Has anybody used honey to lighten your hair color?

[plainjanegirl]

What were your results?
How long did it take to get it the color you wanted?
Did you stick with it or give up?
Did the honey affect the condition of your hair in any way?
Would you recommend others to use it?
What was your mix and method?
In your opinion was it worth the time and mess?
Etc. ?

[Oskimosa]

I'm sure ktani will come along and help out linking to other people's use of honey lightening :)

I haven't done it but I'm thinking I might try it sometime next year. I do full head henna applications and expect the color to go too dark. I guess I'll bring it back down with honey at that point, but I know henna can be hard to pull. Is that funny, to expect to dislike my color in the future when I fully like it now???

[plainjanegirl]

I'm sure ktani will come along and help out linking to other people's use of honey lightening :)

I haven't done it but I'm thinking I might try it sometime next year. I do full head henna applications and expect the color to go too dark. I guess I'll bring it back down with honey at that point, but I know henna can be hard to pull. Is that funny, to expect to dislike my color in the future when I fully like it now???


Well maybe your hair will surprise you and you will like it.
Good luck though!!
By the way the color in your avatar pic is so vibrant....very pretty.

[Darian Moone]

I use honey at least monthly to give my hair a good moisturizing treatment. It makes my hair soft, manageable and nicely moisturized. I love the stuff!

A couple years ago I dyed my hair dark brown and then decided after about a year that I wanted to return to blonde. I used honey conditioning treatments as well as warm olive oil soaks and chamomille tea soaks to lighten my hair to a level where it would accept the shampoo in hair color (blonde) that I wanted. It took me about 4-5 months to get it lightened enough to use color.
I can't recommend honey highly enough. It's great stuff. :)

[plainjanegirl]

I use honey at least monthly to give my hair a good moisturizing treatment. It makes my hair soft, manageable and nicely moisturized. I love the stuff!

A couple years ago I dyed my hair dark brown and then decided after about a year that I wanted to return to blonde. I used honey conditioning treatments as well as warm olive oil soaks and chamomille tea soaks to lighten my hair to a level where it would accept the shampoo in hair color (blonde) that I wanted. It took me about 4-5 months to get it lightened enough to use color.
I can't recommend honey highly enough. It's great stuff. :)


Well that is great to hear.
Thanks for your info about what you have used honey for and how it does!!

[Dientje]

I've tried to lighten my hair with honey, but I found out that my hair is not particularly fond of honey. It did lighten the color a little bit, but I have only done it three times. I don't remember which mix I used, though.

Provided your hair likes honey, it seems worth the effort if you want lighter hair. Too bad my hair doesn't like it.

[Tangles]

I'm not interested because when my hair gets lightened, it looks nice initially and then

1) Begins to look brassy, dry, and dull (even if it is perfectly healthy)

2) Becomes more susceptible to sun damage and further bleaching over time.

[Oskimosa]

Well maybe your hair will surprise you and you will like it.
Good luck though!!
By the way the color in your avatar pic is so vibrant....very pretty.


Thank you! Yours looks a bit like my natural color, at least with the flash. I'd expect honey to give you a nice sun-kissed look.

[chrissy-b]

I have only done it a couple of times, and I used a warmed mixture of olive oil and honey. It lightened my hair a bit, not a drastic change, but my ends were almost black from repeated dying and now they are a lighter reddish brown.

The best thing about the mixture I used was how soft it made my hair.

[chrissy-b]

I have only done it a couple of times, and I used a warmed mixture of olive oil and honey. It lightened my hair a bit, not a drastic change, but my ends were almost black from repeated dying and now they are a lighter reddish brown.

The best thing about the mixture I used was how soft it made my hair.

[tiny_teesha]

i did it last year in summer, after every wash for a few months, and i used it back when the conditioner was what it was diluted with. The results were subtle and lovely! Only noticeably with camera flash really. I'll be doing it again this summer!

