Photos of sun-lightened hair?

[Ylva]

Hi!

Do you have any photos that show how much the Sun has lightened your hair (if it's with aid such as honey or lemon juice, please mention that!)? How much time do/did you generally spend in the Sun, and do you live in a generally sunny/warm climate?

[AmaryllisRed]

I should take a "before" photo since it's May and then take an "after" photo at the end of the summer.
I do not spend a lot of time outside and I don't live in a sunny place, but my hair always lightens significantly.

[spitfire511]

Sooooo - everything here that is 'blond-ish' is sun lightened.

https://i.imgur.com/2fjFYttl.jpg

this one shows closer to my darker - more auburn color.

https://i.imgur.com/zIvuFtGl.jpg

I haven't used anything to lighten it (in fact I wish I could cover it better! LOL) but it's always done this since I was a kid!

[Ylva]

AmaryllisRed, that would be cool!

spitfire, nice! How much sun do you usually get and is it particularly strong where you live?

[milosmomma]

Spitfire you have very lovely sunkissed highlights very pretty :)
Amaryllis I would be interested to see you before and after shots and I would also be interested in participating because my hair lightens quite a bit from the sun. Maybe this could be a place for some comparison shots?

[Stardreamer]

I used to do this method. I'd apply lemon juice to my hair and wait in the sunlight. IDK if it worked.
I might take pictures later, but I notice I have really lightish almost part-blonde bits (wispy) of hair which used to be my fringe. Since I wear buns a lot those pieces are almost always on top of my head. By the sun.

[blackgothicdoll]

I used to do this method. I'd apply lemon juice to my hair and wait in the sunlight. IDK if it worked.
I might take pictures later, but I notice I have really lightish almost part-blonde bits (wispy) of hair which used to be my fringe. Since I wear buns a lot those pieces are almost always on top of my head. By the sun.

Yep, my halo is the first to turn red. I've been getting more red now that I'm growing out hair dye, but it started on the halo and is working its way down. My roots are off-black, but gradually turn red once they get some sun in them.

It doesn't take long for me, perhaps a couple of minutes before my hair starts taking on red. I have a hard time getting pictures of it, but I believe I have one picture from a couple of years ago when I was in between coloring my hair and had gotten quite a bit of the lightening phenomena. I'll see if I can find it, but a before after is difficult because I don't remember the last time I just let my hair grow in its natural color without hastily dying it black (the lightening would happen regardless of the hair dye, but of course it wouldn't get quite as light as it does without dye. So perhaps if I remember I can get a picture by the end of the summer of how my roots look.)

eta: unfortunately it's not intentional, it just happens, I don't use any products to do it. I think my hair is similar to my skin, I get tanlines after .025 seconds in the sun. By the end of the summer I look like a zebra xD

[Stardreamer]

Yep, my halo is the first to turn red. I've been getting more red now that I'm growing out hair dye, but it started on the halo and is working its way down. My roots are off-black, but gradually turn red once they get some sun in them.

It doesn't take long for me, perhaps a couple of minutes before my hair starts taking on red. I have a hard time getting pictures of it, but I believe I have one picture from a couple of years ago when I was in between coloring my hair and had gotten quite a bit of the lightening phenomena. I'll see if I can find it, but a before after is difficult because I don't remember the last time I just let my hair grow in its natural color without hastily dying it black (the lightening would happen regardless of the hair dye, but of course it wouldn't get quite as light as it does without dye. So perhaps if I remember I can get a picture by the end of the summer of how my roots look.)

eta: unfortunately it's not intentional, it just happens, I don't use any products to do it. I think my hair is similar to my skin, I get tanlines after .025 seconds in the sun. By the end of the summer I look like a zebra xD

Talking about the sun and skin, I got a stripe of sunburn on my hand and it turned to tan. One stripe. Hooray! *sarcasm*
I still have my jandal tan, only a light tan but impressive for my white skin, from December&January. It became more tanned in Feb probably. I always wear jandals, even in winter.
Usually I burn easily tho.

I dunno about my hair.. I mean, the blondeish bits grow blonde. They actually grow like that. Whaaaaaat

[Ylva]

Yep, my halo is the first to turn red. I've been getting more red now that I'm growing out hair dye, but it started on the halo and is working its way down. My roots are off-black, but gradually turn red once they get some sun in them.

