceed to style my hair.
Thanks Jacky 🙂
Hi Miss Mo:
I simply microwave or boil a 2 -4 cup of water w/ 2 -4 (depending on cups of water) green tea bags and usually let steep and cool overnight. I then put the tea into a spray bottle and divide my hair into 4 twisted sections (2 on each side and 2 in back). I saturate each section, scalp and hair, massage my scalp and put into 4 balls/bantu knots. If I’m not deep conditioning, I simply leave on for about 5 or 10 minutes and rinse out. If I am deep conditioning, I seal w/ extra virgin olive oil and place a plastic cap on while I do something else for about 30 minutes and then rinse.
The tea bags are actually useable too. I make a facial mask with them for an awesome scrub.
1. Squeeze excess tea out of 1 or 2 tea bags
2. Open 1 or 2 teabags to release tea leaves
3. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4. Add a tablespoon of sugar
Makes an awesome facial and body scrub.
Thanks much Mochachick10. 🙂
I want to try a black tea rinse in my hair very soon. I really like ACV rinses so hopefully this will be nice as well. I want to stimulate growth as well as reduce unnecessary shedding and breakage
https://www.youtube.com/user/myfashionforreal
Black Tea will do it!
I’m still trying to understand this line:
Studies done once more on human hair in a petri-dish showed that the hair follicles do rapidly take up caffeine and this stimulates hair regrowth for hair previously showing signs of hair loss.
Did the dead human hair in the petri-dish re-grow?
Interesting but I’m reading to much could be, possibly, and could penetrate.
I love dinking organic green tea, not pouring it over my head on the hopes that it could be good. It cost to much to let it go down the drain.
You read the sentence correctly with a small BUT. While the shaft of human hair is dead the follicle is not, it is very active generating new cells to add the follicle until the point when it gets to the telogen phase. In hair that is experiencing hair loss, the hair follicle may be present but is just not generating enough cells to form an outer hair shaft or generating too few cells such that the hair is week and easily falls off. Cells from the hair follicle of hair that was experiencing this type of behaviour was used. Scientists can culture this hair in the lab and observe if it starts generating new cells at a decent rate or continues not to produce cells/produce few cells.
Lol some people won’t ever grasp the idea of keeping an open mind.
Lol…you don’t need to use organic tea for your hair…although organic is more likely to give you the best results possible.
Hmmm, interesting.
Never tried tea in my hair.
Might do now. 🙂
I apologize for that last link! Here’s the link I intended to post; it also shows the different ways I use tea in my regimen! https://www.knottynatural.com/kitchen-chemist/beauty-day-featuring-homemade-herbal-black-tea/
I am an avid user of homemade tea rinses, from transitioning to becoming fully natural! Here are a few recipes I use: https://www.knottynatural.com/natural-hair-essentials/natural-hair-tea-rinses/