[neon-dream]

Noo, I've never used it.
I love my natural hair colour, so I have no need for it :)
xxx

[Speckla]

Did not like it. Honey just made my hair sticky, frizzy, and crunchy. The color did not change at all.
________
Lamborghini lm001 (http://www.lamborghini-tech.com/wiki/Lamborghini_LM001)

[mellie]

I love it! It made my hair beautifully soft and wavy and quite a bit lighter over time. I would definitely recommend it as a much healthier alternative for anyone considering using chemical lightening.

[LuXious]

It took several tries and I also used yogurt, but it worked well to lighten henna. It went from purple to medium coppery red. This was a year ago. My mom noticed right away when I met her for dinner one night. Too bad I didn't stop there. Wouldn't have needed the drastic trims. I think the mix was drizzle a bunch of honey into a big glop of plain fat-free yogurt or Suave Naturals coconut conditioner. I did not know about the water dilution method yet. Left it on for an hour each time.

[lacroixhc]

I've done the 1parthoney/5-6 parts H20 three times in the last week. I have about 1 inch of dark roots, the rest of my hair has highlights and lowlights.. i'm med blond with quite dark roots that I want to blend naturally so I can grow out naturally.. I see some very, very subtle lightening. a good thing I guess due to the gentleness.. I see more golden and light in the roots, not obvious to anyone but me, but over time, it should help that blending process very subtly. It is a bit of work to go through the process, but it's probably worth it in the end to maintain hair health?? I hope so anyway, I will do it once or twice a week over the next couple of months to see how much effect I can actually get.

What were your results?
How long did it take to get it the color you wanted?
Did you stick with it or give up?
Did the honey affect the condition of your hair in any way?
Would you recommend others to use it?
What was your mix and method?
In your opinion was it worth the time and mess?
Etc. ?
__________

[blondecat]

I did try it at the time, as a 2 week contol to the experiment.

It worked quite well for me, but, then I am a natural blonde anyway and had to cover my hair out in the sun, whilst doing the Honey challenge. As the Sun bleaches my hair too.

I still have the pictures, but, haven't managed to fix my profile setting yet, so I cannot post them.

I have no interest in coninueing the honey challenge, but, I do still use honey as my weekly hair mask, It makes a great super conditioner for me, and adds a Brillient shine :)

[GlassEyes]

I used it pre-henna to lighten my hair.

I did a treament practically every day, and the results were actually COMMENTED on. I went from black to golden brown in a period of weeks.

[NeilTheFuzz]

I have to say, I find the idea a bit bizzare. I am very interested in how it works though. I would have assumed it would make a very sticky mess! :p

[Darian Moone]

I have to say, I find the idea a bit bizzare. I am very interested in how it works though. I would have assumed it would make a very sticky mess! :p

Usually you wouldn't use honey on it's own. You mix it with a non-cone conditioner, apply it to your hair and let it sit. It is not sticky at all and rinses out clean. You can leave it in for a short time and just receive the softening and moisturizing effects, or leave it in longer for very mild lightening.

[magpielaura]

I've been doing honey lightening treatments most weeks for the past couple of months. The results are subtle and natural looking. When I've got some results that will show up well in photos I'll post them in the honey thread (when someone shows me how to put pictures up! Still have no avatar...) I've taken a few "before" shots. It has seemed to me that the most noticeable colour change was on the older, blonder, more sundamaged parts rather than the darker hair nearer the roots that I was hoping to blend in, so I am now doing an SMT treatment from the ears down and honey (1 tablespoon with 6 of distilled water) on the rest. I separate the 2 treatments with a piece of cling film and put a swim hat over the lot for an hour or so with a towel wrapped around to catch the sticky drips!
I find honey very conditioning and would use it in some way even if there was no lightening effect. Its not crunchy and I either use conditioner or water alone to rinse it off.

[Raven69]

I cringe at the thought of putting anything in my hair especially if it is a food item...only use actual shampoo & conditioner and styling products.

[GlassEyes]

Usually you wouldn't use honey on it's own. You mix it with a non-cone conditioner, apply it to your hair and let it sit. It is not sticky at all and rinses out clean. You can leave it in for a short time and just receive the softening and moisturizing effects, or leave it in longer for very mild lightening.
It's distilled water now, actually. The recipe has been modified a lot in the past year. xD;

[GlassEyes]

I cringe at the thought of putting anything in my hair especially if it is a food item...only use actual shampoo & conditioner and styling products.
...you REALLY haven't been here long, have you? xD:p

[Marie99]

I tried, but the kind of honey I have did not do anything for me.

