Why I Started Tea Rinsing, How It Changed My Hair!

Written by Pepper B

During April 2018 I decided to stop wearing protective hairstyles as a whole and embrace my natural mane. One thing I immediately discovered while taking this journey is how clueless I was about my hair. This wasn’t the beginning of a natural journey for me for over eight years I hadn’t worn a perm or applied intense heat on my hair. I just didn’t want the hassle of dealing with my hair so I wore several protective hairstyles. Such as weaves, closures, braids and faux locs.

After dealing with the stage of “training” hair I realized maintainability with natural hair was a lot of work that I didn’t have time for. When I got very lazy I would pull my hair in a tight bun or put my hair up in a pineapple with tons of products. This method was horrible it caused me a lot breakage and hair loss.

This drove me to find to find alternatives that would work for promoting hair growth. Prior to this I’ve always strived to find items that would give my hair tons of luster. Since a child I have had an ashy brown hair color naturally and it cause my hair to appear dry because of the color.

Benefits of Tea Rinse:

  • Promotes Hair Growth and Luster.

  • Reduced Shedding and Breakage.

  • Many tea rinses restore or brighten your hair color.

  • Helps with dandruff dirt and excess oil on the scalp.

The Best Way to Tea Rinse:

  • Using loose leaf tea start by stepping the tea 4-8 hours for the best results. I normally do this the night before wash day.

  • Clean scalp thoroughly rinse hair. Allow tea to sit in hair. Based on preference some prefer to leave tea in without rinsing. My best practice is rinse my scalp with tea allowing it to sit for a few minutes. Prior to rinsing my hair add my deep conditioner followed by rinsing both out together.

  • Adding tea and water to spray bottle to refresh hair during the week. This method last longer when keeping tea refrigerated. ( must be amazing in the summer )

“According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, it's normal to lose

anywhere from 50 to 100 strands of hair per day”


After taking a break from doing tea rinse the entire fall I decided I started to tea rinsing more consistently and tracking my progress. I noticed a complete difference when taking a break.

January 10th 2019

January 21 2019


What’s been working for me:

  • Avoid piling product in my hair as the days progress only methods of hydrations.

  • Tea rinsing every 1-2 weeks.

  • Less stressful hair styles when work starts to get hectic and I know I don’t have time to love my hair LEAVE IT ALONE. Loose braids or twist with oil under my turban has worked for me.

  • Grace Eleyae silk lined Hat / Cee Cee’s Closet Silk lined Turban.

  • Silk or satin ponytail holders.

Grace Eleyae sill lined cap

Moral of the story is tea rinsing has helped my hair tremendously. Being mindful of creating my own hair damage and not doing The MOST. Sometimes less is really more. Less stress on the hair and more hydration. I have allowed my hair to have relax days instead wearing extremely tight hairstyles!