It doesn't take long for me, perhaps a couple of minutes before my hair starts taking on red. I have a hard time getting pictures of it, but I believe I have one picture from a couple of years ago when I was in between coloring my hair and had gotten quite a bit of the lightening phenomena. I'll see if I can find it, but a before after is difficult because I don't remember the last time I just let my hair grow in its natural color without hastily dying it black (the lightening would happen regardless of the hair dye, but of course it wouldn't get quite as light as it does without dye. So perhaps if I remember I can get a picture by the end of the summer of how my roots look.)

eta: unfortunately it's not intentional, it just happens, I don't use any products to do it. I think my hair is similar to my skin, I get tanlines after .025 seconds in the sun. By the end of the summer I look like a zebra xD

A couple of minutes in the sun?! Wow, that's fast!

I'm really hoping that my hair will lighten as efficiently. :D I may have quit bleaching my hair, but I'm looking for every possible loophole :lol:

[blackgothicdoll]

A couple of minutes in the sun?! Wow, that's fast!

I'm really hoping that my hair will lighten as efficiently. :D I may have quit bleaching my hair, but I'm looking for every possible loophole :lol:

Haha! Maybe more like 20 or something, I really don't know but it is FAST. I notice black/rich/warm brown takes on red highlights, dark blonde/light brown/cooler shades take on blonde. My old best friend started with perhaps a dirty blonde color and got a very nice natural looking blonde over the summer using sun-in. I recall her being very religious with it though, everytime before we were getting ready to go for a hike or anything outdoors she'd be sure to use her sun-in, but I wasn't interested enough to see what else she did, how she applied it, or how long it took for her blonde to come out. Alas, we are no longer on speaking terms so I cannot ask.

Below is the best picture I have of my natural color, my bun and ends are good reference points to my exact shade although my ends don't appear as dark as they really are in this picture. The first couple inches of the roots are more accurate.

https://i.imgur.com/spQmAwF.jpg

And here is not the best picture as I'm in a bit of shade and my hair was previously colored, but that's just how easily my hair pigment betrays me.

https://i.imgur.com/uw6BilK.jpg

eta: the second pic is from 2017, my hair isn't that thin and busted anymore thank god xD

[Crysania]

Those are older pictures of my hair. It had lightened a lot in the sun (I had made this collage to show the different colours of my hair under different lighting). I live in a cold climate so my hair is exposed to the hot sun only from May to September. Lemon juice was used only 2-3 times on a few streaks of hair. I also made honey-lemon-conditioner masks sometimes but never noticed lightening from that. The overall result is mostly natural sun lightening. I actually was going under the sun sometimes (and finding ways to protect my skin) only to lighten my hair!

As you can see, it is very damaging. Now that my hair is all grown out and new, I will be protecting it from the sun (especially between 11a.m. and 4p.m.!) I will never be able to grow my hair long otherwise, it's way too fragile.

I'm wondering if a heat protectant could protect hair from damage while allowing it to lighten under the sun? I doubt it though.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36911&d=1558050220

[Knightly]

I don't know how to post pics lol but my brown hair does get bleached quite easily. My roots are lighter compared to the ends because the sun doesn't really touch the since they're always up or braided.
I buy a lightening spray at wal mart, it cointains chamomile extract and peroxide so it works nicely and surprisingly, doesn't dry out my hair. I live in a really hot and sunny area so that contributes a lot even tho I only spend like 20-30 daily minutes under the sun.
I've been spraying that thing on my hair for over 3 weeks and I've already found a couple *almost* platinum hairs, and since my hair is quite dark, finding hairs that light is very surprising!

[LadyCelestina]

https://i.imgur.com/g89WuyG.jpg

There you go. This is an older pic, taken with an older phone, so it makes my hair look a little bit lighter, but you can see the sunbleach pattern pretty well.

[AutobotsAttack]

love My sun bleached areas. When March rolled around my hair started lightening up as it got warmer down here.
https://i.imgflip.com/313hqh.jpg

[Begemot]

My hair doesn't get that much sun but it will get lighter if I wear it loose a lot during summers. No aids, just sun damage. I started wearing hats last summer so my darker roots are a lot longer than in the past (it's quite obvious to me looking at my monthly length progress photos). I'm also going to start using a sun protection spray this summer to see if I can avoid some damage.

