Pinterest Tested: Brown Sugar Hair Straightener

Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? This is the place to find out! I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It’s like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!

Have you seen this Pin?

The caption claims that if you mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar with a cup of water and spray it into damp hair, it will air dry straight. This is one of those Pins that sounded so wacky, I had to give it a try. Straight hair without heat damage? As a curly haired girl, that would be a dream come true!

So I gave it a whirl. Today was a work-around-the-house Saturday, so I knew it would be the perfect day to try it out. I imagined that I would have a frizzy, sticky, sugary mess to deal with, so I wanted to be at home to rewash my hair when things went south.

I washed and towel dried my hair, then sprayed in the brown sugar water. I brushed it, then left it alone to air dry.

I have to say, I am completely surprised by the results:

My hair is NOT straight. At all. But it’s not frizzy or sticky either. It’s super stiff and crunchy, like I went overboard on gel and hairspray. Weird! Not what I expected. I guess you just never know how something will work until you try it.

At least I didn’t have to re-wash my hair. Of course, with all that sugar, I may be a magnet for bees. Or ants. Eek!

But one word of warning…my bathroom vanity and floor were covered in sugar-water overspray and got SO sticky! It sounded like I had suction cups on my sneakers when I walked in. I had to wash every surface down to remove all the stickiness.

Here’s just a little comparison, in case you have forgotten how UNLIKE the original Pin my hair turned out…