[NurseMama]

The only lightening that I have ever done with honey was to lighten henna that was too dark. I combined the honey with yogurt, deep conditioning treatments, and clarifying poos to pull some of the henna out before it oxidized. It worked! I am a copper head now instead of a burgandy head!

[Bianca]

I did it yesterday, and it did get lighter. I had a part of my hair that was a little darker than my ends, but now it's all the same color. Or close anyway :p Much better results than I had expected.

[brok3nwings]

I have done the old honey lightening with conditioner and the new one. Each one i did about 4 or 5 times. I find it hard to see results in my hair as i can go from blond to twany with different lights... but this time i can almost afirm that yes, there is lightening. It isnt easy with the water method but it seams to work better. About conditioning, the condition of my hair used to be great with conditioner, without although it doesnt damage the hair, it seams to be harder to take out the honey as it can easily dry in the hair and when its dry its difficult to take it out (only with shampoo or a lot of CO).
Yes i would advice this method for those who wishes a lighter natural shade :) and a lot of pacience! :P

[Tangles]

I used it pre-henna to lighten my hair.

I did a treament practically every day, and the results were actually COMMENTED on. I went from black to golden brown in a period of weeks.

WOW! So you're saying the combo of honey + henna gives you a golden color? Was it very reddish?

[jojo]

I cringe at the thought of putting anything in my hair especially if it is a food item...only use actual shampoo & conditioner and styling products.

I am quite the opposite, I would rather put something which is natural on my hair, like if ifs good enough to eat my thoughts are its good enough for my hair. I have used honey and still do, it conditions and puts highlights in my hair without the added stress that chemicals would do.:)

[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.

[Darian Moone]

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:

[Darian Moone]

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/c277/Darian47/Darian.jpg


Hair after a couple months:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/Darian47/Darianhair1305.jpg


Hair after even more time and treatment:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/Darian47/darianhair20706.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.

[plainjanegirl]

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.

[plainjanegirl]

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/c277/Darian47/Darian.jpg


Hair after a couple months:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/Darian47/Darianhair1305.jpg


Hair after even more time and treatment:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/Darian47/darianhair20706.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?

[plainjanegirl]

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.

[Darian Moone]

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.

[Darian Moone]

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.

[Katze]

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:

[Darian Moone]

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.

[vidgrl007]

I used it and didn't do anything to lighten it. but on the flip side it makes my hair feel really soft so I just use it once a week for a good treatment lol:D.

[Flying Betty]

!!!!!!!!!!

[GlassEyes]

WOW! So you're saying the combo of honey + henna gives you a golden color? Was it very reddish?
Not quite. I lightened Pre-henna, meaning that it was done on my previously dyed-black hair, which eventually lifted out to a golden-brown.

My post henna hair was a nice red-tinted brown.

[Katze]

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.

I wasn't meaning to say that you were misleading anyone! Sorry about that. I just think that many people get the impression that honey is a "safe hair bleach", when it isn't.

You mentioned dyed hair, and in 2006 I had my hair dyed darker to try to get rid of the bleached, brassy, two-tone look. The dye was effectively gone within two months (dye job in June, parents visited in August and I was back to two-tone in pics)! I do think that what I was doing to my hair - SMTs, Rhassoul, heavy conditioning - may very well have faded my haircolor. After all, there must be a reason why so many products are sold as haircolor friendly!

It is interesting that you could not dye over the dye. As a colored hair long hair person, you seem to have resilient hair, and perhaps that means your hair is less porous than mine was, because I had no problem bleaching black-dyed hair to blonde, over and over again. :D

Nevertheless I think it is an important distinction to make, whether honey (or oil, or normal shampoo, or CO washing, or whatever) fades hair dye, or whether any of these things actually bleach hair. That's a difference which your post has now made clear to me, hopefully to others too who have tried honey hoping it will make their hair lighter.

