Tea Treatments for Your Hair

I remember the day I colored my hair for the first time and essentially lost my natural highlights forever. Sigh. My mother warned me, but I did it anyway. My natural color is a dirty blonde, and growing up playing sports year round, I maintained golden blonde highlights. But that wasn't enough for me, I wanted something different and new! I wanted something dark. After I made up my mind my friend spent a fair amount of time coloring my hair in our apartment kitchen, and I loved it! Until I wanted my golden highlights back...

I shudder to think it's been almost 10 years since that summer when I crossed the line. Since then I've been coloring, highlighting and glazing but never getting back what I'd lost. Chris's mom does a superb job highlighting my hair, but I've realized how frazzled and stressed it's made my already coarse hair over time. The other night I came across an old photo and noticed how shiny and healthy it looked. Sigh, again. Chris aptly pointed out that there are probably a lot of other factors, but still there's something to be said for rockin' your natural locks. All I have to do is completely grow out my hair and start fresh, right?

But I'm far too impatient for that. In the meantime I've been looking at tea treatments that are meant to boost shine and color. It won't "color" my hair by any means, just enhance what's there.

Directions:

Brew a strong kettle of tea, allowing the tea to steep until the water is luke warm. I use three teabags in two cups of water. Pour the tea over your clean damp hair and massage it in as you would shampoo. I put a shower cap on for about 10 minutes then rinse it out and apply a leave-in conditioner.

Chamomile for blonde
Rooibos for auburn
Black for brunette

From what I can tell the results are subtle on my hair, I do notice some shine oompf and a softer blending from highlights into my roots. The pH of the tea supposedly closes the hair cuticle to make it shinier. I'll turn this into a weekly hair rinse routine to see if I get more results as I grow out my hair.

*I'm no expert! (And would hate to be held responsible for any tea related disasters.) ALWAYS test any sort of treatment like this on a bit of hair before you apply it to your whole head!