Shedding is a natural process which happens to everyone and is how our hair renews itself (you can read this post here on how to determine if your hair is shedding or breaking). However an excessive amount of shedding due to stress, pregnancy, weight loss, and so on can lead to loss in length and volume of our hair. 

Black tea is an excellent way to stop our hair from shedding as much. This is because it contains caffeine which blocks DHT, (dihydrotestosterone) a hormone which is responsible for hair loss and makes it impossible for healthy hair to thrive. Black tea also darkens the hair and gives it strength and shine.



Do not search high and low for black tea as it is none other than regular tea we drink every day so brands such as lipton, pg tips or tetley are examples of black tea that can be used for tea rinses. It is important that when doing the black tea rinse you do not opt for decaffeinated tea as the caffeine in the tea is the integral component of the rinse.



If you are experiencing a lot of shedding or if you will like to minimise the amount of hair shed, a black tea rinse might just be the remedy you are seeking. Another substitute for a black tea rinse is a coffee rinse which is equally effective because it contains caffeine like black tea and some say that it is gentler on the hair strands. You can also try black tea which contains other additional natural ingredients such as chamomile, rosemary, lavender and so on. The procedure as outlined below can also be used for coffee rinses if your prefer this.

The amount of tea used will vary on a person’s hair needs and what works for them. However anything from 2-10 bags is an adequate amount of tea. Simply steep the tea bags in hot water (in a medium sized bowl or pitcher) for ten to fifteen minutes and allow to cool with the tea bags still in or you can take them out. You can also choose to leave the tea bags in overnight in the fridge so that the tea is very strong. Once the tea is cool it is ready to use.



There are various ways to use black tea to reduce shedding however it is important to remember that due to the caffeine content, black tea will result in hard hair. So one should use a moisture deep conditioner whilst doing these rinses. If you do not know how to identify a moisture from a protein conditioner please read this post here. Here are the various way to use black tea rinses to combat shedding:

1. After shampooing your hair and drying it. Take the bowl or pitcher of black tea and pour it over your hair slowly concentrating on your scalp. You can also apply the black tea using a bottle with an applicator tip or you can use a regular bottle and punch a hole in the cap (excellent diy alternative). After pouring it over your hair, cover you hair with a plastic cap anywhere between ten minutes to an hour. Rinse out and then apply some moisturising deep conditioner on your hair, cover hair and leave for the required amount of time and then rinse.

2. An alternative to the above method is that after pouring the tea on your hair and leaving it on for the required amount of time under a plastic cap, you do not rinse out but apply the moisture deep conditioner over it.

3. Another alternative is that you pour the tea on your hair and immediately apply a moisturising deep conditioner over it and then cover hair for the required amount of time and rinse.

4. You can also apply the tea to your hair before shampooing and conditioning as a form of pre shampoo treatment. Cover your hair and leave the tea on your hair for the required amount of time, rinse and shampoo and condition as normal.



PS. Wear some old clothes when doing this treatment and wash your bathtub immediately afterwards to prevent the tea from staining it.

Have you tried black tea rinses, what was your experience with it or is this a treatment you will be willing to try? Hope everyone is sticking to the rules of the Birthday Hair Growth Challenge, we have a little over a month to go.

TONKABELLE, xoxo



And now these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love – 1 Cor. 13 v 13, Holy Bible, New International Version