Honey thread - from TBB and bits from old LHC

[ktani]

Not all tap water is equal. Both the mineral content and the pH can vary.

Some tap waters have a very low mineral content and a pH of 7, making them perfect for honey lightening. IMO, such tap water is exceptional, rather than common. I recommend using distilled or deionized water only for honey lightening. Of the two, I recommend distilled, if both are available.

Spring (bottled waters), well water and filtered waters all contain minerals, although they may have less of some impurities. Minerals can deplete the peroxide level of a honey lightening recipe.

Where I live, for example the water can go rusty. It runs clear most of the time but can dry with a rust colour on occasion and is safe to drink. The rust in my case comes from the pipes in my apartment building.

The rust can be from the water itself or the pipes it goes through, so even though the water itself may be fine, pipes can add iron to it.

I do not live where the information in this link is given, but it is generally applicable IMO, and does apply to the tap water where I do live.
"Iron and manganese .... minerals found in drinking water supplies .... minerals will not harm you .... they may cause reddish-brown or black stains on clothes or household fixtures .... Iron and manganese may be present in the water supply or .... caused by corroding pipes (iron or steel)."

“What factors contribute to the decomposition of H2O2?
.... primary factors contributing to H2O2 decomposition …. increasing temperature …. increasing contamination …. metals …. copper, manganese or iron …. "

"iron atom becomes an Fe+3 ion and oxygen becomes an 0-2 ion .... quickly joins with an H+ ion to form water. These two elements combine to form iron oxide, or rust."

Distilled water is used in the method developed by the Food Control Laboratory in Amsterdam, for testing honey for its peroxide value. The pH of distilled water is 7. Distilled water is what I recommend for honey lightening, because of its lack of minerals and its pH. It has been reported to yield better results in honey lightening recipes, than any other water used (with the exception of extaordinary tap water, that has the exact same properties, which is rare).

".... Food-Control Department laboratory in Amsterdam .... determine the content of glucose-oxidase in honey
Technical performance:
Distilled water is used " (this link no longer works)

[ktani]

Honey Lightening Results

On blonde hair

firebird - 3 sets of pictures, 2 sets linked - on previously dyed hair and virgin regrowth, with ground cinnamon and EVOO
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...&postcount=393, on a cassia treatment that had darkened her hair - with ground cinnamon and EVOO, no conditioner, -http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...&postcount=489

morgwn - on virgin hair with cassia - after using firebird's new honey lightening recipe with cassia, ground cinnamon and EVOO - no conditioner - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1097, on the condition of her hair following honey lightening with cassia, - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1101

kokuryu - on virgin, mid-blonde hair - using only tap water and honey, unmeasured - after 2 treatments, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1767, recipe details and the condition of her hair, - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1765, on the condition of her hair after 3 treatments, - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1801

melikai - on previously hi-lighted hair - the new dilution, with distilled water and cardamom, after 2 treatments
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=2055, on the condition of her hair after 2 treatments, - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=2060

BranwenWolf - honey lightening hi-lights on faded strawberry blonde dyed hair, - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3504, recipe and method details -http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3506

Shikyo - honey lightening on a mix of virgin and previously dyed hair (previously dyed 3 years ago), recipe and first results
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3901, new recipe - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3912, method details -http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3914, complete method details - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3920, more lightening - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3934, details on lighting and pictures - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=3936

[MerryKat]

History
My ends have been repeatedly dyed and henna'ed. I then grew virgin hair for 18 months. I had it coloured once at a salon and then started henna'ing again. I did about 1 henna gloss, 1 full henna treatment and 3 henna roots between October 08 and March 09.

Honey Lightening 1
May 09 I did my first honey lightening after reading a substantial amount of this thread. My mix was 4 Tbl Honey / 16 Tbl cool, boiled Water / 1 Tsp Cinnamon / 2 Tbl Coconut Oil which I left on for 2 hours under saran wrap. Very drippy and messy. This removed my most recent henna roots treatment and lifted a little of the colour at the ends. Found that there was too much coconut oil in that mix and it took ages to get rid of.

Lemon / Conditioner
I tried this a couple of days after the first honey lightening - partly to try and get rid of the greasies from the coconut oil and partly to experiment with the lightening of the henna. Seemed a little lighter all over, but it may just have been the removal of the oil which makes my hair appear darker.


You can see the virgin roots around 1 inch and the honey lightened henna around 1 inch before it moves back to the copper henna

Honey Lightening 2
June 09 I did my second honey lightening - could not remember the exact mix (info was at work). My mix was 2 Tbl Honey / 12 Tbl cool, boiled Water / 1 Tsp Cinnamon / 1 Tbl Coconut Oil which I left on for 1 1/2 hours under saran wrap. Less drippy and messy as I did not make as much, but hair was completely covered. This removed more henna from the roots and lifted even more of the colour at the ends. The roots were significantly extended and my hair is very nearly back to virgin colour at the roots - this portion was virgin hair which was henna'ed and then lightened. My ends are very close to my virgin colour and I guess one more lightening would take them almost back to virgin. However, I have a band between my roots and the ends which was the virgin hair which was salon coloured before being henna'ed which is still very much the copper henna I was applying. It does not seem to have lightened at all.

