Homemade Natural Products: Black tea rinse for shedding and breakage

One of my biggest complaints with my hair is seeing the hair shedding. “Hair loss in women is, to a certain extent, normal,” says New York-based leading hair restoration specialist Dr. James C. Marotta “The average woman loses between 50 and 100 strands of hair per day, even up to 150 in some cases.” So don’t let those stray hairs in the shower drain scare you. So when I take down protective hairstyle, I am very cognizant on visually recognizing 5 days of normal shedding! But what can you do if it’s more than normal?

If you are losing an absorbent amount of hair, I would go to my dermatologist or Doctor, to ensure that here are no internal issues. Some Major causes of hair loss are heredity, Lupus, Hypothyroidism (too little hormone), Anemia, Alopecia/Skin conditions and conditions causing an elevation in testosterone. So ensuring that you are having regular visits with your doctor is important. Hair loss can also because by stress, diet and poor care of your hair! Poor care can lead to hair shedding and BREAKAGE!

There are hundreds of hair care products promising to alleviate breakage but I found a sweet alternative that you probably already have in your kitchen!

Black tea is full of antioxidants and caffeine that help hair to become stronger while helping to maintain its strength and elasticity to decrease breakage. The main benefit of caffeine located in black tea is that it blocks the DHT Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a derivative of the male hormone testosterone, from causing the hair to shed, black tea helps to increase thickness and decrease hair loss when used in small doses. Caffeine is also known to stimulate hair growth when it is used once a month, you don't want to overload your scalp with too much caffeine because it could stunt growth if you aren't careful. Another amazing benefit to including black tea rinses into your healthy hair care regimen is the sheen, luster, and natural darkness it brings. Using black tea is great for women who have dark black or brown hair and want to ward off gray hair or fading hair dyes. 

Black tea rinses can be used once or twice as a part of your hair care regimen. Boil 6 cups of water, and add 3 bags of tea, let it sit for at least an hour to give it time to cool down. Pour the tea rinse directly on your hair then wrap your hair up in a towel to prevent the tea from running down on to your body. Leave the black tea rinse on for an hour or two then wash or co-wash your hair as you normally would.

Do you want great color that can gradually darken the grays? Try the Black tea with sage! It can work even better! Black tea will gradually darken hair with the sage opening the hair shaft to allow more color in.

                                                                    Recipe

-a medium size pot 3/4 full of water
- 6 tea bags
- tablespoon of sage

First boil your water, open the tea bags and pour the contents into the boiling water, in addition to the sage. Boil this mix for 20 minutes, Next turn heat off and allow the mixture to steep, I let it steep for 2 hours. Then strain out the tea bags and sage and place into a spray bottle and soak your hair, make sure you squeeze out excess liquid. Let this sit for 30 to 60 minutes, then rinse with COOL water. You might not want to shampoo till tomorrow to let it dry and soak in. Repeat to darken/maintain your color. It may take several weeks to see the deep color of the tea!

This is definitely another natural product that I will be adding to my routine, next we will explore my homemade pomade, flaxseed/aloe Vera gel and my aloe Vera and honey leave in spritz!