As for the henna issue, I use honey in my henna paste and get darker color with it...since we don't really know what's going on with henna, either, or how it really works (also only anecdotal evidence!) but it would be great to know some day.

Maybe some day I will get a lab and actually test some of this stuff.

[Fireweed]

I have been using honey on my hair for a long time and it does not seem to change the colour of my hair. I was not able to remove my henna with it and had to cut in the end.

[Darian Moone]

Did you use permanent dye Katze? The reason I ask is that it was explained to me by the hair dye manufacturer (whom I called after not getting the results I wanted), that once you dye your hair dark long enough, when you attempt to dye it lighter all that will happen is that it will open the hair cuticle and deposit whatever pigment is in the hair dye, leaving your hair even darker than before.

The only solution they offered me was to actually straight out bleach my hair and lift all the color up, then if I wanted to chose a specific shade of blonde, use a toner rinse.

I do have pretty stubborn hair though. It's obnoxious and does whatever it feels most days. :D LOL!

[Ryanne]

I use it and I think it lightened my hair a little, just a little.

[ChloeDharma]

I've not used it deliberately to lighten my hair, but i was using it every wash as part of a DT that i'd leave on for at least an hour and frequently using henna but never had the henna build up, plus my hair stayed quite light....so maybe, but it was the conditioning effect i was more interested in.
On the peroxide debate, i found a few studies looking at the use of honey for wound healing that kept mentioning the role of peroxide, but the links to those are on my old laptop. I did find this link though in a quick search...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

"Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide in honey is activated by dilution. However, unlike medical hydrogen peroxide, commonly 3% by volume, it is present in a concentration of only 1 mmol/L in honey. Honey chelates and deactivates the free iron, which starts the formation of oxygen free radicals produced by hydrogen peroxide and the antioxidant constituents in honey help clean up oxygen free radicals present. http://www.worldwidewounds.com/2001/november/Molan/honey-as-topical-agent.html




C6H12O6 + H2O + O2 → C6H12O7 + H2O2
When used topically (as, for example, a wound dressing), hydrogen peroxide is produced by dilution with body fluids. As a result, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly and acts as an antiseptic"

One thing with hair, some seems more resistant to peroxide than others. A simple lightening treatment that my mother told me about that was popular at a salon she worked in (in the 60's) was to mix peroxide with shampoo and leave that on the hair for about half an hour. But the results varied alot....on one friend i tried it on it produced no lightening at all. So it would make sense to me that some people find honey lightens their hair and some people notice no difference at all.
I think it's simpler just to try it and see if it works for you, rather than argue over it and insist it either does or does not work 100% of the time.....one thing we know here is that nothing seems universally popular.

[willowcandra]

I used honey to help fade out some henna. I also used it alongside lots of oilings. It pulled alot of colour out and left me a very natural looking colour with no regrowth. It didn't have a huge effect on my natural colour though.

[Katze]

Did you use permanent dye Katze? The reason I ask is that it was explained to me by the hair dye manufacturer (whom I called after not getting the results I wanted), that once you dye your hair dark long enough, when you attempt to dye it lighter all that will happen is that it will open the hair cuticle and deposit whatever pigment is in the hair dye, leaving your hair even darker than before.

The only solution they offered me was to actually straight out bleach my hair and lift all the color up, then if I wanted to chose a specific shade of blonde, use a toner rinse.

I do have pretty stubborn hair though. It's obnoxious and does whatever it feels most days. :D LOL!

It was dye in a salon, so I am guessing it was permanent. Sure didn't stick around long, though! that was the first time - in ages - that I had dyed my hair dark. Normally, I was a bleacher.

Stubborn might be good, in this case, that you can dye and still have long hair. I notice even the last bits of dyed hair on my ends are in terrible, terrible shape, and that's after years of LHC.

Honey, however, does give a nice temporary softness to damaged hair.

[GibsonGirlV]

I used honey religiously for a few months and I would often even sleep with it in my hair (i'd put the honey-mixture drenched hair in a shower cap and cover my pillow with towels). It was miserable trying to sleep with that stuff on my hair and dripping down my neck, but hey, I was desperate.