How my roots look
https://i.imgur.com/YO7afb7.jpg?1
All natural
https://i.imgur.com/xKJZQsR.jpg
Highlighted but you can see my dark roots on the right
https://i.imgur.com/KLM5vRW.jpg?1

[Ylva]

Haha! Maybe more like 20 or something, I really don't know but it is FAST. I notice black/rich/warm brown takes on red highlights, dark blonde/light brown/cooler shades take on blonde. My old best friend started with perhaps a dirty blonde color and got a very nice natural looking blonde over the summer using sun-in. I recall her being very religious with it though, everytime before we were getting ready to go for a hike or anything outdoors she'd be sure to use her sun-in, but I wasn't interested enough to see what else she did, how she applied it, or how long it took for her blonde to come out. Alas, we are no longer on speaking terms so I cannot ask.

Below is the best picture I have of my natural color, my bun and ends are good reference points to my exact shade although my ends don't appear as dark as they really are in this picture. The first couple inches of the roots are more accurate.



And here is not the best picture as I'm in a bit of shade and my hair was previously colored, but that's just how easily my hair pigment betrays me.

[IMG]

eta: the second pic is from 2017, my hair isn't that thin and busted anymore thank god xD

It does look remarkably red indeed! Very beautiful! :)


Those are older pictures of my hair. It had lightened a lot in the sun (I had made this collage to show the different colours of my hair under different lighting). I live in a cold climate so my hair is exposed to the hot sun only from May to September. Lemon juice was used only 2-3 times on a few streaks of hair. I also made honey-lemon-conditioner masks sometimes but never noticed lightening from that. The overall result is mostly natural sun lightening. I actually was going under the sun sometimes (and finding ways to protect my skin) only to lighten my hair!

As you can see, it is very damaging. Now that my hair is all grown out and new, I will be protecting it from the sun (especially between 11a.m. and 4p.m.!) I will never be able to grow my hair long otherwise, it's way too fragile.

I'm wondering if a heat protectant could protect hair from damage while allowing it to lighten under the sun? I doubt it though.

[IMG]https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36891&d=1557965624

Unfortunately I don't manage to view your photos, even when copying the attachment URL and pasting it on its own. It just shows black. :(

I think, if a heat protectant was to work at all, it would prevent lightening as well, much like a proper UV block for the skin prevents tanning, to a large degree at least (of course some does always get through).


I don't know how to post pics lol but my brown hair does get bleached quite easily. My roots are lighter compared to the ends because the sun doesn't really touch the since they're always up or braided.
I buy a lightening spray at wal mart, it cointains chamomile extract and peroxide so it works nicely and surprisingly, doesn't dry out my hair. I live in a really hot and sunny area so that contributes a lot even tho I only spend like 20-30 daily minutes under the sun.
I've been spraying that thing on my hair for over 3 weeks and I've already found a couple *almost* platinum hairs, and since my hair is quite dark, finding hairs that light is very surprising!

You can upload your photo to a hosting service like https://imgbb.com/ (I personally tend to use that one) or in your LHC albums, then right click the photo and copy the URL, then click on the photo icon when writing a post and attaching the URL there. :)

Your lightening progress does sound remarkable, though!




There you go. This is an older pic, taken with an older phone, so it makes my hair look a little bit lighter, but you can see the sunbleach pattern pretty well.

That's very beautiful! Interesting to see how high up the lightening begins to show already. The ends seem to be a good... two tones lighter, at least?


love My sun bleached areas. When March rolled around my hair started lightening up as it got warmer down here.

That's also a remarkable amount of lightening! Very nice :)


My hair doesn't get that much sun but it will get lighter if I wear it loose a lot during summers. No aids, just sun damage. I started wearing hats last summer so my darker roots are a lot longer than in the past (it's quite obvious to me looking at my monthly length progress photos). I'm also going to start using a sun protection spray this summer to see if I can avoid some damage.

How my roots look
[IMG]
All natural
[IMG]
Highlighted but you can see my dark roots on the right
[IMG]

Wow, it's blending the bleach and your natural colour so nicely!

[Begemot]

Wow, it's blending the bleach and your natural colour so nicely!

Thanks! :o

[Ilyem]

My hair is dark blonde but becomes quite a bit lighter during the summer. I think it being fine contributes to that. The only thing I like about fine hair haha. The ends are golden with some platinum strands whilst the roots are a dark ash blonde and that starts at about shoulder length. I'm interested in what colour my hair will be when longer. The majority of my hair being a light blonde is one of the main reasons why I want to grow it out.

[Crysania]

I uploaded the photos in a public album instead of private, it should work now.

[Ylva]

I uploaded the photos in a public album instead of private, it should work now.

