Does chamomile lighten your hair, for real?

[soopahgrover]

I have dark blonde hair, and have used chamomile shampoos off and on for 8 years or so. I'm not really convinced that they lighten my hair at all. What say you?

For the record, I used:
Aubrey Organics Blue Chamomile (for at least two or three years)
Aubrey Organics Chamomile Luxurious (also for at least two or three years)
Chagrin Valley Soap Chamomile & Citrus Shampoo Bar (for a couple months now)

I've tried chamomile tea a few times too, but I haven't seen enough results to make it a habit.

A reference picture of my hair:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3552/3795329399_cd4258b3c4_m.jpg

[Unofficial_Rose]

Unfortunately not, or lots of us would be doing it instead of bleach/peroxide!

I think it may add golden tones, though, which is why it appears in products for blondes.

[Jeni]

Unfortunately not, or lots of us would be doing it instead of bleach/peroxide!

I think it may add golden tones, though, which is why it appears in products for blondes.

Id agree with this. I tend to think of it as being like cassia (at least for me). Cassia doesn't lighten my hair (med or dark blond, I don't even know anymore) but because it makes me hair more gold (or yellow...) it appears to be lighter.

[soopahgrover]

Hmm, I'm not familiar with cassia. Is that an ingredient in some products?

[Jeni]

If you do some searching on the site you'll find a very long cassia thread (along with several smaller ones) but the basics:

Its a plant sometimes called neutral or clear henna but its not henna. It has a very light gold/yellow color vs the orange/red from henna. Its not permanent like henna either seems like the effects last ~a month for most people. You mix the powder with liquid (water, different teas, etc) and sometimes things like honey, oils, conditioner, henna (if you want a reddish color), etc. The color I have (strawberry blond/orange in the pic) is a mix of cassia and henna. Mix ingredients into a mud, apply, let sit, rinse. Like henna.

For me cassia gives my hair a more golden color (last maybe a week or 2), makes my hair feel slightly smoother, shinier, gives it a little body...My hair is damaged from repeated chemical lightening, I think cassia has helped keep the dry icky ends manageable.

.....That was prob more info then you wanted...sorry

[Phexlyn]

Id agree with this. I tend to think of it as being like cassia (at least for me). Cassia doesn't lighten my hair (med or dark blond, I don't even know anymore) but because it makes me hair more gold (or yellow...) it appears to be lighter.
This, but in cases of very light blonde hair, camomille or cassia can even darken the colour, although it will be more golden as well. It always happens to my white blonde roots ;)

[Katze]

What they said. This is another one of these myths that drives me crazy!

I also have the shampoos you mention and I think they are very strong, something other people might consider harsh, but I like the fact that my hair looks blonde for a day or two after using them! When my hair does not have enough moisture, it looks blonde (at least to me), but if I WO or CO it goes very dark.

Many people have found that chamomile gives them a golden rinse, as other posters have already said, but for me, the hassle of mixing real chamomile then cleaning all those little bits out of the shower is not worth a yellowish color that doesn't do much for me, personally. To each their own! :)

[soopahgrover]

Thanks, everybody!
I'll have to read more about cassia.

I guess what I don't understand is how any product could make your hair look lighter for just a few days. Darkening for a few days, I could make some sense of. But it seems like any lightening effect would have to be permanent, wouldn't it?

[Jeni]

I don't know all the tech stuff but it isn't lightening your hair its just adding a gold/yellow color to the hair that makes it look lighter....At least that's how I see it.

[Earth Angel]

Hi , i would say that Chamomile is more likely to 'brighten' blonde hair rather than 'lighten'.
Natural blonde hair can dull quite easily in winter (lack of sunlight) and mineral deposits and chlorine in water. I have natural ash blonde hair which has a tendancy to look duller in winter so I've had a few golden highlights put in occasionally to brighten it, but I do use some chamomile shampoos and condtioners to maintain the brightness, which helps :)

It may also depend on the shade of blonde hair as i dont think it will work for everyone in the same way

[smileycat]

I think Katze is on to something. My scalp is pretty oily. I tend to prefer more cleansing shampoos at least every other time I wash in part because the excess sebum makes my hair appear darker. I lose my natural lighter blonde highlights that make my hair color dark blonde and not something else. CO or heavy conditioning after shampoo makes my hair take on a monotone color that I am not crazy about, though CO failed as a washing method for me anyway.