It did slightly lighten my hair, but only ever so slightly. I had been hoping to lighten it enough that I wouldn't need to colour it in order to get it to lighten up a couple of shades. I ended up breaking down and colouring it (I used clairol professional premium creme 7G and 20 vol. creme developer and I'm naturally about a 6G). I had never coloured it before so I was really scared to do so, and was even more scared for possible damage to my hair. Turned out, the condition of my hair actually improved after I coloured it (i'm still not sure how) and I gave up on the honey.

this was almost a year ago now that I started colouring it and since then I've thought about using honey to brighten things up, but I'm afraid it might lift some of the colour.

[JellyBene]

I use honey at least monthly to give my hair a good moisturizing treatment. It makes my hair soft, manageable and nicely moisturized. I love the stuff!

A couple years ago I dyed my hair dark brown and then decided after about a year that I wanted to return to blonde. I used honey conditioning treatments as well as warm olive oil soaks and chamomille tea soaks to lighten my hair to a level where it would accept the shampoo in hair color (blonde) that I wanted. It took me about 4-5 months to get it lightened enough to use color.
I can't recommend honey highly enough. It's great stuff. :)


Hi, I am very interested in lightening my hair with honey, I have previously used henna and indigo and came up with a wierd purple color I HATE. Would you mind explaining exactly how to use the honey to lighten my hair?

[feralnature]

I used a honey and water mix last week or so and it did lighten my hair somewhat. I will do it again for sure.

This is my hair after one honey treatment, it is lighter (to me). Sorry I do not have a before pic. You can see how healthy and shiny it is though.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p255/feralnaturefarm/Hair/DianesHairafterHoneyTreatment1010.jpg

[Katze]

I use honey all the time, in SMTs and on its own. I also use it on DH's 2c/3a, F, APL hair.

It has never lightened my hair even when I wanted it to. Several years ago I harvested the hair from my and DH's brushes and did a control experiment; leaving one batch from each soaking in honey and water for a day.

When the hair bundles came out they LOOKED lighter, but as time went on they lost their shine and were the same color as the control samples which were not soaked in honey. My hair still had some dye/bleach at the time, and DH's was virgin. Same results.

Here is what I suspect is going on: honey strips color (it did for me) and makes hair shinier, so many people see this as lighter in color. Also, for many of us lighter-haired dark-haired people (hair colored hair, tawny, dishwater, honey, call it what you want) our hair looks much lighter when it is freshly washed.

I would have loved to have honey lighten my hair, but it hasn't. Ever. In many years of using it.

[vloucak]

I did it too (honey + olive oil), I have it on my head all night. It lightened my hair a bit ;) and I liked that my hair was looking heathier (and they was healthier) now I use honey for my homemade hair masks :)

[lesbia]

I use it and even if it does not incredibly result it helps
What were your results? my hair become a little-little-little lighter and colder...
How long did it take to get it the color you wanted? I start to use it some mounths ago but I haven't yet reach my goal. It's very very slowly.
Did you stick with it or give up? I'm patient...
Did the honey affect the condition of your hair in any way? in a positive way! it made my hair very soft and shining :)
Would you recommend others to use it? of course. I think it is the best way to light hair and take care of them in the same moment.
What was your mix and method? Is the method I read about in TLHC 1 part of honey-6 parts of water. stop. :)

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I haven't and don't want to use honey to lighten my hair. Two reasons: 1) I don't want a lighter color 2) Too messy to apply :P

[jojo]

I cringe at the thought of putting anything in my hair especially if it is a food item...only use actual shampoo & conditioner and styling products.

why would you cringe at the thought of putting something as natural as honey on your hair, yet find synthetic chemicals acceptable? :confused:

[jojo]

I use honey in my conditioner or a SMT and always love the result, ive had it go a tad lighter but the shine and softness is what I love about honey and it isnt a little bit sticky. I also use it as a facial wash and it really moisturises my skin and again not sticky!

[Fiorentina]

I have not but am NOT interested.