Has anybody used honey to lighten your hair color?

you forgot an entire category of responses, namely, for those who TRIED to lighten their hair with honey and had NO results.

This worries me because it seems like many people here believe that honey is some kind of natural hair bleach, which it isn't. The numerous claims that it is are anecdotal, with dubious photographic evidence, that, IMO, has not been tested in a controlled way.

I really like using honey on my hair; SMTs have gone a long way in restoring my damaged hair's softness and shine, though I have cut most of the damage and am still doing so. Honey is great for eczema/SD, calming and soothing itchy scalp or skin. It also gives wonderful shine, which I believe many people are mistaking for lightening.

However, in all my years of using honey on my hair and skin, I have NEVER found it to bleach my hair. I regularly use honey masks, and have some sun damage on my skin. I would love to have the negligable amount of peroxide supposedly present in diluted honey lighten my hair without damage, or fade the brown spots on my face...but this hasn't happened. Nor have SMTs on my BF's hair lightened his hair at all; he gets lighter streaks from the sun naturally, but honey seems to have no effect.

Furthermore, in a test in 2007 where I compared non-honey-soaked batches of my and BF's hair to hair left soaking in a diluted honey mixture for three days, there was no noticeable difference apart from shin; not on my color damaged hair and not on his virgin hair. After storage, the samples returned to the same lack of shine as the control samples.

I spent several weeks trying to wade through the honey information on this site, much of which is contradictory or confusing, and could not get a clear or coherent answer. Therefore, I, personally, dismiss the idea as not well thought out.

It is important when making claims about a product or substance to make sure that they are based on some kind of evidence other than circumstantial or anecdotal, IMO.

To answer your question, even though your poll doesn't provide for it; I tried honey hoping it would lighten my hair and did not have any results.

What I did see is fading of the color that was there, as well as extra shine from honey treatments, AND lighter hair after washing. The fade and the lighter color from washing happen without honey, therefore, I cannot assume that honey is responsible.

I hope this makes sense and helps explain my point of view; I know I am not the only one on this site who did not have lighter hair after using honey.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GlassEyes

It's distilled water now, actually. The recipe has been modified a lot in the past year. xD;

---

Not for me my dear! I'm sharing my experience and what has worked for me. ;) You'll find that many of us use recipes that we find work for us. There are no rules. :flowers:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Katze

you forgot an entire category of responses, namely, for those who TRIED to lighten their hair with honey and had NO results.

This worries me because it seems like many people here believe that honey is some kind of natural hair bleach, which it isn't. The numerous claims that it is are anecdotal, with dubious photographic evidence, that, IMO, has not been tested in a controlled way.

I really like using honey on my hair; SMTs have gone a long way in restoring my damaged hair's softness and shine, though I have cut most of the damage and am still doing so. Honey is great for eczema/SD, calming and soothing itchy scalp or skin. It also gives wonderful shine, which I believe many people are mistaking for lightening.

However, in all my years of using honey on my hair and skin, I have NEVER found it to bleach my hair. I regularly use honey masks, and have some sun damage on my skin. I would love to have the negligable amount of peroxide supposedly present in diluted honey lighten my hair without damage, or fade the brown spots on my face...but this hasn't happened. Nor have SMTs on my BF's hair lightened his hair at all; he gets lighter streaks from the sun naturally, but honey seems to have no effect.

Furthermore, in a test in 2007 where I compared non-honey-soaked batches of my and BF's hair to hair left soaking in a diluted honey mixture for three days, there was no noticeable difference apart from shin; not on my color damaged hair and not on his virgin hair. After storage, the samples returned to the same lack of shine as the control samples.

I spent several weeks trying to wade through the honey information on this site, much of which is contradictory or confusing, and could not get a clear or coherent answer. Therefore, I, personally, dismiss the idea as not well thought out.

It is important when making claims about a product or substance to make sure that they are based on some kind of evidence other than circumstantial or anecdotal, IMO.

To answer your question, even though your poll doesn't provide for it; I tried honey hoping it would lighten my hair and did not have any results.

What I did see is fading of the color that was there, as well as extra shine from honey treatments, AND lighter hair after washing. The fade and the lighter color from washing happen without honey, therefore, I cannot assume that honey is responsible.

I hope this makes sense and helps explain my point of view; I know I am not the only one on this site who did not have lighter hair after using honey.

---

This is an excellent point Katze. I offer up my photos before and after honey used as lightening. It must be noted that I also used chamomile soaks. Which one did the lightening? I can't say, so this is once again anecdotal in nature since I can't specify which item did the actual lightening. However, since I only did the chamomile soaks infrequently and used the honey each time I washed, I have always attributed the majority of the lightening to the honey. It should be noted that this took at least four months to achieve. It may have been longer. I know I started in Dec. of '05 and was able to use the coloring sometime in the spring.

