Honey thread - from TBB and bits from old LHC

**snowfaery** · October 13th, 2011, 09:34 AM

I've been doing a honey and cinnamon treatment now since last Friday. To date I've done 3 treatments, one Friday, one Monday, one Wednesday and planning to do another one tomorrow. I'm trying to take my hair from a dark brown just shy of black up to a light brown that I can put a red color on. My hair was in reasonable shape when I started but while it is lightening drastically I've been told it feels like it is frying my hair. The hair is softer but feels incredibly dry and looks super frizzed. Is this normal or am I possibly doing something wrong?

**ktani** · October 13th, 2011, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by snowfaery

I've been doing a honey and cinnamon treatment now since last Friday. To date I've done 3 treatments, one Friday, one Monday, one Wednesday and planning to do another one tomorrow. I'm trying to take my hair from a dark brown just shy of black up to a light brown that I can put a red color on. My hair was in reasonable shape when I started but while it is lightening drastically I've been told it feels like it is frying my hair. The hair is softer but feels incredibly dry and looks super frizzed. Is this normal or am I possibly doing something wrong?

It sounds like honey residue which is best removed with shampoo. Try that and see if it feels better. Just use your conditioner to follow or a diluted vinegar rinse first, then conditioner.

**ktani** · October 13th, 2011, 10:06 AM

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1096
"What has been reported occasionally is dry hair and crunchy ends. That is a honey residue result, and can easily be resolved by shampooing preferably, or a vinegar rinse. The effects are temporary when shampoo and/or vinegar are used, with shampoo being reported to work better than a vinegar rinse. Some honeys leave fewer residues than others."

Some honeys leave no appreciable residue. In only 2 cases as I recall was honey residue an ongoing problem.

**snowfaery** · October 13th, 2011, 10:03 PM

The honey I've been using is the Whole Foods 365 Organic Wildflower Amber Honey. Is this one of the ones that reported residue?

Additionally I'll try using a different shampoo and conditioner too. I've been washing it out with Suave Naturals Daily Clarifying Shampoo (rinse and repeat) and Conditioner. I hate how it smells and it seems to do as much damage as when I used 2 color removal kits in 1 day and because of it taking me to a 6 color hair dying it back to black brown in the same day.
I also have Aussie Cleanse and Mend which is also a double shampoo rinse and one conditioner rinse, thats what it seems to take to get all of the product out of my hair and use up the shampoo at the same rate of the conditioner. Normally it's 3 bottles of conditioner to 1 bottle of shampoo used.

**ktani** · October 14th, 2011, 03:42 AM

Originally Posted by snowfaery

The honey I've been using is the Whole Foods 365 Organic Wildflower Amber Honey. Is this one of the ones that reported residue?

Additionally I'll try using a different shampoo and conditioner too. I've been washing it out with Suave Naturals Daily Clarifying Shampoo (rinse and repeat) and Conditioner. I hate how it smells and it seems to do as much damage as when I used 2 color removal kits in 1 day and because of it taking me to a 6 color hair dying it back to black brown in the same day.
I also have Aussie Cleanse and Mend which is also a double shampoo rinse and one conditioner rinse, thats what it seems to take to get all of the product out of my hair and use up the shampoo at the same rate of the conditioner. Normally it's 3 bottles of conditioner to 1 bottle of shampoo used.

Suave clarifying shampoo contains a polymer that leaves a coating of its own. I know it did cause a problem like that for at least one person.

There is no list of honeys that leave residue, just one from the UK that does not. It may be that honey leaves very little residue initially - you honey lightened 3 times close together though and the residue did not get a chance to be washed out over time. ETA: or it may be a combination of the honey and the clarifying shampoo or just the shampoo.

"Normally", you should not need to clarify following honey lightening. Residue from honey usually just washes out with most shampoos, based on reports.

Aussie Cleanse and Mend conditioner used with honey for lightening before conditioner was no longer recommended was reported to block honey lightening. The same honey was used with a different conditioner and honey lightening was achieved. It contains something that is not compatible. I do not know if the formula has been changed. This was some time ago.

**TheBluffs** · October 15th, 2011, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by summergame

Do you need a special brush or can you get the same results when you just use your hands to put the treatment on?

I've done both with a basting brush

and my hands. Their is no difference, except that I find that you waste more with a brush.

**summergame** · October 16th, 2011, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by TheBluffs

I've done both with a basting brush

and my hands. Their is no difference, except that I find that you waste more with a brush.

Ok,thank you for your reply!

**beeshair** · October 18th, 2011, 05:47 AM

hello again!

just wanted to report that i've changed my method recently... i've probably done honey lightening upwards of twenty times within the space of three months, but i haven't really noticed a difference until the last month or so. from my experience, the most successful method has been the following:

– make sure hair is clean, as indicated at the beginning of the thread
– mix 3 1/2 - 4 tbsps of raw (preferably organic) honey mixed with 3/4 cup (metric) of distilled water with approximately 1 tbsp of EVOO (for any of you aussies on here, coles organic honey is my bet).
– let sit for upwards of five hours at room temperature with cling wrap over the top.
– apply half the mixture with a spray bottle and put a shower cap over it (i usually pour the dregs directly onto my hair once i've got the cap on)
– let sit for 30 - 45 minutes
– reapply half of the left over mixture to hair and let sit for another 30 minutes (i usually pour it on underneath the shower cap because i'm too lazy to spray it ha)
– repeat with the remaining mixture and wash

it's a fair bit of effort, but so far it's the only way that has repeatedly worked for me. my hair has gone from mid brown to dark blonde so far without any noticeable damage (i think).
but thanks so much to ktani for creating this thread – i'm so grateful people have taken the time to experiment with natural hair lightening recipes and are willing to share them with others! i know that if i hadn't found this forum, i'd probably have $500 worth of blonde highlights and very damaged, brassy locks aha.

**ktani** · October 18th, 2011, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by beeshair

hello again!

just wanted to report that i've changed my method recently... i've probably done honey lightening upwards of twenty times within the space of three months, but i haven't really noticed a difference until the last month or so. from my experience, the most successful method has been the following:

– make sure hair is clean, as indicated at the beginning of the thread
– mix 3 1/2 - 4 tbsps of raw (preferably organic) honey mixed with 3/4 cup (metric) of distilled water with approximately 1 tbsp of EVOO (for any of you aussies on here, coles organic honey is my bet).
– let sit for upwards of five hours at room temperature with cling wrap over the top.
– apply half the mixture with a spray bottle and put a shower cap over it (i usually pour the dregs directly onto my hair once i've got the cap on)
– let sit for 30 - 45 minutes
– reapply half of the left over mixture to hair and let sit for another 30 minutes (i usually pour it on underneath the shower cap because i'm too lazy to spray it ha)
– repeat with the remaining mixture and wash

it's a fair bit of effort, but so far it's the only way that has repeatedly worked for me. my hair has gone from mid brown to dark blonde so far without any noticeable damage (i think).
but thanks so much to ktani for creating this thread – i'm so grateful people have taken the time to experiment with natural hair lightening recipes and are willing to share them with others! i know that if i hadn't found this forum, i'd probably have $500 worth of blonde highlights and very damaged, brassy locks aha.

Great that you found ways to make it work for you and fantastic as to your results.

And you are very welcome.