Caramel Treatment Gone Wrong?

A few years ago I went to the salon and had a Carmel Treatment done. Afterwards the stylist blew out my hair and flat ironed it. The results? Incredibly soft, feathery hair, which I LOVED.

Flash forward to about a month ago. Desiring a moisture treatment that would make my hair soft like that again, I searched for and found a homemade caramel treatment recipe. Perfect, I thought. I could achieve the same results without the hefty salon bill? I was sold!

Well...not so perfect. For starters, mine didn't come out looking caramel in color. It looked more like gravy...beef gravy. :/ The smell wasn't so great either due to the apple cider vinegar in it, but I could deal with the smell. After all, I do ACV rinses all the time because my hair loves them. But the results were the most disappointing. I was expecting my hair to turn out buttery soft, but it didn't. In fact, I'd gotten much better results from just adding some honey and olive oil to my detangling conditioner.

Now, to be fair, after the Carmel Treatment was rinsed out at the salon, I don't remember touching my hair until after it was styled. Could it be that the results from a caramel treatment are only noticeable after heat has been applied to the hair? Or was this homemade recipe I'd found just not up to snuff?

If you've made a homemade Caramel Treatment, I'd love to hear about your results! Please comment :) Thank you!