Found it! Looks very nice. :)

[LadyCelestina]

Ylva, I think the reason why it starts so high up is the natural variety in my hair. The front is a completely different texture than the back, and also a slightly lighter colour. ETA: what I meant to say is that the front strands are naturally lighter than the nape & back of my hair, not just due to the sunbleach.

Oh and thank you so much :flower:!

[AmaryllisRed]

Here's my "before" photo. I'll update occasionally if I remember. I don't know how much difference will be visible since the lighting here changes all the time and my hair looks so different depending on the lighting.
But we'll see. :shrug:

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36964&d=1558208528

[Ylva]

I'll bump this now that the summer is pretty much over (in the northern hemisphere).

[NicoleJean]

I took this picture 2.5 months ago at the beginning of summer so my ends could be even lighter now but I haven't taken an updated picture. I didn't use anything to aid in lightening because I was too scared of potential damage. My ends in this picture are approximately 3.5-4 years old and lightened from time outside over the years doing whatever. I wasn't trying to lighten it. It's such a gradual fade from top to bottom that you can really only notice the color difference if I hold a piece of the bottom hair up to the top of my head like in the picture.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38415&d=1567680633

[Ylva]

That's gorgeous, NicoleJean! Your hair looks very much like what I expect mine to look like when virgin. :) A tad warmer than mine, though.

[AmaryllisRed]

Oh, I need an updated pic.
I did take one about two weeks ago and it does look lighter, but it's so hard to tell how much is actual lightening and how much is the lighting of the picture, the angle, etc.

[Siv]

This shows the difference between my "under-hair" and canopy, I lighten very quickly and quite a lot in the sun.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38304&d=1567074676

I live in Sweden and generally start lightening up in spring, and should start growing darker roots fairly soon as we're soon into autumn. I don't generally use any sun-in or anything, but I don't bother protecting my hair against salt water or chlorinated water either. I don't go swimming a lot though, maybe a couple of times each summer. That does lighten the hair noticeably.

[Ylva]

Beautiful, Siv! I should try and swim more next summer for sure.

[gin]

This isn't the best photo, but it's probably the best I have right now. :) My hair is usually almost-black / very very dark brown, and you can kind of see the color difference in the braids. All my "lightening" is from the sun, I don't use any aids. My sun lightening seems to have a slight red tint to it and it's more pronounced in areas than this photo shows as well.

https://i.imgur.com/G38RubG.jpg?1

I go in waves where I spend a ton of time in the sun (climbing/hiking/vacation trips usually) - sometimes it'll be 3-4 consecutive where I'm in the sun all day. Under normal circumstances, I think I spend an average amount of time outside. I go on runs and walks a handful of times per week, and at this this time of year (summer and HOT here in Texas) I'll avoid the sun and try to stay in the shade as much as possible. :) There are occasional weekends where we'll go swimming or stand-up paddleboarding, and those days I'll obviously get a lot more sun. I hate wearing hats so my hair is pretty much never covered.

[desisparkles]

Gin, OMG love your hair in that style and the color. It looks so strong and silky too.

[NicoleJean]

Everyone's hair is gorgeous. Makes me want to start learning to braid.

[erebus]

For a while I thought that the sun lightened my hair a bit, because I used to think of myself as having brown hair, and now I feel like it's more blond. I find it hard to compare though, because the variability in lighting is often (at least for me) a much greater factor than any sun bleaching. Not just the ambient lighting, but the angle of the hair relative to the camera / light. One of the reasons the roots look darker even on non-bleached hair is that they simply scatter less light towards the camera.

Here's what I mean:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38436&d=1567850253
I believe this is just (or mostly) caused by the lighting. I have a before/after picture in my album, where my hair looks lighter "after" (which is also after moving to a warmer country), but the "before" picture was taken with the sun a bit lower in the sky.

I will try to take a picture of my ends next to my roots (but not today because my roots are too dirty :p).

[yulia396]

Oh my gosh, so pretty!

[Ylva]

It certainly looks lighter towards the ends, erebus. Your hair is just gorgeous, I am a great fan of it!

[Ylva]

I will bump this again since the summer is over again for now for the majority of us.

[Jane99]

It’s not 100% bleached from the sun but mostly! The difference was about the same before I ever dyed or highlighted it. Compare bun length to the new roots.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43065&d=1603295440

[baanoo]

Ylva, in my last monthly length shot you can see the difference between sun-bleached and ~fresh~ roots.
I don't use anything to encourage the bleaching and don't live in a particularly sunny place (NYC).