[NouvelleNymphe2]

I have light brown hair with lots of natural highlights and a few sparklies, and I really like the corn/gold color Cassia adds. I also use chamomile powder, rhubarb powder, and carcuma spice that I will mix with my Cassia treatments (along with EVOO and Cinnamon). I think all of this adds a vibrant lighter dimension to my light brown hair. Cassia also improves the condition of my hair. Honestly for me what lightens my hair the most is summer and being outside. My hair goes from light brown with highlights to a darker blonde with a few brown lowlights and lots of light blonde mixed in there. HTH, you have BEAUTIFUL hair btw. It is quite long and looks like it's in excellent condition. I'm going to check out your routine for sure!:eyebrows:

[Springlets]

As far as I have read around on these boards, chamomile- as well as other teas- have a slight acidity to them, which would lighten hair slowly. Like with lemon juice, which has a lot more acidity to it, I imagine it would depend on drying your hair in the sun so that the UV rays can bleach the hair with the cuticle opened from the acidity in the lemon juice. This is a damaging process for hair, of course.

This might explain better than I: http://www.healthmango.com/does-lemon-juice-lighten-your-hair.html

You might want to try catnip tea instead which is supposed to add light blonde tones. Or try honey treatments which can truly lighten hair without damage.

From old post by Ktani:

I use catip tea - I get my catnip from the health food store - organic - It gives light yellow natural looking tones.
I personally find it more conditioning than chamomile - I have used both German and Roman chamomile and found them drying and I got build up. I used a chamomile rinse for over a year.
A bag of the cut and sifted catnip that would last appox several months based on washing 2x per week is about $2.00CND
I use it to cover grey but for you just steep 1 level tsp in over 250 ml boiled water, covered for 30 min. Deactivate by straining it into a 2nd mug - I just use a tea strainer - I use bone china mugs from the dollor store and cover till cooled down.
It will keep in the fridge 7 - 10 days - I strain it into an old washed out shampoo bottle.
Then pour through you hair after shampooing and cover with plastic or shower cap for 10 to 30 min. and rinse out. You can condition afterwards if you want - I do not.
Beautiful light blonde tones.


Honey thread link: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148&highlight=peroxide


HTH :)

[soopahgrover]

Thanks everybody! I missed the recent action in this thread.
I don't think I've ever tried catnip tea. Maybe I should. :)

[Spanky]

Thought I would share my own experiences in this old thread. Chamomile made my blond hair golden. After two days of spraying it on my hair I could not believe how gold my hair was, it evened out the colour too. I think for lightening you are best off with baking soda.

[ktani]

Thought I would share my own experiences in this old thread. Chamomile made my blond hair golden. After two days of spraying it on my hair I could not believe how gold my hair was, it evened out the colour too. I think for lightening you are best off with baking soda.

Baking soda does not lighten hair that I know of but it can be drying which makes hair appear to be lighter because of the dryness. That is why when hair is moisturized it can appear to be darker but it is not really. It is just no longer dry.

See this thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=89497

ETA: Chamomile can leave hair golden. However, there are now 2 reports where it lightened hair colour too - one gradually - and one more than that.

[emilia1992]

Hello there, over a year on!

Over the summer I did try camomile tea (the teabags from a supermarket, made to double strength). I soaked my hair in it and sat out with my back to the sun. On my very dark brown roots, it did nothing, but on the dyed parts, which were brown, the hair became blonder, though this was temporary. Thus I think that it deposits some sort of yellow colouring in the hair (thus it only showed up on the lighter strands), rather than actually lighten hair.