how effective is using tea as a substitute for shampoo and/or conditioner?
Why would it be effective at all? Shampoo is basically a detergent, isn’t it? Is tea a detergent?
I don’t know about shampoo but it is good for cleaning the glass on my smartphone - but that’s plain tea with no milk or sugar.
It’s also effective cleaning a waxy buildup I get daily on the skin on the side of my nose.
I could show you a couple of shampoo brands which boast of having “tea extracts” in them, especially the ones used for dandruff treatment.
I like the question posed by UDS… Although, tea extract itself may not be a detergent or have a potent detergent-like action… but consider this from a different view point:
A shampoo basically may remove some of the excess oil from the scalp, kill certain microbes and confer a pleasant smell to the hair.
Tea extract is full of antioxidants and have been said to have antimicrobial properties and the smell isn’t too bad either… so I think by this line of thought it could be used as a substitute for a shampoo. It will dry your hair though (I’ve tried this! :P) so not a very good conditioner.
Given how badly black tea stains things, I’d be concerned about using it on light-colored hair. That wouldn’t be a problem with white or green teas, though.
I’d be worried about getting burned…
Then you should only buy your tea shampoo from a reputable dealer.
Don’t use it too late or your hair will be up all night.
I don’t know about in the US, but the fad over here is to put green tea in just about any product. It would not surprise me at all to see a green-tea shampoo.
Reminds me of that shampoo back in the 1970s that the commercials said was made with 1/3 real beer. “But don’t drink it!” they said. Well, no shit, how much of an alky do you think I am anyway?