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=42778&d=1601665141

Years ago when I was growing out color I was convinced my hair would be so brown but lo and behold, it is definitely a dark honey blonde. I keep thinking your hair is ultimately going to be a very similar color; perhaps a little more cool? It's still hard to tell.

[lapis_lazuli]

I didn't notice any sun-lightening until I made a plait out of my shed hairs and saw this colour difference:

https://i.imgur.com/N1l2EIL.png

It's subtle, but it's there, and pretty good for me who doesn't live in a hot climate and tends to avoid the sun.
The difference in age of the segments is about 4 years.

[Bat]

I didn't notice any sun-lightening until I made a plait out of my shed hairs and saw this colour difference:

https://i.imgur.com/N1l2EIL.png

It's subtle, but it's there, and pretty good for me who doesn't live in a hot climate and tends to avoid the sun.
The difference in age of the segments is about 4 years.

I love how perfect and shiny even your shed hairs are xD

[moonsista]

Hi everyone!

I’ve read through the thread, so fun looking at the subtle changes in everyone’s hair. Tried to find a couple pictures from last winter vs now - seems like the sun has gotten it a little bit lighter.

Winter 2020 (before I cut the rest of the bleached hair off)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50515605413_1f38f0bae7_w.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jXTFy2)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50516488162_b149d1fa0e_w.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jXYcXQ)

Now (a few trims later, around a cm of bleached hair left, maybe even less)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50516488057_96ebcf444c_w.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jXYcW2)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50515605788_b9dff0f23b_w.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jXTFEu)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50516487952_be788bf38c_w.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jXYcUd)

Can’t tell if there’s much difference, but it’s important to note that due to corona I haven’t been out in the sun for more than a couple of hours most days of the summer, so the results might have been more drastic otherwise.

Hope I could be of help, Ylva!

[Siv]

*bump* *bump*

(February is the wintriest winter month here and I'm craving sun right now)

[veryhairyfairy]

Ran to the bathroom to take some pictures; 5 days in the Florida sunshine did this (probably 4 hours a day of strong sunshine, I had a fairly dark tan by the end of the trip (that was about 5 months ago):

https://i.imgur.com/Rly7j7p.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/e3qI6Y9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8NzyqpW.jpg


Funny, in person the contrast seems a lot starker :shrug: I like it!

[Siv]

That's so pretty!

[veryhairyfairy]

That's so pretty!

You're a sweetheart! :flowers: Thank you!

[lapis_lazuli]

Those are some impressive natural highlights! I wish my hair reacted to the sun like that :lol:

[veryhairyfairy]

Those are some impressive natural highlights! I wish my hair reacted to the sun like that :lol:

You know I was thinking today that the sun probably really damaged the hairs that it lightened so much- given a second chance I would protect my hair better. BUT, I also have natural highlights in the front (widow's peak) section of my hair where it lightened crazy amounts, so I'm hoping the damage wasn't terrible.

Side note- I just absolutely love your hair Lapis! I see natural highlights in your siggy pics, just glorious :crush:

[lapis_lazuli]

You know I was thinking today that the sun probably really damaged the hairs that it lightened so much- given a second chance I would protect my hair better. BUT, I also have natural highlights in the front (widow's peak) section of my hair where it lightened crazy amounts, so I'm hoping the damage wasn't terrible.

Side note- I just absolutely love your hair Lapis! I see natural highlights in your siggy pics, just glorious :crush:

Ooh I haven't heard of natural sun bleaching being damaging, but I guess you can overdo it like anything else. Hopefully that's not the case, it looks very cool! And thank you so much! :flower:

[Ylva]

That's super pretty, veryhairyfairy!


Ooh I haven't heard of natural sun bleaching being damaging, but I guess you can overdo it like anything else. Hopefully that's not the case, it looks very cool! And thank you so much! :flower:

I suppose it does approximately the same internal damage (as an equivalent degree of regular bleaching) without the external damage from lifting the cuticle using peroxide. I might be totally wrong, of course. :)

[girlcat36]

I don’t have any photos, but in my pre-silver days, if I spent enough time out in the sun the ends of my dark brown hair would turn golden blonde. People used to think I was purposely trying to go blonde. I didn’t put anything in my hair to achieve this effect; it was actually unwanted. I would have preferred to stay one color.
My hair is thin and babyfine, so maybe that’s why it got sun bleached so easily.
On the other hand, my hair doesn’t take up chemical color 💁🏻

[veryhairyfairy]

That's super pretty, veryhairyfairy!



