Honey disaster

[Sydney]

I like to experiment, i've used olive oil, and coconut oil with my regular hair conditioner with much success. I've seen that expensive hair treatments usually only contain a small amount of these ingredients in their products. Lately I've wanted to try honey out, and I've seen shampoo and conditioner ranges with honey in the ingredients....anyway I read somewhere that it is good to add honey to conditioner and use as normal so, yeah, I added about a tablespoon full of honey to my conditioner and used it.

It stuck to my hair, It felt slightly sticky (but smooth and detangled) but I was more concerned that it would not rinse out. I had a bit of a panic attack as I thought it would bleach my hair so I frantically had to wash it all out with a lot of shampoo..

I think I've learned my lesson, next time I want to experiement, I will ask your opinions first!

I would like to know though, is honey safe to use with conditioner? Would it have lightened my hair if I had not washed it out properly??

[jera]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Did you try heating the ingredients a couple of seconds in the microwave first??

[Sydney]

yes, I heated the honey in the microwave first as I heard this can stop it from lightening hair. I think it would have worked really well for my hair if I wasn't so worried about it lightening my hair as it did actually feed really nice (before I washed it out)

[Roseate]

Microwaving the honey should stop any lightening. Also, people trying to use honey for lightening generally leave it in for at least an hour, usually more, so if you are just doing a quick conditioning treatment in the shower you shouldn't have anything to worry about!

My hair loves honey. I usually use it in a SMT (1T honey, 4T conditioner, 1T aloe), warm it up in the microwave and I've never noticed any lightening, or any stickiness either. Just soft hair!:)

[freznow]

Unmicrowaved honey, if left on for AT LEAST one hour, has a slight chance of lightening hair a shade or two, nothing drastic.

It is also water soluble, so washes out by itself easy. Adding to conditioner makes it easier to spread, though.

[ktani]

Everyone has given you excelent advice. I am so sorry you panicked.

If you want to make sure that there is no possibility of lightening, separately microwave the honey for 30 seconds to under 1 minute, before using, with conditioner.

[Carolyn]

I do SMT's almost every week with honey in them. I don't heat the honey and leave it on my hair over an hour. I've never had any lightening.

[ktani]

I do SMT's almost every week with honey in them. I don't heat the honey and leave it on my hair over an hour. I've never had any lightening.

If you use aloe gel, that helps deplete natural peroxide and some conditioners contain ingredients that interefere with honey lightening. Then there is the honey. Some produce very little peroxide.

[Carolyn]

If you use aloe gel, that helps deplete natural peroxide and some conditioners contain ingredients that interefere with honey lightening. Then there is the honey. Some produce very little peroxide.I didn't know that! I do use aloe gel but use whichever conditioner tickles my fancy that day.

[ktani]

I didn't know that! I do use aloe gel but use whichever conditioner tickles my fancy that day.

The information surprised me when I found it. Aloe gel contains 3 x the amount of Vitamin C than raw lemon juice, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=83009&postcount=429. Vitamin C is oxidized by peroxide, and the natural peroxide produced by honey can be depleted in doing so.

[happymommy]

I use about an ounce of honey to 7 ounces of condish for an every day CO. I've never had a problem with it lightening my hair or leaving any kind of residue.

However, if the humidity is very low, as in the winter here, I have to leave the honey out as it makes me more frizzy. Kind of a reverse humectant action I think.

I've also used 50/50 honey and condish as an overnight deep treatment, after heating it, with good results.

[Katze]

I do SMT's almost every week with honey in them. I don't heat the honey and leave it on my hair over an hour. I've never had any lightening.

Same here. The only 'problem' I have had with honey is not rinsing it out completely enough and having sticky patches around my hairline. This is easily solved with another rinse. :)

I never heat my honey, just mix it with pure aloe and conditioner, and I often use this as the last 'C' in my CWC wash.

It sounds like the real 'disaster' was that you freaked out, and I'm sorry that happened. Many people here on LHC use honey regularly and like it - for me, it's been a great help to severely damaged, fragile hair and a sensitive, itchy scalp.

hope you are feeling less worried now! :flower:

[Teazel]

For me, honey is the magic ingredient in my hair care. I always add it to my conditioner (I just apply a tablespoon of liquid honey after applying conditioner) and usually add aloe vera gel, too. From what I understand, the conditions have to be just right for honey to do any lightening. :)

[Delilah]

Honey lightening is a very VERY slow process, and the honey needs to be kept wet on the hair for many hours, multiple times to see a lightening effect.
I've used honey for this, and it rinses out fine with a lot of water. You may need to rinse more than you usually do with conditioner, 3-5 minutes under the showerhead should get it out completely unless your hair is very thick.
I wouldn't let this discourage you from using honey, perhaps take the above suggestions to microwave it first and rinse a bit extra.

[lora410]

Honey will not lighten your hair in a few minutes. You would have to leave in on for hours. It is safe to mix with conditioner :)

[ktani]

With the new dilution, 1 hour is the time recommended per treatment. Some people leave a treatment on longer.

Pictures of honey lightening with the new dilution
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=227548&postcount=1906

Pictures of honey lightening with just honey and water
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=227610&postcount=1907

The Pictures Post of some reported results with honey lightening, catagorized by hair colour
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=133707&postcount=1095

Pictures of honey lightening on dark, dyed hair
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=457007&postcount=3341

[Sydney]

Thank you all for your expert advice! I might even try it again now I know it is safe! I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again :)