Is There A Right Or Wrong Way To Do A Tea/Herbal Rinse?

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During the course of the week, I stumbled on someone's regimen. The most striking thing about the regimen was WHERE she inserted a tea rinse in her wash day. This intrigued me because it was quite different from what I usually did. So, I decided to try it out and I must confess I loved the results.

Before I go further, here's a little background for those that are new to rinses in general.

Just as the name implies, tea rinses are liquids made from brewing regular black or green tea or herbs for a while, allowing it to steep and cool before pouring it over your hair and scalp. Various teas have their unique functions but are generally used to reduce shedding, darken hair and stimulate growth. 

I do tea rinses as often as I remember and my favorite is black tea rinse because it stops my shedding on its tracks. But lately, I've been infusing a number of herbs in my regimen so rather than doing a tea rinse, I do herbal rinses. In the past, I've tried Rosemary, Hibiscus, Sage, Basil and most recently Moringa rinses.

After washing and deep conditioning, tea rinses usually serve as the final rinse. So, I apply using the throw and catch method and leave it for about two minutes before rinsing out again with cold water. I've never really tried to leave a tea rinse in my hair so it's more like a semi-final rinse.

After doing this method repeatedly, I realized that the tea rinses might probably not work as well as they should because I don't leave them in my hair long enough. This was why the wash day routine I saw left an impression on me.

So, instead of doing a tea rinse as a final rinse, I did it immediately after cleansing/shampooing and left it in my hair before applying a deep conditioner on it.

Now my wash day goes like this (Pre-poo, Shampoo/Co-wash, Tea Rinse, Deep Condition) rather than this ( Pre-poo, Shampoo/Co-wash, Deep Condition, Tea Rinse). With this method, the tea rinse can stay in my hair side by side with my deep conditioner for as long as I want it to which means I don't miss out on any of its benefits.

It's a win-win situation for me.

Now, I'm not saying this is a rule. Just like everything that concerns natural hair, this works for me and I prefer it.

So, over to you.
How do you do your tea rinse?
After shampooing or as a final rinse?