Green tea, derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, has been known for its potential health benefits for a long time. But did you know it can be beneficial for your hair too?
It offers many benefits for hair care that are pretty impressive for a cup of tea! The natural ingredients of green tea can strengthen locks, boost shine, reduce hair loss, and many more.
If you’re looking to improve your hair’s health and want to learn how to use green tea for hair care, I have covered all the potential benefits and some easy ways to use green tea for hair.
Is Green Tea Good for Your Hair?
You may have heard that using green tea on your hair can be beneficial for it. And it’s true! Both drinking and using green tea externally on hair is good for your hair.
Green tea contains nutrients and antioxidants like catechins, vitamin E, and panthenol. Here are the impacts of these compounds on hair:
- Catechins: These are powerful antioxidant compounds that work to block DHT – that’s the hormone that causes hair follicles to shrink over time leading to thinning and loss. So catechins in green tea help to repair damage and keep those follicles nice and healthy.
- Vitamin E: It is an antioxidant so it helps repair damage caused by free radicals and environmental stressors like pollution. Vitamin E also stimulates circulation to encourage growth. Basically, it works to keep your hair in tip-top shape.
- Panthenol: Also known as pro-vitamin B5. This ingredient is a serious hair strengthener and softener. It coats the hair shaft to make it more elastic and prevent breakage. Panthenol also attracts and retains moisture, so your hair stays silky and shiny.
Green Tea Hair Benefits
Besides being a delicious hot drink, green tea can make significant contributions to your hair health. Here are some hair benefits of green tea:
1. Allows for Efficient Nutrient Flow
You have to understand that your hair isn’t an independent entity in your body. It’s part of a larger, more complex network that includes your skin, nails, etc.
Fun fact: That network connects the hair with the skin, as it transmits blood and nutrients to the hair follicles during the growth stage. That’s why your diet affects your hair growth, as it also affects blood and oxygen flow to your scalp.
Research confirms that consuming various supplements for three months that have green tea extract in them can significantly increase blood flow and oxygen in the skin.
The increased blood and oxygen flow would stimulate hair growth. The same study conducted a similar experiment with different groups.
However, rather than taking green tea-rich supplements, researchers asked group A to drink 1 liter of green tea for three months.
Members of that group developed well-hydrated hair compared to group B.
2. Prevents Hair Loss
If you know anything about hormone-related hair loss, you know the most influential factor in that process is dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
Not only do high levels of DHT cause hair follicles to shrink, but they also shorten the hair growth cycle. That’s how people lose their hair.
Well, studies have shown the epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in green tea can protect hair follicles from the damaging effects of DHT.
A 2011 study examined the effects of EGCG on testosterone-induced hair loss in mice. The study concludes that testosterone causes hair loss by inducing follicular cell death, and this effect can be mitigated by applying EGCG directly to the affected area.
Ultimately, EGCG seems to prolong the growing stage of the hair and slow the resting stage, minimizing hair loss.
3. Promotes Hair Growth
Besides preventing hair loss, green tea can also promote healthy hair growth. In one study, researchers examined the effectiveness of herbal alternatives including green tea in treating androgenic alopecia.
They realized that EGCG can stimulate hair growth. It targets the dermal papilla cells, promoting them to stimulate hair growth.
4. Minimizes Split Ends
Yes, green tea can help minimize split ends in your hair. Having split ends indicates your hair is drying out. Green tea is the perfect solution to that problem because it’s rich in vitamin B.
Not only does it act as a moisturizing agent, but it also minimizes hair breakage.
5. Treats Dandruff
One of the many roots of dandruff forming on the scalp is a microbe called Malassezia globosa. It exists on everyone’s heads and feeds on the scalp’s oil.
Malassezia breaks down that oil into oleic acid. That’s when dandruff flakes start to show up. Using green tea can prevent oil buildup and regulate its production in the scalp.
That, in turn, won’t give Malassezia much chance to feed on that oil. Green tea can also soothe the agitation, redness, and itchiness of dandruff.
6. Make Your Shiny Hair
Rinsing your hair with green tea can give it a nice natural glow. That’s because green tea contains ingredients like vitamins B, C, and E along with antioxidants.
The vitamins nourish the hair and smooth down the outer cuticle. It makes your hair look super shiny and soft.
7. UV Ray Protection
The antioxidants in green tea protect your hair from UV rays and pollution. However green tea alone isn’t enough to fully protect your hair from the sun.
You’ll still need to use some type of hair product with UV protection if you’re going to be out in the sun for extended periods.
So while a quick green tea rinse won’t completely protect your hair at the beach all day, it does provide some extra conditioning and defense against environmental damage.
How to Use Green Tea for Your Hair?
It is already been proven that drinking green tea or using it on hair can make a difference. Now, here are some effective ways to use green tea for your hair care:
Tea Rinse and Spray
This method might be the most efficient one on our list because it allows you to make the most out of green tea.
Brew a strong batch of green tea and let it cool down to room temperature. After taking a shower, apply the liquid to your scalp and hair.
Make sure you saturate your scalp and work it through to the ends. Cover your head with a shower cap for 45 minutes, then rinse it off with cold water.
Fill up a spray bottle with the remaining cool green tea and keep it in the fridge for an extra soothing treat on sunny days!
Whenever you are going out spritz it onto your hair and scalp. The light mist helps hydrate hair and provides an instant cooling effect.
Hair Mask
You can apply a green tea hair mask treatment to get those hair-healthy green tea benefits and make your hair shiny.
Combine cooled green tea with natural ingredients like honey, yogurt, or avocado to create a hydrating hair mask.
Apply this all over your hair, pop on a shower cap, and let it sit for 20-30 minutes before rinsing out. The antioxidants will soak in to strengthen your strands. Do this once a week for extra conditioning.
Leave-in Treatment
If you want a leave-in treatment, boil green tea leaves in a carrier oil like coconut or almond oil to mix the nutrients.
Let the mixture cool and then use it to massage your scalp a few times a week. This green tea hair oil will stimulate your scalp and condition your hair.
Store Bought Products
Various high-quality shampoo products contain tea green extract. Regularly applying any of them on your roots and scalp will produce similar results to the tea rinse.
Like shampoos, multiple brands include green tea in their conditioners and hair masks. Apply green tea conditioners and leave them for however long the instructions specify, and you’ll get incredible results.
Potential Risk of Green Tea Haircare
Despite being a natural and beneficial product, using green tea on your hair does come with some potential downsides.
Dry Hair
Green tea contains tannins, which are natural compounds that can actually dry out your hair over time. If you have already dry hair, frequent use of green tea might lead to hair breakage.
So it’s really important to use a good conditioner after rinsing out the green tea to keep your hair from getting dried out.
Skin Irritation
Another thing is that green tea can irritate sensitive scalps. If you know your scalp is easily irritated, I’d recommend doing a small patch test with some green tea before applying it all over your head.
That way you can see if it causes any redness or itching for you.
Color Fading
Green tea has the potential to stain lighter-colored hair. Blondes and people with gray hair need to be extra careful about thoroughly rinsing their hair to get all of the green tea out.
Any residue left on the hair shaft can cause some discoloration over time and turn those pretty light locks a bit greenish. So it is better to avoid using green tea on hair if you have lighter hair.
Final Thoughts
So, using green tea on hair or drinking 1-3 cups of green tea can contribute significantly to preventing hair loss and promoting hair growth. But don’t drink or use it excessively as it may lead to dry hair, color fading, or health hazards.
More Natural Ingredients for Hair
If you want to explore the benefits of other natural ingredients for hair, check out the articles below: