Holy Moly! Accidently bleached my hair with Cinnamon!

[Sarahmoon]

So I had another "Holy Moly" moment the other day. I wasn't sure if it was worth sharing, but I figured that's exactly what I said about the original Monistat thread and look how that one turned out.

Anyhow, I had been developing my hobby in perfumed hair misters, and blending them with essential oils. My favorite has been the one made with cinnamon oil, simply because it smells sweet, smell lasts forever, and you only need a little bit to get a lot of bang.

After a while, with the cinnamon mister, my hair began to feel a little crunchy, not dried out but just stiff (I think I had been overzealous in my use of the mister, I admit). I switched to just putting ground cinnamon in my conditioner to get the same smell. It rinsed out well, and left a wonderful aroma, I was happy.

Well, let's just say that two and a half months later, my very dark brown hair is looking quite a bit more "golden" these days. People keep pointing out how I have "dyed my hair". And of course I haven't. But it certainly has jumped 3 or 4 shades lighter. I have nothing else in which to attribute the change in color, I haven't changed my routine. I use the same water, I use all my same products, I am very sure it was the cinnamon that did it.

Sure enough, when I googled "cinnamon+hair+lighten", lo and behold, there are other beauty websites that have already dallied with this. *Slapping my forehead* And here I was thinking, "Oh look at this new thing I'm doing to fragrance my hair"... and all this time, people were doing it to naturally bleach their hair.

So, I guess if anybody is looking for an alternative way to bleach his/her hair color gradually, this might be an option besides industrial peroxide.

Thanks for the warning!!! I have never expected the nice brown cinnamon to do something like that.

Not to self: Never use cinnamon on hair.

[SHELIAANN1969]

History
In classical times, four types of cinnamon were distinguished (and often confused):

Cassia (Hebrew qəṣi`â), the bark of Cinnamomum iners from Arabia and Ethiopia


posted from Wiki--- someone was telling me they had cassia and I was like oh cool!! (BUt it was cassia (cinnamon) I was just saying it was a CASSIA plant and was funny.

[Áine]

Aine,

I would be cautious if your hair got that light.

Looking at the POV table of ground cinnamon, I would assume misting with this would be simillar to spraying a very weak solution of peroxide to the hair.

Yes, I have stopped using the cinnamon once I noticed the color change. It was my ends that finally convinced me that my hair was in fact lightening, otherwise I would have keep doing it, totally oblivious. It's funny how we don't tend to notice slight changes in the things we see daily until it becomes drastic enough.

My hair still appears to be very strong, no split ends, no texture change or dryness. Just lighter. I may have to look into coloring it back darker again. I'm not too fond of having dark roots and light hair.

[Henna Sooq]

this is a pretty interesting thread! making highlights would have been neat.

[blackfrostqueen]

Alright, I had to do an experiment! It was too tempting! The length of my hair is chemically dyed and so I've been trying to lighten my roots with honey (its not really noticeable except in the sun) but that's been going way too slow for my taste. SO I tried a run of ground cinnamon in my hair with conditioner over night. 8 hours of ground cinnamon and Herbal Essences Hello Hydration in my hair, I can say my hair is a little dry but nothing a wash and a five minute conditioner treatment wouldn't fit. But what is really amazing is the color change! It's no where close to the dyed length, but after a few more nights of treatment I bet I can get it closer!!

Here is the photos of my results!

Before Cinnamon:


After Cinnamon:

[Unofficial_Rose]

Oh my goodness, I always want to lighten my hair - must try this. Might help me stay out of the hairdressers a little longer!

[Áine]

Oh my goodness Blackfrostqueen!

That is most definitely a noticeable change. Now there is confirmation that I am not going crazy, and that there is actual lightening involved. Thanks so much for the photos. I can see that it has lifted your color and revealed (deposited?) more golden tones.

[Nynaeve]

Wow, blackfrostqueen, that is some crazy lightening.
Cinnamon is so delightfully brown, this lightening aspect is so crazy!
Note to self: never use cinnamon in hair unless I want to lighten.

[wintersun99]

I must be color blind'ish - it doesn't look any different to me, except that it looks like there is more of a glare on the second picture (I assumed it was from the light) Is it definately noticeable in natural daylight?

[Sarahmoon]

I thought it wasn't lighter in the second picture, but looks more "goldish" instead of "ashy".