Unfortunately have not got any pictures after the second lightening.

To my mind the honey lightening definitely worked on my hair. I will try it again when I next have time to be sticky and drippy!

Happy Lightening!

[ktani]

History
My ends have been repeatedly dyed and henna'ed. I then grew virgin hair for 18 months. I had it coloured once at a salon and then started henna'ing again. I did about 1 henna gloss, 1 full henna treatment and 3 henna roots between October 08 and March 09.

Honey Lightening 1
May 09 I did my first honey lightening after reading a substantial amount of this thread. My mix was 4 Tbl Honey / 16 Tbl cool, boiled Water / 1 Tsp Cinnamon / 2 Tbl Coconut Oil which I left on for 2 hours under saran wrap. Very drippy and messy. This removed my most recent henna roots treatment and lifted a little of the colour at the ends. Found that there was too much coconut oil in that mix and it took ages to get rid of.

Lemon / Conditioner
I tried this a couple of days after the first honey lightening - partly to try and get rid of the greasies from the coconut oil and partly to experiment with the lightening of the henna. Seemed a little lighter all over, but it may just have been the removal of the oil which makes my hair appear darker.


You can see the virgin roots around 1 inch and the honey lightened henna around 1 inch before it moves back to the copper henna

Honey Lightening 2
June 09 I did my second honey lightening - could not remember the exact mix (info was at work). My mix was 2 Tbl Honey / 12 Tbl cool, boiled Water / 1 Tsp Cinnamon / 1 Tbl Coconut Oil which I left on for 1 1/2 hours under saran wrap. Less drippy and messy as I did not make as much, but hair was completely covered. This removed more henna from the roots and lifted even more of the colour at the ends. The roots were significantly extended and my hair is very nearly back to virgin colour at the roots - this portion was virgin hair which was henna'ed and then lightened. My ends are very close to my virgin colour and I guess one more lightening would take them almost back to virgin. However, I have a band between my roots and the ends which was the virgin hair which was salon coloured before being henna'ed which is still very much the copper henna I was applying. It does not seem to have lightened at all.

Unfortunately have not got any pictures after the second lightening.

To my mind the honey lightening definitely worked on my hair. I will try it again when I next have time to be sticky and drippy!

Happy Lightening!

Thank you so much for your report! I am glad to hear that you are making such good progress!

You proportions are right for the new dilution. 1 tablespoon honey to 6 tablespoons distilled water is the recipe basic so 2 to 12 is great. Not cooled boiled, but distilled, room temperature water. You do not need to boil it. That probably came from reading about herb tea, which was part of the early recipe variations.

All you need to store for the info is the first post here.

Please update when you can. I am very interested in how things go. And thank you for the picture too. I will add this report to the honey lightening and hennaed hair pictures post and the new dilution pictures post. ETA: Done!

It sounds as if your tap water is just fine. You can try distilled, to see if there is any difference but with the progress you have reported, I would just use your tap water to continue and save some money.

[ktani]

MerryKat

Here is a thread on distilled water.

[ktani]

A reminder

This thread is huge!

It can be a great read but it can also be confusing.

I have set up the first post to have all of the current information on honey lightening and the most frequently asked about topics, like how often honey lightening can be done.

I suggest that the first post become the place to browse for information, then reading through the thread will take one through the process of how the new recommendations came to be or evolve.

I am always happy to answer questions but the first post is the best place to start.

[ktani]

This thread, like the peroxide thread is going to be much tighter, easier to read, and a sleeker version.

The first posts of each thread will now be the source for the the most updated information (they are already) but I am hoping that they will be relied on more than they have been. That is what I designed them to be, current resource posts.

It will be much less confusing for those who wish to read the thread in more detail.

I will still be answering questions as needed.

[MerryKat]

Hi Ktani
Thanks for all your tireless efforts to keep this topic so beautifully arranged. I used boiled water because I did not have distilled water at home and wanted to try this immediately. I used boiled rather than straight tap water as we have hard water which my hair hates and the boiled water seems less harsh?

I will update you when I do another lightening and try and get some pictures of the colour variations.

[ktani]

Hi Ktani
Thanks for all your tireless efforts to keep this topic so beautifully arranged. I used boiled water because I did not have distilled water at home and wanted to try this immediately. I used boiled rather than straight tap water as we have hard water which my hair hates and the boiled water seems less harsh?

I will update you when I do another lightening and try and get some pictures of the colour variations.

You are most welcome! My pleasure.

I do not think boiled water makes a difference but you used it at room temperature and you are getting results that you are pleased with and that is what matters.

I look forward to your update and more pictures!

[PhillyGirl1978@]

I've done a few more treatments with the new dilution....today I left it on longer than an hour cause I fell asleep! I love how fast it's working! I think I'll do more tomorrow. I have been spraying more of the mixture around the front for natural highlights, it does look lighter and more shimmery. Now I just got some Punjabi Prime henna mixed and in the freezer. I will be hennaing tomorrow too, after my next honey treatment. Now, I know the red may come out redder and brighter on the parts that are lightened but will it retain the multifaceted shimmer that it has now, or would I have to do a honey treatment over the henna to get that? Also, would it be safe to do another honey treatment later Sunday after I henna? Or is that not a good idea?