I suppose it does approximately the same internal damage (as an equivalent degree of regular bleaching) without the external damage from lifting the cuticle using peroxide. I might be totally wrong, of course. :)



Thank you! :D I'm going to clarify and chelate today since the lighter sections are looking more and more orange lately due to iron in my water- I'll post after pics if there's a noticeable change.

And I think your theory is sound; there has to be some damage from such a drastic lightening, but to me those light hairs still feel smooth and not rough like my bleached hair did.

[lakhesis]

I can't really find a proper before and after picture, as it all looks like it could just be from different lighting. But front of my hair is super light right now thanks to Middle Eastern sun :cloud9: The rest of the hair and my roots are a bit darker.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44542&d=1613863977

[bokeh]

You and your golden sun-bleached hair would fit right in on a California beach.

[veryhairyfairy]

Gorgeous lakhesis!! Looks professionally purposeful (does that make sense? I'm trying to say people would pay for those results)! :crush:

(and love the henna on your hand!)


ETA: clarifying and chelating didn't seem to reduce the orange-ness of my sun-lightened bits, I guess my hair goes 'brassy' when lightened but I still love it

[Bat]

I can't really find a proper before and after picture, as it all looks like it could just be from different lighting. But front of my hair is super light right now thanks to Middle Eastern sun :cloud9: The rest of the hair and my roots are a bit darker.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44542&d=1613863977 gorgeous hair! Wow

[lapis_lazuli]

So beautiful, lakhesis!

[Jane99]

Lakhesis your hair is lovely, and some Middle Eastern sun sounds lovely to me on a cold snowy day in this part of the world.

[Siv]

I suppose it does approximately the same internal damage (as an equivalent degree of regular bleaching) without the external damage from lifting the cuticle using peroxide. I might be totally wrong, of course. :)



And I think your theory is sound; there has to be some damage from such a drastic lightening, but to me those light hairs still feel smooth and not rough like my bleached hair did.

My sun bleached bits are more porous but rarely rough. Generally the lengths are more and more porous the further down the length. They've been through more summers haha

Also @lakhesis your hair is gorgeous!!

[lakhesis]

Thank you so much bokeh, veryhairyfairy, Bat, lapis_lazuli, Jane99 and Siv :blossom:

[lapushka]

lakhesis, that looks like nature's balayage! Awesome. Very pretty. :)

[curlqueenjadine]

My hair goes a lot more red when I've been in the sun. I took this photo this morning in natural light, I've been spending some time in the garden the past few weeks and the sun seems to have lightened it a little already. https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44647&d=1614863088

[Siv]

Love your curls!!

[curlqueenjadine]

Love your curls!!

Thankyou! Here's a photo of it in the sunlight. You can really see the difference between the hair that's been hiding from the sun and the sun lightened hair from last summer! I wear it in a ponytail through summer so I imagine that's the bit that would've been in the pony :)
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45245&d=1620374949

[Lady Winchester]

Here's an old picture of me (last family picture, not sure how long ago it was):

https://i.imgur.com/mv9YZFe.jpg

The sun bleached part is on the bottom, with my natural color on the top. Still have a similar watch (not the exact same one, since I think I lost that one), but the necklace is long gone (the clamp no longer closed, so it kept falling off and I eventually lost it), and I wear bifocal glasses now, more rectangular (the ones I'm wearing in the picture might be falling off or bent, since I'm very hard on glasses).:smile:

[Ylva]

What a lovely hair colour, Lady Winchester! And that's a good degree of photobleaching at that length. What kind of climate do you live in, if I may ask?

[Lady Winchester]

It's not that color anymore, unfortunately. It's faded to a medium golden brown. I live in southern British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, and our weather is similar to Central European weather conditions; cold, wet and a few beautiful summer months (usually hot, but we can get the occasional hellish winter). :smile:

[lapis_lazuli]

Oh, I've been looking for this thread :) A while ago I took this colour comparison shot of my length around waist versus at knee. This is all virgin hair, so it's purely from gradual exposure to the sun and an age difference of about 4 years if my math is correct.

Still hard to believe it's that drastic given I don't spend that much time in the sun at all. However, I also wear the same bun style every day, so perhaps that contributes to it. My hair at waist and shorter forms the back of my bun, while anything longer makes up the coils on top of my head, which would naturally get more sunlight. Hmm...

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48964&d=1684012512

(The colour at waist is lighter than what grows at my roots, but I don't think quite as much as this in what would be a comparable time frame. Hard to say though, and it depends on the lighting too.)