Another important note: about 50% of my hair in the photos above was grey hair dyed brown. The remainder was naturally brown. Obviously the naturally brown hair lightened also, but I would think that the greys that were dyed blonde may have been more easily reactive to the honey and chamomile than if it was all 100% naturally brown hair. Something to bear in mind.

Hair before honey & chamomile treatments:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n47/Darian.jpg


Hair after a couple months:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...anhair1305.jpg


Hair after even more time and treatment:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...nhair20706.jpg


I then had achieved a light enough shade to be able to use commercial shampoo-in hair which was my goal - to lighten my hair enough that I could get the results I wanted from hair color without having to resort to a 2 step bleaching process.

Sorry I didn't think about putting that in the choices Katz. I figured when people picked that they had done it but did NOT like it then they would explain why....either hair became dry or no results, etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darian Moone

This is an excellent point Katze. I offer up my photos before and after honey used as lightening. It must be noted that I also used chamomile soaks. Which one did the lightening? I can't say, so this is once again anecdotal in nature since I can't specify which item did the actual lightening. However, since I only did the chamomile soaks infrequently and used the honey each time I washed, I have always attributed the majority of the lightening to the honey. It should be noted that this took at least four months to achieve. It may have been longer. I know I started in Dec. of '05 and was able to use the coloring sometime in the spring.

Another important note: about 50% of my hair in the photos above was grey hair dyed brown. The remainder was naturally brown. Obviously the naturally brown hair lightened also, but I would think that the greys that were dyed blonde may have been more easily reactive to the honey and chamomile than if it was all 100% naturally brown hair. Something to bear in mind.

Hair before honey & chamomile treatments:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n47/Darian.jpg


Hair after a couple months:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...anhair1305.jpg


Hair after even more time and treatment:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...nhair20706.jpg


I then had achieved a light enough shade to be able to use commercial shampoo-in hair which was my goal - to lighten my hair enough that I could get the results I wanted from hair color without having to resort to a 2 step bleaching process.

---

Wow! Now that is an incredible difference.
That is why I started this to see if others do it differently than the new method and if they have picture results like that.
Does your hair seem in good condition with the honey?

Darian Moone - So how long do you think was between the first and last pictures?
What was your honey recipe and how long would you leave it on? Was it put on wet or dry hair?
Thanks in advance for any answers.

It was at LEAST 4 months. I used a mixture of about 65% honey and 35% cheap non-cone condish. I put it on wet hair and let it sit about an hour. Sometimes I shampooed before and sometimes I didn't.

When I did the chamomile soak I would use a handful of tea bags and steep them in a pot of boiling water. When cooled to warm/tepid, I would put the pot in the sink and literally soak my head for as long as I could stand being upside down. Then I would also do the honey treatment above.

And yes...honey made my hair soft and shiny and moisturized. Chamomile can be very drying to the hair especially when used regularly so the honey was helpful in moisturizing.

Darian, I seem to see more flash (more shadows) in that last pic, causing a light sheen on your hair. This makes it hard for me to see the difference...but if you say it changed, then it did!

I really wanted to lighten my hair a shade or two, but sun exposure has done more for me than honey ever did. I suspect that in MOST situations and for MOST honey, the peroxide available is negligable at best. Otherwise, I think we would have heard more about this elsewhere (or in folk recipes, like lemon juice for lightening). Asking BF, a chemist, and a student of mine who is a honey saleswoman, about possible peroxide in honey, and both ridiculed the idea - as did all the henna artists I know who put honey in their henna paste. Henna on skin reacts quickly to chlorine in tap water, for example...but honey seems to boost the process. Of course, we don't really know how henna works, either...

Chamomile doesn't lighten hair. For my hair-colored hair, it gives a yellowish dull color that then fades out - at best. But chamomile isn't bleach!

I have agreed to disagree with Ktani, and, again, I am not the only one who does not see that honey has lightened their hair. Personally I think the idea is based on shoddy research, but if others disagree, that's fine. I just know how disappointing it can be to try something you have hoped would work and not have it work, when other people say it does. I think LHC members should be careful about making these kinds of claims, but, again, that's my opinion. :flower:

I shared my experiences and folks can take it or leave it. My hair started out far too dark to be able to accept drug store hair dying kits. It lightened enough through the use of honey, chamomile and - I forgot to mention maybe - hot/warm EVOO treatments. Please remember that I had dyed brown hair. The results may be that the combination of these items used consistently over time pulled the chemical coloration out of my hair - rather than actually bleaching. I never claimed chamomile was a bleach. Or honey or EVOO. I'm giving my results. And yes. My hair lightened considerably. But it took months, and months (at LEAST 4 months to be exact). I am not the only one who has achieved this. The results above are not the result of flash or shadow. I have no reason to mislead anyone. I don't own stock in honey. ;)

Much of the info shared on the LHC is indeed anecdotal in nature. Everyone's hair reacts differently, especially when you are working with natural products. My hair hates aloe. Go figure.